#noodle watches trigun

[noodle-anime]

wait he KICK the flying fist??

[captainsupernoodle]

On the one hand it's frustrating that tristamp only covers like a week bc there is No Time for Development

On the other hand it's very funny that tristamp only covers a week. A hundred and fifty damn years and knives decides to send his highly experimental super soldier executioner out in the last WEEK to do the equivalent of escorting vash up the driveway. Wolfwood probably spent longer looking for vash than he did actually escorting him. Also in that last week vash got lassoed by the only tabloid writer willing to risk her life for a "stampede exclusive" and then breaks Knives's Uber Special Twin Plant Soup Mindmeld by yelling and also fascinates the conglomerate body of the locals who's been working with knives for a century.

A WEEK.

[lunaisanartist]

Love & peace 🤞

[liquorcooked]

Graveyard Orbit (spike spiegel)

HI HIII impulsively just wanted a place to put all my thoughts down. I'm gong to turn to this in a few months/years and realize I hate this blog, but no better place than tumblr amiright.

I have a lot on spikey piled up, I will get around to trigun junk later on when I am not boggled down by this man here..

spike spiegel x reader / cowboy bebop

mentions of blood and injury, discussion of death

------------------------------︶ིྀᩧ

You’re leaning against the counter in the tiny excuse for a kitchen on the Bebop, nursing a mug of something instant and way too hot. Your torso is still wrapped from the mission you got back from hours ago — stitched clean but aching. You hadn��t meant to be awake this late, but the quiet was easier than sleep, and the way your body refused to settle had made the choice for you.

The ship creaks faintly with movement. Pipes groan like they’re exhaling. Somewhere, Ed’s laugh echoes faintly through a wall, like a ghost of noise that doesn’t really belong.

And then you hear him.

Not loud — never loud — but Spike moves like smoke, and you’ve gotten good at catching the scent of him before he enters a room.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asks.

You don’t turn. Just lift the mug to your lips. “Could ask you the same.”

He walks past you, barefoot, his shirt half-buttoned and loose. He smells like tobacco and metal and whatever vague thing you’ve started associating with safety.

You don’t like that. But it’s true.

Spike opens a cabinet and stares inside like it might surprise him. “We have exactly three things in here. Powdered soup, noodles, and… something I’m not willing to classify.”

“Jet’s mystery meat can’t be trusted.”

“No shit.”

He ends up making soup, if it can be called that. It smells vaguely edible. You keep leaning against the counter while he works, eyes on the scuffed floor. The silence between you isn’t awkward — it never is. Just full. Weighted.

“Let me see it,” he says suddenly, nodding toward your bandages.

You hesitate, then roll up your shirt.

He steps closer. His hands hover, then land — featherlight — as he unwraps the gauze with slow precision. You watch his face while he works. Focused. Brow slightly furrowed like he gives a damn but doesn’t know how to say it without ruining it.

“You stitched it yourself?” he asks, voice quieter now.

“Didn’t have time to wait.”

He snorts, almost fond. “Of course you didn’t.”

You let him clean the edges of the wound, re-wrap it cleaner than you had. His fingers brush your skin every so often, and it sends lightning down your spine in ways that make you angry with yourself. You’ve taken bullets to the chest and stayed colder than this.

He finishes the wrap and steps back, but not far. His eyes flick up to meet yours.

“You should’ve called for backup,” he says. It’s not angry. It’s not even judgmental. It’s just quiet. Like the thought of losing you slipped past his lips before he could stop it.

You set the mug down. The ceramic clinks against the metal counter.

“You would’ve gotten yourself killed trying to play hero.”

“I’m already dying, remember?” he says, lips twitching into that near-smile. The one that means don’t look too close. The one that hides way more than it reveals.

You don’t laugh. Just look at him. Really look at him. “You’re not as dead as you pretend to be.”

He exhales. Looks down. Then meets your gaze again, something stripped bare in the look. And he says, voice low and razor-sharp with meaning: “Neither are you.”

The silence that follows is thick enough to choke on. But neither of you moves. The soup on the stove starts to boil. You both ignore it. Spike shifts slightly, gaze dropping to your lips for a half-second before flicking away — and it’s not subtle, not even close. You let the air hang between you like a question neither of you’s brave enough to ask.

Then you move first — not much. Just a step closer. Just enough for him to feel the shift. He looks at you like you’re a fire he’s willing to burn in.

And you — God help you — let him press his lips on yours, gentle and soft with a hint of desperation. He's worried about you.

He leans in, resting his forehead against yours. Barely there. Barely touching. Like the idea of closeness is more dangerous than any bullet either of you has ever taken.

“Don’t make a habit of not coming back,” he murmurs, breath warming your skin.

You close your eyes.

“Don’t make a habit of caring.”

He laughs. Quiet. Sad.

“Too late.”

You stay like that for a moment that feels like a lifetime.

Then the soup boils over and reality slams back in. He pulls away. You go back to your mug. The silence returns, but it’s different now. Looser around the edges. Like something cracked open — just a little.

He frantically settles the soup into bowls, wiping down the hot bubbles off the counter and wordlessly hands you utensils to go with it. Back on the couch, it's quiet, but a nice kind of quiet as you lean into his touch.

[lateraniansweets]

okay hear me out hear me out

Nai learning how to cook for you.

Millions Knives, big scary Plant man busting out one of those how-to-cook-for-beginners cookbooks and attempting to cook you a meal.

