#trigun stampede post julai

[caro-x-x-x]

Happy Birthday Vash & Knives! ✨️🥳

The whole group is celebrating together! 🎉

(I drew this in 2h, so it's kinda messy, haha ^^')

[isawjamfirst]

more post-julai stryfewood from yours truly

[kiaraalazulu]

post julai merylwood

ref pic from @/miukumauk on twitter

[imustbenuts]

theres a few ??? thing going on in trigun stampede that's explicitly japanese/sino-ish in culture but im entirely not sure what to make of it. 3 things.

Knives' birthname being settled as Kni/Nai,

JuLai's emblem symbolism,

and the Buddha Thread??? thing in ep 11 10

Knives' birthname is Kni and hm! ...無い?

this is specifically a stampede thing. nightow didnt give him this Kni name in his work, so i can only chalk this up to the stampede staff's deliberate decision. if you render it into japanese, it'd be Nai, and the immediate word i can think of is... 無い. meaning, Nothing, or Without.

it fits rather well considering stampede has officially placed an emphasis on his obsessive love towards his brother on his bio on their official site:

my TL:

Vash's twin brother. Possesses a cold and merciless personality. Filled with a hatred for humans, he masterminds an organization with a plan to massacre the entire human species. With abilities beyond human understanding, he has the power to destroy entire planets. He greatly loves his only younger twin brother, Vash to an obsessive degree.

interestingly, the word used for the obsessive love here specifically is 執着 shuuchaku, which has roots/association with the word Abhinivesha. from what i understand it is a mental state, a fear of death, and a desperation to cling onto life so much one becomes ignorant and causes their own suffering. and ignorance is another big core of what makes Knives' character tick.

so i feel like this has some pointers towards Knives, or even child Kni being nothing without his younger brother. (or it could just be a simpler play on the word naive lmao)

meanwhile for Vash there's not really anything japanese that jumps out at me, but some have pointed out his name sounds like the french word Vashe, used for female cattle. extremely passive and born for consumption and theres a lot to dissect in that direction but im not going there! his name is Knife and his brother is a cattle there's catholicism may your brain go brr.

theres more to the nothingness concept in buddhism that doesnt put it squarely in a negative category but lets talk about buddhism later. next:

JuLai's emblem

stared at this for a few seconds and yelled fuck me. this represents the twins, AND its the broken yin yang symbol:

:). hey look at that female thing popping up again--

Knives is evidently the light Yang, and Vash is the dark Yin. ngl this daoist thing is somewhat sexist but lets brush that over 2 thousand year old aspect aside for this post. for stampede's case we can clearly see what theming is going on especially for those in the know of the original work.

Knives is hella assertive to the point of echoing fascist eugenics nonsense, and Vash has that nurturing instinct that seems to pop in whenever there's a human child or people who needs help.

interestingly the planet No Man's Land has too much fugging sun and is too hostile for human life. to survive people have to live in the shade and turn to plants for counters to the harsh, hot celestial sun. so here if Knives is being the sun, hes also being hostile to human life, and meanwhile the feminine looking plants and Vash's personality plus actions are the only thing giving these people at chance at life. (also vash has the power of Dark Matter or something)

obviously, just like JuLai's broken symbol, the balance is completely and utterly out of whack. in daoism a broken balance is thought to cause a lot of suffering. in the finale, Vash doesnt have a single speck of white on him, and Knives doesn't have a single speck of black. this means there isn't a balance and they cant come to an agreement at all.

im gonna also point out here that vash's idea of co-existence even if accepted wouldnt be a permanent solution due to the dependents having limited lifespan. so through this lens, stampede seems to be saying that neither twin's ideas are really effective long term solution, tho Knives is completely unacceptable due to obvious genocidal reasons.

