#wolfwood milly friendship...

[yuhi-san]

aughh seeing all this merfolk stuff reminds me how much of a sucker i am for mer!aus

makes me wanna write one... just a quick one... its already in my mind...millyknives would be so good oh god...

i wanna...

[briizer]

Yeah don’t worry Nic, Vash is well aware his kid is mean.

[funshinebf]

insurance girls + trigun but cats. youre welcome btw

[littleogreboii]

ok yeah I started watched the 98 anime, saw milly and wolfwood no longer exists in my brain.

[skypiea]

I Have really been enjoying trigun stampede on It’s own merits but it is getting hard for me to keep from comparing it to the manga… seeing great elements from the manga I love incorporated but in a really rushed and Surface Level way is kinda a bummer

[eilwen]

Meryl's first description of Vash: Lazy!

Funny, because I don't really see examples of Vash being lazy in the manga, especially not in the Trigun Maximum volumes. This makes me think of what we don't see in Vash and Meryl's friendship from the beginning of Trigun to Trigun Maximum Vol. 6.

I always remember that Trigun (before the Fifth moon incident) technically takes place within four months. Trigun Vol. 1 Ch. 1 to Trigun Vol. 1 Ch. 9 is only within the first 2-3 weeks (-ish) of Vash, Meryl and Milly knowing each other. There's a huge gap of possible adventures and stories and maybe examples of a lazy Vash that we have missed.

We do see moments of Vash resting. Trigun Vol. 2 Ch. 1 is one example of a calm moment before Legato shows up and things go downhill. Maybe that one moment could be read as laziness... but in general, we, as the readers, are aware of his extensive training, of what's on his mind when he's resting and of his discipline. That doesn't read as lazy to me.

This isn't to say that Meryl doesn't know Vash. She does. She might not be as perceptive as others when reading him (we tend to be with Milly when we observe broody Vash), but she knows a lot about him - especially after absorbing his memories in Ryutsu.

Even before then: she and Milly come in teasing water in Vol. 4 Ch. 2 showing how they know Vash (and possibly Wolfwood) enough to expect how under-prepared they would be when they left the floating ship.

But the "Lazy!" tells me that there are moments that the gang experiences that aren't shared with the audience. Good excuse for daydreaming.

A bit of an idiot though? Yeah.

[azgfggf]

Yk a lot of times I jokingly ship characters or call them gay or dating married or whatever (even though the media is by straight authors for straight people and the homo is waaaayyy out of question) but Trigun like. I’m sorry Vash and WolfWood are actually in love. It started /J but I read the manga and- oh my god. Oh my god they’re actually in love. Like the panels where WolfWood blushes at him, and don’t get me fucking STARTED on “I want to spend all my tomorrows with him”. Look man I like friendships in stories and understand when a ship is a ship but MY BROTHER IN CHRIST IT WAS SO GAY THEY HAD TO GIVE EL WOOWOO A MILLIE ROMANCE IN THE ANIME TO COVER IT UP 😭😭😭

[markcampbells]

Maybe if she asks, Vash will tell her the truth. "Do you think I'm too anal?" "I'm sorry?" "That was the word he used. The word most of them use. There's also… obsessive, high maintenance, shrill, bossy, rigid… I think I even heard ice queen once." "Meryl." There's a note of bewilderment she doesn't think she's ever heard in Vash's voice. "Please tell me you don't believe any of that." In the aftermath of an upsetting phone call with a sexist coworker, Meryl is comforted by reminders of her place in her traveling companions' lives.

Hello hello, friends! Another platonic Polygun slice of life from me because I cannot be stopped. Featuring (yet more of) Meryl's rejection-sensitive dysphoria and everyone reminding her she's loved and appreciated, developing Vash and Meryl friendship, neurodivergent besties Meryl and Milly, and... well, Wolfwood buying a giant cinnamon roll, I don't know what to tell you.

[scoundrels-in-love]

"we’re roommates and you drunkenly passed out in my bed; move over I’m coming in" bed sharing thingy uhhhhh stryfewood or mashwood. will send vashmeryl one shortly

Hi hello my love, sorry for taking honestly forever to write this, but you know why.

Here's a little something as first part of Love like moon phases, from an unexpected Meryl POV and it also sets up the situation a little bit. :)

| Mashwood | Cohabitation | Bed sharing | AO3 |

---

It's a bad idea, her coworkers had said. She hadn't really meant to tell them that her two best friends are moving in her recently inherited house - Milly's enthusiasm for the idea and loud planning had exposed them to the fact. The tall brunette had been the only one excited, the rest insisted it would be weird to share the space with them and surely a way to ruin a friendship. Few had insinuations that Meryl didn't care for - even if there was something between the three of them, it was nothing for strangers to leer at like it was their free adult movie fantasy playing out on edge of their perception. 

Meryl hadn't budged on her decision, having turned the concept around in her head until it was smoothed like a pebble by the sea, long before she even floated it by the two men. 

