#brain empty only trigun

[beesinspades]

the most tragic thing about writing is the moment you realize that you're likely never gonna finish those wips you were so passionate about because your hyperfixation has faded too much and you just can't focus on them anymore

[dragonofeternal]

Hot take/unpopular opinion time?

While I understand the urge to give Legato something nice by having him be rescued by Vash instead of Knives and think there's some very cute art and thoughts out there...

That would not fix him and it would not make him happy.

Knives's "salvation" for Legato wasn't just an end to Legato's present suffering, it was the fact that he completed the work Legato could not, even left a sliver of life enough for Legato to take some vengeance of his own. He would NOT be content or happy just to be taken away from his suffering in a nonviolent way. Vash would saunter in, shoot to disable the people actively raping Legato, and whisk Legato away, forcing him to watch those bastards as they pick themselves up to keep living their lives. Their survival would needle at the back of his brain, bristle any time he saw something that reminded him of that time in his life.

And for all that I love Vash the Stampede, I don't think he could give Legato the kind of help he needed to survive and thrive again. Vash is kind of like a wildlife rehabilitator- he takes people out of crisis situations, helps the to soothe the hurt, but he doesn't try to get attached and he tends to quietly slip out once he feels like they've reached a space where they're stable and the danger is gone.

Vash doesn't give people answers, he asks people to look within and find them for themselves.

Except Legato had reached a point where he felt he *had* nothing left within. We see his eyes go dull, watch all hope leave them. And when he and Vash fight at the end of TriMax, we see Legato recognize that dull flatness in Vash's eyes too.

Vash cannot give Legato something he doesn't have.

Knives, on the other hand is FULL of GLORIOUS PURPOSE. Is it good purpose? Is it smart purpose? Is he doing anything other than flailing around like a muppet made of sharp objects and fear and anger most days? No! But it's a purpose and it MATTERS.

And it's a purpose he can share with Legato, who needs something to believe in, something to fill himself with again because he feels so fucking empty. With Knives, there's a ready answer for the yawning emptiness in Legato's soul.

I'm not sitting here going "becoming the number one Kool-aide drinker in the Cult of Knives was a good life choice for Legato Bluesummers" or anything like that, but I WILL say it's a choice that gave him the ability to keep going. It's a choice that makes him Legato Bluesummers and not someone else.

Because my other concern with Vash's attempts to impress morality on Legato is what I said at the very top: Legato is never going to forget or forgive the people who wronged him. He's not going to let go of wanting to kill and destroy and hurt. There is a trolley problem of one thousand three hundred and one lives versus Legato's singular personhood, and if he is monstrous to want vengeance, if he cannot be allowed to take vengeance, then the only answer is to flip the track from his persecutors to himself. It's a rather simple solution, when you don't feel like there's a reason to be alive.

(all manga caps are taken from @trigun-manga-overhaul)

[oikyskau]

Down to the last bottle

Trigun Stampede | Wolfwood x Meryl x Vash | Missing Scenes: Episode 10

A What If Meryl had managed to drag Vash into that elevator with her and Roberto, and stopped him and Wolfwood before it was too late?

Read on ao3 here.

__

“How many drinks have you had, little miss?”

Meryl doesn’t remember, or care, how many of these twice her size kegs of whiskey she’s had. All that matters is that she still knows exactly why she’s drinking, can still see his face, the pain-filled smile, her name on his lips as life bled out of him. It’s seared into her brain, seeping into her skin and settling in her bones – an ache that will stay with her for the rest of her life. 

Even Wolfwood’s playful nickname for her only sends a pang through her heart. He’s right, isn’t he – she’s just a little girl who rushed into danger and got her mentor killed.

“I’m still average sized,” is what she says, remembering the way Vash would force his lips into a smile even when his heart seemed to have shattered into a million pieces.

“Still not big enough to down all that whiskey.”

Meryl almost laughs, but reaches for another swig instead. Before she can grab a hold of it, the bottle is snatched out of her hand with such vigour that her chair almost tips back. “Hey!”

Wolfwood just grins – not his usual one, but an emptier version, filled instead with the pain of a lost brother, of never-breaking chains. He lets himself fall into the chair next to her, shoulder bumping hers. “Sharing is caring,” he says and tips the bottle up.

They stay like this, enjoy that single moment of reprieve as long as they can. With nothing to do, Meryl feels her hands shake. Does she even deserve to make them rest? Shouldn’t she be going after those responsible for the empty seat across from them? 

“Did he ask for a drink before?”

The clank of the bottle being set back onto the table almost drowns out Wolfwood’s words. His muscles look stiff, like he wants to reach out but doesn’t know how.

“Yeah, he–,” she tries, but chokes up. Her throat feels so thick. As if stubbornly contradicting her thoughts, Wolfwood’s hand brushes over her back and settles between her shoulder blades. The sob wretches out of her mouth. 

“It’s my fault,” she sobs, and believes it, believes it in the very depths of her heart, “It’s my fault he died.”

“Hey now..”

“You know I’m right,” fingers curling into fists, nails cutting into her palm, “If I had just listened to him and stopped running into trouble, stopped sticking my nose into things I shouldn’t, then he wouldn’t– he wouldn’t have–”

“People die.” His voice sounds calm, repeating a phrase he’s told himself countless times before. And yet, his fingers dig into her skin, as if they hurt to say. “It might be your fault, it might not, but at the end of the day, people die. And you survived.”

Dragging her forearm across her face, Meryl snivels. “But it’s not fair.”

There’s bitterness in Wolfwood’s smile. “Life isn’t fair, princess.”

She’s learnt that now. To think that only months ago, she was living a cosy life with the only ambition of joining a newsdesk in the pursuit of justice, when she didn’t even know what justice was. The arm at her back sneaks around her shoulders, pulling her closer with a playful laugh.

