i've seen ppl talking about Meryl & how little we know about her family, but the geo-plant arc of trigun chapters 10-12 gives us some really useful pieces of info, i think
first, we see her thinking of herself as Cold Blooded, just like the dude that wanted Badwick to kill his own parents
[ID: Meryl stands with her gun drawn and a troubled expression on her face as she thinks to herself, "Exactly as you described him... the cold-blooded type..." In the next panel, she closes her eyes and wonders, "Am I really... any different?" End ID]
at the start of this arc, Milly wrote one of her massive letters to her family, while Meryl mentioned not knowing what she would write to hers. then we see Milly get PISSED at Badwick after she learns he threatened his parents at gunpoint, which leads to this page:
[ID: Meryl, held back by Milly, tells her, "Milly... I envy you... My father would have wanted me to get justifiably angry at a person who points a gun at his parents. That is an important thing." She flashes back to the moment in the chapter before where Milly is attempting to punch the son, Badwick. Milly calls in concern, "Ma'am?" Meryl continues, "But I... I just stood there and took it all in without even budging. I am such a cold person. I chose this path of blood and tears without thinking about the rest of my life. All I can see is what is right in front of me." The page shows the face of the father, dressed in basic battle gear, who is watching silently. Now in tears, Meryl laments, "Why could I not see... that when I closed myself off to him, something was wrong? I..." In the last panel, Milly stares down at Meryl in surprise as Meryl slaps her own cheeks and exclaims, "No... Nevermind!" End ID]
this entire situation is obviously striking something in Meryl's heart. some kind of insecurity she has about her distant relationship with her own parents. she shakes herself out of it, determined to not fall into a funk, and then jumps into defense of the land.
after the battle's over & the father's fallen to his ass, we see these pages:
[ID: In the first page, the father, off screen, tells Meryl and Milly, "There are no words to express how thankful I am for your help." Meryl replies with a smile, "Ah. There's no need." The father goes on to tell her, "Ms. Meryl... I know it was rude of me, but I overheard your conversation earlier. Having raised that rebellious son, I don't know if I have the right thing to say, but... All people are different, but the bonds between parents and children are inseparable. It is a great burden, but also the most precious thing in the world..."
In the second page, the father concludes, "... Choose your own path, and walk it with confidence. All of life... is connected. You must live your own life, and your parents will love through you." As he speaks, we see Meryl listening to him with a surprised expression. End ID]
this entire arc feels like a metaphor for Meryl's own situation. after these pages, we see Badwick turning in the deed, then finding out that his parents were entrusting the property to him after all. he's the problem son, someone who separated himself from his parents due to his disagreements with them (likely stemming from his dead younger brother). yet at the end of the day, his parents still love him and entrusted their life's work to him.
Meryl sees all this go down, hears these words, and it touches something in her heart. so we see her go from talking about writing to her family like this in chapter 10:
[ID: A single panel of Meryl with her eyes closed and a peaceful expression on her face. She tells Milly, "That would be the normal thing to do... especially when I've been away from home for so long. But I don't know what to write beyond 'it's dry'..." End ID]
to this bit at the end of chapter 12:
[ID: Meryl approaches a mailbox with luggage in hand. She slips a letter inside, then sighs with a smile. Milly yells, "Maa'aam! What are you doing?! We're already late!" To which Meryl replies, "Ok! Ok! Ok! I'm coming!" End ID]
the experience was enough for her to accept that she might not be the closest with her parents (or just father? considering she only ever mentions a father in this all), but it's still worth reaching out even if she doesn't have much to say.
this arc is the most we see about Meryl's backstory in the manga, but I think we can draw a few things from it. we have a definite mention of a father, but no others. no mention of siblings or any other family members. she's distant from her father, too busy following her heart & goals, but she doesn't have a bad relationship with him. just Distant. she feels disconnected from him, even Cold, for her focus on her work & the practicalities in front of her. but even with that disconnect, she still cares enough about him to feel guilty when she realizes she's been doing this.
and then considering later, when we see the flashback of a man giving her the gun... i'd assumed that was possibly a senior at her work (probably tristamp giving me that perception, from Roberto), but keeping all the rest of this in mind... it really could have been her father.
i went looking to try to find that part. did not find that one exactly, but i DID find this one from trimax chapter 34:
[ID: A nearly bald man with a kind face and what appear to be shooting ear muffs around his neck tells Meryl, "Consider guns delicate. Women, most of all, should make use of them. One shot will level the playing field between you and a big, strong man." End ID]
if this is indeed her father, it would explain why she knows how to shoot like she does. perhaps her father taught her as she was growing up out of the wish to help her protect herself. maybe they weren't incredibly close, but he still clearly cared about her & wanted what was best for her and her safety. the kind of father that's content to let her do whatever her heart wishes, since her happiness is his happiness.
and then chapter 12 ends with this page:
[ID: A black framed page with a single panel at the center. The panel shows Meryl from behind, running with her luggage in hand. The text boxes to the sides state, "All of life is connected by a river... And the beginning of the river... is now." End ID]
she continues on her own path, not looking back, but she is still connected to the ones in her heart... including her father.
