#no. vash and knives have to be something More. im thinking maybe something related to the kagura business

[orcelito]

Oh Boy if the naruto brain grips me as hard as it did in 2018, I really just might end up doing a trigunxnaruto crossover. Specifically with trigun characters in naruto world

Listen. I am just utterly fascinated by Naruto's world building. And if I can find a way to fit Vash (and Nai) into the Naruto world's lore in a way that is both convincing and fitting. Then fuck YEAH I wanna do it

[pinkanonwrites]

ohmigod does streamer au mean that Knives is like. Vash's twin that visits his apartment to ensure Vash is okay (as a disabled person myself who lives alone, i get weekly visits from my mom and brother lmao) and comes in with groceries, leaves with trash, comes over to drive Vash to his doctor appointments, and tells Vash to get a real job??

does the chat see Knives as like. a cryptid. and the chat spams with acknowledgement as Knives moves about in the background and Vash goes "Chat says hi! ...Knives?! Did you hear mE?! CHAT SAYS HI!!" and he shouts back "I heard you both times, but I'm not acknowledging your no-life-having enablers!" or some shit

Knives feels like he has a trenchcoat and briefcase and has some high-up position like, idk, i feel like hed be an enviromental lawyer but also a corporate lawyer yet he also feels like he could be a radio/podcast celebrity with Bad Takes (i might just be describing Andrew Tate or somebody whoops) and a reputation for being shitty to his fans. like i could Knives being either objective scum with a cult following. or being like a eco-friendly protestor who put a politician's house on fire but hasnt been caught bc he wore one of those face-masks that distorts pictures and made sure not to leave any finger-prints. maybe he's something in-between, like he supports PETA, i dunno. or maybe he and Vash are actually estranged

im really curious how you would characterize Knives in this au, theres definitely a lot to go with considering the vast differences in his 1998, 2023, and manga variations (im partial to 2023 myself, but manga is a close second and 1998 is in the dust for me personally) since his genocide nonsense doesn't have a 1-for-1 translation in a modern world. the only act of Knives that i can think of that would track is 2023!Knives blaming himself for Vash's amputation (as opposed to other variations, if i remember right, where Knives did it to punish Vash, i liked that they went with a "Knives did it bc he loves Vash and didnt see another way to save his brother" direction instead) bc maybe the amputation happened in an accident that Knives blames himself for Vash being a victim in. but yeah, so many variations

also Rem. but Rem is a bit easier because there's always the "Well, Rem is still dead" option mixed with "She was our foster mom" (oh, maybe Knives works in the Social Services) whereas Knives, again, has all these variations

(anyways, i have a Part 2 to this that's not related to me asking questions about your streamer au, but rather me just saying a hc i have for Vash+Knives Modern AU that is very biased to my own personal history and therefore is irrelevant to your streamer au, so do hold up briefly, i do wanna ramble about that bc rambling about Trigun Modern AUs is fun)

I think I can tell you guys some about the ideas I had in mind without spoiling too much!

So I've bounced it around a bit in my head, and I think I've come up with something that works for this AU in particular. Rem was in fact their foster mom, she adopted them both as babies. While Nai was a pretty normal kid growing up, a bit cynical and intelligent for his age but nothing concerning, Vash was the type of kid who got sick really often. Like, immunodeficient, multiple hospitalizations sick. I was thinking something like CVID, which makes it so you're way more susceptible to getting respiratory and lung infections. He was a happy kid, but in and out of the hospital a lot.

In late middle school he had a really bad reaction, and while rushing him to the hospital Rem got in a car accident that cost her her life and Vash his left arm. Vash feels like he's the whole reason the accident even happened in the first place, while Nai blames himself for Vash being even worse off because maybe if he'd just been able to keep calm Rem wouldn't have been so distracted. There's also a fair bit of survivor's guilt in him, being the only one who got out of the wreck generally unscathed.

So he's kind of taken himself up as his brother's keeper, balancing his own post-graduate work life with checking in on Vash, bringing him to appointments, and just generally making sure he doesn't do anything stupid. He's a conservation biology major and a huge ecology nut, who often says (in a deadpan tone that Vash thinks is a joke) that the planet would probably be better off if all the humans on itwere wiped out.

Nai has complicated feelings about Vash's streamer lifestyle. On one hand he's not as deeply, deeply depressed as he was in early high school, most days it being a chore for Nai to even get him to eat or drink. On the other hand, he thinks that a job like this isn't stable enough for Vash, that he could be doing more with his fantastic intelligence, and that Vash cares way too much about what random strangers on the internet think about him. It's the sparking point for many arguments, because as much as they love and care about each other, they just don't see the world from each other's viewpoints.

(He'd also never say it, but Nai is actually very grateful that Vash has Nicholas as a roommate. As much as he despises the guy, at least there's someone around to make sure Vash is eating real food and actually going outside when Nai isn't there to check on him.)

[longhands-the-second]

Trimax vol. 5

This is a solid 30% “what will they do with this in Stampede?”

1- “this time of year”… what are seasons like there? Are they distinct at all???

