#milly Thompson the woman that you are…

[yomudkipo]

POV: Gunsmoke is experiencing a heat wave

[chotachica]

If tristamp milly isnt the tallest of the group I will be VERY mad

[wouldyourfavepaychildsupport]

[narcoticwriter]

[dj-of-the-coven]

trigun 1998 episode simulator

[3 minutes of guitar solo]

Vash the Stampede: hi my name is Vash the Stampede. I am a hunter of Peace chasing the elusive mayfly of Love. all I really want to do is have a sandwich and a morning coffee without getting chased by bandits

some bandit: (gunshot) absolutely not. square up faggot

Vash: rats.

[gunfight]

Vash the Stampede: my name is Vash the stampede. I am a hunter of Peace chasing the elusive mayfly of Love.could I please have a sandwich

Meryl from the Bernardelli Insurace Society: how long are you going to sit on your ass doing nothing but playing games with children and doing chores for the elderly and disabled and looking after lonely youths and cooking dinner for the homeless

Vash: I've been here for like 2 days

Milly Thompson: Hi Vash!

Vash: Hi Milly

[exit left pursued by bounty hunters]

Vash the Stampede: (panting, entering a bar) my name is Vash the stampede.... I am a hunter of Peace chasing the elusive mayfly of Good L*rd what is going on in here

Hostage: mphdsfhapff!!!! mffmpphhf!!!!

Villain of the week: well if it isn't the elusive Vash the Stampede! you see it all started when I was 4 days old and you kicked me like a football and then exploded my parents to death with a laser canon and killed every puppy in a ten ile (translator's note: this is the No Man's Land equivalent of the American Mile) radius

Vash: I don't remember doing that but well I suppose you can shoot me if it'll make you feel better

Side character of the week: Are you insane? Just shoot him instead???

Vash: but my mom told me not to be mean to people

Villain of the week: (still going) And as I am now 47 years old I have finally decided to get my revenge. Say your prayers, Vash the Pisshead

[Wall explodes and reveals a motorcycle with a sexy priest on it]

[sfx: guitar with a hint of electric distortion]

Vash: is that..... Wolfwood?

Meryl who was in the background this whole time: the priest?

Nicholas Dickolas Wolfwood: (brings his fingers up to a pair of luscious lips to grab the cigarette from right between them, taking one more slow inhale before crushing the cherry red underneath his heel)(sensually cocks one of his 8 guns) Are you just gonna let this guy talk down to you like that needle noggin?

Vash: I g-

[guitar riff bumper]

[guitar riff bumper]

Vash: -uess not, since you're here to help now... (slow, warm smile) Wolfwood

Nicholas D. ranged Wolfwood: Vash

Milly who was also in the background this whole time: Hi mr priest man! isn't this lovely, I haven't seen you since the last time you spoke with mr Vash yesterday evening when you were helping him buckle all those silly belts on his pants after he had lost them somehow

Vash: On a cactus

Milly: On a cactus! Oh it must've hurt so terribly; how fortunate that Mr Priest man was there to help you

Wolfwood: Hi Milly

[gunfight]

Villain of the week: ohhhhh curses!!! CURSES!!!! I have spent my whole existence getting ready to fight Vash the Stampede but he's just too good at swallowing all my bullets!!!!!!

Vash the Stampede: my tragic dead mother would be sad if I didn't swallow everyone's bullets so I've trained diligently every morning at digesting gunpowder without dying immediately

Wolfwood: [internally: I can't believe it. All this time I've spent walking the path of darkness, reaching to a pure light that I could never grasp, and yet here is a man who's dedicated his life and his body to the pursuit of Peace. I wish he were a woman so I could fuck him romantic style. I've got a whole plan for it and everything. Whiskey, sunset, a bed with no sand in it, 6 hours. This would be fully and completely possible if only he were a woman. Unfortunately he's not, but I can still think about the what-ifs. platonically of course. Maybe if he got some good dick he'd stop being so annoying. And maybe he'd stop making me rethink my morals. I wonder if the seven drunken handies meant anything to him. Platonically]

Wolfwood: Well anyway it looks like my job is done here

Vash: (teary) Will I see you again?

Wolfwood: I don't know. And besides, whenever I look at you, I'm reminded of everything I hate about myself. You know, it hurts.

[exit Nicholas D. Wolfwood pursued by repressed homosexual desires and immense catholic guilt]

Vash the Stanned Peat: (looking out the window like a widow whose husband was killed in action) Nicholas... D... Wolfwood.......