Buddha Thread

studio orange whaaat are you guys cooking over there... ok so. in ep 11, Knives drops Vash into the uhhh The Hell Pool, and Vash tries to get out of it with his wire and hangs for a bit. then we get a scene like this:

Knives proceeds to cut Vash's thread and he drops into The Hell Pool. and then the metaphorical SA scene happens.

i call it Buddha Thread but this can also be known as The Spider's Thread. there exists a story of The Spider's Thread that's very Japanese-Buddhist and well known over there.

the gist of this story is that Buddha lowers a single spider thread to a sinner in the deepest hell as a lifeline to get out, bc this heavy sinner had done a singular good deed of saving a spider he was about to crush with his foot. however, the thread is broken as a result of the sinner's selfishness yelling for the other sinners below him to let go, claiming this thread was his and his alone. the sinner having climbed halfway upwards the thread after great effort plunges back into the pits of hell. buddha having watched all of this reacts with sadness, and the days in paradise carry on as per usual.

and. digest that for a second. and then refer back to Knives and The Fall and this scene that plays later, when Vash's mind wipe begins proper:

fuck. me. knives is framed as a self proclaimed god in the loudest ways on multiple levels.

while these 3 aspect i just broke down explaining do not exist at least overtly in the original trigun, i thought it would be interesting to chew on in light of the overwhelming catholicism existing in the story.

there's some themes im also picking up from the original trigun that might be rooted in either buddhsim or japanese culture such as: the undeniable truth that yearning and hunger is part of the human living experience and to deny it is to deny living. but im not sure what to make of it bc A) not explicitly framed or explored as a buddhsim/japanese idea thing and B) catholicsm obv is the overwhelming theme of the entire work

idk what the heck studio orange is cooking exactly but. hm.

[museqmeg]

a Meg Trigun Stargaze thought 💭:

I think I have a good speculation on who is going to return Vash's gun in Trigun Stargaze... so strap in for this thread! 🧵

Notice how I used the word "return." I do believe Vash already has his silver long colt in Peace Bringer for Orange's reimagining of Trigun. See my post below about this thought:

I'm gonna place my bets and predict that Wolfwood goes through the wreckage of JuLai and finds Peace Bringer.

I think after some time, he knows Knives survived (his EoM affiliation being his informant), and we're going to have this moment... but with Vash's .22 in his hands.

I also think Wolfwood found Knives first in the JuLai incident, and his a moment like the aforementioned panel.

He thinks this is his chance to end Knives, but he has Peace Bringer in his hands and he becomes afraid.

"If Vash couldn't stop Knives with this gun, how can I?"

And so, I think Wolfwood knows he's not strong enough to end Knives even in his weakened state.

He realizes he has to put his belief in Vash... and that terrifies him. Wolfwood knows Vash is resistant to kill. He has to put his faith in someone that lacks the conviction.

We saw Vash challenge Wolfwood on this in Stampede. It's a core moment in Trimax.

Wolfwood has to put his faith in someone who refuses to kill, even if it's in the name of protection--which is Wolfwood's entire motivation for his existence.

And Vash learns this in one of the hardest ways imaginable... through loss and grief.

Vash has to witness firsthand Wolfwood's conviction to protect. He has to watch Wolfwood make the ultimate sacrifice to uphold that ideal.

And while Vash and Wolfwood had been narrative foils through much of the story... in this regard, they become mirrors.

This strengthens Vash's resolve and conviction to protect a loved one's sacrifice. To finally pull the trigger of a .45 silver long colt named "Peace Bringer."

Knowing all of this from Trimax and Orange's intention and Nightow's ask to have Vash's gun be a .22 in Trigun Stampede... I believe it's a way to sharply bring into focus these climactic moments in Trigun Maximum.

I do believe Wolfwood will return Peace Bringer to Vash in Trigun Stargaze and that Wolfwood will have requested it to be modded to a lethal .45 so that Vash can carry Wolfwood's conviction: Protection.

And it's going to hurt.

[gorgongorgeous]

EXPLICIT / ~7.5k words

Wolfwood could ignore it. Or, well, maybe he could have. If this were any other city. Any other night. Any other song, even, because it’s one that Vash knows—Vash, whose eyes light up even behind his stupid glasses, even more bright cyan than the neon, than clear desert sky at high noon. Because that’s the problem. Has been all along. That it can’t be, could never be, anyone other than Vash the goddamn Stampede who looks at him like that.