Frankly, it had meant to be just a coincidence of circumstances, a temporary thing - Livio was moving out of his and Wolfwood's place to pursue his dreams and their lease was up with pending rent raise while Vash needed a place closer to his new job and also to escape the rent increase. And she… She had come in possession of a house far too large for one person, with rooms that sat quiet, dappled in sunlight of sporadic memories.

Between selling the place and offering her closest friends solutions to their problems, she'd chosen the latter. Even if Meryl's had had to convince the men it was actually not a bother. They'd been strangely resistant, despite often staying over a couple days at a time already. Nervous almost.

Thinking about that and her colleague's unsolicited opinions, it had sowed some worries - what if it did ruin their odd, wonderful friendship that had felt home in times when she had not had one? 

Now, a year later, she could tell every doubter they are full of shit and nothing else. And no one's brought up moving out even once.

Not that it was always easy; all of them came with their own quirks and habits that did not always mesh perfectly. Wolfwood would get worked up when they made a mess in a hurry or drank the milk and didn't bring new one back in the evening - worse yet if they put the almost empty carton back in. She'd get frustrated when they couldn't be quiet on weekend mornings when she wanted to sleep in and, sometimes, just because she wasn't used to sharing her space with anyone. Vash threw most pout-clad complaint fests of them all, but they carried the least weight and he'd be easily appeased.

Living so close also highlighted the cryptic habits of her housemates, the way Wolfwood would disappear for at least a night each month and she wasn't buying his excuse of wild night drinking for a second. The way electronics and plants and even animals behaved oddly around Vash, which she had written off as a one-off thing or tricks of the light and eye, before. Meryl was not a fool and they knew it, so she wished they would trust her with all the numbers in these equations, but she also understood why they had not yet, why they had had their hang ups over sharing the living space in the first place.

In the end, all of it felt inconsequential to the way their cohabitation actually is. Which was - home cooked meals shared around a table as they laugh and tease each other, or prepared and set aside to be heated up when one of them would come back too late, mornings with coffee waiting for her and them gathering to look over the to do lists that she dutifully maintained for the household and them individually, weekly movie nights if their schedules allowed where they piled together on a couch that is almost too small but no one really wanted more space, and so much more - like the impromptu karaoke and gaming nights, such as this one.

It's too much thoughts, really, for someone with so much alcohol, even if it's mostly beer, in their system,  so most of it manifests in this giddy, bubbly feeling in her chest, a truth-thought of I am so glad to have them (here), as she washes her hands and splashes her face with some water in the bathroom before making her way back to her room. 

She pauses in the doorway, huffing at the sight before her. The console is still on, playing the menu music, but the controllers are forgotten on the floor, among packets of snacks in varied states of empty that have been kicked off the bed to make space for the two bodies stretched out on it. It looks like Wolfwood went down first and then Vash laid down to watch him quietly, fondly as she's caught him to do often, before the tipsy drowsiness caught him as well.

There's an ache in her chest, but the good kind, she thinks. Like she's so happy, so content she doesn't know how to process it otherwise than this bubble expanding in her chest to point it presses into her organs, demanding more space. And maybe edged with just a touch of what ifs and all the scary, beautiful things they contain. Because these last few months, it feels like they're all starting to come closer to some kind of precipe, some kind of wanting, or realization it has been there the whole time.

Maybe the change is inevitable indeed, but they will be happier for it. She really wants to believe that. 

Meryl turns off the console and pads over to the bed - larger than needed for a single person because she likes to be comfortable and tosses around in her sleep, but nonetheless almost entirely taken up by her friends - and assesses the best angle from which to climb in. In the end, she unceremoniously clambers over Wolfwood's legs and settles on her knees in the middle, receiving only muted noise of complaint from the man as she shifts his limbs out of her way.

It's one of the reasons why she won't even bother trying to get them both awake and back to their respective beds. Too much effort for little result. Nicholas sleeps like the dead when he is like this and it feels unfair to shake him violently out of it. He looks so at peace right now, face smoothing out again, even the little wrinkle between his brows. Her fingers ache to brush an unruly strand out of his face, run down his cheek and jaw. Feel the stubble when she isn't just playfully pushing his face away as he's teasing her over something or other.

Vash shifts in his sleep and pulls her attention to him. He is laying on his right side, facing them both and his left arm is restless, trying to find a better position. But there isn't one good enough to relieve the pressure of the prosthetic where it connects and Meryl frowns with concern, before shuffling closer and gently shaking Vash by the shoulder.

He makes the soft little noise that goes straight to her heart as he opens his eyes and she could swear they almost glow in the low light before he blinks it away. 

"Meryl? Oh, I-" 

She shushes him, motioning with her head to sleeping Wolfwood.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep, sorry. We will be out in a second," he tries to reassure her, whispering now, but Meryl only shakes her head.