“Any more confessions to make while your priest is sober?”

“Shut up, you’re not even a real priest.”

They both stiffen when they spot a familiar figure slouching into the bar. As usual, Vash had left without another word after both him and Wolfwood dragged Meryl out of that elevator. She’s glad he headed her warning for once and didn’t walk into what was so obviously a trap. Still, Meryl lets her eyes wander over him as he lets himself drop down on her other side. There is something void about him, like another piece of him had been forcefully chaffed away. 

But he’s here, with them.

Scooching over, Meryl carefully leans her head against his shoulder. She feels him stiffen, the physical contact too much and she almost jerks away to give him the space he needs. Before she can, his entire body relaxes, face sinking into her hair with a sigh. He nuzzles into her, nodding shallowly into Wolfwood’s direction. “How are you two holding up?”

Wolfwood raises his cigarette in a faux salute. “She’s down to her last bottle and this is my last cigarette. That’s pretty much it. What are you out of, blondie?”

Vash just laughs, pulls her a little closer. The message is clear.

Ever the observer, Vash nudges Meryl next, eyes burning into the gun lying on the table. “Did he give that gun to you?”

“Yeah,” she breathes, thinking back to that ugly spike of hatred that flared up in her, that want to take and take until what was taken from her was avenged, the emptiness when Wolfwood dragged her out. “I wanted to use it earlier. But I didn’t.”

His body presses closer to hers. “Meryl.”

“Tch,” Wolfwood scoffs, before she feels his arm back around her shoulder, fingers clamping around Vash’s coat, “you two are just the same. Seems like you’re gonna need me to look after you a little longer, huh?”

“If you want to be taken care of, Nico, just say so.”

She feels him smile into her hair. It’s a little broken, but they all are.

[volaenii]

| Trigun Stampede Episode 6 Ramble

Before writing this whole thing I’m about to go on, I just want to say that i will be talking about major trimax spoilers, specifically for volume 10 as well as spoilers for tristamp (obviously)! so if you haven’t read trimax, maybe skip this post! Anyways, onto the ramble!

I’ve had this thought for a while now — since I’ve first watch stampede — but I’m dumb and don’t know how to out my thoughts into words. Along with this, I’m sure there are others who have made posts talking about this exact thing but I don’t care, I just want to brainrot and cry over this.

So, episode 6 of tristamp — “Once Upon a Time in Hopeland” — is the episode in which we as the audience are finally given a glimpse into Wolfwood and Livio’s childhood at the orphanage. And immediately, something stands out about this entire scene — the artstyle changes.

Instead of the typical CG/3D models that we the audience are used to, we are given this sketchy, simplistic, 2D animation style instead — almost similar to that of which you’d find in a children’s book. This of course, is completely different in comparison to what Tristamp had shown us previously. All the other flashbacks we had been shown thus far had still been rendered in CG. But this. This scene in particular is the only one with this art style. With that being said, it’s safe to assume that Studio Orange did this with the specific purpose of making this scene feel special and distinct. To make it stand out and to signal it’s importance.

Now, with that being said, why would studio orange go out of there way to make a distinct artistic style just for this moment? Not to mention, why make it only geared towards Wolfwood and Livio? Well… I think studio orange is going to use it in relation to Wolfwoods death.

Like, okay hear me out, I’ve seen some people say that there worried wolfwood won’t die next season (for whatever reason) but like THE DEATH FLAGS ARE ALREADY THERE!

LIKE!! THE FUCKING BELL?? HELLO?? JUST THROW IN SOME CONFETTI WHILE YOUR AT IT! (IM SOBBING SO LOUDLY)

But anyways, back on topic. I think they’ll use this 2D artstyle in a way to make wolfwoods death hit like a fucking train. Like… after rewatching tristamp for the second time, I couldn’t help but feeling like this whole artstyle choice is going to bite us in the ass later.

Like…y’all… I can see the fucking confetti falling in this artstyle…

Now, this last segment of this ramble is just gonna be me speaking in “what if’s” and just spewing out made up scenes based on this idea since obviously we have no clue what studio orange plans on doing. But anyways, here it goes.

So like…imagine studio orange finally adapting the couch scene, with Vash and Wolfwood having their last drink. Now obviously, the scene would prolly go similarly to the manga, with Wolfwood saying that he’s sorry for saying his smiles were empty and vash telling him to not say stupid things. Cue in the confetti beginning to fall, and in Wolfwoods perspective it shifts art style. And to make it even more fucked up, they could do the thing were it flashes between this and then back to the normal CG models; between Wolfwoods contentment of his death and being at peace with it — depicted like a children book — versus the CG — the true reality of it… the one vash is experiencing as he begs god for just one thing.

On a side note, I’m so so so fucking scared and excited for what Orange has in store, considering the fact that they’ve already paralleled the one fucking confetti frame from the manga (which I will not show cuz I cant look at those panels but if you know, you know) and like, I don’t know, I think I’m just gonna be a mess when that arc gets adapted.

Anyways, UH, I KNOW THERES PROLLY A POST THAT HAS SAID THE SAME SHIT BEFORE BUT BETTER BUT I JUST HAVE HAD IT IN MY BRAIN FOREVER SO UH YEAH!

Take these screenshots as a gift! 💕

Thanks for reading my dumb thoughts!