Meryl who was in the background that entire time, yes, the whole time: shut the fuck up already

Vash: when will it be my turn Meryl. When

[roll credits]

[carterrdraws]

milly thompson the woman that you are

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 2

Propaganda Under Cut

Every Supernatural Woman

Supernatural is so mean to women and committed to queerbaiting but it still gives Sam and Dean lovers to kill. The writers kill and villainize them and the fans get the few that remain

wincest and destiel shippers cannot handle the idea of their blorbos having a Woman THREATENING their SHIPS god FORBID

It literally used to be a running joke that if a female character got introduced you knew she was going to die soon because fans would react so negatively to her "stealing" one of the boys away from the big ship, whether it be destiel or wincest

Meryl Stryfe

Specifically in the 1998 anime she was made to be the love interest to the protagonist, Vash the Stampede. However, upon the introduction of the morally questionable gun-for-hire traveling priest Nicholas D. Wolfwood, few people have must interest in letting such a heteronormative pairing slide. Meryl is pushed on Vash, and Wolfwood is pushed on Meryl's coworker and best friend Milly Thompson, and that simply won't DO. Meryl is often depicted as bitchy and uptight, or on the flip side used as a wingwoman to nudge the two boys together. Fortunately they are not too unkind and will pair her with her partner Milly rather than writing her off completely, but it's hard to say she's as beloved as the true tragic and doomed-by-the-narrative romance of the story.

fandom loves to either act like she doesnt exist or make her the wingman friend

She’s sooo spunky and actually isn’t technically even a romantic interest of the male lead in the manga so it’s dumb how ignored she always is. She’s committed to her job, she loves danger, and she has ten billion guns on her at all times

[somereaderinblue]

Trigun Teen Titans AU

Meryl Stryfe aka Shrike, The Girl Wonder

-Former sidekick to Julai’s vigilante Derringer (Roberto).

-Chose a shrike instead of a robin bcz its size, ferocity & feather colours suit her more.

-Parents were a wealthy couple who stuck their nose in the wrong place & got killed for it.

-Was adopted by her investigative journalist idol, Roberto who was also her vigilante idol.

-Although og TT featured Dick Grayson, she’s more like Tim Drake in the sense that she deduced Roberto’s secret ID, stalked him with her camera & emailed him 999+ powerpoint slides titled ‘Why You Need A Sidekick (Like Me)’ until he gave in.

(-Also, she noticed Roberto’s alcoholism & his less than stellar coping mechanisms. Julai needs Derringer, but Roberto needed an actual person by his side, not just a mass of faces to protect.)

-Eventually got tired of being stuck in his shadow & struck out on her own.

-Then she met a tall hot alien princess, a guy who could shapeshift into the animal kingdom, his cyborg brother & a half-biblically accurate angel and persuaded them into forming a superhero team called the Teen Titans.

-Takes her position as leader (& the only non-superpowered individual) seriously but shows a softer side overtime, especially to Milly.

-The newspaper clippings in her room aren’t strictly for detective work. (Most) Some of them are for sentimental value.

Milly Thompson aka Stunfire, Tamaran’s Princess

-The youngest of 12 siblings in the Tamaranean monarchy.

-Powers are similar to Starfire’s, only her beams are yellow & can stun opponents.

-Gordanians kidnapped her as a bargaining chip against her family. As the youngest, they had no choice but to leave her on her own & prioritize their planet.

-Milly already knew this (because contrary to what many believe, she wasn’t stupid) & escaped on her own.

-Unfortunately, her attempts to remove the handcuffs caused a LOT of collateral damage & misunderstandings.

-A tiny but feisty human warrior talked her down & removed her bindings. Milly kissed her so she could thank her, though that might be difficult since she’s unmoving & her face is now red for some reason??

-Has a huge crush on Meryl but is a bit intimidated by her professionalism. Still, it’s even harder to NOT fall in love with the woman’s strong sense of justice & compassion.

-Visits cafes & goes on long flights with Vash, coaxes WW to try smaller cuter animals she can cuddle with & empathizes with fellow gentle-giant youngest sibling Livio's struggles to fit in/not be a burden.

-Loves to eat her pudding with mustard.

Nicholas D. Wolfwood aka Punisher, The Hunter

-Although every kid at the orphanage was a younger sibling to him, he felt a kinship to the strays, have it be cats, dogs or birds.

-One day, someone swung by, offering apprenticeships for some kinda fancy animal research school. WW liked animals & jobs like that sounded like they paid well, so why not?

-He instantly regretted this decision when he realized he was the ‘animal’ they planned to research.

(-The Eye of Michael is more or less this AU’s H.I.V.E. Academy.)

-Despite his rebelliousness, he was their top (specimen) student. Livio was also ‘enrolled’ to keep him in check.

-Both of them were assigned to the Gung-Ho Guns & sent on a mission to properly ‘graduate’. Instead, they ditched at the first chance.

-Wanted to hide but couldn’t resist lingering around the orphanage. After stopping someone from robbing the place, he realized maybe, just maybe, these powers he never asked for could be used for something other than senseless violence.

-Also, becoming a ‘hero’ was the biggest middle finger he could give to Chapel.

-The EoM constantly pressured him into using ‘strong animals’ but his teammates have slowly coaxed him into expanding, i.e. a cute cate for recon & a mole for hiding.

-Realizes he has feelings for Vash after getting to know him but feels unworthy of reciprocation. Still, that doesn’t stop him from plopping into his lap for emotional support.

Livio/Razlo Wolfwood aka Double-Fang, The Tri-Punisher

-Has always dreamed of being a hero but knew the best he could be was a doctor or firefighter or something.

