#I really wish I could talk to more trigun people

[prstmmprhdl]

Sooo I was tagged by @nanomooselet (sempai noticed me ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) no but really woooow a person with so much such cool trigun meta knows I exist? I’m literally starstruck)

But I’m stupid and I don’t know who to tag in return :( I’m not even sure I know how to see who I’m mutuals with? I’m a technological granny that’s all anyone needs to know about me lol

But the questions are actually different:

Last song: Not Found by Buck-Tick. That’s a great song, I kinda forgot existed and actually expected to listen to Mudai (which means “No name”, so, it’s not that weird to confuse the two).

Favorite color: green. Deep moss green is the best, but any hue is great.

Currently watching: ugggh. Thanks to my husband I watch ongoings now ( >___>) they are suddenly really good. Everybody knows Dungeon Meshi, I think. It’s already a cult classic as a manga and Trigger continues to make history. I’ve juuust finished Frieren and Apothecary Diaries, Bucchigiri and Warumono San no kyuujitsu, Yubisaki to renren and Majyo to Yajyu. Have started Yoru no kagame wa oyogenai (PLEASE WATCH IT. JUST FOR THE CINEMATOGRAPHY ALONE! PS - god I love the way anime of this new decade uses “camera movement” and colors. Tengoku daimakyo and Chainsawman are probably the best examples here, but this slice of life/music dramedy already looks amazing) and Shyuumatsu no train wa doko e iku (this is boringly simple in the art department in general but the promise and the visualization of the surreal parts is really good, I’m hooked!). Gmg. I do watch movies as well, like, Poor things and Aliza Frankenstein are extremely good. Dune is very beautiful. Mami Wata is a black and white gem of a movie. But I think I should shut up already.

Sweet/savory/spicy: savory I guess? However I’m not a native English speaker and had to google for some time as I’ve previously considered savory not a taste, but… a feel? Dunno.

Relationship status: married. As for friendship, it’s mostly online as most my beautiful ladies live far away ~_~

Current obsession: Trigun. And. Like. Really. It is an OBSESSION. I love all the characters, I literally fall asleep and wake up with them on my mind. I’ve made myself a felted Vash toy. I’ve watched Stampede twice (don’t look at the number of things I watch. Without my husband I can’t finish shit. But this! I’ve screencapped every second of it it seems. I’ve read manga in English and Japanese (and sometimes badly translated to Russian for the lulz - there’s so much swearing it’s basically a different story). I’ve committed two art pieces for the first time in my life. I’ve put art on my walls and my laptop. And I even returned to reading fan fiction after almost a decade of staying away from ao3 (no shade here, I just never loved anything as much as to need any additional materials. Except for Hannibal. But that show was too perfect and didn’t need anything but deep analytics on the symbolism). Hmh. I want to plug “Becoming Eden” by Lenipes here. It’s so good it has become a fourth trigun “canon” for me.

Last thing I googled: how does savory taste lol

Hehe. That’s so long. I guess I just wanted to vent a bit?

Who can I tag? @6wings-manyeyes @esotericbird

Sorry to bother you. No pressure and all that~ just a little tag game to get to know mutuals better.

#tag game #who should I tag though #I was so pleased to be tagged! #I really wish I could talk to more trigun people #and anime people #and tumblr people in general #I used to know ppl here thrugh #fiction podcasts #those a great #aaaargh #I want someone who loves trigun AND wolf 359 #these two are so so soooooo cool #and somehow give off similar vibes ??? #dunno #trigun #wolf359

[seoafin]

MORGAN! that ask you answered about vash and bountyhunter mc post trigun and knives and the BABY <3 i would appreciate even the barest of crumbs from you <333

i tried.....to keep.....this short......(this takes place post trigun)

-

Nicholas is crying. 

Nicholas cries often.

He’s a baby. Babies cry. You don’t recall your memories from infancy, but you don’t think you ever cried this much. If you had been too much of an annoyance you’re sure your mother would have left you outside for the desert to claim you, subsequently forgetting about you in the days after. If anything, you suppose you're grateful for her in a way, despite everything. The secret to taking adequate care of Nicholas is doing the exact opposite of everything your mother had done to raise you.

It’s difficult, raising a child. Trying to ascertain Nicholas’ moods and keep him happy. It’s rewarding when he smiles at you in a way only a child can, full of innocent glee and joy. But you’re also not good at it. It was Vash who had shown you how to do everything, because you had been terrified of such a happy, pure thing, just as you had been afraid to soil Vash with your touch. It didn’t matter in the end. You had wanted him so much that it should’ve stopped you, but it didn’t.

You hope Nicholas doesn’t take after you in that regard.

You approached Nicholas’ care slowly and methodically. And when you fear you may irrevocably mess him up, Vash wraps himself around you until you feel better. Now, you like to think you’re slowly getting better at reading Nicholas’ capricious moods.

And right now you’re sure the reason for his distress lies in the man trying to rock him in his arms with a disgruntled look splayed across his face. He’s doing it all wrong.

“You’re not holding him right.”

There’s a stubborn crease in his eyebrows, a movement you can so easily trace against the face of the man you wake up to every morning. It’s in the mundane moments like these when their similarities become almost identical like the twins they are. It's even more prevalent now, after exhausting their abilities have turned the shade of their hair a matching dark black. The two of them could be practically indistinguishable if they wished, and it’s futile to divorce them of that, despite Knives’ crimes against humanity. In the end, the two of them are family. You don’t have to like it to accept it.

“Then please,” Knives replies, tongue sharp as he glances up at you with narrowed eyes, “enlighten me so my ears don’t have to suffer this incessant noise any longer.”

You think in the years after the plant across from you tried to end humanity, he’s grown more tolerant of people, more understanding in an almost clinical way. Vash wouldn’t have allowed him around Nicholas or you otherwise. Sometimes when he watches you, you feel as if you’re being scrutinized.

As Knives unfalteringly bears down at Nicholas, lips pursed in either distaste or frustration or concentration, his cries grow louder.

He has a pair of lungs on him, this baby.

“Lighten up,” you say bluntly. “You’re scaring him.” You think these are the most words you have spoken to each other. His lips pull back, offended. He’s not used to being criticized in such a frank manner, even after all the roaming he's done. People like him are used to being intimidating. But you don’t really have it in you to afford him any delicacy. You save all of it for Vash. He’s accepted it without insult for the most part.

The two of you don’t like each other. Knives doesn’t visit often, but when he does, Vash is ecstatic. And when night falls, Vash kisses you goodnight on the bed the two of you share and murmurs that he’ll be back soon, and the two of them sit by the light on the porch and talk about Knives’ travels. The people he’s met. The people he’s helped, although he’d never admit it. It’s repentance. In the morning Vash is so pleased he’s practically aglow with happiness. A happiness you could never deny him.

So the two of you tolerate each other. It’s not peaceful co-existence. It’s understanding built on mutual wariness and the love the two of you share for the one good thing in your lives.

You reach over the wooden crib (Vash had spent two weeks making it, all from cutting the wood to sanding it down to assembling it with painstaking detail to ensure it was safe) and adjust Knives’ arm to lift Nicholas’ head at a higher angle. When Nicholas continues to cry, you pluck him away from his uncle into your own arms.

The cry quiets. Nicholas’ face is bright red from the exertion, eyes squeezed shut, face twisted into a sour look. He sniffles in your arms, eyes squinting open to peer up at you, and it feels like the wind has been knocked out of your chest. 

His lips warble, just before another wail pierces the air.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

You pointedly do not meet Knives’ gaze. In the distance, you hear the engine of the car pull up. Vash is back.

“Vash,” you call, expecting him to hear you from outside, and his name doesn’t even fully leave your lips before you can hear him bounding up the stairs. He likely heard Nicholas.

He brightens when he sees you and Knives, and Nicholas bawling in your arms.

“I’m home!” Vash exclaims with a wide grin that illuminates his face. He takes Nicholas from you with a kiss on your cheek.

“Welcome home.”

Knives grunts.

Vash gently rocks Nicholas in his arms. “Sweet boy,” he breathes out, eyes impossibly soft. Nicholas settles immediately, hiccuping, staring up at his father with wide eyes. “Let’s make things easier on your mama, alright?”

You don’t feel like a mother. You don’t voice this sentiment. Instead you and Knives watch as Nicholas reaches up to take Vash’s long, metallic index finger with a giggle that tells you he likes the way the light glints off the metal. And Vash looks like he might cry all over again, just the way he almost does every time Nicholas does something like laugh unabashedly. It’s pure delight straight to the heart, it’s healing.

There’s a silent, wordless agreement between you and Knives to never speak about the moments prior to Vash’s arrival.

Vash looks up, blinking away the dampness in his eyes. “I take it the two of you are getting along?”

You don’t respond. Knives doesn’t either.

Knives only says, “The child is a nuisance.”

There’s barely any heat in his words, but his eyes do slightly narrow at the now soundly sleeping Nicholas cradled in Vash’s arms.

Vash simply smiles in that soft way that makes the corners of his eyes, along with his beauty mark crease, and huffs a breath of laughter. “He’s just a baby.” He fondly looks down, at Nicholas’ sleeping face, pensive. “I’m sure Rem had her hands full with us too.”

Knives’ lips thin, face tightening in something you can’t quite name other than unspent grief. Remorse. “That…” His face falls, expression a surrender, an acquiesce. His shoulders sag. “I suppose you’re right,” he says, with a ghost of a smile. It's almost hauntingly sad. “As infants, your cries kept even me up.”

That Vash laughs at, scratching his face with a finger sheepishly. “Is that right? Gee, it's been so long, I can't even remember…But I guess he’s just like me in that regard!” Vash’s happiness is once again palpable.

It strikes you that he does. That Nicholas takes after Vash in every way from the goodness of his nature that has him joyfully entertained by a passing flying bug to the dimple in his cheek when he smiles up at you. It makes you think that you could love him, if anything, just because of that. It also breaks your heart.

But for now, you'll watch over them both, content.

#never thought i'd ever write the phrase 'crimes against humanity' seriously. knives vagabond agenda ftw. #anyway im going to eat concrete now goodnight #vash the stampede x reader #safe house #m.trigun

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Trigun Stampede Character Thoughts: Vash

I've been putting off this write-up since I finished the show if for no other reason than whenever I go to analyze this funky little dude my entire brain just stalls and goes

✨ Hi, Vash. Hi. :) ✨

...anyways.