[typingdyslexiaisathing]

Saving Someone Worth Dying For (Trigun 98) fic

content: Basically, Wolfwood gets saved. By Obsidian (OC) just jumping in the way and taking the hit for him. All for Vash to show up with the lost technology pod that manages and repairs the current experimental weapon that loves both these dumb dudes. Violence and blood and emergency first aide apparent. Mention of death. Mention of killing. Mention of experimentation. OC is a character that has been experimented on to now be part Plant, part other, part nanomachine cyborg. With added lost technology that is a medical pod that doubles as a travel vehicle. (since Trigun 98 has the extra weird lost tech shit and random cyborgs and stuff everywhere so why the heck not I say)

// Y'know that thing where you miss spell entire sentences cuz your fingers can't keep up with your brain so it comes out like alphabet soup? Yeah hence the name of my writing side blog ppl //

The shot rang out in the empty streets for blood to answer. Wolfwood going wide eyed as Chapel collapsed for my knees to hit the unforgiving ground. A rasp escaping my lips as the blood spattered over the dirt. Yet Wolfwood was soon leaning me back with a look of pure shock. His hand clapping over the bullet hole in my chest to then start fuming at the top of his lungs. "You stupid idiot! What the Hell were you thinking?!" Wolfwood snarled to put his forehead to mine as the tears fell from both our eyes. Yet I simply panted for air as the wind brushed past us to trace through my whitening hair.

Wolfwood soon had his coat off to bunch up the material and press it as hard as possible into the hole in my chest. Looking both furious and heartbroken as he spoke with all that pent up fear and adrenaline. "Even cybernetic nanomachines can't patch a bullet to the heart in time to keep you alive, Marsaili! Do you want to die or something?!" I got a half smile to rasp out, "Or something..." But that just got Wolfwood even more worked up to grit his teeth and hiss at me. "Damn you for always being a smartass! Damn it all to Hell! How is saving me from my own past going to work out when Vash kills me for getting you six feet under?! You even think before you jumped in the way to keep my insides from getting blown out of me?! Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

I shivered as things got colder for Wolfwood to give a rending sob. His eyes streaming hot tears as he watched me bleeding out in front of him. "You shouldn't have saved me! I should be the one laying in my own blood! But you just had to- You just had to protect me! You just had to forgive me for not telling anyone about- You never should have forgiven me for- Dammit, Marsaili! I'm not worth you dying for! Not when I made the mistakes and should pay the price!" My sigh is one of loving patience as Wolfwood gives a hard sob that sounds like it hurt his throat. But he soon kneels down to shift me so I'm laying against him for both his hands to cover that bullet hole that's weeping as much as his eyes are by now. "Damn you, Marsaili. I'm so sorry. I should have asked for help instead of leaving all of you in the dark. But I believed it wasn't a real option. And now you're... You're paying for my sins... God, I never wanted this..."

Somehow, I had known all along we'd end up like this at some point. From the moment I'd woken up in that long forgotten science lab on an abandoned SEEDS ship taken over by some nasty plotting villains to have been changed by lost technology and scheming evils. The nanomachine enhancements combined with infusions of Plant cells and hardwired metals along my spine and only God knew whatever else was done. With several people from a different SEEDS ship getting me awake and out of the portable medical pod on wheels. Vash had been there to be the first one I saw upon waking. His smile full of relief and sadness to have him tell me he was there to protect me. A vow he kept for this entire time I'd been on this dustbin of a planet. yet I had known in the back of my mind that something like this was inevitable. I had been remade into a weapon slash survivor. The scriptures I still held faith in say 'those who live by the sword shall die by the sword' for a very good reason. You don't fight and protect and kill and exist in a war zone to expect to die peacefully of old age. Yet I had never wanted to have such hurt one of the few people I love. Something that I knew Wolfwood felt that same way over. But it wasn't something we could avoid easily or find a loophole to. Hence why I had accepted my death long ago.

Thankfully, my plan had not been to charge in alone. I had told Vash to be ready for the worst and to get my medical pod that doubled as a traveling vehicle geared up for the fight that was approaching. So it didn't take long for Vash to come skidding up from the main road in that very vehicle to park it right behind Wolfwood and open the medical pod carrying surgical supplies. Yet Vash did look terrified the moment he saw Wolfwood and myself to immediately get out the transfusion blood and secure the IV line into connector at the back of my neck for such emergency transfusions. Vash looking a mixture of petrified and furious as he kneeled down in front of us to shine a pen light into my eyes. "I hate it when your right, Marsaili. Just had to sprint off for me to try tracking down with the barest hint of where the fighting was. Both of you are going to scare me to death one of these days. Also. You are a fucking idiot, Nick."

Wolfwood gave a hard huff that might have been a laugh to look to Vash with a gaze that screamed his heartbreak and regret. His words also full of rending sorrow as Vash ripped open the packaging for the medical bandages. "I know that now... In all the ways you'd point out over beating me to a pulp. Just keep her alive, Vash. I don't care if you have to use me as an organ donor. Just save our Obsidian Angel..." Vash took a second to whap Wolfwood over the head before he continued with the emergency first aide. "Shut up. You're not doing that now or ever. For one thing, you are a different blood type than her. Secondly. I'm not about to kill the guy she gave everything to save. So cork it and help me-"

It was then that both of them realized someone was standing behind us. The click of a safety sounding out as Chapel stood there trembling from head to toe. Making Wolfwood gasp to draw his pistol and point it at Chapel as Vash switched out the coat for actual sealing bandages to the hole in my chest. Wolfwood snarling in pure hate, "Don't even think it, you bastard..." But Chapel all but convulsed on his feet to gasp and growl out, "I'm not! Legato! It's Legato making me move! Nicholas! Take the shot!" Wolfwood didn't need to be told twice for him to empty his gun. But he shot Chapel's hands, elbows and knees. Having the former teacher slash threat fall to the ground without any real ways of moving. Much less any ways of shooting anyone else. So Wolfwood set his gun back down as Vash got the oxygen tube down my throat and deep into my airway to have me shiver at how much that hurts. With Wolfwood shifting me so Vash could work easier as I fought to cling to the waking world and life. The oxygen tank set by us as Vash finally took a good look at me. His grimace deepening as he grit his teeth. "God... Marsaili... You still with us?"

