#for all the love vash has for rem - knives has all the hate... but the love is there too even if he tries his best to suppress it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mega-ringsandthings-world · 11 months

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Ooh, does no one ever talk about the fact that Wolfwood is Knives’ proxy? Look, Vash and Wolfwood only met because of Knives? Everything they find in each other and are to each and become because of each other? It’s all because of Knives? And Knives doesn’t know and probably could not even fathom how he could be responsible? Knives fucked them both up and sent them both into the great wide world, Vash ran from Knives and Knives sent Wolfwood running after Vash. Vash, Knives’ little brother, the one who needs to be protected, the one who walks astray from Knives, Wolfwood, the big brother, the protector, the babysitter, the one who is supposed to lead Vash back on the path to his brother. And Knives truly had no idea what he was doing? He has this man handcrafted and sent to Vash and of course Vash regards Wolfwood as a gift rather than a curse. Vash and Knives are two parts of one whole and Knives sends Vash a cheap copy of one of those parts and it does everything Knives has been aiming to do better than Knives himself? It is lover, brother, friend, protector, betrayer, priest, partner to Vash. It is everything Knives wants to be to Vash and should have been. And it’s human. Vash kills because of Wolfwood, he overrides the things Rem taught him because of Wolfwood. He does what Knives has well-nigh been begging Vash to do for over a century because of Wolfwood. Fellas, is your unintentional simulacrum something you should be so jealous of you should be bleeding from the eyes and mouth but you don’t even know you should be jealous because you’ve never spared a thought to just what the fuck you did? And Vash? Vash loves this punisher, this monster, this assassin, this Judas Knives sent him. This man is Knives’ thing, but yet he’s not, this man is just like Knives but yet he is very much not, this man is here because of Knives but yet he is not? This man is not human but yes he is? He’s human and Vash can love in him all the things he hates in his brother because he is human? Wolfwood is a big brother, he’s a protector, he’s a pessimist to Vash’s doomed optimism, he’s by Vash’s side and will never leave, he’s back to back with Vash and Vash is whole again, he’s Knives in a funhouse glass darkly and of course Vash clings to him. Wolfwood is Knives’ quintessential token of his love and devotion and neither he or Vash or Wolfwood knows. Knives gave Vash his paradise after all, he gave Vash his world for just the two of them, he gave Vash the thing that made Vash want a paradise, and a world apart. He gave him Nicholas D. Wolfwood. If Knives ever understood that he’d fucking chew glass.

#trigun #tristamp #vash the stampede #nicholas d. wolfwood #vashwood #wolfwood x vash #millions knives #trigun maximum #trigun meta #trigun thoughts #I am insane about them bro #vash/wolfwood/knives

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nanomooselet · 3 months

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My Brother's Keeper (VII)

Knives, despite it all, I do indeed pity you. You horrible creature. More than you might imagine anyone would dare.

I said some time ago that Knives has agency and Vash doesn't, and that the Eye of Michael's dogma demands sacrifice.

One lives. One dies.

When Knives tells Vash to leave humanity, it's at that very instant Vash realises the truth: that this isn't about the Plants versus humans. It was never about that, ever, and trying to dissuade Knives from continuing his descent by arguing from that premise isn't ever actually going to work.

It's about how discovering Tesla broke them in two. It broke reality, cracked the singular unit they once believed themselves to be in half, and sent each half down forever-separate paths in both space and time.

Vash, through Rem, decided he could face the future. Even despite this discovery, how apathetically cruel the world is to the innocent, the future is always ours to shape as long as we live to choose. Rem showed him that through acknowledging and accepting responsibility for the pain of the past, even if once ignorant or complicit, one could learn and heal, and therefore work to be free of it. Not perfect. Never perfect. But still better.

Nai only saw potential pain. The fear of facing the world where it could be inflicted, and of those who'd done so, consumed him. He would erase both by returning to the past, the innocence and ignorance of having never learned the frightening truth. He'd thus build a paradise, an Eden, where no sin was committed and no sinner would set foot. He alone, in his own singular perfection, was fit both to assume this task and the power - and thus the right - to fulfil it.

Since when have we been so different?/Who are you? We've become so different I don't think I even know you anymore.

Vash begins to cry because he sees now that Nai… Nai is gone. Maybe he ran for too long, or maybe the Nai he thought he knew never existed. It doesn't matter anymore. There's nothing of his brother left to love in this monster before him, who's done everything that he's done and isn't sorry and wants to keep doing it by seizing control over Vash's own body. (Even though they look more like each other now than they have since they were kids, which still absolutely ruins me.) Vash grieves his brother, his brother's love and their togetherness in the past, but he finally knows for sure that they're gone, and he must define his own identity, and move beyond them.

His declaration that he'll always run isn't about running from humanity, anymore than Knives is truly fighting for the freedom of the Plants.

Seriously, Knives isn't fighting for the freedom of the Plants. He thinks he is, because he thinks that justifies controlling their bodies and consuming their power and benefiting from their suffering, but he's reversed cause and effect. He acts and so they suffer, but he believes their suffering is what motivates his actions and not his fear and his greed for the power to destroy whatever he fears. It's circular, and it's entirely self-centred.

It's the logic not of a liberator but of the entire system of oppression.

Knives's paradise, the home to which he's so desperate to return, no longer exists. It never will again. Not for him or for Vash or for the Plants. Knives himself broke it. Knives himself ripped it out of the heavens and plunged it into the earth, shattering it, so he could reshape the pieces into something that he alone controlled. Knives will always assume control, and he won't stop if you give what he says he wants, because he won't admit or even try to understand that it's not the truth.

He wants to stop being scared and alone. He wants his brother to need him and never leave him. He wants his mother, but she's gone. (He killed her. Over and over and over again he kills her and she's still always gone and he hates her for always being gone. Why is she gone? Why didn't she stay? He asked. He gave her a choice.)

(Yet in Vash's memories and in the people he loves, Rem's spirit lives on, and always will. She still loves him, her perfect boy, even still protects him, just as she promised she would. Did you guys know Vash's coat is bulletproof? Did you guys realise Vash literally still walks around kicking ass in the protective embrace of his mother? I actually had to take a minute, when I figured it out. It made me tear up.)

I was rejected?

Let me back in! Take me back.

Knives wants to go home. To be a child again with Vash by his side. Innocent, together, in paradise. But once you've grown up, you can never really go home again. It's a fundamentally selfish desire to want everything to go back to being the same forever - what it means is that because it was good or kind for you specifically, everyone else has to conform whether it was good and kind to them or not. There's always danger in nostalgia even when it's not misplaced. It encourages destructive nihilism, malicious and ignorant apathy. If the best can only ever be behind us, there is no reason to try to go on.

