#2011!vash ... is not that

[untitledgoosegay]

re last reblog I do see fanfic culture pushing/replicating a certain model of "what trauma looks like," "how trauma works"

this is a problem across all areas of society obviously, but transformative works are, well, transformative. they're about crafting and modifying narratives where the fan-creator sees a flaw or a lack -- often for the better! don't get me wrong, I've done my fair share of "I take a hammer and I fix the canon," it's the main thing that gets my creative gears spinning -- but what happens when that "flaw" is simply a narrative not conforming to popular expectations?

some people just don't get PTSD from events that sound obviously traumatic. they're not masking, and they're not coping; they just straight-up didn't get the permanently-locked stress-response that defines PTSD. they walk away from a horrible experience going "well, that sucked, but it's over now." some people do get PTSD from events most people wouldn't find traumatic. we don't really know why some people get PTSD and others don't. but fandom has an idea of events that must be traumatizing, of a "correct" way to portray trauma. you see the problems with this lack of understanding in e.g. fans pressuring the devs of Baldur's Gate 3 to add dialogue where the player character badgers Halsin about his own feelings on his abuse -- because he must be traumatized, and his trauma must fit a certain mold and presentation of sexual trauma, under the mistaken impression that anything outside that narrow window is somehow "wrong" and disrespectful or even harmful to survivors.

take, for another example, the very common trope of a traumatized character who hates touch or sex "learning" to like touch or sex as a part of their healing process. certainly that can be healing for some people; other people will never like, or want, touch or sex, because of trauma or because they just don't. the assumption that someone who doesn't want sex or doesn't like to be touched must be traumatized, must be suffering from this perceived lack, is seriously harmful -- to asexual people, to people with sensory issues around touch, and to people for whom healing from trauma means freedom to refuse sex or touch.

and there's a secondary trope, one that's slightly more thoughtful but ultimately repeats the problem -- that once someone has learned that their boundaries will be respected, they'll feel it's safe to soften those boundaries. once they feel safe refusing touch or sex, they'll feel comfortable allowing it on their own terms. but many people don't, and many people won't! many people will simply never want to be touched, and never want sex, and they are not suffering or broken or lacking because of it. the idea that proving you'll respect someone's boundaries entitles you to test those boundaries -- the paradox is obvious, and yet this is something i've seen hurt (re-traumatize) people i care for.

people are imperfect victims. people don't heal in the ways you expect. many people have positive memories of their abuse, of their abusers. many people hurt others in the course of their trauma, in ways that can't easily be unpacked in a 5k oneshot. very few narratives of trauma and recovery actually fit the ones put forward by popular children's media and romance novels -- which are the ones I most see replicated in fandom spaces, because they provide the clearest narrative and easiest catharsis, and so they're easy and soothing to reach for.

that's not necessarily a bad thing! i am not immune to goopy romance tropes. i am not immune to teary catharsis. not every fic has to grapple with ugly realities. but there's a problem when these narratives become predominant, when people think they're accurate and realistic depictions of trauma, when the truth of trauma is unpleasant and uncomfortable, and doesn't fit any single narrative, let alone one of comforting catharsis

[vamp-bites]

Modern au where they sit at a bus stop in silence listening to car seat headrest and nothing else happens ever

[rainbow-pop-arts]

Plushies were totally harmed during the making of this video

[lost-technology]

Explaining Vash Outside the Fandom!

So, today on another forum I mentioned Vash the Stampede. I mentioned him by way of "I don't ask myself WWJD? so much anymore as WWVtSD?" and explained "Vash the Stampede." I said "If anyone is unfamiliar with this name, go ahead and ask and I can fangirl all over you, but be warned, you will be reading all day." I got a taker. And then another taker who is a person on the forum who is straight up not having a good time right now and needs some distraction I feel - to read someone's dumb fangirling over a fandom they aren't in yet. So... I wrote up an essay explaining Vash the Stampede in Word and pasted it in shifts on the blog: (uck, looks like I'm gonna have to post this in shifts, too. Dumb tumblr!