-When the EoM returned with an empty slot, he jumped at the chance (even though Razlo said he shouldn’t, he really shouldn’t, you can’t trust them-).

-Wasn’t suitable for the animal genes, but his body adapted to the cybernetic modifications. They kept him around for Razlo & to ensure WW behaves.

-Eventually, they managed to escape. Livio was still optimistic about becoming a hero, but WW & Razlo were very reluctant.

-Once, Livio wandered too close to the orphanage & accidentally scared a younger kid who called him a monster. He went nonverbal & let Razlo front for a week.

-Returned after he helped WW stop someone from breaking into the orphanage. Both of them realized that their powers could be blessings. Thus, they became a crime-fighting duo.

-After a series of chance encounters, they’re now part of a team.

-Livio is very self-conscious about his cyborg nature, well-aware that out of everyone, the public finds him to be the most intimidating. Luckily, any tabloids who try to slander him mysteriously find themselves socially & financially ruined overnight.

-He’s aware of Vashwood & MillyMeryl. He has front row seats to 2 live slow-burn romances & a betting pool with Razlo on who’ll confess first.

Vash Saverem aka Stampede, The Rebel Angel Humanoid Typhoon

-He & Nai were raised by Rem, a pacifist priestess that worshipped angels called Plants.

-Their blissful childhood was shattered the day they discovered the remains of their older sister, Tesla, the Plant that came to the temple before them as a blessing only for the priests to treat her with less dignity than a sacrifice.

-Nai slaughtered the entire order, including Rem, in a fit of rage & fear. He established a new cult solely devoted to him & Vash. Overtime, his possessiveness & wrath became uncontrollable.

-While attempting to smuggle a group of innocent human sacrifices, Vash got into a fight with Nai that resulted in the loss of his arm.

-It was the final straw, he fled to Earth.

-Briefly, he was taken under the wing of Luida & Brad, the last two survivors of the original temple, who taught him human culture and how to regulate his emotions to have better control over his powers.

-An encounter with a group of heroes & an offer to join their new team had to be a sign. This was it, his chance to atone for his twin’s sins.

-Tries to be the best hero & the bestest ally possible (so the prophecy never comes true). It’s a bit ironic, he wields dark magic but his sunny attitude wouldn’t be out of place in a kids’ fairy cartoon.

-Deeply admires everyone’s kindness, especially WW’s but is terrified of loving him because of his true nature.

-Aside from dark matter-esque energy, his powers sometimes materialize in the form of his Tristamp branches & flowers. Has Plant markings but also Trimax’s biblical feathers & wings.

[what-immortal-hand-or-eye]

MILLY THOMPSON THE WOMAN YOU ARE

ID: A page from Trigun Maximum of Milly Thompson shooting her stun gun from a window. She is braced back with a big smile on her face, and a vein popping in her cheek. End ID.

[chibivesicle]

You just can’t win; how K.K. is a great example of a professional woman in the 21st century

This is the second in my character analysis for Kekkai Sensen, focusing on the senior female member of the team, K.K.  I absolutely love her character; she is incredibly well written and I find her to be an excellent example of the situation that many working women find themselves in as their careers advance.

K. K.’s character design is obviously inspired/derived/variation of that of Vash the Stampede with a gender swap and the willingness to kill.  I find her unique as she is a taller than normal female character, much like Milly Thompson from Trigun but with the tall and skinny versus tall and stocky (Klaus).  She has a blonde bob haircut and striking blue eye while she wears an eye patch over her right eye at all times, even at home with her family.  We don’t know when she lost/injured her eye but very much like Steven, she has a visible sign of her job as a fang hunter since they are both over thirty.  I really appreciate that Nightow visibly shows us the toll that their job takes on their physical body as well as their minds.

K.K. was first introduced when Klaus went to go play prosfair against the Beyondian mob boss who absorbs the brains of his defeated opponents.  We find her in a parking garage surrounded by a literal pile of foes defeated by her single handedly, and we also learn that her vehicle of choice is a motorcycle.  Which makes her even more cool.  Zapp has his moped, Leo has an e-bike/motorized bike, Zed a skateboard and Steven drives a standard sedan car for the most part.

Nightow makes is quite clear that according to Klaus, she is one of the strongest people he knows but of course he’ll defend her because she’s a lady.  But at the same time, she’s the person he brought with him and Gilbert.  Which in a way puts her on the same level as Steven one of the two senior Libra members whom he really does trust.

We learn that she smokes clove cigarettes when stressed out and is one of the more emotional though mature members of the team.  What I mean is that she’ll make a statement or observation that is emotional, but she isn’t overreacting, she’s instead expressing her feelings on the usually sub-optimal setting.

Our next introduction to her is with the Libra social event, where we get her first observation on the workplace.  She runs into Zapp on their way into the after work/after hours social gathering.  It seems there is some sort of power dynamic between the two of them were K. K. has the advantage over Zapp.  However, it is clear that she is in part reacting to the male dominated cabal.

