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alena-reblobs · 8 months

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Trigun Bookclub Trimax Vol11 Part2

Vol01: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Vol02: Part 1 | Part 2

And this is Part 2 of Vol11, review for chapters 4-6 below the cut!

Chapter 4:

What a cool comment by Zazie and insight we get here...so Knives is constantly hearing all the plants in his head. Boy, that must be a burden on his mind. His conscience, the 'Knives' part, is slipping away under all the other minds inhabiting him...

Sooo Elendira is trying to contact Legato...with her mind? That's a very plant thing to do (if it isn't just a neat perk you get once you become one of the GHG) I've read some posts saying that Elendira could be altered with genes of Knives, and Stampede pretty obviously tells us the same, so even though we get no clearer info in Trimax it's quite probable. Only question is why Legato could hear her, but maybe after this whole body-destroying-show he's been altered with plant genes too? I'm sure some of you guys mentioned this in your posts about this chapter too, looking forward to dig through that and read your thoughts!

fJSKJFasf Zazie! What the hell!

Legato taking a speed Webinar in his coffin about how to become an alpha male in 2 months

Heeeey he's back! Didn't miss you guy! (the drawing looks pretty sweet though)

At first, Vash was terrified of his power (first thing blocking out the memories about it and the traumatic consequences it brought upon July). He didn't know how to control it. Then slowly, he used it to protect: first subconsciously himself, then deliberately to protect Wolfwood and those dear to him. He learned to use it for HIS actions, the way HE wants to. Not to destroy but to protect. And now he's even learning new ways to use it, combining it with his old way of fighting. Isn't that so cool?

Livio!!! I love his short hair! <3 Also is Vash saying that "because it looked weird" and Livio making that affronted face in reaction? Hehe.

......this...this is the most out of context scene in the whole manga. Deus ex machina guy here to suddenly help deliver important plot devices that could not be logically be here in this place??? Nightow sir I salute you for not giving a fuck how some parts of the story are done. They are done and nothing else matters, and everybody who questions the whys and hows is weak minded.

Chapter 5:

Aah so mush sweet new information we're getting. The Indepentants (I can't remember if this is the first time that we hear them being called this way in the series? I think it is!) are nothing unknown! On earth, where humans are developing plant technology further, it seems to be a phenomenon that appears sometimes, though before they manage to wrack havoc they...die from using too much power. Which is kinda sad :(

More cool info. So the 'newer' generation of Plants and Indepentants can't fuse their minds into a bigger mass since they have neural blockers...which makes me wonder if they, meaning the newer Independants AND plants still can use the mind telepathy or if that got shut off with that. I can't remember if that gets cleared up. Super interesting to read this again tho!

There IS an explanation for how that guy got there but you just KNOW Nightow was sitting together with his editor at the end of vol10 and going "ok so hm for the final fight with Legato we uhm...there were these coins, maybe we should bring them back?" "But but we didn't see Vash collect them all! And he lost his old coat, too!" "Damn how are we going to get them all back to him again?" "Okok I got this you know some of them Meryl and Milly can collect, and uhm Zazie is still alive but maaaaaybee we could uh have some random dude being worm-controlled and uh get it to Vash" "Yeah. And we'll make it look SO random and non-serious nobody's gonna question it"

I love their dynamic so so much!! I want them to be besties, bonding for life after all this! <:'3

Helloooo~ time to introduce my second fav ship of this series, Livio and Elendira, aka called Crimsonfang.

News today: Big huggy bear crawled his way into the hearts of several bookclub citizens and refused to get out of there.

Someone's presence...Wolfwood's presence is still around them, what he fought for, his ideals, his companionship still lingering in the air and their hearts. The Dark Horse translation had me a bit at a loss over this page but I think I know get that what it's saying here is that Vash sees how much Wolfwood's legacy is living on in Livio, and how much Livio obviously tries to make Wolfwood proud and is looking up to him (not as an authority figure but as a comrade, brother and friend). And in seeing and realizing that, Vash realizes that it's the same with him, that he's also trying to protect Wolfwood's legacy, to fight for the future he died for...and that in that aspect, he and Livio are both the same, and by that, connected with each other. Wolfwood is the connection that ties these two together, not only in their grief but also in their love for that man and for his wished!!