Between the start of Julai and the end of it, Vash and Wolfwood see if either one of them can get drunk. Or: a last supper, of sorts.

(aka Vashwood Reverse Bang post time at last let's funkin goooooo)

[pinepinefir]

Chapters: 21 Rating: Mature Relationships: Meryl Stryfe/Vash the Stampede Additional Tags: Slow Burn, POV Meryl Stryfe, Post S1 of Trigun Stampede, Shared Dreams, Traveling Together, Some Fluff, Some Plot, Hurt/Comfort

Well over two years after JuLai, Meryl is put on a long assignment out of the cities again. And in a small town barely on the map, a dream turns strange.

EDIT: And it's complete now! Whee!

[avee-anne]

I just saw something in one of Trigun Stampede's reference sheets and I'm going to talk about it under the cut because it's pretty disturbing and it may count as a spoiler to the series (post-JuLai).

If you've read the manga, you would know that Gray the Ninelives is a robotic suit controlled by nine men of short stature. It's a bit different in Stampede because instead of grown men, the ones controlling Gray the Ninelives turns out to be the lab-grown clones that Conrad showed to Meryl and Roberto.

They're Gray the Ninelives.

[blankticket]

7, 17, 19

7) If you could “borrow” one aspect of Vash and apply it to yourself or your own life, what would you borrow?

plant powers tbh. wrt the lifespan thing, for the record im pretty staunchly anti-immortality anti-singularity etc. bc as i've made vash say as much, none of us will need forever. plus any sorta tech like that if it's ever possible is going to prioritize, if not exclusively save, those who can afford such a thing. but anyway the idea that i would get to live for as long as i want is appealing.

i'm not thinking of a longer lifespan as a safety net for failures, cause i think i'd appreciate being imperfect with a longer lifespan, but rather thinking of it in terms of how i could then guarantee there's more good that i'll be putting out into the world. i'd probably have to take a page out of vash's book and travel around a lot so that people don't realize the same 20-something's been around for centuries but eh. idk maybe my feelings would change 300 years in, who knows

17) Why do you think you connect to Vash?

made a face like i licked a lemon reading this question bro i wont lie. the same reasons i connect to vash are the same reasons i avoided trigun for many many years. i was afraid (trigun maximum) vash's character would hit too close to home. particularly the twin stuff, even before knowing that vash would lose his own brother, too—being a lifelong lone twin myself. in comparison to maximum, stampede emphasizes much more on the twins, and even besides that, a lot of vash's deal in stampede feels uncannily similar to my own experiences. um you ever bump into a fictional character you feel completely #read by and just want to fucking run and leave and forget for as long as you can. well. yeah it was like that except now i'm much more able to handle this shit so i'm here now

sharing the same personality as him (in vash so far i definitely see a lot of who i used to be as well, when i was so much more of a self-deprecating people-pleaser bc i believed so much in my own worthlessness), the twin bereavement thing, wearing glasses (myopic deadeye), preferring revolvers (when he spun the cylinder while loading bullets in i was like omgg hes just like me fr), thinking nicholas d wolfwood is hot, all these connections definitely inform my interpretation and portrayal of vash. and i kin the guy but that's obvious enough

19) If you had to judge Vash and sentence him to a “fair” fate, what would your judgment be? Would you punish him? Reward him? How?

ok in my opinion. and also this is going to sound hilariously ridiculous without the context of trigun maximum but whatever. it looks like orange is ultimately going to turn vash into a giant apple tree or otherwise use the last of his lifespan to save his brother. i'm not completely set on how i feel about that, given that not even a little teaser for the final phase season is out yet! but for how i feel right now at least, i think that fate is pretty fitting. can't say whether that's exactly either a reward or punishment though

spirale-wise it's so much harder to say lol, i'm not writing vash keeping an ultimate endpoint in mind or ever considered one for him…

hm. well, if i come up with something, it'll be a hypergiant challenge deal. i have considered doing something like that for him 2 years after last year's giant challenge, to mirror how in-canon the timeskip is 2 years post-julai. but idek if i'll still be writing him by then. stay tuned?

