#its really just tristamp knives

[cakechako]

“his body is absurd” and it’s just a guy with massive tits

[carterrdraws]

some knives sketches from this morning

[berrysquared]

quick trigun playlist covers I made for myself

[realseascourge]

Nai and Vash as dragons dudes of sorts in a doodle. As a treat. Also I was testing out Rebelle 6 since I just got it yesterday. It had a lot of neat features and I was testing out some of it. I have no idea if I'll finish this piece of these clowns, we'll see. I could probably fix some of the stiffness and anatomy issues later that way. NODNOD.

[ghost-bard]

What if i… like in every media that im heavily attached to… made a trigun oc…. As a little treat… for me

I mean its either that or i make an au teehee so….

[anachronistic-falsehood]

Vash and Femininity: Trigun Stampede and its Themes of Bodily Autonomy, Exploitation, and Vague Gender Fuckery

alright sit the fuck down. we're gonna talk about THEMES

I was on Twitter- terrible idea usually, but a couple people I follow made some tweets that got me thinking about Trigun's overall themes, and here we are. So let's talk about some themes in Tristamp! And I'll take a couple looks at Trimax as well, just for fun :3

Let's look at how the showrunners utilize gender roles and exploitation of feminine characters to show how unhealthy Knives' obsession with his ideal of Vash is, and how horrific his exploitation of Vash and the Plants is.

Vash, from the beginning of Tristamp, is someone who cares about people's choices. When people kill others in front of him, he reiterates that whether someone lives or dies is not another person's choice to make. This is something he learned from Rem (a prominent female figure in his life). He refuses to kill people because that is not his choice to make. To kill someone is the ultimate removal of their bodily autonomy. They can no longer make any choices at all; they're dead.

Vash is also someone who has almost no choice in what path his life takes. He's constantly dragged around by outside forces, namely situations that are caused by Knives (which we'll get into later). Vash doesn't make things happen, things happen to Vash. The majority of events that occur are not his fault. He's pushed and pulled in a thousand different directions. His entire life is completely out of his control.

This can be seen as early on in his life as the Fall, something he had no control over and had no idea he even had a part in. Even later, in the ship with Luida and Brad, after he's been rescued from the desert, he's kept in handcuffs right up until he's shown to be of use to them and the Plant on their ship. After that, he could theoretically say "no, I don't want to go to other ships and heal their plants," but he doesn't. He's Vash. He's helpful and nurturing at his core, and these people have done so much for him just by letting him stay, so he'll do whatever they ask, no question.

This carries over into his adulthood. At Jeneora Rock, he goes to look at their Plant at one simple request, doesn't protest when he's dragged into a duel-- he doesn't take initiative unless someone's life is immediately at stake. He lets people tell him what to do and lets himself get dragged around by the wrist. He doesn't even pretend to have control over his life like Trimax Vash does, which I mean. Fair. Why pretend to have a grip on your existence when it's impossible to do anything without a gun pointed at your head?

Vash is a very passive character. He's nurturing, kind, gentle- he's a guy that fits a lot of very typical feminine character stereotypes. If you wrote this same story but made him a woman, I wouldn't bat an eye (but I would definitely be looking at it a lot more critically, what with the amount of stereotypically nurturing/motherly female characters in media already.)

This contrasts directly with Knives. He makes a decision and carries through no matter what stands in his way. He takes initiative. If Vash is a passive character, Knives is an active character. Wherever he goes, he leaves a lasting imprint. He makes shit happen! If outside forces make things happen to him, he'll go out of his way to make sure that particular force doesn't affect him again.

These two tweets I saw are what got me thinking about this originally. I just feel like here's a good place to put them as a segue into talking about episode 11.

Episode 11 is where a lot of this feminine imagery really just. Explodes in your face. IT'S RIGHT THERE. You can't dance around it if you try. And it kind of reaches a peak when the connection reaches 100%, the gate opens, and. well. THIS happens to the Plants.

Plants, in both Trimax and Tristamp, are almost always typically feminine-looking. Knives and Vash are the only two who are male or even masculine at all. Knives, as the most masculine out of all of them, is the one trying to take charge, and mould the world as he sees fit, to a degree that is detrimental to both him and everyone else. And Vash-- passive, feminine, kind and nurturing, whose Angel Arm in the manga always sprouts decidedly feminine-looking Plant parts-- is the one being exploited for Knives' plans. It's no mistake that they made the giant plant formation at the end of ep 11 look like a giant woman that almost resembles Rem.

Vash wants people to make their own choices and keep their autonomy when it comes to their bodies and lives. Knives is the exact opposite. He wants all Plants to become independent and he uses Vash to achieve that goal, without asking what Vash wants or even knowing what the Plants themselves would prefer. He exploits Vash for the soul purpose of trying to make these Plants have Independent Plant babies. He's completely incapable of seeing that his choices are not for the greater good! He thinks he's saving them, but none of his actions are for the good of anyone but himself. He’s just violating them for his own gain.

They're really leaning into gender roles for these guys, but in a way that screams "HEY, LOOK AT THIS! ISN'T IT FUCKED UP? LOOK AT HOW FUCKED UP THAT IS. LOOK AT THIS, AND BE UNCOMFORTABLE, AND KNOW THAT IT IS FUCKED UP."

Because it is! It's so extremely fucked up. They're using this imagery and these roles, something that makes most of us intrinsically uncomfortable, to drive home how unhealthy Knives relationship with his ideal of Vash is. That's the point. We're supposed to be uncomfortable with this.

Now of course there's some nuance to it. Like, you could see Knives as somewhat of a feminine and/or queer-coded figure as well, ESPECIALLY if you look at some of his panels in the manga, which could in turn lead to themes about infighting and control within marginalized communities, but that might be something for another post. :3

And there's definitely different ways you could take this! Vash, with all this feminine imagery, could be either transfem or transmasc coded, depending on what way you'd rather see it, which could lead into themes of how people outside the norm constantly face a lack of bodily autonomy and are exploited for purposes outside their boundaries. We could also look at Wolfwood and his lack of choice over joining the Eye of Michael and becoming the Punisher, and how masculine men (particularly men of colour) are often forced into violent roles against their will. If we look at Trimax, the exact same could be said for Livio/Razlo and people with disorders such as DID/OSDD.

There are many different ways you could spin these themes, some of which I don't feel personally qualified to discuss. If anyone who is qualified to talk about Wolfwood or Livio/Razlo or even other characters related to these themes, then god PLEASE add onto this post or make a post and tag me or something. I would love to read it!