OH. YIKES. JULY. I was wondering why we were starting here.

God, I hate to think of how many people Vash has lost over the years.

For him to openly weep is heartbreaking, knowing how often he just shuts down instead.

Im fucking stoked to see what they do with midvalley in stampede, if anything.

Meryl is leaving this whole thing fundamentally changed i think. Just a hunch.

2- This is maybe a little unclear? I see the vision though.

I fucking love manga milly you go girl

GOD DAMN IT VASH he keeps getting hit and it makes me sad

Ballerina wolfwood

Am. Am i gonna start simping for wolfwood now? Is this how it happens?

3- oh. Oh boy. That sure is a title page

I’m still so mad they stole ww’s nose in stampede. It’s so pretty.

Wolfwood being protective of people. That is all. :)

OH OH OH ITS HAPPENING EVERYBODY STAY CALM STAY FUCKING CALM

This is the first time that we’ve seen this w/o Knives’ direct involvement- is this something that just happens when he’s at his wit’s end? Has it happened before? (Is it just compounding recent events???)

Bevridge Bitch is here and his vibes are as rancid as ever

How recent was July? He has most of the same scars.

Man they really just took the sleeve off of his coat. Worst thing that happens here, surely (<- coping)

Nvm the sleeve magically reappeared.

Girl seriously though what the *Fuck*

Could he just not do it before? Is this knives doing it *for* him???

“Seeds”?

Oh no. Oh this is even worse than last time. Ick.

Somehow this is more explicitly uh. Y’know.

EW EW EW EW

Dude phrase that literally any other fucking wayyyyyy I’m screaming crying throwing myself out of the window

Vash didn’t answer. I think this is the only iteration that wouldn’t. Then again that might be entirely circumstantial.

DAMN.

4- I took a week long break after the last chapter. I WAS ahead but uh. Stuff and things. So i may have some rereading to do.

SO WAIT HOLD ON DOES TOUCHING THE FEATHERS LET YOU SEE HIS MEMORIES AND SHIT?

I wonder if wolfwood’s gotten his sight back? Is that gonna be recurring or was it just a brief thing?

God this is so fucked up. Poor Meryl is probably losing it

Midvalley continues to fascinate me. What he’s saying makes sense but like. Damn.

Oh fucking god damn it get this guy out of here i don’t want him

What the hell am i even looking at right now

LEGATO YOU BASTARD

5- i hate to say it but i was kind of rooting for midvalley? I wanted to see more of him at least. Fuckin brutal way to go.

Oh is this why zazie is like. Extra androgynous in stampede? Fully support this actually.

I don’t think any character gets under my skin the way legato does. Knives is a close second, but there’s just something about the type of cruelty he exhibits. It’s not quick or to the point. He lets that shit simmer on purpose. It’s not about power anymore, it’s about maximum suffering. For himself, too. It’s gross.

MERYL!!!!

Legato sticks his leggy out real far. Fr though those are spindly as all hell

I’m not sure how much of the angel arm use is Vash making a conscious decision? Guess we’ll find out later. (EDIT: or not damn. He’s so quiet about it.)

Ah. Elendira. Will i love you or hate you?

6- i swear i can feel the panic coming off of the page here

I wonder how much more shit happened with knives that we just haven’t seen yet. How much of it does Vash remember?

Is this happening in his head right now? Is that why his arm is extra fucked up?

I find myself wondering at this moment if the original japanese was more or less derogatory about elendira and tbh i’m just gonna stop thinking about it now.

I can already tell im gonna be obsessed with her dynamic with knives though. They both seem so over it in a way that i can only describe as “the only two queer people working at the McDonald’s.” This is in no way related to any personal experiences i may have had, pinky promise. (Me and that manager were like. Work besties.)

She’s so fucked up i love her already.

UGH UGH UGH BE NICE TO HIM DAMN IT.

EXPLAIN YOURSELF TO THEM MAN. (He’s not obligated to but holy shit do you know how much that had to fuck Meryl up?)

Yeah, i see where the japanese Rem headcanon comes from. The vibes are there.

End notes (semi related to the actual content):

- I am DYING to know how they’ll deal with the Earth ships. Can’t just start that plot thread and just destroy them. I mean, it could happen, but like. Why?

- Forever yelling about biblically accurate Vash. I’ll draw him at some point given the time and energy. I REALLY want to know how/if they’ll handle it in stampede- we sort of got it, sort of didn’t? I’d love to see that pushed further.

- I WILL FINALLY POST ANOTHER GOD DAMN COLORING THIS WEEK. It took me a full month so it’s from an earlier volume but i’m very excited to share! It *should* be done by Friday (questionable way to celebrate given the content) ((maybe I’ll post vash in the babygirl pose as a treat)).

- I got my silly little wwvd bracelet and wore it with my Vash cosplay this last weekend. It genuinely makes me smile every time i see it lol. Real mood booster through con crunch, too. (Also, shoutout to the vash cosplayers at akaicon who definitely won’t see this lol. I almost asked them if they were in on the bookclub based on conversations we had but I chickened out.)