[eye-of-trigun]

Stampede S2 Predictions

posting these now before I get influenced by anyone else's predictions lmao

many spoilers for Trigun Stampede and Trigun Maximum ahead!

Vash has fully lost his memory of everything that happened immediately before and after JuLai

it's possible he's forgotten Meryl and Wolfwood and Roberto as well

He'll gradually gain memories back as Wolfwood and Meryl show up and trigger something in his brain

Wolfwood will find Vash (as Eriks) and be like "hey man" and Vash will be like "?????" until he sees the way Wolfwood handles the Punisher

when Meryl finds Vash he'll remember her and Roberto when she shows him the photo of the 4 of them that's seen when's she visiting JuLai. or he'll remember her just by the way she says "Vash"

Milly is going to be so plucky and will help pull Meryl out of her depression, or at least ground her whenever Meryl starts feeling like she wants revenge for Roberto

at some point, Meryl will point her derringer at Elendira and possibly even shoot it

the underside of Vash's hair will be black and we'll get more lore on decaying plants

somehow Doctor Conrad survived JuLai (maybe with Elendira's help?) and helps Legato to revive Knives

Meryl is gonna be very standoffish when she sees Wolfwood again

Wolfwood will start saying he's a priest rather than an undertaker (credit to my friend for this one!)

Meryl: "ugh you're here, Undertaker?" Wolfwood: "excuse you, I'm a priest now!"

Wolfwood has started smoking the same brand of cigarettes as Roberto and Meryl notices and then feels warmer toward Wolfwood

Wolfwood is looking for Vash because he's been contracted to look for him again under threat of the destruction of the orphanage again

but this time, Wolfwood already knows Vash and knows what Vash is capable of and he's hoping that Vash can stop Knives and the Eye of Michael for good this time

in her search for any clues of what happened to Vash, Meryl looks into Wolfwood's past and the eye of Michael between her reporting assignments

as a result, Meryl is extremely distrustful of Wolfwood when they meet again

I think it's a given that we'll see the rest of the gung-ho guns: Dominique, Rai-Dei, Midvalley, Leonof, Midvalley, Hoppered, and Razlo

Legato will finally confront Vash himself and may even establish the killing game with the gung-ho guns

it's possible that E.G. the Mine will make another appearance since he's seen being taken back with the plants to HQ in episode 3

Vash and Wolfwood will fight as a team again and again. Vash's trust in Wolfwood will be tested but he'll always believe in Wolfwood

Brad will repair Vash's arm again after the Eriks arc... but Vash's journey to visit Brad and Luida will bring trouble to them again... possibly resulting in Brad and/or Luida dying

Knives' entire body needs to re-constituted -- as it was after July in the manga. but since we're already diving into the timeskip, Knives won't get his body back until Vash is captured (like in Trimax vol 8) and at that time, Vash's memories of JuLai will fully come rushing back to him (like in Trimax vol 5).

Elendira will have grown to be adult size and will be way more powerful than before

Wolfwood and Livio and Razlo fight will still result in [redacted] and I will sob my heart out

I think Chapel will appear in some capacity! Someone probably had to have trained Wolfwood and Livio

Most characters will get updated outfits for the timeskip

Midvalley and Knives killer music duet??? (I just think it'd be fun)

Knives or Elendira gravely injures Legato for not following Knives' wishes

a non-zero number of episodes will start with radio updates on the arrival of the Earth ships

Legato's backstory will include lore about his blue hair

Knives will survive the final confrontation with Vash

Vash won't say his signature "love & peace" catchphrase until after the dust from the final battle has settled

[anxiety-elemental-kay]

Eidolon

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Multi

Fandom: Trigun Stampede (Anime 2023)

Relationships: Meryl Stryfe/Vash the Stampede/Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Meryl Stryfe/Nicholas D. Wolfwood

Characters: Meryl Stryfe, Nicholas D. Wolfwood

Additional Tags: Post-Episode: e12 High Noon at July (Trigun Stampede), Mourning, Implied Sexual Content, Mashwood Week 2023, Prompt: Ghosts

Language: English

Words: 2,373

Summary:Vash was gone, but she saw his face everywhere.

