#i will probably be called stupid

[mugentakeda]

category 5 jetko moment

#iroh isnt homophobic btw. hes just stupid #he has really bad gaydar but only with his nephew and close friends #Hes like why does my nephew always get frustrated when i set him up with girls... #why does piandao call jeongjeong babygirl.... #i feel like even in an au where jet doesnt realize theyre firebenders hed still have beef with iroh. For comedic purposes #hes like i dont believe in getting the parents approval thats stupid and idgaf. But then zuko is family oriented #so its less of “get mushis approval despite us lowkey beefing” #and more of “do not let zuko find out we have beef or he will be upset probably #and iroh shares this sentiment and thats how they end up getting along. Kind of. #IDK #jetko #jet #zuko #iroh #avatar the last airbender #atla #alicias art

[mewtwo24]

I just started reading the svsss volumes (and re-read them again because A LOT IS GOING ON) but like. This shit is so hysterically funny I don't even know where to begin.

Was no one????? Going to tell me that one of the cornerstone jokes in the damn series is that lbh's adoration for his one and only 'tism person who literally cannot express his emotions to save his life is basically genetic?????????

Was no one???? No one AT ALL going to tell me that Mobei-Jun straight up yeets Airplane at the problem in one of the scenes?????? And that in the most hilarious twist of fate Airplane then unyeets Mobei-Jun not twenty minutes later?????

It's one thing to see people joke about sqq and lbh being unable to communicate but it's on a league of its own when you have to read HUNDREDS OF PAGES of sqq's inner monologue be like 'that's my darling boy. my baby. my sugar plum pumpy umpkin you're my sweetie pie' but on the outside he says "get lost binghe" and somehow deems that an effective expression of his affection that lbh will surely understand. 'Why is lbh whining and crying and tugging at my sleeve like a plaintive wife, why is he so angry?' Sqq asks, the entire circus, as lbh is about to fling himself off a cliff for attention--

In short, MXTX is the queer comedian of our generation and nobody appreciates her enough

#svsss #bingqiu #shen qingqiu #luo binghe #mxtx what must it be like to carry the gays on your shoulders like this #she ran so that the rest of us could walk oh my actual god #i just can't get over how much of the novels are sqq panicking because he needs to 'do right' by lbh #aka make lbh the absolute lunatic from the original #so its just this uproarious back and forth between a guy trying to make a bbg desperate for his love into a human weapon #AND make himself disappear before that weapon is turned on him (also probably the self-hatred talking) #amazing showstopping spectacular **slaps sqq's back** you can fit so many repressed internalizations of toxic masculinity in this mf #legit as i read these volumes i just kept thinking of that meme like 'congrats sqq buddy that's the worst anyone's ever done it' (joke) #not that lbh is any better but in fairness the lad is going through a lot too so i spare him too harsh a judgement #also sincerely i dont think i was prepared for just how stupid how crazy lbh goes for sqq. it was. MAGNIFICENT #I was like 'surely he isn't that dramatic' and then by god everyone. by god I started reading and went #'jesus christ that's a nuclear missile shaped little meow meow and that's HILARIOUS' #i also just can't get over sqq insisting 'IM NOT GAY. I DONT GAY. IM THE STRAIGHTEST STRAIGHT!!!!' #while. literally. saying full stop to lbh of like 'wym i smile more genuinely at everyone else they're just scarecrows around me' #sqq--the man who couldn't bear to see lbh suffering as a young boy. #who was so affected he was crying in his sleep and calling out lbh's name over and over #ON WHAT LEVEL IS THAT HETEROSEXUAL SQQ. THE JIG IS UP #literally EVERYONE around sqq being like 'congrats on being the last to know' about his love for lbh #and can we talk about sqq being like 'we used to communicate so seamlessly that we had no need for words. there was no greater joy for me.' #and highlighting that though gongyi xiao was a similar and talented young lad he fell decidedly short because he did not have above quality #and then sqq still being in denial; i swear i LOVE the little hints mxtx drops i feel like the happiest mouse scampering around for crumbs #additionally a question: how does anyone take liu qingge seriously #when he's displeased he just yells 'HEY' and does nothing about it (most times) #that is the most boomer dad energy i think i've ever seen #also :(((((((( all the jokes about tianlang-jun (though accurate) were so deceptive my heart was broken at the end of vol.3

[a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual]

AO3 is back up but I’m still writing Nimona headcanons

I feel like the main trio are all really bad at taking care of themselves 

Nimona can go a long time without eating drinking or sleeping so it's really easy for her to fall into a pattern of not taking care of herself until she’s sluggish and snappy

At first it was really hard for the boys to distinguish her food withdrawals from her normal chaos 

When they do figure it out they make sure she eats and drinks at least once a day even if it small

It took a minute for her to adapt to this because she views taking care of herself as a hobby

But after a while she realizes that they’re just looking out for her so she goes along with it

Every once and a while Bal gets hyper-fixated on certain projects which causes him to forget to eat and sleep

