But Have You Considered That The Longnose Gar's Nose Is Long In Comparison To The Shortnose Gar's Nose?

"sadistic freak" and "pervert" very easily two of the best traits a character with healing powers can exhibit

long time no LR

TGR SPOILERS

Jean looks dead into Andrew's eyes and tells him that he won't be fast enough to save Neil the next time someone takes a swing because of his smoking.

How cruel it must have felt to be on his knees just 3 WEEKS later - collarbone shattered watching while Neil was curled in on himself at the end of a racquet from another Raven and Andrew too slow to stop it ?!

Anyway the next time we see him with a cigarette he's crushing it in his fist.

NEW WOLFWOOD SCULPT REVEAL

The Vash sculpture was around 200 dollars at it's release so I expect this wolfwood to be similar in price. Maybe more considering the punisher will take a lot of plastic and his base is wider.

Heart of the hex

It was allowed briefly in San Francisco in 2004, specifically. When it became allowed there, more than 4,000 marriages then occurred in the span of a month before being voided by the California Supreme Court a few months later. The full statewide ban then went into effect in 2008 and was lifted in 2013. 🥹

Wait wait wait I just realized aftg is set in 2007/8. There was A Lot going on in California in 2008 for marriage equality. Are we going to see any of that?? Will it impact the Trojans? Could Rhemman get married? There’s so many possibilities here!!!

It’s so important to me that the Foxes annoy Kevin.

Like the poor boy had no friends on his team and throughout his childhood. The only people he loved and cared about after his mom were

Jean, who he had to watch be and beaten and tortured and abused until the fight went out of him and then until he tried to kill himself and then be tortured again for failing to die and at least Kevin was a pet, Jean just a toy to be broken and taken away and used and discarded.

And Riko who abused him and manipulated him and took pleasure in beating him down while acting like they were closer than friends, actual brothers.

The Master who is so horrible that Kevin barely even speaks of him.

And then he’s treated as this godlike son of Exy by the public. Aside from Jeremy, it seems like the other teams aren’t even immune. He’s not a college athlete, he’s this unfathomable celebrity.

And then the Foxes are just SO unimpressed and actively annoyed with him. They bicker and tease but there’s no bite. Not like the Ravens. They drag him along on their fun excursions at knife point because it’s important that he’s there with them. They force him to have fun and ride horses and hike in the mountains while also respecting his skills on the court. They stock their home with cheese and candy bars and make him eat ice cream at crap diners and go dancing in clubs. And not all of it is healthy, Kevin’s self medicating with vodka for sure, and the behavior of the monsters is dubious at best especially in the first book, but they bring him along because they want him there. Not Kevin Day: Rising star of Exy. They want Kevin Day: Mega Nerd.

The Ravens hurt and tore each other apart in any way they could, nothing but venom and malice behind their words. Nicky calls him a brat and the in the affectionate ton calls him family. Kevin and Jean’s sexualities were used against them, another item for Riko’s amusement, the Ravens have hate sex more than actual care. Allison is visibly disgusted at the thought of hooking up and no one pushes it beyond characteristic teasing

Andrew is chronically annoyed with Kevin but follows him everywhere like a goalkeeper shaped safety blanket because years of the Nest leave Kevin anxious when alone. He’s capable of the same violence as the other Ravens but he never actually hurts Kevin until the last book. He gives Kevin his pills and his game and his house and his family and his trust but not his respect. Not always. It’s the same brutal healing he gave Matt.

Allison calls his tattoo, a number forced on him since childhood, a tramp stamp. Riko would kill him for removing it but the Foxes basically riot with happiness when he changes it.

Kevin was locked in the Nest, monitored at every move, watched and betrayed and even when he was able to leave, was shackled to Riko and Ichirou and forced to lie and perform while hurting. Wymack gives him keys to the court, to his home. Abby opens up her home for him to stay at over the holidays. Andrew and Aaron and Nicky bring him into their home and their favorite restaurant and club.

Do you think Kevin’s ever afraid of turning into Riko or Ichirou? We know Jean struggles with Raven impulses, especially when teaching. Do you think Kevin ever looked at tiny, fierce, stupid, stubborn Neil Josten and was afraid he’d hurt him on instinct? Do you think he was crushed by the honor of knowing that, in Nathaniel’s last days alive, he still wanted Kevin to train him?

No one could ever speak out against Riko, Kevin could never truly be himself. Everyone speaks out against Riko, Neil actively sasses the press.

Everyone teases Kevin and rolls their eyes and pushes his buttons while holding him close

And then, the one time true violence is turned against him by a teammate it’s in defense of Neil and immediately three other teammates intervene. They all platonically share a room because they’re so worried about Neil when he comes back. They’re angry and upset with Kevin but Andrew threatens him at knife point to go on vacation with them. They hear about the ugly truth of Kevin’s life and again and again and band around him every time. They treat him like a person, like a teammate, like family.