Vash is not nostalgic. Vash will run, and run, and keep running. For a lifetime if he has to - and a Plant's lifetime is a long one. It's not that he hasn't made a choice, but that he'd already made it long ago: to be free of Knives, to live and to fight for independence from his brother's abusive care, and to find a way to unite humans and Plants, the purpose he's been eager and happy to serve since the day he found it. Rem's dream is one he longs to fulfil, and he finally knows he has the power, intelligence, resilience, strength and above all, the right to take up that task.

He's just acknowledged and accepted that it's not also his purpose to help his stupid brother, not if this is all he gets in response. Dismissed, ignored, insulted, his grief and compassion mocked; abused, put down, smothered, injured, rendered permanently disabled, scarred, violated, traumatised. Forced into the shape that Knives imagines he should be in, pieces cut away until he fits the image in his brother's head.

It's very sad that after all that Knives has done to him, Vash doesn't value his own life and wellbeing enough to care for himself as much as he cares for everyone else in the world. But it still beats Knives trying to do it for him. He's so bad at it.

In the past, on occasions such as this, when Vash demonstrated like... the capacity to sort of almost disagree, Knives would yell at him suddenly and loudly enough that Vash would freeze up in terror, and then Knives would do whatever he wanted regardless. My man isn't good at hearing the word "no". If yelling or insults failed, he'd do something physically violent. I've seen a lot of takes on how funny and/or gay it is that Vash's reaction to Wolfwood grabbing his lapels and threatening to torture him to death is... this.

But understand that when Vash suggests an alternative that doesn't involve mass murder, his brother tends not to agree to it. Or stop at threats. Vash's arguments with Knives always make Vash sound a bit pathetic and dumb because Knives doesn't actually engage Vash - he shuts him down or insults him, telling him he's too weak and stupid to even speak. He has no respect at all for Vash's opinions, abilities, or as a person - honestly, I wouldn't treat an animal this way.

When someone finally respects your beliefs and abilities after they've been coldly or violently dismissed so many times, that's… how it feels.

Knives assumed that Vash had no powers so he was weak, and then when Vash did demonstrate powers, that Vash was weak because he was frightened of them. As usual, the trauma he's inflicted maybe being the problem never entered his mind; it's always Vash's fault. When Vash finally has both power and the will to assert control of it, he finally has the capacity and strength to enforce his refusal. And that leaves Knives finally exhausted of any means to break his will.

Except one. One final choice.

Vash is right: the plan has failed and this is over. Knives can never again have the power he desires, and what's more, Vash would rather be shot at for another hundred years than be together with his brother in paradise.

In spite of everything Knives has done to destroy it, the independent identity of Vash the Stampede yet survives. And so.

One lives.

One dies.

Nai is dead.

There's no turning back.

(The stars are falling down.)

And no one ever really goes home.

If you want to tell me Stampede is a poor quality adaptation, it's not funny and it's shallow and Vash is a loser now and there's no Milly and they're just exploiting the property and if it just hadn't been called Trigun maybe... maybe...

Maybe! You're entitled to an opinion. I'm open to the discussion. I do always try to assume good faith.

However, I'm still probably not going to agree.

And I'm done. Now I need to lie down on the floor and cry over my beautiful disaster twins. Thank you very much for reading! I encourage you to be as insane in the tags as you feel moved to be, because I crave validation.

(Extreme Lesbianism for Meryl Stryfe: Coming Soon.)

(Part I)

(Part II)

(Part III)

(Part IV)

(Part V)

(Part VI)

#trigun stampede #tristampparty #millions knives #vash the stampede #trigun meta #hundreds spoons #vash is in fact perfect #hundred spoons is a yellow-bellied baby who needs his mommy #throwing a tantrum trying to blow everything up #maybe if he'd tried the ramen in july he'd be less on fire #TOO LATE NOW #loser #i cherish them both #full disclosure the shot where knives is launched through the rem-plant-thing's face is only there because it makes me giggle #on a scale of millions knives to one how graceful are you in defeat #meta: my brother's keeper

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uynumeotp · 1 year

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youtube

※ Trigun manga spoilers! [PMV] [TRIGUN] A Certain Family's Tea Party - とある一家の御茶会議

[VD: A Trigun PMV set to "A Certain Family's Tea Party" by Kururingo, done in a monochrome blue palette with black and white with the lyric captions altered slightly to fit Trigun. It starts with a card of post-finale Meryl and Milly labeled "on vacation" and saying "Okay?" about the content warning for Trigun/Trigun Maximum spoilers.

The animatic follows post-finale Vash feeling regretful and thinking about the people he's lost. Transition cards show symbols like geraniums, birthday hats and cake, bloody knives, cigarettes, and apples. Vash chats over tea with Rem, Knives, and Wolfwood, speaking to them reassuringly while adding more and more sugar to his tea.

They all say they love him, and when Vash asks if they hate him now, they all kindly say no in some way. Vash is finally seen looking happy with Luida, Marlon, Brad, and Jessica, who tell him he'll get sick if he has that much sugar. Finally, Meryl and Milly wave and say, "Thanks for watching!" End VD]

#Can't believe that you can just post the whole video on tumblr #It's amazing #trigun #trigun manga #trigun maximum #trimax spoilers #trimax #vash the stampede #wolfwood #nicholas d. wolfwood #millions knives #rem saverem #my art #trigun spoilers

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feekins · 9 months

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so I'm re-reading the manga (Dark Horse and Overhaul translations side-by-side jsyk) along with @trigunbookclub and, as I was going through ch 7 of Trigun Maximum vol 4...something struck me.

"I will send Knives to Hell" - up to this point in the manga, Vash has consistently cited that as his ultimate goal, yeah? off the top of my head, I remember him saying as such as early as ch 1 of Trigun vol 2.

which is. interesting. bc so far, Knives is the ONLY person we've seen Vash express REAL, PERSISTENT DESIRE to KILL. and call me Captain Obvious, but doesn't that go against, like...Vash's whole-ass thing??? as he says in ch 7 of Trigun vol 1:

which begs the question, Vash: what about Knives' life?

Knives (albeit indirectly) killed Rem. Vash wants to get revenge and kill Knives - even though it goes directly against what Vash promised Rem. that tells me that Vash, too, fundamentally misunderstands Rem's sacrifice. see, Rem's decision to stay behind and die doing what she could to make sure at least some of those in cold sleep would survive the Fall? it could've partially been about the survival of the species, sure. makes sense. but first and foremost, it was an act of love.

neither Knives NOR Vash has a healthy idea of what it means to love - and we see that in the terrible ways they live for each other. everything Knives does, he does with the ultimate goal of creating a world that's safe for him and Vash - even if it means working with the humans he so hates, even if it means trying to force Vash to join him. meanwhile, Vash willingly, even intentionally suffers extensive harm over the years at the hands of humans because ultimately, the only person he's set on killing is Knives. like...despite everything he says and does, it's not really about wanting to protect humans - it all comes down to getting revenge. Vash lives to kill Knives. because Knives killed someone Vash loves.

so. yeah. both Knives' AND Vash's respective ideas of love are fundamentally flawed, and their stories (individually AND together) hinge on how they navigate that.