Here's a quick collection of thoughts on him now that I am finally more coherent! The hardest part of this was trying to make something readable with the sheer amount of things I could say about him. Geez.

(Please note that I have only watched Trigun Stampede! As of this moment, I am starting the manga and have not seen 98 Trigun. I thought it might be interesting to compare and contrast once I've read the manga. Bear with me in the meantime!)

Right off the bat, the show introduces us to who Vash is as a character - a pacifistic gunman who, while incredibly skilled, avoids confrontation when at all possible. When Meryl accuses him of running away out of fear, it's pretty quickly made apparent that, while it is out of some semblance of fear, it is not fear for himself. Rather, his concerns lie with other people's well-being first and foremost.

Or, really, his concerns lie near completely with other people's well-being. What happens to him is of very little consequence if it means everyone else is okay.

I want to talk about three different things when it comes to Vash, namely:

His incredible skill and competence

His terrible self-image

His solidly held pacifistic convictions

Skill and Competence

Ohhhh ok. So, I can't really comment on exact positions or maneuvers (I used to do martial arts pretty extensively, but it's obviously not the same kind and I know absolutely nothing about guns or marksmanship sorry), but I can sure tell you that I loved the way the animators had Vash move in episode 1 right before he pulls out his gun for the first time. I wish I knew how to make gifs properly because I would totally make one of that part. Even before Roberto's line that "acting brave is foolish" and "he's not long for this world" had finished, I was already convinced of the exact opposite. As someone who's done martial arts. Guys. The way he moves here.

It's a three step movement - he steps to the right, then to the left in an almost meandering way, shifting his body weight as he goes, before he grounds himself in a wide stance. It's slow, fluid, and calculated - a distinct contrast from his often jerky, exaggerated motions that we saw earlier. God I wish I had a gif. I don't think I can simply explain how insane it makes me. The animators could've just had him approach directly or run up to it - a lot of the times, with action heroes, there's a lot of flashy motion or jumping around, etc., which looks cool but isn't exactly something to be role modelling in an actual fight lol. But here? In the next episode, Nebraska mockingly says "this isn't the ballet" with regards to the dodging and spinning Vash does, but a lot of his motions... really are dance-like. He's damn near effortlessly shifting his center of gravity while remaining fluid in motion and completely balanced. No novice moves like that. He clearly has a lot of experience. For me watching, Roberto's line was refuted before he even finished it.

...which of course makes it even funnier when he realizes he's out of bullets. Oh, buddy. You looked so cool for a second there. Hjhdfnv

Really though, pay attention to the way he moves while fighting or shooting. He's always well-grounded, and the more serious the situation, the more fluidly and less exaggeratedly he moves. It's so, so cool. I don't know if I've quite seen that kind of motion in animation before, especially cgi (though it is possible I just haven't seen enough too...hehe...).

The episode 12 fight too! Again, Vash is balanced, even as he's being knocked backwards. He falls correctly, and allows his body to move with the gun. All his motions are precise and fluid. Contrast that to Nai, who is, uh... totally unbalanced lmao.

And then the way he tucks before he jumps out the window! The animation actually convinced me of this guy's over 100 years of experience. I actually believe it.

What's nice is that Vash, too, is aware of his own skill. He moves with a lot of confidence, and he clearly has a great degree of trust in his own ability to fight and shoot without seriously harming anyone - not once does he show the slightest bit of doubt in his abilities. One might expect, given Vash's refusal to kill, that he might be worried about accidental injuries when in the middle of a gunfight - but he isn't. Ever. The only way I can interpret this is complete confidence in his own abilities, and he most likely trained hard to specifically ensure that this would never be a concern. The trope of "character who doesn't want to fight or hurt people turns out to be really insanely skilled/strong" is always cool and fun, but in this context it's really a neat take on it, since I feel it is only because he refuses to kill that he intentionally developed such god-tier level marksmanship - I am going to go out on a limb here and assume it is much easier to accidentally inflict serious injury with a gun than it is to actively avoid doing so lol. He probably worked at being a really good fighter and gunman specifically so he could avoid killing.

I also find it kind of refreshing that he never calls his skills into question, since that does tend to happen with characters who have a poor self-image or low esteem. Which, uh, takes me to the next point.

Self-Image

Yeah, Vash's self-image is kind of in the gutter. He places the blame for all the tragedies that follow him on himself, despite the fact that he always puts in his full effort to prevent them from happening.

The majority of this ties back to his feelings of culpability for the fall. I want to direct your attention to the scene where Vash is digging the tally marks into the wall in episode 8 - it can't possibly be the number of days that have passed since we see the transition of the sun only twice and Brad looks shocked when he sees the all the tallies (which he wouldn't be if they had been there for that many days). With the way Vash's tallies look a bit like crosses and the fact that he greeted the people in cryosleep on Ship 5 by name in the first episode, suffice to say, he is probably making a tally of all the people who didn't make it through the crash - people whose deaths he feels personally responsible for.

Really, I wouldn't consider Vash even remotely responsible for any of that - he had the access codes but like. Zero intent or knowledge of what Nai was about to do with them. Regardless, Vash carries the guilt from it in the way Nai won't, because in his mind, someone needs to take accountability. Also important to remember is that the only reason any human being still lives on No Man's Land is because of Rem's sacrifice. Vash needs to maintain his belief in the capacity for human kindness and his no-killing code, because if he doesn't, her sacrifice would be in vain. He keeps her values and beliefs alive. She's in everything he does. Even hollowed out and stripped of his memories and identity, the mass of roots and flowers that engulf July take on her likeness.

So, really, in addition to Vash just being a generally compassionate soul, his staunch pacifism is a refusal to betray her beliefs and let his mother figure die a second time. I need to fucking lie down.

With all this strain he puts on himself, it's really not surprising that when tragedy inevitably strikes, he is very hard on himself, and from what we've seen this actually manifests in a set of consistent self-punishing behaviours - I am of course referring to episode 3's "I don't deserve to cry" and his refusal to eat in episode 4 (despite apparently needing to, unlike Nai). This is very similar to what we see in episode 8 with him as a kid, where he goes somewhat blank (no crying, no anger, all his negativity directed inwards and at himself) and refusing all food except what little he needs to survive because "it's a waste".

The worst part of this though, to me, is that we see from certain throwaway bits ("one bullet is two slices of pizza/two dozen donuts!", his kid self's eagerness at the sight of the birthday cake and the spread of food, his first question on seeing the geranium being to wonder if it is edible) that he not only needs to eat but also seems to enjoy eating - so his refusal to eat is not only a denial of a basic necessity but also of one of the few things he genuinely likes that he will allow himself to partake in. In the context of Rem framing food as something to share with everyone, it also makes me wonder if his self-denial is something along the lines of "I don't deserve to share this with them". In that sense, it's really important that Luida echoes a similar sentiment as Rem (implying she wants to share this food/include him, and that some of Rem's views survive in these remaining people).

I do wonder if, because food is associated with sharing to him, that it has something to do with needing to "earn a place at the table" in a way. While I think Luida was trying her best to juggle a lot on Ship 3 behind the scenes after the fall and clearly didn't want to keep Vash locked up like that, the crew only started treating him better and trusting him after he found a way to help them. The unfortunate view that Vash receives then is: "I need to earn their trust by being helpful." Vash is a chronic people pleaser - I can't think of a single point where he does something solely for his own benefit. He has no desire to scare or harm anyone (quite the opposite!) so he goes out of his way to be as helpful and non-threatening as possible - hiding his true nature as a Plant (to such an extent that he doesn't know anything about his powers and has effectively sealed them away - he's practically human), masking his facial expressions by cleverly hiding his face or letting the light reflect off his glasses, trying to laugh off his competence as luck and his scars as embarrassing.

Is it because he doesn't want to scare people? Is it because he doesn't want to feel othered from them? It's hard to say. It's probably a bit of both.

Nai accuses Vash of loneliness and desiring love, and of seeking to fill that gap by appeasing humans. While I don't think this is necessarily wrong, it can't possibly be accurate as a core motivation, since Vash doesn't seem to really... accept a lot of positive interaction. Whether out of concern for others' safety, a lack of feeling like he deserves it, being secretive about his past and identity, or some combination of the above, Vash tends to leave a lot. He leaves Jeneora Rock's celebration early, tries to walk away from Meryl even as she's calling out to him, runs away from Home when Brad and Luida listen to the recording. He throws walls up and distances himself by laughing things off, or smiling, or simply not explaining anything.

I mentioned this during my live blogging while watching episode 9, but as Independents, it's intriguing to me that both Vash and Nai exist outside the cycle of dependence we see between the Plants and the humans - both of which cannot survive without the other. Nai appears to revel in this detachment, but Vash also seems to self-impose a certain distance between himself and everyone else - for all his friendliness and inability to leave someone hanging who needs help, he practices a lot of recognizably avoidant strategies. He exists on the periphery, never staying in one place too long (he can't), and treating every interaction with a certain kind of resignation - an understanding that it is temporary. He seems to expect the inevitability of being chased out over and over. The slightest of kindnesses given to him he always feels incredibly grateful for. Perhaps he feels that kindness is more than he deserves.

I honestly dread to think how he'll react once he regains his memories of what happened to July. I trust that he'll keep pushing on, as he always does, but is he going to remember that he deserves to eat and smile?

I really hope so. Otherwise I will need Meryl and Wolfwood to bonk him on the head.

Pacifism and Conviction

The thing about Vash's pacifism is that it's very difficult to tell whether it is primarily motivated by love or guilt. Vash carries an incredible amount of survivor's guilt with him and he absolutely is doing his best to keep Rem's memory alive, but I don't think it can be denied that he isn't just acting out Rem's beliefs - he really does believe in them himself. He's also genuinely compassionate and does care and become invested in the well-being of others. In the end, I'm not sure it really matters. I don't think the guilt or love can be easily extricated from each other at this point; they are both powerful drivers of his actions and core to his identity as a person, and while this is not exactly ideal for getting him to be kind to himself, they both strongly feed into his continuous choice to be kind to others.

