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On a whim I pulled out my old tape and watched episode 17 of Trigun again. Ahhh... Knives was such an evil psychotic little monster.

Looking at events, it actually would have been better for everyone if that crewmember Rowen had succeeded in shooting the little beast. He certainly wasn't lying with his babble that it was all Knive's fault, and that he should kill him now. Would have saved a countless, untold number of lives.

But I guess that goes against the whole theme of "save the butterfly and the spider," doesn't it? ::sigh::

Watching this, though... if they ever continued Trigun as a series, or had a movie, they could do so with a prequel to the timeline. I'd like to find out more details about Vash and Knives's beginnings, like how they were actually born and what they are really capable of doing. Also, Rem and the captain were interesting characters, as were the others.

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From:

jaina.livejournal.com

The only bad thing about that episode is that it's not long enough. There's so much there to work with. (A lot of people use this reason to whine about how the manga is sooo much beeeetter but I tell them to stfu and come back when Nightow has better storytelling skills.)

It really, really would have been better if Rowan had shot Knives. I loved that scene, actually. We don't know what Knives did, but we know he screwed with something in those people's heads, and the way Rowan was acting makes it all the more freakier. I always felt worst for Joey; he really seemed like he cared about Knives and Vash and he didn't give Vash a mental complex.

Makes me wonder what'll happen after the series if Vash can't save Knives. Even if he can be reformed, Knives certainly does not deserve to be free. Giving him a life sentence in jail is too easy on him, but then, the planet has no long-term jails that could hold him. So either Vash takes care of him or Knives dies. Not much of a choice for Vash; new ideals or no, killing his brother would fuck him up. So if he couldn't control Knives and it came down to a choice...shivers.

From:

rashaka.livejournal.com

I loved that scene, actually. We don't know what Knives did, but we know he screwed with something in those people's heads, and the way Rowan was acting makes it all the more freakier. I always felt worst for Joey; he really seemed like he cared about Knives and Vash and he didn't give Vash a mental complex.

When I first watched Rem Saverem I was entranced by the episode, because it gave so much incredible information in just one episode... information that answered so many questions (and created so many more) and changed the way you looked at everything on the planet and in Vash's relationships.

I was also freaked, because the episode is like one of those movies like A Simple Plan, where everything starts out ok, but then one thing goes wrong, and soon the whole thing snowballs from bad to worse to a total nightmare. In the beginning of that twenty minutes you have a crew of good people raising two brilliant and happy children on a noble mission to save humanity... by the end of the twenty minutes the crew is dead, the last member has sacrificed herself, the human race is about to die on impact and you're in a tiny shuttle witnessing the destruction of trust between two twin brothers as one laughs and one screams.

I loved the conversation between Joey and Rem... it seemed very natural, for an anime scene. One of the things that anime has difficulty projecting is naturalism and realism in dialogue... that scene felt very natural, like any normal person could be having it. That's what I liked about the ship's crew... for all they were only there for one episode, they felt like real people instead of personality types. Even the jerk was 3-dimensional... it's hard to write him off when you're watching him be inhumanely punished without due trial.

Makes me wonder what'll happen after the series if Vash can't save Knives. Even if he can be reformed, Knives certainly does not deserve to be free. Giving him a life sentence in jail is too easy on him, but then, the planet has no long-term jails that could hold him. So either Vash takes care of him or Knives dies. Not much of a choice for Vash; new ideals or no, killing his brother would fuck him up. So if he couldn't control Knives and it came down to a choice...shivers.

I know. Most fics seem to have Knives be redeemable, but... it's hard to believe he's going to be. Vash didn't make Knives see the light at the end of the series, all he did was prove that good beats evil... not that evil will be saved. And even then, what Vash mostly proved was that he was the stronger of the two. That's not quite the same as using his Cutie Moon Rod to transform and purify Knives of all negative energy and evil thoughts.

I have a question, because you've read more VxM fic than I have... how come in most of them Vash's extensive wounds, scars, and body mutilations aren't mentioned during the sex scenes? I mean, sometimes there's talk about scars, but no one has yet mentioned (that I've read) how uncomfortable that big metal grate on his chest would be chaffing against Meryl's boob. Major chafing, there, I would think.

Speaking of... I just realized that I love that scene in episode 18 where long-haired Vash is sitting up in his hospital bed, upper body naked, talking to Knives and sort of looking down in profile. His face and hair looked very hot in that scene... whereas most of the other scenes the long hair wasn't that flattering.

I'm thinking of looking for screencaps... do you know any really good screencap sites for Trigun eps?

From:

jaina.livejournal.com

I was also freaked, because the episode is like one of those movies like A Simple Plan, where everything starts out ok, but then one thing goes wrong, and soon the whole thing snowballs from bad to worse to a total nightmare.

Oh, that's my FAVORITE aspect of it. It's such a horror movie; there is something dreadfully wrong here, and things fall apart. I love love love it. I agree that the crew was really well-done. JoeyxRem! XD

That's not quite the same as using his Cutie Moon Rod to transform and purify Knives of all negative energy and evil thoughts.