Since he himself doesn't it he doesn't quite Get It. Like why do humans spend so much energy and resources to prepare their food? Why are there certain foods that are meant for this and that occasion?

Still, he tries his best to whip something up and he decides to go with something he deems suitable. Think, a dish that's delicious but not too complicated to make.

At some point, while preparing a meal he's low-key questioning his sanity because again big scary Plant man is trying to cook for a human. Ew.

(Nai is smitten and down bad but he'd rather die than admit that.)

He won't burn down the kitchen or something but he'll accidentally damage the counter once or twice while chopping something up.

His name is literally Millions Knives, HE CAN MAKE A MILLION KNIVES but he's subpar at using kitchen knives. If he's cutting up potatoes or carrots into squares it'll look like shit fr.

Nai will set the table up all fancy once he's done cooking.

Though he only sets up one plate and that's for you and for you only. He doesn't eat, eating is below him.

(He is watching you eat happily wee)

Eventually, cooking becomes a regular thing for you. Sometimes you'd do it together with Nai doing the meal prep and dishes while you did the actual cooking.

Sometimes and I mean SOMETIMES Nai does eat something and its usually pastas or noodles.

Man hates the feeling of chewing or eating in general so consider it a miracle that he even CHOSE to eat.

He does pick up baking at some point and you guys had banana (are banana's even a thing in trigun) bread for WEEKS.

Overall, he's a great cook but don't expect him to make his own variations/recipes.

OKAY THAT WAS LOWKEY A MESS BUT I NEEDED TO GET THIS OUT. this might be ooc but who cares knives needs a hobby that isn't ominously playing two person piano pieces in this weird space onesie as he plans the destruction of humankind.

[selineram3421]

I was holding this back for a while but now I'ma dive head in.

Isekai'd

Prologue: Survival

Vash (Tristamp) X Reader

Warning! ⚠

⚠ Cussing, you get yeeted into the desert at some point, forget surviving on Earth, how the hell are you gonna survive on Noman's Land!? ⚠

Your day had been shit.

College was taking most of your money and you were living off of instant noodles to survive.

As soon as you got home, you flopped down face first onto your bed, completely done with everything. Letting out a groan, you turned on your side and got your phone to find an anime to watch.

I hate this. I'm not living, I'm surviving.

Scrolling down the list of recent releases, you spot the new version of Trigun.

"Oh, its out now.", you mumbled and sat up, looking around your apartment. "I should make something to eat."

After setting up your laptop and getting food ready, you put on your head set and pressed play. The episode started out with the fall and then it got a little too much with one problem after another.

I get they want us to witness some of the shenanigans but this is too much. You thought, slurping on the noodles. Welp, good thing I don't have any classes on the weekend. I'm gonna stay up all night.

When the episodes for season one finished, you noticed the sun rising behind the blinds on your window.

"I STAYED UP ALL NIGHT!?", you shout and groan, covering your face in shame. "I can hear my mom scolding me already."

You get up and go over to your bed after cleaning the desk up.

"Whatever, its the weekend and I live alone. No one is here to nag at me.", you yawn and close the blinds, getting ready to knock out. "I can sleep for as long as I want."

Yesterday was hell, and you were too tired to change your clothes.

Feeling yourself start to drift off, you wonder how the humans on Noman's Land can survive in that heat.

Not my problem. You think before closing your eyes.

.

..

...?

Why aren't I going to sleep? And when did it get so hot in the room?

Opening your eyes, you end up seeing a blue sky with two scorching suns instead of your ceiling.

Huh? Two suns!?

You sit up quick and feel the hot sand. Looking around, only seeing sand dunes.

"No..", you say, feeling yourself shiver in disgust.

I hate the heat!

"NO!!", you cry out and stand up. "I was only wondering how they survived! I didn't want to be in the same situation!"

Why and how did I end up here!?

"What the fuck is going on!?", you cry out.

My friend made me some dividers! Yay✨

~Seline, the person.

Next: Part 1

ML Vash | ChL Isekai'd

[yeahyankee]

Palimpsest [Trigun '98 - Post Show - Vash x Meryl] - Pt. 2/?

Meryl's aching feet carried her home, stupefied from the dusty red heat bearing down on the town. She dropped her boots off by the door and slipped upstairs, drawing herself a bath.

It was a long day of holding slamming doors open, trying to get any sort of quote for the paper. The hours of walking around in the baking sun made her calves scream.

She took her time drawing her bath, tossing the day's dusty clothes over her changing screen. She traced her thumb down the length of her arm, marveling at the layer of grime that came loose.

If a bath for dinner was all that she could muster tonight, that would be fine, too. If anything, she'd rustle around the ice box for something to hold her over, after everyone was asleep.

A polite knock on the door nudged her out of her thoughts. Probably Milly asking if she was ready to come down for dinner.

Meryl took a bracing breath and opened the door, not prepared to see Vash on the other side in the half-dark of the hallway.

He wore a set of work clothes--something leant from Milly, no doubt--a loose-fitting shirt and a faded pair of dungarees. She noticed that he was dusty from the day's work as well--but cleanly shaven.

"Mr. Vash," Meryl said, suddenly very aware that she'd answered the door in a nightgown. She pulled herself behind the door.

"Milly thought you might like dinner upstairs tonight," he gave her a smile, and she recognized that it was to put her at ease.