-

He watched the purple star fall back to earth, bright and blazing, and JuLai destroyed in a blast of light.

Note: After the DDoS attack on Ao3, I’ve decided I’ll also start posting my fic here on Tumblr, but I’ll add a link to Ao3 for people who’d rather read there instead. This is for @mashwoodweek​ day 3, based on the prompt “Ghosts” Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48448810

Vash was gone, but she saw his face everywhere.

On new wanted posters, smiling face above the largest bounty ever issued on No Man’s Land. Wanted for plant theft, terrorism, and mass murder. Dead or alive.

“Why did they have to use this photo?” Vash complained to her once.

There were plenty of people who claimed to be Vash the Stampede, stories of a demon clad in red terrorizing a town, but each one she investigated turned out to be imposters. Each wielding Vash’s reputation like a sword. There were no confirmed sightings of Vash in two years.

“Idiot blew himself up,” Wolfwood said to her once, after they’d shared too many drinks in an effort to satisfy the yawning void of their shared grief. “He’s scattered across fifty square miles of desert. There’s nothing left to look for.”

Merl had no reason to believe otherwise. They’d both seen the same thing.

His image continued to follow her.

—

Nicholas remembered watching twin stars fly up and up into the sky, higher then anything he’d ever seen. He watched the purple star fall back to earth, bright and blazing, and JuLai destroyed in a blast of light.

As soon as he realized what was going to happen, as that purple light began to bloom in the city’s heart, he’d grabbed Meryl again and dove for the relative cover of her truck. Heat and air and the light of judgment roared around them, he tried to curl his body around hers, until it all faded. It left behind the smell of molten glass.

Meryl wanted to go search, try to find something, even giving his sleeve a tug, but he did nothing, so she left him behind. He’d considered stealing her truck, but didn’t have it in him to betray someone else who was too hopeful, too idealistic, too stupid and soft for their own good. Instead he walked, his namesake his only company.

He didn’t think Meryl would want him there when she came back, anyway.

Vash the Stampede, falling star, left a blackened crater where once stood a city. Leaving a blackened crater inside Nicholas.

—

They used the photos she took when they ran her story.

Meryl prided herself on her photography. Several of her pieces had been displayed in the November University annual art shows. Her parents were very proud, and had a couple hanging back in her childhood home.

She was inexperienced in journalistic photography, a lack quickly exposed once she was in the field. However, she could track her improvement over the months she’d traveled with Vash: her compositions improved, there was less blur in her unplanned shots, and she’d gotten better at catching small, important moments.

Vash was smiling in so many of those pictures, and real ones too: petting a stray black cat, sharing donuts with all of them during a quiet afternoon, Wolfwood catching Vash cheating at cards.

(She did not share those pictures.)

Bernardelli liked her photography, but hadn’t been as happy about her prose.

She’d earned respect at the office, when she’d finally stumbled back to civilization and reported in. Even when she told the story of Roberto’s death, the other journalists clustered around her, a weary empathy in their eyes. She wasn’t the only one to lose a mentor, a colleague, out in those hellish wastes. It would be okay, they reassured her, this is the scoop that’ll make your career.

But reporting that Vash the Stampede was trying to stop the destruction of JuLai? Nonsense. Everyone knew he was a monster, a force of pure destruction. Why else would he be called the Humanoid Typhoon? Why else would JuLai have been destroyed?

And no one was going to believe her story about an evil twin brother. Didn’t she know better than to believe such an obvious lie?

She’d been made to revise her story several times. The terror of JuLai still haunted her, the dual grief of losing Roberto, killed for her own recklessness, and Vash, disappeared because even though she had saved him, it hadn’t been enough. She moved through the world as if already in her grave too, so when her editor demanded she make changes, she didn’t object, and rewrote her article until they were satisfied.

There were a lot of things she would have done differently, if she had the chance.

—

The Eye of Michael did not call for him.

Nicholas would have gone back, like the loyal hound they’d made him. It didn’t matter what the contract said, at the end of the day it was only ink. If they went back on their word he would still obey them, for he had no other power that could possibly save the orphanage, and the children who shouldn’t share his fate, Livio’s fate.