#trigun maximum #trigun #vash the stampede #millions knives #text postan 2k23 #interpret their relationship however tf u want lmao don't @ me with shipping 💿🐎

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drunkenlionwrites · 1 year

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hello! here’s an idea for a headcanon ☺️ how do you think tristamp!vash will deal with loving a fem!reader knowing that her life span is much shorter than him considering that she is a human? will he still pursue her anyway? or choose to keep distance & admire from afar to avoid further hurt?

Vash thinking on dating a human woman

Warnings: none, a bit of angst. It's not a fic, it's more my headcanons and thoughts on Vash's character.

I strongly feel that Vash will try to bury his feelings for human for as long as he can, but for two different reasons: 1. He's not done with the Knives issue. He still wants to save/eliminate his brother for him being a walking atomic bomb for the whole planet and it's Vash's primary mission in life. It's the sin he atones for and he cannot and will not have ANY human, especially the one he loves so dearly to be damaged by association.

2. Vash HATES himself, he loathes himself, he feels not deserving the love, not deserving anything good in this world, cause it's HIM and Knives are the reason of why the people crashed on this planet, why plants are being used off so wrongly, the reason of Rem's death, the reason of a lot of people's deaths. He doesn't have a grasp on the concept that he's not responsible for the actions of others. He caries the weight of his brother's sins as they are his, and while he thinks his morality of not killing anyone is just, he still carries the hate for himself for all the people who were hurt cause of his decision not to kill. Even Legato, the dude who wanted to be dead more than anything, recognised this feeling in Vash. Sooo yeah, he's a terrible guy to love, or you just need to be a very good therapist to do so. But as for him being afraid for his lover being a mortal? Nah, Vash has seen so many deaths of the people who he cared for, he has seen the people growing up from smal lil beans to full ass grown up adults, so he recognizes the beauty of life and love and living while you can, so the possible heartbreak of his lover's death will not stop him from living and loving them freely. BUUT the previous two reasons will stop him. Thanks for the ask!

#vash headcanons #vash x reader #vash x you #vash the stampede x you #vash the stampede #trigun x reader #trigun x you #trigun #lion writes

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mayfly-stampede · 1 year

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Human - thoughts

warning: episode 10 spoilers

I wondered why they titled this episode "Human".

I expected Zasie to tell the humanity story…but no, that didn't happen.

Instead, is Conrad who takes Roberto and Meryl with him.

He explains his work to Meryl and Roberto.

He wants to improve humans so they don’t explode plants anymore. Just saying it like that doesn’t seem that bad…

But, his methods are everything BUT HUMAN.

Is that why he seems so sad? Is it really a cross like Wolfwood said? Or he wants to vanish the real cross by his experiments?

Did he loose his humanity in his way to save it?

His goal is really to save humanity like he says? Or is just what Knives told him? For Knives, the investigation may be more like a way to save plants from humans and make humans more like plants, just like this new Elendira is.

It’s interesting how we see in this episode many negative characteristics from humans.

And the positive ones: love, kindness, caring, empathy, comprehension…are represented in Vash.

Vash grew with in Rem’s teachings strengthened by Luida.

And Knives? Knives grew with the doctor, Conrad, who all he has left as a human now is a desire of being forgiven and undo the past…

Is that why Knives thinks Vash wants to help humans only for redemption? Because it’s the feeling he sees everyday in Conrad, the only human around him for so long…

Vash and Wolfwood get to July, the biggest city, that shines in opulence...the city Knives must hate the most…Is that why he chose that place to start human extinction?

Opulence, exceeds...

This episode was really dedicated to humans.

They have regrets.

They get angry.

They make mistakes.

They can die.

And they can change.

All what a human is…

is what Knives wishes to take away from Vash.

Knives wants to remake Vash

in someone like him: with no humanity left.

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askvashthetyphoon · 10 months

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Vampire AU

Trigun Vampire AU cause why not

Dum, unoriginal AU notes below lol

-When they think Vash and Meryl cant see them, they also snuggle sometimes.

Notes:

- Vash and Meryl are vampires in this AU, while WolfWood and Milly are werewolves-turned- Protectors. All 4 have the same lifespans, and all 4 live together- moving to different locations, setting up and running orphanages, schools, digging wells, building gardens, and generally doing their best to spread love and peace! And protect humans from Knives's plan to reduce human numbers, and keep them penned and controlled as nothing but food for Knives, Vash, and all other Vampires.(Due to their human mother, Rem, being killed by humans for protecting and feeding 2 abandoned vampire twins).

-In this AU, vampires can turn others into vampires, but also have a second kind of venom that produces Protectors( who can be human or werewolf).

- Knives and Vash were born vampires- unusual, but not unheard of. It happens when a pregnant woman is turned into a vampire during her pregnancy.

- Vash turned Wolfwood into a Protector at his request to match their lifespans. And after much begging, he turned Meryl, who in turn, turned Milly into her Protector.

-Protectors are tied to their creators- they live as long as their creators, carry much more blood as the average human to feed their creators ( 7.5 compared to the average 5 liters) , and generally take care of their vampire buddies while they sleep during the day. They also have a chemical reaction in their blood that makes feeding their creators quite an enjoyable experience-a potent cocktail of dopamine and serotonin.

-Additionally, werewolves get the added bonus of gaining some control over their transformations; they can transform at will to protect their creators, but need to transform every full moon regardless.

- Werewolves have 2 forms in this AU- a more humanoid form with a wolflike head and feet, and a fully wolf form- both retain human intelligence though have strong wolf urges- to hunt, eat, etc.

- Milly and Wolfwood are best friends in this AU, and hang out together- taking care of paperwork for Vash and Millie - changing addresses, managing bank accounts, etc. They also go out for late- night runs in their werewolf forms often to reduce stress and for fun lol.

-Vash LOVES to snuggle Wolfwood in his wolf form. He pretends to hate it but secretly adores it.

- Vash, Wolfwood, Nai, and Livio all grew up in an orphanage together. Vash and Wolfwood are 'friends', but both are secretly in love with the other. Neither are willing to admit it yet.

-Milly and Meryl are in a tentative relationship. Milly is the only female human whose ever been successfully turned into a werewolf. She has a beautiful cinnamon- brown coat and hits just as hard as Wolfwood ( often pinning him down during their play-fights).

#trigun #trigun au #trigun au idea #trigun vash #trigun vampire!au #trigun vampire au #vashwood fanart

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thoughtsat3amconstantly · 1 year

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I saw your post on platonic yandere knive and I love it. It gets real boring to see only plantcest, but may I offer an idea for yandere knives who's not only a platonic yandere for Vash, but also a yandere (romantic) for Vash darling who is empathetic and doesn't hate knives and is understanding of his questionable philosophy about human beings.