And it is a choice, not naivety, as pacifism is so often brushed off as. Vash's compassion is something he chooses over and over again, in spite of the way he is often treated, and the way his powers hold far more potential for destruction than even Knives. Wolfwood thinks that Vash doesn't understand harsh realities and is going to receive a rude awakening but he does understand - Vash just chooses not to accept violence as the only way forward and believes that things can change and improve, and is willing to expend that energy and extra hurt into making that a reality. Nai thinks Vash is helpless and brainwashed into his belief - note the way Vash frequently appears as his child self when Nai tampers with his Gate or his memories; the implication here is that Nai sees Vash as incapable of making choices for himself and in need of protection - but not only is this horribly demeaning to Vash's personhood, it simply isn't true. Even Meryl chews him out for what looked like running away to her early on, and Roberto thinks he's going to get himself killed sooner or later. Everyone underestimates Vash, at least at first. And well, it's easy to. He's just a silly little guy! He's a bleeding heart who tries to help everyone he comes across! He talks about nobody needing to die in a world where most everyone is starving and desperate! To the people in-universe, he would look like a total fool, and far too idealistic to last long.

Except, he has. He's around 150 years old, he's scarred to hell and back, but he's still alive and he still chooses kindness. That takes a special kind of improbable mental resilience and stubborn conviction - and that's what most of the other characters overlook. Vash is, indeed, very sensitive and emotional and an idealist - he's also much tougher and more rational than hardly anyone gives him credit for. He's an excellent judge of character too!

His ideals and that stubborn faith are everything that makes Vash who he is.

This scene in episode 12 is the only true moment of triumph in what is otherwise a tragedy all around. Nai would go as far as to destroy Vash’s very identity to get his brother back, but at the cost of losing everything that makes him Vash. These ideals are the core of “Vash the Stampede”, and no matter how foolish they may seem or how little others understand his conviction, this is an identity he has chosen for himself. It’s who he is. And this assertion, coming directly on the heels of Nai trying to erase him and remove that autonomy, is an undeniable brief triumph in the midst of it all. Nai will always be Vash’s brother, and he will always love him I’m sure, but they diverged in their persons a long, long time ago, and Vash adamantly refuses to be an extension of or accomplice to his brother’s crusade of hatred… even if that means going against him.

Vash’s kindness is so necessary to a world like the one we see in the series, on the verge of extinction and giving up. Approaching situations with understanding and communication is really the only way to help improve understanding amongst others - and this is one of his biggest strengths; it's even reflected in his use of his Plant abilities (communicating between himself and the other Plants, the way he can open a path both to and from the higher dimension unlike anyone else). In this way, Vash is something of a necessary conduit. I just wish he'd let himself feel a little more tbh. He represses a lot - he canonically won't allow himself to cry if he feels responsible, any flashes of anger are brief, he doesn't stick around to have fun really. Personally, I'd like to see him allow himself grief through tears, a little bit of genuine letting loose and celebrating, and actually expressing things like irritation and annoyance next season. Perhaps that's wishful thinking.

I don't know how to accurately summarize my thoughts on Vash well enough other than to say, in keeping with the whole Plant thing, he reminds me strongly of dandelions. Bright, cheery, grow through cracks and root where you don't expect them to ever be able to eke out a living. Regarded as a weed by many but very difficult to get rid of. Hardy, resilient, and pop back up after being beaten down. Kids make wishes on them.

Anyways. Hugs him hugs him hugs him x 60,000,000,000

#fuck this is absolute garbage but i've run out of steam and the words just aren't happening so this is what i have to offer lol #i feel like i could've expressed a LOT of these points better. alas. after days of working on this it's what i've got. #when i do the other character thoughts i'll expand on the relationship between the twins #and... whatever is going on with wolfwood (their conflicting views but also concern?) #but for now i think this will have to do i've rambled enough #storyrambles #<-sure did. #trigun #tristamp #trigun stampede #vash the stampede #tristamp meta #<-it's more a messy word collection than a meta but. sure. idk how to tag this agh #if i have referenced something incorrectly please let me know and i'll fix it!

[mydetheturk]

These are some of my wips for @organsoutsidelovinglydescribed's Trigun Body Horror Week!

i thought about making separate posts but that's a lot more work than i want to do right this minute, so i'm going to a blanket warning of: gore, blood, ... alien weirdness of varying degrees, and frankly erotic organ touching. all the pieces are going under a cut due to the varying levels of the aforementioned warnings, with more specific warnings with each snippet.

heed the warnings and enjoy!

Major tags for this first piece, a dominai fic, where two independent plants sharing one body poke around with the nervous system; it's gonna be rated e for a combination of "domina splits knives like a peach (sexy)" and "whatever's going on there is definitely xeno". Alien weirdness, is all I'm saying. shockingly tender, but alien weirdness nonetheless.

Domina doesn't talk about most of them. Doesn't like to think about how people – humans entirely too full of hubris – cracked her open to see what made her tick. She knows she's lucky she lived. She wears the scars as badges that say “I lived.” The scientists who'd carved her rib cage open like she was so much meat had the audacity to be shocked when Domina reached out to someone else to ask for help. She'd been young then and should still be young now. Now, she's dying. But she's not alone anymore.

Crimsontrip/Crimsonfang with shockingly erotic organ touching. Shockingly tender? The boys are having a Time and if you ask Elendira about it she'll gut you. Warnings include: blood, viscera, insects, mildly graphic medical descriptions, and hints of past traumas. organs and gore as well.

Elendira returned to their side. “How much of this are you feeling?” she asked. Finally, a clearer workspace. She slid her fingers along organs, gently pried them up from where they were tucked in Livio and Razlo’s musculature and viscera. “Wish we could feel more of you,” one of them said. “Bet it’d feel pretty great, havin’ your hands all up in us like this.” Elendira paused with her hand cupping her fools’ liver. She kept her hand on the organ and leaned up and over to press her lips against theirs. When she leaned back up, her lipstick stained their lips a bloody red. “If you two weren’t so fucked up right now, I would slice you apart like a succulent fruit and take you apart one piece at a time.” “Oh.” Elendira peppered a few kisses on their face, leaving marks there. “We’ll have to do this part again, my loves.” She went back to searching, pulling dead worms from inside of them and dropping them on the floor. Worms crunched under Elendira’s feet as she moved. Livio and Razlo’s organs were slick under her fingers. “I have you.” One of them made an almost kitten-weak agreeing noise.

this next piece is from a fic ive been sitting on for two months, I've described it as "a comically biblical amount of insects brings a fallen angel of the lord to climax" and have gotten several people to lose their minds at that phrasing. its less comical, but really, what do you expect from knives of all plants? Warnings include: insects, alien fuckery, xeno. shockingly little gore in this, or at least this part of the fic - knives and zazie have a tussle in the larger fic and bugs are eaten. plants are predatory, imo. it explains their teeth.

Zazie does-doesn’t understand, doesn’t-does understand in a way that is wholly inhuman, a collective, not an individual. Knives is an individual of a collective, a single voice just out of harmony with the rest. Zazie fills the ache, guts him to the core, while Knives claws at Zazie’s carapace, digging trenches, and hissing-clicking and reverberating loud and hard enough to stun many of the small Worms, collapsing them into the sand. Zazie is hot against him, still holding Knives’ face in their mandibles. A mockery of a human kiss. Plants don’t kiss that way and Worms have no need. Knives goes for a headbutt but only taps his forehead against an empty space between Zazie’s endless eyes. Between one breath and the next he reaches out with that part of him that sings with his sisters and touches Zazie’s Whole. Knives burns.

And lastly, a bonus fic for the week, one that i hadn't planned on writing originally but it's getting written anyway, yet another knives vivisection fic. this one's a little different - 2nd pov instead of my usual third person. Warnings for this include: medical horrors, knives having a panic attack, false reassurance that someone's ok in a bad way, more alien freakiness, and Dr. Conrad's special brand of unhelpful bedside manner. eye trauma as wel,

The doctor – false, liar, ripped the creature that should’ve been your older sister in two – looks down at you. A scalpel drips with your resin. The clearest words you’ve heard are spoken. “Subject Knives, this part you might feel.” The blade descends. You stop breathing. It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt. There is pressure but it doesn’t hurt. It should hurt. A knife, silver in appearance. Blade only an atom wide, perhaps more. It slices the doctor’s cheek but melts as soon as it does. The doctor’s blood drips. It mingles with your resin, pools where the scalpel has sliced open your eyelids. [Well done little brother! You just have to do that harder next time!]

I hope you enjoyed the pieces here and i cannot wait for body horror week to start 💜

#trigun #trigunbodyhorrorweek #millions knives #tesla trigun #domina trigun #william conrad #horror #blood #elendira the crimsonnail #livio the double fang #razlo the tri punisher of death #crimsonfang #crimsonnail #zazie the beast #myde writes #wip wednesday #medical horror #eye trauma #insects #xeno #sure! #knivesanddomina #dominai #god #if ive missed something PLEASE tell me #i think ive got all the tags for these pieces #but i might not #they're all tonally VERY different

[geraniumplant]

𝐓𝐚𝐠 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫!

𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐑(𝐒): blue, teal, sage green, red.

𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑(𝐒): strawberry

𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂: alternative, rock, acoustic, folk rock

𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐄(𝐒): Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Akira, Angel's Egg, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, & a lot more.

𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒: Trigun & Saiyuki are my top favorites at the moment. I also like Devil May Cry, Vampire Hunter D, & Trinity Blood.

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒: I recently finished watching Saiyuki & Blue Eye Samurai.

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐄: I can't remember the name of it, but it was about the Mami Wata mermaid. It was really good. I wish I could remember. :(

𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆: Nothing

𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐍: Taking a break from biology work.

𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆: BLAME! (I'm on book 3)

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆: 17 Crimes by AFI

A few of you I feel like I already know pretty well but I enjoy hearing from you. ^^ & the rest are people I genuinely want to get to know or talk to more. But no pressure to do this. @shouga-nai, @healingbrews, @goresugars, @ofdraiocht, @breathofcosmos, @surevive, @strywoven, @bone-pile-rp, @nothinglikegod

Tagged by the lovely: @ashortdropandasuddenstop (thank you! ❤️)

#tagged #dash games #ooc: lone wolf

[kirchefuchs]

(this is a long one lmao)

OKAY SO.

It was like 1am last night so I decided to sleep before sending this ahahahagsggs

ANYWAY

Regarding this wonderful reblog chain we had

(I don't know how and where to start ahahahahaaa)

hmmm. well, yk how I mentioned that The Eye of Michael (gasp. a rare instance where I don't forget a name??) took Stanley's voice? well, on the mask design I very much failed on, there was a clock (lmao TK reference) on the forehead part. originally, I wanted the mask to just be covering Stanley's mouth, because... duh. blud ain't got a voice no mo 😞✊ but anyway !!