I gave a huff to blink my eyes open and look to Vash through a haze of pain and numbness that meant I was still alive enough to be rightly not happy. With the nanomachine AI program built into my brain giving me a read out of just how bad my insides were. But since the oxygen tube was currently in my throat and all the way down to my lungs, I wasn't speaking anytime soon. So Vash took the hint to shift so he grabbed my legs. "Nick. Lift her up and help me get her into that lost tech pod. It's got scanners and an AI program that will be able to converse with us over how bad Marsaili is." Wolfwood nodded to then heft me up so they could move me. The vehicle shifting and all but unfolding in various sections for the medical pod to open up like a table. The wires and mechanical claws soon doing their thing to connect to plugs and skin as I got laid down. The computer monitor flicking to life for several displays to glow and start processing. While Vash soon brought the hand tablet out to read over as Wolfwood all but laid himself next to me to watch as the pod unpieced my top to get better readings while I relaxed into the table.

Vash watched with unblinking eyes to then shudder and huff out a held breath. A few more bags of transfusion blood soon added to my veins via the pod's whirring machinery for Wolfwood to finally speak up. "Just missed everything vital by a hair. Is that what you look so relieved over?" Vash gave a few panted breaths before answering. " I was so sure that bullet ripped open the bottom of her right ventricle. Or worse and ripped through her septum that separates the right ventricle from the left. God does work miracles..." Wolfwood shuddered to then ask, "How bad though?" Vash shifted to all but collapse into the driver's seat of the vehicle to rub at his eyes. "Nicked the epicardium close to the apex of her heart. But it's more a bare scratch instead of a hole or worse. We are never getting that lucky again." Wolfwood let that hit him to have him all but go limp into my side. His arms coming around after the table adjusted to automatically take his weight to hug me and have him start crying without a sound. The AI program that had some sentience to it crackling over the computer speaker system with that same stoic yet sarcastic voice. "Lucky in the sense that this AI running the nanomachines had enough microseconds to shift her heart that much and away from a fatal hit. Both of you need to stop with this teenage drama bullshit and get on the same page. Unless you enjoy having the few actual resources this medical pod has built in get used so frequently."

Vash didn't have the energy to argue as my own thoughts got translated to come over the speakers. But my own words were a bit more forgiving. "They got that already and will do so from now on. So instead of the lecture, let's plan for the next steps. Legato is aware of what's happened. Probably pissed off that his plan just went to shit. So I vote Nick and I go off radar and we act like I'm basically dead for the pod to get two of us gone to the closest SEEDS ship." Vash felt that hit like a punch to the gut to then sigh as Wolfwood gave a growl of noise. But Vash nodded to then swipe a waiting bottle of potent rejuvenating mineral water to chug it down and then stuff a huge chunk of dried meat jerky into his mouth to chew. Wolfwood soon sitting up to turn his gaze to where Chapel was still on the ground and shivering for Wolfwood to then nod. "It's a plan we can do. I stay with Marsaili to make sure she gets to the help she'll need long term. You take my Punisher and supplies to kick Legato's balls in and then beat your brother. We meet back up once the fighting is over."

The moment lengthen for Vash to soon be up on his feet and on my other side. His arms soon going around Wolfwood and myself as the vehicle doors closed to start driving us towards a drop off point. Having already used those several dozen wires to drag the Punisher to the vehicle and secure it on the roof. So Vash held us tight as the AI program got us going. Wolfwood gripping Vash's coat as he choked on a cough. "Vash... I will make this up to both of you. No dying or risking us anymore. Just... God... Come back in one piece. Don't let Legato or Knives or any other fucked up bastard hurt you or anyone else." Vash nodded to then get that serious air that spoke of his conviction as much as it did his righteous fury. "I promise you both. Nicholas. Marsaili. No more hesitating. The next time I see Legato... He will die... Even if I have to rip his damn head off to then crush his skull under my foot... No more watching as this evil ruins my family or my friends... No more hoping that this evil will let the ones I love stay breathing to then have that evil sunder all I love... I'm done betting on your lives and on hope that is too risky... This ends... For good..."

[nijishinki]

So, I have a thought on Vash’s healing/gate/destruction abilities

I watched Trigun Stampede and I loved it. And of corse this spawned multiple thoughts that I need to share with people or I go crazy

They say he’s the only one who can take and give to the other plane, which is shown in the way he can heal and that literal black hole he opened on his arm. I also think that be can heal by either pulling from the plane and giving to the plants by just energizing them or maybe reforming a connection with the plane.

But he also eats more compared to Nai. I think him eating is another way of storing energy to either convert into healing energy or into destructive energy. Like he can go some time without eating and drinking, and while I don’t know if he can go so long like Nai or other plants, he can still do it. Thus, the energy from the food may be able to be given back to the plants.

This may also be why he can get tired after healing because he didn’t pull from the gate he pulled from himself. Or he gets tired because he’s literally got a doorway in him and I’m sure that’s a lot of power to have to manipulate.

For the black hole, I think that opened because he was distressed and was literally in a room where some uncountable number of plants just died. It may have opened as the result of trying to balance out such a pull or loss from the other plane. Or it was a protective instinct maybe in reaction to the number of plant deaths and his own distress.

And since he can pull energy from the other side, it may explain where that destructive energy for his angel arm comes from, along with his own energy that he has and gains from eating and drinking.

But yeah if his gate is like the doorway (does that make Nai the key or the gate or both?) then it makes sense he can pull and give back (heal and freaking black hole stuff). But I think the fact that he eats more like a human is where he gets some of that energy from.

Or maybe he’s more human because he is the doorway. Gotta balance between the worlds.

