TriMax 8 Chapter 1

[tiggymalvern]

Yo, I is back! And something like normal service should hopefully resume for a little while, though I still have to manage to become a semi-organised person again. That doesn't happen easily....

Chapter One - 'Shinkou' (Invasion)


Sumire didn't translate this one, so you'll just have to rely on my sad attempts.

The bridge across to the town outside Knives' hide-out. A man in a bar is talking about his plans to cross the bridge to catch a steamship. There's a sudden loud engine noise, and everyone rushes to look. The supports and cables of the suspension bridge start to buckle, and then the bridge and everyone on it plunge into the gorge.

Pages 08-09. On the other side of the bridge, the Ark rises into the sky.


Page 10. On board the Ark, Vash has been stripped of his guns, and most of his clothes just to be sure. But he's still doing his crazy exercises as Knives comments on how Vash never gives up. He looks kind of sad as he talks about the physical damage Vash withstands.


Knives looks up at one of the Plant Angels in a bulb. She looks distorted and distressed, obviously unwell. Knives is musing on how the power has been wrung out of so many Plants, and how he's going to use them now to kill all the human garbage. Vash finally speaks up, admitting that Plants have been burned out, have died.

Page 12. But he insists that humans had to rely on the Plants ('on us' he amends after a pause) because it was the only way to survive on this dustball planet. He tells Knives not to forget - if the humans were compelled to drive the Plants to exhaustion and death, it's all because of the Big Fall. That was the start of it all.


Page 13. Knives doesn't much like his brother telling him everything is his fault, and Vash screams as Legato contorts his body and throws him to the ground.


Wolfwood looks up as the Ark flies overhead. Knives and Elendira discuss the status of the Ark's armaments. Knives is looking forward to wreaking some havoc.

Pages 16-17. A repeating announcement as the Ark rises above the nearby town, with a variety of reactions to its departure, including 'Shut up so I can sleep in peace' and 'Mum, where's the camera?' XD


Page 19. A group of soldiers watch the Ark, in shock that something like that can exist. The commander is less easily impressed, recognising Lost Technology and trying to reassure his men, saying that anyone who underestimates the strength of the army is a fool and other such motivational stuff. And then they see three people emerging from the dust clouds left by the departing Ark - Chapel, Livio and Wolfwood.


Page 21. The army opens fire, and Wolfwood whips the cross punisher around, firing a rocket into the ground directly in front of the soldiers, the blast throwing them backwards.


Page 23. Chapel bursts out laughing because Wolfwood didn't kill them, and gives a long speech reminding him that they're all Gung-Ho-Guns and Eye of Michael, and what that means. (Chapel never says anything in three words when he can say it in twenty instead *sigh*.)


Pages 26-7. In two double-page spreads, Livio takes his cue from Chapel and attacks the soldiers.


Pages 28-9. Wolfwood puts a gun to Chapel's head and says that's enough. Chapel just laughs again. "That was slow." The soldiers are all already dead. "Don't misunderstand," says Chapel. "The people are going to die now. Perhaps it's good fortune, death rather than this time of painful existence."


Page 30. Knives stands on top of the Ark. The Plant Angels he's collected look up. 'Knives!! Wait...!!!'


Knives thinks back to the end of his conversation with Vash. Vash is still trying to convince him that humans can change. He says it will take time to get things back how they were, but humans can advance. Knives turns to walk out. "Rem, at least, was like that!" Vash calls after him.

Page 33. Knives turns back, and the two brothers glare at one another. "That time it takes is the problem," says Knives. "And meanwhile, our people die, exploited, ebbing away, discarded, one by one."


Knives says history tells them that humans use things up with no mercy and no thought (image of smoking chimneys and polluted, hazy air). He says it's down to them to defend the right. "Have you forgotten Tessla's appearance?" he asks. Legato suddenly goes very wide-eyed, and Vash manages to raise his arm and punch his hand hard into the deck.