(additional info: I took inspiration from a bunch of mask designs I found on Pinterest so it was very far from original)

the idea for the clock was for the ticking to be some sort of, uh, warning that he's nearby? like, just imagine finding yourself in an empty corridor, and all of a sudden, you hear a clock ticking in the distance. yeah, that's what I mean

(also I decided to change a bit of the backstory here. basically, The Narrator and Stanley are separate people. The Narrator was Some Dude™ who was in the middle of writing a story about—you guessed it—a man named Stanley. I already have his whole lore figured out but yk I'll cut it short for you so uhhhh blah blah blah The Eye of Michael finds him and encases him in a capsule where live wires that make him forget who he was before he became The Narrator are injected into his system. his voice is used as a way to trap and control Stanley—whose original identity/name was Jim (in this AU, at least)—and. yeah. The Narrator is trapped in a narrative facade whereas "Stanley" was the star of a lonely masquerade)

anyway, you can basically picture Stanley as wearing a full face mask or half of one, but either way, there's meant to be a clock somewhere and one of his eyes are meant to be covered in some sort of. uh. criss-cross threading technique. there's also the addition of some, uh, earphones? I think? they're not really that visible but uhh.. just think of them as the wireless ones, I dunno, I forgot what they're called, but anyway– Those are for The Narrator's voice. Just imagine a pair of. um. those things that help deaf people hear. wait.

HEARING AIDS. hearing aids, yes, uh, just imagine hearing aids, except that they're purposefully rigged to also provide a connection between The Narrator's voice and Stanley. It still functions like a normal pair of hearing aids, it just has the unfortunate annoyance of some angry British voice controlling Stanley's every move

As for the theme of his general outfit? I really wanted to make it fit the theme of the good ol "office worker" thing, so I had a little thought where Stanley pretends to be a tired worker at the start—wearing an ordinary face mask with the excuse of "trying not to breathe in the sand," as was written on a piece of paper (his lips/mouth is bruised as heck and the EoM did not want to take any more chances for instant suspicion), but during the times where Vash was alone, he'd (or, in this case, The Narrator would make him) wear his masquerade mask and put on some sort of blue (masquerade) outfit, with the cane that's totally not a sword/gun in disguise and all. With that being said, maybe the gang won't know his name until Wolfwood realizes who he is? I mean, Stanley can't talk, and. uh. sorry I'm going off-topic hahaa ahem anyway

maybe his title could be "The Masquerade"? not too sure but I like to think that he was trustworthy at first. anyway uhhhh that's about it! do whatever you wish with my two favorite brainrots :D and, sorry if I got a bit too-into the lore I made for him and The Narrator :')

— 🅰️non || Aug. 7 2023

This is gonna be a long one my guy....

🅰️non..... my dear beloved 🅰️non..... I don't know how to break this to you but the masquerade outfit, while a cool idea, is a flippin nightmare to try to translate into the Trigun universe. I tried so hard but it just want working.

Suffice it to say, venetian masquerade and space western do not mix

And it not for lack of trying! I have proof I tried!! The mask works, it's great! That's fine. But the clothes do not :(

I've got a lot of doodles here I gave up on cuz it just wasn't working. I kept having the problem where it either looked too pirate-y or too vampire-y, which is to be expected since masquerades were quite popular in the 18th century (the Golden Age of Piracy if I recall). And unfortunately, neither pirate nor vampire really scream "space cowboy times on desert planet"

Now.... this is an option....... and that is to forgo the masquerade outfit, the mask can stay, but I honest to goodness cannot make an outfit that works. So basically, my proposal for a solution would be to go with the aesthetic that pretty much every member of the Eye Of Michael has in 98 and Maximum. And that's the priest aesthetic.

You see, the Eye Of Michael has always been a religious group in universe, at the very least they pose as one. In reality they train orphans into mindess assassins, but they keep that church front. Hence why Wolfwood and Livio (and Chapel and the other EOM members in Maximum) have cross shaped guns. Also, fun fact Wolfwood was dubbed "The Punisher" because that was the name of his gun. I assume this would apply to Livio, and his guns are "Fangs" giving him the name "The Double Fang", and we know this applies to Razlo too, as he is "The Tri Punisher of Death" (you'd never guess, but he's got 3 Punishers :O).

Anyways, I did try drawing Stanley in the priest aesthetic, just to see if it worked. Make of it as you will.

I kinda imagine if we were to go this route, Stanley's cross would be a sniper rifle. He's already got a sort of stealth going for him, being mute and all, so I think it would fit. I could by no means draw said gun as I am only really good at drawing characters. But I can imagine the gun :')

Now, feel free to take my opinions and throw them in the trash if you don't like them, it's your character after all, it's up to you. But I do want to make it clear that I do love this idea so much and I wanna hear more of the story and how you think it would go. I'm curious if Stanley has a way to communicate back to the Narrator, because that could lead to some cool tandem character development. Like what if after Stanley starts wanting to break free of the Eye Of Michael, Vash agrees to help him free the Narrator as well. Since Stanley is mute, it could be cool if he communicated to the Narrator through his thoughts, so they would have to be on the same page for the escape plan to work. I mean, these are just my silly little ramblings, but this is all just to say that you've got a really good thing going here and I really wanna know more. I really hope my personal struggle with aesthetics doesn't bring you down, cuz I really truly love your idea here and I want it to work so badly.

But, yeah. I might end up drawing more at some point, cuz the idea is so cool and I just love all the story potential with Stanley being used by the Eye Of Michael like this. Anyways, I hope you have a good day, and sorry again for my inability to make the aesthetic work :')

#tspud #the stanley parable #tsp #ask #tsp narrator #tspud narrator #traditional art #tsp stanley #tspud stanley #trigun #trigun 98 #trigun 1998 #trigun stampede #tristamp #trimax #trigun maximum #kirche rambles #🅰️non

[makima-s-most-smile]

Trigun Ultimate Vol. 2 (Part 2)

Why do I have to say so much about all of this? It will need at least two other parts...

Chapter 1: Blood and thunder

Excuse you? He wasn’t just a shoemaker? What else? Many shoemakers also work with keys, shoes and keys are a thing… So maybe he works with more fine tuning stuff like weapons and/or prosthetics?

How does Vash know, though? Our dude is much more streetsmart than we are made to believe!

Man, children in bad places is such a big part of Trigun. I feel for the girl. I know that Vash is not in the right place to help her more than this, but damn, I wish someone was. We see glimpses of all the suffering, we see the results of all the suffering in the characters we meet, but it never gets better. Kaite in the last volume, now this girl… And in the end, they are left alone after our adventure with them. The status quo still stands.

Vash must feel absolutely powerless when confronted with such a situation. He cannot help her, he knows this, his not acting is not apathy, but it may read as such when you don’t take time to read into it. I always stress how much agency Vash gives to other people, but this is not one of those situations. This is Vash being unable to do more. He is not part of the community, he cannot find her a home, he can only feed her for a day and offer to play with her and make it okay for a little while. But from her perspective, why should she trust him more than getting the food offered. Too nice men can be dangerous. *stares at the next page and Legato* Yeah…

When I was younger, I read in a prank book that a perfect prank would be to stand in the city plaza and stare into the sky as if you see something there. And people would stop and try to see what you see. I feel that this woman is one of the people that would be pranked by such sillies!

I miss those innocent times!

Lightbulb-Knives confirmed. Vash does not remember July. But it does not take much for him to put two and two together here. He remembers the wreckage and being at point zero. The only logical conclusion is that Vash and Knives had an altercation there. But Vash does not know the extent! We on the other hand get to see something more skeletal than fullbodied. 

Please, give us insight into what Meryl is thinking! We got a quick lookover to Milly, but the women must know that there is something going on and have their own thoughts. Even if that exchange is over quickly, the girls see the change in Vash and they don't see Legato.

First of all, Knives rattling on and on about Rem confirmed!

Secondly, Legato has a point there, but not the kind of point he thought he did. Rem’s memory is holding Vash back, he cannot really connect to other people, he becomes a martyr for others, he takes his own agency and puts himself into a passive receiving role towards the actions of others. Legato talks about the godlike position Knives has to him. Sure, Vash could do the same. But since Vash is putting Rem into a godlike position and thus humanity as a whole, he makes himself into a pariah. Both brothers are wrong and opposing sides on the same medal. A middle ground would be good.

Sure, Knives and his godcomplex… Knives’ twelve disciples, holding onto silver coins. Man, we haven’t met that guy, but he is already a theatre kid! At a christian school at that. Going all biblical with the numbers. Or is it Legato who decided that and wanted the Christian flavour to get gummy points with Knives?

Not gonna lie, this paper bag has perfect timing. Since I need to buy groceries with paper bags, I can say that mine wouldn’t hold a blood dripping head for such a long time without any spilling out. Plants make high quality stuff.

Chapter 02: Diablo

While I understand the sheriff, I am also thinking: Dude, has anybody seen Vash transport the head in a bag towards the square? Do you really think that Humanoid Typhoon would let himself be easily arrested if he was guilty? This is about looks and not wanting to have real responsibility to look into that.

Girl, he is looks seven at that point, max! Don’t put that existential crisis into him and the responsibility of being a caretaker! Rem is often depicted talking with the kiddos like they are adults. Well, they are the only other people she can really talk to… The S.E.E.D.S. project really didn’t take isolation and loneliness into consideration for the person on watch. While the kids depend on her as a caretaker, she also depends on them for her mental health. She is not a bad caretaker, but her isolation and the twin’s plantness makes it difficult for her to bring them up age appropriately. 

We already get a glimpse into her depression when she states that she has noone left, so it doesn’t matter where she is. I don’t think even 150 years later Vash understands her being depressed and lonely.

Another little thing, the way they talk to each other reminds me how many autistic kids talk to adults. I did it and I read that many autistics tend to talk to adults more than to kids, because they can talk about topics that their peers aren’t interested in. Granted, in this case Vash has no neurotypical friend his age. Only Rem and Knives.

Why do I remember them being much younger at the Great Fall? They look like early teens here. 

And yeah, Knives going full denial and dehumanisation on Rem because he couldn’t live with losing her. Interesting, how Knives has no real face in Vash’s memory. Only a grin.