Here's the scenario that I had in mind : Vash darling has been with Vash for a long time, long enough that Vash told them about knives, the plants and Rem(Vash also using his past to keep his darling with him) . Instead of being disgusted, they are understanding about the situation and stay with him. And as we all know knives love to stalk his little brother and took a liking to darling. His impressed by they loyalty to Vash and sees why his little brother is so in love with them. So what better idea is not only to kidnapp Vash, but also his darling to help him keep to stay put. When Vash is misbehaving his punishment is less time with darling and Knives gets to spent more time with darling and slowly becomes more obsessed with darling. Now knives has not only one person to protect, now he has two, which he doesn't mind.

This is as much comes to my mind and I hope you also like the idea. I'm sorry everyone, but I cannot choose between knives and vash. I love both of them so much. 😭

Thanks if you took a look at the ask. Hope you have a great day or night.

I kind of like your idea.

Here’s what I imagine:

Vash was not happy at the fact that not only was he captured by Knives, but you as well! He did not what his brother to get ahold of you for fearing that he would hurt you or worse.

Every time Vash tries to escape or upset his brother by acting out of line, he splits him up from you. You’re at the mercy of Knives when that happens, so you try to not make him agitated or angry in hopes of him ignoring you for the time being.

Knives would at first ignore you, as he had a lot to do. After a while he became more curious of you. He wanted to know what made Vash so drawn to you. Naturally he asked questions about you, where you were from, and how you met Vash. The more you two talked, the more Knives became drawn to you too.

Eventually he became more caring towards you. While Vash was glad that you were okay, he was really annoyed that his brother was getting waaay to close to you for comfort. You were not for Knives! You were for him only! And he didn’t like humans! WTF??!

In all honesty Knives came off as a tsundere yandere towards you (you can look at it as like romantically or platonically) after being drawn towards you. Anyone who witnesses Knives’ interaction with you will put it as either confusing, or funny.

Vash is desperately trying to escape, which results in punishment of being split up from you, in turn giving more time to spend with Knives. It’s a vicious cycle.

At this point, you just want some peace and quiet after dealing with their shenanigans and bickering about you spending time with who more. Knives crew sometimes hide you from both brothers as to hopefully get them to stop bickering and getting back on track. Sometimes they question their life choices as to how they got into this situation.

Either way, you’re not leaving either brothers side. You’re pretty much stuck with them.

A/N: Sorry if this is not what you had in mind. I hope you like it tho! Also, you’re like my first ask too! I was pretty excited!

#Yandere millions Knives #yandere trigun #yandere vash #trigun stampede #vash the stampede #millions knives

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honey-everythingisonfire · 1 year

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don’t think about a tristamp vashwood reincarnation au where vash can’t remember his last lives, only but getting flashes of deja vu and pangs of emotions he can’t understand

don’t think about a baby vash, waking up one night on the ship, screaming and crying hysterically, so unconsolable that even when nai fetches rem for help, she is helpless, only able to hold her son as he wails into chest, one tiny hand gripping the back of her shirt, nai’s pant leg balled up in the other

don’t think about rem asking vash what’s wrong when he finally stops crying, and all he can get out is a ragged, “I have to save him,” before a fresh round of tears well up, and he’s back to sobbing, now with renewed mumbling of, “I can’t save him, I have to, I have to,” with his mother and brother resigning themselves to a night of no sleep, never knowing who he was talking about

don’t think about vash and nai finding tesla, and vash already begging nai not to hate the humans, he can’t do it again, not again, please not this life, let them be happy in this life, let him be happy in this life, Vash can’t lose him again, but he knows his brother won’t listen, he never does, and Vash knows he’s lost the strange man from his dreams again

don’t think about vash and nai in that escape pod, nai reaching his hand out to rem, to his mother, please come with us, but vash already knows she won’t, she’s never done it before, she has to stay to save the man with the smokes, but this time he’s able to choke out a goodbye before the pod closes again

don’t think about vash, dreaming, over the years, of old memories with the black haired man with a face of shadow, carrying a tombstone of metal wrapped in cloth and leather, unknowing of who he is, but understanding that he has to find him, to save him, and slowly, slowly, falling in love with his only other constant over the course of 150 years

now

don’t think about wolfwood, knowing two things for certain throughout his life, one being that he would be the sacrificial lamb to save his family, two being that he loved the strange blond man in his memories, with his silly red coat and yellow sunglasses

don’t think about wolfwood, once forced into the eye of michael and trained ruthlessly, desperately clinging to whatever shreds of sanity he has left, only able to power through because he needs to save his family, he needs to save Livio, he needs to save the love of his life, and wolfwood grows up a little more hopeful

don’t think about wolfwood, brought before knives, face impassive, but mind racing, because this is definitely not his needle noggin, as he taken to calling him over the years, but his new boss looks astoundingly like him, and when he learns of his newest job, nico’s heart nearly rips itself from his chest

don’t think about vash and wolfwood, searching for each other through the desert, vash for a century and a half, wolfwood for a fraction of that, but still knowing they’ll be together soon

don’t think about soon being vash asleep in the back of a car, wolfwood half-dead trudging through the desert

don’t think about vash waking up when meryl hits someone with the trailer, looking out the window, and seeing that cross that haunts his dreams

don’t think about vash leaping from the car before meryl can even process what she did, sprinting towards the man in the sand like a man possessed

don’t think about vash gently cradling the head of the love of his life, unminding of roberto and meryl’s questioning looks

don’t think about vash softly brushing the man’s hair from his face, hand trailing his face

don’t think about vash pressing his forehead against wolfwood’s

don’t think about vash making a promise the others can’t hear

don’t think about wolfwood half-aware of being held

don’t think about wolfwood seeing nothing but red and yellow

don’t think about wolfwood relaxing for the first time in two decades

don’t think about vash promising wolfwood his love

don’t think about wolfwood swearing vash his life

don’t think about them

#trigun #trigun maximum #trimax #trigun 98 #trigun stampede #tristamp #trigun spoilers #vashwood #trigun vash #trigun vash the stampede #vash the stampede #trigun wolfwood #trigun nicholas d wolfwood #nicholas d wolfwood #trigun au #trigun reincarnation au #reincarnation au

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vetrenar · 1 year

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Ok, the second part of my rambles or why hugging Knives should be considered a form of convention weapon and must be used as often as possible.

A little disclaimer: what I'm gonna to talk about is applied mostly to Stampede and manga Knives. Not so much to 98, because while, objectively speaking, there is no reason for it, I kind of have a feeling that other two would very like to punch him to a pulp. The guy has an incredibly punchable face.

...Sorry, wrong picture.

