bob’s life in the countryside continues to be a peaceful existence, and he couldn’t be happier for the decision he made to leave his old life (and eliza) behind.
There is something so tender about these pages. The love and care that goes into bringing taste back into a person's life. The way Senshi woke up early and made sure to put on a show while cooking, to start by bringing joy into the experience. The fact that he chose to make pancakes, something that is warm and has a soft texture and would feel good to eat even if you had no sense of taste. Senshi Dungeonmeshi you are my hero.
This panel stuck out to me when it showed up in TriMax Chapter 3, but honestly, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it at the time. Or, rather, I wasn't sure where Nightow might be going with it.
Meryl is trying to defend her time with Vash as not being a that bad, but then her coworker (amazingly named Karen) calls her out, telling her that, as a woman, there's no way Meryl could have been happy having her life constantly threatened while running around with Vash.
My first instinct is to defend Meryl, to shoot back at Karen that what defines Karen's life may not define Meryl's, and Meryl might be the more adventurous type who genuinely doesn't mind the danger. And besides, having one's life constantly under threat is psychologically wearing on anyone regardless of gender. So shouldn't she just shut her yap?
But then these words come up again later in the chapter. For (what I think is) the first time in the series, Meryl finds herself with an actual loaded gun leveled directly at her head by a person who fully intends to pull the trigger. She has no known help in sight, and the gunman calling her foolish makes her remember what Karen said.
And Meryl just... closes her eyes, and she thinks about all the danger she's been in with everyone from Gosef to E.G. Mine. She thinks about the Fifth Moon Incident. And she thinks about Vash.
But she doesn't think of gunman Vash. She doesn't think of Vash in a panic telling her to run away from danger, of Vash fleeing for his life over and over and over again.
She thinks of him smiling.
Not only is he smiling, but compared to the darkness and chaos of the other panels, he's a beacon of light in those memories. (You can almost hear the tense, dark music that's been flowing through the scene break into something lighter at his appearance.) And that image of him smiling kindly, still striving for love and peace, grows to dominate her mindscape.
It would be easy to write this off as her growing crush on Vash, or as her seeing him telling her that it's alright and dealing with things like being hunted and having your life regularly threatened aren't actually that bad, that perhaps these things appeal to a sense of adventure and/or what makes life worth living. After all, we've seen similar messages come up in similar fashions in so many other anime and manga series.
But that's not what Meryl concludes from it. Instead, she thinks about Vash's smiling face and concludes her coworker is right. There isn't a way for she, Meryl, to truly be happy when she's constantly getting thrown into these situations.
Her conclusion doesn't end there, though. She doesn't look at the situation and go, "Well, I guess it's time for me, a girl, to throw in the towel so I can pursue a happier existence."
Instead, she concludes that she has to keep doing this sort of thing anyway regardless of any danger or fulfillment.
She realizes that what she dealt with for the time she followed Vash around was crazy and terrifying and, yes, life-threatening. And she realizes that this is how Vash lives all the time. Unlike her, it's not something he has the option to just tap out of when the mood suits. As we were shown in the previous two chapters, Vash genuinely can't just make a new life or career choice or whatever and just... hunt for his own happiness instead. Chaos is going to follow him unbidden wherever he goes.
But he keeps going. And he doesn't just keep going, but through it all he keeps smiling kindly at others, offers them encouragement, and despite all he's seen and been through, keeps trying harder to work for a world with more love and peace. Not because it's safe or happy or appeals to a sense of adventure. It's none of those things. He continues on this path because it's the right thing to do.
Meryl realizes the same thing is true for her. Accepting another assignment from the company to follow Vash around isn't going to bring her the kind of life Karen suggested was ideal. In fact, it's more likely that following in Vash's footsteps (whether figuratively or literally) is going to end up with Meryl in additional stressful situations with her life on the line far more than is truly reasonable for anyone (regardless of gender). It isn't necessarily going to bring her happiness. It certainly isn't going to bring her peace.
But it's the right thing to do, which makes it the only path forward for her, and so she'll embrace it despite all the struggles it brings.
that evening bob went a little overboard cooking a dinner for andy, but sharing food has always been one of his love languages and he hadn’t seen his brother in over a year. andy hadn’t eaten his cooking even longer than that, so he didn’t mind in the least.
I love the haircut scene with Vash and Lina. It's this amazing moment of platonic intimacy, a simple act of care that could have been handed off to anyone, but that Lina wanted to do herself, and that Vash agreed to.
And when she's done, she takes the cloth that was tied around his neck, pulls it off of him, and buries herself in it.
It's as if she could bury herself in his essence and keep him there with her. It's as if she could somehow hide from the fact that he, like so many before in her life, is leaving her, and may not ever return.
It's a bit of a childish thing to do, but Lina is only 12, and Vash has had such an impact on her life. Not simply by saving her in the last chapter, but just by being there. Just by being a friend and companion, a bit of a guardian who looked after her best interest, a bit of a brother who needed her care.
Vash sees her action for what it is, and he does his absolute best to acknowledge her feelings.
This man has been alive for around 150 years. Two years is barely a blip on the map for him, especially considering how young he still appears to be. But even in that relatively short duration, she and her grandma made such an impact on Vash that it's unlikely he'll ever forget it.
If he could stay there forever with them, long enough to watch Lina grow up and grow old, he probably would. It would be a small thanks compared to all she's done for him. But that's not in the cards for him. Not now, maybe not ever.
But just because it's ending, and not in the way either of them wanted, doesn't mean it wasn't worthwhile. Maybe those memories will fade in time for both of them, but for now, those memories are everything.
This is about the post you made wanting shuake content. I really wanted to come in with “they were two bros, chillin in a hot tub. 2 feet apart cause they ARE gay.” But then uh. My brain went:
Shuake is canon because Goro has 0 plot important reasons to be interested in akira personally.
The easiest option would be to wait in mementos. Or to even find calling card targets and observe them doing boss fights and follow them out for the first three. But by the fourth he knows makoto well enough that by Kaneshiro’s palace; he would recognise her and them.
So why get to know someone like he did? Why trauma dump in Leblanc? Why trauma dump in the bathhouse? Why bring him to his most special place (jazz bar)? Why house husband browse by asking if he cooks. And many people would argue this could be platonic: which I agree it could be just opening up to a friend. Could be finding solice in the ONE person who understood him.
But then WHY such flirtatious language!! Honey I’m home scene? The “you’re special/different” the “haha I was going to say something weird. Bye” (or something akin to that) At the end of one of their phone calls.
And if akira didn’t return these feelings why did holding onto the memory of goro by keeping his glove make goro cling to life? Why did morgana say that thing in the engine room?
Fellas is it homoromantic to be brought back from the clutches of death based on the feelings my homie holds for me?
Fuck it I’m going off anon for this. I’m not normal about the two of them.
They (goro) might be a bit toxic but call me Brittney cause I’m slipping under. I mean they were hand picked by a God to fist fight and see who wins. I think after all of the trauma that put them through they should be allowed to hold hands in the rubble of that Gods stadium.
Anyway.
God I’m so sorry for what I’ve cursed your inbox with
How does it feel to be so right and be brave about it?