But they did not call for him. He made no effort to reach out. There did not appear to be any consequences to this.

What was he even supposed to do now? Was the Eye spying on him? Did Conrad see him save Meryl, tell the rest of the order of his betrayal?

He went back to Hopeland and the orphanage was still there, untouched by time or malice.

Nicholas couldn’t stand to get too close, not that anyone there could ever recognize the thing their big brother Nico became. He’d gotten a pair of binoculars, got as close as he dared, and hoped no one would spot him spying on the orphanage.

All looked well. The most violent thing he saw were the occasional bandaged knee.

He remembered the last time he’d been to Hopeland, aboard the sand steamer he’d followed Vash onto. He’d hoped it would be boring, keeping the Typhoon on a tight leash because the moron would throw himself into danger the first chance he got. If only Livio hadn’t followed him there. If only a lot of things had been different.

It was also the first time he truly saw Vash.

Lit up by the blue glow of the plant behind him, a color so rare on this dry planet, Vash stared at them with a face and eyes lined with intricate patterns.

Monstrousness revealed. A thing none of them were meant to see.

Meryl had been the first to move then, to go to him when Vash fell. Nicholas had too much of his humanity stripped away to do anything but stare at the limp body, even as he wondered if this meant his mission was a failure. As human as Roberto was, the reporter had seen enough horrors to be cautious of Vash and his alien nature.

She’d been the only one brave enough to reach back out.

Now, Nicholas looked out over the orphanage’s courtyard, a home he could never return to. Miss Melanie peeled potatoes while keeping an eye on the children playing in the dirt, and Nicholas realized he missed Meryl too.

—

The first time Meryl went back to the crater, it was to construct a memorial.

Looters had already gone over what wreckage laid directly outside the blast zone, leaving only twisted metal behind. A chainlink fence had been erected around the crater, to keep the curious away. She spent several hours finding scraps that were the right size for her plan but light enough to carry, and hauled them over to her chosen spot along the fence.

Once she had her improvised gravestones erected, she flipped through a private album she’d brought along. She’d added to it ever since she first made it at the age of eight, when she first showed interest in photography. Each picture had a date written on its protective plastic sleeve, following Meryl through her life, from childhood to school to college and her very first job.

She’d added those pictures not meant to her bosses or the public.

There weren’t many group shots, heart sinking as she searched. It wasn’t a vacation, she’d been on the job, and though she had no idea what Vash would find in JuLai, she could have never known how suddenly and how violently their shared journey would end. She wished she’d taken more.

The perfect photo wasn’t one of hers after all. Wolfwood had stolen her camera, and turned the lens on all of them. Wolfwood made a goofy face, Vash flashed a hand sign he later explained the meaning of, Meryl was trying to snatch her camera back, and in the back Roberto looked over at the three of them with a weary fondness.

The tough and tender days they shared and loved.

She used a bent nail to pin the photo in place, and left a pack of Roberto’s favorite cigarettes at the memorial’s base. She added a new marker to her map, and drove away in mournful silence.

—

Nicholas hadn’t been looking for Meryl, but he still found her. He hadn’t recognized her at first when he walked into the nearest diner for some grub. There was something different in the way she carried herself, no longer read to him like a little girl trying to act tougher than she was. There was more steel in her now, and when she spotted him she was quicker to recognize an old companion. He waited for her to yell or scream or try to shoot him with that stupid tiny gun. She smiled instead, just like he might have.

Nicholas didn’t know if he was going to laugh or cry or break something.

“I missed you, asshole,” she said, with the kind of playful bite he realized he yearned for, so he did all three.

He apologized for getting them kicked out of the diner, but Meryl only laughed, bright and for a moment, untroubled.

—

They cross paths several times over the next two years.

To Nicholas’ surprise, Meryl chose to stay in the field. He thought about it, then realized that no, he wasn’t surprised. Little Miss shared Vash’s absolute absence of self-preservation and bottomless courage. Brave and stupid.