Nimona once asked Ambrosius why he doesn’t do anything to stop these habits to which he responded “Oh believe me Nim I’ve tried it’s better to just let him get it out of his system”

Nimona still didn’t understand this and tried to force Bal to get up and take care of himself 

Which just ended with Nimona being on the other side of a verbal thrashing and then quickly shoved out of Bal’s workspace

Ambrosius didn’t even bat an eye 

Just walked around Nimona into the room with some food and water and then quickly left him alone

After that Nimona started to leave Bal snacks and pillows in his workshop when he eventually crashed  

(And occasionally carrying him to his room when Ambrosius was too tired to carry him) 

Bal also forgets to charge his arm 

So it’s not uncommon for his arm to die and stay locked in that position 

One time Ambrosius walked into the kitchen to find Bal hunched in an awkward position over his coffee and he didn’t flinch 

Just gave him a straw and a kiss on his head before he left for work

Another time Nimona walked into the living room to find them cuddled on the couch 

And they start their normal rant of “Ew gross get a room” 

To which Ambrosius replied “I would if I could Nim” 

She was quietly informed that Bal fell asleep and his arm died shortly after and Ambrosius has been stuck like this for hours waiting for Bal to wake up

Nimona laughed so hard they almost woke Bal up

They started storing chargers all around the house after that 

So I have a headcanon that I kind of hinted at in my other post 

But I’m fully convinced that Ambrosius' shoulder is fucked after the movie (he also has scars because I said so)

Because no way in hell can this man take a blast like that to his shoulder and walk away perfectly fine 

Nah that man will be doing PT exercises for the rest of his life 

And this dork forgets to do his exercises until he’s literally on the floor writhing in pain

Bal has tried just about everything to get him to remember 

He’ll leave notes around the house, he’ll remind him before he leaves for work, writing it into his workout routine 

Nimona told him “Boss you’re being too soft” and quickly switched tactics 

Now you might be wondering what method Nimona used and that's simple he started blackmailing Ambrosius 

Nimona started to warn Ambrosius “If you don’t do your exercises I’ll tell boss what happened to the last slice of cake” or “I’ll release the video of you singing at the top of your lungs while cleaning the house” 

And the stupid thing is it worked 

Ambrosius always says shit like “I should have left you in that box on the side of the road” to which Nimona responds with “Nah you’d miss me too much”

He also had a bad habit of getting sucked into little projects like trying to rebuild the city and fixing all the brainwashing that's been going on since the institute was created

You know small tasks for one person

And this dork will stay locked in his office until Nimona and Bal drag his overdramatic ass out

He always makes a big deal about it too screaming shit like “Oh please help me the heroes of the realm are kidnapping me an innocent bystander while I was simply doing my job!”

I feel like Bal and Ambrosius have a lot of nicknames for Nimona “Nim” is the most common 

“Hun” and “kid” are used a couple of times but not nearly as often as the weird ones 

Like “tornado” “tsunami” “hurricane” and “forest fire”

And if we're getting really sappy “starlight”

Now if you're wondering where this one came from I’ll tell you 

When Bal and Ambrosius were little beans Bal called Ambrosius “sunshine” 

It was supposed to be ironic but after that he started calling Bal “moonbeam” 

And Ambrosius jokes that Nimona completes their little astronomy shtick 

She pretended to be grossed out and lets Bal hug her and Bal and Ambrosius pretended not to notice the tears on Bals shirt

#nimona 2023 #nimona movie #nimona headcanon #nimona #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister x ambrosius #goldenheart #something something sun and moon symbolism #something something stars can be anything #something something freckle constellations #something something found family #i just want you to know I'm typing this with tears in my eyes #this family is so stupid and sappy and chaotic #and I'd die for them #they also cant take care of themselves for shit #I dont know where the natural disaster nicknames came from #it just fits in my head #probably cause they feel very gender neutral #like if someone calls their kid a little tornado #I’m not gonna question the gender #imma think that kid is a menace

[qbebou]

i understand why ppl don’t believe quackity rlly didnt know abt the working conditions with the admins, it’s his server, he should be overseeing everything, etc etc. but i think many ppl aren’t taking into consideration how massive of a project the qsmp is and how big the team is. on top of the roleplaying admins (eggs, capys, bunnies) there’s likely lots of offscreen admins, builders, mod devs, writers, artists working on the project as well. it makes total sense to me for q to have hired and trusted ppl to handle parts of quackity studios that he a. didn’t have time for b. didn’t have the experience to make the best decisions for or c. that he just didn’t want to do. at the end of the day q is a content creator and yes that means he also is a businessman and yes he owns quackity studios but he’s also shown himself to be INCREDIBLY busy and things like managing finances, vetting, hiring, and paying out employees takes a lot of time and can go super wrong if he didn’t have the knowledge or experience regarding how to do such things. he’s also shown himself to be pretty hands off with a lot of the server administration stuff, afaik he still isn’t op’d on his own server which makes sense bc he does have a team running things behind the scenes. i worked administration in a small office a while back and we had plenty of miscommunication issues bc my boss didn’t handle every part of his business. he didn’t even know how much i was being paid bc he had hired someone else to do the onboarding, offboarding, and payment for employees. even tho our team consisted of like 13 ppl at any given time, there were still miscommunications. and we were all seeing each other in person! we weren’t even dealing with differing time zones or different languages.