Page 36. "I haven't forgotten for an instant!!!" Vash shouts, a tear trickling down his cheek, but he's still looking way more pissed off than sad. "Because of that day, we went insane!!"


Vash talks more about violence and suffering, how Tessla's death was part of the chain of strife and enmity, and about shutting away feelings that are the cornerstone of self (something that's supposed to be deep like that anyway!).

Page 38. "The real fight is inside," he says. "Don't look away from me, Knives!!"


Knives smirks, and then switches abruptly to his best crazy psycho look. Knives thinks it's useful to know how the opposition think, just in case the humans do start learning again. (I'm reaching a bit here, there's sentence after sentence with no indication of anything useful like subject or object to work with).

Page 40. Back with Knives on top of the Ark again. He says this will restore justice.


Ah, my little thing for Vash being all stubborn and pissy is thoroughly fed by this chapter XD.
Okay, it's actually pretty well fed by most of this book *drool*. I love this volume in so many ways....

Comments

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I think Chapel's hedging his bets here. We know he wants to kill Wolfwood - he said that - but he won't risk making Legato's mistake of killing someone before he's got Knives' say-so. Technically, at this point, Wolfwood has done exactly what Knives wanted him to do, and might still be considered a useful asset. So in the meantime, Chapel's doing some playing around with Wolfwood's head to see what he finds. And Wolfwood has no plans to take on Chapel and Livio at the same time, so I think the uneasy truce is pretty realistic.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

A righteous, pissed-off Vash is a wonder to behold.

Ain't he just? XD I *love* the way he throws it in Knives' face that so much of this crap is his fault. Never backs down from anything, Vash - even when he's in a hole, he just keeps on digging.

Knives is certainly willing to watch the Bulb Plants burn out when he won't let it happen to his brother. That may be a familial thing, but I don't think he considers them individuals on the same level as himself and Vash, no. The Bulb Plants don't seem to be big on this reality, I agree - whether they're mostly living in another one, or just have very childish minds, I honestly haven't decided.

I think the comment in Max 3 is referring to the fact that Vash could easily protect himself from injury if he was willing to use his powers. We've seen how easily the Angel wings stop bullets, but Vash has gone for a century taking the bullets rather than risk losing control of it.

Your other point about healing is still valid, though. Knives spent years trapped in a bubble to repair the damage he took in July. Maybe Vash isn't willing to cut himself off from life that way, maybe he figures it's pointless because he'll only get shot up again. Maybe he just didn't know he could - Vash and Knives are figuring out a lot of stuff as they go along (the black hair springs to mind) and Knives figures most of it out faster because he's willing to explore his abilities while Vash suppresses his. It's one of those things Nightow hasn't explained (yet), so we can invent what we like :-)

[sara-tsuzuki.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your post!! Is so well look again our dear Wolfwood, even in dramatic moments, trying not to kill anyone (except Chapel XD).
Seeing Vash doing his crazy exercises is, ehem, a plus, but nothing like his "I'm pissed off!!" looks, That I learned to aprecciate so much here.
I know in the nexts chapters Wolfwood and Vash will be so close to one another, really hard moments...Oh My!!! ;_;

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Wolfwood, even in dramatic moments, trying not to kill anyone

That, I think, is a definite sign of Vash-influenced change. Wolfwood's always been about protecting the innocent, but when we first met him he would have killed anybody who was shooting at him without a qualm.

nothing like his "I'm pissed off!!" looks, That I learned to aprecciate so much here.

See, this is why I do all this pimping really - I do it to convince everyone else that I'm right and sometimes it seems to work XD

Let's just say that the yaoi is another of those reasons that I love this book, because, seriously....