She’d given him a radio frequency to use if he wanted to get in touch. He didn’t have the guts to use it, but maybe if he heard a particularly wild rumor that a journalist might go and investigate, maybe he just happened to wander in that direction too. Entirely coincidence. He wasn’t desperate or anything.

Once, when they were both tired and lonely and full of the same grief, they’d rented a room together. They held each other close, and stripped each other of their carefully constructed armor. They kissed, they bit and scratch and pulled each other close. The only two living souls left who knew what happened, who knew the love and terror of No Man’s Land’s fallen angel. They were alone in the world, no one else like them left.

“Do you think this is how Vash feels?” Meryl asked, and Nicholas had never been good with words, so he clung tighter instead.

He felt awful, after. Like he’d soiled her by touching her after everything, like he’d betrayed Vash once again. He’d let himself forget he was a thing made of violence, that could only ever do violence to others.

“I liked it too,” she told him anyway, and he didn’t believe her.

—

They’d found the same lead independently of each other.

Meryl was already at the town’s bar when Wolfwood walked in. By now a glance was all he needed to ask her if she wanted him to join her, and she nodded, so he sat on the barstool to her left.

“You get a good look at the guy yet?” he asked, laying his covered cross against the chair to his own left.

“Nope,” Meryl said with a frown. “I’m not optimistic though, not from the things witnesses say about him and his gang.” She sipped her glass of tea, grateful the bartender had served it without condescension. “I still want to make sure, but it’s probably another imposter.”

Wolfwood grunted, a low, gruff sound he made when he didn’t want to admit to disappointment. Their fitful, improbable search was weighing on him more heavily than it did her. At least she got a story and a paycheck out of these ventures, which was cold comfort, but more than Wolfwood ever received. She feared one day he’d whittle himself down to his bones and there’s be nothing she could do for him.

“This is stupid,” he muttered.

“Too bad,” she said with an expression that was only half a tease. “You’re stuck here with me now.”

The bartender handed Wolfwood his drink. “Worse people to be trapped in hell with.” She punched his shoulder.

Two people burst into the diner, a tall man and a young girl, and all attention snapped to them. The locals soon turned away with rolled eyes with shared mutters of “Just Lina and Eriks”. The girl, about twelve maybe, scuttled over to the bar and started talking to bartender, clearly familiar with each other. As her guardian followed, Meryl felt her stomach drop to the uneven floor.

There he was, the phantom that haunted them both for two years.

She didn’t call out to him, wouldn’t expose him, not while a man with a mask of his face and wielding his unearned reputation like a sword terrorized this place.

She wanted to, wanted to call out his name and hear his voice in answer. At her side Wolfwood stared out at the void in their hearts, though he’d never say it, never admit to it, he’d never been that good at hiding what he truly felt. She could see what Vash had in those eyes, long ago.

A vacant stare found theirs, as the young girl at his side continued to chat with the bartender. Eyes so startlingly blue without tinted glasses to hide them were wide, as if he were the one who saw the dead among the living.

(In a few moments, a cannonball would crash through the bar’s door. A bandit would threaten a man’s life, demand a chance to punish a child. Instead a fallen angel would offer his body and pride in exchange. There would be gunshots and blood and rescues and reunions.)

Vash looked away, his hair hiding his face from them both.

[caro-x-x-x]

5th Trigun Shitpost Sunday everyone! ❤️‍🔥

Post Julai TriStamp Group on a Roadtrip, woo ^^

And Millie behind the Camera, because I NEED her to be part of the Post Julai TriStamp group! :3

ALT Picture design is inspired by TriStamp's Ep 12 Group Photo of Roberto, Meryl, Wolfwood and Vash at Lost Julai 🤞

and the reference

[isawjamfirst]

starting to have a thing for long-haired vash thanks to @avoidingavoidance ‘s Come and See fic

[kiaraalazulu]

i just need them to get over vash's death by being with each other

[miss--river]

every post i see criticizing trigun stampede is the same. they all talk about the same thing:

vash is too goofy vash is a cry baby vash is useless vash isnt badass enough vash is pathetic BLAH BLAH BLAH

and this comes from people who prefer the '98 anime over the reboot. but did these people watch the original with their eyes closed???