Anyway, in conclusion: Vash is a feminine figure constantly taken advantage of and exploited and and he's so incredibly trans/nonbinary-coded that it drives me insane. Thank you

[majesty-madness]

No More Denial - TriStamp!Vash x reader (sfw)

Summary: In a moment of desperation, Y/N reveals a secret that transforms the now uncertain future.

Word Count: 1900+

Warnings: angst, Vash being kidnapped, reader and co. trying to rescue him, female reader, mentions of pregnancy, injuries, blood, acts of violence, attempted murder (because it’s Knives), comfort, reassurance, crying from stress and joy, good ending

a/n: Not proofread. I just watched the 98’ Trigun series, the movie and then the reboot “Trigun Stampede” and I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. I usually don’t watch new shows, but Trigun has been something I’ve been meaning to get into ever since I first started watching anime back in 2014. And here we are…

Main Masterlist

The moment his eyes laid on her his heart stopped. “No! No, get out of here! You shouldn’t be here!” 

Y/N almost scoffed at his words as she approached him with haste. “You think I’m really just gonna turn around and leave you?” She attempted to unlock the chains bound around his wrists, and managed to get a few off. 

“If he realizes you’re here, he’ll kill you! You know that!” 

“You would do it for me!” Y/N shouted back at him, her eyes brimming with the slightest of tears. 

Before Vash could come with any kind of response, Y/N was ripped away from his side that had her letting out a scream. She felt a white hot pain in her calf, the sharp edges of Knives’ abilities digging deep into her flesh when she looked down. 

The coil of blades tightened around her calf causing her to shriek in pain. 

“Nai, stop it! Please!” Vash begged, as he tugged helplessly against the only chain keeping him bolted to the wall. 

“This pathetic human tried to set you free, but I’ll take care of this soon enough.” Knives sneered, forcing Y/N to a standing position she couldn’t fully maintain from her injury. 

The metallic coils came out from his back, slowly inching closer and closer to her body. She gulped hard, giving one last look to Vash before spouting out the only thing that came to mind.

“I’m pregnant.”

Knives smirked, expression almost amused by her desperate ploy. “Did you really think that would matter to me?” 

She gulped as a cold sweat dripped down the back of her neck. “It would if it was Vash’s baby.”

If she had been paying attention, Y/N would’ve heard the slightest of gasps leave Vash’s mouth but she was too busy maintaining eye contact with the man that held her hostage in his grip; a grip that grew tighter once she uttered those words. 

“That’s not possible.” He growled back to her. 

This time she smirked as the urge to taunt him pushed her rationale to the back of her mind, “How are you so sure? You and Vash are the only independents in the world, and I don’t think that you’ve tested the theory yourself.”

His grip tightened around her leg, causing her smirk to die on her lips while the heat of her own blood dripped into a puddle on the floor. “It’s not possible; plants are perfect in every way, bringing life to this broken world and humans are disgustingly flawed, spreading like the pathetic parasites you all are!”

“It is possible!” Y/N shouted back to him, surprised to hear the desperation cause her voice to waver. “A plant and human hybrid; the only one of its kind. A new species, a new life. Would you really destroy one of your own?”

In a blink, Knives whipped the pointed edge of one of his blades a mere inch from her eye threatening to gouge it out; the anger within him reaching its boiling point. “You are not one of my own!” 

Y/N took the smallest of breaths, fearing that any sudden movement would cause her to lose an eye. “But Vash is.”

Knives’ eyes narrowed but otherwise made no other movements as he took in her words. 

“And if you care about your brother, you wouldn’t murder the one thing he loves.” 

Suddenly, the fluorescent lights blacked out causing an immediate red night to replace it as a loud whirring sound crashed somewhere in the building. 

“What is this?” Knives muttered out loud as he became distracted by the sound and lights. 

Before he could do anything the sound of bullets whizzing toward causing him to duck away, loosening his grip on Y/N completely. He made quick movements backward, using his bladed coils as a shield from the spray of bullets being fired at him. 

Then while bullets still rained from beyond the darkness of the hallway facing him, a cacophony of multiple metallic objects clinking against the floor echoed throughout the gigantic room. Knives could make out several cynical objects hit the floor before they doused the room in smoke, a large plume of fog blocking his view of anything. 

Vash stared in shock for a moment then snapped back to reality when he saw the familiar figure approaching him, “Meryl? What are you doing here?” 

“Hush now! We’re here to save you!” Meryl quickly retorted while still a lockpick into the only cuff keeping Vash chained up. Once she unlocked it, she grabbed his hand and b-lined for the exit. 

“Wait! What about Y/N? I have to go get her!” Vash pleaded, pulling back from Meryl a bit as they ran. 

“Don’t worry, Wolfwood and Roberto got her! Now let’s go!” She shouted over the gunfire. 

Vash, though scared, trusted her word and followed her without resistance. 

It took a while because as it turned out, Wolfwood had thrown a few more smoke bombs as they ran into the hallway to cover their tracks but eventually Vash and Meryl managed to meet up with Wolfwood and Roberto further down. 

When Vash saw Y/N, bleeding and being held up by Roberto he ran to her. “Y/N, are you okay? You’re bleeding so much.”

Y/N shook her head in a whimper, in too much pain to offer any kind of reply. 

“Of course, she’s not okay. She’s got cuts all over her leg and she’s bleeding all over the place.” Roberto quipped with Y/N’s arm still over his shoulder while he kept her standing. 

“Hate to break up the reunion, but if we don’t get out of here soon a bleeding leg is gonna be the least of our worries.” Wolfwood cut in, keeping a sharp eye on the hallway they just escaped from. 

“But Y/N can’t run, how are we gonna get outta here before Knives finds us?” Meryl asked with urgency, her own panic rising to the surface. 

“Give her to me.” Vash said, walking over in front of Y/N and crouching down. “Get on my back and I’ll carry you.” 

Without a word, Y/N slipped her arm from around Roberto’s shoulder and precariously leaned down to wrap her arms around Vash’s neck and legs around his waist. He reached back to grip the underside of her thighs and propped her up as he stood. 

She made a muffled hiss as the pressure of moving her leg at all caused pain to shoot up through her body. 

“Ready?” Vash asked her, glancing over his shoulder at her. She gave a pained nod before tucking her face into the back of his neck.

“Okay, let’s blow this joint.” Wolfwood huffed, turning to face them. 

Everyone began running as fast as they could out of the building and just when they’d turned their backs to the hall, several bladed whips propelled out from the smoke screen towards their direction. 

“Watch out!” Wolfwood shouted, stopping briefly to point his cross shaped gun towards the blades and fired. He aimed with precision, each bullet bouncing off the whips as it made each one change trajectories.

“Wolfwood!” Vash exclaimed and too, stopped briefly to wait. 

“Keep running, Needle-noggin! I got this!” 

