#they've been dramatic little bitches and they try to kill everyone

[doctapuella]

lfi continues to give me everything i want in wrestling

[pancake-breakfast]

Now that Bluesummers is back on the playing field, I'm a bit scared of what's to come. He better not hurt my precious Livio.

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 11, Chapters 5-6 below.

Chapter 5: Get Ready, Get Set

HAhahahahahaha, Knives is double-D's....

Chronicaaaaaaa!!! I've been waiting to meet her since I heard about her in Stampede! Look at her, sitting there all pretty with her hot tea.

"This kind of problem"? This suggests they've dealt with it before, or at least have taken the possibility of it into consideration.

Well, if fusing with other plants gets around the black hair phenomenon, then Knives should be fine. That's... a... good thing....?

Yeah, I'm beginning to think the dependent Plants are legit trying to overwhelm Knives with their own consciousnesses to sort of save him without killing him. Kind of like what he's doing, except there's a LOT more of them, and they're a LOT less violent.

Uhhhh... did this guy just lob a coin at them and then... die??

LOL, Vash is being way too dramatic about this. You can't tell me that, in all his years on a planet with a decreasing population, he never learned to recognize a dead body.

LOL, random question about clams vs. fish. Where are they getting either of those on this planet? From Plants??

Ohhhh, Zazie. That explains a lot. Zazie's done with Knives right now. And since Zazie's worms, being shredded up by Legato isn't exactly gonna stop them.

I like the little worm halo. You know, so we know it's dead.

LOL, panic and descending chaos. I approve.

LOL, EVERYONE is crying. Worm panic causes tears.

I wonder if Stampede will introduce control worms or if they'll just stick with the extensive spy network.

Dude, Meryl and Milly did a thorough search of the device and didn't realize it has an audio playing function embedded in it??

Wait, he's connected to Legato now?? That's so impractical. What if Legato was still in a coma? Or taking a leak? Or had his mouth full of beef that he was slurping up??

Also, whyyyy does he have a new weird iron maiden puppet thing?? Do I want to know? I feel like I don't want to know.

Man, I get Vash's depression over this. But Livio is here to cheer him on!

Oh, gosh, Livio.... You aren't a monster, my friend. You're just a person.

"That bitch"? Strong words. Does he mean Elandira?

Ah, yeah, he does.

I... do not know if Livio can actually handle Elandira. She's pretty unhandle-able.

Ok, this right here is a good moment for Livio.

LOL, did Vash hurt his hand giving Livio a friendly pat?

Vash is the resident Plant expert here.

DIY explosives. Not concerning at all. Luida looks ready to smack him if he gives the wrong answer here.

Wait, Luida hears the voices of the Plants? What does that mean??

Ohhh, NM, that was Vash speaking.

"Is it possible for something created by humanity to completely break away from their creators?" Let me direct you to Exhibit A: Vash the Stampede, and perhaps more convincing Exhibit B: Millions Knives. Yes, I realize there's room for debate on how much either of them have "broken away," but they definitely have a will that is independent of the will of those who created them.

Ohhh, these are Plant thoughts. That makes them a LOT more significant.

Aww, Vash calling the Plants in the arc "the girls."

How the hell is Vash gonna keep both Knives and Legato in check? That didn't work out so well for him last time.

OMG everything about this. Thank God these two are finally hugging it out. They need this.

Milly telling Vash that Meryl can still get sad. Good on her. Anyone can still get sad. Being able to get sad isn't a sign of weakness.

Ugh, them kissing their fists and then bumping them. This is why people ship these two.

"Who's that helping us? Vash the Stampede, you say? Hmm, sounds familiar, but I just can't place it." Something something social strata. This guy's never been low enough on the totem poles to keep abreast of bounty hunter knowledge.

FYI, the untranslated Japanese across the top here is basically, "What the hell?!" or "What was that?!"

Ohhhh, that stupid-ass military general doesn't look like he's prepared to comply.

The Earth forces are not happy about Knives. Including Chronica.

Aaaand Livio's hunted down Elandira. I'm sure this will go smoothly.

Chapter 6: That Which Can Be Protected

Why do I feel like this volume is gonna end on a major cliffhanger?

Oh, hey! Baby Livio!

That's right! You've protected others before, and you can do it again!

What, you guys just gonna stare at each other all day? I mean, that's not necessarily bad. I'm just asking.

She looks kinda sad.

That... is one giant nail.

Yeah, she's pretty scary. The only thing that gives Livio a chance here is how crazy his regenerative ability is.

How did she know where he would stand so her nail landed in the right spot?