"It's fine, getting him to his room is more hassle than it's worth. Besides, not the first time we've all slept like this," she reminds him softly, before explaining why she disturbed his rest, "I woke you just so we can get your prosthetic off. You shouldn't sleep with that."

It's too dark to really see the emotions play across his features, but somehow, Meryl can picture them just fine. The surprise that melts into startled affection. Like every time someone shows any genuine concern for his well being. She has wanted to melt it away with consistent care for years now.

"C'mon," she pulls him into a sitting position and quietly, they work on removing the artificial limb. She's done it enough times to know the latches and screws by touch now and they work fast, though their fingers sometimes brush when they move onto the same bit next,

When it's off, briefly laid across their laps, she smoothes down some creases of his black turtleneck's shoulder, where it's sewn closed over the end of his stump. It's a pointless endeavor, really, but it has her touching him a moment more, so that makes it a necessary one in her tipsy brain.

He sways closer to her, as if there was much space between them in the first place, and his forehead brushes against hers. She leans to close the rest of the gap. "Are you sure it's okay?" Vash asks, barely audible even at this proximity. 

Part of her knows he doesn't just mean them staying in her bed tonight. 

All of her knows the answer is the same. Sober or drunk, by morning light or just the starlight swirling in his gaze. 

"Yes."

They stay like that for a second or minute or two, comfortable in this half spoken something and their closeness, when the world suddenly shifts and with a surprised squeak, she's on her side, pulled flush against Wolfwood who, despite everything, still seems to be deeply asleep. He nuzzles into her hair and sighs softly, hot breath tickling her neck and ear. She knows it's all instinct and sleep, but the way he reached for her like she was something his, something safe and needed catches in her throat

Vash laughs softly, before carefully setting his prosthetic down on the bedside table and laying back down. 

There isn't space for him to keep distance even if he tried to, but he shifts even closer. He can't put arm on or around them like this, but he seals her between his and Wolfwood's body nonetheless, chin resting on top of her head. She swears it almost feels like there's soft vibration trembling through him, soothing like a cat's purr.

There's no hope of getting a blanket over them at this rate, but she feels warm and comfortable all the same, to the point it doesn't even take her ten minutes of wiggling and shifting to settle down. Meryl rests one of her hands over Wolfwood's wrist holding her still and curls the other close to Vash's chest, eager to be near that subtle rumble, and lets their warmth, their closeness and the happiness gleaming within her lull her to sleep.

[tyriq-edits]

In the Plain of Nysa

Luida - Demeter

Goddess of Agriculture

Epithets:

The earthly one

Bringer of fruit and grain

She who fills the barn

The nurturer

The eternal mother

Based on Demeter

After the death of the goddess of wisdom, Rem, and the goddess of Victory, Tesla, Luida took a mourning Vash under her wings and became like a second mother to the boy.

It was her who taught Vash basic knowledge about agriculture and how to grow simple flowers and various other plants using his divine powers.

Alongside Meryl and Brad, she was one of the only gods that were actually concerned about Vash‘s whereabouts after Nai put him in the golden cage, never truly believing the lie Nai told the rest of Olympus‘ inhabitants that Vash was travelling through the mortal world on his own.

When Vash vanishes from Mt. Olympus, she starts to abandon her duties as the goddess of agriculture to search the mortal realm for her surrogate son.

Has a deep friendship with the dryads.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~

In the plain of Nysa - Synopsis:

Loosely based on the myth of Hades and Persephone.

Vash, the god of peace and twin brother of Nai, the god of war, has been sheltered for millenia within the safe havens of Mount Olympus. Or rather has been held captive by his brother for millenia.

That is until the goddess of the hunt Meryl and a satyr named Roberto help the deity to escape from Olympus into the human realm. There Vash is forced to hide in a small temple from his brother where he meets the priest Nicholas D. Wolfwood and slowly falls in love with him while also finding a sense of his own independence.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~

Other Moodboards for the plain of Nysa

Vash - Persephone

Nicholas D. Wolfwood - Hades/a priest

Nai -Ares/Demeter

Meryl Stryfe - Artemis

Roberto de Niro - Satyr

Milly Thompson - Iphigenia

Livio the double fang - a seer

Legato Bluesummers - the Hierophant

Zazie - a dryad

Brad - Hephaestus

Rem - Athena

Tesla - Nike

[cowboylivio]

A mashwood qpr is practically canon. Like the only things about it that isn’t canon is actually calling it a queer-platonic relationship.

Manga, 1998 and Stampede spoilers below the cut

The biggest thing for me is that they're not just friends. they're not fucking either, but the relationship between the three of them doesn't feel like just a friendship to me.

So Vash and Wolfwood specifically. the longer they spend together, the more they kind of adopt each other's ideals and ideologies and have character development that is impossible without the other. one of the biggest instances of this is how in 1998 what gets Wolfwood killed in the end IS his adoption of vash's no-kill ideology.