Vash hesitantly kept running, and glanced over his shoulder again in time to see Wolfwood making a quick getaway with them after shooting a couple more times. 

Luckily, the team managed to escape the maze-like building and to the outside. They ran and ran and ran until they were outside the city; their truck waiting for them not too far from the main entrance. In a flash, they hurried inside and Meryl punched the gas without even bothering with her seatbelt; leaving puffs of sand in their wake. 

She floored it a good fifteen minutes before Vash told her to stop. Once stopped Vash administered some first aid to Y/N’s leg, giving them a moment to talk. 

Vash had finished cleaning all the cuts in her once bloodied limb when he spoke. “Is it true? That you’re pregnant?”

He knew that while Y/N had said such a thing in the heat of the moment so Knives would spare her, he couldn’t deny the sincerity of her words. She sounded so scared, so afraid for not just her own life but possibly her baby’s as well. 

Y/N took a moment to prepare her words and she timidly nodded. “I think so.”

“How long have you suspected?” Vash spoke softly, keeping his voice low as if speaking at normal volume would cause her to shatter. 

“A couple of we-EKS!” She hissed when Vash began applying the bandages to the open wounds which made him utter out a quick apology, though continued to wrap her leg. 

Vash said nothing, his brain thinking a million miles a minute. He honestly didn’t know what to think; he was a plant and Y/N was a human, could plants and humans even procreate? Or was it something else, something life threatening? He did notice in the last few weeks that Y/N hadn’t been acting like herself but he thought perhaps it was the heat getting to her, or maybe they had been stuck inside the car for too long or even that time of the month but the idea of her carrying his child never crossed his mind. He assumed that because he and Y/N were two different species, there was no way. 

“Vash?” Y/N called to him, bringing him out of his thoughts and back to reality.

He looked up at her, worry and fear etched in her face. “Sorry, love.” 

“It’s okay. I understand that it’s probably a lot to take in.”

Vash shook his head, “I was just lost in thought.” 

“Are you upset?” Y/N nervously asked, making Vash raise his hand to gently cup her cheek as a tender smile graced his lips.  

“Of course I’m not upset, I’m only worried about you since I’m not completely sure if it’s possible for plants and humans to have children together.” He carefully explained watching Y/N tilt her cheek to rest fully into his palm. 

Y/N sighed, “I’m not sure either but all the symptoms are there. And even though I don’t know much about plants, I can’t imagine what else it could be.” 

Vash sat up on his knees, retracting his hand from her face but soon leaned forward to hug her from her spot from the truck. She happily reciprocated when she wrapped her arms around his midsection, face buried in his shoulder. 

“We should go see Luida.” He suggested kissing her temple and stroking her back comfortingly. 

He felt her nod against him. “She can fix up your leg and she probably knows more about plants than I do or something along those lines that might help figure this whole thing out.” 

“Okay.” Y/N simply said, going silent and enjoying the presence of Vash holding her. 

Vash didn’t say anything else either and like Y/N, opted to enjoy the warmth of her against him. 

He thought back to only minutes earlier, when Y/N had attempted to save him and Knives quickly finding her, hurting her and the screams she let out. 

Never in his life did he ever want to hear those sounds again. 

From here on out, Vash vowed to himself he would do everything in his power to keep her safe, and with the new information of Y/N’s possible condition, he‘d protect his child all the same.

[b0tsbby]

Signifying Meaning in Tristamp’s Vash and Knives S1 Designs and Visual Cues: Part 2

TLDR: How Everything but Stamp’s dialogue supports it’s characters

Trigun Stampede spoilers and potential Max/98 spoilers. TW for fucking episode 11 and 12 of this show I hate it.

I wrote this so that the order doesn’t matter and you can read part 2 or 1 first, though I ask of not reading just one part cause the two kinda work together? Sort of???

If you want a fun drinking game, take a shot everytime I mention the other twin (I’m sorry).

Vash the Stampede

Despite my overt support and gravitation to a certain twin in Stampede and Trigun as a whole, I actually started out Trigun like many, and empathised with Vash more. While not my favourite character at first, ( Wolfwood holds that title), the sadness I felt for Mr Vash after that finale was insurmountable, and now he’s like…guy no.3 I like. With that outta the way, let’s get started.

Ep.1 Ghost of the Man

It shouldn’t be a surprise that I started Trigun with Stampede, and later delved into 98 and Max, so my outrage at Stampede Vash’s design wasn’t so genuine. A google search later and I could tell that the difference however, was jarring.

We first get introduced to Vash laughing hysterically, upside down with his hair mimicking his original look and glasses obscuring his eyes (hold on to that, it’s important). Not the most charming of introductions, but a fun reference to sir Diablo nonetheless.

Meryl gets him down, and his attitude changes slightly. This mysterious man turns out to be somewhat approachable if a little looney.

This sequence already introduces a visual cue Orange loves to use in Stampede, the obstruction of eyes, the window to the soul. This is particularly significant for Vash’s character. His words and gestures suggest an open, friendlier nature, but we as an audience are kept at an arms length through this obstruction. Vash definitely makes no effort to separate himself or keep a distance, a good facade, as Vash still keeps his deepest thoughts and feelings to himself.

This changes after a bit, we see Vash’s eyes for the first time at the bar. Vash here has calculated the type of people Meryl and Roberto. This doesn’t mean he lets his guard down, but rather has decided on the best way to now approach them. Like a mask, Vash has now decided the best one to wear for this social charade.

Ep 1 is littered with moments like this. Another significant one is his encounter and our first introduction to the plants. We're shut out of Vash’s psych once again as Vash looks at both the dying and healthy plant, one lens red and the other blue, a visual of Vash’s internal conflict before we ever really get to figure him out.( And yes that is a Matrix reference, red pill, blue pill. Oh my god.)

Contextually we can link these colours to certain themes and characters, but we’ll sum that up later.

With the psychology of his glasses out the way, we can move on to his style.

Vash wears a big red coat, with a turquoise interior, a black turtleneck, black trousers and swept forward, spiky hair. He still has his signature prosthetic arm, however in this iteration, it’s made of turquoise translucent like metal. And of course, Orange kept his very important mole and left earring.

The bright red is undoubtedly pretty flashy in this drab, brown landscape. If you didn’t know he was the main character before, now you do! On its own, his look is, okay, not exactly groundbreaking but visually distinct enough for you to care.

The disappointment really lies in the comparison of this design and his 98/ Max look. It’s jarringly underwhelming, uncharacteristically new age (ew, new things!). They even swept his anti-gravity needle hair forward! This isn’t so much Vash THE Stampede as it is some shoddy pretty boy imitation of him!

Ring the bell though cause that is where the magic is.

