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Tiggy Malvern wrote a sequel to her marvelous Trigun fic Interlude (Wolfwood/Vash).
She has KILLED me. DEAD. Absolutely fucking stunned in an "Oh my god I am rocked to my soul, I cannot think, my stomach hurts and my heart hurts and I think I just may cry, and let me worship you because you've made me laugh and love too" sort of way.
The most awesome and amazing part of this was the absolutely fucking *subtle* way that she did this. The angst is almost all through implication and knowledge of the canon, and is not even THERE in the fic, until the end where you get slammed up against a realization alongside the POV and just.
just.
I hurt. I am hurting because the author has made me fall in love with the characters as they fall too, I am hurting because I know what's coming, I am hurting because of the beautifully constructed transient joy.
The fic itself?? Is HILARIOUS. The plot is coherent, the story moves, the characters are *solid*, and the snark! Oh the snark and the bitching and the banter!
There is so much barely contained happiness in the fic, so much joy and relief and all of it in-character and well written and well paced and non-smoopy.
And, damn, I'm reading this a second time and the careful ways that she showed, in different ways, this thing, how nearly possesive and protective Vash is, instinctually is, the sheer overwhelming *relief* he feels at watching Wolfwood be alive, the anger at the bullet scars, the care and thought he has for Wolfwood physically and mentally and you just *slam* up against those last few lines, and you know that Vash's not going to be enough, it's not going to be enough, he's going to lose him, and not only that he's going to watch him die and he can't do *anything* enough to help.
Fucking hell.
And the audience knows what's going to happen and.
And.
Wow, now THAT is craft. I cannot believe that this fic has made me angst so much over so little actual physically present angst in the fic. The canon is angst-y, and the fic is barely angst-y, but you put them together and the angst is just thousand-folded.
But first...
First there's the joy; transient, brilliant, bits of joy.
::happysigh::
Go read.
Pieces
by Tiggy Malvern
(sequel to Interlude)
(from Chapter 68, full translations can be found HERE)
So, Wolfwood's confronts his mentor and various minions in front of the orphanage, drinks a two vials of restorative that overloads his system but allows him to keep fighting despite MASSIVE injuries, and Wolfwood (with Vash) eventually win but the vials and the injuries and even with the ship there to pick them up Wolfwood refuses the effort...
[...]
Vash: Is this really the way you want things!!?
Wolfwood: There's no time. The ship is leaving.
Pow!
Wolfwood: Look.
Wolfwood shows him the coin fragments.
Wolfwood: See, Tongari? This is who I really am.
(aside): One of them was the samurai's.
Vash: .....
Wolfwood: You're interfering in something that doesn't concern you.
You understand, don't you?
Vash: But you still should go!
Set aside that way of thinking!
Wolfwood: What!? You've got some nerve,
when you can't even do that yourself!
...so the ship leaves with the children, who are now safe, and Vash and Wolfwood are left the victors of a killing field.
But Wolfwood is dying, and...
Vash: ..... Is it really all right?
Wolfwood: Yeah.
I said, I'm satisfied.
.....
And... I'm grateful to you, too
Vash (blushing): Eh heh heh. Um, well...
You're giving me the creeps.
Wolfwood: I. Was. Kidding.
If anything, you should be thanking me.
Wolfwood: ...Anyway, sit down with me for a bit.
It's been a long time since I last had a drink with you.
They open a bottle of liquor and toast each other.
I like it better when you're smiling.
Vash (gritting his teeth and bowing his head): ...Listen, Wolfwood...
Don't say stupid things.
Wolfwood (thinks): Ah, God...
God...
Please answer my one prayer...
He looks up.
From the ship, the children are showering him with confetti.
Aunt Melanie thumps a satchel onto the floor.
Aunt Melanie: Listen, everyone.
What I'm about to tell you is the absolute truth.
Sometimes reality is harsh, but I want you to listen carefully until the end.
And then... let's all decide together what we're going to do with this.
Flashback. (After Wolfwood left the orphanage.)
The children are all cutting up paper and filling a satchel with confetti.
Aunt Melanie: My goodness, what are you all doing?
Child: You know... Big brother Nick is going to come back sometime, right?
So when he does...We thought we'd all celebrate together again.
Voice-over: After all, surely
...despite everything happening so suddenly...
we had decided, so...
Voice-over: Welcome home.
The bell tolls.
Vash buries his face in his hands.
...So in the Manga Vash was there for the fight too, and was there for Wolfwood's death, but it wasn't like he could *do* anything because between the injuries from fight and the extra dose of the vial and the orphans and Wolfwood's deal with Knives and just.
gah. that last drink with Vash; the confetti rained from the sky; fake snow, bags of it, made of precious paper because it's a celebration held by the children for their protector; and
Welcome home.
::sobs::
She has KILLED me. DEAD. Absolutely fucking stunned in an "Oh my god I am rocked to my soul, I cannot think, my stomach hurts and my heart hurts and I think I just may cry, and let me worship you because you've made me laugh and love too" sort of way.