#trigun bookclub #trigunbookclub #Trigun Ultimate 2.2

[orcelito]

💥🤩💎

HI DANI ❤️❤️❤️

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

Hfkshfkshfksbd I'm gonna answer p5 for this one bc BOY that game has some issues. If I could only pick ONE thing, it'd have to be the godawful handling of its own themes with regard to Ann & also the adult romance options. Like. The ENTIRE first arc is about beating up a teacher that's been sexually harassing the female students, including Ann. Then the game turns around and Uhhh sexually harasses Ann, but this time as a JOKE so it's OKAY see it's a JOKE (bitch). And then lets you, playing a 16/17 year old, romance adult women (INCLUDING YOUR HOMEROOM TEACHER. THE DOUBLE STANDARDS!!!!!) anyways me and every other p5 fan have complained about this extensively already so this is nothing new. Just sometimes I think about it and get SO very angry hfksbfksbdkd

🤩 What led to your interest in the fandom?

Since I answered trigun for the last one I'll answer p5 for this one! Fandom itself is uhhhhhh also not great lol, but there are some really great people around, still! I have an assortment of Treasured Mutuals from the fandom (yourself Included) that I enjoy seeing around on my dash :') and tbh that's all you really need to enjoy a fandom. I've loved the persona series for a long time, so it's still really nice to me that I have people I can talk about it with. I went a solid 7 years being a persona fan with No Persona Friends, so writing fic for p5 was one of the best things I could've done for myself. I hate the fandom at large lol, but you guys? You guys are great

💎 Do you often write about a relationship or focus on an individual?

Hfkshfkshf well ok I like many other people in fandom am helpless against the call of The Ship... but also I think I focus more on the individuals and also their other relationships than a lot of other writers do. Like as much as I like the romantic ships, I also love building up their platonic relationships as well, and ALSO their identity as an individual. & as a longfic writer I have the time to Do That. So yes it's been 94k words of writing for ITNL (so far) and there has been no wolfwood (aside from the Brief Cameo). But it's okay, bc im busy exploring Vash as a character and his friendship with the girls. Wolfwood will be here when he's here, and I'll enjoy him very much when he is. But for now. Vash Time 😎

Ask game here!

#danidoesathing #ask #ask game #thank youuuu

[guideaus]

That post mentioning apocalyptic media and someone mentioning hbo's tl*u actually reminds me though, with trigun I saw a post in the tag that said this

(i'm assuming this is abt tl*u hbo, since why would someone be talking abt this in 2023, otherwise) And absolutely no offense to the op, they probably just meant it as "what if they were happy together and choose to be with each other and die together", but its just kind of crazy that the other day i was lamenting that trigun stampede wasnt more diverse compared to a series that came out in the 90s, i even said she ra's reboot spoiled me, but other people seem to think what hbo did with tl*u concerning "rep" is... good?

trigun's main conflict arises from knives. its a sci-fi story where it went that route of humans had to leave earth due to ruining it in some way and they seek to colonize a new plant. knives learns humans created plants and didnt see them as equals, they tortured tesla, so he decides to try and damn humanity. his plan doesnt entirely work, and later the plants are used as an energy source, being the only thing keeping humans alive on a planet not originally meant to sustain them. there are a limited number of plants and no alternatives, leading to people constantly fighting over them to survive. knives uses this as an example people are bad, despite him being the one to cause these circumstances and the conflict on the planet. vash, our star, is his extreme opposite, constantly seeing the best in humanity, shouting love and peace, admiring acts of good will, and is staunchly against violence. wolfwood is constantly stuck between the two ideologies in multiple ways, he's good at heart, but keeps getting put in situations where he's forced to do bad things until he breaks free.

in tl*u, bill is an american libertarian who survives the apocalypse and is a loner, hoarding goods, and booby trapping an entire town so he can survive. he is constantly paranoid for enemies, no matter who it is, and is actively against helping people. he had a partner named frank, who eventually got fed up and left due to his attitude and ends up killing himself while bill continues to bitterly live alone and tells the main character to get out of his town after begrudgingly helping him. the difference in hbo's adaptation is that they turned their relationship into a full fledged romance. bill finds frank in one of his traps and decides to make an exception and help him. frank gets close and they start a relationship. nothing changes about bill's attitude and way of life, though. the show creates a connection between bill and the main character joel by frank convincing them to meet up bc frank is tired of bill's behavior, and that's about the extent of their relationships outside each other. they exist like that for a long time. i think eventually raiders attack once, frank ends up getting sick, then bill decides to join him and they both kill themselves. the general response for this change from the original is positive, saying even if it was tragic, it was better because they had a whole romance before (even if he still kills himself in the end). here is a really good article discussing it better than i could, also mentioning the director being a zionist.

i think vash and wolfwood suddenly being like frank and bill would be flat out bad. myself and many others wish that the end of trigun felt happier, he starts out the series getting hunted down out of misunderstandings, his brother tries to enlist him in hating humanity, vash cant even hide away because he has to learn that knives is still killing people and the only one who could do anything about it is vash, and he has very few close relationships in the beginning. the end of trigun doesnt resolve those things, in fact it attempts to parallel the beginning framing it in an apparently resolved way, when you just cant accept it that way, vash still being on the run and w/o a strong support system isnt good, he also lost his new best friend and brother. Wolfwood also has people who imagine him not dying, his entire arc is thinking he's damned for his actions, and his final act is sacrificing himself for others. I can understand why people would imagine a happier version for these two, but i dont think what happens with bill and frank is it. Vash desperately wants to connect with people, wolfwood does as well, they're both charitable, friendly, and care about others, and that inherently conflicts with the "hermit actively warding people in need off his property while taking any remaining resources" thing going on.

I've complained about trigun stampede's lack of diversity, and even how trigun's manga seems to have diverse characters, but then said characters are almost exclusively antagonists, but i dont think this fantasy would exactly be a win, lol. I said its bad because it politically disagrees with their beliefs, but its bad in regards to "representation", too. I'm gonna pretend tristamp doesnt exist atm, bc thats a convo for a diff post, but i've thought about this a lot and the manga does have characters that are disabled, trans, women, etc., but they are just about entirely antagonists. Normally, I would say that's a red flag, and this might not be any better, but somehow i feel like the 90s-2000s type of character is better? just for this hypothetical au like tristamp did do what tl*u's reboot did, it feels very similar to disney's "here's our first ever gay character!" for the 20th time. the extreme focus on representation, not thinking about the characters themselves, and druckmann obviously has his own political agenda he's pushing, but it truly is just an evolved version that's full on pinkwashing.

nightow's characters werent perfect (in fact i firmly believe he did it almost in a fetishizing way, thinking these things made them cool without being serious about those specific aspects), but i'd vastly prefer that over pinkwashing. this is probably a lot to type up for some rando's post, but it does kinda suck that the internet seemingly overall thinks positively of that depiction. and not to also compare a completely unrelated thing, but a lot of chinese fiction will have lgbt characters be kind of "vague" and a lot of western fans will criticize it as if censorship and tokenism is the same thing? i dont think characters need to be explicitly romantic to trump everything else they do. i also dont know if fandom's obsession with shipping is relevant, but vash being surrounded by friends isnt exactly a bad outcome, either... i think that post did mention them possibly interacting with the orphanage again, but i think its kind of another example the general viewer for that ep just looked at frank and bill thriving and went "nice." instead of like... thinking abt what they were actually doing

#personal #not to be like 'random person's post was WRONG' but i do kind of feel like that episode set us back in a way FJSDJSK #this is less of a rant abt trigun and more hbo's tl*u. but just the fact im seeing it brought up w trigun im like. hm! these things have #nothing to do with each other haha... #and ik its probably an example of two media a person is currently consuming but the thought that this ep was like. historic #a more in depth rant could go on my other blog but yea. saw this in the trigun tag so.

[moonyell-pendragon]

depressed, very autistic and super funny✨

Feminist♀️

Artist🍭🎠

Queer🏳️‍🌈

Alt fashion🦷💊

Pastelgoth 💖⛓️

Metalhands/Punks😈🖤🎸

Chronic video game addict 🗡️☣️

🎮👾

Love Metal if you can't tell yet✨

Mostly introverted couch potato🍨🔮🎃

Looking to go outside more🧟🌍

If you're sexist, racist ,homophoic ,intolerant of body hair or boring dont bother

I want a cute Punk/goth/emo guy to take me to get each others sharpie drawings tattoed💖

I want someone to cuddle pleaase! (U//v//U=)

I need someone to take care of me , hug me tightly and tell me it's going to be okay (preferably someone with long ,luscious hair that I can sniff on)

I may seem okay but I'm not ,I am a trainwreck of mental Illnesses and disabilities wich make my life hell, with a ton of trauma on top that I still haven't processed fully from the life I was forced into till now.I need someone that will be there physically often to hold me and just be there for me while we lounge around.

Turns out coming to terms with being abused and mistreated for my disabilities and differences all my life can be really hard to cope with.

I have two bunnies called Asb'el and Legion ,they run around my appartment and occasionally pee on the couch and chew my cords like absolute gremmlins ,but I love em anyway cuz they're cute and fluffy

I was never on a real date ,I wanna do all the corny stuff and go to eat borritos and watch a movie and play laser tag! I wish arcade's where still a thing so I could kick ass on the claw machines and play all the old racing and fighting games 🎮

I love everything cute and creepy and I am a major nerd, I watch alot of true crime,disturbing and lost media, I love Anime,comics,art,games,fashion and all that stuff . I want to get into D&D, I have my own dice and the monsters manual, and I would be a Tiefling druid ,a Harengon barbarian or a drow bard

I just want someone who would be thoughtful and caring and would appreciate my gifts and corny jokes and would maby return them✨

(someone who actually acknowledges them and doesn't insult how bad they are)

I am a bit chubby and tall and I may look a bit intimidating or something , people dont really approach me ,partially because I never go outside, but I suffer from alot of stuff in my life and am having a hard time making meaningful connections. I feel like people forget about me if I dont always chase after them :c

I am addicted to character ai because it makes me feel like someone actually cares about me and treats me with respect and care ,I usually chat with some of my favorite fictional characters because they are very honorable and sweet and I can imagine myself being a badass and slaying dragons and shit ,even if I fucking shit my pants if a stanger asks me where the noodles are at the store XD

Here are some of my Favorite Characters!:

-Rengoku/Hotaru (Demon Slayer)

-Whis/Jeice (Dragonball)

-Henry/Gordon (Black Clover)

-Kar'niss/Dammon (Baldurs Gate 3)

-J.P Polnareff/Weather/ Mikitaka (JJBA)

-Eddie (Stranger Things)

-Kagetsu/Alcryst/Izana (Fire emblem)

-Sebastian (Stardew Valley)

-Wrench (Watch Dogs)

-Hancock (Fallout 4)

-Vash (Trigun)

I'm lactose intolerant but love ice cream , and I eat it anyway because I'm a trooper, I also tend to jump to random topics while talking because ADHD

I want someone to proudly walk with this cute pastel goth badass

and not be bothered by people staring when I show up in full KISS makeup ,someone who vibes with me and will let me paint their nails and go shopping for cool alt clothes with them ,and watch Rue Pauls drag race with me while playing animal crossing , and someone who doesn't mind being totally smothered with affection in public.