Meryl looked down and saw that he was holding a plate of meatloaf, piled high with mashed potatoes and gravy. Her stomach clenched hungrily. "That does look good."

"Gotta love a woman with an appetite--it mean's she's got the spirit to live," Vash nodded sagely, he was echoing an old joke back to her--one she'd tell him when all he could keep down was noodle soup and ice cubes, riddled with bullet holes.

"Mind if I come in to put this down?"

"Sure, I was just getting ready for a bath, so you can just put it down on the desk," Meryl watched him come in, uselessly trying to smooth down the silk front of her nightgown to look presentable.

"Sorry, I'm not really fit for company right now," she said, training her eyes on a spot on the ground, still too nervous around him alone.

He laughed, "Haven't you seen me in a worse state?"

"Well, I had to bathe you unconscious for quite a bit, I would say so. You were damned heavy," she blurted suddenly, not meaning for that memory, or those words to come bubbling up.

"I never did get to thank you for that," he said, crossing the room.

She felt the panic attack coming on in full force now, squeezing her heart in her chest like a dark hand coming to smother the small, fluttering bird inside her ribcage.

"It's fine," she said curtly, eyes still cast downward.

"What you did back there, I owe you my life. I never got to tell you that," he paused. "Meryl, why won't you look at me?"

"I can't--I'm sorry, I'm not feeling too well right now," she managed, her hand balling in the silk of her nightgown.

He couldn't be standing there after all this time, picking up where they left off. After so many years of waiting, disappointment, giving up hope.

"Hey--what's up?" He asked, hands reaching out to steady her shoulders. "You're shaking all over."

"I'm sorry," she said, trying to keep it bottled up, from spilling out. Tears squeezed out of her eyes as she stood and simply shook in his arms.

"Shh, it's okay, stop apologizing," he smoothed the bangs away from her forehead, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

The absurdity of the question made her start to cry harder.

"No," she said, between gulping breaths. She felt like she couldn't catch up. Of course she was hurt, she hurt everywhere, all over. It felt like her whole body was a bruise she'd carried around, aching, for years.

"I'm having," she heaved, placing her palms against his chest to steady herself for the coming dizziness.

"Yep, come on," Vash nodded, not needing any further validation. He lead her over to the tub, and lowered her gently to sit on the lip.

He steadied her with one hand while reaching for the wash rag with another. Against the window, the steady scrape of sand and rattling of the outside shutters was already becoming a symphony.

Vash murmured softly and lowered the damp rag onto her nape. The shock of cold against her hot neck sent a shiver through her. He swiped a thumb over the tense cluster of muscles behind her ear, slowly working out the knots.

Meryl's eyes slipped closed, leaning back against him.

Another quiet splash of water from the tub, and then she could feel his hands back over her shoulders. Vash gently placed the rag against her and gave it a soft squeeze, sending a flurry of cold rivulets down her neck.

She shuddered, but the cold tickle of water felt like relief. The taut feeling in her abdomen began to unfurl.

Vash's fingers slipped the straps of her nightgown aside, dribbling water down the round slope of her shoulders. Then, he moved the rag down to her décolletage, and the water dripped past the lace trim of her nightgown.

She opened her eyes halfway, watching the water soak the front of her gown, gluing the fabric down around the curve of her breasts.

Vash's fingers pinched softly at the sore spot at her neck and then eased away the pressure.

A quiet moan escaped from Meryl's lips, too quickly for her to catch it. Her eyes fluttered open, her embarrassed gaze shooting up to Vash.

He smiled down at her serenely, "Feeling better?"

Meryl pulled back, slipping the straps of her nightgown back over her shoulders, "Yes, thank you Mr. Vash."

"Just Vash," he corrected her. "You used to call me that."

"That was a while ago," she said, feeling very aware of her body, how close he was, how very long it had been since her touch-starved body had been held this way.

"Not that long ago," he said gently, giving her that classic pout that let him get away with everything. Vash's eyes stayed on her, as if he was hoping she would say something else.

She tried to bring herself to say something--anything at all that could encompass how surreal it was see him again, after so much unfinished business. How much she'd missed him, cursed his name, cried about his absence.

"I'm going to go check on the generator and then head to bed," Vash said after a moment, rising from the edge of the tub. "You make sure to eat something."

"Thanks," she said, leading him out of the bedroom. Her voice rang like a joke back in her own head when she closed the door.

What just happened?

[healen]

9 people you'd like to get to know better

tagged by @thatonecotton - thank you! this is so fun, takes me back to the days of prolific asks and tag memes!! i loved reading your answers 💕

Three ships:

vash/meryl (trigun): i watched this for the first time this year (@bbunbbi's excitement about it got me!), both the 98 anime and stampede! going in knowing a friend really likes two characters together is always influential, but there's something really special about these two - vash with his outward personality and inward baggage? meryl who thinks he's one thing and learns he's another and stays with him through thick and thin? good stuff!

kogami/akane (psycho pass): it's been EONS since i last watched this but i've been reminiscing with friends recently! iirc i watched the first two seasons of the anime and the first movie, and the highlight for me was always these two...akane the bright-eyed new inspector, kogami who used to be in her position but is now basically like, a dog on her leash? the way he's like, steady, willing, and calm to be just that? the way akane grows through real experience and is a bit hardened, but still stays herself...they go through a lot side-by-side and i think about them fondly!!

frederick/robin (fire emblem: awakening): lol okay piggy-backing on cotton's answer but!! i could name HEAPS of fire emblem ships i love, but these two have really been on my mind lately! frederick the wary will always have my heart lol but the way, re: robin, he goes from distrust to falling in love...but robin is actually (unknowingly) exactly what he was afraid of at the start?? there's romance there's humour there's tragedy....read cotton's work lol and you'll know what i'm talkin about!!!

