everyone always talks about That One panel of Trigun: Multiple Bullets, but i havent seen anyone talk about how fucking BATSHIT INSANE the surrounding fight is
like
Vash & Wolfwood fighting back-to-back, both using the punisher as a shield
(the rest under a readmore bc this accidentally got LONG...)
Vash seeing the shots coming from behind & purposefully not moving bc he knows if he does, Wolfwood would get hit
Wolfwood getting injured too, but not moving from Vash's back. the way he's stanced, it looks Protective. he's doing what he can to keep Vash out of the direct line of fire.
even when he's getting shot up for it, he Doesn't Move. (this also seems to be the moment he got hurt, which leads into the panel later)
& throughout this whole scene, we are only seeing Wolfwood's reactions.
until the girls give them an opening, and they burst out with THIS:
Wolfwood injured, so he can't properly aim the punisher... and he gets around this by sticking one of the leather straps in his Mouth
and then we FINALLY get to see Vash's face again as he grabs the punisher (with a "GAN" sound effect, so he fuckin SLAPPED that metal hand on the punisher).
Wolfwood trusts him enough to just do what he says in the thick of battle, so we FINALLY get to the iconic panel:
which brings us to the aboslute insanity of what Vash is actually Doing.
"DON DON" -> two shots fired for two missiles launched. he literally manages to TURN THEM AROUND MID-FLIGHT (interesting to note that they seem to have internal propulsion, rather than simply being fired by Wolfwood. how many of these does Wolfwood have? they seem heavy.)
he manages to avert the third missile from hitting the dude directly, and instead makes it land Behind him. then the other two missiles, he rests his arm on Wolfwood's shoulders to hit them and direct them behind the other two enemies
Boom.
killing no-one, but showing an INSANE level of fine control AND teamwork.
and in the end, Wolfwood's arm is in a cast, Vash seems either unhurt or hurt but unbothered by it (typical Vash). And Life Goes On.
(forgot to mention before, but all panels are from @trigun-manga-overhaul! thank u for the beautiful pages)
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one more thing. the oil run wasn’t a miracle. it wasn’t.
it was the fucking will of mcdrai and the team. it was the belief that the whole team shared even during the blood sweat and tears of being a 2-9-1 basement team losing against the sharks. it was the lowest of lows firing of a beloved coach. it was the belief that they could come back and give a huge fuck you to the people who doubted them. it was our baby goalie stu who was thrown into the #1 goalie position in his second official full year. it was hiring coach knobs, someone who has never head coached an nhl team but has an education degree from the university of alberta. it was the thigh taps to each other when down 4-0 against carolina. it was the 5-0 win against the caps and save against ovechkin. it was the bringing ourselves back from the fucking dead. it was the plunger and the painter. it was the 16 game win run. it was the 13 year tenured forever young ‘coach’s favourite’ nuge becoming a dad and choosing to stay in edm his whole career. it was brown finally scoring a goal. it was little boy ben stelter, the reason why our captain is more open with the media. it was joey moss. it was gene principe and his floor glizzy or his cbj canon reaction or his ‘we love gene!’. it was our 50 goal scorer. it was our penalty kill. it was our power play. it was wearing pride tape even when it isn’t our pride night. it was toad but honestly could be anyone. it was toad and luigi. it was playing games on the plane and letting your goalie win. it was realizing our team needed a sports psychologist and getting one. it was the whole city surviving the decade of darkness to this moment. it was the full canadian match up. it was having our back up goalie play his first stanley cup playoff game and winning it. it was being counted out before game 1 was even played. it was having former team players showing up on screen or in the crowd because they loved the team so much. it was defending darnell (and his ass). it was the western conference champs. it was making it into the finals. it was 3-0 with our backs up against the wall. it was our team dragging them back to alberta. it was then 3-3 with hope. it was breaking records, again and again and again and again on the backs of the two greatest players in the world who were playing stitched together with duct tape and bound together under pressure and prayers. it was connor. it was leon. it was the whole fucking team.
it was the edmonton oilers.
so no, it was not a miracle.
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tbh my latest biggest theory for why HoO and onwards is such a dramatic drop in quality and consistency is just. Rick stopped making teaching guides.