EP 8-9, A Whole Lotta Red (and other colours)

(He’s so tiny here stooooop😭)

Our Home and Millions Knives is littered with the use of red. We’re able to finally give meaning to the colour that defines Vash.

Starting off with his teenage design, Vash is not much different from his brother. He’s wearing scrap cloth he found on this downtrodden planet, painfully human and painfully bland. To reiterate, like his brother, he doesn’t know who he is at this point. He hasn’t decided whether to embrace his past, as his childhood plant suit is nowhere in sight, or embrace his future, whatever that may be. A blank canvas with no solid attachments or motivations yet.

We’ll start off with the psychology of blue;

At this stage, both brothers are blank canvases, barely coping with, well, still being alive. Vash is unlucky enough to be taken in by brad and Luida at first. While some sympathy is garnered from Luida, Vash is still very much othered, until he does something for the wellbeing of Ship 3. It’s here we see again that blue from Ship 5, a plant! But blue doesn’t just represent the sole plant existence, it also signifies their safety and vitality. The blue of his healthy plant sister is the marker for some decency earned from the humans on this ship.

It’s here Vash is walking a fine line to be accepted. He may be a ‘monster’, but he did good, so he’s safe, he’s welcome. It’s here Vash sees what he needs to do to stay on with them in the hopes maybe they’ll forgive him for the Big Fall and being who he is.

It’s then he’s gifted, his signature red coat that doesn’t even fit him yet (awwww). A gift from the humans that took him in despite labelling him as a monster, something other. We learn, red now signifies the love he’s received from humans. This red coat is a living symbol of their ability to change. It’s all figured out.

Then he meets his brother, who naturally, is there just to keep us on our toes. (They called the ship Seeds specifically after Knives impeccable ability to plant the seeds of doubt into almost every 20-something year old watching this show for the first time btw)

The psychology of red takes on a whole new form. Everything is red. The dying plants, the warning lights, the pools of blood on the floor, (from Vash too might I add). Red takes on this meaning of violence, corruption, sickness, pain and death. Most importantly the death of Vash’s plant sisters.

With extra trauma to spare, Vash goes home to ship 3 with a red coat and a red bleeding heart for his sisters and very ambitious brother. Both the bad and good of the psychology of red are displayed, the overarching qualities of humanity.

Ep 1-10, Where Vash Goes Back and Forth

As our main character, we have the privilege of watching Vash’s internal struggle for a sense of purpose and value in real time! In the events of Stampede, we get to pick up a few pieces.

Now that meaning has been attributed to both colours red and blue, destructing the colours of his design becomes a lot more fun.

Thank you Silversora for actually bringing this to my attention specifically.

Overall, Vash’s design communicates a want to blend in, not stand out and well, belong! He’s not an idiot. He knows just as much as his brother the dangers he could put himself in if he fully embraced his plant being. He knows the dangers he could put humans in if he just, fully embraced what he is. In that regard, he’s a little bit ashamed of it.

Vash yearns so badly to be a part of humanity, to be accepted by the same humanity his mother believed in, even if it means suppressing who he is, even if it means being humanity’s showdog.

The tragedy of Vash’s existence lies in an overtness in both sides of the plant and humanity spectrum. Vash is painfully human, and would have easliy passed for one, if he wasn’t such an immensely powerful plant. His existence is dizzying in that its constantly oscillating between two extremes, I’d like to think, too human to be a perfect plant, too plant to be a perfect human. At the end of the day, it is not humans in water tanks. At the end of the day, it is not plants that raised him.

Vash’s coat communicates this tragedy pretty clear, its red with inner blue lining. Outside, Vash is as human-presenting as he can possibly be, it’s what he wants people to see. Internally, his planthood will never leave him, it's the shame, insecurity, he keeps behind this exterior.

And no I haven’t forgotten his black turtleneck and black slacks. There’s no better way than to compare that whole setup with looking into void. Fitting, and very similar to his glasses convention, it’s too obscure his body, his build and yes his scars. A terrible indication of his ever cascading self worth and bodily shame. (If you’re wondering where he got all this shame from, he’s holding on to Knives shame too so his brother can come back one day and collect it with 45% interest.)

Ep 11, The danger of indecision

Okay so we’re at arguably the worst episode ever now, but it’s still littered with visual cues so sit down and just trust me.

Ep 11 is jarringly blue.

I hate to bring the other guy into this, (I’ve done that 5 times in this essay already) but the blue representation in this episode doesn’t fall short on me, considering this is when “The Memory World of Knives” plays from the OST. Back to character design though, this is the unfortunate moment Vash is robbed of his autonomy, and his ability to choose who he is and wants to be. This is where a new colour is brought into the mix, purple.

But this purple is not particularly bright, being more of an accent to black with only his glasses being purple, (I’m going to reiterate here how his glasses are a visual embodiment of the window to the soul). It shouldn’t be missed that the geraniums that grow out of him in this mental warp, are a drowned out purple.

While all this could genuinely mean nothing and I’m wasting your time, I believe it’s expressing the danger of Vash’s foot-in foot-out fawning response. If he doesn’t decide who he is and what he stands for, perpetually living in a state of reaction and guilt, someone else will just figure it out for him and he’ll end up being nothing at all, hence the lack of colour and subtle purple (a muddy middle point between blue and red).

Hope is not lost though, and a second meaning is given to this particularly traumatic hue in the finale.

Ep 12, Where Vash Makes a Choice for himself

Despite holding an unfair amount of empathy for Stampede’s Knives, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than when I watched his ass get kicked. The actualisation, reclaiming of autonomy and defining moment of Vash was incredibly therapeutic.

Vash’s forming of identity was definitely met with more resistance than his twin, but characteristically Vash supersedes Knives again in the transformation of his personal identity and purpose. Vash reaches a level of self awareness, confidence and acceptance that even his brother doesn’t get to until he chooses to ultimately off himself. The exceptional defining moment of Vash the Stampede starts here.

Now that we have defined what blue and red mean in terms of theme, Vash’s purple and black final form gains so much significance. The inner lining of his coat takes on a bright purple colour. As well, red and blue mixed creates a purple hue, this design choice symbolises Vash’s acceptance of his dual identity; he’s too much of a human, he’s too much of a plant. This is just the bittersweet nature of his existence and he’s learned to embrace it.

The outer lining and main composition consisting of black is just as important. While being a very clear reference to Vash’s black coat in his last fight in Max, the black again, obscures his form in this nighttime setting. While we know much more now, Vash is still and will always be a mystery to humanity and the audience; the chameleon in a crowd.

And yes there is Yin and Yang symbolism consistently in this fight. The black passive, female principle associated with sustainability and things earthly, dark and cold (yin code for Vash) and the white aggressive male principle associated with creation and things heavenly, light and warm (yang, code for Knives).

