Trigun Bookclub: pancake-breakfast: Trigun Maximum Volume 12: Chapter 4-6

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Original Tumblr Post: Chapter 4-6

There was too much cliffhanger last time, so we gotta get moving today.

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 12, Chapters 4-6 below.

Table of Contents

Chapter 4: The Gunslinger

CW. Body horror

Wasn’t this a previous chapter title? Referring to Vash?
Knives, that’s not even a hand anymore. What have you done to your body, sir??

Vash has his attention. Good. I think.
Oof, Vash just burned more of his power here, didn’t he.
Yeah, he did. I hope Knives is as horrified as I am.
Hiding behind the glasses. Good luck, babygirl. I don’t like whatever you’re planning, but it’s not like I could do anything about it. Or come up with better ideas.
Yes. Yes, we are waiting with bated breath. There are TWO more volumes, and we’re not even halfway through this one, and babygirl doesn’t have much gold left, and Knives is in full monster mode, and where the hell are Legato and Livio and Elandira and… and… and…
I mean, kill him, absorb him…. It’s not like it would be a long jump from one to the other. He already doesn’t recognize Vash as an individual with a will of his own, or inasmuch as he does, he doesn’t respect that will. All that’s happened now is Knives has realized cowering in his own fear and following his plan for Ultimate Alone-ness(TM) is going to leave him without his brother, too. And he’s decided he’d rather accept that than fail.
Ok, I love Knives’ design here. It’s like this terrible twist on angel presentation, with his wings looking more like teeth and jaws than wings, and with his face covered not by feathery appendages but by weird otherworldly tendrils.

Mmm, Knives looks like he thinks he got him, but I have my doubts. I don’t really know what happened in the last few pages, but still.
LOLOLOL Knives was so busy being insulted by the “rudimentary” weapon Vash wields he didn’t even consider that Vash might survive. Also, I bet he doesn’t want to see Vash’s corpse because then he might have regrets.
Knives is about to wax philosophical and Vash is like, “I ain’t got time for your bullshit, bro. Get down here and fight me like a man!”

Chapter 5: +-0

Ohhhh, man. Listening to the Attack on Titan soundtrack while reading this was a mistake. As if I needed MORE feels.
Awww, teen Vash….
Wait, they chained him to a bomb?? Guys! He’s just a baby Vash! He’s a nice boy! Why’d you do this???
“Most of the time you don’t know the person you’re dealing with, but knowing their situation can change how you perceive their actions. The world keeps on turning, whether you understand them or not.” Truth.
Eighty years?? EIGHTY, and they still look so young??? Also, that’s a really long time to spend with someone while keeping them at a distance. It actually sounds like Vash wanted to leave but couldn’t quite bring himself to, and so “arm’s length” was the best compromise he could come up with. Not because he wanted to be closer and knew he shouldn’t, but because he wanted to be further away and didn’t know how.
And then… one day, he did.

Domina still doesn’t look so good.
Mmm, so in all her battles, Chronica’s never failed quite like this. One of the few spoilers I had around her was that she hates Knives, and at this point I think I can see why.
Knives always takes insult at Vash pointing a gun at him. He doesn’t fear it. Only his ’98 version registers it as a true threat. The rest of the time, it’s just an insult. An insult that his brother would have become so distant from him to dare. An insult that his brother, a higher being, would use a rudimentary human weapon in what should be a struggle between gods. But… something something Christian imagery something Vash as a Jesus-like figure something something both Man and God and bridging the gap between the two.
Yeah, unlike you, Knives, Vash sees you as person and is absolutely not keen on taking away your right to life and all that comes with it.
Stampede just ate all this up, didn’t they?
Look at that unsteady hand. Surely Knives came here to rescue him. Probably killed all the humans as he did it. Where did Vash get the gun?
Oh, shit. Knives didn’t just kill up the guys who were executing Vash. He killed ALL of them.

Yeah, Knives isn’t gonna get it.
Ah, tilting his head back like that. Resigning himself to a bloody victory, and allowing himself to revel in it even if Vash doesn’t seem to get it.
Oh, man. He shot Knives!
Aaaand that’s how Vash lost his arm.
Then what? Knives just left him there to bleed out in the desert while attached to a bomb? This seems questionable for Vash’s continued survival.
Vash, NO. Don’t kill yourself taking out your brother! This is NOT a reasonable option! There are soooo many people in the world still who care about you!

Also, shout-out to Knives’ buggy dragon wings.
I like how in this spread Vash looks like Vash and Knives is… like… a disembodied blob.
Knives wants an all-out fight. Vash just wants victory.
Oh, Vash, honey…. You really should meet your cousin Chronica before you make claims like that. I’m sure she’d have some thoughts. Good thoughts.

Chapter 6: Resonance

Oooh, does this mean we’re gonna get more Plant participation here?
Oh, man. I have a LOT of thoughts on resonance that I’m not going to write up tonight. I have to get up at the ass-crack of dawn and want to at least try to sleep at some point.
Knives has absorbed a TON of plants, and yet Vash, with his power and ingenuity, is matching him without having absorbed any.
Rude, Knives. Don’t call your brother kii-sama.
Wait, Vash is stopping Knives from getting destroyed by his mini black holes? What’s his plan here? Sap away Knives’ power until Knives is no stronger than a human?
Oh, Smart Knives is smart. He, too, knows something’s off.

I don’t think Vash is here to give a lecture to you, Knives. Maybe… more of a practical demonstration, but not a lecture.
Ahhhh! Vash and the humans are trying to do the opposite of what Knives was doing! They’re gonna ask! They’re respecting the Plants’ wills!
Oh, good. We get to see that teen Vash was rescued. Looks like he managed to shoot through the chain, too. I wasn’t entirely sure.
If they were trying to spare everyone from radiation sickness, why did they chain Vash up?? Was he just too stubborn about leaving? That sounds like something he’d do.
Yeah, it would be hard to be the sole survivor twice, to know that people loved you and still had to turn their backs on you to keep you safe.
Knives, you are so smart and yet so stupid. You’re like everyone else who’s ever realized they’re smarter than average and then jumped from there to being convinced that, because of their intelligence, they’re also always right. That they understand people’s hearts as well as they understands facts and logistics.
Yes, this! I just needed to wait a page for Vash to say it!

Ok, so… I’ve seen a lot of people talk about how pre-Vol. 10 Vash (or, really, pre-Vol. 8 Vash) is just like them fr fr with his slightly hidden depression and constant underlying suicidal tendencies and a bitterness he hides behind fake smiles. Personally, I find more resonance (heh) with post-Vol. 10 Vash, who is openly angry at certain things and has a far more clear view of his goal. I still think he runs more suicidal and/or depressed than I do, but it’s not as far a jump from being suicidal to being willing to fight for a cause even if it costs your life as some might think.
Ugh, that’s the stupid-ass military, isn’t it. Just when it looks like the humans are getting through to the Plants, too.
I wonder if that’s Brad there doing the obscuring thing. Kinda doesn’t matter. It will be enough to encourage Vash, even if it’s not enough to dissuade the military.

LOL, THE CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED!!!
Oh, dear, sweet Meryl. I think he knows.

It was Brad! Huzzah! Good on you, kid!
See? They just hardened his resolve.

Oof, Domina’s a mess. I guess it’s up to the dependent Plants now. The rest are giving up on her, even though they don’t want to. Their situation is desperate and they need to know more. It’s like… a very soft Knives and Vash parallel.

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