Thanks, I'm not EVER going to get that image out of my head. There's a fic I've read that has good ideas but the execution is less then stellar--anyways, in it, Meryl knocks Vash out and goes to kill Knives because someone has to and she won't let Vash hurt himself that way. Very interesting concept. The fic

fadingembers and I are working on deals with the non-redeemable thing to some extent, but I'd love to see more fics that touch on it.

I have a question, because you've read more VxM fic than I have... how come in most of them Vash's extensive wounds, scars, and body mutilations aren't mentioned during the sex scenes? I mean, sometimes there's talk about scars, but no one has yet mentioned (that I've read) how uncomfortable that big metal grate on his chest would be chaffing against Meryl's boob. Major chafing, there, I would think.

My guess is that people mostly get caught in the moment of writing sexy pr0n and don't think about it, or think it detracts from the mood. I'm probably guilty of this a little; I know we've mentioned it before, but I think the first fic

fadingembers and I co-wrote lacked mention of scars. Oopsie.

arafel has scans of a doujinshi in which Vash's grate does scratch Meryl. Heh. He makes it better, though.

Speaking of... I just realized that I love that scene in episode 18 where long-haired Vash is sitting up in his hospital bed, upper body naked, talking to Knives and sort of looking down in profile. His face and hair looked very hot in that scene... whereas most of the other scenes the long hair wasn't that flattering.

Mmm, it does. And that's such a dramatical scene! My favorite instances of floop hair occur in Live Through, though. Favorite episode omg.

I'm thinking of looking for screencaps... do you know any really good screencap sites for Trigun eps?

Planet Gunsmoke (dot com) is the mecca for Trigun screencaps. I use it for all of my iconning needs.

BTW, if you ever want to yap on AIM or sth, my name's JainaX. But don't feel obligated. ^_^

From:

rashaka.livejournal.com

My favorite instances of floop hair occur in Live Through, though.

My favorite floop hair? Episode 2. Or 3. Whatever... the Wet!Hair!Vash episode. That's the only part of it I remember clearly. ::licks lips::

And that's such a dramatical scene!

It is. I was going to watch my DVD of the last few episodes, but I decided last minute to watch my recording of eps 17-19, because I hadn't seen them in a long long time and had forgotten details. I'm glad I did... there's things that I forgot totally, like elements of Vash's conversation with Wolfwood, and that there was the flashback to July.

You know, I can still remember the first time I watched the fifth and sixth episodes, with the purple-dress-plant-operator-woman, and they had that briefest flashback to July, and someone waving and saying "Hi Vash!" and then Vash's look of horror. The friend I was watching it with and me went ":gasp!: OMG did you see that?!" We didn't know what it meant, but we were freaked.

I bring this up because ever repeat of Trigun I've seen since first watching the whole thing (which I watched chronologically), be it my own stuff or on tv, I'm always finding all these foreshadowy elements that I totally missed the first time I watched it. There's little things that mean nothing to a first-time viewer, but when you go back already knowing who Knives and Vash and Rem are, there's these entire new levels of hints and foreshadowing that come to light. All the little weird stuff that bugged you in the back of your head or never quite made sense all fit now, and Vash's reactions in certain situations suddenly make sense. I love that feeling.

BTW, if you ever want to yap on AIM or sth, my name's JainaX. But don't feel obligated. ^_^

You're one of only, like, 2 people I know on LJ who will not only talk about Trigun with me, but will go into these long juicy detailed analyses and do so with a VxM slant, and talk about fanfic, and all that stuff. Of COURSE I'd chat with you. If I had AOL. I don't... I have MSN Messenger. Do you? my name on MSN is my email addy: rashaka_eos@hotmail.com

Thanks for the doujinshi link... do you know of any translated doujinshi? I usually pass on the medium entirely because I don't care to read it without reading the words too (though I'll certainly look at this one.)

From:

jaina.livejournal.com

Mrrgh...will continue discussion in reply tomorrow, but wanted to say that I've never used MSN before, but I think it installed automatically with XP so I'll have to try it when I'm not about to pass out for the night. Hee, AOL is evil, I just use it because enough other people do that it's convenient. I guess that means I have loose morals. WOO!

From:

jaina.livejournal.com

I love all the different things you catch on second, third, and fourth viewings. I've been through the entire series as a whole four or five times now (repeat viewings of Live Through are a whole different matter) and sometimes I still pick up on small things. Makes a big difference in how you analyze the characters. The second time through is almost as fun as the first, I think. Maybe moreso.

I have some translations for doujinshi that

greyvorfeed did, but none online at the moment. I really need to fix that--Mayfly needs a dj section anyway. I'm such a doujinshi ho that I'll buy even though I can only read a few words.

Set up MSN earlier--really bad eggs, eh? ;) I'm Bitter Wench or bitter_reader@hotmail.com. (Used a different addy from normal as I am spam paranoid.)