It's also so important to get this take on the plants, to see they are not passive, but have feelings too! The thoughts he is talking about, are these the thoughts of the Plants? Sounds like it, and that would make them even more conscious beings than the reader might have thought all the time! They might not think the same way humans do, but they process information, they understand emotions, and they exchange fears, hopes, basic thoughts...they are really a cool species. I always love when I get to read some plant interaction in the fics I read :)

By the way that date is Vash's birthday. Well the confetti was already thrown the day prior ahaha

Stop it Nightow you're giving is so much information how am I to process all of that so suddenly!! After 13 volumes of nearly no explaining too!

AAAAAH this is so so sweet. I love those so much, and I love their friendship and how Meryl, who is normally shown so strong-willed, is crying at the thought of having to part with Vash again, maybe not getting to see him again...these three have come to mean so much to each other <:')) I hope Vash properly knows how to cherish that.

Sir, have you lived under a rock?

Understandably I have to say, the people are not convinced of the idea to NOT attack the ark. Also loving to see different scenes here...some ruffians fully prepared with heavy guns to attack, people praying in these last hours, and then some evil goons who use the chaos to murder, as it looks like.

Fucking military with their heavy bombs!

HELL YEAAAH HERE WE GOO

Chapter 6:

Yeah it's time Livio remembered that he saved someone, and that he had something to protect once!

Oh tehee stop flirting, Elendira.

Ok, low fucking blow, Elendira.

Combined with what we heard her saying the page before, it sounds like Elendira is just so pessimistic about the human nature (no doubt the influence of living in Knives presence and seeing only the bad sides of humaniry) that she sees no point whatsoever to believe in any good outcome that includes humans. They are worthless and destroy everything, so even if the Plants fail, they still deserve to be eradicated in her mind. Bit of a heavy opinion, but given her experience (or non-experience) about the human nature, I guess...it makes sense!

Yeah yeah, they are cute, too

Livio is determined! This meeting with Jasmine and the kids is probably exactly what he needed now. It's the confirmation that there's stuff he CAN protect by playing his part and defeat Elendira. At this point, I'm sure there's no more doubt inside of him, and the guilt of what he has done can't hinder him anymore because it has moved aside to make room for the determination to win this and help Vash and all the people. Go Livio, go! In a way, Vol11 was a volume about Livio finding his resolution and his goal.

#trigun #trigunbookclub

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annakie · 4 years

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An Annotated Mass Effect Playthrough, Part Eight

List of Posts: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

I accidentally messed up the numbering on part Seven’s link to post six, so if you missed post six (or yesterday’s part seven), the numbering up there is correct.

Wherein we get back out into the galaxy, explore, help some people, and kill some others!

So now that we have Liara, it’s time to really dig into the galaxy. We have a few people we talked to on the CItadel who need help, and maybe we’ll stumble into a few more things along the way.

First of all, let’s check out the galaxy map...

Hey wait a sec, what’s this?

Petra Nebula!? Oh hey, another new addition by the ME1 Recalibrated mod.

Gorgeous map, only one system available.

Heeeey we recognize this place, we’ll get to go there in.... two games!

Can’t land there (or anywhere in the system) but it’s cool that it exists! There are a couple of other neat little things in the system I didn’t screenshot so that you can have a cool new experience yourself if you decide to use the mod on your next playthrough.

What I really miss from ME3, by the way, is the % markers which note when you’ve fully explored a system or if there’s more stuff to find there.

Anyway, my PLAN had been to take a screenshot of each planet or spacecraft before I entered it to help orient the playthrough better, and then the non-screenshotting couple of hours happened, so we lost some of that along the way, sorry.

Still, let’s see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into.

I love this planet. The lava juuuuust below the surface, peeking out. Just some of the coolest terrain in the game.