First ever ship: hmmm i'm not sure if i remember! oh gosh actually i do recall liking amu/ikuto from shugo chara, which was the first anime i really like, properly watched all the way through when i was younger lol!! anne of green gables is something i grew up with too and anne and gilbert have always been the peak of romance for me!

Last song: the returner by allison russell! heard it on the radio the other day and i keep coming back to it!

Currently reading: i have a few things i'm currently reading - i start a lot of books that i get too busy to finish in the time i have them from the library, but i'm gonna get back to these ones eventually:

rooted by lyanda lynn haupt

a brief history of pakistan by james wynbrandt

women who run with the wolves by clarissa pinkola estés

i've also been chipping away at the novelizations for attack of the clones and revenge of the sith (a re-read!)

Currently watching: i don't really watch shows all that often...gosh...yeah i don't really know! the last thing might've been...like, just the scenes with anakin in them from the ahsoka series lol

Currently consuming: just water atm! i always forget to drink as much as i should!

Currently craving: samyang buldak noodles, always 😭 but lately i've been wanting to go eat some tteokbokki, it's been a while!

tagging @breserker, @ghosttbeef, @tofucasserole, @birdblacksocialclub, @rosemochi, @bbunbbi, @s4wdust, @darksign, @darrthvadr, @varethinsilico, @runicmagitek - (i know that's more than 9...let me live!) no pressure at all! and if anyone else sees this and wants to do it, say i tagged you!

[wingsdreamt]

alias / name : fair, short for carnivalfair, which is my usual handle elsewheres. 🙃 zodiac sign : aquarius height : 5'2" hobbies : making art, writing, baking/cooking (especially stuff from scratch, like bread, noodles, greek yogurt...mmm), road cycling, video games favourite colour : i've been fond of aqua/teal colors as of late, especially in my art favourite book : probably the animorphs series, especially the hork bajir chronicles. i've been working my way through the year of the flood by margaret atwood most recently. midnight mass by f. paul wilson is next on the docket. last film / show : watching dungeon meshi and frieren with friends. last movie was the man from earth. inspiration : usually what i'm reading at the time, or matching to whoever i'm writing with. story behind url : made this blog on a whim, the url really just revolves around the quote 'those wings, i want them too.' fun fact about me : i was in an art rut for the longest time and then...trigun happened and i've made more art (for fun!) and improved than i have in years. writing with awesome people certainly helped. tagged by: @kunselxsoldier

[noodle-anime]

notes on stuff i keep Noticing the final fight -

contrast of frantic action and complete stillness. vash SPRINTING, pausing to shoot nai, and then SPRINTING again as nai is recovering. throwing nai into a wall and then standing there to reload before RUNNING away?? idk something about it i really like.

the way that nai's knives move. he does this kind of hunting/striking thing where all four of the knife whips kinda hover around vash and come nipping in one or two at a time from different angles

the way that his whips move like he's underwater, streaming behind him when he's running and float up behind him when he stops

the way vash does his fancy little spin through the window and nai bellyflops after him like a looney tunes character is an excellent moment and also is one amongst many contrasting how vash is actually fighting while knives is throwing himself around like a muppet

[captainsupernoodle]

THINKING....about plant communication...about humans and plants living together and depending on each other for over a hundred years...about plant engineers telling stories of plants shifting and what's sleeping inside the bud...humming music they've never heard but is as familiar to them as a lullaby...how sometimes, in the deepest parts of the desert where no human signal can reach, there is sometimes a tune in the static...

[bhaalswn-arch]

I'm gonna cook up some noodles and then i'll be here to hopefully do stuff? Still watching the Trigun movie ( sort of ) and also downloading medieval cc for the sims for the ultimate decade challenge

[cyborgpasta]

Are you an anime fan or gamer like Noodle?

Yes! I have been getting into the zelda games as of recent. I have also been watching Trigun with Reese. Very nice show!

[butcheredguts]

woo ok !!!! uhmm

three ships: engiespy (tf2), petrigof <3 (fionna and cake), and vashwood (trigun) ((HONORARY SHIP, STANNARRATOR FROM TSPUD/TSP <333)

first ship ever: errorink (undertale aus....embarrassing..)

last song: things to do - alex g

last movie: the texas chainsaw massacre 2

currently watching: bbc sherlock

currently consuming: egg noodles :3

currently craving: chimichangas 💔

nine tags: uhmm i dnt . have that many so @covensys @wolame-o-ccx @humixalex

(edit: ough weird formatting issue)

9 people you would like to get to know better

was tagged by @lagomorphlady! wanted to make my own post for it because the og was very long and kinda fucked up? at least whenever I tried to look at it... anyway!

Three ships: Klapollo, Casphardt, Homuruu

First ship ever: Razaya (how fitting for me that it's a rarepair)

Last song: THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND by Bad Omens

Last movie: Resident Evil: Damnation

Currently reading: The Last Dogs: The Long Road (it was probably the first chapter book series I ever read, and it thankfully holds up very well!)