*Flashes my fangirl license*  You asked about Vash the Stampede?  *Raises eyebrows.*  Big mistake.  You shall be here all day!  Vash is the protagonist of Trigun, an anime / manga by Yashiro Nightow.  Well, the manga is by him and there are two different animes to date, one originally airing in 1998 before the completion of the manga (and it gained the idea enough popularity that Nightow was able to continue the manga and purposefully took a different track to keep the story fresh.  Because he had to switch publishers the continuing story was titled Trigun Maximum).  As of 2023 there has been a reboot of the anime, Trigun Stampede, done in a cell-shaded CGI style that takes more cues from the manga.  It has done its own story elements, too, most notably having the City of July as a part of the story, making it almost a prequel, since the City of July is past tense in the other media.  A second set / continuation / completion of it is set for a future release date and as of yesterday, the “final phase” of the new anime will be titled Trigun Stargaze. Additionally, there was a feature-movie made in 2011 based solely upon the first anime titled Badlands Rumble, which is kind of the black sheep of the fandom (personally I enjoy it, find it very funny).  So, anyway, Vash is a tall blonde man with a Bart Simpson hairdo and a long red coat who lives on a desert planet with 10X the guns of ‘Murica.  There are two suns and five moons.  It’s a scavenger world where people barely eek out a living using a form of lost technology known as “Plants” – which are these energy and materials production entities housed in giant lightbulbs (or something more like tanks in Stampede).  No one knows how to create Plants anymore and few know how to maintain them, so everything is slowly dying (except, of course, the native sandworms.  Yep, there’s something Dune-like going on).  People live a half sci-fi half Old West existence and things are, again, very violent.  It’s a world where you have higher chances of making it out better as a bandit than a farmer.    Vash is a pacifist.  He is also an outlaw with Sixty-Billion-Double Dollars ($$) on his head because he has been shown to be capable of incredible destructive power.  Now, most of this comes accidentally from trying to weasel out of tough situations and people after him getting themselves hurt, but somehow towns fall apart.  Except for the City of July (or Jul-Ai in Stampede), which he did wipe out.  Under circumstances not of his own making or will, but the normal citizens of the planet don’t know that.  That was around 24 years ago in the first anime and in the manga.  July exists as of the beginning of Stampede.    Early on in the manga’s story, an insurance company that gets a lot of damage claims regarding damage he supposedly caused declares him a “Human Act of God” so as to avoid payouts.  He is assigned a pair of insurance agents, Milly Thompson and Meryl Stryfe, to follow him around to attempt to mitigate the damage he might cause.  In the anime, it is the same, except that his bounty is not removed for some reason.  (In the manga, the government removes his bounty per his “Act of God” status).  He is also known as the Humanoid Typhon, putting him in the same category as a destructive storm.  Vash-damage is thereafter treated in the same like as hurricane damage!  Honestly, this is one of the most creative things I have seen of any media – having the local superhero / super-cryptid followed by INSURANCE AGENTS. (I am fond of characterizing Trigun as “If Mayhem from the Allstate commercials was followed around by Flo from the Progressive commercials”).  (To Be Continued in Reblog-posts)

[littleapocalypsekitten]

Okay, so my fellow Spop fans will recognise this annoying tumblr (and maybe twitter?) behavior: Someone dirtying up a fandom tag and character tags with their personal crusade to "cancel" the character. Ugh! GROW UP! Trigun fandom right now is honestly the most chill fandom ever, but I just had to block someone who was trying to cancel Vash the Stampede because of his "problematic" fake-perv behavior in the original anime (which was created in the 1990s) and a movie created in 2011 (where the writers really did some weird things). Anyone who pays a single lick of attention knows that Vash is a Bugs Bunny-level trickster who uses fake-stupidity to throw people off guard and has (an unfortunate) habit of doing creeping-on-women to get them out of the dangerous situations that follow his tail. When it comes down to brass tacks, he actually will 1. Pretend to be passed out drunk in order to avoid taking advantage of hookers hired for him by the mayor of a town he saved 2. Take the very drunk lady he's been fake-creeping on to try to dissuade her from a revenge-plot to her own hotel room, let her pass out on a bed and not only not take any kind of advantage of her, but leave her a surprise breakfast of donuts. 3. Is deeply ashamed of the multitude of scars on his body, which he "does not want ladies to see" and so nothing's going to get that far with him, ever. 4. Is cited by HIS CREATOR / the manga-ka to "avoid romantic relationships" (because of his special circumstances). And he's the HERO of the series! Not even a villain, but a hero who is even more heroic than most heroes! (Soft-hearted, has a vow against killing in a very violent world). (For Spop fans... think male version of Adora, but somehow even more so). And, it's like, we've got some little pipsqueak edgy-mcedgelord knowingly going up against an ENTIRE fandom, probably just to annoy us. I've blocked them. But, you know... I suppose every fandom on tumblr is going to get at least one of THOSE at some point.