Anyway those are just random thoughts I need to share or I go crazy. Gotta empty out the brain to make room for more stuff.

[ac-liveblogs]

The tl;dr on Trigun Stampede is that it’s a good show, but*

This is the show that I watched on a whim bc I thought Vash was cute and it consumed my brain for the next three months. I do not regret that decision. 

Heading into Trigun, I knew jackshit about it. I think the only character I could’ve recognised prior to this was 90s Vash (whose design I didn’t and still kind of don’t like!). I was too young for Adult Swim in the… very brief period of time that it was actually airing on Cartoon Network in Australia and I’m not sure if Trigun was even on it anyway, so I had absolutely no expectations walking in. 

Obviously, the most notable thing about this show to a newcomer is the animation. It’s been interesting watching RWBY vol 9 and Stampede back to back, let’s say that much. It’s stellar. I think this is one of the prettiest shows I’ve watched in a very long time, and the combat animation is fluid, energetic and full of so much personality. I was still deciding how I felt about the show right up until episode 3 - Millions Knives’ debut - and as soon as I saw the attack on Jeneora I was hitting up my WatchPal to recommend it. I think you can definitely see where Studio Orange cut corners - some locations can feel very empty - but for what they actually want you to focus on, the show looks great.

Episode 4’s reveal of Wolfwood’s Punisher (and what it can do) lives in my head rent-free to this day, and quite frankly episode 12 is one of my favourite fight scenes in pretty much anything. A lot of love and attention to detail goes into these fights, and the choreography is fresh and exciting. Vash shooting at Nai resembling a 3rd-person shooter was so much fun. WatchPal was very patient with me constantly asking to pause, rewind, watch that scene again, pick out this or that detail. Sorry dude. Worth it to see how terribad a fighter Nai actually is, though, shit’s hilarious. I think that even if you don’t care for the plot, this show is worth watching just for the fight scenes and set pieces. 

I think no one’s going to argue the plot is rushed, but what’s there is solid and interesting. This world is absolutely fascinating, and I had a lot of fun speculating on what was happening or what Nai’s goals were. The most fun I had was picking out the biblical themes (which I surprisingly know more of than I thought I did) and working out who was what was where and why, and I’ll be very curious to see where that all goes. I’m also an obnoxious Final Fantasy 7 purist, so I was obviously enjoying the heavy-handed pro-environmentalism themes and psychological horror elements. Nai was right until he was wrong. I’ll be… interested to see how this all resolves next season, because I’m not sure I’m meant to think Vash is right, exactly. 

Vash is an enjoyable MC, though he’s kind of a woobie, huh? I watched Badlands Rumble in the middle of all this and was shocked at the difference in characterisation (incidentally, not a good movie!) He was definitely a lot goofier in eps 1 and 2, but things took a real turn in episode 3 that he never quite cheered up from so I’m hoping to see him in his natural habitat once things chill out. “He’s both the hero and the heroine” is a phrase that’s stuck with me since I learnt the screenwriter apparently said it, and it’s certainly made the way he’s written incredibly interesting to dissect symbolically.

Picking apart symbolism in this show is one of my favourite things to do with it.

Surprisingly, I think William Conrad is one of the more interesting characters in the show. I’m so fascinated by the logic behind everything he’s done. I want more of this dude, I thought Meryl was gonna murk him and was pleasantly surprised when she didn’t.

I like Wolfwood. I like narrative foils and homoerotic subtext. I think Wolfwood is potentially really interesting and didn’t get to shine in Stampede, but he’s got at least one whole season ahead of him and I am already predicting that Trimax is going to make me exceptionally mentally unwell about him. I can pick ‘em. I can sense it. I can smell blood in the water. I am also saying, right now and for posterity, that Wolfwood is going to die. He’s gonna die in Stampede, he’s gonna die in Maximum, he probably died in the 90s. Sorry. It’s gonna happen.

If this weren’t a 12 episode series and it would’ve been unsatisfying for it to happen here, I would’ve expected him to die redeeming himself after betraying Vash in July. Now we’re past his Judas phase, I’m wondering what the New Biblical Imagery he’s going to pick up to replace it will be bc as is, uh... dude by all means should probably just power walk really fast in the other direction and never be seen or heard from again.

Nai is a really fun and sympathetic villain right up until he's fun and an absolute monster, and I respect his deranged manner and willingness to wrangle that twincest subtext as close to actual text as he could possibly get it. I am SO curious how much of that was in the original because jesus christ. I felt bad for the guy and agree with him to a certain extent, but my feelings about Nai’s handling are going to have to wait until I see how Vash’s arc continues and what happens to Plants going forward. Vash doesn’t seem particularly motivated to change the status quo at this stage which is... interesting. We’ll see what happens.

I was very lukewarm on Meryl until eps 10-12. Now it’s the Zazie-Meryl Power Hour. As soon as I realised they were parallels my brain woke up. While I’m really ??? unsure about Wolfwood’s trajectory going forward, I am very excited for Meryl’s. It also helps she turned into a chain-smoking disaster senpai in the timeskip. She’s Mary Magdalene also. That’s really cool. I felt really smart when I figured out that really obvious connection, finally, in episode 11. (I know some bible but not that much bible.)

I… I don’t get points for figuring out which two biblical figures Vash is representative of. No one does. I do get points for noticing he yanked Wolfwood’s entire colour scheme when he started trying to kill Nai, though. That was cool. That fight was so fucking cool. 

Trigun Stampede is a really fun show.

*But. 

It is a show absolutely hamstrung by its episode count. When you’re dealing with either 12 or 24 episode seasons you’re inevitably going to run into problems when you’re not working with original material, and Stampede was having serious problems fitting in all the plot points that it needed to before the finale. This show’s pace is absolutely breakneck with absolutely no room to breathe, and in the end that means the main cast’s relationships suffer for it. I was very disappointed to find that I really liked Roberto in the episode that he died, and that was episode 10. 