TBH, Elandira doesn't seem to like most people, regardless of gender. Have we met anyone she likes? She tolerates Zazie and Wolfwood, and didn't seem any more positively inclined than that toward any of the other Gung-Ho Guns. She hates Legato. She's dedicated to Knives, but she doesn't seem to like him. He's her boss and is gonna take her to Armageddon. It seems more transactional than anything else.

Ooh, low blow, Elandira. Very in character for her, but... but... I, the reader, don't want to hear people insulting Wolfwood like that.

Mmmmm, this is not a secluded fighting spot. That's... problematic.

"I was going to let you go because we're all going to die anyway." Hahaha, she's such a nihilist. I would have loved to have seen her in a more casual, less murder-ful setting. She would LOVE running her own drag bar, I think.

Hahahaha, all the random civilians being like, "You guys are too rowdy! Get out!" Good for them. Also, they clearly don't know who they're talking to.

Noooooo! Stop hurting my Livio! He needs to be protected, not FILLED WITH GIANT NAILS!!!

Ok, this is interesting. It sounds like some part of her wants to hope, or maybe did hope at some point in time, but the world beat it out of her a long time ago. She sounds... like Livio in the Before Times.

Man, I thought that looked like a nuke, but I didn't want to assume something about this world's tech like that.

How did she get the key for the bomb??

Hey! I recognize that hat!

Awww, of course he was protecting kids! And now these kids are gonna have the kind of trauma one gets from seeing someone who was trying to protect you brutally stabbed through with a bunch of nails.

Aww, Livio's decided kids are cute. Good for him.

They just met him and they're so worried about him! Oh, I think I should probably be worried about him, too, but for some reason I'm not? IDK, I just think he'll pull through.

See? He's fine. And apparently about to try to adopt half a dozen kids.

Oh, they have a mother-type person. Good. Livio's life's a bit dangerous right now to be looking after a bunch of kids. Maybe when things settle down.

He seems hesitant to accept this gift, but he also knows this act of gratitude is important to her.

Hahahaha, this little hat kid is determined. Scared, but determined.

Oh, man. When do you think Livio last felt his heart soar? This is giving me the feels.

Ohhhh shit, it's his old crush! Also, six years my ass.

Hmm, not so cliffhanger after all. Nice.

Archive

Trigun Vol. 1: Covers + 1-3, 4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 || Vol. 2: Covers + Extras, 1, 2-4, 5-6, 7-8

TriMax Vol. 1: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 2: Covers + 1, 2-4, 5, 6-7 || Vol. 3: Covers + 1-3, 4-5, 6-7 || Vol. 4: Covers + 1-2, 3-5, 6-7 || Vol. 5: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 6: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 7: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 8: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5 + Bonus || Vol. 9: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 10: Covers + 1-3, 4-5, 6-8 || Vol. 11: Covers + 1-2, 3-4

Extra Credit: Trigun Vol. 1: Nebraska vs. Vash's Motivations, Vash's Loneliness, Vash's Depression (pt. 2 of post), Soupy Brains || Vol. 2: Coin Factoids || TriMax Vol. 1: Lina, Vash, and a Haircut || Meryl, Vash, and the Pursuit of Happiness || Vol. 5: Knives, Vash, and Hatred for Humanity || Vol. 6: Coping Series: Wolfwood, Meryl, Vash || Vol. 8: The Uncoordinated Counterattack || Vol. 9: Justice, Punishment, and Mercy, The Tolling of an Iron Bell || Vol. 10: Crucifixion Symbology (pt. 2 of post), Merging of Families, Being Childlike (And Why God Hates Chapel)

[the-fandom-fuckup]

A bit of manga spoilers below

So like. I can't be the only one thinking about 2nd's scar right? It's big and jagged and adds to his distinction from Baku features nicely, but I noticed smth while reading and now I have a thought

Like that bad boy stretches across his entire face. It's kinda hard to miss, right?

But when we see him n 3rd recounting their first meeting with the Original it looks like he hasn't gotten the scar yet

Like, if he had it in that first pic we'd be able to see it cross his nose and trail above the eyebrow. And yea, it could be stylistic choices or visual effects (particularly in the second pic) that are the cause for this, but here's where my thought comes in.

What if that scar was caused by his final showdown with AfO, and was the killing blow that ended him? Yea we've seen other characters with nasty looking facial scars, and some of them are pretty big and mean lookin, too.

But this scar just seems like someone was trying to keep him down for good, y'know? A lucky shot right between the eyes, going from jawline to hairline, and thick enough to show it wasn't just a little kitten scratch.

Like could he have possibly gotten it from any fight after meeting the Original? Sure. They said so themselves they lived during the height of AfO's power, during the roughest parts of quirk history. They've no doubt been in a lot of bad situations and the scar could be no more than a nod to that.