By holding Zapp physically back, she is preventing him from joining the inner circle of Klaus and Steven.  Her observation is 100% for many workplace environments where men will form groups, frequently not even aware of it and create smaller groups where key decisions are made and women are absent from them.  A sort of backroom deal situation but without a backroom but maybe X activity at Y location.

Steven laughs it off (in the Darkhorse translation) calling her pugnacious which only annoys her more, but it is a losing battle.  Of course, Steven laughing at her doesn’t make it work and she drops his common nickname of scarface and notes that he’s not just a scheming bastard - but the most scheming.

Interestingly, the entire time Steven seems nervous with little sweat drops and she states that she’s the bad guy today after noticing Chain’s crush on Steven.  These entire two pages are so honest and realistic - even though this is a fictitious vampire hunter organization.

However, the party comes to an abrupt end when Leo confirms that he saw a Blood Breed and Lucky Abrams comes calling.  Hilariously, since both of them avoid him, the end up together at the 23rd Street Station.  Of course, K.K. voices her annoyance about being teamed up with ‘this’ schemer.  The anime uses ‘black-hearted’ instead and I am too lazy to determine which is the more accurate translation.  It is clear that K.K. has reservations about Steven and he is always replies with a level headed and logical reason to work together.

It is clear that K.K. has some sort of revenge/rationale waiting for the return of the Blood Breeds while Steven would rather not even have to do these sorts of things.  However, each time you go back and read or listen to their dialogue the more and more it sounds like old friends bickering and not two people who hate or dislike each other.  This is further emphasized, and will continue to be depicted this way where the two of them move completely naturally with each other as a team.

This is our first two page spread in all of Kekkai Sensen with them. Just - ah.  So good.

Two professionals at work, completely serious.  Notice how they went from their standard bickering to non-verbal actions.  Time and time again, we will see this with the two of them.  When the Blood Breed from the India Gate comes to HL, it is K. K. who first spots the possible vampire and Steven is the first one to the scene by car.  K. K. saves the girl and her mother and Steven is able to freeze everything in the last second.  He remarks he was cutting it too close while she snarks back he was looking to make a dramatic entrance.  His reply that it wasn’t like her praise dripping with abuse.  These two have a long history of working together.

She’s annoyed that they ended up together again (this has to be super common outside of the story on the pages) and we get the standard Steven line of “Now, now/ まあ,  まあ” trying to deescalate/console someone.   Yet, after their short bickering, they are down to business.  Can we just state that this entire dynamic is just awesome?  K.K. goes by the information Steven relayed to them via phone as they nervously decide how to proceed.  And even though K.K. is incorrect in her assumption, Steven isn’t a jerk about it.  They both pull out their mirrors without actually discussing it.

Teamwork.  I like good teamwork.

What is interesting is the first time that K.K. doesn’t end up with Steven.  When Leo and Chain are looking for the arms dealer who stole Zed’s special breathing apparatus, the rest of the team had to fight villains.  In that instance, K.K. is teamed up with Zapp.

At first she is thrilled to be working with Zapp.  He does an excellent job (but we all know that Zapp is 100% on the job when he’s on the job) and she praises him for a job well done and that she feels lucky to work with him.

Since this is a great way to transition to speak to him as a parent, she has concerned about his recklessness.  She’s being very honest and contemplative about this positive interaction with Zapp, when Zapp totally bales on her!  Zapp literally sprints off and thanks for taking charge and working with others to continue the clean up and she’s pissed!

What does this tell us?  That despite all of her verbal complaints and bickering, there is no way Mr. Anal-retentive would leave.  Instead, Steven would be there giving exact directions to them for the clean up while she could leisurely hang out of even take off to see her family.  This short two page spread shows us that she likely appreciates working with Steven more than she’d verbally admit.

Since after this chapter, I can’t think of another time where K.K. was paired up with anyone besides Steven in fights.  Though I can’t be 100% sure since I haven’t done a full re-read of the series yet.  But all of the big scenes in the Calamity Auction arc, they are teamed up together.  We don’t know what would have happened win the Noctova Smile arc b/c K.K. wasn’t present for the entire incident.

Another interesting short page that gives us more insight into her character is from the “Lunch” chapter where Leo, Zapp, and Zed struggle to decide where to eat.  While they are bouncing around the city failing to agree on a place to eat, Steven and Klaus are in a back alley meeting up with Inspector Daniel Law.

Law makes a dumbass mistake (again going back to her workplace gender dynamics observations) of commenting on K.K.’s physical appearance and her age.  He makes it clear that the HLPD is actively trying to snipe K.K. and he gives her a terrible misogynistic backhanded compliment that she’s got no boobs but a great shot.  Which immediately causes K.K. to fire a warning shot next to Daniel’s head.

You can’t cover that up by stating it was a compliment as Steven simply smiles and that K.K. still was able to keep it to a warning shot.  Funny how Steven is using her skills as a way to press their own advantage implying that K.K. could have simply shot him and there wouldn’t have been any recourse - since the HLPD can’t track her.