at the end of the day, q is young and inexperienced. he trusted the wrong ppl to handle parts of his business. all we can hope for is that things change for the better, the whole quackity studios team gets paid fair wages, have stress loads taken off of them, and feel safe and comfortable continuing with the project. i rlly hope pommes admin comes back bc the qsmp wouldn’t be the same without her even if another admin took the place of pommes character. idk if lea would want to come back but i feel like the door should be open for her too and she still deserves compensation for the work she did in her time working on the team. i have high hopes that things will get taken care of and some restructuring happens within the company

#qsmp #lex.txt #idk i just feel like ppl rlly jumped down his throat when the news first broke #and a lot of ppl have called him stupid or incompetent or what have u for not knowing what was happening but also have likely never worked #on an administration team or dealt with situations that would make him not knowing make complete sense #hell if i hadn’t had experience i probably would’ve also thought the same thing #but obv the qsmp is a major passion project and has had so much time money and care put into it #i don’t see q actively making the decision to jeopardize something he has dreamed abt for ages over something like this #or rlly anything at all #do i tag this as discourse????? idk wth #qsmp discourse #quackity

[welcometogrouchland]

I know it was unexpected for plenty of people but I LOVE the implication that in S3 willow is the one rocking a tough, practical jacket and hunter is the one in the cozy nerd sweater. Especially in the context of how they've always viewed each other?

Willow has always been the "leather jacket-wearing bad-boy with a heart of gold" in hunters eyes when you think about it. She's strong, plays a flashy contact sport that's essentially fantasy-roller derby, stands up to authority and fights for a cause, all the while being sweet and silly and sensitive and secretly insecure but healing from something traumatic that happened to her.

And on the flip side, willow didn't meet Hunter when he was the golden guard, she met him when he was pretending to be a normal kid. He was weird and awkward and overzealous and stand offish. His best friend is a bird and his name is Caleb Jasper Bloodwilliams. BUT as the day goes on he makes friends, acts dorky and encouraging, does something really weird and messed up but (most important to willow) demonstrates that he can mend the mistakes he makes. He's soooo the sheltered "good" girl learning to come out of her shell and willow is the risk taking beefcake who shows him the world. It's disgusting and I love it

#the owl house #hunter toh #willow park #huntlow #hi yeah sorry to shippost on main but i couldn't rest til i articulated this thought #like it's perfectly reasonable that eveyone assumed their aesthetics would lean opposite. but this idea makes so much sense and is- #-so funny #obviously this is slightly hyperbolic analysis and is mostly here for comedic purposes but i stand by the central thesis #which is that huntlow flips one of the most famous het romance tropes in a way that is soooo fuckin cute and charming i love it #this is what i mean when i call them bi4bi t4t #again i also love love edgy hunter and cottagecore willow. but those do feel more tied to their s2A characters than who they probably are- #-by the time Thanks to Them roles around #anyway yeah huntlow makes me stupid insane to think abt abdidbfk #secret fuckin sauce that they put in these two

[petrichormore]

God q!BBH is fascinating. His paranoia especially. q!Bad has called himself paranoid in character btw. multiple times. but the one example that immediately comes to mind is when he was talking to q!Aypierre. When people call him paranoid he doesn’t really say “Nuh uh” (at least not seriously - he’s become a little more self-aware) he says “okay maybe I am, maybe I’m not. but don’t you understand why?”

for q!BBH the price of potentially overreacting and hurting his friends’ feelings with his lack of trust is significantly outweighed by the price of an egg fucking dying because he decided to relax. He has been the deciding factor in a life-or-death situation for an egg multiple times. And his overreactions have saved lives. Obviously his developing belief that he’s like the Lone Responsible Caretaker of the Eggs is like blatantly incorrect but it didn’t come into existence in a void. It isn’t just one of his inventions it’s a consequence of other parents putting (whether purposely or accidentally) a lot of pressure on him that he tried and failed to escape from.

So he doesn’t care if he’s paranoid, he doesn’t care if his distrust hurts people, he doesn’t care about what’s reasonable or not - he cares about the eggs being alive. And if being unreasonable has kept the eggs alive in the past then damn you better believe he’s only going to get more unreasonable. And he’s not going to be sorry about it either, not while he feels responsible for every single child on the island.

