Trigun Bookclub: pancake-breakfast: Trigun Maximum Volume 10: Chapter 6-8

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Original Tumblr Post: Chapter 6-8

Finishing this volume up earlier than usual isn’t going to lessen the pain, but it might free me up to do a few more write-ups I need to do.

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 10, Chapters 6-8 below.

Table of Contents

Chapter 6: The Return

The return of what?? What is there to return??? Are they just gonna go back to the orphanage? The return of Livio?? I ask all these things like Nightow’s not gonna answer that in the next however many pages.
Yeah, I imagine punches hurt a lot more when YOU DON’T HAVE ANY SKIN.
Ugh, Vash just… standing there, listening to Wolfwood beat the shit out of Razlo. I’m not sure what he’s thinking or feeling, but I’m not sure I want to know.
I like Livio… but I think I’d be ok with Razlo never being whole again.
Vash…. Wolfwood, stop punching and go hug your mans or something. He’s not doing so well.

Oh, Raz. Chapel wouldn’t help you if he could. He never cared enough about you for that.
Dear lord, that’s not a healthy thing to do, Wolfwood. I realize you don’t have any control over it, but maybe it’s time to just stop for a bit. (Side note: props to Nightow for not having his characters just arbitrarily coughing up blood all the time. Really increases the impact when they finally do.)
THE FUCK. DON’T DOWN THE LAST VIAL. YOU’RE JUST SPEEDING UP THE INEVITABLE.
Gods, Raz regenerates quickly.
Huh, his living minions have names, and he knows them. I wonder if the one he turned into chaff had a name.
I dunno if Vash is gonna tolerate this.
Yeah, Vash says no. Kicks for you. He’ll allow Wolfwood to finish his business with Raz because he knows this is important to Wolfwood, but if he doesn’t get to interfere, then neither does anyone else.

In this moment, I fully believe Vash will kill them if they don’t lay off. That said, I’m not sure they’re fully human and not some sort of construct.
Raz is doing a great job talking despite not having lips. *mumbles something indistinct about episode 12 of Stampede*
Huh???
LIVIO!!! My boi is here to save his big bro!
Gods, I love these panels. I love how they’re set up like two different characters.

Wolfwood knows something’s up.
Where the hell did the other Punisher come from? That’s Chapel’s Punisher. Isn’t he dead??
DAMMIT, FUCK THIS GUY SO HARD WITH A *redacted* RIGHT IN THE *redacted* UNTIL HE *redacted* AND *redacted, AND THEN *redacted* HIS *redacted* WITH A *redacted* UNTIL IT LOOKS LIKE SWISS CHEESE!!! FUUUUUUUCCCCKKK!!!!
Ugh, I told you, Raz. I’m sorry, my guy. I know how much it sucks to find out someone you thought was there to take care of you and who you thought valued your life only ever saw you as a pawn toward a different end.

What’s more, Raz, is I just skimmed back and what you probably thought was a half-hearted attempt by Wolfwood to smack you away from himself in fear probably just saved your life.
Finish that bastard off. Please. Make sure he doesn’t get up again. Make sure he never hurts anyone else again. Finish what your brother started.
Honestly, Nightow could have put absolutely no dialogue on these panels and I’d still be able to hear Raz scream.

Nah, scale it back, Razlo. I know you don’t know the meaning of the words, but to quote Stampede Wolfwood, he’s not the one who hurt you.
Freaking Livio, man. (affectionate, full of admiration)
Listen to him, Raz. You exist to protect him. If he says you’re done, you’re done.
Yes. If it weren’t for you, Livio would be dead. But the fight is over. It’s time to end this, Razlo.
There’s something very important about apologizing to yourself for the unhealthy and/or dangerous coping mechanisms you forced yourself to build up… and in forgiving yourself for for them, too.

Ah, the little peons have gone passive now that their master has receded.
Freaking Wolfwood took this time to find and light another of his terribly crushed cigarettes. Freaking addict.

Chapter 7: Wolfwood

No no no no. I know where this chapter goes. I’m not ready.
For the record, I’m just gonna play take a little hand by yoko kanno on repeat the whole time I read this chapter. It’s literally been stuck in my head since I got hit with the volume’s feels last night, so I’m gonna just ride it out.
“Sleep on a proper bed as much as you can.” This is such a good wish. If one has ever been poor enough not to have a proper bed for any length of time, they get it. It’s a wish for the luxury of simple comforts, like wishing for someone to have a full stomach or clean clothes.
He thought he was joining a good organization, a group that would help others. He was just a child.

TBH, he looks younger here than he looks in some of the other flashbacks. Here, he looks like he’s eight, but in some of the others, he looks like he’s 12-14.
We don’t have time for the ark now, Brad! And by “time,” I mean “emotional energy for whatever those crazies intend to do next.” Make ’em go away!
Vash opens the door for the people from the orphanage to come out… but we don’t see his face. That feels ominous. I wonder if he’s managing one of his fake smiles at this point, or if he’s not even bothering for once. (I say “for once,” but it feels like his mask falls a lot more these days than it used to.)
Yyyyeah, it might have been a good idea to clean up some of the bodies first. Or let the kids out through the back or something.
*sigh* Vash just wanted to give them some time together.