Like, the Lightning Thief teacher's guide is SUPER in-depth with even stuff like sources about middle grade child psychology and exact specifications of where he's applying that, explaining what different character's goals/motivations are, their dynamics with each other and their environments, etc etc. Even specifying which specific myths certain plot elements are supposed to reference or be about.
That stuff just doesn't exist for later books. There's activity guides and smaller, significantly more simple teacher guides for later books but they don't go into anywhere NEAR the same level of depth. The TLT one is a full lesson plan that breaks down the book at every level and explains what's going on and more or less why Rick did that. The others are all basically just glossaries of terminology and some simple question guides.
And they didn't even use the TLT teacher's guide for the Disney+ show because they clearly aren't adhering to any of what's discussed in that breakdown of the book.
By creating a teaching guide alongside writing the actual book, that's forcing you to document what you're doing, why, your sources, and information about your characters and the story they're in. It's like an even more in-depth version of a series bible. But that's lacking for later books (and etc) and it shows because that level of thought and depth and attention just isn't there anymore.
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The way Xie Lian is trauma bonded to both his spiritual weapons..
Well, kinda.
At first I was mortified after learning their origins and that Xie Lian kept them both.
But then it felt very...expected?
This is xie lian—he takes in misunderstood, broken, and lost people and things left and right and gives them homes and care, even when no one else would dare—especially then.
Of course he wouldn't blame them for being used as a tool for inflicting evil and pain, just as he had almost been used as well—and by the same person, nonetheless.
it wasn't Fangxin's fault and Ruoye wouldn't have wanted to hurt him either if it were sentient at the time.
So “kinda” as in they're bonded from trauma, but they’re also bonded over trauma, in a way.
(I also really love how Hua Cheng is definitely mortified for a moment as well, but still does not judge Xie Lian or question his choices or treat the two weapons a certain way based on his own personal feelings towards them—minus the time when Xie Lian was about to use Fangxin for you-know-what in the revised fangxin guoshi arc. He truly never disrespects Xie Lian’s wishes unless he is actively harming himself.)
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An elaborate thoughtpiece on the recent state of EW
With the recent Youtooz announcement, I've been having a lot of thoughts regarding Eddsworld and the rumors about them returning Tord back to EW canon, so consider this a dump?? (For clarity's sake, the IRL people will be referred with their name and last initial. :])
I'd like to preface this by stating that I wouldn't mind the character coming back, as long as there's consent with Tord L. I'd assume that they would do this with the full intent of respecting his boundaries, so I'll give that the benefit of the doubt.
My issue, however, comes with HOW they're doing it. We are all aware that they've been teasing the episode, first with their post teasing their scriptwriting, and then Matt H. on Twitter confirming something big is coming with whatever they're working on next. Along with the YouTooz release and the removal of the Tord FAQ, it's very likely that this is what they're teasing. And yeah, that's fairly big news. The return of a fan favorite character who had a major impact on the plot? That would shift the current trajectory of their presentation and of the fandom. But, in regards to the fandom, they're aware he's a fan favorite. Want a quick buck? Be it for a charity or for themselves, he's the perfect tool to weaponize. Especially with a prevalent neurodivergent population in the fandom, he's especially easy to use. These fans will be dedicated, and they will buy it. I've seen multiple people say that they would for this sole reason. In no way is this a jab at any neurodivergent folks. I hope y'all enjoy your figurine. I would too. However, it ties into my next point. The dedicated fanbase that Eddsworld has isn't all too dedicated to the actual episodes. Look at content creators on tumblr. A majority have created their own elaborate AUs or headcanons so estranged from the own canon that the real canon holds little value. As each episode comes out, it will gain minute traction, only to swiftly be buried in the sea of fan-derivative content. I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't aware of this. In their comment sections on Instagram, oftentimes people will post GIFS of older episodes. Nothing to say about current content. Just GIFs. There's no drive for people to consume this media outside of their already preestablished footholds. So, how can people say something? How to bring in the quiet masses? Give them what they want. Give them Tord.