And how about (and sure you can chalk this up to them being good fighters or whatever) but the fact that Vash and Wolfwood understand each other so well that when fighting Livio and Chapel (I believe) that they can switch who they're fighting against instantly with no qualms about it.

Onto Vashmeryl. Easily the most intimate moment between the two in the manga is the fist bump kiss. Thats not all that relevant i just think its interesting. But how about the fact that she will willingly put herself in mortal danger for him. in 1998 if Milly wasn't there holding her back, she probably would've died at the fifth moon incident.

And in stampede, her inherent determination and hopefulness that Vash can hear her and snap out of says something about their relationship. How despite the major threat to her life it poses after she falls off the vines, she gets right back up there and tries to do everything in her power to save him.

Now theres not as many notable merylwood instances, the big one for me is him saving her in stampede. He didn't have to. He was out of the city and safe. But he did. And more in that scene, the relief on Vash's face seems more than just a sigh of relief oh good my friends are safe. There's more to it.

And theres more to it too. All three of them would do drastic things to save the others or even just make sure they'd make it out alive. Or in badlands rumble how when Wolfwood thinks Vash to be dead he utterly destroys the only red thing in his hotel room. Or the fact that both Wolfwood and Meryl spend years searching for Vash first after the fifth moon incident and then later on at the end of the manga as well.

[yuhi-san]

Alright for trigun fanfiction appreciation week by @trigunfanfic I made a small fic record, though I might add more

In the meadow by @eomma-jpeg

Rating M

Tags: Milly has a Savior Complex, No Smut, Slow Burn, farm life, Knives Redemption, Hints at Vashmeryl, but I have other plans for them, POV Multiple, Post-Canon, Post-AnimeTrimax influences, Character Study, Panic Attacks, Social Anxiety, Mutual Pining, References to both Millywood and Vashwood

ngl I just opened it because I was starved for ‘post series knives needs to learn how to live with people’ content. I thought Millyknives was just a case of pairing the ‘leftovers’ but I figured the rest might bee good.

It is so, so good and also, not a case of pairing the leftovers (if you think you don’t care for millyknives, this story will probably convert you lol).

Its 98 trigun with some trimax and stampede elements (Roberto!!). its sweet, its funny, they have ups and downs and without wanting to spoil anything, I love how it does explore that a lot of knives hate for humans stems from fear.

All the original character are great, everyone gets their time to shine, vashmeryl are so cute and silly

Sinking sand by @rainflamestudio

Rating T

Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Trauma, Found Family, Whump, Smoking, because Wolfwood is here, Trust Issues, Friendship, Mixed Canon, Alien Biology, Nick's dying but he walks it off, dadberto, Nick learns he has friends, Panic Attacks, Sensory Overload

We all love some hurt comfort for vash but this time its wolfwoods turn! he’ is not having a good time but cant ask for help either. Not that this is topping vash, meryl and Roberto from coming to his rescue and staying by his side no matter what.

Hot water by OpticalCrown

Rating G

Tags:   Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Chronic Pain, Character Analysis, Light Angst

A short story about sleeping arrangements, the things vash so desperately wants to hide but Roberto and Wolfwood notice anyway

 

New growth by @puffinpastry

Ongoing

Rating T

Tags: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Millions Knives-centric (Trigun), Depression, Implied Mpreg, Mostly trimax with some tristamp for seasoning, Trans Vash the Stampede (Trigun), Trans Millions Knives (Trigun), Millions Knives domestication arc, Brief suicidal ideation, Knives gets to heal but hes got to confront his past first, Angst with a Happy Ending, past trans male pregnancy, Knives doesn't know how to interact with kids, Silly but its buried under all their issues, Hey knives what if you were confronted with the forgiveness of a small child?

Still ongoing but very good knives has to learn to live with people, specifically vash. its very well written, I love knives in this and the struggle he and vash both have, especially because vash cant just move ast what had happened, even though he kinda wishes he cold. cute kids, also bless wolfwood

The heaviness we’ve known  by @cosmictapestry

 Rating T

Tags: Heart-to-Heart, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Vash the Stampede (Trigun), Vash the Stampede has Prosthetic Legs (Trigun), Caretaking, past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Violence, Vash the Stampede's Scars (Trigun), Body Modification, Father-Son Relationship, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Episode Tag, Parent-Child Relationship, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Unresolved Tension, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Vash the Stampede Needs a Hug (Trigun)

Look, I love trisamp brad and his relationship to vash. he didn’t do right from the start but he cares so much and this one is just, oof. Goes deeper in the lost tech that keeps vash together and the pain he has from it and how little brad and others sometimes can do. Set after episode 9.

