Trigun movie thoughts

[effervescible]

Semi-randomly: Apparently by dint of being het, I am vanilla. Shit, I always preferred chocolate. Though how I can be vanilla and a dirty pervert at the same time kind of confuses me.

Already there's a tiny furor over the quality of the Trigun movie and what it'll mean for the fandom. I expected this; it's what I meant when I said some people would be happy and some would be sad. I maybe didn't think it would happen so fast, but I did see it coming.

Honestly? I can sympathize. There are many ways they might be approaching this thing, and while some of them would be easy to ignore if we don't like it, a sequel or in-canon side story are harder. It can suck to have your fics and ideas trounced. Just ask every Jossfan that ever drew breath. It doesn't make previously written things bad--just pre-Cow Thing--but it can change how you look at things, especially if you draw inspiration from canon events.

So I get the apprehension. I do. I feel a little of it myself--for all that I'd be curious to see their take on a post-series movie, I worry that it couldn't measure up to what we imagine. For all that I would enjoy a mid-series adventure with all of our heroes together again, I worry that it could include some interesting characterization choices that doesn't fit in with the series it's suppose to be inside. So yeah, there are ways it could suck.

But. For me personally, and this is a very subjective thing that varies from person to person, I think it's worth it. It appears that the same or most of the original creative team is on it, so if you liked the anime, there's a decent shot you'll like the movie, too. If you didn't, well, nothing's changed then, has it? And I feel confident that I can erase from my brain anything bad. After the wretched finales of X-Files and any number of bad anime series, I've done the "WTF were they thinking?!" thing enough that I know it's still possible to enjoy the decent part of a series without letting awful additions ruin it. Embrace the personal canon, people, it's a great concept. And you know, even if absolutely everything else sucks (and I doubt that), we should still get some pretty slick animation. That's not a bad thing.

Oh, pairings? Fuck pairings. Every time I see someone get all het up--pardon the expression--over who will end up boinking who, I have to ask: were they watching the same anime I was? I would be surprised if we got any serious emphasis on a pairing in the movie, or the manga, because I hear the same fretting about that--and I mean from BOTH sides, het and slash, and I think they're both...kind of stupid, really, because that is utterly missing the frelling point. Fandom is way too focused on pairings. I don't think there's anything wrong with that; I enjoy that kind of stuff. But in many fandoms but especially in Trigun, pairings have very little to do with what drew us to the series in the first place.

Yes, I like Vash/Meryl. (Among other couples.) Yes, I will grin and think it's fun if there's anything in the movie that can be taken as some kind of subtext. Doesn't matter to me if it's intentional on the part of the animators or not. In a non-romantic series, very little is, and anyone who thinks the animators care as much about pairings of any sort as we do is deluding themselves. So yes, I admit these things, but they are not why I'm excited about the movie. All the things I love about Trigun are things that will still exist even if Nightow takes out a two-page ad in Newtype that says "HAY GUYS VASH AND MERYL SUX0R HAHAHA KTHXDIE." It wouldn't be fun, but I'd deal, and I'd still enjoy Trigun because what I enjoy has not changed.

Honestly, I think people worried about pairings, and I include het fans in this because I have yet to see a guarantee that Vash and Meryl will be making BABIES EVERYWHERE, and that'd actually be kind of ick if they were, are stressing over nothing. I doubt there will be much that changes any pairings, because as much as we care about them, the animators just don't. Our priorities are not their priorities. This is another reason why I think everyone should have started out with X-Files as their first fandom, in MSRville specifically--getting exactly the pairing you want and watching as it CRASHES AND BURNS tends to make you cautious about what you really want to see. After a shitfest like that, you've built up some scar tissue to fandom disappointments.

Me? I just want some deep space planet future gun action. That's all I need.

Comments

[xerne.livejournal.com]

After all the wanking over Advent Children and the six million other sequels to FF7 and Square Jossing themselves on the backstory, I think I can take anything Trigun throws at me. =P

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Don't forget the Harmonians fapping away madly. That's what pairing wank reminds me of the most.

[xerne.livejournal.com]

CloudxTifa vs CloudxAeris is still the One True Pairing Wank, IMO. =P It's taken the Harmonians years to reach the level of batshit FF7 fans were hitting in the late nineties. (Novelizations of the game that were blatently pro-Tifa or pro-Aeris, hate sites, massive and massively stupid flame wars, and so on.) We'll see whether the Harmonians can keep it up for another five years.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Wordity Word Word. Just because a pairing makes you go omgsquee! does not make it canon. Interpretation of a line can mean one thing to one person who's inclined to see it one particular way, and it can mean the exact opposite to a person who's inclined to disbelieve the same. Fighting over whose interpretation is correct is just... stupid.