What a great view, let’s get a little clo--

OOPS.

I meant to do that.

Wide open spaces with no fears of a thresher maw living in the lava! ...I hope?

Ah, here’s our objective, a distress signal being sent from this location, let’s see if we can help...

FUCKING GETH AMBUSH.

Aw yeah, jumping over those explosives like a pro!

...most of the time.

Well this planet was a bust. Let’s see if we can actually help someone.

Another planet, scanned a few things, not sure what we’re doing here but hey, I found a lone building!

Ah yes, a prefab which is totally different from all the prefabs we’ll enter because the creates are stacked in a different configuration.

Honestly they should have put one of these prefabs in ME3 for Old Times Sake. (The ones that actually look like homes/labs/whatever make so much more sense.)

Annnd we’re being attacked. Not sure why, but here we go!

Awww yeah, Throw! And Ash and Kaidan managing to be useful I think?

Except they let a guy slip by us, but luckily there’s a convenient explosive nearby. That got ‘em.

OK back to facing forward OH FUCK A KROGAN.

Kaidan’s biotics and my shotgun, a favorite combination. Now stay down!

Sweet, level up!

And that fight’s over, time to explore this pla...

Whew, thanks Kaidan.

This guy thought he could sneak past me. Well me, my shotgun and my 20 shield strength sure showed him.

ME1 combat is so... messy though. I mean, I honestly still enjoy it, but I’m in the camp that agrees combat gets better every game, Andromeda included. Of course, I just REALLY LOVE Vanguarding in ME3... charging into a group of enemies, hitting Nova, spamming charge again praying that I’ll find a good target to charge to in time. ME1 combat is basically all just... spam abilities from cover and hope your companions are doing something useful. Being a Vanguard is more about style over substance in ME here. I mean you do get some really useful abilities, but your shotgun isn’t that much use unless things get too close.

Which, you know, they do pretty often.

Anyway, remember... I WILL DESTROY YOU!!!

FUCK I hadn’t been back to the Citadel to pick up Nassana Dantius’ quest yet. Let’s just reload the quicksave from outside and we’ll... come back and do this the right way later and see the entire quest.

I do this more often than I care to admit.

Also no screenshot for this but... I also found Wrex’s personal quest planet and recognized it only when I saw the building, since it’s in a pretty memorable location. Still, grabbed everything else off the planet so it’ll be quick when it’s time to go back and do that quest.

Well let’s go back to poking around the galaxy.

Message coming in. Patching it through.

Ah, yeah, hey Hackett. What’s that? You’ve got some dirty work you need me to do for you? Cool, be right there.

Before the ME2 DLC Arrival came out, Hackett was one of Mass Effect’s biggest mysteries. Who is this guy? Why is he telling us to do things? Does he have some secret agenda? Why is he so sketchy? Our Shepards seemed to trust him but WOW he sure did send us on some touchy missions. Speculation was all over the place on what he looked like and what he was really doing.

Turns out, he’s just a pretty cool guy who wants you to take on all the secret spy missions the Alliance doesn’t want to take credit for.

I wish I’d saved it, but just a week or two ago I saw a pretty great post circulating about Hackett. He IS the guy that’s going to make sure a job gets done, even if he’s not going to do it himself. He’s the back-room Admiral with the squeaky clean image up front. He’s the Gus Fring of the Alliance.

Also getting Lance Riddick to voice him was great. Just a real authoritative, steady guy who you actually want to trust.

And it turns out he looks basically exactly like most people thought, but maybe with a few more scars. (I mean, he really looks a lot like Lance Riddick, tbh) But we don’t know that yet. For now, let the mystery be.

Time to actually go help someone.

Ah yeah, Chairman Burns, we do negotiate with terrorists, in this case. But they needed negotiating with.

Maxing out the Paragon-meter is worth it for moments like this. These guys have probably suffered and it’s no surprise that no one has really listened. Sounds like a lot about the galaxy hasn’t changed since we got out there.

This is also an excellent moment for Kaidan.