Ricochet by @heffawhump

Rating G

Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Sick Character, Poisoning, Caretaking, Hidden Injury, BAMF!Meryl Stryfe, dad!berto, Fluff

Classic hurt comfort and sick character. Very well written, absolutely in love with the gang ready to kick anyones ass that wants vash harm. get them, meryl

Never understood a word by @aboxthecolourofheartache

Rating T

Tags: Road Trips, Introspection, Character Study, Developing Friendships, Trust Issues, Trust, Loneliness, Treasure Hunting, Brotherly Angst, Dysfunctional Family, POV Alternating, Developing Relationship, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, the inherent vulnerability of bringing someone to a favorite location, the inherent sanctity of natural places, eccentricity as plot device, Vulnerability, several instances of blink and you miss it Trimax-flavored Plant lore, Singing

Absolutely amazing story and character study about vash from the view of Roberto, meryl and Wolfwood. Love how it shows that there is so much rage and other emotions bubbling under vashs cheerful attitude because knives tormenting him one way or another is not so easily brusched of. But my favorite part might be that it also shows vashs silly and clumsy persona isn’t all fake either, rather it is an exaggeration of genuine traits he has. Also some really great Roberto rep!

Like Eden by @revenantpoet / @revenantghost

Also known as untitled E fic lol

Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, narrative poetry, Frottage, Vash the Stampede Has Plant-Like Genitalia (Trigun), Sexual Inexperience, First Time, They're so in love and they're stupid about it, Written as Vash being demi and Wolfwood being grey but, All I know is Vash is Wolfwood, sexual and Wolfwood is Vashsexual ok, Emotional Sex, Trauma, the usual Guilt, This was supposed to be a quick pwpIt is not, Canon Compliant

Look, I’m not usually one for poetry stile and it never occurred to me before to give it a try. It’s worth getting over the hang up though. It ready very nicely, like following Vash’s thoughts which fits soo well for the situation. Also we need more fics where they get some time after the sandsteamer disaster. And especially of vash getting the chance to show ww the geodome and for him to have a chance to be actually comforted after what happened to livio. It’s a really sweet one, though of course Wolfwood and vash cant make things too easy on themselves… communication is hard isn’t it boys

sorry if this looks all so messy, i have no idea how people have the nerve and patience to put thing togetehr nicely. I might do another list later in the week because there are so many lol

maybe a seperate E list, too (Like eden gets to be here because in my opinion it isn't really that much about the smut and its smal compared to everything else going on.)

[chibivesicle]

I would love to see an in depth breakdown of Stampede’s reworkings of Trigun’s female characters and how they compare to their original counterparts. Because although I’m not normally one to cry “misogyny” but I can’t help but feel like whoever decided to turn multifaceted characters like Meryl, Luida and Elendira into cutesy waifus and reduced Rem to the classic ‘dead mother’ trope has some explaining to do. There’s also the matter of the plants in Stampede being forcefully impregnated via Knives violating Vash, complete with swollen pregnant stomachs, which to me is just straight up, well, cursed(although something similar happened in the manga).

I can’t help but feel like there’s a lot of unspoken misogyny here.

Hello!

Now that Trigun Stampede is over and the dust has settled, I can 100% say that I agree with you. The level of lazy misogynistic writing in Stampede was high. When I was doing the weekly videos, I kept thinking, "Well, it isn't that bad. Is it?" until looking at the entire show and realizing, that "Yeah. It was terrible."

I'm not even going to touch on the entire sexual/impregnation of the plants via Knives by violating Vash at all! I'm sure one could write an entire meta about it and how cringe it is but I'm not feeling that vibe.

I'll focus on the female cast and how they were shortchanged from the original work to this 're-imagining'. I will say that the Trigun manga, focuses less on the female characters. But they are all totally competent individuals who are not driven by the romantic need to marry some man. Overall, the '98 anime was even better by creating the quartet of Vash, Meryl, Milly and Wolfwood. I mentioned it from time to time in my reviews but the original anime passed the Bechdel test. Which on paper isn't a high bar for media to clear but soooo many things fail that test.

For overall female character significance and roles in the Trigun universe (multiverse?) the '98 anime is top. Meryl and Milly play a major role in how Vash and Wolfwood behave and also bear witness to their actions and support them. Yet, they are not weak but instead demonstrate how four people, will have four different ways to solve the exact same problem.

However, the manga has a greater cast of women and cannot be ignored. As you mentioned, Luida and Elendira appeared in Stampede from Trimax and both are great characters. Aaannnnddd, Stampede ruined them for me.

The best way to approach all of the key women of the series, we'll break it down by character.

Meryl Stryfe - insurance adjuster/reporter

Trigun manga - secondary character. Acts as human viewpoint watching Vash, reacting to the power of his angel arm, contemplating what it is like to kill someone with a firearm. Age at the start of manga 21. Age after time skip, 23. By the end of the series 24-25 ish?

Trigun '98 - main character. Acts as human viewpoint in observing Vash [again] but also feels compassion towards him as their friendship grows. Senior and experienced insurance adjuster both a friend and mentor for Milly. Competent on the job, hard worker, gets things done, leans for logic over emotions. Age not mentioned in anime, but likely similar to manga. Vocal, opinionated, and ready to take on any situation.