Episodes 10-12 leaves the implication of shenanigans and much stronger relationships than we got. That’s a real shame because the show roughly broke into Vash-Wolfwood, Vash-Nai and Meryl-Roberto with very little crossover - I know Vash/Meryl is a classic, but she ended up having more chemistry with Wolfwood, and any semblance of party dynamic evaporated once we got to Home. And speaking of Home, that lack of space between episodes and the necessity to explain Vash and Nai’s backstory ended up with us teleporting in and out, and the rest of the trip to July getting crammed off-screen. Integral scenes are missing - I had to consult a more knowledgeable coworker about the missing pieces of Wolfwood’s backstory so I could get his rough timeline (and age) actually explained to me, and I did find myself wanting to explore this world a lot more than we had time to do. 

Like. Seriously. What the hell is up with Legato. Who are you. How are you doing that. Why are you here. Why is your hair blue.

The photo of the group in episode 12 in particular really makes me feel like there’s a lot we missed out on without a couple of breather episodes here and there. I think with the exception of Vash and Nai, whose relationship is quite interesting and intense, I enjoyed the concepts of the characters more than the actual execution. However, I’m also 100% sure that Nai and Vash was the Absolute Main Focus of this season, so, I can let this go if season 2 delivers. 

Sorry Vashwood, you’re very fun in theory and I like you a lot, but we’re kind of pulling at threads here. Trimax is apparently gonna be an Experience though. 

I try to take the circumstances of a work’s creation into account when I talk about it, and between a 12 or 24 episode series I understand why Studio Orange chose 12, but Stampede really needed 15 or 16 to shine with the narrative it wanted to tell. I also understand why Stampede chose to seed future plot points that went absolutely nowhere this season - Wolfwood’s beef with Livio, Legato and Elendira being prime examples (christ this guy is gonna be busy in season 2), and the trip Home specifically after the Sand Steamer feels a bit pointless at this stage - but I can’t help but wonder if that time would have been better spent elsewhere. 

Although, a lot of fans couldn’t even deal with Milly’s absence even though it took about 5 seconds for me, someone who confused Trigun with Cowboy Bebop until quite recently, to work out what Meryl’s rough character arc was and why Milly was absent (but pretty clearly coming back later in very predictable way), so maybe Studio Orange was being wise by assuring, uh, certain fans they hadn’t forgotten or maliciously chosen to delete these characters. 

I’ve heard Trigun wasn’t as popular in Japan as it was in the West, so maybe that 12 episode pick was playing it safe, but since S2 has been greenlit and Stampede seems to have been a pretty big success, hopefully Orange can spring for 24 episodes this time and make this show really shine.

Anyway, I’m gonna read the manga now.

[honeyflare7262]

Brain empty only Trigun x Cyberpunk Edgerunners Vashmeryl AU

[screechthemighty]

Okay, going to start posting the Best Of for my Trigun/TriMax notes by volume. Note that this was my second time reading Trigun and all reactions are off-the-cuff; any hindsight-based commentary will be in italics. Also, there may be CWs I missed, but I did try to note things as I went.

Trigun Notes: Volume One

Trigun #1.1: The $$60 Billion Double Dollar Man

Injuries 603, murders 72, oof.

“This week’s satellite” like radio reports as a primary news method?

Screaming at the fact that he knew they didn’t have bullets and basically dared them to shoot him.

Trigun #1.2: Looney Tunes

Meryl: talking loud enough will give me authority, right

“More than 50 of our plants have died” due to a system bug…LOT of plants [Note: I do still wonder if they meant individual plants, because they seem a lot rarer in later adaptations. Then again, this is only the second chapter, so it might just be a continuity issue?]

Trigun #1.3: Hard Puncher

Stop backseat dueling y‘all, he knows what he’s doing

This man can do full splits after 100+ years, damn lmao

“Officially designated a localized disaster” is the FUNNIEST resolution and IDK why the ‘98 anime didn’t keep that

“Very nice to meet you” “Likewise, I think” LOL

Trigun #1.4: Popo

Mild CW for this chapter, but one character lies about having been sexually abused.

“How long do you intend to follow me?” “Until we retire, probably” “Okay, perfect *runs*"

“That was more than I deserved, maybe” Lot to unpack there, buddy!

Trigun #1.5: Assault

“They sure are good (especially that big one)” Milly supremacy

“You’re like those people from the big fall over 100 years ago. A nice person” So kindness is seen as a legit rarity here

Brilliant Dynamites Neon sure is a gang leader name

Trigun #1.6: Die Hards

Meryl + Milly coming out of the dark to beat up some dudes = SO ominous lmao

“I’m gonna need all the empty spots in my soupy brain” Oh, mood.

Vash using tough love on Kite = always hilarious

Trigun #1.7: Rem

Vash smiling sheepishly after he beats a guy in a fight…angel man…

“You’re far too easy on the whole human race” Kite citing everyone’s sins and Vash responding with “Then start all over again. [...] Your ticket to the future is always blank.” AHHHHH

“He’s got a helluva arm and the devil’s luck.” Just gunslinger things.

Trigun #1.8: Duelist

No bodies found at July, even with the city leveled; Vash doesn’t remember anything but the aftermath. [Note: At the time I thought this was the same thing as how in the '98 anime there weren't any casualties but...nope............TriMax made it worse.]