#also people in real life experience paranoia so when people call q!bbh annoying or stupid for it… kinda makes me go Hm. #coming from someone w a personality disorder btw #and while I don’t experience paranoia as a symptom there are other aspects of q!bbh that I def relate to #idk I guess I’m just #like yeah sure he got defensive at q!Bagi and she probably didn’t expect him to go off on her like that but #experiencing paranoia does not make you less deserving of being acknowledged yknow? #anyway sometimes the way q!BBH is talked about kinda tows the line of ableism #am i being crazy rn? i don’t know #this is mostly about older twitter stuff that I’ve seen cropping up from wayyy back #I’ve had this in the drafts for a while but his convo w Bagi made it relevant again

[sracha]

does anyone know where i can buy these amiibo cards

#rwby #strq #summer rose #qrow branwen #taiyang xiao long #raven branwen #it is wednesday or as i like to call it. woowoo summer saturday!!! #ive had these for a while and just remembered to update summer's outfit lol #summer's bday is the 'are you stupid' incedent but it worked so well with what i already had in mind for her i just kept it. #i gave up with tai's birthday he should probably be a leo. idc #summer and her three stooges (water signs) #anyways we haveeee #uchi summer. lazy tai. cranky twins or one of them can be smug idk #summer with the best decorated house. also cuts down all your trees <3 no one minds #tai very friendly beach comber loves to show you his sand dollars and all his rows of flowers that summer helps him with :(((( #raven that wont ever move out of a tent unless summer is on the same island so she can yell at her for it (the tent is ugly) #btw wolves and ravens irl have a hunting relationship..you could say they are..partners..blinks really loudly #okay i goinggg i going

[goblin-moment]

early seasons macdennis : Dennis is deeply insecure and Mac thinks he's possibly one of the best things to happen to him, and as much as Dennis doesn't want to admit it he relies on Mac and care for him deeply also. They may have their miscommunications at times and both of them aren't good people but they have each other in the end

Modern macdennis : Dennis is a deeply insecure man who has only spiraled as he has gone into his middle age, he still tries to bang young women just so he can say he did it and is deeply afraid of being known and showing any sort of vulnerability. He has been stuck in the same friend group since high school and has lived with the same man for close to 20 causing him to resent them all deeply cause if it were up to him he would have dropped them all (he's had multiple chances to leave but in the end he always came back to them). Time should never run out for him, he should be the exception to it all. Mac is practically in love with Dennis and has been for a long time and he's not completely sure how to express his feelings or if he even should. Mac lacks a filter causing him to overstep Dennis's boundaries on the regular in the hopes that if he pushes hard enough something will click and be the thing Dennis needs and Dennis will run into his arms. This in turn has led Dennis to resent Mac the most out of their friend group causing years of verbal abuse (and scratching), only recently has it seemed like they are best friends of 20+ years. These are two awful people who have done awful things, where in the end the question is 'who else?' They aren't necessarily each other's last options, but who in their right mind would want to live with Dennis? and who in their right mind would want to live with Mac?

#iasip #macdennis #wrote this in like 30 mins #its probably shit #but i feel like the conversations around their relationship can vary due to the fact that its been 18 years of development between the two #this is actually stupid tho i hope none of them ever see this cause then i would have to destroy them then myself #dennis reynolds #mac mcdonald #character analysis #i dunno what to call this #going to work so i can forget about making this for like 6 hours

[mispatchedgreens]

drift compatible bitches bc like knows like

#the radiant emperor #she who became the sun #he who drowned the world #zhu chongba #general ouyang #pacific rim au #bc i CAN and bc ten thousand universes where they're friends #forgive whatever is going on in the background and that railing #is it getting the pount across? probably. so it's good enough #I'm reading hwdtw now and every single thing that happens divests me of my whole mind #every moment? crazy #im so worried abt some of these stupid characters that i manifested this thing where they fight huge monsters from inside mecha #while psychically connected #my art #whats the name of their jaegar tho that's the question #you know how I'm like. suuuper funny and smart. ive been calling it gender trouble in my mind bc im also dumb yeah

[waitineedaname]

how long did it take for greed to figure out ling is fifteen. people always joke about him realizing he's not legally old enough to drink, but tbh they're always talking about ling looking older than he is and I think the much more pressing issue with purchasing alcohol would be that ling doesn't have any legal ID. personally i think it would be very funny if greed didn't realize for ages and then ed turns sixteen during the camping trip and is like "haha what's it like being fifteen loser" and greed is like Excuse Me. What.

#fma #there's nothing quite like having to read extremely dry academic articles to make me write very stupid fma posts #this isn't the most REALISTIC option but it is the funniest #realistically he'd probably figure it out pretty quick #but god it's funny thinking about him realizing he's stuck in a teenager's body. hell on earth #ed is like that tweet about someone turning fourteen and calling their friend like what's it like being thirteen idiot #except greed is like hang on. you're telling me I can't legally buy cigarettes in this body? #and ling's like were you planning to smoke them??? #and he's like no. I just wanted to have them. and now I CAN'T #fma posting

[strangesickness]

i think my favorite part of IT chapter two is when eddie crashes his car. like it kind of has everything. eddie insane road rage <3. eddie being a bit of a dick "it's my job to assess risks", it has "i love you mommy" which makes me want to jump off a bridge. eddie gesturing wildly instead of holding onto the wheel. his stupid fucking "edward kaspbrak speaking" <3 the face he makes when he's talking to mike lol. like he's expecting the car display to change. "EDDIE! are you okay?" "yeah! i'm pretty good."