I'm looking forward to the movie, but I share your apprehension of Explodinating Fandoms. Happily, many of the sane people in the Trigun fandom are already on my friendslist, so that should make the movie fun rather than one big Fandom Wank.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Now, now. Don't you know that collecting sane people for your flist is omg totallie the same thing as brainwashing them against other fans and the fact that they were totally freaked out by the other fans has nothing to do with it?

h0r!

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

I just got off the phone with Nightow and he said it's going to feature hot MidvalleyxMerylxKuroneko(who is really Knives Sohma) smut.

[octopedingenue]

Knives Sohma.

Okay, that's hot.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

And it explains a lot about Kuroneko, dontcha think?

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

And something I totally haven't thought up before when bored. XD

My response (which for some reason contains HBP spoilers...)

[yma2.livejournal.com]

::claps::
I utterly, utterly agree with what you've just said! To be fair the pairing thing isn't just Trigun, it can be found in most fandoms. Fandoms as a whole tend to get very into the pairing thing and for no good reason, IMO. Especially in Trigun where, as you said, Romance very much takes a back seat to the action. Yeah, it's there, but it's by no means all of hte plot.
To be honest if this is anything like the series then I do expect some Vash/Meryl subtext but I doubt anything will actually happen. Apart from anything, look and Nightow! See how that guy manages to tease us all without giving us anything AND he concentrates on the plot! Besides, one of the major features in most anime I've seen is that the hero and heroine very RARELY get it together! If anything one of them (or both!) is more likely to die at the end! So the chances of it ending as 'And Vash and Meryl lived happily ever after!' is remote at best!
As for the other side... well to be honest it's almost impossible to crash ANY pairing so long as you're imaginative enough.
For example, I could manage write a fic abou Milly/Midvalley. Yeah, it'd be shit, but I'm sure I could manage it. With enough imagination and characterisation it's not difficult to fit almost any pairing together. Sure, some work better than others, (because of the cannon text/subtext) but it can be done. So even if Meryl/Vash became cannon, who's to say that he didn't have relationship with Wolfwood/Midvalley/Knives/Insert-person-here. It's all arguable.
To be honest, as a member of the HP fandom I very much understand where people come from. My favorite pairing (was, and still is!) Remus/Sirius (a slash pairing, which is unusual for me but... meh.) Now, Sirius... isn't around any more. But that's OK, because like all those Vash/Wolfwood fans, just 'cos he ain't aroiund. Now don't mean I can't write reserection fics or stories about before he died. But when HBP prince came out then it turned out that Lupin was going (or was going to go) out with someone else, a woman (I won't give her name unless you havn't read the series or HPB, sorry if I'm spoiling you at all here...) which pretty much crashed my pairing cannicaly wise, yeah?
Not really, 'cos I can still write about the idea that Remus is Bi and went out with Sirius in the past. I can still consider what effect that might have on the character now and... well... yeah. You get the picture?
People should just chill. Trigun is cool not because of the pairings but because of the wonderful characters and the cool stories. To be honest, just seeing Vash again is gonna make me happy. (But OOooooh! I wonder what they'll do with Knives? :bounces:)

Re: My response (which for some reason contains HBP spoilers...)

[jaina.livejournal.com]

People need to just chill about pairings in general. That doesn't mean you can't think a pairing is stupid or usually badly written, it just means don't freak out about it. I feel you on the Remus/Sirius--I like them a lot, too. But I just view Tonks/Remus as him moving on with his life. His boyfriend would've wanted him to be happy. XD And like I said in the post, sometimes actually getting your otp is no great shakes. If I knew what Mulder/Scully would be like, I'd have said Chris Carter can keep it.

And as for Midvalley/whoever, I'm a firm believer that any pairing fic with him can be fun, even if it's not entirely realistic. Hell, I wrote Mid/Meryl once. Thus is the awesome power of the Manwhore.

[angstymcgoth.livejournal.com]

Uh...would it be stupid of me to ask where all the wanking is going on at? Or has the knowledge of an actual MOVIE OMG hit the main Trigun fanboards?

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Dude, take a guess.

[lul1aby.livejournal.com]

So much Word! I think people who really participate in fandom (writers, mostly) tend to worry more about such things, for all the reasons you've stated. I can imagine having your plot points or, even worse, carefully thought-out characterization obliterated in an hour isn't fun. But it's not the end of the world. Buffy writers got Jossed at least once a year, but it didn't stop them from writing. Letting go of some measure of fannish entitlement wouldn't hurt anyone.