Trigun #1.9: Between the Wasteland and Sky…

Meryl: eff it, retail therapy

“Do your nerves even work?” Yes, but his baseline pain levels are a 4, so…

“You’re glorious, sister” right when he called her a brat earlier, lmao

Heart/breathing DO synchronize, because his vitals stop when hers do–wings not visible between panels, maybe representative of the Plant recognizing Vash as a sibling? [Note: could be reading that wrong, though]

“Maybe this is what it means for people to go on living. This must be what she believed, why she traded her life for everyone else’s!” So he’s still struggling with that as a concept, oof.

Trigun #1.11: Son

“People do say that strangers’ faces all cook the same” Oh, Milly

People: betray their families Milly: Chooses violence

Father makes the point that Morgan only wants the land to have it but won’t cultivate or respect it; Badwick more worried about his parents’ safety [Note: Honestly you could easily read an environmental theme into parts of Trigun with very little effort.]

“Guns are our second-to-last resort” Ma’am what is your last resort???

Trigun #1.12: River of Life

“This is not the time to come apart like this. Fight, Meryl!” My girl!!!

“What are you gonna do with a derringer and a stun gun?” “Would you care to find out?” YES, BITCH

Meryl’s “?????” at her gun = classic

Theme of trusting others even if you don’t understand or agree with their path, believing in others in a family setting–ohh, hurts a bit in light of Wolfwood and Knives!!!

[gonestarroaming]

This song and trigun. It's been chewing on my brain. You can not go with imagery of blades and revolvers in a battle you don't want to be in and not invoke these brothers.

Lyrics under readmore

Your blades are sharpened with precision

Flashing your favorite point of view

I know you're waiting in the distance

Just like you always do

Just like you always do

Already pulling me in

Already under my skin

And I know exactly how this ends, I

Let you cut me open

Just to watch me bleed

Gave up who I am for who you wanted me to be

Don't know why I'm hoping

For what I won't receive

Falling for the promise of the emptiness machine

The emptiness machine

Going around like a revolver

It's been decided how we lose

'Cause there's a fire under the altar

I keep on lying to

I keep on lying to

Already pulling me in

Already under my skin

And I know exactly how this ends, I

Let you cut me open

Just to watch me bleed

Gave up who I am for who you wanted me to be

Don't know why I'm hoping

For what I won't receive

Falling for the promise of the emptiness machine

I only wanted to be part of something

I only wanted to be part of, part of

I only wanted to be part of something

I only wanted to be part of, part of

I only wanted to be part of something

I only wanted to be part

I let you cut me open

Just to watch me bleed

Gave up who I am for who you wanted me to be

Don't know why I'm hoping

So fucking naive

Falling for the promise of the emptiness machine

The emptiness machine

(I only wanted to be part of something)

The emptiness machine

(I only wanted to be part of)

The emptiness machine

[littleogreboii]

my dreams provide the gateway to the nightmares i forgot

AO3

Even without his memories, nightmares about what could have been continue to plague Eriks. Sleep becomes his own personal hell. (Post Season 1 Trigun Stampede)

Warnings: Body Horror, Independent Plant Experimentation, Nightmares.

Characters: Vash the Stampede (Centric), Tesla (Unnamed but Present), Millions Knives (Mentioned)

Author Notes: just a short little fic about eriks sleeping :) what a cute nap he has :))))

She’s pulling him along again, her nails digging holes into the flesh of his hand. Flesh hand. His brain stutters. Both hands are flesh. Why wouldn’t they be flesh? It settles deep inside a pit in his stomach. It’s all wrong.

They tear down winding hallways, twisting and turning yet never seeming to reach an end. The walls darken, paint peeling as they run further and further. A scream resonates within him and bounces off the walls, overlapping with another layer to create a harmonious cacophony.

He wants to stop running.

His brain creaks trying to recall why there’s a harrowing feeling threatening to drown him, but he can’t. All he knows is he needs her to let him go. He needs to get away. Her grip tightens, mocking him.

“Please.” He begs. “Please stop.”

Her pace is relentless, only seeming to grow faster the further they travel. He tries to pull away, but the nails dig in further, leaving trails of blood trickling down his wrist.

“Please.” He tries again, trying to dig his heels in. It only results in him stumbling and almost greeting the ground.

“Please, I can still save you.” He’s not sure where the words come from, but they drag out of him raw and desperate. They form a lie sitting heavy on his tongue.

Inevitable.

The words rotate in his mind. The end starts to appear ahead. A door grows to loom over them. The dread clutches his stomach in a vice grip. They can’t go in there. They can’t. If they go in there, they’ll-

They can’t go in there.

He reignites his fight against her, reaching for the walls in the hopes of dragging himself away from her. Chills wrack his spine as he’s pulled closer and closer to the door.

She comes to a stop at the doorway, hand not relenting on his in the slightest. She starts to turn and he pleads and begs for her to look away. It’s useless. Their eyes meet, the smile on her face is a reflection of the agony he imposes on others.

“I’ve seen too many smiles from people who were hollow inside.”

Her smile melts away as her organs spill out crashing onto the floor with a sickening squelch. He falls to his hands and knees, trying desperately to replace them. The ground is wet with blood and fluid, dying the white of his pants an ugly shade of pink.

“Please.” He begs again. “Let me save you.”

An ice cold hand brushes against his cheek, in what should be comfort, but her eyes are empty as they stare past him. There would never be light in them again.

“Vash.”

He rises, leaving her to the ground. She disintegrates in a flourish of geraniums, and with her his memories too. 

His body is cold as he steps into the room. A container sits broken in the centre as the screams reach a climax. A small part of his brain corrects it to ‘her container’, but for the life of him, he can’t recall who she would be.

It’s been him screaming all along, as though it were a heartbeat. A second voice echoes the scream back to him and this too he recognises. He was never to be alone in his agony.

His hand reaches across the glass of the container. Her prison. A smear of a blood handprint is left on the glass as he lowers his hand.