[sara-tsuzuki.livejournal.com]

Yes!!! That´s a fact...Naitou's drawing of Vash and Wolfwood is more and more best-beauty and hot....*drools* and all of this in a angst background of evil and chaos...+____+

[imre-nico.livejournal.com]

You're back! Yay! >;.D

thanks for bringing the weather with you...>_<

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I am! And the weather I left behind was quite a step up on what I've found here, I'll have you know, bitch! Though the same was true when I went the other way too. Maybe I'm just jinxed....

[stickmarionette.livejournal.com]

I'm not too sure what the etiquette is for 'stranger who is slavishly grateful for your hard work' so I'll just say thanks for doing all the scanning and translating - this obsessed fan certainly appreciates it very much. ^_^

This obsessed fan has recently caught a severe case of Trigun-itis and has probably been using up a lot of your bandwidth going through your backlog of scans multiple times. Have to say, the scans don't exactly help 'cure' the obsessive tendencies. XD

*has a fangirl moment*

Thanks also for your lovely Trigun fics. I'm a sucker for good characterization and your fics are brilliant at that and so much more. Almost makes me want to pick up another (writing) fandom, which I seriously do not need right now. O.o

Thank you. :D

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I've never been too sure of the protocols either, but I've done it to people a couple of times myself XD.

Bandwidth on the images is unlimited so you can drool all you like. They're not going anywhere XD. And hey, I'm obsessed, why shouldn't everyone else be? I'm not in the business of cures!

You sure you don't want to write? Really? No? Because we can always use more writers in our small and lonely fandom who make an effort to check spelling and grammar before they post! (No, I don't know any more about HP than I've absorbed by cultural osmosis, but I took a quick look.)

[stickmarionette.livejournal.com]

I just used up $6 worth of bandwidth on my university computer staring looking at your scans. ^^

*is very very tempted* It's such a interesting canon, with so many complex characters (manga-wise anyway). I'm a slash-reading, gen-writing type, and Trigun is just so perfect for long plotty subtext-filled fic...*must resist temptation...at least til I finish my 3-years-and-still-going-WIP*

Must admit though, I wasn't always the spelling/grammar nazi I am today. *gets very embarrassed reading through her old fics*

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Is that $6 with or without the yaoi at v_x_w? XD

I find the manga canon so much more flexible and inspiring than the anime for writing in. Longer, gappier timeline to play around with, all those loose ends left hanging and things half-explained, amazing character detail and cracktastic plot developments. It's like fanficcers' heaven! Nightow couldn't have designed it better for me to play in :-)

Everybody gets embarrassed looking at their early fics, for a bunch of reasons. But I must admit there's a reason I don't write long fics, 'cos they'd never get finished! Subtext-filled plot is *good*. I mean, that's why we all love the manga, right?

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

But obsessively adding fandoms keeps you fresh! And you don't really need sleep...that's just what The Man wants you to believe.

*waves hello* I too hunted down your ff.net profile and don't know enough of HP to say anything more than 'come to the dark side, we have cookies.'

[stickmarionette.livejournal.com]

*is about ready to topple over after a week of sleeping five hours a day*

Nope, I can survive without sleep...I can...*eyes closing* Damn biological needs.

*waves back* *<3s your website and lovely fics*

Oooo...cookies.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you. And yes. Cookies. Resistance is futile. XD

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

YOU'RE BACK!

::clings::

The thing that no one's said yet is I love the way Vash and Knives face off against each other. Both of them are so angry. And it's interesting that Knives is usually the one who backs down, by walking away or changing the subject.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Yeah, these guys get so mad that the other won't even try to see their angle on things. I guess it has to be Knives who ends the conversations, because Vash would just keep on lecturing him forever! Knives has the choice of either leaving or beating him senseless to shut him up XD.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

Do they ever refer to themselves as older or younger, I wonder?

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Knives refers to Vash as his younger brother. Don't ask me how they know, since they were found.

[yma2.livejournal.com]

I always got the impression it was a relationship issue. Knives is so superior about everything, and so protective over Vash he sees himself as the older brother emotionally, rather than knowing it as a fact physicaly. He takes the 'role' of an older brother, if you will. Whether Vash would agree with this...