Stampede - main character. Newbie reporter for November news under Roberto. Older starting age of 23, yet acts like she's 16 or something. Her character is a disappointment in this version; with her being junior to Roberto there is no senior female in the cast and it shows. By no means is Meryl supposed to be a perfect person (this is Nightow after all) but he does not write cutesy female characters. No female character in his cast is like how she is in Stampede.

Milly Thompson - insurance adjuster/reporter/???TBD

Trigun manga - secondary character. Strong, emotional, a bit naive but still able to help Wolfwood out during a fight. Continues to be the junior to Meryl and follows her to their secondary career as journalists.

Trigun '98 - main character. Foil to both Meryl and Wolfwood. Besides Vash making Wolfwood change his viewpoints, she also pushes him to think about things differently. Most importantly, she doesn't judge him based on his actions and only shows that she cares. Emotionally intelligent, naive and honest to a fault.

Stampede - next season?

Enough said right there. Why was Milly replaced by lame ass old man info dump Roberto?

Rem Severem - Key team member of Project Seeds/Vash and Knives adopted mother

Trigun manga - Rem is the mother/moral guidepost for Vash in the manga. He tries to uphold her ideals and moral code to not kill anyone. She told him about the death of her significant other which left her feeling lost. However, a dream about her taking a train with a origin station but no destination created her philosophy that everyone's ticket to the future is blank.

She is an incredibly compassionate individual and even tries to stop Vash from committing suicide being injured herself in the events. It causes him to snap out of it as he put her in medical care. However, her philosophy is impossible to practice on the planet where the ships crashed. Yet for ~150 years Vash is able to not kill another person.

Trigun '98 - The exact same role as in the manga but with less backstory fleshed out. However, her quote of one's ticket to the future is blank is the same. Additionally, the anime adds in her love of a creation song which becomes a musical motif in the anime linking Vash to her and to the present day humans as they try to create a new world. Hence the creation myth song as Project Seeds was to allow for them to restart.

The anime links Rem to Meryl when Vash finds himself lost as she supports him before he heads off for his final showdown with Knives. It shows that a very similar philosophy still exists within humanity and that Vash can continue on with his personal moral compass.

Stampede - At first, we learn who Rem is, unlike the anime or manga. She shows us that she saved Vash and Nai and that she loved them. However, that was it. We never hear her personal philosophy. The flashback only focuses on how she tries to raise them as her own children but no deep moral discussions are had like in the manga or even the anime.

Again, this is a huge determent to her character in Stampede; the series very much went for tell not show. So to try to convey Rem's character through showing when the default was tell made it a disappointment. I waited, waited, waited for her to say at least some version of her quote about the ticket being blank. Nothing.

Rem barely spoke in the scheme of things. Nor did Vash have dream or one sided conversations with her in Stampede which also made it hard to understand why he wouldn't kill.

Elendira the Crimsonnail - 13th Gung-ho Gun/nail producing child-plant hybrid who doesn't age

Trigun manga - A trans woman and the strongest of the Gung-ho Guns. Truly a witty and fashionable individual with her briefcase that allows for her to pierce opponents with a rain of oversized nails. Elendira's character is quite nuanced, watching the fall of humanity on the planet while having complex conversations with Legato. The two of them are frequently at odds but both see their roles to assist Knives in his goals.

I found her character to be the most sane/rational viewpoint into Knives and his organization. She always has a witty remark or comment and seems to have chosen to work with Knives thinking that this would be the winning side.

After she's revealed to be trans, that's pretty much it. It isn't brought up time and time again, nor does it define her character - you know with the whole ending of humanity on the planet taking more precedence.

Her final battle against Livio is epic and overall, I liked her character. She was badass in the best way possible.

Stampede - Ugh, where do I even start. . . . Elendira appears to be a perma-prepubescent child being a human-plant hybrid. We see her with Grey the Ninelines when they steal a plant in episode 3 wearing a pink dress. So maybe a girl? Maybe a boy? No gender?

But then, when we get the Monev the Gale/Rollo flashback, she speaks to young Rollo calling herself an angel and appears the same age. Present events put her fight with Vash, Wolfwood, Meryl and Roberto 25 years later and she looks the same. Apparently, being a human-plant hybrid makes her inferior to Vash or Knives since she still has to plug herself into one of the glass aquariums to regulate her 'gate'. So, not a plant plant, but lacking the skills of an independent plant. Sort of a crappy outcome the more you think about it.

Despite her age being at least 35 (say she was 10 when she met Rollo) or even older than that - she acts like a child. Gets angry like a child and has not mentally matured at all. Again, didn't get the rapid aging bits of Vash so still mentally a child? Unless I am told otherwise, I'm gonna stick with she/her pronouns and based on the rest of writing for Stampede, they likely want us to see her as cis not trans.