What this also shows us, is that K.K. is playing a critical support role for Klaus and Steven.  Yes, they are very powerful together, but they didn’t go into that location alone and without backup.  Since K.K. is providing it for them.  The level of trust between these three characters is amazing.  Klaus wouldn’t go to play prosfair without her nor would he meet up with the HLPD without her in a sniping position.

An important part of K.K.’s character is that she is slowly revealed to be a mother, but that it is not the key aspect of her as a character.  When writing decides that a woman needs to be primarily framed as a mother it makes me cringe since that woman should not be defined by if she has children or not.  She should be defined by her whole self and different aspects combine into this.

The first major instance of this is towards the end of volume four of the manga.  The last one shot chapter is about K.K. trying to find a birthday card for one of her sons.

Leo has been roped into trying to help her find this super obscure and random card with a character who is very popular in the K.K. household but apparently no place else.

She adorably sings the theme song for the obscure series and Leo, the most ‘normal’ of the Libra crew has absolutely no idea what she is talking about.  Even though this is a joke on her that her kid has weird taste, it also demonstrates that K.K. knows what her kids are into, showing that despite her taxing job, she gets them.

The convenience store instead becomes a set up for an awesome shoot out between K.K. and a bunch of nefarious gunmen while she smooshes Leo out of the way.

The two page spread of her flying through the air above the aisles is just great as she deadpan makes her marks.  Looking to use the mirror to see where all her opponents are etc etc. 

I just love K.K.  We also have her getting emotional and even though Leo is trying to console her, again, he isn’t judging her as she expresses her frustration.  She still needs to maintain that straight calm face but and is already concerned at how he’s growing up and wants to give her moments of childhood joy.

I really like how she regains her composure as she puts everything in context.  She knows she’s missing part of his childhood and society already puts enough pressure on her to somehow be a mom and a fang hunter and DO ALL THE THINGS.  Which, obviously, she can’t.  This single chapter is laying the groundwork for the last chapter in volume 9, Bratatat Mom, where we get a slice of her life outside of Libra.

The chapter starts with a meeting of the in house SWAT/tactical team with Libra led by Steven.  K.K. looks awkwardly nervous as she slowly admits that she can’t support the tactical team that day.  Stating personal business to not get into the specifics.

The team is annoyed since it is clear that they rely upon her and highly value her skills. She comes clean admitting that it is for parents’ day at her younger son’s school and due to work, she’s never made it to any of their open houses!  She’s upset about this and also afraid that it will impact her role in their family as being a mother.  Think about this if it were a male character.  There is no way he’d be under the this type of pressure - furthermore, there is the judgement of parents upon their peers at those who are involved in the PTA and who is too busy etc etc etc.  The parent-school dynamics haven’t changed as much they should have; with the transition of women to the North American workplace in the 1970s.  And it isn’t even that, it is also the fact that she’d like to do something for her children since they are her kids.

Steven then steps in to diffuse the situation as we’ve grown to expect from him by this point in the manga.  He looks disappointed and admits that it isn’t ideal but she can go.  She cheerfully turns to excuse herself from the meeting when Steven then turns his personal manipulation to the max and guilts her that the other men may not make it and not see their children as well.  It is amazing that the most well known bachelor of Libra is able to achieve this so well.

It works and K.K. snaps threatening to kill Steven herself.  This is his ‘black-hearted’ nature at its finest.  Thus, K.K. comes up with a compromise - she pulls out all of the stops to coordinate with Patrick to get her all the weapons possible that she could remotely operate.  We get a scene of K. K. with her loving and adorable husband who is comforting her when she told her son that she’d be at parents’ day.  I love how this entire scene shows us that despite all that she does, he chose her, and also wanted to build a family with her.  K.K. knows how to choose them!  Win for healthy relationship!

He’s the best support spouse, and one of the best examples of a female led family/household.  That man is the house husband doing support and it is little elements like this that I love how Nightow writes female characters and their close relationships.  Despite the chaos of remotely supporting Steven and his tactical team, she gets to have hard hitting emotional moments watching her son with his classmates.  He may not understand it at that time, but it means the world to her.

This also sets up another mission that is a K.K.and Steven partnership.  Yes, she’s only doing remote support until she isn’t.  She realizes that one of the other parents is a Blood Breed standing right next to her.  Just like Steven does in Day In Day Out as he looks out into the night, K.K. berates herself for trying to enjoy herself in the moment.  Living her life like a normal person.  This shows that the two of them have much more in common than they don’t - both wanting normal lives, and not allowing themselves a break or the ability to forgive themselves for turning their fang hunter brains off for a second.

Yet, she returns to her senses and gets down to business.  Her original motivation is to protect the children.  She was able to inform Steven and his team of the Blood Breed at their location but then had to deal with the one she was chatting with . . . however, this is the only time that we’ve seen Steven fighting a Blood Breed solo and he’s getting his ass slowly handed to him.  The man knows he’s at a disadvantage and so does his opponent.  Steven is always either with Klaus or K.K.