Now, a question. Does Vash love Knives?

Yes, of course. Despite everything Knives did, Vash still consider him his brother and wants them to put away their difference.

Next question: Does Knives feel this love? Or, maybe, I'll paraphrase a bit: does he believe in it?

And here things become tricky. Because yeah, at some level Knives knows that Vash loves him. His little brother is a kind creature, after all, that's ready to share his heart with the whole world. He wants to save humans, wants to save Plants, why not to want to save Knives too, in this mix?

The problem is, Vash, bless his heart and everything, is a damn hypocrite. He gives promises that he isn't able to keep, runs from places to places doing essentially nothing and always, always, always, puts humans first.

So yeah, he loves Knives. Just as he loves his sisters, or maybe worms on this planet. As long as humans are safe, Vash is ready to feel sorry for them, or maybe even ask for forgiveness for everything humans put them through. They'll become better, one day.

And the worst part? Knives isn't exactly wrong in his assessment. Because Vash does put humans first, Stampede especially. And although a big part of the reason for that comes from his guilt complex and well, Knives, maybe you should have thought it a little better before putting it on your brother, but the fact stays: between a Plant and a human, Vash will instinctively choose a human.

Now, let's talk about the aftermath of Tessla's case. Stampede very suspiciously omitted most part of it, showing only Knives' choice of Vash's memories (and keep in mind that the whole point of that showcase was to break Vash, so Knives' "confession" of his motivations can't be taken at face value) and I will die on the hill that in the second season we're going to get Knives' round of it, but for now, let's go with the manga.

We know how it did go: while Vash had his emotional breakdown, Knives fell into coma. It isn't clear, did he faked his amnesia or not but even he didn't, the subconscious trauma still stayed.

And the first thing he saw after waking up? Vash and Rem, laughing together.

Think about this. Vash saw the extent of Knives shock, watching his brother being comatose for days. Even though he wasn't conscious, Vash had an affirmation that his twin shares his grief. Knives, though? He didn't have a chance to see Vash's resentment, desperation and anger. For him, his brother just... Brushed it off. Made a peace with it. And even if the wording was different, even if he was told something like "I understand if you're angry" - Knives already lost his affirmation. He had no chance of showing his anger, not when his twin was so calm about the matter and obviously decided to stay at humans side.

For Knives, Vash has already abandoned him for humans. Forgiveness is a thing that exist for sake of a victim, not a perpetrator, but Vash has already forgave theirs, therefore forcibly dragging Knives along before he even really started to proceed everything.

And so, Knives acted as he, with this mental block, was allowed to:

... And you know the reason of the story.

And after that? Constant arguing about how they should forgive and accept humans. (For manga, it's after the Fall, but in Stampede it started already on the ship. I'm sure that Knives read Bible before, just like he watched war movies before in manga. But after Tessla, he started to see evil there). Open expressions of fury, fear and hate from somebody who is never bothered to even become a bit angry on their sisters' behalf. A gun in your face after you saved his life.

Yeah, Vash's feeling are much more complicated than that. Alas, Knives doesn't have much chance to see that. From his point of view, Vash is ready to forgive humans everything, but Knives? He gets a gun and speeches how they all should live in peace. With a great plan mostly consisting of Plants forgivinig humans until they become better.

So, at some point Knives just... stops listening. He already knows what his brother thinks about him. It doesn't matter. Knives won't let Vash's hate stop his love for him. Gunshots, Vash's cries of anger, pain, fear - it all become a white noise that should be ignored.

Ignore when they hurt you, just do your thing and come to them again and again, and one day they will listen to you? Ironically, but for most part, it's exactly how Knives tries to act with Vash. Well, in his own, a bit psychotic, version of things, with him not only waiting but also taking some actions. (Ok, a lot of actions.)

And it's incredible how all that cold and collected persona dissipates on 12 ep of Stampede, where Knives is left with nothing but a desperation to make his brother understand. Only for Vash, when Knives lays his heart bare, to reject him. Again.

And Vash has his own reasons. Completely understandable reasons, I would say, because while he is a superhuman only in physical sense on things. He had his own anger, and pain, and fear, and inner struggle. Knives hurt him enormously and there is no wonder that Vash doesn't want to give up his stance. And he shouldn't, really. But...

Knives isn't strong, at least, mentally. He created this illusion of being the older, the one in charge, to protect himself (in Stampede, this illusion starts a bit earlier, with him being the "perfect Independent" who for some reason should hide his powers and "weak" Vash, who is, by Rem's words, "perfect as he is") but in the end this made-up hierarchy harmed both him and Vash, locking them in their respective positions. And Knives was motivated by fear, he wanted protection, wanted Vash to stand up for him - something what Vash, who for so many years saw Knives as the strongest one, the one who decides, the one who must be defeated, wasn't capable to do and had no idea about. He had his own personal growth to do, and couldn't be the mentally senior figure Knives needed.

And that's why one day I going to write this fic about TriMax Vash finding himself in Stampede world. These idiots clearly need an older brother.

For Knives, Vash was the one who abandoned him, again, again and again. The one who blabbed about love and peace while aiming a gun at him. For over hundred years, there was only one case when Vash prioritized Knives over everything else, took his side clearly enough that there were no ways left for Knives to doubt it.

And guess what? This single act snapped Knives out his frenzy better that all these bullets before that.

And I'm quite sure that Stampede plot could be quite shorter if upon that meeting five years after the Fall, Vash would confirmed that yes, he understood Knives' ire before confronting him over humans death. Like, the kid was one hug away from breaking down. Too bad that he never allowed himself acknowledge it.

So, the moral of the story: hug your Kniveses. Be cautious, though, because while Vashes bite, Kniveses... Let's say that they aren't very good for your extremities. Assert your dominance with care and don't force them to bottle up their anger, even unintentionally. If you do it right, everything will be fine.

... Well, maybe. Hope for the best, one day it surely will be alright.