[revenantghost]

ahh I saw your tag about the embroidered Woowoo, that's one of the Mythwear messenger bags and there's also a chibi Vash one !!

(this photo is not mine, from a sold ebay listing)

and I've had this Wolfwood one since 2010 or 2011 and it's seen a lot of use over the years (i've actually repaired it multiple times lol) :

I've seen photos of a Kuroneko one in the same style as these and I think some other style bags were made by Mythwear with official artwork prints instead of embroidered arts, tho it's harder to find actual photographs of some outside of stock images so it has me wondering if they were ever made for real...

anyways yea just wanted to show u the embroidered woowoo with some lore haha

!!!!!!!!!! Oh my god, thank you for blessing me with embroidered Woowoo and his lore, I LOVE him!!!!!!! Vash is also cute, but man. SOmething about Woowoo, I know you know the feeling haha

[scarah-screeeaaammss]

DID A TEST AND I CAN POST PICS AGAIN??? LOOK AT MY PICS

catching up we got: me in my Barbie outfit with my matching doll in front of the poster post movie, me in kroger rocking my new Frankie yru platforms that I am OBSESSED with, fearidescent Frankie, Otaku USA August 2011 with my babygirl Vash on the cover, and Clawdia the lobster (pattern for that will be posted on etsy soon I am told; I was a tester for the pattern)

[rennessillyarchive]

oh to be a trigun fujo in 2011 when multiple bullets came out, humbly hoping for a crumb of vash and wolfwood interacting and getting faced with a two-page spread of pure eroticism in the form of Two Dudes Cooperating in a Fight

[snepdragon]

10 fandoms 10 characters

tagged by @grave-cleric (sending you death beams for making me choose) get ready for the most random assortment of characters

Vash the Stampede from Trigun. starting strong with mr Love and Peace. i love a guy who has suffered more than jesus so jot that down. what more do you need me to say? hes a pacifist with a gun(three of them even)

Cole from Ninjago. now with a full 180 its the lego ninja show. cringe is dead and he has been here since 2011. idk man i just like him

Trafalgar Law from One Piece. another old fave. tragic backstory, kinda op powers, one of his oldest friends is a bear, edgy and hes a doctor(i dont think he has a medical licence)

Boris Habit from Smile for Me. 37 year old 7'4" gay trans dentist who likes flowers and has a hand puppet of himself (play the game btw)

Jester/Sarmenti from Darkest Dungeon. tormented jester who chose violence. theres not much else to say i support him in his killings

Genji Shimada from Overwatch. first of all, ive never played the game and i never will. second.. cmon hes a cyborg ninja with dragon powers how am i not supposed to like him. also his journey to self acceptance and forgiveness is peak

Greed the Avaricious from Fullmetal Alchemist. hot. next. jk jk i love his whole character arc so much i cant put it to words. im trying to write something here but i actually cant hes perfect. also sexy

Luchino Diruse from Identity V. professor studying lizards became a big lizard man himself but is actually pretty excited about it since its interesting and above regular humans. also probably tormented by an eldritch god but who isnt

Yuki Sanada from Tsuritama. my boy who has terrible social anxiety.... but thru friends learns to open up and smile. theres also fishing(and aliens). lives with his cool grandma(watch tsuritama im no longer asking)

Mister Mistoffelees from Cats the Musical. gay little cat who does magic and sparkles what do you want from me

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Sissel(Ghost Trick), Tendou Satori(Haikyuu!!), Hobie Brown/Spiderpunk(Spiderverse), Niko(One Shot), Hypnos(Hades), Hidan(Naruto) and about 50 others but ill be here whole week

tagging uhhh @tendous-satoris @vadelmat @just-complete-trash

[mydetheturk]

1 + 29 for ao3 wrapped :D ?