You cannot even compare Trimax Elendira to Stampede. They are not the same character other than the name. They don't even use nails the same way! As far as I'm concerned, she's pointless in Stampede. A cutesy angry girl who will kill you with her gate manifested nails.

Luida - Leader of [un]crashed seeds ship/botanist

Trigun manga - leader of humans from the Project Seeds ship that had been in hiding with several generations of humans living on it above the barbaric planet below. As events worsen, becomes the de facto leader of all the humans resisting Knives and coordinates with the NML cavalry. Wise, straight shooting and in charge. Brad works for her after the death of the Sensei by the Leonoff the Puppet master situation.

She never really steals any scene but is critical to the success of their plan and acts as the link between the humans from Earth and the people on the planet's surface. Always framed in a strong position of leadership. A very androgynous appearance with spiked black hair, and simple clothing.

Stampede - Simplified to the second stand in mother figure for Vash. She also gets aged up with her first meeting Vash when he was a teenager and brought him into their home. Instead of being older than Brad, she is a peer with him and both of them are considerably older in the current time point. A plant biologist expert - something which is not even close to the role that she played in Trimax.

She also elicits the anti-mother anger from Knives in Stampede, meaning that Knives only wants Vash to himself. No women allowed to be mothers for them! Compared to the manga, she again like Elendira is a totally different character. We don't see a whole lot of that natural leadership and commanding presence from the manga.

Therefore, of this list of key female characters their fates are as such in Stampede:

Meryl - aged up but down in maturity and experience.

Milly - missing.

Rem - dead mother trope. Never said anything to convey why Vash is the way he is.

Elendira - infantilazation to a perma-child.

Luida - kind older lady/second mother.

Therefore, two female characters have been relegated to mother figures; Rem and Luida. Meryl was made less mature to be the junior to an old asshole. Elendira is as far as we know a perma-child.

All mature women with years of experience have been removed from the story. Yeah, I enjoyed the previous versions of Trigun for their killer girls, uwu-waifus, and doting mothers. Really connect with these sorts of characters. . . .

I'm sure you can tell I'm being sarcastic. Thus, I will rewatch the '98 anime, or reread the manga and turn my attention to Kekkai Sensen. Where there are more excellent female characters - shocking! K.K., Chain Sumeragi, Luciana Estavez, Aligura, Michella Watch (a blind woman in a wheelchair took out a Beyondian mad doctor remember?) and in the anime, White.

If Stampede wanted to do scary cute well, they only needed to look at Aligura. One of the 13 kings and a gothic lolita. It takes ovaries to liquefy your boyfriend and inject him into your crush. But hey, it works. 'Cause based on her dismissal of Leo thinking that he was important to her, she's not one to cry like a perma-child like Elendira in Stampede. When one's monster truck, car eating vehicle of destruction causes thousands of casualties, you are pretty badass.

[funshinebf]

the sillies

[hjemne]

Ilsa, I’ve seen you posting a lot of Trigun and well I’m intrigued by it, to say the least. But just for giggles, would you try to convince me why should I watch it? 😆🤚🏻

AHHHHH!

I didn't think Trigun was going to worm its way into my brain so much but here we are. There is so much to love about it and I adore so many of the characters for a billion different ways. The character type of someone who is made into a killing machine and then is slowly convinced to accept love and forgiveness is my favourite and is all over trigun. So many characters see themselves as monstrous but choose to do what they see as right for the sake of / with the help of their friends. There are moments of silliness and of tragedy, all with an incredibly interesting setting which slowly gets revealed.

Because of the recent release of Trigun Stampede, the community is really active rn (esp on Tumblr!) and it's really cool to see so many incredible fanarts, comics, fanfics and discussions being made. It's very fun to be part of a very active fandom, but also one that is 25 years old and has fanworks that are older than I am.

I really love it, and I would recommend it, but unfortunately I also have some caveats which I gotta mention.

What you gotta know before getting into Trigun is that there are 4 different canon versions and each one has its problems. I wish I could recommend X version as the definitive and best, but that just doesn't exist which is very annoying.

1) Trigun Maximum: the manga

Good: incredible nuances to characters like Wolfwood, Knives, Livio/Razlo. Vashwood subtext is off the charts and their dynamic is incredibly fascinating and central. This is the most detailed and complex story of Trigun and has lots of themes, characters and plot points that don't exist in other versions. Has elements of sexism and sexual violence, but (imo) to show how shitty the world is, rather than to revel in the misogyny. The tone is tragic, with equal mix of hope and pain.

Bad: the female characters of Meryl and Milly get massively sidelined in comparison to their depictions elsewhere. It's a very long manga and has (imo) pacing issues that limit the impact of emotional moments. The art style is beautiful, but notoriously difficult to follow, especially in the many long fight scenes (particularly bad in volume 5). There's lots of disagreement about 'correct' translations and it can be hard to tell which character is doing/saying/thinking what at points which can make it confusing and frustrating to read at times.