Phew…(Don’t make it weird though, I find the imagery genuinely heartbreaking thank you.)

The more obvious references and ties to Vash finally defining himself remain in his hairstyle, being in the style we know so well. It took a whole season, but the Vash we know is finally coming to be! He’s powerful, he’s agile and he’s determined to live for an active cause, not to simply erase the steps of his own existence.

In the end, Vash doesn’t really change much goal wise, and he ironically sticks to the initial coding of the plant’s existence; to be of service to humanity. But what matters is it’s now his choice and his choice alone. No more (entirely) motivated by shame, guilt and seeking repentance, Vash is now fueled by the love and hope he holds for humanity. He is Vash the Stampede!

And that’s all folks. To end off, I wanna mention something I learnt about broadway that is somewhat related to this analysis. Never listen to the lyrics, listen to the music. I think Stamp’s dialogue is genuinely ass and there’s so much to be missed if you kinda take everything at a surface level. From the character design to visual cues to the INCREDIBLE OST, you find that a lot is not what it seems and a parallel narrative is constantly taking place. While I hope but doubt this was intentional, I fucking love meta stuff like that. With the insinuation of warped memory, an unreliable narrator and fraudulent identities, the possible number of paths this show could take for S2 are almost overwhelmingly endless.

Hopefully in the future I can write an essay solely on identity and adolescence in Stampede cause honestly this is only half of it. I might make an extra part 3 on not exclusively character design facts and things I picked up about the brothers. Otherwise thanks for reading. If you didn’t read this whole thing in Philomena Cunk’s voice though, then I take that back sorry.

Part 1 - Millions Knives

[having-a-hyperfixate]

The other thing that’s just. Utterly wild. Conrad has no idea that Plants are sentient. NO IDEA. That comment of his about how they lack souls? Yeah WHAT WAS EVEN THAT???? (Because I’m gonna make the probably safe assumption that like in the manga they actually ARE sentient beings, even if its different from the way humans and Independents are. Their minds work differently, they’re basically aliens, its fine.) Which can only mean that either Knives never saw fit to tell him, or that Knives also has no idea. And given all of this with the bodies, I. am inclined to think Knives doesn’t realize. Which is absolutely wild, considering we know he at the very least heard them scream during the Last Run. How... How did he NEVER try to communicate with them? I just. Dude.

Man, there are a lot of great (and very true) posts about how Knives doesn’t see his fellow plants as individuals, but this was the moment I really first had that gut-punch realization. I’m sure there are no rituals for laying a plant to rest, but it’s incredibly fucked up to take a corpse, writhing in pain, and string it up for your own motivation. Your own selfish purposes. The afterlife is something fairly present in the Trigun universe, and this soul surely isn’t at peace

[whatever-you-can-give-me]

fic recs from bookworm's bookmarks

@trigunfanfic

i wanted to do more for trigun fic appreciation week, but uh... life happened. a lot. so here's some recs from my bookmarks!

as a happy accident of my waxing and waning fic-reading habits, a lot of these fics are from a while ago, months or years old, so hopefully this spreads some love further back in the tag!

Ebb by auroralightss - tristamp, wolfwood-centric. post-episode 7 hurt/comfort that feels like it was pulled right out of my soul and left me with some brand new feelings. i want to eat this fic like a bowl of warm soup.

I don't feel so good by Kaijuscientists - tristamp, wolfwood-centric, mid-canon. maybe it's just because i care way too much about wolfwood, but the setup (hurt) of this fic made me ache so deeply with such a straightforward premise that the payoff (comfort) was twice as sweet.

river of dreams by fleurmatisse - trimax, vashwood, post-canon fix-it. a wonderful little series in which wolfwood comes back from the dead. deeply emotionally resonant in such a restrained way. i would use these fics to teach creative writing.

Carry Me Home by beelzebby666 - tristamp, vashwood. i have this bookmarked for the crime of eliciting an audible noise of distress from me, but you should read everything fly has written. they're a gift.

Stella Maris et Regina Celorum by WateredMyCrops - trimax [original trigun manga, technically]. you should also read everything peregrine has written, especially the Write Your Ticket series, but this fic stands out for delightfully gruesome straightforwardness. this should be required reading if you're a knives main.

Tuesday's Gone by DJubilant and InfiniteInMystery - tristamp, vashwood. the dove is dead, drugged, bloody, and miserable. some of my favorite wolfwood whump. mind the tags, but if you want an absolute treat of vashwood in compromising and horrible situations, this is it.

YOU ARE HERE; or, How to Get Lost in the Desert Without Really Dying by fathomfive - trimax, vash wolfwood and livio, post-canon fix it. thoroughly, stunningly in-character. fathomfive's dialogue is deft and uncompromising and i would be jealous if i weren't busy enjoying the hell out of it. one of those fics that got stuck in my teeth in the best way.

Sundew by TruckThat - tristamp, vashwood, xeno smut with thoroughly delightful character voices. i love everything going on in this fic.

dress me in red and throw your roses by catachresis - tristamp, s2 vashwood reunion speculation, plus sex. an absolutely delightful little what-might-be of vash and wolfwood's reunion and some of the two year timeskip. quietly and thoroughly excellent.

God knows I know I've thrown away those graces by Obtenebratia - tristamp, vashwood, absolutely terrible kink practices. i can't explain just how much i think about this fic. another one that feels like it was pulled right out of my hindbrain. soggy, pathetic, emotionally ravaged wolfwood.

HARD-SOLE by junuve - trimax, wolfwood-centric. a delightful crunch of characterization. realism as a chaser to a solid shot of character voice and introspection. delicious.

a vehicle to know embrace by megumis - trimax/tristamp crossover, livio and wolfwood (& livio and wolfwood). characterization you can get your teeth into. everyone in this fic is fucked up in a lot of the ways you'd think and some more to boot. thoroughly excellent.

Est vera secta? by mephistopheles - trimax/98-themed au. i wish i could gift you all the experience of reading this as it was being written and published. watching this fic unfold from a creative setting au with immaculate vibes to a sprawling epic through all its twists and turns was absolutely delightful. take your time with this one. have fun.

Fill the Void, Lest The Void Fill You by InfiniteInMystery - trimax, vashwood, non-traditional omegaverse. i fucking love this fic. i don't even have any clever wording to describe it, i just absolutely love everything it has going on. mind the tags, because this fic delivers on everything it promises and then some. good food for the "monster vash overwhelming wolfwood's every sense" enjoyers.