Currently watching: Fairy Ranmaru (for like, the third time)

Currently consuming: mac and cheese and a glazed cinnamon roll :3

Currently craving: there was this one really good restaurant in my hometown that had the BEST steak fries... I wonder if it's still open...

9 tags: @roseverdict @corvinho @tomaturtles @cinnamon-bunni @corvidfool @aroacenanami @rosethorn-zz @arithemadlad @strzygoncze

[messengerhermes]

When I'm stoned my brain plays the mariocart "race start" noise when I have realizations

And I just had to sit down on the floor and laugh at myself

Because apparently blorbo crushes can in fact both be The Gender and You Have A Type

[chibivesicle]

The sadness of Steven A. Starphase.

How Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront is painfully realistic.  In the most banal adult ways possible.

With me going back to rewatch Trigun before Stampede began to air, I was itching for more work by Yasuhiro Nightow.  However, his follow up manga that started as a one-shot that became Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront came out while I was in grad school and when the anime was briefly on Crunchyroll later, it didn’t ping me as a suggestion.  I’m very much a josei/seinen person with occasional forays into good sports or slice of life series, then shoujo and then shounen series if they have a good sense of humor.  Essentially, I need something like FLCL or Gintama to keep me amused.

With Stampede not meeting what I’m realizing were unrealistic expectations, I was curious and decided to follow up on Blood Blockade Battlefront (B3).  The title alone would be a turn off for me; I put faith in it that it would have that original Trigun quirky vibe.  Honestly, I wish they’d not have translated and told me it was Kekkai Sensen, I would have been easier to convince to watch it.  I watched the first episode and was already loving the style, the artwork and the OST. That OST man - so good.  And the VA cast - so many actors from Gintama and I was shocked no one was commenting that Femt, the King of Depravity, was voiced by one of my fav VAs, Akira Ishida!  What sealed the deal for me, besides the incredible graphic design, story boarding and attention to detail from studio Bones was the entire sequence in S1E3 - A Game Between Worlds when Klaus and K.K. go to the Alterworld following the former Soviet chess grandmaster to the Alterworld Mafia Don’s home. 

As the story unfolded in season one, I started to gravitate towards my usual character types; tough independent females and tall, dark, and handsome males.  Yeeeaaaaah; I love Chain Sumeragi, K.K. and Steven A. Starphase.  I also appreciate Leo with Sonic and Klaus Von Reinhertz is the best male tank character I have ever seen.  He’s so adorable!  And gentlemanly with his tie and oxford brogues.  B3 is a workplace drama/comedy that just happens to take place in a secret organization that handles weird supernatural stuff.  Seriously, that is a great summary and it is a great cast even if I’d likely kill Zapp and punch Brody & Hummer for being double ditzes.

I haven’t finished season two yet (I’ve watched through S2E7 - so no spoiler comments for the rest of season two or the manga please!).  But the character who ticks all my boxes is Nicholas D. Wolfwood - er - I mean, Steven A. Starphase.  Steven is the second in command of Libra, one of the oldest team members (over thirty), has a facial scar, dark hair, sarcastic, stylish and the team member; who gets shit done.  That peaking bit of a tattoo and his ruffly black hair . . .  Chain may have gotten Wolfwood’s outfit and is a werewolf, but Steven is the evolution of Wolfwood, balancing out Klaus’ unwavering principles, and willing to take on the role of doing the dirty work in the background which is necessary.  The body language of Steven is the same as Wolfwood, he’s a mix of straight lines, angles and noodle.

Steven is also paired with Vash - I mean - K.K. on missions.  Following the anime format he’s teamed up with her in S1E5 - Bloodline Fever where they have to fight a Blood Breed in a subway station.  Unlike, Vash and Wolfwood, K.K. is not keen on him all the time calling him black-hearted and giving him the mocking nickname of Steven-sensei (I guess since he is the logistics expert of Libra always coordinating the teams while K.K. is a lone sniper character).

However, despite their one-sided discord, the two of them work well together where he shows his noodle qualities saving K. K. and the young girl and her mother in S1E8 - Z’s Worst Day - Part 1.  Interestingly, Steven takes K.K.’s criticism rather seriously as he’s shaking as she scolds him . . . Steven takes K.K.’s words into account indicating that he does want work well with her.

Before, reverting to his oft “Now, now, now” line to de-escalate things.  The two also naturally balance each other out and communicate well with their options when trying to determine which of the two mysterious individuals is the Blood Breed from the India Gate.

They are also characters who are able to info dump quite naturally due to them being the most senior members of Libra in the main cast besides Lucky Abrams.   And the storytelling makes their info dumping flow with the story - sometimes they are trying to figure something out, sometimes Steven is pondering a situation. Either way it works well for the second in command to be the man with a bookmarked to hell reference text and even have a color swatch for a Blood Breed’s aura.  He also has lots of paper reports which indicates he’s the kind of guy who likes to read through physical items than scan a computer all the time.

By the end of season one, we know that Steven is for the most part, serious about work, a deadpan snarker, leans towards the more pessimistic side despite having hope for the future. e.g. he’d likely describe himself a realist as opposed to Klaus being a dreamer.