#trigun #trigun stampede #million knives #vash the stampede #trigun manga #trigun knives #vash trigun #trigun anime #trigun spoilers #trigun maximum #millions knives #trimax

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beldaroot · 1 year

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saving sin and sustenance: the contradiction of knives and the final act of planting an apple tree

if we extend the christian themes prevalent in trigun to this scene, knives appears to be both god (creator of the tree of knowledge and the fruit it bears) and the serpent (tempter of the forbidden). however, unlike god, knives is not forbidding the consumption of the fruit he's made, and therefore, he is also unlike the serpent because he is not tempting an act of sin by eating the fruit. in this moment, knives is simply providing sustenance: no restrictions nor trickery.

so, how did we get to this point? for a being that has greatly sinned yet desperately wanted a paradise of his own, who feared being used and consumed by humans; for all the death he has caused, knives is now giving life. and this is all because of vash and in turn, rem. the love and peace they preached and what knives originally rejected so strongly is ultimately what saved him: in both body and soul. for someone who always believed himself to be the savior but was unable to save the one person he was trying to protect, this failure must have humbled knives enough to beg for help; to sacrifice his original hateful dogma so vash could survive; to plant a tree as a wordless "thank you" and "i'm sorry" for what he was incapable of doing himself.

i have also seen people interpret this moment as knives melding and dying to become the apple tree himself. and while i can understand that reasoning, in my opinion, all knives did was plant the tree, not become it. knives whole thing is about having control. he lost it when he fainted after seeing tesla and he essentially vowed to never lose it again. even though vash saving him at the end did change him and his outlook towards humans, i still believe his need for control takes priority and therefore, he would not become a tree because he would not be in control then. he creates the tree with the last remaining energy he has to avoid the effects of the "last run," which was full decay causing immense pain and the blackened hair. the planting of the tree may show how knives finally submits himself to his true nature of being plant: to be nurtured and consumed, but by choosing to pass away immediately afterwards and assuming it would not matter to vash that he leaves without saying goodbye, knives allows himself to remain in control of what little he has left. he is giving himself the autonomy he had always tried to limit from his plant siblings. his final act is both a moment of selflessness and selfishness - and isn't that what knives has always been: a living, breathing contradiction? so, is it truly surprising that he maintains this in death as well?

nightow's ending for knives is so meaningful because it's so cathartic. we see a villain, who thought he was a god, realize his humanity. we see his final act is creating an apple tree and accepting his role as a resourceful plant. we see his final request be "take care of [vash]," which has been his main purpose from the beginning even if his actions throughout the story felt contradictory to that. we see knives be reborn and die just as he has always been.

#trigun #trigun maximum #trigun spoilers #millions knives #i'm sure all of this has been said before like his death is so biblical in so many ways lol but i had to say my piece!!!!#in essay format obviously bc i'm sick in the head :)#it's honestly such a bittersweet ending for an antagonist but that's what makes it so satisfying bc he's always been a contradiction #nightow allowed him to change while also keeping him exactly the same... just magnanimous writing tbh!

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mega-ringsandthings-world · 1 year

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Ooh the fact that tristamp Knives hates humanity so desperately but was loved by them almost more than his brother was? Rem loved him. He returned enough of that love to try to save her. Legato’s devotion is beyond the pale, despite decrying love, what he feels for Knives is love. Dr. Conrad cares for him, feels remorse over him “my boy, what I did to you can never be undone” the way Elendria is angered on Knives’ behalf at Vash. Knives has a cult serving him, he’s being worshiped in that twisted way cults inspire, that in and of itself, is also a mutilated form of love. These people are all humans, (mostly, sorry Elendria) these people all care for him or because of him in some capacity or the other. But Knives will never be able to see that care on its flip side. Because humans don’t love a thing like him. They don’t care. They can’t. Even though they actually can, and they do.

#trigun #trigun stampede #tristamp #millions knives #trigun knives #trigun meta #legato bluesummers

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eshtaresht · 1 year

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oh damn oh jees I'm so normal sooo sooooo normal rn ahaha! emotionally, I'm feeling sorta ZGBZFDHZV HV ZDH DZVVZDS ZD ZZV LZV. like, it's trigun, I expected it to hit hard BUT I DIDN'T EXPECT IT TO HIT SO HARD spoilers for ep 10 under the cut as usual

tbh I'm mostly shaking about the next ep and impending season finale, but this one was still pretty brutal

firstly, the goofs. vash fucking SNEESING and getting ruthlessly bullied by wolfwood is pretty much in spirit of their relationship in 98' anime and I'd love to see more of it (pls I hope there'll be a season 2)

scar reveal! I was afraid they're gonna give him a glow up and yeah, some scars are barely visible, but the other ones look awful. so, everything I hoped for, good to see he's in pain /j. also nico tried so hard not to stare at shirtless vash... he's looking away respectfully

vash is such a wet cat pathetic paperbag of a guy... just let that guy take a shot, barely flinched, took the bullet 'cause he thinks he deserved it. didn't even think of attending the wound until wolfwood said so. and, mind you, vash doesn't have any superhuman abilities so that must've hurt like hell

nico's job is so funny because to keep vash safe he has to get into mega epic fights, but also remind that idiot to eat and take care of wounds. again, vashwood duo feels more like the original now, after the sandsteamer. I think nico actualy started caring about vash since he saved the orphanage, it's great to see him conflicted with his mission

also policemen from ep 1 and the guy who shot vash are like... second best side characters in stampede and this is not a compliment. the best ones are nomads who ate worms btw

oh meryl, she's gonna girlboss so hard now... woe to all the haters and naysayers, she's getting character development and faces the same conflict as vash and nico thus gaining more narrative significance!! don't get me wrong, manga and 98' anime meryl was a crucial character, but she's getting much more freedom in stampede to develop and get into action

the moment where she gets up during wolfwood voiceover is when we start to see the "iron lady" and I'm so here for it! now we just have to wait for her designated therapy dog girlfriend to appear and when I can be at peace

tbh I don't really care about roberto. no hate, just neutral, rip drunckle grumps

everybody just dumped zazie... so rude, meryl didn't even answer their question >:(

elendira is..... not bad, but disappointing in comparison to the manga's gorgeously evil and hilariour girlboss who was also explicitly trans! oh look, she's a child experiment plant hybrid now, yay... meh

TESLA CONFIRMED omg I'm SOO exited for the next episode we're gonna be in SO MUCH PAIN

knives yeeting vash into the pit got a giggle out of me, but also... damn he actually was preparing all these years, crafting a perfect trap. and all the plants... he couldn't fix them and boy oh boy, I'm pretty sure he gathered them not for safekeeping... HE'S GONNA DO A LAST RUN ON THEM TO "FIX" VASH!! that was probably what elendira was refering to when she started crying

I am the normallest about this. these twins are such hyppocrites I wanna study and dissect them. knives doing the most cruel thing to his sisters so he can get rid of everything that makes vash human in hopes that if they were on the same footage they would finally stay together.......

and the words that he says to vash hurt so much more because it's true. he does love humans, but the main thing driving him is guilt. in stampede, more than ever, vash blames himself for pretty much all human suffering, because he helped the great fall happen. no wonder he's so depressed and not nearly as goofy! homeboy doesn't just protect the lives rem saved, his pacifistic quest is penance for all the people he (thinks he) killed

july is going to destroy him.

#i am in shambles #after the whole season aires I wanna go back and watch everything in dub because a) their translation is a bit more consistent and accurate #and b) now I NEED to hear the that stupid sneese in dub #I just can't help but obsess over the next episode I'm terrified even tho I know what's gonna happen but to see that animated..........#trigun #trigun stampede #vash the stampede #nicholas d. wolfwood #trigun spoilers #trigun stampede spoilers #elendira the crimsonnail #millions knives #meryl stryfe

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deludedfantasy · 8 months

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Trimax Vol 12 Ch 5-9

Alright, here goes, second half of the volume. As always my suffering continues and I wanted to shake Vash the Stampede because he has no sense of self-preservation.