“Sorry.” He gasps out, as his brows furrow in confusion. The guilt eats at his stomach, but he can’t find the cause. His throat is raw, but the screams continue to leave him, dragged out by some unforgiving cosmic force.

A sharp note snaps his attention up. Across the room, sitting mockingly where the console should be is a large organ. The face of one of his fallen sisters looms over him, gaze contorted into permanent agony. He thinks that if he could see his reflection now, that would be all that greets him.

Before he can even think of approaching the organ, another note rings out and the floor beneath him disappears. His left hand reaches out, grasping for something he isn’t sure of, but then there’s laughter echoing all around him as his arm explodes in a shower of geraniums and blood.

Water splashes all around him as his body moves on its own accord, trying to find a break in the all consuming. There’s glass all around him and faces peer at him from all around. He can’t make out the details, but he knows deep in his gut what this means. 

The humans have found him and now they are going to tear him to pieces.

His body is unrecognisable in the reflection he catches in the glass. His intestines float, unravelled around him. There is no skull for which his eyes sit in, only the brain they remain attached to. There’s no mouth left for him to scream out of, yet the sound continues to tear itself out of him.

One of the figures moves closer to the glass, and if he still had the nerves to, he’d flinch. As it is, he stares unmoving at the figure, as the shadows fade away and he’s left to stare at his personal hell.

“Isn’t this what you wanted, Vash?” His name is dragged out in a familiar taunt, as he can do nothing more than gaze upon his brother.

Erik’s jolts upright in bed. His lungs crash against his ribs as the last of his scream peters out. He gasps, terror rippling through him in waves as tears tear down his cheeks. He sits in the dark, lost in his own fear.

But for the life of him, he can’t quite recall why he’s so scared in the first place.

[andrewansahartwork]

     This is my three by six foot final project for my drawing class. Yes, I book ended my assignments for this class by making (what I think at least) is a bigger, better version of the first drawing I did for the class. The reasons I did this are numerous, but here we go.

    The first assignment I had to do for this class was a free drawing with the subject of said drawing relating to what I want to do or focus on in the coming years in art school. Since I want to go into animation, I came up with these seven characters that look like they belong in an animated series off of the top of my head. These seven characters didn't have anything to them when I first drew them. But I've come up with stories for them all semester, and at this point, they have descriptions that go with them. First, there's the (gray) man with a mask who works as a museum curator. However, he's long stopped caring about a lot of things in life, and is a generally unhappy person to be around due to his lack of sympathy towards most anyone or anything. One day, because of this lack of caring, or maybe for the hell of it, he tries on an ancient mask that had just been delivered to the museum he works at to be put on display, and when he does, he becomes the boss of six super humans that happened to live in the same city he has all this time. The (blue) kid obsessed with candy, is also the proud owner of candy swords and spears he creates himself. The (red) old man who's a head in a jar, loves retro video games and has a body made out of giant toy magnets. The (purple) ghost woman who may or may not actually be a demon, was once the owner the biggest convenience store chain in America, but became a ghost under mysterious circumstances. The (yellow) man with a giant stern looking chin, has an effinity for tea but also had his brain replaced with a copy of a book detailing tragedies from the year 1912. The (bronze) six eyed beast creature he rides, has another gelatinous four eyed beast living inside of him that makes up two giant arms that carry him from place to place (this guy was once human, but underwent cruel experiments from an underground research society). Finally, there's the (green) college student who studies for class so much she sleeps during her work hours at the local library. But she also harbors the older brother of the four eyed creature that lives inside the beast creature, inside of her. So, she lets this creature cover for her at the library, due to him being the smartest one of the group. But no one in this group of misfits listens to what he has to say. Basically, now the museum curator, who feels like he's lost his drive to do anything in life, has six bizarre super humans at his disposal to order around.

    The reason I'd decided to draw this for my final, is because I've been wanting to do something with these characters I've basically been obsessing over for several months now. I am also currently working on a small minute and a half animation (in the style of an anime opening sequence because I happened to come across a song that would fit this premise almost perfectly), but because the time I've had to work on it has been so infrequent, I decided to book end my assignments for my drawing class, with the more realized versions of the characters that appeared in my first assignment. There are several reasons each character is only one color. These are the colors each character were assigned for the more stylistic sequences in the animation that currently isn't finished. Not just because it cuts down on animation time, but because the more vibrant and interesting colors belong to the super humans, and the color that feels the most bleak compared to the rest, belongs to the depressed man in his mid twenties. There's also meaning I've attempted to assign to the shattered glass aesthetic I attempted to create with paint and tape. I wanted to have the glass shattered around the curator because I wanted to create a picture where the lull in his life is broken by the super humans he's now the boss of, and to have the contrast between the colored shards of glass (that are the colors of most of the characters) clash with the mood the color of the curator gives off, in order to emphasize the fact that he feels broken inside. Also, take note of how the shards trickle down the pages, filling an emptiness that also belonged to the depressed curator.

     This idea was inspired by the works of one of my favorite manga artists Yasuhiro Nightow. He's the creator of series like Trigun, and and Blood Blockade Battlefront. The later of the two being one of my favorite things ever made, and a big influence on this project (the way the Nightow draws his characters was something I wanted to partly emulate in order to sneak in a shoutout of sorts). As I continue to develop this idea and these characters, I do want to have the Yasuhiro Nightow and Blood Blockade Battlefront influences strike a balance with my own ideas and narratives I create for these characters. With the setup alone, I feel that if I keep this idea in my back pocket for a while, I could truly develop it into a fully realized television series of twenty four (or so) episodes somewhere in the distant future. But until then, please enjoy this concept art!

Up close versions of the bottom page (it’s the biggest, so it’s hard to see):

I’ll update later with a batter picture of what the entire thing looks like without it being broken up to fit in my dorm for picture taking purposes.