It gives us enough information that he’s been beaten down and is no longer an idealistic youth.  Take when he asked about why Leo wouldn’t accept higher pay despite struggling financially and comments that Leo is an upstanding young man.  He also originally was hesitant for them to even invite Leo to join Libra in the first place, despite knowing the value he brought to them, we know this is alleviated by S1E5 when he takes a literal beating to stall for time. Steven looks chronically burnt out - he is the only character who always has lines under his eyes.  His facial expression is rarely one of him smiling or laughing and he maintains a sort of meh or down turned expression when not dealing with serious work situations.  Even in the image below when he’s smiling it isn’t a happy smile, he’s thinking about the situation they are about to enter, looking back on the past three years.

His character is frequently shown with a cup of coffee - at the office, he has a blue mug with a red bottom that matches his shirt, frequently when he has papers in the other hand.  He will also drink tea with Klaus but it is clear he’s reached that working adult phase of life where coffee is fundamental to your day to day function.  Steven is also shown to down energy drinks in times of extreme deadlines as well.

Season two, B3 & Beyond appears to be a season of back filling manga chapters that were skipped in season one to have a tight story.  The one aspect that was a bummer in season one for me was how characters besides Leo, Klaus, Black and White got loads of development and growth everyone else was just in the background as support.  Season two likely pulled from manga chapters that were published earlier which lead to some confusing/unclear points for viewers aka, like why K.K. calls Steven black-hearted and the Steven-sensei nickname.  It is too bad they didn’t have these episodes earlier but I’ll take my character development background whenever, just give it to me.

We first get the explanation from Klaus and Steven at the hospital that reappeared about their personal experience of the Great Collapse to Leo and the introduction of Dr. Lucina Estavez (who should totally date Klaus) as well as defeating the Blood Breed that the two hand been training to fight.

The episode that really hit on my idea that there is a sadness to Steven wasn’t until S2E3 - Day In Day Out.  We get a few parallel story lines that show what happens in Leo, Zapp, Steven and Chain’s day where they are independent of each other but still cross paths by the end.

The first thing we learn is that Steven has an amazing loft apartment with a balcony and cool artwork and an Alterworld/Beyondian housekeeper, Mrs. Veded.  He emerges from a bedroom with a cup of coffee in one hand and the newspaper as he greets her.  With a genuine smile too.

I can look beyond his choice to put milk in his coffee - however, that goes against K.K.’s comment that he’s got a black heart.  I’ll excuse his milk in coffee for his stress and soothing his tummy.  The phone rings and he goes to pick it up.

We can still see the lines under his eyes so again, he is either always exhausted or we are to read them as actual wrinkles.  Maybe both - he’s older and tired due to working hard.  A rather playful female on the phone jokes with him about waking up early - at 11AM and it is clear that he hasn’t been up that long either.

There is a conversation about how much alcohol to bring tonight, cluing us into the fact that he’s having a dinner party at his place.  Which again, is freakkin’ swanky as all hell.  I want Steven’s place.

He’s got a carefree attitude as he talks to two different people on the phone about arrangements for the evening. These are not Steven at the office looks, these are Steven potentially having an outside life facial expressions!

When he gets off the phone, Mrs. Veded comments that he looks happy and Steven seems shocked.  She also noted that he seemed very stressed out and tense all the time and she is glad to see him not in such a state.

Since we know that Steven keeps a straight face for the most time at work, he can’t help but reply that he’s shocked at her observation.  Which is true, I’m sure Klaus can read him pretty well in work situations, but it is his thing to keep his cards close to his chest.  In season one, he is frequently the go between for Libra and the government whether it is the FBI, HLPD, the League of Casters and so forth.  Angelica’s comment of Klaus-san and Steven-shi shows that she knows Klaus from previous interactions, but the -shi on Steven implies that she’s never met him, but knows of him and speaks to him respectfully.  The English equivalent would be like staying, “Oh, you’re the well-known organizer at Libra, Steven Starphase.”  The point is, Steven is well known in certain circles and is respected professionally.

In season one, he was only happy when they were successful at work or his plans went well.  For example, his delight at how Leo was able to spot the Ghost Wagon and how he told Klaus that he needed to work on his management skills of others.  He additionally has a mix of a dark and offbeat sense of humor, able to laugh while Leo is wrapped up in bandages.

This is not a relevant image other than that it shows time has passed and I still want Steven’s loft.

Mrs. Veded has been helping him all afternoon to prep for his party and we see that he even gets in on the action cooking and wearing an apron of course.  He goes with his more casual dress shirt with no tie.  There is an almost excited look on his face.  I’d guess he hasn’t had people over in sometime.

He goes to let people in and he hands the flowers to Mrs. Veded (who adorably inhales their scent looking happy) and after greeting them, trips over.  Of course the friends comment that he’s been working too hard.  Steven, adulting hardcore.

The gifted flowers are placed on the table in a vase by Mrs. Veded and he thanks her for all of her help.  However, it is clear that he doesn’t need her for the rest of the evening and she takes her leave.

Again, we see another nice subtle smile from him here but something about it lingers, like he’d like to say more but can’t.  After she departs, he talks to himself about getting things started, grabbing a bottle of champagne from a bucket of ice and commenting they should get started.

The next time we return to his place, all of the party guests are eating, drinking and chatting up a storm.  There is chill music on, everyone looks fashionably dressed, wealthy - and human.  All of this gives us the indication that outside of work, Steven has the most ‘normal’ social group.  Look at his swanky place, the nice artwork, stainless steel fridge, kitchen island . . . yet while everyone is chatting merrily in groups we get a framing shot of him silently standing alone leaning into a column in his living room.  You can tell that every single individual except for him is talking with another person or two based on their body language.  This is such an excellent image and it lingers just long enough before it zooms into him looking off in to the distance with a wineglass of course.