And that is where the writing for this chapter is amazing as K.K. makes her move on the Blood Breed.  She is confused when he refers to her as ‘also’ being a fang hunter giving us the clue that he’s currently fighting Steven at the moment.  Right before he’s about to engage with her, his daughter finds him wanting to bring him down for lunch with her in the cafeteria.  This lapse in his concentration gives Steven the advantage he needed to break the head off of his remote robot.  There is a nice touch of the ice on his neck where it broke it as he collapses unable to fight back in front of the children.

Thus, even though they were not aware of it, the K.K.-Steven team succeeds in the most unlikely way possible!  I really wished that the two of them would have later been shooting the shit, bickering about something, like Steven being to relaxed and K.K. ready to go and this pops up.  And then the two of them realize it was their teamwork that allowed the mission to succeed.

I think it also goes to show how much Steven relies on/appreciates/needs K.K.’s talents for him to help complete Libra’s mission in HL.  K.K. may complain about his requests but ultimately knows that he’s a solid organizer and makes good, well thought out plans for the entire team to execute.  They also know how to both annoy and motivate each other which is another asset to them as partners in missions.

I already mentioned it in my previous post about Steven and the woes of running a secret organization, it is K.K. who gets him to stop his course of action with the escaped human-nonhuman fused being from the evil pot.  No one else is able to make him pause as he lets the team argue it out until K.K. calls him out.  That look on his face - he knows she’s right and K.K. is, I think, the only other member of Libra who can get Steven to change his mind.  That speaks volumes for how much he actually respects her.  This than comes back full circle to her shooting that warning shot at Daniel Law and Steven can only laugh at Law, rubbing salt in the wound since he’s one of the few people who understands her besides her amazing husband and Klaus.

So where does all of this leave us in regards to K.K.?

K.K. is a character who fills several different roles in the series but they do not define her or make her one dimensional.

K.K. as a fang hunter - she was first introduced as clearly powerful when she was chosen to be Klaus’ escort.  One of the few members of the team who has long range strikes and therefore, support she fills a niche that no one else can do with her 954 Blood Bullet Arts.  She frequently snipes able to disable enemies and does a great job as a distraction in Get the Lock Out! Though she did almost cause Steven to lose it when she was ready and willing to break into the main office. 

With the birthday card in the convenience store shoot out, we see first hand that she’s incredibly talented. 

I’ve also pointed out that other than acting as a support sniper, the rest of the time, she’s almost always working with Steven as her teammate and it again leverages the best of their abilities.

K.K. as a professional mother - much of the anxiety and drama around her has to do with her role as a professional and a mother.  How she’s worried that she isn’t there enough for her family; that she can’t do the same things that other parents can do.  The stress of likely being judged when she does meet other parents.  Yet, we know that one of her major motivations to do her job is to protect her immediate family and the future and all other families.  And that she has a husband who feels blessed that she chose him is top tier mature adult relationships and communication as a couple.

This even comes out when Leo thinks back to all the advice the team gave him if he were in danger and alone.  She joked that she’d snipe a barista if he threatened Leo at the local coffee shop, meaning that she isn’t just a mother to her own children but that the younger team members could use a little maternal love in the absence of their own parents.

K.K. as a female professional - this is slightly different than her as a mother, though the two are intertwined.  There are different aspects of the workplace that women have to navigate and they are never easy.  If a woman is single than she pays the tax of “Oh, since you don’t have a family you can do overtime.”  if she has a family than she gets the loss of skin in the game “Oh, since you have a family, you won’t be as committed to the organization’s success.”  As you can tell there is no way to win, it is more dammed if you are or dammed if you aren’t. When she shows up for the work party, she immediately realizes that she’ll be cast as the bad guy, noting the boys club which Zapp immediately tries to join where Steven and Klaus already are.  And as intelligent and gentlemanly as Klaus and Steven are, both are completely oblivious to this dynamic that leaves her on the outside.  Thankfully, this isn’t a frequent issue within Libra itself and I will continue to state that the ability of K.K. and Steven to work as a pair only improves as the manga progresses.  That speaks volumes as to their mutual respect of each other. 

Interestingly, we don’t see a lot of her interactions with Chain - I think this is a reflections of both their age differences with Chain being in her early twenties and K.K. being in her thirties but also the fact that Chain has a female friend group in the Werewolf Bureau.  In contrast, K.K. has her family outside of Libra.  Additionally, both women have different ways of expressing their emotions as Chain likes to keep hers a bit more distant (or so she thinks) while K.K. is more likely to let them out.  It may also feed into that bit of strong women workplace dynamics where it is sometimes best to leave each other a wide birth to avoid conflict.

Lastly, K.K. as an older female character who isn’t uwu-cute - Yep, there are no uwu-cutesie-waifu women in Kekkai Sensen.  And I as a reader like it that way.  She’s an honest character, living an interesting life, contributing to protecting the balance and has all these different unique aspects to her life.  All of this comes together to make a very human character in a series where totally zany shit happens all the time.

[lost-technology]

A Lust-Filled Animal

Ace Trigun Week Prompt 3: Coming Out Milly was a perceptive one... Who knew that he was THAT kind of ace gunman?