#this of course isn't even mentioning how the phone calls might be my favorite part of the film in general... #richie being a loser <3 #patty <3 #bev throwing shit at tom <3 #ben in his fucking zoom meetings... <3 #bill being kind of the worst guy in the world and also bad at his job <3 #its hard to choose a fav scene tho... i'm still not over “probably like he was as a kid... the best” and the jade o h my god the jade #and when richie kills henry and when eddie stabs henry #also incredibly normal about the leper scene tbh... #also enjoyed when mike drugged bill and also their stupid “i love you”'s at the end #this movie has a lot of duds for me (i fucking hate adrian's death scene but thats more of an issue with king than the film #i also hate the barrens scene and the two dead children scenes are very meh to me. also not a fan of the pennywise fight because my EYES #why are there so many flashing lights... i have to close my eyes for half that scene because it gives me a headache) #but is overall sooooo silly <3

[charmac]

Bit of a (late) long-ass personal post, but this past year has been insanely monumental for me and a lot of it, if not almost all of it, was centered around this silly comedy show.

Starting the year adopting the most perfect cat in the world purely because he looked like Agent Jack Bauer, I've ended up meeting amazing people and making great friendships, both online and in person, I met Glenn and Charlie and MEE and Meg (and Humphrey) and Danny?? got my first tattoo, bought way too much whiskey, and I've just really, genuinely enjoyed my time posting on Tumblr, making shit, and writing fic more than I have in half a decade. It's stupid, and sappy, and probably pretty parasocial, but I owe so many of my best experiences this past year not only to the show, but to joining this community. Because I wouldn't have experienced much of any of this if I hadn't jumped the casual fan on r/IASIP ship and washed up ashore here. And being here has improved my life and my mental health in ways I can't even begin to properly express.

So here's a photo dump of what I have to dub "A Very Sunny 2023":

To everyone here, thank you for being a part of my 2023. I'm not sure what 2024 has in store, but I'm happy I'll be here, creating and experiencing whatever it is, through and beyond.

#personal #sunny 2023 #sunnyblr #sorry to be really annoying but yk #this is my blog and i like to use it to document things #and this is the best format for this kinda thing :) so excuse me #this has been a crazy year when i look at it all #i had a shortlist of photos for this post and it ended up 72 photos #lmfao like damn.. gotta be selective STILL #the expansion of my sunny wall is like poetic you see #again im sorry i think thisi s probably peak absolute insanity to most ppl who follow me #but so much shit happened i wouldnt have dreamed of #like crazy insane wow i still cant believe this was all real #glenn flipping me off remains my favourite thing to have captured #i love that stupid video it makes me go crazyyyy #but yes obviously top moment goes to charlie calling me out in the audience about the tattoo. then finding out he told mee about it #again thank you. like. i straight up owe all of this to sunnyblr existing #if it didnt i would just. not have been this deep and able to meet people and experience all of this

[the-sky-is-my-home]

People Luffy canonically thinks are stupid:

Zoro

Garp

Buggy

what a list of absolute legends but he’s also right lol

#one piece #one piece spoilers #one piece 1056 #buggy the clown #monkey d. luffy #roronoa zoro #monkey d. garp #maybe I forgot someone but these are the ones I KNOW he called stupid #probably coby too right at the start??? #but I'm not sure

[ganondoodle]

serious question, are there ANY (wired) headsets made today anymore that have seperated plugs for audio and microphone??

usb ones always cause trouble and the only other ones i can find are those with combined audio+mic into one plug, which i dont have the ports on my PC for.............

i tried looking through adapters but the only ones i can find are those that combine seperate ones, id need the reverse (if thats even possible)

(visualization bc i feel like i am losing my sanity trying to explain what i mean, am i stupid? did i halluzinate the two jack/plug thing???? do only cheap garbage ones have this??? is that one of the gaming chair things??? like oh you want a GAMING headset- that means either combined or usb haHA???)

#ganondoodles talks #personal #issue being that the new headset i bought is usb only and- of course- has a background noise that probably only ppl like me hear #im super sensitive to sound #like i hear bats and dog whistles you arent meant to hear #old headset (not the broken one) has a slight static and trouble with very silent sound which it cuts out #hence i got the newer ones (the now broken one) which didnt have that problem but well .. it broke after little use #new one has a weird beeping chirping in the bg #im so tired #(new one is the razer kraken v3- its usb only and any other plugs they have for other models are the damned combined one) #my computer isnt even that old but i literally cant find a single headset with those plugs seperated when i dont have that port #will i ever find a headset that fucking works with no drawbacks???? #(wireless isnt an option bc i hate wireless anything that isnt a controller you can also use wired) #i know it may sound like its not working right but i am 100% certain its one only people like me can even hear #also i got no nerves to try and send anything back to amazon ... for once i bought it there.... #or am i just stupid or did i miss some shit that made it standard to just call it differently or sth #like my pc has an audio port at the front and a mic port- two ports #the plugs (jacks???????) i see are the ones that have it in ONE #and i dont have it

