#i also don't mean to be so vague about metal's caretaker

[south-sea]

Fuck them mean anons, tell me more about how Second Chance AU Metal got his hostility coding removed?

small context out of the way first: "hostility coding" in this case just refers to what makes a badnik inherently predisposed to aggression. it's not so much their capacity for violence so much as it is their tendency to attack just about anything/specifically seek to destroy sonic/etc. it, along with their "loyalty programming", is a key component in what makes them subservient to eggman.

to make an exceptionally long story short and more to-the-point: metal's new caretaker is a phenomenal inventor/coding engineer in his own right, and is responsible for identifying and removing it. i'd not put this caretaker on par with eggman or tails, not even remotely close, but he certainly knows his ins-and-outs when it comes to programming. you could say it's integral to his own existence, even.

so when metal falls and shadow brings him in for repairs, this caretaker is dissatisfied with the local engineers' treatment of metal. they clearly don't know what they're doing, and are treating him more like a Thing than a Person, and that pisses the caretaker off to no end. it strikes a personal nerve, even. in the end, this is how he ends up metal's new caretaker at all; he just decides this lil robot is his responsibility now, actually. completely unplanned for, unspoken, and if anyone asks, no, caretaker definitely does not care or have a personal stake in metal's well-being or anything. definitely not.

whether the caretaker wants to admit it or not, he has effectively adopted metal, and takes to fixing him up on his own. due to certain qualities about the caretaker, he's also got a knack for "mentally" syncing up with robots/the like. since metal at this stage is incapable of communication outside of a little sign language, the caretaker just syncs with him semi-regularly to help identify metal's needs/what repairs he's comfortable with, so on.

this caretaker is very big on acknowledging and encouraging a robot's autonomy/personhood, so doing upgrades/tampering with metal's coding without consent is completely out of the question. anything he does or doesn't do to upgrade metal is specifically only ever with metal's permission. (he is also responsible for, much later on, re-enabling metal's voice chip, still left over from his neo metal arc, but previously disconnected.)

over time, these sync-sessions lead to the caretaker finding the hostility programming, as well as this pesky loyalty coding. and with a little programming magic of his own, eventually he manages to overwrite and remove it for good.

it doesn't fundamentally change metal as an individual, but it does free him of eggman's influence, and allows him to make his own decisions for himself going forward.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Trimax Thoughts Vol. 9 Pt. 1

Stream of consciousness again everyone, you know the drill!

[All images are from Trigun Maximum Volume 9.]

The panel of tiny Livio getting bonked in the head by the can of... orange juice (?) that tiny Wolfwood tossed at him has me giggling

Wolfwood's always been in a caretaker/protector role, hasn't he? Explains a lot...

[ID: A young Wolfwood laughs with closed eyes. The text next to him says "Our lives kept on goin'..." End ID.]

🥺

Livio... no... (oh I have a feeling I know what happened there...)

Asking that kid if he can go to the bathroom on his own yet then just standing there awkwardly smiling while the kid just goes "What?" Hjhdfbdjfh he's so stupid... (also this is sad because they don't recognize him... but hdjfhdjfhb)

I wonder if Wolfwood even knew Livio was alive before he showed up with Chapel in Volume 7. It's really depressing

Oh??? Livio got kicked out of the EoM???

Hmmm... Livio saved that young kid... I don't think he's quite as unaffected as he's pretending to be.

...You're telling me that Chapel smoked? And now Wolfwood does? FUCK.

Damn, Chapel, you have so many fucking issues you are projecting on Wolfwood wtf

[ID: In stark white lighting on a dramatic underhand angle, Livio catches a missile in mid-air using his bare hand. End ID.]

?????? Oh, Livio is so cool.

"Please survive, Livio." *sob, sob* :'(

[ID: Wolfwood glances over, teeth gritted and eye shocked and wide, saying "Livio... no wait... It's not him!" "Livio" is near completely in shadow, except for his hair, the half skull mask, and the white eye underneath it. End ID.]

Ahhh... hi Razlo...

He has a THIRD ARM that's METALLIC AND COMES OUT OF HIS BACK??? WHAT

So. Razlo is younger, which means he is the alter created because Livio couldn't get away from his abusive parents.

...I have to ask. Bro what happened to your shirt. I mean I know it was the third arm busting out but... bro. They couldn't give you a shirt that has a hole for your weird extra arm? Is it tits out today???

Actually I'm thinking about this. They gave Razlo three Punishers but Livio doesn't have any. He also didn't seem to know what those other people were there for. It really comes across like Razlo's violence is their secret most valuable weapon... which makes Livio kind of just an extra, or like the living embodiment of that mask he wears; a living soul who may as well be dead for how he has no place in the world and for how he is treated. Meanwhile, Razlo has only known violence; his only goal is to protect Livio and this is the only way he knows how/finds any value in; they only further affirm his cruelty as a necessity for survival. It's just. Ugh. Way to screw these kids up more.

Sorry I have no words for the part where Wolfwood is thinking about Vash and their philosophies. I just. Augh. Oh, to be irreparably changed by someone who validates what you wanted so badly to hope for but couldn't...

"An iron bell is tollin' inside my head... or at least one should be... I can't seem to hear it now..."

Ahaha. That's not ominous or vaguely concerning or anything.

...see you guys in volume 10... :/