Becoming Eden by Lenipez - needs no introduction. if you're intimidated by the length and scope, read everything else leni's written. no one inspires me to challenge myself to improve as a writer like leni does.

the song echoes onwards by verboseDescription - trimax, post-canon. a really, deeply good look at a post-trimax world: feelings, politics, identities, things that change and things that stay the same. faithful and inventive characterization at once.

fool in the moon by arahir - tristamp, vashwood. such a good fic. rich and deep in characterization and implication. wolfwood in this fic is such a deep cut of devotion as self-punishment, i adore it.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Traveller by TiggyMalvern - trimax, vashwood first time fic, spiced with dramatic irony. another "just go read everything they've written, it's all a treat" rec. one of the classic trigun writers. POV-fic like no other.

something eluding you, sunshine? by ShastaFirecracker - trimax, the rare and delightful instance of vashwood being neither good nor bad but straightforwardly decent at sex. or, in this case, an attempt thereat. i don't need to rec shasta's fics, because if you have anything close to my taste you've read everything she's written twice, but i'm still gonna. :]

The Only Nice Thing That Follows by hellogaywatson - trimax, vashwood. this fic is unfinished — and while i hope it's eventually completed, what's there is undoubtedly worth a read. vashwood that cuts like a knife. sharp and memorable.

[mllllonsknlves]

Knives’ Knives

Reposting another twitter thread I made for archival purposes. Its literally a copy and paste and more images are shown on the original twitter post just because tumblr is janky when adding so many images to a text post.

So I was watching tristamp for the hundredth time and noticed something I hadn't picked up on before. Millions Knives' blades have different modes. Four that we've seen so far to be exact.

The one shown here is most common. A default state, folded and seemingly duller than others. Even the wire connecting the blades is rounded. This is the form we see most often, and the only form shown directly in front of Vash (that we've seen so far, will touch on again later.)

These seem to be an attack stance for the blades. The wire even expands into what could cause more damage than just the blades alone. The first are pointed outward while the second is pointed inward, depending on the purpose being served- attacking versus grabbing.

We then have the detached blades. They start in the default state but seem to expand as more form.

Even in the preview for episode 11, Knives uses the folded, almost rounded blades. Because he's in front of Vash and doesn't REALLY want to harm him, at least not more than necessary.

Obviously, Nai uses the folded blades when trying to connect with the core. He does not want to harm it. The end of the blades act at a connecting point, and its likely very similar to how he connected with Vash in the first place.

What is particularly fascinating is that even when attacking Meryl, his blades are folded. It's most likely due to the fact that Vash is RIGHT BEHIND her and doesn't want to get him in the crossfire. His blades are still folded upon impact with Vash's gun.

He does not extend the blades at the start of their fight. Not once do they open beyond the folded state, not at a distance, and not hand to hand.  Even when theyre out in the open and hes flinging Vash around, theyre still folded. We see him manipulate them with extreme accuracy, and yet even when they're in freefall, he does not USE THEM AT ALL. Not to grab Vash or the cube.

Even after slaughtering all the soldiers and he floats menacingly above Vash to continue their argument, his blades are folded. So, either he can still cause that damage while folded, or the more likely thing, is that he refolded them after killing them to confront Vash again.

The entire rest of their fight. Folded. Grabbing the angel arm. Folded.

HOWEVER. AND THIS IS THE MOST HEARTBREAKING THING OF ALL. ONCE HE HAS DECIDED THAT THE NAI THAT VASH KNEW IS DEAD. That is when the blades expand. Because he's snapped. Broken. He has /truly/ and /wholly/ become Millions Knives in that moment, because he has lost Vash.

Its also worth noting that his blades and his wings are burned off before he lets go. Something something symbolism. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the agony uvu

I found more things to add to the things that were said above upon another watch through. Not sure theyre particularly poignant, but thought they were interesting enough to tack on. 

So I was watching ep3 and noticed how many times Knives swaps between the modes. The initial grab of the first women, the blades are pulled in the back position, but the second woman is grabbed with them in the forward position and dragged away and killed with the back position.

Immediately after, we see Knives advancing the steps and his blades floating around them in the forward stance. When they shoot forward to seek out the Plant, theyre back. As he goes to jump, theyre forward again.

As soon as the Plant is grabbed, the blades are folded, showing the care he has for them. There is one instance of them being forward, but likely just to get a more secure hold. Otherwise, always folded.

The ONLY INSTANCE (save for those final moments in 12) where Knives uses an "attack stance" of his blades in front of Vash is when he's using them to block bullets. In defense.

He is INCREDIBLY deliberate with how his blades are used and shows a high level of skill. He wields them with PURPOSE. Anyway, thank you for tuning into another episode of my hyperfixation o/

[stefisdoingthings]

I NEED to rant about the trigun stampede designs in comparison with trigun 1998 because like… they had so much potential and the show threw it out the window or something.

(Edit: i haven’t read the manga so the mole thing doesn’t stand much but, again, this is only compared to ‘98 so plss dont attack me guys i swear i liked stampede)

rant, spoilers (?) + photo evidence under the cut

Tbh Knives/Vash bother me most, esp during their childhood. In tri98, they look almost identical at first, with only difference their hair color (Vash’s is more of a saturated blonde while Knives’ is closer bleach-blonde), and the mole under Vash’s left eye. Later on Vash get his hair cut and styled in spikes by Rem, while Knives takes liberty and cuts his own hair military-style. That’s about when they start to have individuality. This individuality reflects on their actions, with Vash trying to free a butterfly from a spiderweb, and Knives just killing the spider, thinking it's the most rational solution.

In tristamp, they lack any kind of individuality, with the twins having mirrored haircuts and Knives a mole under his right eye, which really really doesn’t make sense to me; I thought the mole was supposed to represent the flawed, more human nature of Vash (just like his scars), and the absence of it on Knives’ face to be a reminder that he is, for that reason, better, almost perfect and, most definitely, not human. (Edit: guys I’ve been informed it exists in the manga but I’d still like it if it didn’t)

With that they lose every kind of individuality, and it doesn't make sense for them to look so different while they're adults however having similar hairstyles despite not seeing each other for years.

(not even going to mention the fact that they made him dead pale in stampede and instead of increasing his melanin and making his hair lighter they lightened both skin and hair color but it's not relevant to this kind of analysis and just a stylistic choice i guess)

As adults in tri98 they keep their hairstyles and Knives keeps a more military-looking outfit, which looks a whole lot like the SEEDS outfit they wore when abandoning the ship, while Vash has this super over-the-top outfit with the red coat and all. Tristamp keeps the idea of Knives wearing a similar outfit and Vash going crazy with his fit, but by doing so they made both of them look insanely different and inhuman, Vash looking too clean, with technical, expensive-looking, new clothing, and Knives just straight up looking strange. Nothing about his outfit even suggests human.