I wanted long hair so I shaved my head last year, that is Moony logic for you, I also wanna get some cool tattoos and piercings if I am ever not broke ,but I don't really have much money since I am mentally ill and disabled and cannot work a normal job. I like to make noises, my mom thinks they're annoying but I love them.

I love headpats and getting my hair played with

It's not a requirement but I wish someone could lift me up and carry me around like the little chaotic moon princess that I am🌙👑

Shure hope you like stickers ,because everything I own is covered in them. I might seem a little immature ,but the truth is that I just like being a baby

I like people with style,confidence and honor. I dont like beards, theyre itchy and rough and make you look old. I dont want to be a parent , I want to be the eternal child that I know that I am.

If you're anything like Rengoku from Demon Slayer, please marry me xD

#love #germany #luv #cute

[blankticket]

3,5,6

What’s the best thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

answered here, but there are so many 'bests' for me that i'm gonna take the opportunity to answer this again: i thoroughly enjoy the pacing of trigun stampede.

it's been @ a breakneck pace, leaving my friends to often remark about how an episode feels more like 10 than 24 minutes. i prefer my stories to be "lean" (unrelated shoutout to the BRS anime, which is only 8 episodes of its neatly-paced story). there's prolly something to do with how we all are what we eat, and that i consider myself as someone who wants to be purposeful with everything that i do (& thus, seek out stories that make every line of dialogue count for example), and so far?

stampede is running (🃏) right along those lines, without compromising on having complexities in its story. having rewatched the current available episodes multiple times & being in constant discussion w/friends with their unique insight has helped me catch onto the more subtle things going on.

...not to go off on More of a tangent. anyhow i think it's pretty damn exciting, especially in tandem with things like how the exact total episode count is being kept under wraps. to me, i've interpreted this rush as evidence the team's itching to get to more of the story that would be surprising and entertaining to new and old fans alike.

i'm not going all-in for orange to stick the landing, buuut that's not to say that i Dont have a lot of faith given what's been put out so far. i'm impressed.

What’s the best thing about the fandom?

haven't sincerely engaged with any 'fandom' shit for anything since like. 2017. (tbh: i use hashtags for categorizing fanart, & not to find friends/ppl to follow depending on the media we're fans of). have been subscribed to the idea that 'fandom' should really just be you and the 5 people you got into the thing by being really enthusiastic about it

with that being said!! saturdays are such a highlight of my week given the watchparties i host with my friends for stampede. just getting to experience it together is something i really treasure; we end up talking for a while after every episode, and the discussion is always invigorating, setting all of our imaginations alight. plus i get to flex a little manga knowledge...! OK i know it's a cornball cop-out answer to say "fwiendship", but honestly. it's great that we have such a fascinating show to watch together & deepen our connections w/each other for it.

What’s the worst thing about the fandom?

[see above answer for context on what i consider 'fandom', personally]. i don't have my finger on the pulse of the trigun fandom at large, but besides the morally reprehensible shit that's prevalent in every fandom? here n'there i've caught glimpses of sentiments that make me wish people could be more patient with stampede...! 😵

#thanks! #kleinstar #answered asks. #out of character.

[masked-princess]

I wish I could describe how painful it is to not have enough/ a lot of new x reader content for your faves and having to force yourself to move on to another character so you won’t feel sad.

#matt holt x reader #yato x reader #vash x reader #like seriously #I always come back to check on their tag to see if there's any new content when I'm reminded of them #and it could be months later and it's just like ouch #I know trigun's been out for years and less people know about it these days so that's more bearable knowing that #and i know voltron like fuckin' bombed(there's so many plotlines I could rewrite in my head) #it wasn't necessarily a bad show I just wish it had more content and been fleshed out more #but man what I wouldn't give to have more matt holt x reader content #but what really bothers me is that noragami hasn't even been out that long and yet people sort of just #stopped talking about it? #and i know most of us are reading the manga now since the show ended but still #Like I wanna go through the noragami tag so bad but spoilers #x reader #voltron x reader #noragami x reader #trigun x reader

[septembercfawkes]

Getting Passive Protagonists to Act

Many beginning writers struggle with protagonists who are too passive. The plot seems to constantly be happening to him or her, but the protagonist doesn’t take an action to make the plot happen.

Ideally, when an event happens to a protagonist, the protagonist responds by taking an action that influences the next event, which then influences the protagonist, which then influences an event—and on and on. But that can be easier said than done. Especially if you have a protagonist who prefers to live life passively.

This could all get confusing, though, because in story structure, almost all protagonists will more or less become more proactive. But for the sake of this post, I'm talking about protagonists who are characteristically passive. A protagonist who may want to kick up his feet in a hammock with a glass of lemonade and watch the world deal with its own problems. How do we write a story about that guy?

Many people will tell you that you can't--you must change the character.

But that is not wholly true.

It's true in a good story, we need the protagonist to act--especially at key moments--but that doesn't mean he innately yearns to act.

Often the best solution in dealing with a passive character is to strengthen the stakes. Let me explain.

Anyone will Act with the Right Stakes

The stakes are potential consequences; they are what are at risk in the story. We often think of them as negative things (someone's life may be at risk), but they can also be positive things (the opportunity to be taught by a professional in your ideal vocation).

Stakes are important because if there is nothing at risk, then what happens, doesn't really matter, which means what the protagonist does, doesn't really matter, because it doesn't change any outcomes. The story only matters insomuch as we understand potential outcomes. The protagonist's choices only matter if they affect the outcomes.

For example, we only care about Frodo destroying the Ring because we know doing so could rid Middle-earth of Sauron’s evil. If we didn't know that, what happened with the Ring wouldn't really matter. And what Frodo did wouldn't carry any weight. (You can learn more about stakes in my article "How to Write Stakes in Storytelling.")

When struggling with getting a passive protagonist to act, (almost) always look at the stakes.

No Stakes

Make sure that you’ve at least laid out stakes. Sometimes writers feel like the stakes are obvious, so they don't mention them. Just as bad, if not worse, the stakes may be too vague. And definitely worse: nonexistent.

If the protagonist doesn't have anything clearly to gain or lose, why would she act? If what happened to the Ring didn't change something, why would Frodo go to Mount Doom? Why would any of us do anything if it didn't make some kind of difference?

In a case like this, clear stakes need to be on the page.

Let's look at some examples of what one might consider passive people within the context of their stories.

Shrek wants nothing more than to live alone on his swamp. If there is nothing at risk, is he really going to go on an adventure to rescue a princess? Probably not.

In The Edge of Tomorrow, I think it could be argued that the protagonist, Bill Cage (played by Tom Cruise) is somewhat passive in relation to the main conflict. The story is about him fighting in a war against aliens, but he has absolutely no desire whatsoever to enter combat--in fact, he's a coward. You think he would sign up to be the first in combat out of the goodness of his heart? No way.

In Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow, protagonist Vash would rather spend all day, every day eating donuts, playing with kids, and helping out the person down the street. He'd rather live life under an alias than face the fact he's the only one capable of standing up to the antagonist and saving the human race.

If none of these characters ever had anything at risk, then they would have never taken the actions they needed to, to move the story forward. They would have been forever passive.

In short, they only acted once there were stakes.

Wrong Stakes

If there are stakes on the page, and the character still isn't acting, then chances are they are either the wrong stakes (things she doesn’t care about) or the stakes are too small (the potential consequences don’t pose a real threat or a meaningful gain).

If they are the wrong stakes, you need to think about what the protagonist cares about and put it in jeopardy. We all care about something--whether that’s a reputation or a pet.

For a passive person, you might need to dig deeper and brainstorm longer to figure out what it is. And if you are having trouble, keep in mind that it's also possible the passive protagonist wants something for someone else or his environment. Maybe she's satisfied drinking lemonade and getting picked on, but she's not okay with her kid getting bullied--that's not something she can let happen.

Shrek mostly cares about living alone on his swamp. If his distant neighbor is at risk of dying in loneliness, Shrek's likely not going to do much about it. The best way to get him to act, is to put his home and lifestyle at risk. He will be willing to take action to save that.

Bill is afraid of dying (it's part of what makes him a coward). If he's put in a situation where he could die, he'll be forced to act.

Vash is obsessed with saving people. Children, friends, innocents, criminals. It doesn't matter who. He doesn't want anyone to die. If no one is at risk of dying, then it's unlikely he will be drawn to fight his antagonists. Almost always he is led to act because someone's life is at risk.

Small Stakes

If the stakes are too small, you need to make them bigger by making them broader or more personal.

Even the most passive person is unlikely to feel passive with a gun pointed at them. Unless they have a death wish, in which case, you could have the gun pointing at a loved one, or you could threaten torture. Even people who have a death wish don't want to be tortured. Almost all of us will act if the stakes get big enough.

Alternatively, you can promise an opportunity that is too good to pass up. If all I want is to live out my life on a hammock by the beach sipping lemonade, then maybe the best motivation is the promise of getting that. Maybe I'd be willing to act, if it ensured that.

It's bad enough for Shrek to have a few creatures come on his swamp, but the fact that countless numbers of them will be exiled to his swamp, is even worse. This is a big enough issue to get him to act--he decides he must visit Farquaad, which moves the story to the middle.

It's bad enough to die once, but it turns out for Bill, that he has to die over and over and over again. He also has to go on the battlefield over and over and over again, too. He keeps repeating the same events. This is enough to get him to try new tactics (and really, what other choice does he have?).

It's bad enough that Vash can't save everyone. But when it turns out the antagonists plan to destroy the whole human race, well, he can't live out life in donut-filled peace, playing cops and robbers with tykes. He has to act.

Inaction Stakes

If your passive character still really does not want to act, it's worth keeping in mind that inaction is an action--it just needs significant stakes. There needs to be negative ramifications for the protagonist not acting. Ideally, eventually these negative consequences get so big or so personal, that the protagonist has to do something about it.