Overall: 7/10, I would recommend but maybe not as your first bit of exposure to Trugun

2) 1998 anime Trigun

Good: the silliest of Triguns with some great voice acting. The friendships between Vash, Milly, Meryl and Wolfwood are very sweet and engaging (although it would have been nice to see more of the four of them together). It's a fun overview of the Trigun story and has a very entertaining mix of comedy and serious emotional moments. Lots of hijinks and lots of fights. Milly and Meryl are core characters and get time to shine (it is impossible not to love Milly). This is personal preference but the animation style is kinda goofy in the way it changes styles to exaggerate characters' feelings which I love. The first 12 ISH episodes are very Saturday morning cartoon vibes without being too inane and childish.

Bad: because it only had the first couple of volumes of the manga to adapt from, the mid-season tone shift and later fights feel rushed, a little confusing and ultimately lead to a less satisfying conclusion than in trimax. The misogyny is noticeable, especially in the first couple of episodes, though is limited to a couple of comments in some episodes and doesn't (I think) make it unwatchable. The antagonists are rushed through and it's hard to work out who the 'main' villain is. Tone change is quite abrupt. Wolfwood is a less developed character with a less intense (back)story, Livio/Razlo doesn't exist at all etc

Overall: 7/10, this is what I'd recommend you start with. It has pacing issues and uncomfortable sexist comments, but I think they're outweighed by the strengths of the main casts relationships and the pure entertainment value of it. Not the most satisfying ending, but they were constrained so :/

3) Badlands Rumble (film)

Good: animation is SO crisp. Wolfwood is at maximum chest exposure and actually his character is pretty interesting here. Milly and Meryl are back, but in limited roles. Some interesting world building and Vash and Wolfwood go thru their divorce arc TM which is dumb and funny and angsty.

Bad: Wolfwood is far too pale. The first half an hour is made almost unwatchable by the decision to make sexism and sexual harrassement a way to pad out the runtime. Vash is such a creep it just makes for uncomfortable watching.

4/10 don't watch if you're not already invested, and honestly do yourself a favour by watching the opening scene, then skipping to the 30 min ish mark and watch knowing that Vash has some very tough dried meat in his front coat pocket.

4) Trigun Stampede anime

Good: really cool 3D animation and music. Has Wolfwood's manga backstory and some manga characters like Livio and Crimsonnail, but with very different characterisations. I really liked the episode looking at the childhood of two orphans and how their love for each other was manipulated against them both. Much bigger focus on Knives than the original and more elaboration of his motivations and plans. Zazie is SO much better here than in the original anime. No uncomfortable sexism yay!

Bad: I... don't like tristamp very much. The characters are watered down from their manga versions and Knives is just kinda evil because he was en evil child, rather than the much more nuanced version in trimax. Milly doesn't exist (yet) and they added in a new character Roberto whose role in the story is (or at least was to me) obvious if you know the basics of the hero's journey structure. Everyone has been twinkified and Wolfwood doesn't even have his tits out smh. Vash just comes across as having less agency and his motivations feel weak. I really just dont like a lot of the character decision here BUT to be fair, that's because I'm comparing them to the manga. But also, a main plot point is someone taking over his brother's body so that his sisters can get pregnant and it definitely still feels weird in context. The focus on the two brothers makes other dynamics a little weaker, and has led to a lot of incest-y fandom things which is ehh.

5.5/10 there are some things it does very well and it's very popular for a reason but I personally think the characterisations are disappointing. It's trying to strike a weird balance between being its own, new thing and also nostalgia for original elements, leading to some questionable pacing and plot choices. It doesn't even have Midvalley the Hornfreak.

I would love to be able to talk about Trigun with you and be passionate about the elements of it I love, but also I don't want to recommend it without giving you a fair picture of the parts I'm more critical about. I genuinely love the world building and characters, which are expressed best in the less accessible form of the manga but are also found in the animes. What I'd recommend is watching the original anime first, but also you might need to give it the benefit of the doubt for the first couple episodes which is where the dodgy 90s sexism is most obvious. I'd be super interested in hearing your thoughts and reactions to it if you did watch it, and also please bear in mind that my complaints about tristamp are personal and there are many who love that version so don't take my negativity as fact.

[hypermoyashi]

Most Powerful Forces

Fandom: Trigun

Words: 3,242 (complete)

Relationship(s): MerylMilly, Vash & Meryl

Tags/Warnings: Modern AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, Getting Together, childhood friendships, Long-Distance Relationship, Trans Vash the Stampede (Trigun), Background Vash the Stampede/Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Fluff, Ace!Meryl

Milly, her childhood friend, had confessed to her.

And now, Meryl had to leave for college. Milly always sent her home-cooked treats, to make sure she knew she was loved, and Meryl wanted to do something in return.

(Or the one in which Meryl and Vash try not to burn down their dorm making cookies for Milly.)

[read it on ao3]