The most awesome and amazing part of this was the absolutely fucking *subtle* way that she did this. The angst is almost all through implication and knowledge of the canon, and is not even THERE in the fic, until the end where you get slammed up against a realization alongside the POV and just.
just.
I hurt. I am hurting because the author has made me fall in love with the characters as they fall too, I am hurting because I know what's coming, I am hurting because of the beautifully constructed transient joy.
The fic itself?? Is HILARIOUS. The plot is coherent, the story moves, the characters are *solid*, and the snark! Oh the snark and the bitching and the banter!
“I wasn’t the one who had his brain picked at for half a year,” Wolfwood said darkly, and Vash guessed he might have had some concerns on that score too, and there were a whole lot of things he could have said, but the most important one was -...And the smut. dude.
“Wolfwood, why are we standing here arguing over why we aren’t having sex?”
Wolfwood paused for a moment. “Because you’re goddamn irritating,” he offered as a parting shot. And Vash let him have it, because his mouth on Wolfwood’s was so much better, the press of a hand sliding down his back towards his butt more invigorating than their most energetic fights.
There is so much barely contained happiness in the fic, so much joy and relief and all of it in-character and well written and well paced and non-smoopy.
And, damn, I'm reading this a second time and the careful ways that she showed, in different ways, this thing, how nearly possesive and protective Vash is, instinctually is, the sheer overwhelming *relief* he feels at watching Wolfwood be alive, the anger at the bullet scars, the care and thought he has for Wolfwood physically and mentally and you just *slam* up against those last few lines, and you know that Vash's not going to be enough, it's not going to be enough, he's going to lose him, and not only that he's going to watch him die and he can't do *anything* enough to help.
Fucking hell.
And the audience knows what's going to happen and.
And.
Wow, now THAT is craft. I cannot believe that this fic has made me angst so much over so little actual physically present angst in the fic. The canon is angst-y, and the fic is barely angst-y, but you put them together and the angst is just thousand-folded.
But first...
First there's the joy; transient, brilliant, bits of joy.
::happysigh::
Go read.
Pieces
by Tiggy Malvern
(sequel to Interlude)
(from Chapter 68, full translations can be found HERE)
So, Wolfwood's confronts his mentor and various minions in front of the orphanage, drinks a two vials of restorative that overloads his system but allows him to keep fighting despite MASSIVE injuries, and Wolfwood (with Vash) eventually win but the vials and the injuries and even with the ship there to pick them up Wolfwood refuses the effort...
Page 98
Vash: Is this really the way you want things!!?
Wolfwood: There's no time. The ship is leaving.
Page 100
Pow!
Wolfwood: Look.
Wolfwood shows him the coin fragments.
Wolfwood: See, Tongari? This is who I really am.
(aside): One of them was the samurai's.
Vash: .....
Wolfwood: You're interfering in something that doesn't concern you.
You understand, don't you?
Page 101
Vash: But you still should go!
Set aside that way of thinking!
Wolfwood: What!? You've got some nerve,
when you can't even do that yourself!
...so the ship leaves with the children, who are now safe, and Vash and Wolfwood are left the victors of a killing field.
But Wolfwood is dying, and...
Page 103
Wolfwood: Yeah.
I said, I'm satisfied.
.....
And... I'm grateful to you, too
Vash (blushing): Eh heh heh. Um, well...
You're giving me the creeps.
Wolfwood: I. Was. Kidding.
If anything, you should be thanking me.
Wolfwood: ...Anyway, sit down with me for a bit.
It's been a long time since I last had a drink with you.
Pages 104-105
They open a bottle of liquor and toast each other.
Page 106
I like it better when you're smiling.
Page 107
Vash (gritting his teeth and bowing his head): ...Listen, Wolfwood...
Don't say stupid things.
Wolfwood (thinks): Ah, God...
God...
Please answer my one prayer...
Pages 108-109
He looks up.
From the ship, the children are showering him with confetti.
Page 110
Aunt Melanie thumps a satchel onto the floor.
Aunt Melanie: Listen, everyone.
What I'm about to tell you is the absolute truth.
Sometimes reality is harsh, but I want you to listen carefully until the end.
And then... let's all decide together what we're going to do with this.
Flashback. (After Wolfwood left the orphanage.)
The children are all cutting up paper and filling a satchel with confetti.
Aunt Melanie: My goodness, what are you all doing?
Child: You know... Big brother Nick is going to come back sometime, right?
So when he does...We thought we'd all celebrate together again.
Page 111
Voice-over: After all, surely
...despite everything happening so suddenly...
we had decided, so...
Pages 112-113
Voice-over: Welcome home.
Pages 114-115
The bell tolls.
Pages 116-117
Pages 118-119
Vash buries his face in his hands.
gah. that last drink with Vash; the confetti rained from the sky; fake snow, bags of it, made of precious paper because it's a celebration held by the children for their protector; and
Welcome home.
::sobs::
Re: Yay!!