Steven has such an interesting expression here, he’s got what appears to be his usual poor posture, leaning against the wall, holding the wine glass and has a soft but almost sad smile.  Wistful is the best I can think of.

The fact that his left hand is across his chest and under his right is unusual for him.  He rarely displays this type of conservative closed off body language, think of how frequently he’s got at least one if not both hands in his pockets.  Steven speaks rather casually and bluntly; I like to call his overall posture, noodle, which is relaxed and confident.  Yet, here, he appears much more stiff and is alone at his own party as you look more closely. Something is definitely off.

He goes off to get more beer and leaves the living room when all of his guests raise their arms to reveal biological weapons and tell him to remain in place, Steven Alan Starphase of Libra.  Love the use of his middle name for emphasis as well.  Of course he denies any knowledge of Libra at first before turning back towards them slightly.  Another great part of this scene is how when he walks the few steps up to his kitchen we get a glimpse of his shoes he’s wearing at his house party. 

They aren’t some sort of relaxed shoes, the few short steps allow us to see that they are his modified shoes for Esmeralda Blood Freeze techniques.  We didn’t get this when he tripped in the foyer, but this is now giving the viewers a hint that he’s prepared for a serious fight.

The first sign that things are about to go south is that when he calls out two guests for only just meeting this evening but appeared to actually know each other.

As they continue to threaten him, he concludes that they need to capture him alive; likely due to his role as the second in command at Libra.  This allows him to stall for time as he teases them to give him more information, by stating their bosses are idiots for wanting to capture him alive - as it implied he was expecting them to shoot him.

The framing for this entire sequence is top notch.  He never turns to face them directly while continuing the conversation with Ellen. She tries to threaten him to stop being all pretentious and that they’d have no choice but to attack him.  Of course he replies mocking them by throwing the question about it back at them.  The resignation in his body language that this is what is happening.  I don’t think that at this point that he can even look them in the eye.  He’s too upset and is keeping it calm and collected.

The shading over his eyes as he looks down, the slack shoulders, this is not how he wanted his evening to go down.  Yet, here he is inside his kitchen in a tight spot.  Or so it seems.

However, Steven is anal retentive when it comes to organization and details, and he faked tripping at his front door to use his Needles of Absolute Zero move on them.  Obviously, he likely did this at the beginning of the party for the rest of the guests being a good host circulating himself.  This also explains why he sent Mrs. Veded home, he didn’t want her to witness him doing something this ruthless.  Plus, she likely doesn’t know what he does for a living anyways.

The look on his face as he freezes them is so lonely, his eyes are closed and he’s hunched forward.  He may not regret his actions honestly; he had no choice but to follow through with this course of actions but that feeling of disappointment, sadness, loss, betrayal. It hurts.  Only after he’s frozen them all in place does he even glance back to them as his breath is visible in the air.

Once everyone has been subdued, he gets a moment to gloat over them and their mistakes.  He notes that Larry was smart to select weapons that could get into his building undetected implying that he lives in a pretty secure building and that Larry was carrying his weight funny for the past ten days.  He also tells Ellen that she tried too hard to cover the scent of the weapons with her usual perfume - by adding more.  However, she should have changed the scent and he wouldn’t have noticed.  After telling them how he figured out things were off, he steps back and looks at the group, his entire expression tired and blank.  More stress lines under those eyes.

His own personal clean-up crew is there to take them all away.  And since this isn’t under the guidance of Klaus, he’ll likely let those masked individuals use questionable methods to interrogate everyone for the information he needs to know.  Who or what is targeting him?  Why?  What do they want from him?  These are the sorts of things Steven has to know, but the type of things that Klaus wouldn’t be involved with due to his stricter moral code.  In this instance, Klaus is Vash, holding an almost impossible level of hope and goals while it is clear that Steven is pragmatic and realizes sometimes you gotta slog through the shit to get things done and protect others like Wolfwood.  Though, Steven would have been very upset if Mrs. Veded’s roast were damaged in anyway so he clearly loves her cooking and the love she puts into it.

The likely immediate reaction for a lot of viewers at the end of this scene when he goes out for some air is; Holy shit!  Steven is a total badass.  He just froze his entire dinner party and turned them over to shady underlings to pump them for information.  Badass indeed!

Yet, when I saw the end of that scene, I felt so sad.  When it goes to him alone along the road, he’s chastising himself for his own behaviors.  He’s leaning on the railing looking out into the night giving himself criticism for letting his guard down and enjoying himself too much.  He tried to meet ‘normal’ people who didn’t work for Libra and look what it got him?!?!

He thinks back to how he met various individuals like Ellen and Larry.  And that is when it really sinks in and all of its subtlety.  You think back to his comments and realize he had to likely know these people for a few years as he met them and slowly thought about having them meet.  To realize what type of perfume Ellen wore all the time.  To notice that Larry started walking oddly with in the past ten days meant he saw him walk a lot more for a decent amount of time prior to the recent days.

And then it sinks in - all of those people might have went out of their way to befriend him over the period of several years - for the purpose to kidnap him for their boss.  The level of deception, of effort.  If that was how he met all of them, it sucks so much that it could break someone down.  I almost felt like crying the more that I thought about the entire situation.  Even if they’d met him first to just be friends, it still shows they were convinced to join this plot to capture him.