vash is outwardly goofy because thats how he wants to come off. i mean, he *is* goofy but inherently he's serious and intelligent. and how is he not badass enough in the reboot? are you watching this one with your eyes closed too? look, i also prefer the '98 anime over the reboot because thats what i grew up with but the reboot is still spectacular as it is. besides, it's pre-July (JuLai) and vash still has so much growing to do!

i just feel like people who refuse to give the reboot a real chance are going in with a negative mindset so they watch the first episode and think thats all its ever going to be. seeing the same criticisms about the reboot is so exhausting. the only different thing ive noticed about reboot vash is that he isnt horny like '98 vash was but its not like thats integral to his character or anything. reboot vash deserves just as much love as '98 vash.

[forgivenpunishment]

i do what i have to do

a selective, dash only primarily tristamp nicholas d. wolfwood rp account by melee.

banner art: @nihilisticgenesis icon art: @carnivalfair

mun: melee age: 29 pronouns: they/them

follows from @typhoonvash

†††

rules: -18+ only. no minors. -this account follows the plot of Trigun Stampede, however Trimax plot threads/characters may pop up because i like the mix of the two. -unless stated otherwise (i.e. same verse/au) each blog gets their own verse. this allows us to develop a meaningful plot and diverse interactions without stepping on any toes. Do not ask me to be exclusive. -doubles okay and encouraged. -n/s/f/w sometimes and only with 21+ muns. will be properly tagged and placed under a read more when intense. -rp style: multiparagraph preferred with small text. i will not be using icons, but feel free to use yours. -if you are a multimuse, there is a high chance we won't interact. it's nothing against multimuses, but i'm looking for serious, long standing rp, not short interactions. i also prefer to keep my dash clean of anything that's not trigun or my rp partners. -oc rp is friend only and very selective. -not interested in drama. -shipping is by discussion only. flirtation is fine, but if you want his heart you gotta work for it. -Will not ship: pl*ntwood, liv//wood -will tag common triggers not present in trigun. blood, violence, and alcohol will not be tagged. i try to read bios for personal triggers, but please let me know if it's extremely serious/common/i mess up.

m!a status: closed

anons: open

random starters: open

threads preferred, but short interactions will happen.

often canon divergent/in aus. will be tagged as such.

†††

short bio: Name: Nicholas D. Wolfwood Age: around 25-27, birthdate unknown. Height: 6'2" Sex/Gender: cis male (he/him) Sexuality: ??? Occupation: "Undertaker", "Priest" Family/Connections: n/a, Hopeland Orphanage, Livio the Doublefang Weapons: The Punisher (multipurpose cross-shaped heavy weapon), handguns, serrated knife, sharpened canines. Abilities: S+ compatibility. regeneration (natural and via serum), high pain tolerance. hand to hand combat, melee combat, and firearms. enhanced strength capable of lifting several hundred pounds with mere fingers. increased stamina. excels at gaining intel and getting close to targets before execution. applies creativity and cleverness to strategy, allowing for unforeseen successful outcomes. the near perfect weapon—behavior and independent habits need work.

Nicholas D. Wolfwood (a.k.a. The Punisher) is a weapon and extension of the Eye of Michael, a cult worshiping the two Angels of salvation. He is trained in various styles of combat and marksmanship, which he uses to fulfill his contracts—assassinations, executions, and search and retrieve are the most common.

He's trusted with a special contract: retrieve the Angel. Deliver Him safely. Protect the Angel.

Like a good, functional tool, he obeys and is rewarded with the guaranteed safety of Hopeland Orphanage and its children; no more will become victims or lab rats. His current status with the organization is unknown after the JuLai incident.

He didn't expect to make friends. He expected to kill them. He didn't expect the Angel to thank him for his work. He expected the Angel to hate him for his betrayal.

verse list

canon divergence: 7 [appearance] [half-nude] [main outfit post w14] [more art]

canon divergence: outlaw verse [appearance]

other muse(s):

midvalley: @thathollowsound