A Lust-Filled Animal Vash was nursing a bruise on his left cheek.   Meryl wore an angry, determined look on her face.  “It was just some harmless flirting,” Vash complained.  “Flirting? You were practically climbing her!” It was another day spent with ladies that Vash apparently did not consider ladies because he never acted around Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson the way he acted around almost every other woman he met from town to town. He had just successfully chased away a “hot young thing” by coming on too strong.  Vash the Stampede was “a notorious womanizer” as the notices about him read – not that anything else about him was true.  The two insurance agents had learned that he wasn’t the cadaver-junkie that he was advertised to be, nor was he “12 feils tall.”  He didn’t have a mohawk.  Sometimes his nerves seemed more like jelly than like steel. “Someone has to protect innocent citizens from this lust-filled animal!” Meryl complained.  Milly held up a finger.  “I don’t think he really is, Meryl.” “Didn’t you just see him?”  “Well, Ma’am,” Milly began, ignoring the look of discomfort Vash was giving her, “He always goes over the top, doesn’t he?”  “Hmmm,” Meryl contemplated, “I suppose he does.  It’s not like he ever gets lucky.” “Girls!  Girls!”

“Well, I think Mr. Vash chases women away on purpose!”  Vash’s face fell and his eyes were wide. 

“It’s true, isn’t it?” Milly asked, sitting down on the bench next to him.  “I think you’re trying to keep them out of danger.  It won’t work on us! Following you is our job!” Vash grumbled something under his breath about “perception.”  “So who do you think you are, hot pants?” Meryl demanded.  “What you’ve been doing is very rude!” Vash rubbed the back of his neck.  “I’m not actually as interested in girls as people think, heh, heh,” he confessed.  “Guys, either, really.  But, you know, I have a reputation to uphold!” “Some reputation!” Meryl spat.  “Well,” Milly tallied, “Vash the Stampede isn’t a vicious killer, he’s not 12 fiels tall, he doesn’t have a mohawk, he wants love and peace for the world and he’s NOT a womanizer!” “I guess so,” Vash said uncomfortably.  He never needed a donut so badly in his life. 

[foxtrottin]

In my mind Milly Thompson has big ol forearms with noticeable hair on them. Big hands that are callused too!!! Milly the woman that you are…

[gentle-giant-swag]

Gentle giant swag

Apricot bracket semifinals battle 2

GIRLBOSS BATTLE1: MILLY THOMPSON (trigun) vs HOLLY (super lesbian animal rpg)

Propaganda under the cut!

Milly propaganda

Big silly women win forever

Best girl :)

She’s a lovely himbo with a big ol gun that shoots these metal restraint things? I dunno it’s basically a giant stapler. She’s very gentle

Cute, optimistic, carries a huge gun under her dress

Because when I was a 5'11" goofy spacey ten year old girl I saw milly thompson on my TV and damn near cried. There really weren't many Big Huge anime girls back then and she's SO. GOOD. and she's gentle!! and wants to do right by others!! and she's strong and competent and a career woman too!!

I believe she qualifies as a herbo.

Holly propaganda

She's an enormous woman, like takes up 2 game tiles in width and has extra dialogue if you talk to her from the side asking you not to speak into her armpit huge, and she's the most absolutely buff character I have ever seen rendered in pixel art. She is a massive mound of muscle who is fond of wrestling. She works for the Paladin Brigade as a healer and town guardian. She's super friendly and gets along really well with Allison in particular. She's such a fun character. She gives Melody her starting weapon for free, the bent staff she has in the promotional art (which was originally designed that way so it would just bend out of the way of covering her face), and even the tooltip says it's quite obvious how it got bent that way.

She's big and buff and she's a healer. Her hat is just a tiny knight helmet that couldn't fit on her head, so she wears it like a fez. She holds cage matches. She has so much love in her heart.

[microsuedemouse]

In Eden

➤ In his final moments, Nicholas D. Wolfwood wished with everything he had for another chance. A different life. A better world.

➤ This is none of those things. Against all odds, though, he's still alive, and to squander that would be a disservice to the woman who saved him. So he'll try. He'll put his friends behind him and forge something new.

➤ After all, he can never go back.

Nicholas D. Wolfwood/Milly Thompson | 8 011 words | Rated T+ | Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending, Reunions, (Ambiguously) Catholic Guilt

“I did not wanna die this way!”

The last thing Nicholas D. Wolfwood expects is to wake up. So when he does, he assumes these are the final desperate attempts of his dying mind to grasp at something better. To claw its way out of this uncaring existence and into a kinder plane. He wished so hard for a second chance – a more loving reality – that the chemical misfires of his brain, steadily running out of blood, are now producing hallucinations of exactly that. Except that he isn’t waking up in the Eden he’d dreamed of.