1. How many words have you written this year?

A lot of words have been written but I've only posted 58,796

Which doesn't seem like a lot considering my AO3 total is like. 186k?

But the other 130k was posted between 2011 and 2021 (cause yes I wrote in 2022 but I didn't post anything then oops?)

So somehow I wrote over a third of my total word count just this year

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

Oh man I have SO many good ones, so have another 3 in no particular order (this is the third time I've answered this question, and it never gets old)

Jason gets it now, kind of, why Bruce had his whole thing with Jordan, why none of the other League members managed to get under his skin the way Jordan did – all of the Green Lanterns did, really. Kyle’s a brave little shit. He likes to throw himself up against the biggest threat to their existences and tell it to bite him. He regularly gives Jason heart attacks over it.

From Cause there's nothing left for us to bleed, which was the only Non-Trigun fic I posted this year (it's a DC fic!)

“I loved you,” Chronica says instead. “I do, still, love you.” She has grieved Domina since she lost her and will continue to grieve Domina until she becomes so much stardust.

Chronica/Domina my beloved underrated ship. At least two people have told me this is their favorite line from Six AM, Mulholland Drive, Moonlight Sonata and I, which is the first true DomiKnives/knivesanddomina fic I posted to AO3

When Vash was silent a bit too long, Meryl sighed. “You are a natural disaster.” “Certified natural disaster and act of god!” Vash chirped. He ducked the comb aimed for his head. “Hey!”

Yeah I know this bit is in the summary for Aflutter but like. It's silly. It's soft and loving and it makes me giggle.

(links to fics to come and also I'll reblog the list in just a moment)

[sege-h]

23 and 28 for Storm!

8, 12, 15 and 26 for any other oc(s) of your choice!

23. how would you describe their voice? can they sing?

I am absolute shit at describing voices HSGDSHDH That's why it's hell to find any VCs. I can hear the kinda voice I want in my head but can't describe it. So I'm gonna sorta cheat and refer to Johnny Yong Bosch as Vash-- the way his voice can go from soft to serious to chaotic/kinda maniacal pretty much on a dime. That's how Storm's is

He can sing! Whether he sings good or horribly depends entirely on whether he's trying to annoy someone with it or not

28. how do they show that they care about someone? how do they express that they don’t like someone?

He'll actually respect what you ask of him 😂

The difference between someone he's just met asking him to stop his shenanigans, and someone he cares about asking the same is night and day. He doesn't like upsetting those he cares about.

There's so many other ways because when Storm cares he cares A Lot, but this is one of the more subtle ones that strangers might not be able to pick up on because of Course you stop acting like a fool when someone asks you to

The 'don't like' one is harder to answer because Storm snarks anyone they meet. But if he decides he dislikes someone then that snark gains a certain edge to it. He purposefully starts poking and prodding with his words, aiming to be an absolute nuisance at best, and ruin someone's day at worst

8. do they have a nickname? who gave it to them? if it’s not derived from their real name, what’s the story behind it?

Sharp. His real name is Ashen/Ash. But during the war against Eggman, the Resistance faction he frequently went up against nicknamed him Sharp. It was easier to signal out that he's coming in with a raid than to be like "It's that wolf guy!" or "It's that guy with the sharp metal arms!" etc

He doesn't really mind it so it kinda stuck.

Also bc this is my current brainrot I'm gonna cheat and answer for my Pokemon AU Kamina too. His nickname is Beep and he only allows his siblings to use it. It came about when his voice started cracking, and little Claire started calling him Beep because of it. He's secretly endeared by it but gets absolutely embarrassed about non-family finding out.

12. how long have they been around? do you know their birthday? is their birthday the day you made them or another day? what do they think of celebrating birthdays?

Outside of universe? Atos has been around since 2011. In universe? He's been around for about 50 years. Technically. Given he either dies or gets stasis'd in his late 20s

Idk his exact birthday I just know it's somewhere in August.

He likes celebrating other people's birthdays, but is pretty neutral on his own. He doesn't think much about it.

15. how big or small is their family? who did they live with growing up? do they live with anyone now?