(Manga panels referenced from @trigun-manga-overhaul !)
371 notes
·
View notes
The owl house crew really went "this boy will keep his menacing cool first impression for one episode"
First entrance: Shoots out of water in a giant kickass fist after Eda says Luz could have gotten killed
Quotes: "That can still be arranged" while mask is literally steaming
Then the rest are:
Casually whistles the freaking show's theme on an errand run
Gets his ass rocketed away like team rocket
Accidentally falls off a rock ledge directly in front of the people he was spying on
Gets recognized by his annoying voice and then runs away only to get clowned on
Gets his sock stolen by some beast after failing to socialize with people his age then tries to run away from a 14 year old girl (I mean that's fair though in this context)
Gets his ass dragged down to the ground anyway and is literally bound up in vines terrified of middle schoolers (ok mostly the first one tho)
Walks out of the shadows intimidatingly (in his mind) in the most ugliest raggedy-assed lookin outfit ever and accidentally reveals his trash-pile home
Tries to look cool like the friends coming along was their idea but gets called the fuck out
1K notes
·
View notes
@possiblycringe @very-very-dizzy @k40su HEHEHEHE OKAY >:3
So! To prevent myself from infodumping too much keep this post somewhat short I can talk about the story goin' on. Know that I'm still working on it, so there's a chance things could change in the future.
Generally it follows the same as canon, but it starts with Azure (Agent 3/Captain 3), Callie and Marie all being werekrakens. All of them were born werekrakens too. Marie started turning around age 5-6, Azure around 9-10, and Callie doesn't start changing until the events of this AU (aka HELLA late).
Things don't really kick off until Azure's gf and roommate, Mist (Agent 8) accidentally finds out about Azure being a werekraken after she fails to make it to the Squid Sisters' place to spend that full moon. Fortunately Azure and Mist are close enough for Azure to still recognize Mist in their kraken state and not feel threatened by her, so things are all good. Mist is then taken to the Squid Sisters' place and educated on all things werekraken, and from there kinda becomes the krakens' caretaker/babysitter every full moon (especially after Callie starts changing, since Cal normally looked after everyone primarily).
Shit really hits the fan when Off the Hook figures out what Callie and Marie are. Marina was semi-forcefully made into a werekraken in the Octarian Army, being told that being turned would only enhance her strength and allow her to better serve the Army. Spoiler alert: it didn't entirely and caused Marina to be under intense stress every time she turned or made herself turn for medical checkups and whatnot to be done on her. In this AU krakens get stressed/scared easily and retaliate when threatened (hence the folktales about them being violent beasts), so you can imagine what happened. Because of her status as a werekraken Marina catches onto the Squid Sisters rescheduling performances and taking full moons off, and wants to reach out to them for help.
Long story short, what ends up happening is Off the Hook getting the Squid Sisters, Azure, and Mist at Pearl's place for a full moon and it goes much better than Marina anticipated (who doesn't understand how skiddish krakens are and only understands her affliction to be a violent "curse" of sorts) and the NSS agrees to educate Marina on herself, help her regulate her kraken, and let her safely and comfortably embrace it. Pearl is especially happy for Marina, who's seen how her kraken is and has always believed werekrakens aren't violent.
Time passes, full moons happen, eventually Callie finally starts transforming. It's a lot for her. Despite waiting for years for her to transform and knowing all she does about herself and werekrakens in general, her strengthened senses and instincts after transforming are extremely stressful for her. Essentially-Callie gets a smaller "plot" about accepting herself and managing her own kraken (which may or may not be even more stronger than a regular kraken as a result of her brainwashing years prior, jury's still out on that).
Time once again passes and another long story short, one particular full moon goes wrong and Shiver and Neo Agent 3 (named Sting) get turned by Marina and Callie, respectively. Now there's more people to keep watch on as they adjust to their new krakens and keeping the secret! Sting especially needs to be kept on close watch, since xey're way too excited about being turned and even let xemself get attacked so xey could be turned. The NSS is fairly certain Shiver can regulate her kraken with enough training, but they're not sure about Sting.
I imagine there's also some other "plot points" about finding a werekraken "cure" and how Callie, Marie, and Azure react to that? But not sure yet. Again, still working on things.
Overall tho, it's mostly just a werewolf AU about being keeping the secret and living life as creatures of sorts :3
20 notes
·
View notes