TriMax 8 - 'Freed Bird' Wolfwood spin-off
May. 30th, 2005 02:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
Sumire's Part 1. And Part 2.
A few notes on timing - Freed Bird was originally printed in YKO in 1999, then reprinted in 2001, and it's that reprint that has determined its placing here in TriMax 8. Whenever this is supposed to take place, it isn't at this point in the manga, but considerably earlier. The 'turn to the next volume' page comes after the end of chapter 5, and makes it extra clear this part is not sequential.
Page 188 (Sumire's p144). Wolfwood carving a wooden bird, and musing on whether they really have it better.
Page 191. The arrival of Mayleen gets Wolfwood out of a confrontation with a bunch of goons, as she explains he must be the minister she's waiting for to bury her father.
Mayleen makes tea and recites the plot. She's just lost her only living relative, and they have debts. She has a choice of losing everything, or marrying the moneylender whose goons are hanging around outside. Wolfwood congratulates her on her marriage. (She's calling the dead guy grandfather now, instead of her father - since it turns out she's adopted, I imagine he was legally her father, and her calling him Grandfather was a family joke thing. He did look to be quite old when she was first adopted.)
Page 195 (Sumire's p151). Mayleen looks out of the window at a bird, and wants to know what it's like to be free, to have control over your own life.
Wolfwood's of the opinion that being safe and secure is a hell of a lot better than being free. (It says a lot about the planet and about Wolfwood that his idea of keeping her safe is to see her married off to a bullying thug, doncha think?)
Page 198 (Sumire's p154). Wolfwood's dialogue here has changed - the line about it being 18 years ago has disappeared to keep it compatible with Wolfwood's rapid aging. Nightow obviously hadn't thought of that part back in 1999! Flashback to the orphanage - I love Wolfwood's face at the bottom as he gets stuck with looking after a baby XD
Page 200. Wolfwood carves baby Mayleen a wooden bird. He looks after her for a year before someone comes to adopt her.
Page 201. Mayleen's new parents reassure Wolfwood they'll look after her. Mayleen cries and reaches out as she's taken away, still clutching her wooden bird.
Wolfwood's reminiscence is interrupted when Mayleen's would-be-hubby turns up in the bar looking for him.
Page 203. A somewhat-the-worse-for-wear Wolfwood gets back to his hotel room to find Mayleen there - dressed rather differently and carrying a gun.
Page 205. Mayleen explains that the Madame let her in to hide. Good to know that the planet continues the old tradition of combining hotels with brothels XD. Wolfwood is Not Pleased with her. Flashback to Wolfwood getting beaten by thugs, as Mr Moneylender decides to blame Wolfwood for Mayleen turning him down.
Page 207 (Sumire's p163). Wolfwood just can't resist telling him what he thinks of guys who want to screw teenage girls XD
Page 209. Back to the present in the hotel, and the goons are massed outside. Wolfwood's room goes up with rather a bang, along with most of the hotel.
Page 211. Mayleen sees the corpses in the rubble and starts crying. Wolfwood lays into her, telling her to STFU since this is all her fault. (Damn, he's not cutting the poor kid much slack, is he? He *still* thinks she should have married the guy, even knowing what a complete psycho he is.)
Page 213 (Sumire's p169). Mayleen has had enough of this, and stands up, screaming as she starts shooting.
Much gunfire, and Mayleen hits the deck again.
Pages 216-7. Wolfwood's now pissed off enough to bring out the heavy weaponry, and the thugs get to eat some rockets. But he's still furious at Mayleen too.
Page 218. The town smokes in the background as Wolfwood and Mayleen stand by her father's grave. He still thinks she's an idiot who should have been happy with being a bored nobody.
Page 220. Mayleen throws him the carved wooden bird she wears as a necklace as she leaves, and Wolfwood thinks what a poorly-made piece of crap it is.
Poor Wolfwood - always failing to save his kids, no matter how hard he tries.
I love his attitude in this, the whole 'shut up and suck it down' style of living he's trying to push this poor teenage girl into. And that's how he treats someone he cares about! I mean, talk about cynical....
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Re: Awwww. . .
Date: 2005-05-30 05:29 pm (UTC)Re: Awwww. . .
Date: 2005-05-30 05:33 pm (UTC)Re: Awwww. . .
Date: 2005-05-30 06:03 pm (UTC)Re: Awwww. . .
Date: 2005-05-30 06:04 pm (UTC)