Ch 5

Listen, I’ll never be able to shut up about how much Vash loves humanity despite how terrible they’ve been to him. He knows!! He knows how awful people can be! He’s witnessed it firsthand. But still, he says, “I can’t judge them. I don’t know what they’ve been through or what led them here. Because there’s always a reason.”

It reminds me of the ultimate thesis of The Good Place: That people can only be judged by the circumstances and the world they were raised in, because that influences so much of how we act and the choices we have about who we are and who we can be.

I can’t believe Vash stayed with Knives for 80 years after the Fall. Considering how angry he was at his brother, it’s mind-boggling. On the other hand, he didn’t have anyone else. Vash, at this point, didn’t know or understand humanity beyond Rem. All he has in this world is Knives, so he can’t leave him. That knowledge that they’re stuck together even though Vash doesn’t want to be is what makes them grow apart.

Can’t believe Vash has had the same backpack for 70 years. That bag must be indestructible or something.

They’re still so young is what gets me. They might be eighty, but they still look and likely act a bit like children. Is it an Independent Plant thing or have they been stunted, only spending time around each other for so long?

Also, love that one day Vash just decides to get in a stranger’s car to get away from Knives.

Once again, Vash points a gun at Knives…and he doesn’t shoot. Knives get in his face and puts his head to the barrel and still, Vash doesn’t shoot.

Knives has never had a problem killing, especially to protect his brother, who he thinks is a naive idiot. He murdered an entire village, adults and children, just to protect him from whatever they were going to do to him.

How does Knives manage to look so young and innocent after murdering an entire town?

So interesting to me how Vash asks Knives to stay with him when his brother walks away. If I’m reading this right, Knives decides to leave him once and for all, because he’s done dealing with Vash’s human sympathies. But even though Vash was the one who walked away first, he doesn’t want his brother to go. If it was just about not killing people he would’ve just said, “Don’t go.” But instead, he says, “Stay with me.” Stay with me, don’t leave me by myself. Somewhere deep down, Vash still loves him and he doesn’t want to see Knives become this.

Is this the first time Vash shoots somebody? It’s so brutal that the first person he ever shoots, the reason he picked up a gun in the first place, is his own brother.

It doesn’t even seem to do much to him. It’s more of a nuisance. But Knives lobs it back at him tenfold. Because he doesn’t really care about Vash. He casually chops his entire arm off just to teach him a lesson. That a gun—a human weapon—will never be as powerful as the blades of an Independent Plant.

Then, Vash spends the next 70 years training to prove him wrong. This moment, this failure, it’s what sits at the core of Vash and what motivates him to become the gunman, Vash the Stampede. Because next time, he won’t miss.

Though I don’t actually think he was shooting to kill in this moment. That was the intent Knives put on him. I think Vash just wanted to get his attention, but Knives turned it into that and Vash ran with that because that’s a lot simpler than the very complicated feelings he has about him.

“Don’t worry, Knives. This time, when you go, I go.” Vash…please don’t say that. He’s so ready to die for this. He doesn’t see a future for himself anymore.

Actually, what is Vash doing? He doesn’t just miss, he’s too good to do that. He’s up to something.

Wow, I hate how right my last thought was. Vash, stop talking like this! I think there are many people that would disagree with this statement!

Ch 6

Is Knives creating holes in his body to dodge Vash’s shots? Because that’s…urgh. That’s a lot.

Ah-ha! Vash does have some other plan in the works that doesn’t involve outright killing Knives. And Knives is just now starting to get it. The way he looks down on Vash and humans will ultimately be his downfall. He thinks the fact that Vash won’t kill is stupid and naive but then also thinks that humans are terrible because they’re nothing but murderous scum…while he also goes around murdering people left and right. Ah, Knives, your hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Oh, they’re trying to communicate with the dependent Plants! This has never been brought up as a possibility before. Is that what the conversation in the Plant room a couple chapters ago was about?

Knives just doesn’t get it. It’s not necessarily about forgiveness (though Vash certainly has thoughts about that too). It’s about understanding, and not letting your impulses and first impressions cloud your judgment completely. As the story Vash then tells goes on to prove.

Those people were preying on travelers for a reason. They’d been turned out from everywhere else because they were contaminated. They had no other way to survive. If I’m reading this right, those people in the village were the same ones that had fought so hard to keep the contamination from spreading so far. In doing something noble, they damned themselves. It’s the tragedy of human existence collapsed into one story.

And that poor girl. She survived the contamination and Knives’s slaughter. She lost everyone she cared about because she refused to shun them as everyone else did. Being a survivor twice over is a terrible thing. But also, she’s the embodiment of human love in the midst of tragedy. She didn’t dismiss them, despite the contamination and what they did to survive. She loved them because they were hers, and it didn’t matter what had become of them.

The fact that Vash stayed and listened, tried to understand, says a lot about him. He has always wanted to understand humanity, its good parts and its bad parts. That’s why he defends them so fervently, because he has experienced the whole of the human condition, unlike Knives who is so stuck on only the worst of humanity, refusing to see the good that survives despite all the tragedy.

You say it, Vash! Knives is ignorant. His arrogance is a shield that protects him from harm but also keeps him from seeing the hard truth.

Goddammit, it’s the military! I completely forgot about them. Thank God for whoever is driving that shuttle, otherwise Vash would’ve had to spend much more of himself stopping the Plants from getting hurt than focusing on Knives.

Ah, yay, Meryl and Milly to the rescue! Causing chaos in the name of Vash the Stampede, as they should.

Don’t be sorry, Brad! Vash is grateful (and also probably thinking how much he doesn’t deserve it, but we’re gonna ignore that) and it’s exactly what he needed in that moment.

Being reminded that he has friends to help him will only give him the strength he needs to keep fighting.

Oh no, I feel so bad for Chronica. She’s lost her friend. And obviously, Domina was much younger than her, someone with a bright future that Chronica was so looking forward to seeing. Now, Knives has taken that away from her. Except it’s only strengthened her will. She’s about to go all out in the name of revenge, I can tell.

Ch 7

Oh no, Meryl and Milly are in trouble! Not my best girls!

Was that Vash’s blood? What happened? Because it doesn’t look like Knives actually got a hit in.

Oh…he’s bleeding from the eyes and the everywhere? I guess? Because he’s pushing himself to the brink of death and using up all of his power.

I need to include this panel because…just look at him! He’s bleeding from the eyes again, this time because he’s pushing himself to the brink of death to fight Knives. And he’s so determined to do it. There’s nothing in those eyes but raw will and hatred.

