#most narratives are the exact opposite: finding a family and carving out a future

[annaofaza]

I'm fascinated that Vash, Knives, and Wolfwood don't know their birth families and how that plays out with their guardians.

Vash's philosophies are shaped by Rem; Knives rebels/reframes Rem's words to suit his own agenda ("There's so much we have to do to make sure it [Tesla's death by human experimentation/callousness] doesn't happen again." To me, it's a "I learned drinking at my father's knee" v. "I saw my father drinking and resolved not to be like him" relationship, and many people have written amazing metas on this!

Wolfwood has had two prominent guardians in his life—Melanie and Chapel (depending on which version, Chapel actually raised Wolfwood for a bit). It's pretty formative in that Wolfwood before the Eye of Michael is a caring individual but also hard-nosed to a certain degree (becoming a caretaker figure, knowing the orphanage is struggling, etc.), while Chapel teaches him that connections drag you down and that you must make an immediate decision (as the world/job is harsh and unforgiving). His experiences with Melanie and Chapel also shaped his self-sacrificing nature: to help with the greater good, whatever that means—but Wolfwood rebels against Chapel as Knives did with Rem, which (unlike Knives and Rem) is a good thing.

Again, none of these characters know their birth origins or express a lot of curiosity about finding out more, and that nature/nurture dynamic fascinates me because they're a) very much their own individuals but b) still burdened by who raised them.

It's a compelling theme in Trigun that it's not necessarily how you start out; it's the experience and guidances (or lack thereof) do. There are a lot of self-determination/fate interpretations among Vash, Knives, and Wolfwood—what path are you on? Did you create it? Is it shaped? Can you go without a path or make a different one? How does it all end? Can you truly escape where you came from? (More thoughts in the tags lol)

[kesil]

Copying my husband and doing a quick (?) info post on Vohti’a “Vohti” Janra, my XIV OC/Warrior of Light! CW for brief discussion of cults, religious abuse, and parental neglect/abuse. (art commissioned from bigeyebrowart on Twitter)

Vohti is part of a group of Warriors of Light, all of whom take over narrative WoL responsibilities from time to time. He’s the leader of the group and the “main” WoL, mostly because he’s the loudest one and starts the most shit with NPCs. 

Raised in the depths of the Black Forest as part of an isolationist Keeper cult that worshiped the Elementals. His mother led the group and was deeply disappointed when her first (and only) child turned out to be a son rather than the daughter she had wanted. Vohti’a was desperate to please his mother and did everything he could to impress her. Nothing worked. 

The Calamity struck when he was 18. The chaos it wrought -- and his mother’s inability to do anything about it, despite being “the living embodiment of the Elementals’ will” -- was the catalyst he needed to finally leave home and go to the big city: Gridania! Surely life would be better there! (It wasn’t; Gridania sucks.)

Along the way, Vohti said fuck weird Keeper naming conventions and dropped the ‘a, refusing to be defined by being his mother’s son. He kept the rest of it. Keepers are usually weirded out by it because the lack of a suffix makes it a “female name” in their culture.

The “sheltered rural kid moves to the big city, comes out as gay, and discovers alcohol and sex” phenomenon kicked in and Vohti went wild jumping to the exact opposite behavior of what his mother demanded of him. So basically he went full evil slutty selfish bastard twunk mode! He did everything he could to carve out an identity and life for himself that was completely distinct from the good, sweet, straight-laced boy he’d been as a child. This lasted while he traveled across Eorzea for the next five years, until the beginning of ARR/2.0.

After meeting his closest companion, Aeron Cadeyrn, Vohti gradually mellowed. As their little found family grew and the main story progressed, he realized he could choose to be a good person on his own terms, instead of on his mother’s. He’s still a selfish, impulsive, contrary person who acts an awful lot like an asshole cat, but he’s learned to find the middle ground between the two selves he constructed for himself -- the good boy and the complete bastard -- and be “himself.”

Can’t stand organized religion in pretty much any context and had to get held back by Aeron for most of 3.0 to avoid breaking half of Ishgard’s jaws.

Vohti lives in the present almost entirely, which means he’s free of a lot of the trauma and grief in his past and free of apprehension about the future. It also means he makes impulsive decisions (both good ones and bad ones!) all the time. And it means that the Unsundered’s appeal to the past had... no effect on him. What the world is now is what matters to him.

Massive glutton who loves food, alcohol, sex, and gambling.

Loves music and singing, but despite being an attention whore, he doesn’t perform much -- it’s too personal to him. If you get a few drinks in him at a bar he’ll grab the nearest instrument and jam out (because the limiters are off).

He loves the Mothercrystal. Hydaelyn is his real mom now. 

Tyler Glenn (Trash, Sleeping With A Friend, Midnight) is exactly how I imagine his voice! Raspy but polished, intense, very gay-coded. 

Although he’s sun-themed (due to being Azem), the tarot card that best represents him is the Devil (Upright: addiction, materialism, playfulness - Reversed: freedom, release, restoring control). 

Back in Ascian times, he went by Persephone among friends, although his title was Azem.

That text post like “you know what trope pisses me off the most? when the protag is pointing a gun at somebody and they’re like “you won’t do it. you’re too good” and the person holding the gun is like oh shit i am and they slowly lower the gun while the other person laughs. WHAT THE FUCK. if i were there, and somebody told me “you won’t do it” i would immediately shoot them dead without hesitating. who are you to tell me what i wont do. musty bitch” ? He wrote that. Every XIV antagonist is the musty bitch.