Keep reading on AO3 →

hhhhokay so. this has been in my drafts since shortly after I finished watching the show, which was apparently... February? whoogh. I was never sure if I got the pacing/length just right, so I was never quite ready to call it finished. but recently @llamahearted posted another wonderful Millywood drawing and it reminded me that I still wanted to clean this up and post it!

listen, Vashwood is fantastic, but Millywood just hits alllll the right notes for me. I adore them so much, and I wish they could've had the happy ending they deserved. so I'm out here writing fix-it fic in which What If They Actually Didn't Die, once again. Nicholas's tragedy is really good, and its impact on Vash's story is really important, but also... what if.

also, I made up a bit of my own lore for the Chapel of the Gung-Ho-Guns, because the manga lore is so so silly. it's really only implied/mentioned in the fic itself, but I just wanted to pad out a few spots.

spoilery bit about the final lines of the fic below:

I was divided on revealing Goodwin's first name to be Eden, because I really liked the symbolism/symmetry of that, and of the idea of Nicholas never having learned that about her. but I'm also very in love with the idea of Nicholas and Milly having a daughter and naming her Eden. so I waffled a lot.

and then I remembered it's fanfic and I can do whatever I want. if I decide to write another fic where they do have a daughter named Eden, no one's gonna arrest me for using the same general idea two slightly different ways. also, you don't even actually meet the baby in this fic, so. who cares. it's FINE.

[frankencanon]

still seething about trigun stampede apparently replacing milly thompson with freaking. roberto de niro?????

they replaced milly (tall gentle and kind but brave woman with a massive gun) with the most stereotypical old guy (mean jaded old reporter with all the classic stereotypes)

wtf. where's our respectable colleague relationships? where's our badass women with a surprise array of guns? where's our gentle giant who looks sweet but could kill you?

they seriously replaced such a unique character and relationship with the most cliché and stereotypical one they could possibly think of

i'm so upset and i'm offended on behalf of milly

in remembrance of milly thompson...

[grelleswife]

Ooh so you're watching 98 Trigun. What do you think?

I’m really liking it so far! Though I should probably hold off on extensive comparisons with TriStamp until I’ve finished 98, I think these anime adaptations are a prime example of the “two cakes” philosophy: Distinctive versions that each bring something good and unique to the table. It might a bit hypocritical of me to call 98 Trigun’s style “nostalgic” since I didn’t enter weebdom until around 2017, but the animation has this feel of belonging to a bygone era that gels nicely with the western elements. The cast for the English dub give an entertaining performance, especially the voice actors for Vash and Milly.

And, speaking of Milly…Milly Thompson, woman that you are! 😍 A himbo lesbian with keen powers of perception, big guns (of both the metallic and muscular variety), and a heart of gold. If she snapped me in half, I’d thank her, but she’s likely the type to give out warm bear hugs instead. 🥰 I definitely understand why fans of the original were so irate over her absence in Trigun Stampede (barring the offscreen mention in the last episode), because she’s a treasure! 💕 Milly also makes a great foil to her girlfriend Meryl. While I’m fond of TriStamp Meryl, I love how the 98 version gives us assertive, spitfire (complimentary) Derringer Meryl right off the bat. She’s serving fashion and putting outlaws in their place with her coat of many guns, and her complete lack of patience with Vash’s tomfoolery (to the point where she stubbornly denies the possibility of this chucklehead being the Humanoid Typhoon for several episodes) cracks me up every time. 😂 I also like the running gag of Milly and her being insurance agents. Although TriStamp’s decision to make Meryl a journalist worked fine—giving her a plausible motive for chronicling Vash’s misadventures—her original position as an insurance worker places a greater emphasis on the violence and destruction which plague the story (as she and Milly scramble to document the havoc wreaked in Vash’s wake), albeit with a comical twist.

Vash remains my darling babygirl, whether caught up in madcap hijinks or betraying the deep sadness hidden behind that smile. Johnny Bosch does a wonderful job bringing him to life (I mostly watched the sub when TriStamp was airing, so getting to hear his interpretation of the character is a treat!). However, I’m not a huge fan of the stereotypical “sleazy womanizer” bit inexplicably tacked on to Trigun 98—my plant boi drinks his respecting ladies juice, thank you very much! 😤 But perhaps it’s just part of his silly goofy guy act, albeit a distasteful one, so I’m hoping it’ll be phased out as the show progresses.

(Haven’t reached Wolfwood’s intro yet, but I’m looking forward!)

The 98 anime’s more relaxed pace is another point in its favor. As much as I enjoyed TriStamp, that 12-episode limit plaguing so many contemporary anime often left the plot with little room to breathe, which I think might be one reason why the melancholy undertones came through with such unremitting force from the very beginning. In contrast, 98 Trigun can afford to be stealthier, keeping things light in the early episodes, but with occasional somber moments betraying the brutal angst to come. Both approaches have merit, though! Like I mentioned earlier, the two Triguns are a pair of cakes: Different frosting and flavors, but both delicious.

The OP is, as the younglings say, a banger. I’m normally not a huge fan of instrumental OPs, but I inevitably find myself rocking out to this one! 🎶 Meanwhile, the languorous ED evokes lazy Sunday afternoons dozing in the shade; it makes me want to take a nap in a hammock like Vash is in one of the stills.

TL; DR: The ride’s a blast, and I am fully prepared to get hurt again. 😎