So the Earth fleet isn’t aware of Vash’s presence at all! They’re gonna be in for a big surprise when they realize there’s another Independent on the planet and he’s trying to stop Knives.

Yay, Livio to the rescue! He’s helping out the girls because they’re Vash’s friends. He’s so nervous though, and I totally get it, but he’s not messing anything up. Livio is so hard on himself because he wants to do better, but Livio, my friend, a little awkwardness never hurt anyone.

Livio has turned over a new leaf, but he’s still gonna do things his way. Which means not tip-toeing around talking or negotiating, but acting. But he’s right. There’s only so long they can keep the military distracted. They have to find a way to stop them so they don’t keep interfering with what Vash is doing because he can’t afford to be distracted from his fight with Knives for a second.

Ahhhhh, Vash is running out of time! Knives knows it too and he’s using it to his advantage, tiring him out rather than killing him, because Vash is basically doing his job for him.

Also, I remember someone mentioning how Nightow doesn’t use the character coughing blood/bleeding from the nose trope often so it’s really significant and shows how dire things are when they do. And when was the last time we saw someone bleeding like this? When Wolfwood was on the verge of death…

Ch 8

We’re receiving so much Plant lore here. It’s so interesting that they apparently don’t have a sense of self. But from what I understand, they aren’t a hive mind either! They’re like a collective consciousness, each individual adding up to a whole. Add Independents into the mix though and then things get a lot more complicated. Because it seems like they’re the ones who are behind all the fusing even though dependents Plants are probably capable of it on their own.

Vash, no!!!! I can’t tell, did Knives hit him with something or did Vash just overextend himself and collapse in a bloody heap? Either way, he’s just spurting blood everywhere and I’m scared.

Meanwhile, Livio is out here serving absolute cunt, if I do say so myself.

Oh Vash…despite how hurt and exhausted he is, he’s still trying to get up. He’s sees the world and the city, and it’s enough to remind him what he’s fighting to protect. All those people huddled down there, all of his friends. He’s not done until he knows they’re safe. He has to see this to the bitter, bloody end.

Elendira? Chronica?? Legato??? What’s going on? There’s a lot of people popping up out of nowhere!

Though it seems like connecting with the Plants gave Chronica a better view of the situation on the planet because now she knows Knives’s name and is apparently going after him directly.

Also, who was Vash planning to shoot? Knives? Is that why Legato finally makes his appearance? To keep Vash from killing Knives?

Ch 9

And now we briefly return to Vash in the oubliette. Sorry, I still can’t get over that Knives get him locked in a glorified hole in the ground for 7 months.

Apparently, during that time Vash tried talking some sense into Legato and learned how pointless of an exercise that is. Because Legato is devoted. His life doesn’t matter, only serving Knives does. And this chapter, we’re gonna find out why that is.

Oh boy, I’m not prepared to read this again. I was truly not expecting what I found out the first time and it’s haunted me ever since.

Suddenly, everything about Legato makes sense. Of course he hates humanity. He watched them pass him by every day as he suffered, as he was used. It takes a special kind of rage and hurt to produce the kind of hatred in a person that would lead to them using their powers to slaughter an entire city.

Something in me also squirms uncomfortably at the idea of Legato wanting to serve him after all he’s been through. But then again, at least this time he gets to choose who he serves and what he does. This being had the power to decimate all those people Legato hated in an instant. He gave him the revenge he’d craved for so long. All that power Knives had, isn’t it what he’d dreamed of having himself when he made his plans to slaughter that town?

And how strange that must be for Knives. A human wanting to serve him, being awed by him. Does he think this is the treatment he deserve as a Plant? What exactly was going through his head when Legato sank to his knees and offered him his service? This is likely the first time he’s let a human get so close to him on their own. It’s such an intriguing meeting that leads to an even more intriguing dynamic.

A lot of people have said it better than I have, but Knives does seem to care about Legato. He probably recognizes in him the way humanity uses and discards things so easily. In a way, they’re kindred spirits. But the downfall of their relationship is that Knives ideology keeps him from truly getting close to Legato or letting him in. Because all humans are bad and evil, and in the end, even Legato has to die.

Hang on, is the implication here that Knives was the one who named Legato? I can’t even put into words how big a deal that is. A name is huge, it’s a marker of individuality and humanity and the fact that Knives gave that to someone, let alone that he did that for a human, is kinda insane.

#trigunbookclub #trigun

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chuthulhu-reads · 11 months

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[ID: Several panels from Trigun Maximum. The first shows a mixed group of colonists, all looking sad or scared, and one saying, "170 out of the 480 people in the colony were lost. The panic is fading... but..." The second panel is a close-up of Vash's face, his teeth gritted and expression pained as he says, "...I'm sorry." The next panel is a wider image of Vash, who's sitting up in his hospital bed but hunched over with both hands fisted in the sheets as he says, "It's all my fault..." Someone off-panel interjects, "H-hey, what are you talking about, Vash?!"

The next panels are from a couple of pages later. The first shows Luida, an androgynous middle-aged woman with a calm, sharp face saying, "Now please... no more depressing talk, okay?" The next panel is of Vash's expression, calm now as he looks up at her, as she continues, "You are part of your family. Right?" The last panel shows Luida turning and waving to the other colonists, calling, "Alright, everyone! Back to the waiting room! We've got a lot of work to do!" The colonists are all hyper-simplified but have wide-open mouths and dismayed expressions as they yell "Whaaaaaa?" End ID.]

First, I love this scene. I love that what Knives was likely hoping for was--well, he was probably hoping for everyone to die, but if not that, then the outcome from the '98 anime, where the survivors hate Vash for what happened. But the manga's established the colony differently, as a family that Vash has been fully integrated in and loved by for generations, and so they don't hate or blame him. They, quite rightly, go "No, this didn't happen because of you, I think perhaps this happened because of the fucked up puppet guy and the weird flesh puppet guy, you know, the ones who did all of the murders. And also your genocidal brother that we all know about". They love him and they will NOT let him take misplaced blame, and for that, I love them.

Secondly, I think one of Stampede's greatest crimes is hitting both Rem and Luida with the Generic Prettification beam, because manga Luida is such a CHAD. Some panels show her with a hint of crow's feet and other slight wrinkles that mean you could tell me that she's any age between 35 and 70 and I would believe you. She wears a CAPE. She has no time for gender presentation she's got a colony of hundreds to run and the human race to save with the satellite project. I love her and I was interested in Stampede Luida when I thought she was going to be the ancestor of the Luida we already know, but NO. She was probably created after the '98 anime was made so I hold no malice for that but we were ROBBED of seeing Chad Luida animated and I am MAD about it

#Trigun #Luida #Arguably Meryl got hit by the Generic Prettification beam too #If they do the same to Milly and Chronica I will be committing acts of terrorism

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