It’s important to me that they, like the fandom, think Kevin is a little bit of a diva and that they tell him that to his face. That they think he’s a nerd but let him ramble.

They call Neil his “mini me” and they all love Neil so much. I hope Kevin sees how they treat Neil who’s equally obsessive, equally intense, equally traumatized, equally as tied to gangsters and realizes that they love him too. That the insults and teasing are a love language

Idk man, just Kevin being treated like a person. This big burning star getting vetoed on a candy drawer and receiving his teammate's playful horror to his media personality because that is NOT our boy and being accepted for exactly who he is: a person who’s allowed to be imperfect and dramatic and safe to tease about it.

Here's some paintings I've done of people looking at screens. These are all available as prints on Inprnt: Art Prints by Ollie Jones - INPRNT I'm also selling a limited edition print of my piece 'Producer' at Black Dragon Press: Producer – Black Dragon Press

Need to ramble a bit about Livio in Stampede, have had thoughts tumbling around my head for a bit and need to put em out somewhere-

For a while I think I’ve been on the fence about the character that’s been portrayed for him so far in the anime- ill very readily admit I’m biased, as the manga version of him and Razlo I can easily say have been my favorite characters from any story I’ve experienced thus far and have been for quite a few years now.

As much as I joke or whine about his size in Stampede I think his design is fine on its own, it portrays what his character is supposed to be- a clean cut professional hitman/assassin that’s tied to this universe’s tech. I can also appreciate the concept of him constantly chasing after Wolfwood, I think there’s a lot that can be worked with there- but there’s an issue with the sense of his agency with that, which I’ll get into more.

It’s difficult not to compare Stampede to the manga, I understand that it’s supposed to be “its own thing”- but in regards to this specific topic I’m going to go into, imo, compared to the manga it’s objectively handled worse. (I also understand that being it’s an anime there is a greater time restraint to work with, and the episodes he was featured in are meant to have Wolfwood as the primary focus- at the end of the day LR are side characters)

The thing that easily gives me the biggest ick is was him attempting to “check out” at the end of ep. 7- actively suicidal and acting on impulse as a result of the rush of memories returning because of horrid acts either he or Razlo committed (this ramble isn’t about how Stampede portrayed Razlo in the brief .5 seconds he was there, given we don’t know for sure how Stargaze will handle him- but given how Liv was treated, I’m preparing myself to be very disappointed ((but open to being pleasantly surprised))

For me personally, one of the things that makes manga Liv so relatable is his passive suicidal nature, especially while being under Chapel in EOM. His general apathy and readiness to claim the status of being a victim can have someone easily argue that he is a bad person, and he doesn’t have much of a stance on whether he lives or dies. We do get hints of empathy from him (like killing the bad guy who was threatening the child from the orphanage and being willing to take the time to tell Wolfwood his story), but overall he believes his only purpose is to serve as sword and shield to the best of his abilities and does not care how others fare as a result, including himself. Quite frankly he more than likely would not be alive, either by his own hand or allowing someone to take his life if it weren’t for Razlo.

Part of this mindset of his remains even after volume ten, again I’ll refer to his quote referring to himself as a tool/weapon- while now having a purpose to live and go on, at no point does Liv himself state or portray a fear of dying. Regardless, his character development from having a victim mindset being turned into a sense of resolve and making choices to do better for himself and those around him is, quite frankly imo, the entire message that Trigun conveys.

Manga Livio is the precipice of the “blank ticket” metaphor- someone who was given the opportunity to start over, and made a choice to do better in spite of the actions he knowingly and readily committed prior.

Stampede Livio is unfortunately not that. From what we’ve seen his entire ability to choose at all was taken from him at some point. We’ve seen that he was a willing volunteer of EOM, and we’ve seen that he was working really hard to be on par with Wolfwood- but at some point it’s strongly implied that he was forced to commit atrocities that he wouldn’t normally have done by his own volition, and that the piece of tech he wears insures that he continues to do as instructed. There is a sort of horror that goes with that which in of itself is extremely interesting, but it doesn’t really flow with the message that Trigun intends to give. What can Livio learn or change from if it wasn’t “him” ever committing heinous acts or if his troubled past doesn’t continue to eat at him? What does he learn, or the main cast learn, if he was successful in committing suicide in a state of panic?

I honestly have no idea what to expect from Stargaze- I’m excited for it (although nervous) and I really hope they expand on the narrative for Liv, even if just a little bit. I can imagine it’ll be hard for the anime to make Liv be the precipice for the blank ticket metaphor again story-wise at this point, so I won’t be surprised if that turns out to be someone else.

JEREJEAN IS REALLY COMING HOME.