I made a theory a few days back with my friends. If a piece of media's lore has people begging for more, you'll likely see more AUs, more explorations of the characters outside of canon. I've seen this frequently when shows were coming out. The Owl House, for example, had budding fan theories and prevalent fan works and creators, such as moringmark, who played with fan theories as the show came out, exploring the potential the narrative had. However, by the time it ended, and the story was satisfactorily brought to its conclusion, this content diminished. Audience members felt fulfilled. When people aren't fulfilled, they ask for more. They make more. In this vein lies Miraculous Ladybug, a show known for egregious writing, to the point where content creators have basically transformed the entire show, disregarding a lot of the lore and establishing their own. Unfortuantely, with Eddsworld's current trajectory, the trend of AUs and headcanons feels more aligned with the latter rather than the former.
Another issue that's been plaguing my mind is narratively how his return would work. From the fandom, I've seen a few conflicting perspectives. Some people enjoy him as a villain/antagonist, whilst others prefer him as a member of the main crew. It would be impossible to satisfy both sides. Do they regard The End or not? And if so, how would they treat his facial scars and potential amputation? Ableism has been a plaguing issue in this fandom, and it makes me weary to see it potentially play out in the biggest form of media that Eddsworld uses. And I don't think people would be 100% okay if it was ignored, either. It's an extremely strange gray area where, no matter what, the consequence will be that someone will end up disappointed. To pull it off, they'd need a much more stable foundation and reputation. By the way the last few episodes have gone, I'm not too confident that they do.
After all, they've used this big episode so far to address a few criticisms I've seen for previous episodes. Aside from Tord's presence, they've teased the episode, which many had previously criticized Matt H. for his lack of transparency with the fandom upon production. The same goes with making it a sort of big episode. Beyond's episodes so far have been tamer and less narratively focused in comparison to later Classic and Legacy. That isn't a bad thing, but it's a major tonal shift that has felt awkward. Going back suddenly to the old formulas of narrative also feels a bit strange. The new narrative hasn't had success, sure, but every new creator will always have things to improve upon. Using what made Classic and Legacy successful in an era more focused on simpler narratives makes it seem like the showrunners don't know how to run in their own shoes, so they need to use someone else's to be successful. Here's the thing, you don't gain merit from being derivative, you gain it from making your own stuff work. Beyond wants to focus more on comedy than storytelling? That's great! That's what I've felt like those episodes were focusing on. Improving in that department will help overall. But changing something entirely because it wasn't working feels less confident, less focused on growth, and more on personal achievement. Especially when they have to use a fan-favorite character to get there. They couldn't make it on their own, so use what they know the people love.
I was discussing a book in one of my classes earlier, White Noise, when my teacher brought up how he wants us to constantly be aware of our society after reading this book, and how consumer culture greatly impacts our day to day lives. That's what the author wanted his readers to get out of it. Awareness. Every good work comes with a goal. What is Eddsworld Beyond's goal? What do they get out of bringing Tord back?
To me, it's the epitome of the current state of the entertainment industry. In Hollywood, where the animation corporations don't trust risk or exploration, they remake the old movies or produce soulless sequels. Kung Fu Panda 4, Megamind's sequel, every single live action Disney remake. And yet movies that take risks, like Strange World, no matter the quality, are shoved aside with little marketing. Cash grabs are easy ways to garner attention. They ensure profit. But they never garner the same soul as the original. To me, at least, the showrunners feel less confident in their own works because they've garnered little success from the 3 major episodes they've released so far, not including the shorts. Compared to Legacy and Classic, current Eddsworld has had nothing to say and very little gains from it. Legacy is a bit of a stretch for a standard, but it is a standard previously set by the show. This inflation is something so hard to achieve when a majority of fans have moved on, so I can't entirely blame them for potentially wanting to achieve this same success. It's just an empty way to do it.
I want to see this show succeed. I have a lot of love for it. I know there's a lot of love being put into it by the crew, and in no way do I want this to discredit their work. I see it as a current work in progress that's working out its kinks to reach its true potential. I just don't believe using the character of Tord is the right way to improve and garner traction. This is more of a critique on the writing and overall direction. Please understand this. I hope that, in the future, stuff starts going right for Beyond. Someday it'll succeed. But potentially using, for the lack of a better word, cheap tricks in order to obtain this is not the way to go as a creator.
Feel free to share your own thoughts. I'd love to hear what y'all have to say. And feel free to give helpful critiques as well! I'd love to make more elaborate writing pieces like this, so anything helps! Thank you, and farewell.
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