For Knives I don't think the point is to look human, so it doesn't matter, but Vash is too odd-looking to be considered one of the humans, while his goal is just this; to look super cool but still human enough. In tri98 this communicates well, but not in tristamp.

(i couldn't find a pic of knives as a kid w the uniform but its the same as vash's)

Also, they're built so differently... Vash looks like a 17 year old kid and Knives looks over 25, their bodies should look the same (they're Plants after all) but with Knives being stronger in terms of power and skill, not having abs.

Basically the main problem is that the designs rely a lot on the aesthetics but not the practicality/lore-accuracy of them. I know tristamp is not meant to follow the original plot line, it just makes me a little insane how little the relationships between the characters were incorporated into these designs.

[yellowocaballero]

#trigun#man i need to watch tristamp#anyway yeah vash is so extremely ace#like vashwood makes sense as the two dudes getting shipped because people are always shipping the dudes buuuuuuut#and vashmeryl is kinda cute but yeah i agree on the one sided feeling especially in the manga#also idk if youve read the whole manga and idk if this has shown up in tristamp but lets just say#vashwood as presented in canon has some. interesting snags show up in volume 10 or so when wolfwoods backstory is explored lmao#its not in the 98 anime so its not well known#anyway vash is definitely unshippable to me haha via @proserpine-in-phasesphases

If you're referring to Wolfwood's age, then from what I hear it's similar as to in the manga yeah. I don't know his exact chronological age but I do understand it's 18+.

[TRISTAMP SPOILERS] Except Wolfwood was aged up from, like, twelve. The fact that so many people are a) shipping Tristamp Vashwood and b) without insane levels of discourse is nuts to me. It's probably there, somewhere, in some insane Discord server that I am not a member of. Disclaimer that I don't care what you do and don't ship, these are not real people and this is a fantasy problem, don't ask me to die on this hill. [/TRISTAMP SPOILERS]

But you see why Vashwood doesn't help the 'Vash is unshippable' allegations haha. Vash is just so deeply unfuckable to me for mostly botany reasons, but of course so much of that is just the vibe of Trigun itself.

This is more personal, but Trigun stood out against all other 90s anime on the Toonami block because it was a) utterly unapologetically fucking bizarre and confusing, and b) utterly sexless. All anime for women had big romantic plotlines and all anime for men had a lot of fan service. Even Cowboy Bebop, its next-door neighbor, had serious fanservice. Trigun was the only anime for adults I had ever seen that never sexualized its female characters, that had absolutely no romantic plotline, and that pretty much only cared about moral questions and how weird can this new gun get. Vash flirted all over the place, but it was so obviously a bit and just made the unfuckability allegations worse.

You spend the majority of the anime assuming that this is because Vash has a dead girlfriend he is not over, which is why he never once seriously romantically engages with a woman and never once physically engages at all. This feels very blatant. Halfway through you realize that the dead girlfriend is his Mom, which is the final nail in the coffin for me of sucking out anything remotely romantic from the series. Turned Vash downright unfuckable, because there's nothing less sexy than Vash's insane mother complex. It was just the most sexless anime I'd seen in my life.

It was nice. Incredibly rare in those days. It felt pretty comfortably for people like me: who loved action and who loved complex characters, and who enjoyed visiting a world where we're all more focused on Meryl's 50 derringers than her feelings for Vash.

That's not Tristamp, which had an incredibly different vibe in general, which is fine. It a) babygirl'd Vash and made him very attractive, which I'm chill with because it feels 100% congruent with how he hasn't refined his persona yet, and b) places Vash in the feminine narrative role of a love interest and object of desire. But considering who that dynamic is with and the nature of that dynamic, the level of eroticism and fuckability of Tristamp drops down to -1000 for me! So!!

And now the fandom seems to be like 90% Vashwood content! So!!!! TL;DR: I agree VERY MUCH and my experience of Trigun seemed to be extremely different from most people's haha.

Any thoughts on ace Vash? I know it's not a popular headcanon, but ever since that scene of him just faking falling asleep to get out of anything more with those ladies it's been on my mind.

SUPER interesting note about that scene: in the 98 anime, he says "could I be regretting it just a little?". In the manga, this is the scene:

It's very interestingly ambiguous, but the manga scene implies it's more typical Vash self-hatred! Regardless, the utter unfuckability of Vash remains.

I sincerely cannot imagine Vash being sexually interested in humans, and probably romantically too. There's that scene of him escaping sex, every time he flirts with women it's a complete bit, and the thing with Meryl always felt really one sided. Beyond that, we see utterly nothing from him indicating any interest in women or men.

I think Vash is an alien space hydrangea, of a species that's either extradimensional/inorganic/????, and it frankly makes no sense for him to be sexually attracted to people. I don't really even HC him as ace/aro, because that's an orientation and Vash is botany.

Unfortunately we've also seen Knives naked, so we canonically know that they are Ken dolls down there. There's no genitalia. There's no reason for him to be attracted to people or have an innate sense of human gender.

Hey, how the fuck did Rem even know they were boys? They were Ken dolls! She really did just spin a fucking wheel on that one! Even as children they were super androgynous! Literally assigned male by your Mom!!! Randomly!!! FWIW, headcanon: I think Knives doesn't have a human gender and Vash uses he/him pronouns like he wears his red coat: it's always with him and it's integral to his appearance, because somebody he loved gave it to him :). I think to Vash 'boy' isn't something he is, it's how he presents.

This is sticking to the text and completely ignoring the subtext and narrative stuff happening for Vash and Knives with sexuality and gender in Stampede. Cause. Hahahahahaha.

TL;DR: Vash is a space hydrangea and Rem threw darts at a dartboard why is anybody giving him and Knives a sexuality and gender at all.

[thank-heaven-you-asked]

The sub versus the dub.

I never intended for this blog to be all about comparing Tristamp's sub and its dub -- I never even watched the dub all the way through until a week ago -- but this one line has haunted me since I first saw it screencapped ages ago. I don't know Japanese, and I, like, extra don't know Japanese when Wolfwood's the speaker, but 'he's not who hurt you' is almost definitely an addition to the dub and not from the original script. Like, don't quote me on that -- in fact, if you know Japanese and can understand Wolfwood specifically, please correct me! -- but it feels like a safe bet. This would be an important bit of characterization, and I don't think the sub would drop it. But let's play in this space for a moment, because what a hell of an implication.