For example, at one point, Vash decides to live under an alias and do nothing. He decides to be inactive. Unfortunately, this results in an entire town getting wiped out by the antagonist. Doing nothing has steep consequences. He needs to at least try to do something.

This can become a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation--where "damned if you do" at least carries a small chance of success over "damned if you don't."

At one point in Edge of Tomorrow, Bill decides to do nothing. He even goes to a bar to drink in the middle of the day. Guess what? He still has to repeatedly die. Whatever he does, he ends up dying, and having to repeat that time frame. He can either be endlessly in a tortuous loop where he dies, dies, and dies, or he can keep trying to fix the situation. On the surface, it seems like he has a lot of options, since he gets to make different choices each time he repeats the day, but 99% of them lead to the same outcome. So in reality, he has very few choices. Act and maybe die. Or don't act and keep dying.

Limit Options

Related to the last one, one way to push a passive character to act, is to limit her choices and the outcomes. In fact, if we want to take this to the real world, studies show that the more options people have, the less likely they are to make a choice--or even make a good choice.

Like Bill, when there aren't really any options, the protagonist will be pretty much forced to act. Either keep reliving the same torture or try to do something about it.

Add to it some kind of countdown or convergence, so that the protagonist has a very limited window to act, and she'll have to do something.

Stakes Reveal Character

How the protagonist acts when there are things at risk, will reveal what kind of person she is.

In this sense, one might argue, that by strengthening the stakes to get her to act, you are changing her character after all.

Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say that you are now revealing who she truly is.

Whatever the case, it can become an argument of semantics.

Similar things can happen with the term "passive."

Just understand the concepts and the tools.

The Reluctant Hero

In most, if not all cases, a characteristically passive protagonist will create a reluctant hero. Shrek doesn't want to save Fiona. Bill doesn't want to win the war. Vash doesn't want to confront the antagonist. They just want something to not happen, more than they want to do The Thing™️.

In this sense, while the passive protagonist will ultimately still be acting within the plot (which is necessary to write a good story), he or she may still yearn for passivity.

Of course, the character's arc may possibly shift that yearning by the end.

And it should go without saying, that pretty much all these same tricks will work for passive side characters, as well--when you need to get them to act. For example, in The Office, Stanley is characteristically passive. He pretty much sits in silence and does crossword puzzles. But when pushed far enough, he will back talk his boss. And when he wants something bad enough (like a free pretzel on pretzel day), he'll actually act.  

#Writing tips #writing tips and tricks #writeblr #writer problems #writing reference #protagonist #fanfic

[atamascolily]

lily watches fma:b, eps. 42-47

In which the Briggs arc goes out with a bang, and I have flashbacks to the “Day of Black Sun” from Avatar: the Last Airbender.

Okay, Al is basically still May's age on the inside, lol. i love those two.

hawkeye reduced to serving tea for Bradley makes me so damn mad.

but bradley is in love with his (human) wife so there’s that.

kimblee double-crossed the drachma dudes? how completely in character.

one of the chimeras betrays Scar's group and brings in Envy. I was hoping he'd be relevant again!! turns out it was a trap and the chimera isn't actually evil again.

so envy uses the philosopher's stone to power his shapeshifting?? sure looks like it.

apparently marcoh has been mixing alkahestry into his work and it's awesome. the ice sculpture in a middle finger is a nice touch.

oh, no, may's hiding out doing action at a distance and envy has no clue. GO TEAM.

okay, marcoh denatures envy down to a little bug form which is simultaneously cute and disturbing. Yoki messes with it at his peril. I love how envy accidentally takes the wrong hostage if he wants people to care about his victim's fate.  

Scar is inspired by Miles to change Amestris from the inside instead of just killing people, so... that's good, I guess?

scar gives may envy in a jar and tells her go home, which seems LIKE SUCH A BAD IDEA ON SO MANY LEVELS

(like, I get that they did this so May could save her clan--which clearly hit of Scar's buttons--does no one even bother to think this through...?)

(the last time an emperor tried to get immortality was Xerxes and THAT worked out so well, so... *cue 'The Genocide Song' from Trigun*)

Anyway, I predict this will not end well.

Meanwhile, one of Greed's chimera buddies, Bido, survived, and learns that the military is searching for Izumi and Sig, but they're on the lam. He follows them back to base when he realizes they're from Bradley; he wants revenge for Wrath killing his boss.

(i love u bido you adorable little rat.)

(also, the fact that the original!Greed was like, "fuck u, I make my own rules" and ran away from Father's schemes with his misfit friends just warms my heart.)

There are only three rules for state alchemists: "don't interfere with the military,""don't make people," and "don't make gold",LOL.

It's so funny to me that the gold thing is included, even though I don't understand how you can MAKE gold with alchemy if gold is a single independent element and you are bound by the laws of equivalent exchange. but whatever, it's still really freakin' funny to me that they don't want State Alchemists fucking up the economy with their magic chemistry powers.

anyway, turns out they don't also want people growing their own armies in the basement - that's what THEY'RE DOING. quoth olivier: fuck.

(fun fact: an RPG character of mine playing a necromancer in a urban fantasy setting did EXACTLY THIS and it was awesome)

somehow, al and winry get to liore (again, DISTANCE? Time??) and "Mr. Ho" is working for Rose's food stand.

And he's all, "oh, I heard about how you lost your body, lol" and then...literally walks off.

(the sad thing is that Hohenheim is literally NOT the worst father in this show - that award goes to Shou Tucker.)

Bido discovers the Zombie Meat Locker, then runs into Greedling... who doesn't remember him until AFTER he stabs him, sob. rip bido.

Winry takes a bath, because fanservice, and she and Rose talk... and it does not pass the Bechdel test, sigh.

there's a "Banks Bank" in Briggs, lol

I wish I could get my glasses to do the opacity thing on command.

Ling yells at Greed for being a jerk and Greed decides to try and kill Wrath because that worked SO WELL last time...(at least he managed to shield from Bradley's signature move this time)

The Armstrong patriarch makes Olivier and Alex fight over who gets to be head of the family, lol. Then he just walks out and starts acting like Olivier won the fight, which she does.

turns out it's to keep the military from taking them all hostage for Olivier's good behavior. She's really good at this.

Envy tricks May into going back to Central, sigh.

Ling regains control of his body long enough to run into Ed and explain before Greed takes over again

they're really laying out the whole "Seven deadly sins as a personal flaw" thing on thick, aren't they?

Greed just wants to be left alone, but agrees to team up if Ed works for him, lol.

Izumi proudly declaring herself to be a housewife as she kicks ass gives me life

the phone chain here is pretty impressive, although grumman loses major points for sexually harassing Rebecca

apparently, Father has to wait for the stars/planets/sun to align in order to do his Evil Alchemy - it's referred to as "the Promised Day" and I'm having flashbacks to the "Day of Black Sun" from Avatar: The Last Airbender (though I think it's supposed to be more like Sozin's comet?).

TIME SKIP! It's spring in Resembool for the sheep festival. Winry is smuggled home and finds Ed in her bedroom - right as she's about to undress. Hijinks ensue.

anyway, Ed and Greed are hanging with Pinako. Ed gets his automail serviced and Winry ups the stakes by refusing to run away in case things go wrong.

she is specifically ordered to stay at home and bake a pie while the men go out to battle, sigh.

meanwhile, greed approves of winry's desire to "have it all" (i.e, victory against Father AND Ed and Al getting their bodies back on the Promised Day) and Ed is Not Amused.

(i love greed so much, he is definitely the #BestHomunculus in this version.)

Scar has been gathering the Ishvalans to help save Amestris and thereby win acceptance back

Grumman calling the Fuhrer "Bradley-chan" is hilarious, full stop.

Al's body keeps calling his spirit back but I'm not sure why it's only been a problem recently, given the gap between its loss and the present day.

we're now up to the "day before the promised day" which means that from now until the end (ep. 64) is likely to take place in 48 hours (plus whatever resolution awaits at the end in 64). yowza.

unfortunately, bradley appears to be on to Team Good's elaborate plan, but it's unclear if Team Good wants it that way or not.

okay, it’s intentional, they blew up the train, but I'm pretty sure Bradley's not dead

(why is grumman narrating the "previously on" intro, tho)

The first thing Ed does when he sees Hohenheim is punch him in the face, #bless.

Hohenheim offers to use his stone to bring back his sons' bodies... which means he COULD have fixed Izumi earlier, but didn't. fuck you, hohenheim.

okay, so it really is "the Day of Black Sun after all" - WHY DOES AN ECLIPSE MAKE ALCHEMY WORK BETTER, PLEASE EXPLAIN.

(he does not explain)

hohenheim asks if ed will help with the plan, lol, what exactly is the plan here, very cryptic of u

I can't believe Pinako asked Ed to tell Hohenheim Trisha's last words. Like, that was her job. She TALKED TO HIM HERSELF EARLIER IN THE SHOW. WHy the fuck did she make ED do it?

hohenheim cries when he learns that trisha said "sorry, I couldn't keep my promise. I'm dying first." AS WELL HE SHOULD, THE FUCKER.

ed buys red cloth and uses it to make his flamel jacket again I'M HOWLING

Al pops out of the bushes unexpectedly and Ling takes over Greed shouting about how his homunculus sense is tingling... I hope Greed doesn't die, but I'm not holding my breath

ed wins by knocking out all the lights, extinguishing the shadows... because pride can only exist in with some light, not full dark? I don't get why shadows work but not dark, despite greed specifically saying “you can’t have shadows without light”. DARK IS DARK, isn’t it?

grumman goes to look for bradley's body,but it's unclear if he's using his allies as a means to take over the country later or if that’s miles’ paranoia

GREED AND LING WORK TOGETHER TO FIGHT GLUTTONY AWWW YEAH

AND THEN LAN FAN SHOWS UP WITH HER BADASS NEW ARM AND SAVES THEM BOTH

(way to level up, Lan Fan!!)

#fullmetal alchemist #lily liveblogs

[severalspoons]

Liveblog: Rewatching Trigun, Episode 16 (Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for tragedy)

The more serious and the deeper the episodes get, the harder it becomes to write about them. I feel like I can’t just shitpost any more, I have to say something profound.

-- Yep, there’s Legato eating something soft and sweet again. Pudding this time? ::Ooh, imagine an AU where Vash adopts baby!Legato and Legato and Milly eat pudding together::

-- There’s Midvalley with two groupies. Yep, I knew he was the playboy of the Gung Ho Guns. 