Man, Livio looks wrecked. Not physically. Emotionally.
Ah, Brad dropped Vash off. That explains that. I remember the ship and I remember thinking it looked like one of Home’s vessels, but I wasn’t sure if Vash had driven it or what. I like to imagine Vash just jumped out of it from way too high up.
Heh. Wolfwood knows he can’t fool Miss Melanie, but he’s still trying to protect the kids. Or… maybe he’s trying to protect himself. He doesn’t want them to see him like this, to think of him like this.

Honestly, given how young some of these kids were, it’s a wonder so many of them remember him.
Vash, still holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, they can save him.
Nicholas Dickolas Wolfwood! You’re only giving Vash that coin and saying, “This is who I really am,” and all that bullshit because you’re trying to make your passing easier on Vash, to drive him away so it maybe hurts him less. But you are too late for that. Idiot. He LOVES YOU. Deeply. It doesn’t matter if or even need to be romantic. HE LOVES YOU.
LOL, Livio. Bless this man. ~~Also maybe get him a shirt.~~

*sigh* Klutz.
Damn Nightow for adding this comic relief here. I know it’s a lie.
*more sighing* Aaaaand there’s the bottle.
Freaking couch….
Gods. Remember… remember waaaaay back when they first met, and Wolfwood went out of his way to make Vash smile? He truly loves Vash’s smile. But there’s no way in hell Vash could give him a genuine one right now, and that’s the smile Wolfwood truly loves.

Well… dammit, Wolfwood would of course be thinking of that, too. Here I thought I was being all smart about the callback, but Nightow just spelled it out for us.
Vash is about to have a full breakdown here. Usually, it’s Wolfwood praying, but this time, it’s Vash. He doesn’t want apologies. He just… he just wants this person who means so much to him to be here. To keep being here. For as long as possible.
Them throwing ticker tape, just like when he left before. Just like you would for a celebration, like a wedding. You… you know Stampede’s opening Tombi references this, too??
Heh. Six years, and they saved all this for when he came back. He was well-loved.
Brad’s incensed face in the background.

Miss Melanie went against Wolfwood’s request… but she’s worked with kids a lot. Desperate, hurt kids. Kids who’ve had to grow up before their time even if they don’t show it on the outside the way Wolfwood does. She knows they’re smarter than most give them credit for. And she knows some part of Wolfwood’s heart needs this. He needs to know that in spite of everything, he’s still loved, even by them.
Wolfwood doesn’t strike me as much of a crier, unlike Vash. But… hey, now’s as good a time as any, huh?
The iron bell in the tower is ringing.
Yeah. Yeah, I knew this would be the next page.
Livio knows. Vash knows. Vash can’t hold it in anymore.
Aaaand the ark is here. This is going to go very, very poorly for someone.

Chapter 8: Final Parting

I’d guess Livio’s about to have a very different relationship with the ark than he had before.
Ah, the ark is either not as close as the final page of the last chapter made it seem, or it passed them by for now.
Vash is stress cooking.
Livio, you moron. What did you think was happening??
Side note: I like how Livio’s hair has gone from, “I am dead inside and don’t care about anything,” to something that’s almost quirky and childlike.
This is the face of someone who’s checked the hell out for the foreseeable future.

TBH, it’s probably a good thing Livio clarified his “why.” If he hadn’t, I dunno if Vash would have been able to stay calm. He’s doing his best right now, even if he’s checked out.
Yeah, they better animate this in Stampede. They’ve already set it up to hit like a runaway train.
Gods, I wish it wasn’t a billion degrees. I could really go for some tea right now. Hot tea. Coping tea.
Uhh, what happened to Vash’s hair?? “But when” is right!
Ah, he took out his grief on the ark. Well, that explains why that big-ass ship is somehow missing.
WTH is so fucking funny, Knives?? Your brother is dying.
Ah, brief return of I-Hate-My-Life Livio hair. Man, this guy talks with his hair. I love it. He really does feel bad about all this now. This isn’t what he wanted. Like Wolfwood at the beginning of the story, he just didn’t know he could have it any other way.

Vash is right. Eat.
Heh. Vash’s little smile as Livio starts eating. Livio’s not Wolfwood, but he’s someone Wolfwood cared deeply about, and it seems like some part of Vash is willing to accept that, despite everything, a friend of Wolfwood’s is a friend of his, especially when said friend is so eager to take up Wolfwood’s mantle.
Side note: it amuses me that Livio’s left his shredded sleeves on. Like, my boi, your whole shirt is missing. You can probably take those off, too.
This panel. It feels like it snuck in from a completely different manga.

Heh. Vash remembering eating with Wolfwood like this.
Oh, my boi Livio. Sobbing through his food. I imagine Vash is already all cried out for now.
They’re just gonna eat their sorrows away. Silverware optional. This is a hand salad now.

LOL, yeah… I had a feeling they were gonna overeat.
Hells, I don’t think Livio could forget Wolfwood if he wanted to. But I get the gesture. Vash is reminding Livio that Wolfwood died to save him. And Livio’s picking up what he’s putting down.
Mm, Razlo is the one used to carrying Punishers, and even he didn’t cart around his own. BTW, what happened to those guys?
It’s definitely a fitting tombstone.
Props to all y’all who read this the first time in book form and had to turn that last page to see a full frontal of Wolfwood’s blow-up doll on the couch at the end. I’m sure that’s what y’all wanted to see when you were still up to your eyes in The Feels.

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