[donnas-dollface]

need me a valeria to lay on and listen to me grumble and complain about my aching joints after practice ☹️😣

and probably pass out on midway through a sentence

#and probably roll her eyes at my stupid antics #I YEARN #valeria garza #valeria x reader #valeria #valeria cod #valeria mw2 #cod modern warfare #call of duty modern warfare #modern warefare 2 #call of duty modern warfare 2 #el sin nombre #el sin nombre x reader #los vaqueros #call of duty

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Stampede Wolfwood got Metaphorically Isekai'd (No This is Not a Shitpost)

Oh my god if this winds up being part of my legacy I'll probably cry.

So. Everyone who's watched the new show knows that Wolfwood is introduced by getting hit by Meryl's van in the middle of the desert where he is literally the only thing to get hit for miles around. What an entrance. Welcome to the team buddy.

[ID: A screenshot from Trigun Stampede Episode 4. At an above view, the van has spun, unfortunately sending the trailer back part crashing directly into Wolfwood. He is starfished face-first into it, rather comically. End ID.]

It's funny as heck, but, since I am deranged, I'm gonna try and convince you that this is not only an isekai joke, but that the basic premise of an isekai actually applies fairly well to Stampede Wolfwood in the first season... but then a lot of the standard tropes are made into notable and tragic subversions. Also please note I have never actually watched an isekai anime so maybe take all this with a grain of salt. Or several. (Also isekai is a really broad genre. I'm talking specifically about the tropiest things to come out of it - please don't take what I'm about to discuss as representative of the entire genre!)

In the manga, and I believe in the 98 anime as well, Wolfwood is spotted by Vash while him and the insurance girls are travelling on a bus. He is out in the middle of the desert, and so thirsty and exhausted he's initially mistaken for dead. Vash and the girls manage to cause enough of a ruckus that he is literally saved (which echoes the influence they, but especially Vash, will have on him later on), and they all end up on the bus as him and Vash become acquainted - the start of their companionship, and the start of their journey together (being quite literally on a moving vehicle). In the 23 anime, it all seems set up to give us the same intro: there is a vehicle, Wolfwood is clearly exhausted from trekking through the desert, Meryl and Vash are there... and then, suddenly -

[ID: Two screenshots from Trigun Stampede Episode 4. In the first, Wolfwood is walking with Punisher across the sand with a bright blue sky background. He does not see the van coming into sharp focus on a direct path towards him. In the second, Meryl, in the driver's seat, looks out with a shocked expression. Roberto's hand has reached over to grab the wheel. End ID.]

Pfft. Sorry I had to rewatch this to get the screenshots and I swear it does not get any less funny. Anyways, Wolfwood gets hit instead of getting rescued, but the end result is the same - he ends up in the vehicle and his journey with them begins.

So. Why the difference?

Well, I can only really speculate, and honestly it was probably just for the humour of it, but I do have another (deranged) suggestion.

See, Wolfwood in the manga is a little different from Stampede's Wolfwood - he's a lot friendlier for one (though no less trying to scam people), and he's got a little bit more self-made purpose (protecting and providing for the orphanage), even if he still lacks true agency. Stampede Wolfwood, by contrast, is a lot more aimless. He's on constant survival mode, which makes him a lot more openly abrasive right from the get-go, more cavalier about his own life (smokes way more than in the manga, takes bullets when there's actually no reason to), and a lot less in control of his outward persona (there have been many observations I've seen on how he's not the best at holding back his emotions - imo I don't think manga Wolfwood is especially good at that either, but in Stampede, it's really obvious).

Stampede Wolfwood also plays up his "monstrousness" a lot more in front of people, which is probably the most significant difference to me. Manga Wolfwood... doesn't exactly try to hide it, but he tends to take a "well, somebody had to do what needed to get done" attitude, like a kind of tired "I know there's no going back and I know I've turned into a monster. This is all I know how to be now. Somebody has to make the hard calls." But he feels shame about it all the same - look at how he puts his sunglasses on whenever he's about to do something he finds reprehensible (well, except the Ninelives fight... but no one was around to witness him there). It's made pretty explicit later that the glasses are a way for him to say "don't look at me. don't see what I've become".

Meanwhile, Stampede Wolfwood never takes the glasses off. He's much more upfront about the threat he poses - calling out Vash for not watching his back, outright saying he could've shot him - not a smart move when trying to earn someone's trust. His teasing, when he does it, isn't quite as playful, and has a bit of a bite to it. It's almost like he wants to be hated; like he's torn between justifying the necessity of his actions and convincing others that he is just as much of a monster as he feels.