Essentially, this line would have us assume that Wolfwood thinks that Livio thinks that Vash is Knives, and that's why he's trying to kill him. He certainly wouldn't be shooting down Knives under the EOM's orders. So... what has Knives done directly to hurt the test subjects (that is, in a way that they would have seen his face and known it was him)? It can't be specific to Livio, since Wolfwood only just realized it was Livio , and he possibly (probably?) didn't know that EOM still had him until now. How much exposure to Knives do test subjects who "graduate" to assassins or whatnot get, and under what circumstances? Is Legato trying using Vash's resemblance to Knives to spur Livio on? That would be some really good dramatic irony, given that Legato seems confused about his own motivations (he really wants to make this about Wolfwood's loyalties, which must be the last thing this is actually about. We see that he bullies Wolfwood and dislikes his resistance to the cult stuff, but this is extreme. We know that Wolfwood is wavering, but outwardly he's just been doing his job. Legato HAS to be going behind Knives' back for this attempted hit on his brother, right? Testing Wolfwood is an excuse, and a really weak one at that).

Mistaken identity is what gets the plot rolling, but after that there isn't much confusion about which twin is which. They don't actually look very much alike as adults. But seeing it pop up amongst the less stable villains would be interesting.

[animeisforanimation]

Tristamp Party. Day 1. Episode 1.

Let’s start from the beginning.

I adore stories set in space. The country I was born in is famous - among other, way less pleasant things - for a generation of kids dreaming of becoming astronauts. Or maybe it’s Star Wars that brought me the fascination with giant ships taking over the screen, voyaging into the placed yet unknown?

Anyways, by the time Stampede aired I still haven’t watched 98 or read the manga but it was a story I knew about and had a lot of expectations of. But I did not expect these:

The way these ships float into the screen, the size of them, the grandeur! It reminded me of Dune even before we got to the desert planet and the giant warms. And then the design of the ships! Someone has pointed out it really looks like angel arm which is fantastic, but at first they look more like fish or flowers drifting through space. Fantastical, whimsical even, otherworldly.

All in all, I was blown away.

-

And then there was Rem.

Sorry, I’ll skim over the scene of baby Vash saying hello to the people in cryosleep - a hauntingly beautiful one! - and move right to REM because she was a final nail in my coffin. The music and sound design is beautiful, Maaya Sakamoto is fantastic as usual, but what makes this scene stand out are microexpressions.

We’ve known her for what? a minute? But I joined in with her tears. I ached for her.

Now, after Trimax, I do have things to complain about, for one, she sure is less of an Ellen Ripley now. And yet, when I rewatch Tristamp, I cry. Every. Single. Time. That’s strong!

-

And now back to the twins. I’m sure someone else have already talked about that, but the blocking is immaculate: We almost never see Kni’s face, his emotions, reactions.

This shot is my favorite. If you pay attention, you can almost see him clenching teeth. Or maybe you’re just looking too closely and projecting at this point? Who knows.

And then there’s this one!

We’re only privy to determination with which he jumps into the pod - and then almost blank expression when he invites Rem to join them. After her decision to stay, though - nothing. There’s only poor anguished Vash - and a blank wall of black hair.

I wonder, if this trick has already fulfilled its purpose when we saw Kni laughing over the debris and learned of his role - or if we’ll see more of the twins’ childhood, more of this boy that becomes Millions Knives, more of his manga self.

I kinda wish we do~ but whether it comes to be or not, this first scene of Trigun Stampede did exactly what it should have: it sucked me into this world and here I am a year later, deep in the sands of this planet in all of its incarnations.

[ultraviolet-cello]

Tristamp rewatch, episode 2! Took me a little longer to get to this because I think episode 2 is like,,,, I never have anything to say about it lmao I don't have too many background details.

Nevertheless, below the cut [Not so long today!] are some theories, details, and character traits I've picked up on today's fine tooth comb rewatch! Also once again spoilers for Tristamp and Trimax.

Once again thanks to @tristampparty for organizing this, I'm having fun :]

So! In sharp contrast with yesterday, I realized that we have a little bit more of Knives in that opening crash sequence - his face is less covered and the camerawork less Vashcentric. I am possibly the worst person to analyze expressions (I have That particular Autism Thing where I often misinterpret people's faces) but here are a few I found interesting

He just looks a little. again not good at interpreting expressions but anxious? scared, a little upset? I'm not entirely sure he understood how,,, violent the ship exploding would be - and Vash is clearly very very distressed. Also the dark circles under his eyes in that last one - he might have been crying. Much to think about.

Okay this scene, aside from being really funny, is Frustratingly Overlooked imo. Vash's whole,,, pathetic wet sona thing is often intentionally played up in order for him to get people to see him as less of a threat/weaker/more peaceful. And then to have Meryl and Roberto go yeah no we aren't buying that, Instantly calling him out on his bullshit is interesting.

I guess just as Wolfwood sees through Vash's smiles in 98/Trimax, Roberto and Meryl call him out on his schtick here. I also think that he's doing it more exaggerated than normal to kind of change the subject/alter some perceptions of him.

Rai-Dei spotted, and Nightow! Slightly higher quality because I realized I was watching in 720p instead of 1080 because I,,,, i don't know why lmao. anyway i like that nightow gets his own little poster its cute

I guess now would be the time to talk about children in Trigun. So as it goes on I'll build on this, but the fact that so many characters in Trigun are motivated by children is very very important to me; Rosa and the people of Jeneora Rock go after Vash not for themselves, but so they can have the money for their children. Father Nebraska appeals to Rosa to help him get Gofsef up on safe land again by pointing out that he's a father too.

A common trait amongst Trigun characters is their protectiveness of children - Wolfwood (obviously), Vash, Meryl, Roberto and Milly clearly, but Knives and Legato leave the children alive in that one town in 98, Livio in Trimax learns to see children as kinda cute - and the arguably most unsympathetic character, Chapel, is kinda the only guy that hurts/abuses children with 0 remorse. Hate that guy lmao.

It reads to me like a bunch of people wanting to break the cycle of abuse on this planet. but they don't really know how :(

On a lighter note, some screencaps I grabbed for fun, ft: The Thomas Loaf

my closing thought is about Roberto. So clearly he's, yknow, there instead of Milly (unforgivable /lh), but he and Milly have some interesting parallels and ideas - Primarily their observational skills.

In trimax, when Milly interacts with Vash, a lot of the time she's calling out strange expressions or oddities on him - in legato's appearance, that time she asks him why he's still smiling, and the arc where Meryl gets kidnapped.

Roberto is serving a similar role in observing and calling things out about Vash, but he's a little more,,, rough about it. He's nowhere near as (outwardly, the man's got a big heart) caring as Milly! I think it'll be good for Meryl to have Milly in s2 :]

Speaking of Meryl, I appreciate that she definitely has at least someone observational with her, especially while she's less experienced. I love her very much but she happens to be a very stubborn very impulsive person lmao. She definitely needs a balancing.