Being able to let Kaidan reason with them is fantastic. Although he probably ultimately doesn’t make a difference mechanics wise, it’d be nice if maybe the check is easier if he’s here. I don’t know. But Kaidan knows, even if he’s one of the “lucky” ones who “only” gets migraines.

One of the grossest posts I’ve seen about Kaidan are people who argue she shouldn’t be on the team because of his implants and since he has a “disability”. Or that it’s “kinder” to sacrifice him on Virmire. That’s some real gross ablism you’ve got there.

Anyway, I love being able to keep this situation under control. Burns actually comes through if you do, even if those guys probably go to prison for awhile for terrorism. Better than being dead.

Time for... another planet!

Again, didn’t take a screencap of this one but... there’s a missing survey team? I must have picked this quest up in the elevators, because normally you get it on Noveria. Anyway, Let’s go find them on Trebin, I’m sure they just can’t broadcast anymore or something. It’s cool

FUCK. SHIT SHIT SHIT. FUCK!!!

I probably could have actually used Warp or Throw or even Barrier there but... too late now! We lived!

I was all ready to blame this on Cerberus, but creepily, there’s no explanation for who huskified them or why. I’m still going to blame Cerberus, seems like something they’d do.

Well, time to move on.

Honestly, I can’t believe anyone who says ME1 isn’t beautiful.

And driving the Mako is FUN in places like this!

Oh there’s a camp up ahead, we’re here to find the remaining crew of a crashed ship for our new friend in the Citadel Tower.

Again, no footage/screenshot but eventually you find where the mercenaries tracked down Willem (the brother) and killed them. Shit. We were too late. I actually tear up sometimes telling Garoth that his brother died. They held out for awhile, too, but we were too late.

It would have been nice if, say, if the very first thing we did after leaving the Citadel was to come here, we could have saved him, but I guess this quest is another way of Bioware telling us that sometimes, there’s just nothing you can do to change things.

One more quest this update, then we’re stopping back off at the Citadel next.

Presrop, one of the most well-known of the sidequest planets. (OKok, technically it’s a moon.)

One of my favorite landing sequences, just because the stars make it so... dramatic.

I mean DAMN.

Klendagon's most striking feature is, of course, the Great Rift valley that stretches across the southern hemisphere. What is most fascinating about the Rift is that it does not appear to be natural. The geological record suggests it is the result of a "glancing blow" by a mass accelerator round of unimaginable destructive power. This occurred some thirty-seven million years ago.

It took a solid three minutes of Flycam flying to get that closeup shot, btw. I actually flew all the way in the first time I came here, and didn’t take screenshots. Took about six minutes. The updated texture is impressive.

Well, Hackett sent us here, let’s deal with Major Kyle.

Being nice and non-threatening gets you into places.

I’ll admit, before I came in here, I decided to cheat in enough paragon points to max out Paragon already. For me personally, I’m trying to make sure this is an “ultimate” playthrough, a save file I can just use over and over from here on out. I want everything to import into ME3 the first time around with all the plot flags set how I want them without messing with Gibbed’s Savegame Editor, so making sure I can convince everyone how I want them to is important. So hey, Major Kyle, stand down.

I don’t think I’ve ever played as a Ruthless Shepard in ME1, or if I have, it’s been so long I’ve forgotten how it goes. But he was the commanding officer at the battle of Torfan, and your CO if you’re Ruthless. He’s also a reminder of how serious PTSD can be, and what it can do to a person.

I also love this tidbit from the Wiki, which I didn’t know since I’d never done these particular choices before:

(In Mass Effect 2) If Martin Burns was not saved in 2183, a news report on the Citadel will announce that Kyle is trying to form an all-biotic community as the reparations were not given to L2 biotics and they have become even more alienated from galactic society.

I really liked that if you reason with him, he doesn’t give you any trouble and turns himself in like he says.

Hey, this negotiation thing is easy when you’re the best person in the galaxy at it!!

#mass effect #kaidan alenko #the mako #chairman burns #major kyle #bioware #annakie's mass effect stuff

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