Sharp's family is Just Right for his standards. Growing up he lived with his mother and father-- at least until he ran away at the age of 11. After that he was on his own for the remainder of his childhood

Now he lives with what remains of the resistance faction he used to fight against-- and more importantly to him, with Percy, Riley, and Dahlia (though he takes a while to accept/appreciate that last one)

Given he used to wish for even just one person to call family, three entire people is more than he ever expected

26. how do they move? are they clumsy? light on their feet? do they use mobility aids?

Zel is kinda animalistic in his movements. He walks on two legs, sure, but if he's not standing or alert he has this kinda slouch to him. Not too much, but enough that it can be noticed. He can drop down on all fours at a moments notice, though he's quick either way. He uses his tail as a sort of fifth limb, either attacking with it or using it to hold someone up-- whether it's gentle or not depends entirely on who it is.

[accursedlight]

get to know the mun rp edition !! ♡

PEN NAME: None.

CURRENT MUSES: Prince Adam here. I have a blog for Coriolanus Snow from TBOSAS which I haven't been active on since my interest has faded a bit, but he's still on my mind and I might pop back in on him now and then with the new book coming out. I also have a multi which has Miquella from the game Elden Ring, Viktor from Arcane, Vash from Trigun Stampede, and Ango Sakaguchi and Ryunosuke Akutagawa from Bungo Stray Dogs.

FAVORITE GENRES: I don't have a favorite, I would write any!

PC OR MOBILE ?: PC. I do not do any writing on mobile since I hate writing out long things on my phone. I only use mobile for DMs and for scrolling through the dash.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN RPING?: Since 2011 on Tumblr! But I started out way back in AOL chat rooms and AIM when I was younger lol

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH ANON HATE ? : I have only gotten an angry anon once and that was it, so!

WHAT FANDOMS ARE YOU CURRENTLY WRITING IN?: See my above current muses!

DO YOU RP IN OTHER PLATFORMS?: Only Tumblr. I only RP with two people separately on Discord because that's where they're more active and I didn't want to stop writing with them.

[orcelito]

I love all the new media people are talking about on my dashboard all the time. Meanwhile here I am Uhhh watching Naruto (show I have been a fan of since 2009 or so), playing the sims 2 (game I played Obsessively back in 2008-2011 ish), and rping as Vash the Stampede (who is of course a more recent interest, but so many people are acting like march 2023 was a lifetime ago so trigun is "old news" now 😭😭😭)

Aaaand yeah that's just about it. Oh yeah I've been catching the new dandadan episodes every week & chatting about them a bit with my friends. Also spending time with friends and family on occasion, including playing some dnd.

But yeah overall it's just been that and school. Glad y'all r having fun tho

[fredfinch]

feel like I saw someone cosplay vash like this back in 2011 at my hometown movie theatre for the new-at-the-time movie. well anyways

[asphodelical]

The Great Anime Rewatch of 2024 - Part II

Trinity Blood

First watched: I have no idea.  Rewatched: December 2023

Original rating: 6 New rating: 4

I first watched Trinity Blood when it was on Adult Swim. It was so long ago I only remember the name of the protagonist, Abel Nightroad, vampires and the church, and that’s it. I don’t even remember if I actually watched the whole thing. 

Jumping into this felt like a blast from the past, both tonally and visually. The narrow, elongated faces of the characters have not been in fashion for ages. And coupled with the dark, edgy and over the top atmosphere, those kinds of anime aren’t really made anymore. (For better or for worse.) I was thoroughly disappointed that Abel’s characterization was basically identical to Vash the Stampede’s. When he actually becomes threatening, it’s hard to take him seriously when his hair goes all DBZ. 

You know what? The show itself is hard to take seriously because it’s such a tonal disaster. I’m not invested in a single character, and I’m not interested in the story. I lasted seven episodes. 

__________________________________

Space Dandy

First watched: winter/summer 2014, original airdate Rewatched: December 2023

Original rating: 8 New rating: 8

I forgot almost everything about Space Dandy. But I did remember the dub is good. (Except for Colleen Clinkenbeard because she makes the same choices all the time. But I digress.) For some reason, I was anticipating Space Dandy being worse than I remember and not aging too well. I’m so pleased that I was wrong. Sure, its episodic nature means that not every story is a winner. But the highs are really high. 