Thinking about that hurts; it would make him absolutely paranoid to befriend anyone who isn’t associated with Libra and socialize with them outside of work.  But you don’t want to hang out with your work friends outside of work do you?  

The entire mood of this image captures his feelings of sadness, isolation and loneliness.  He’s the darkest figure in the image as the car headlights, apartment windows and orange construction barrels are more illuminated than he is.

The car turns out to pull over and stop as it is Mrs. Veded and she’s got her two children with her who meet him.  Steven smiles at them and they have a pleasant conversation.

The icing on the cake is when he thanks her for everything - she likely thinks it is about her help prepping for the party and cleaning his place.  But Steven is speaking from his heart.  She’s likely one of the most normal people he knows.  Oh, that smile and his smiling eyes.  Steven, you’re a good guy even though you have to do some not so great things.  You care about normal people, you know how to talk to normal people and you are not biased based on species.

Her daughter shows him the cat they found and he knees down to see them eye to eye and comment on how the cat is so cute.  Note, he’s totally channeling Wolfwood, by talking to the children like they are normal and then comes down to their level to continue to chat with them.

The bonus is that he properly pets that cat which shows it is happy.  Aaaahhhh my heart is melting.  I love it when someone knows how to properly interact with cats.

The episode then ends with Leo, Sonic and Zapp riding by, Zapp having a total meltdown about his eminent loss of his most important body part.  Steven laughs how his friends are having a wild night out on the town - revealing that for better or for worse - his closest friends are his colleagues at Libra and Mrs. Veded.

I’m sure that when Leo stops by to chat with Steven, they likely notice the heads of the two goons in the car and figure out that cat is the missing purebred and all’s well that ends well.

The entire episode was a wild ride as the different characters navigate challenges for the current stages of their lives.  The one though that stuck with me the most was how realistic Steven’s entire situation is, besides being a key member of a secret organization who can freeze stuff with his blood.  I mean more along the lines of what it is like to be a hardworking professional over the age of thirty. Trying to navigate a work-life balance and meet people outside of a school context.  It is really difficult and it makes his situation in this episode sadder.  He likely put a ton of effort into meeting all those people as adult friendships are bloody hard.  Steven’s actions were not out of revenge nor malice; it boiled to either something bad happening to him or to them.  He outsmarted them and won the contest but at the loss of likely a bunch of people he socialized with outside of work and clearly never told them who he was - with the whole working for a secret organization.

We can also guess that with his multilingual skills, like Klaus, he’s not a native of NYC originally and moved there to be a part of Libra.  Which makes his story even sadder and more lonely.

We don’t have enough information if he’s a native speaker of Spanish or that he knows it for his Blood techniques.  Zapp and Zed have to do theirs in Japanese (with very Buddhist undertones as opposed to Christian for Steven and Klaus) and they were taught by a mysterious ‘otherwordly’ man with a dark skin tone and wears a skull sooooo one can’t correlate Blood technique language with ones own racial/ethnic background.  All that it has revealed is that between Steven and Klaus, besides English, they can speak a total of nine languages knowing that Spanish and German are two of those nine.

I’ve gone off track, but getting back to my main point.  The entire episode fills in a few gaps from season one.

Steven does have a black heart - sort of.  K.K. isn’t incorrect, but he isn’t doing this all for fun.  He’s the guy who has to choose between two terrible options.  He is the character who makes decisions - very deeply thought out decisions for the overall good of the many as opposed to the few.  Unlike Wolfwood, he does not charge into situations and instead, does his research, assembles teams and will work himself to utter exhaustion to prevent disaster.  He commands others with a strong presence and organizes almost all of their coordinated plans as well as making sure they are executed properly.

Though his interactions with Veded and her kids as well as his concern for protecting normal people or other staff; he cares a lot about others. 

Older characters are more reserved. Steven frequently interacts with all sorts of people and is the contact point for Libra.  Everyone has his number.  He does not show his emotions easily and takes much effort to be convinced.  Detective Daniel Law is the one who talks directly to Steven while Klaus listens silently.  Though, as obvious as it is that Law is manipulating Klaus, Steven doesn’t say anything aloud and instead sighs and groans at the expected outcome. When Master Raju Jugei Shizuyoshi appears, it is Steven who quickly determines his identity, implying he’s done his research though it was still after the Blood Battle God utterly mocked both K.K. and him, the two most senior members of Libra. Yet, he holds his own and keeps his cool - interestingly, Klaus does not speak until addressed by Shizuyoshi, instead allowing Steven to carefully question him without being intrusive. A character like Steven also hits differently.  The antics of say Chain or Zapp aren’t as interesting or realistic as watching Steven lose it over making sure his computers aren’t destroyed.

He’s realistic even in the context of something like B3.  The burnt out vibes, the snarky comments, the confidence in regular work situations.  Steven is an easy older character to connect with.  And he’s got that twinge of adult isolation and loneliness where you wonder how you got to this point professionally successful, yet, somehow are still alone? What did you sacrifice to reach this point?  Was it worth it? I still have a few more episodes to go, but I’m curious to see how things pan out.  Annoyingly, the print version of the manga is out of print (throws serious shade at Darkhorse) AND they don’t even have it digitally for me to legally support.  That’s pretty annoying there Darkhorse . . . Yet so far, hands down, I love Steven’s character and all of his banal realistic flaws.  As life gets older, you have to compromise on things and his character is a great example of that along with the grind of working and being successful