I really think the key differences have a lot to do with their respective situations. Wolfwood in the manga... he got out, for a bit. He couldn't go back to the orphanage, but for at least a little bit, he wasn't under the Eye of Michael's thumb, he did get to meet people outside of missions and travel a bit, and was acting on his own intent... until he ended up pulled back into it because of Knives. Stampede Wolfwood has been under their control since he was taken from the orphanage. Everyone he loves is a hostage. He's taken on the name of his weapon and has known nothing else except this world of darkness - there's very little to imply he's travelled or spoken to anyone without it being for some mission. He's under consistent surveillance.

This "babysitting" mission, then, is something very different from his usual. It's not an assassination. Even more so, it's putting him in close contact with people who are not part of the world that he inhabits, the only one he's known since he was taken, which kickstarts significant changes in his life. You could even say he's been... transported to a different world than the one he'd lived in up to this point...

Enter Truck-kun. Or, rather, Van-kun.

Alright, so what is an isekai? Essentially, it's a wide-ranging genre where the protagonist gets transported or reincarnated to another world (usually regular world -> fantasy/sci-fi world), and typically involves an ordinary person becoming important/powerful in this new world - the genre is, a lot of the time, a mix of power fantasy and wish fulfillment.

Obviously, there is no literal transporting to another world here; it is still very much the same world (I'll bring up why this is important later.) But it's notable that Wolfwood remains very much the outlier in their group - he does not blend in, and his methods and approach are very different to that of the rest, who do not come from the same "world" as him. It's the start of a pretty drastic change in situation for him. It's why I really wish there were more episodes showing his dynamic with the group before it all went to hell - I bet he was so awkward.

The next thing I want to mention is that if you thought I was going to be arguing that there is a standard isekai parallel here... well I lied to you. A lot of the common tropes actually get subverted in kinda heartbreaking ways.

Usually the protagonist of an isekai (not always, but often) is some kind of chosen one. They are able to excel in situations that others cannot, and it's usually because they bring some kind of skill or knowledge from their old life that the people in the new world, obviously, don't. They tend to become ultra powerful, well able to take on any of their challenges in this new world, with advantages others don't have.

This doesn't sound like anything to do with Wolfwood after being hit by Meryl's van. But it sure sounds an awful lot like him after being taken by the Eye of Michael.

He is transferred from his comparatively normal life to one straight out of a sci-fi horror. He's a chosen "Child of Blessing", ranked "S+". He was able to survive grievous harm and experimentation, "excelling" where most other hapless kids did not. What did he bring with him from his old life that none of the people in his new life seem to have that allowed him to survive in the way he did? Well... he had something to protect didn't he? That's how he continues to struggle on. This is far from the sentiment shared by people like Conrad and Legato.

And so Wolfwood becomes ultra powerful - his body is fast, strong and resilient; he's efficient and good at what he's been trained to do. But this is far from anything he wanted. The power fantasy is subverted. Wolfwood is powerful enough to handle pretty much any threat that's thrown at him... but all it does is isolate and alienate him, and make him feel like a monster. Another aspect of isekai is that freedom one gets from being able to start over and become someone closer to their ideal self in a new setting - that's the wish fulfillment part. Well, Wolfwood has never been further from free, or less like the person he wishes to be. He hates everything he has become, but can't get out. Unable to change his situation, and increasingly jaded and disillusioned, Wolfwood takes on the moniker of "Punisher" and gives up on his old self. "Wolfwood" has effectively died.

Other than "transfer" isekai, there is also another kind - the "reincarnation" isekai. I'm not going to even touch bringing up the premise of reincarnation with a guy who carries around a giant cross on his back as I am far from qualified (knowing very little about Christianity at all), but I think it's worth noting that Wolfwood's arc (in all iterations) has much to do with his ever-present conflict with Vash over morality, but also just as much about his struggle to reconcile the person he was with the person he was forced to become, and if there is such a thing as forgiveness or redemption for him.

If "Wolfwood" has died before the story started, then he is "reincarnated" over the course of the story as he slowly starts to find himself again, with the kickstarting impetus being him getting hit by Meryl's van.

The changes don't start instantly. He wakes and things seem relatively normal - the plan is working, there's someone obviously suspicious of him - all stuff he's probably very used to. And then Vash goes and completely blindsides him.

[ID: A screenshot from Trigun Stampede Episode 4. A close up of Vash's face in the dim lighting, with eyes softened and a smile. End ID.]

"I can see it in his eyes."

Okay, so we all kinda giggle a little bit here because who the hell says that to some sketchy guy wearing dark sunglasses in a dark cave-like area when you've only just met, but I really want to stress that this is probably the first truly positive interaction Wolfwood has had in years... and I think Vash is well aware of that.

Wolfwood starts the transition from darkness to light... quite literally.

Almost all of Wolfwood's defining scenes are in the darkness of night, in contrast to the brightly lit desert in the day - think of when he moves away from the fire to speak to Zazie at the end of his intro episode, and assassinates the EoM traitor at the beginning of episode 6. In episode 5, we also get this:

[ID: Two screenshots from Trigun Stampede Episode 5. In the first, Rollo has Vash pinned to a metal wall by his neck. The sun can be seen between the two of them. In the second, Rollo lies dead on the ground. It is now night, and Vash stands over him, head low. Wolfwood stands a distance away. End ID.]