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

...oh, and I think Vash and Knives both think they know the other angle-- it's where they started at. Vash in particular I think wishes Knives would just grow the fuck up already.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree. They'll both tell themselves they're not blind or stupid, just right XD.

Vash in particular I think wishes Knives would just grow the fuck up already.

*snort* It must really suck to have a bigot in the family. Especially a homicidal one.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Eee, you've returned! Bringing manga! Nice to see you again.

One of the things I like best about Knives and Vash's conflict is how I can see both perspectives. They both go to the far extreme, of course, but Knives is a much better character when one can understand what's motivating him.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I always bring manga. Ask the poor sods I go to visit XD.

Knives in the manga makes a lot more sense than he does in the anime, but so does Vash come to that. Knives gets so little screen time in the anime, it's impossible for him to be anything more than the bogeyman really; the manga format just gives him more time to state his case. It helps a lot that we get to see more of him looking sane and arguing reasonably, not just ranting.

[hibem.livejournal.com]

:waves: Welcome back!

Oooh. So many intense looks in this one. Nightow is making with the dramatic tension like a mofo. :pets scary Vash's arm panel:

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I love Nightow for this book. If he'd never done anything I liked again, this volume would have been good enough for me XD. I adore Vash here - pinned down on the floor like a bug, and still fighting it, and he won't stop baiting his brother. You can see why Knives gets so frustrated by him!

[yma2.livejournal.com]

Oh that was fucking amazing! (pardon the language.) I mean for one, Vash semi-Naked really shouldn't be that sexy. And yet he is! (I even thought the contortionist bit was cool.) And I LOVE that last scene between him and Knives. That's the kind of stuff Knives writers like me just EAT up! That little evil smile... his reasoning... oh man. And Vash's reactions... his words... bloody brilliant! Thanks so much for scanning this, it's pure, pure, PURE gold! I mean, it's scenes like these last few pages that are the reason, or part of the reason, why I love Trigun. The utter dictamony between the two bothers, who love each other in their way and yet... and Knives has a point! A really, really good point! I mean, he's basically right and yet... wow. Great stuff, I love his emotions towards Vash, so angry and sad and... yeah. I'll stop ranting now. But that was an utterly excellent issue, thanks once more!

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Vash semi-Naked really shouldn't be that sexy.

Not when he's writhing around on the floor, no. But, yeah, he really is!

This chapter is so good for both Knives and Vash characterisation, but especially Knives. Vash is doing what we'd expect from him; we've seen enough of him by now to know that's how he'd react. Though throwing it in Knives' face that he caused all this is a wonderful moment, even for him XD. But Knives looking so sad, when he talks about how Vash would keep going even if all his joints were shattered, that's when we see that he does still care for Vash in a very twisted way.

[wolfiesgirl.livejournal.com]

It's about time! i've been feenin' for my psycho!wolfwood fix for a while now. :P and damn he's FLEXIBLE in that p.21 pic. LOL. and although i'm absolutely and without a doubt a total wolfwood whore..um...fan...(guh), i have nothing BUT love for that second pic of Vash excercising. ***drool*** and seriously? I damn near convulsed from the p.36 pic. all that yummy, angsty, pissy, vashiness was almost too much.

And i love how in depth the manga goes with Knives and Vash's relationship. How beautifully deep and unnatural it is and after reading this chapter I honestly don't know who i agree with. Oh wait yes i do...i agree with wolfwood.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Vash and Wolfwood are both very flexible, and it's definitely a point in their favour XD. When I watched the anime, I drooled all over Wolfwood, but I could take or leave Vash. I mean, I liked him as a person most of the time, but he didn't make me want to shag him. But then I met manga Vash, and hell, what a difference!

Oh wait yes i do...i agree with wolfwood.

And he chooses Vash, so that's easy XD. Though there was that period when he wanted to kill them both.... *grin*