First season highs: the zombie episode, the plant episode, the racing episode, and both episodes centering on Meow and QT. Even if an episode as a whole isn’t great, there’s usually a memorable scene. (I.E. The Dandy vs. Dandy game show in the chameleonian episode.)

Second season highs: The alternate versions of the protagonists, the time traveling river/tsunami, the style and animation in the fish planet episode, the high school musical, Major Attaway voicing the disco alien, the limbo episode, the animation of the 2D dimension, and the supporting cast teaming up to save Dandy in the finale. 

I wouldn’t call Space Dandy one of my all time favorites. Scarlet’s episodes were always the weakest, despite the attempts to make her likable. (Part of that is due to Colleen’s acting—she delivers lines in the way that make her sound condescending at all times.) The second cour’s focus shifted mostly towards Dandy, and both QT and Meow were sidelined. But it was absolutely worth revisiting. This is easily the most fun rewatch I’ve had this round so far. 

__________________________________

Sankarea

First watched: June 2012, original airdate Rewatched: December 2023

Original rating: 7 New rating: 5

The scariest part of Sankarea is the titular heroine’s fucked up relationship with her father, and her zombiefication. Everything else is mid as hell, that ranges from forgettable to annoying. Rea was the only character I remotely gave a shit about, but she is not enough to make up for the rest of the show. It’s also a lot more perverted than I remember. I didn’t find myself enjoying this upon rewatch and skipped a lot of scenes. I lasted six episodes. 

__________________________________

Kimi ni Todoke 1 & 2

First watched: Winter 2010 and winter 2011, original airdates Rewatched: December 2023

Original rating: 7, 7 New rating: 5, 5

Kimi ni Todoke was one of the most popular shoujo romances back in the day. Newer anime fans seem to regard it as average and vanilla. With the third season finally on the horizon after a thirteen year gap, I figured now was a good a time as any to revisit it. 

Revisiting stories after such a long period of time is one of the best way to see my growth as a person and a storyteller. One aspect of media that I’ve always leaned towards are good characters—I much prefer character driven stories over plot driven ones. No matter how interesting a story is, I won’t care about what’s happening if I’m not engaged with the characters. This is also exemplary in my own writing, where I have my protagonists have clear goals they wish to achieve. This is heavily influenced from my years steeped in musical theatre, where “I Want” songs are crucial to the story. 

All this to say that with Kimi ni Todoke, I don't know what these characters want, aside from romantic relationships. It doesn’t make me care about them, or look forward to what’s going to happen. I understand that not every story or every character needs to be driven. But it gives me little to cheer for when the main couple in shoujo romances inevitable get together by the end. 

The other main issue I have is that all conflicts come from outside sources. Or rather, an outside source: Kurumi. Then when her time is up, the story doesn’t know where to go with Kazehaya and Sawako. So it shifts to the other protagonists. There’s also an excessive amount of internal monologuing from Sawako. A lot of it is relatable—dealing with loneliness, not sure if people you consider friends genuinely like you, being worthy of love. I take some comfort in that, but there have been other characters who have expressed it better. For the first season, I watched through episode 19, then skipped to the final episode. I didn’t feel like I missed much. 

As for the second season….it was infuriating. Having both of your romantic leads cause drama by sheer stupidity and lack of communication is just weak ass writing. Plus the author, once again, relied on a third party (Kento) to actually make things happen. I don’t remember much about the rest of the story after this, and I don’t know if I’m up to watching the upcoming third season. Kurumi is the best character, and cheers to Yano for having some fucking sense. 

__________________________________

Future Diary

First watched: April 2012, original airdate Rewatched: January 2024

Original rating: 7 New rating: 5

Enough lovey dovey shit. Time for some insanity. With that said, I forgot the sheer lengths of insanity Future Diary went to. I also forgot every character who wasn’t Yukiteru, Yuno, Akise and Minene. Most of them weren’t worth remembering. In fact, by episode eight, my motivation to continue watching was super low—mostly because I don’t care about anyone (except Akise). But also the action and gore are so crazy, but the characters aren’t suffering any physical or mental consequences. No one’s broken a bone, or sprained an ankle, or fractured a rib. And I get it, Future Diary is big dumb fun. But the stakes remain stagnant and I don’t care to see it through. I lasted twelve episodes. 

[remsavehim]