As Vash tries to speak to Rollo, to talk him down, the sun, though setting, is bright and illuminates both their faces. This all comes crashing down, literally, as Wolfwood takes the shot. Rollo falls, the sun stops shining on him, and by the time they all reach his body, night has fallen and the world is in darkness. The light goes out for Rollo... and in Wolfwood's eyes, for him too. He shot out of mercy, after all. He's living a nightmare he sees no escape from nor feels deserving of escaping from - worse, he feels as though he's a part of that darker setting, dragging it into their journey along with him.

However, we've established the lens of the "reincarnation" isekai for the purposes of this analysis, and along with that usually comes a way to compensate or reconcile for missed opportunities or mistakes made in the past by becoming something closer to one's own original ideal - sometimes this can even be a literal starting over, by being reborn into one's own younger self. And that's the importance of what Vash says to Wolfwood in episode 4 - he sees the potential in Wolfwood; the old self he thought had "died" a long time ago. Vash knows he's not the person he's been made to become and encourages him - not to do as Vash does, but to do as Wolfwood actually wants to do but thought for the longest time as hopeless. After all, what is a blank ticket if not a second chance or a new lease on life?

On the sand steamer in episode 6, the scene starts off in daylight once again, but after Wolfwood realizes the new assailant is Livio and we see their backstory, the snap back to the present scene is at night, and the scene darkens as the situation becomes more dire... and as Wolfwood comes to the conclusion that he will have to kill his brother.

But as Zazie's bug, or "eye", gets shot by Vash deflecting what would have been a fatal blow to Livio... suddenly, Wolfwood is free to act without the EoM's ever present surveillance. This is a serious step to severing the binds to that old life, and, as Wolfwood ultimately does not want any harm to come to Livio, he finds another way. And the sky starts to lighten again.

[ID: A screenshot from Trigun Stampede Episode 7. A close up of Livio's face with a distant, pensive expression. A wisp of smoke trails underneath as the pinkish hue of the sunrise is seen in the background. End ID.]

Of course, while this does succeed in waking him, it doesn't actually save him. But it is enough that Wolfwood decides to try letting a little bit of hope back in - to acclimate, even if just a little, to Vash's ideals, or his "world". Wolfwood's wish, to protect the orphanage, is (temporarily) fulfilled - in broad daylight, and without the death he'd been so accustomed to in his old "world". While he outwardly denies it, angrily telling Vash that he is no longer "Wolfwood" and instead merely "the Punisher", that "I'm not like you", the episode's title card, which appears directly after this exchange, does not agree.

[ID: A screenshot from Trigun Stampede Episode 7. A black background with white text; the title card for the episode that reads "#07 Wolfwood". End ID.]

He's more himself than he's been in a long time.

In that sense, going back to my insane original premise, we can say that he was isekai'd once by transfer, turning him into someone else... then isekai'd again by reincarnation after he thought his old self dead, helping him to start on the path to finding that younger self and that hope he thought he'd lost. It's a double subversion, in a way, as the first is far from wish fulfillment, and the latter is actually a restoration - a realization that as he slowly starts to transition to the light, he actually never left this world at all when he was changed against his will. He's not a monster of the dark. He still has a place in this lighter world.

Heartwarming, in a way, but also kind of heartbreaking, as if he hasn't truly left this world then there are still consequences.

Wolfwood, after this, still has to complete his contract. He didn't actually get out.

And Vash, for all that he appears to be someone "not like" Wolfwood, is actually far more similar than he'd initially suspected - Vash, too, came from darkness. The Big Fall happened at night. And even as Wolfwood's world grows lighter, Vash's grows ever darker as what he has tried to stave off bleeds into the light, culminating in the events of July, which take place entirely at night, and are truly Vash's darkest hours. Rather than Vash being some naïve creature of a lighter world that Wolfwood cannot reach, he is instead another person from darkness who is struggling for the light all his own.

Because of course, there is no "lighter world" or "darker world". No true "travel" between the two. Just one world that is both at once. And what one finds in it is dependent on what one chooses to read into their circumstances. A kinder, brighter world isn't something they can simply get isekai'd to. It's something these characters have to struggle to make a reality - it's what Vash does, it's what Meryl takes a stand for, it's what Wolfwood, deep down, wants to believe is possible. Hope is something you build yourself, etc.

Anyways, I can't believe I just wrote all that. I think I'm losing my mind. If you came out of this going, "Story, what the hell are you talking about?" then... well. Me too. Thanks for reading anyways!

#storyrambles #this is safe for tristamp only peeps btw i do mention the manga but there's no real spoilers #somebody should probably rescind my analysis certifications #hdfuvhbsd #anyways. wolfwood gets isekai'd is a sentence i never thought i'd read let alone write. multiple times #call me ace detective the way i am ace. and also a detective. #trigun #tristamp #trigun analysis #<-god. sure #nicholas d. wolfwood #I SPENT HOURS ON THIS STUPID POST OH MY GOD