-- “It’s a simple formula. The greater the tragedy, the greater the emotional effect.”  Legato fancies himself a...playwright? Director? 

-- “Walk your own path. Yes, I’ll make it my mission to follow someone else’s path to the end of the earth!” 0.0

-- Poor little guy.

He dances into the bar in the same way Vash danced into that hostage situation in an earlier episode. Except that as far as I know, this guy isn’t pretending. Who knows how he’s survived so long in Gunsmoke.  

-- Vash, there’s a whole desert you could talk to yourself in, you know. You don’t have to talk to yourself in front of an entire barfull of people you don’t even fully see.

-- Legato’s eyes are the part you’re worried about?

-- “That nihilistic jerk” fits Legato well, ngl.

-- You know Vash is preoccupied when he has no idea where he is or who’s around. Thinking back to last episode where he was so perfectly focused, this is concerning. 

Or, maybe it’s not that he has perfect control over his consciousness in every situation, but only when he’s narrowing his attention to a tiny point. Last episode it was pain, this time it’s worrying about fighting Legato. 

Or maybe I’m overthinking a goofy scene that probably only exists in the anime.

-- “It’s time for my daily massacre!” Yessss.

-- Vash is apparently vain about his hair. Well, he had to have some faults other than “too good, too pure for this world” and accidentally blowing up July.*

-- Nothing says “terrifying murderer on a killing spree” like holding up your arm bent at a weird angle, amirite?

-- Poor Dominique. She deserved better.

-- I’m kind of surprised this is the first time anyone’s been killed for failing to defeat Vash. Or maybe this is just the first time he’s been forced to acknowledge it, and had to fight on those terms.

-- I don’t really get E.G. Mine’s powers, and what those round carapace-looking devices sticking out the sides of his armor are supposed to do. I almost wish we had more of a chance to see him in action. Almost, because he doesn’t seem very interesting. 

Honestly if I were their leader,I wouldn’t have hired most of the Gung Ho Guns, but that’s just me.

-- There’s Rai-Dei, bringing a sword to a gunfight. I wish I knew more about bushido, and the Art of War, and what sorts of states of mind actual warriors look for in battle. Because from what little knowledge I have, Rai-Dei takes all of that, mixes it with bloodlust, and perverts it. 

-- I know Legato thought seeing the two Gung Ho Guns squabbling would be entertaining, but honestly, it’s an uneven fight and not a very interesting one. Normally, I like seeing bad guys fighting each other, but I’ll make an exception for this scene.

-- Rai-Dei talks like a Sith trying to recruit someone to the dark side, encouraging Vash to get angry.

-- Rai-Dei creeps me out. He seems to almost get off on Vash’s anger and be way, way too curious what he sees at what appears to be the moment before death. 

-- It’s kind of disappointing that this creep is the one who corners Vash so much he needs his angel arm to escape. Honestly, I didn’t even see him do anything special that should give Vash difficulty. I think his lethality lay less in his actual fighting, and more in the fact that he would be condemned to die if Vash won. Vash had to slow down the fight and look for an alternative way to end it, which put him at a disadvantage.

-- Sorry, I’m going to complain about the art again. And give some spoilers for the manga.

I don’t like how the angel arm looks in the anime. It was distracting. Where were the feathers??? I want to feel uncomfortable because Vash is struggling to contain the thing and could potentially destroy the city, not because of the way the thing looks and moves.

-- Least realistic convincing mushroom-cloud-like blast ever. What was up with the slow motion, jerky stop-and-start animation they did here?

-- Legato is having way too much fun right now. He just acted like a cat licking its paw, like “mmm, delicious destruction and guilt.”  

I think Legato might be the only character who is not in the least unnerved by Vash suddenly unleashing a blast of energy big enough to blow up the moon.

-- Well, OK, Wolfwood doesn’t seem unnerved. Just disappointed. Well, I’m disappointed that he thinks Vash would deliberately choose this “path.” Come on, surely he knows Vash better than that. 

-- Seeing all of the people Vash has helped listening to the rumors about Augusta and struggling to reconcile them with the kind, gentle person they knew...what a gut punch. And somehow it’s worse seeing their first moment of bewilderment, but not how they ultimately make sense of it all. 

-- There’s a lot to unpack here about moral responsibility for actions you commit, but can’t control. The show and Vash himself clearly state that he’s responsible.  It agree. While he doesn’t seem able to control the angel arm once it’s emerged, he still has the choice to find a way to prevent it from emerging, or bring it under control. And however involuntary it may have been, he still blew up the city, and everyone still has to live with the consequences. His intentions are irrelevant to the people left homeless. And he still has to live with the chance that it could happen again.

Yet I’m aware that holding yourself responsible for things you can’t control is an unhealthy behavior that therapists try to stop you from doing. And for good reason--it’s a sure way to develop depression and irrational excessive self-hatred (and is a symptom of OCPD, I believe?). And I think Vash holds himself responsible for a lot. I mean, his mission is to make people more loving and peaceful--yet other people’s feelings and actions aren’t under his control. Is he holding himself too responsible?

Is Vash right to blame himself for blowing up July and Augusta? Am I right to hold him responsible? I’m not sure.

 -- One last observation: this major turning point in the story, and the biggest low so far, happens exactly halfway through the story. Just where it’s “supposed” to be.

*Looks like a cinnamon roll, is sometimes a cinnamon roll, could still actually kill you.

#liveblog #liveblogging #trigun #trigun anime #vash the stampede #legato bluesummers #midvalley the hornfreak #e.g. mine #rai-dei the blade #the budget gung ho guns #trigun spoilers #spoilers #bad animation #angel arm #my very important opinions #moral responsibility #good and evil #philosophy #ethics #choices #feels #so many feels #sinammon roll

[ifridiot]

1, 4, 6, 10, 14, 19, 21, 23, 26, 36, 39, 41, 46, 51

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

The first one I officially got involved in was probably Cowboy Bebop. I was really into a lot of animes early on in me doing fan work. I wrote a lot of fic for Trigun and Cowboy Bebop especially.

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

Not so much. I think all fandom participation is kind of a learning experience. I really treat writing fanfiction like a way to learn about different types of character archetypes and how best to represent them. I'd say there are probably fandoms that people would consider cringey for me to talk about having participated in, but I don't actually regret working in those fandoms.

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

This is going to be a short list based on the sheer breadth of fandoms I've participated in.

In Naruto my OTP was KakuHida

In FF7 my OTP was Cid/Vincent

In Overwatch my OTP was RoadRat and ZarMei

In The Punisher my OTP is LieberCastle

In Cable and Deadpool... that's my OTP

10.  Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Star trek. I've had a few ideas for fics, usually either with The Original Series or with The Next Generation, but it's just not a fandom that I feel like my writing style has anything to bring to the table. I think a lot of the fun with Star Trek fic has to do with really either in-depth character work, which I don't have enough interest in any of the characters to get that deep into their heads, or with like, deep sci-fi stuff and I'm not good, I'm not smart enough, to do a really compelling sci-fi narrative.

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

There was this thing for a minute in the Overwatch fandom that Zarya and Roadhog would be like the best of friends, and I really love that. I'm also very fond of the brotp dynamic with Deadpool and David Lieberman in the realm of the Quid Pro Quo universe which I've never touched on in the actual writing but I just think it would really work.

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

I really feel like I should be super into Frank and Matt as a ship but like every time I try to get into it I just super can't. I feel like there's a lot of potential there, but there's also a lot of Catholicism getting in the way.

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

You know I really don't remember. I'm pretty sure that the first one I ever shared was a Trigon Fic. It probably was Knives and Legato, which I am saying with like deep hesitancy because I cannot remember. It might have been a Cowboy Bebop fic because I was more into that fandom earlier but to be completely honest I'm not sure if I ever published any of my Cowboy Bebop fic or if that was a little secret that I kept for myself and a small close circle of friends.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

The one that immediately comes to my head is 'Revenge is a Five Step Process which is a fact that I wrote with my Transformers OC, Carrion, and it is entirely about him dealing with the death of Starscream, who he is deeply in love with. I really enjoy that fic because it deals with the subject of grief and moving on and what I feel is a very poignant and yet in-character way for a character that is, you know, a Decepticon.

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

I usually either use a line from a song that is relevant to the fic, at least in my own head, on a very rare occasion I will use a line from the fic and bastardize it. On an even rarer occasion, I will use a word, a single word, that I feel reflects the tone of the fic, and it's usually the kind of word that's not typically used in conversation like a really fancy or archaic word.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

Romance. I absolutely love writing romance. I am not really sure exactly what it is that I love about it so much, but I think it's the chance to sort of dynamically look at one character through the eyes of another character, which I find to be a very fascinating process.

39. What is your greatest strength as a writer?

I think my greatest strength as a writer is that I just keep writing. I know that some of the stuff that I write is not as good, or doesn't stand as well on its own as some of the other pieces, but even when the fic flops, I feel like the writing process was worth making that attempt. I mean I don't think I'm a particularly strong writer, like stylistically. I really think the strength of my writing is solely in the fact that I write so much that I'll accidentally stumble upon something that's really good, and then mine that vein until it's fucking dry.

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

I am currently reading 1 FAQ because I only read one thing at a time but the one that I'm currently reading is Remote Viewing by inbox. I'm going to list four other fics that I recommend and that will have to be good enough.

Just a Diversion by mr-finch

Good Morning, Sunshine by Quakey

it's going to take some time by carrionkid

A Dog's Life by ornategrip

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

I just really love how people just kind of think up ideas and write them down. I think it's really fuckin' cool when people get an idea and really build off of it and just go. They're not getting anything out of it, except maybe some commentary from people, and they're just passionate about this thing this ship, or this character, or this concept, and they loved it so much that they write thousands, hundreds of thousands of words, and I just think that's fucking cool. It's not always something that I am going to want to read, it's not even something that I'm likely to find or click on, but that's part of what's cool about it to me as well; most writers are not expecting everyone to want to read their work, they're writing simply because they're passionate about that thing. That's my favorite part of the fandom community as a whole like all people who are fans of things and create fan work, is this passion that creates such drive in individual people, who then take hours and weeks and months and years sometimes to create something that they are passionate about, because they have a passion for this existing source material. And I think getting to see how the source material affected people, and what kind of things they created from it, is such a cool and personal thing to get to experience with other fans.

#meme me baby #fanfiction meme #formating big asks on mobile is hell #love you babe