But I really like the thought of it being his last wound, his last hit before he was downed for good. He even said himself that winning in this fight meant living on, and losing meant he'd die trying, and I dunno. Maybe I'm just a dramatic bitch, but I really like the thought of him living in this afterlife with a constant reminder that he gave his best in his last fight, but that wasn't quite enough to see him through it.

(That and everyone knows scars are better when they have a loaded history behind them lmao)

[catboyebooks]

so first komaeda makes a big deal out of apologizing for interrupting (if it wasn't clear he does this sort of thing Often, probably just to ensure everyone's listening to him, i guess) and then says he's suspected tsumiki all along, basically from the start of the investigation. because he had this theory of the case in mind while investigating, he discovered evidence that nobody else noticed. i'm relating this much more succinctly than he does, btw, he drags this whole thing out as long as possible because he's a dramatic bitch. there's also a good joke in here where kuzuryuu yells at komaeda for withholding evidence because "this isn't a game" and monokuma replies "actually, this is a game!" and then monomi pleads with him to not make controversial statements. anyway

so the super-important evidence? well, it's about the rope hinata and komaeda discussed earlier, the one ibuki was found hanging from. there weren't any ropes inside the music venue, so one could assume it was a brand-new rope from the supermarket. however, one spot in the middle of the rope is heavily frayed. this can't be from hanging ibuki, as it's not near where the noose was tied or where it was hooked around the lighting. komaeda's theory is that the rope was wrapped around ibuki's neck and the killer pulled on both ends, strangling her.

hinata suddenly gets indignant and is like, hold up, you've been sitting on this info about the rope the whole time and yet you told me during the investigation that the rope wasn't a clue? komaeda gives a total non-answer that basically just confirms that yes, he was lying (he says that some people are obviously going to lie during murder investigations and jokes that he was just copying the killer a little). of course the actual reason is that they had this conversation in front of tsumiki, but he can't just be normal and say so.

after finally getting to this reveal that he's just updated the autopsy report (lol) komaeda announces he's done talking and refuses to take any further questions about anything he just said. thanks.

most of the group is pretty resistant to the idea that ibuki wasn't hanged, and there seems to be confusion over how this proves tsumiki did it, but hinata points out that they only actually have tsumiki's word to go on that it was a hanging. the monokuma file says she was strangled and never specifies hanging. tsumiki of course did both autopsy reports. if this wasn't a hanging — and the rope evidence suggests it wasn't — then tsumiki lied, and why would she do that unless she was the killer?

komaeda immediately backs hinata up here and says that tsumiki should have been able to tell the difference between strangling and hanging. tsumiki pleads that she's not used to identifying post-mortem injuries, she's not a coroner. this again wins her some support from the others, but komaeda says that even a drunk med student would be able to tell the difference and she's the fucking shsl nurse. she obviously knows better. it's suggested by kuzuryuu that maybe it really was a mistake, just tsumiki being clumsy (she agrees with this), and owari says there's no way tsumiki is a killer and she's going to stand up for the woman who nursed her back to health. komaeda says that that may well be what tsumiki took advantage of in order to kill ibuki — or even if she didn't purposefully try to gain her trust through taking care of her while she was ill, she took advantage of ibuki suffering from an illness that made her believe whatever she was told. she probably willingly followed tsumiki to the music venue. the others still seem skeptical and kuzuryuu asks komaeda if he's only suspecting others of being criminal masterminds because he's projecting. komaeda's like "i'm not a criminal!" (wrong) and tsumiki insists they've got it all wrong and begs forgiveness. komaeda tells her that there's no way he can forgive her. he can't forgive this crime at all.

i should probably point out, about komaeda's behavior this chapter. previously he's made it quite clear that he'll side with the killer if he judges them to "have the most hope" (i.e. if he thinks the plan is clever enough and finds them justifed in their actions). he only turned on hanamura when it was clear hanamura wasn't clever enough to hold his own in an argument, and he was pretty sympathetic towards the kuzuryuu/peko situation last chapter, mostly just urging them to sort out their feelings about each other (not to say he wasn't also a bit of an asshole about it). with tsumiki his attitude is obviously very different. not only is he quite cold towards her, he's actually clearly hoping she does get executed for this. they might not have ever settled on tsumiki as the killer if he didn't bring up the rope evidence (in fact, nearly everyone still seems to have doubts). this all gets further cemented when sonia says they still haven't decided if tsumiki is guilty and komaeda basically says "you guys are too nice. if you want to believe she's innocent i won't stop you, but is that really your hope?" then owari threatens to beat him up.