As far as pairings...I like Vashy/Meryl. And I'd like to see a wee hint of this pairing, but I don't feel a need to actually see it happen in the movie. It's just not that kind of anime/manga and I'd like to see the creators stick with Nightow's and their own original visions. For pairings in this series, a little subtext and a lot of fic is all I really need. And, if anything, new canon means a revitalized fandom, more plot bunnies for writers and more fic of all kinds. I fail to see what could possibly be so upsetting about this that there's already splooge flying about. I'm not surprised to see who the source of it is, though.

[imre-nico.livejournal.com]

What I don't get is how you can be vanilla and a dirty bar-sex loving pervert at the same time.

Seems almost...paradoxical.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Maybe that's the REAL reason they broke up.

[lushdesolation.livejournal.com]

Gee, people are talking about me. Thanks.

I actually agree with your rant, Jaina. I saw MillyFan's journal and was all... WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT?!

And calmly tried to explain to her that nothing in canon is going to "invalidate" her pet OTPs. A creative enough writer can make just about anything work. I find it terribly hypocritical for someone who very happily writes Wolfwood/Midvalley and Wolfwood/Vash slash, while at the same time, liking and writing about Wolfwood x Milly to see Vash x Meryl becoming canon as a "slap in the face" to yaoi fandom. She seems to very happily have her yaoi with Wolfwood while keeping the Wolfwood x Milly. I don't see how she cannot do the same with Vash. She believes he's bi, so, why not?

She just needs to calm down, and I think she has. I just wonder if she's allowing my comments through, as she has them screened.

I know you probably don't even want me commenting on your LJ, as I'm one of the "crazy fans," but I do at least *feel* a little bit saner since I haven't been talking to you know who on AIM... and I do agree with your rant, and applaud you for it.

X-Files schmoopiness has jaded all the fans, hasn't it? I survived X-Files, so, Trigun, bring on what you will.

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

Let's talk.

Perhaps this new life is good for you. Perhaps being with your fiancee and not talking to MF is the best thing that ever happened to you and you are turning over a new leaf. Awesome. That being said, you have to accept the following:

1. On the old, unturned-over leaf, your actions were a source of great amusement and therefore shall be referenced as such. You may not act insulted to find you're being spoken of in a journal of someone you've referred to as "evil" less than a fortnight ago.

2. You have, numerous times, played a game where you said nasty things about everyone, then come crawling back. Repeat. If you expect to make friends, please forgive us our raised eyebrows whenever you sporadically come by to make nice.

3. Making peace with one's past does not mean denying it, nor does it mean loudly announcing it wherever one goes. It means accepting that some people may not be able to move past one's past, and some people may occasionally remind one of it, but one must continue living one's new life and proving them wrong.

MF linked to Jaina's lj, and made some comments that could be taken as a slight towards her. Jaina also made a post of her own thoughts. You will notice I did not go to MF's lj to vehemently defend Jaina, because I know they will never be BFF and therefore, what's the point? The bridge caught fire, fell over, and sank into the swamp. One wonders what your motivation is in coming here and defending a person with whom you claim to have quote-unquote broken up. In short, don't expect sunshine and roses should you receive any other replies.

That being said, dude, Trigun is not about the pairings, it's about Deep Space Planet Future Gun Action. No matter what happens, we shall all continue to write and draw and read that which pleases us. ESPECIALLY since we don't even know the subject of the movie, I think it's rather ridiculous for teh intarwebs to get their collective panties in a bind over it. (Me, I'm predicting mid-series side story, with Wolfwood still alive.)

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

We already chatted about this. I'm glad for anything they give us. Honestly, I don't like to see a lot of 'shipping done in any series, inside or outside of canon. If they have little bits, that's cool, because I like my stuff understated. I want to see an expansion on the existing UNIVERSE in which they live. Development of the characters. Something that'll get my head excited about animated Trigun, the way it is about the manga.

Why'm I not surprised that MF has a hand in this commentary? That girl needs to chill. Seriously.

[buttercup0222.livejournal.com]

VxM would be a slap in the face to yaoi fans? Last time I checked, Nightow and company didn't owe any section of the fans anything. Some people are warped, but that's nothing new.

I would just focus on the positive. This movie is barely conceived and there's already people griping about it. Dude, this is more Trigun! Be happy!

As for pairings, I fully admit that I will melt into a little puddle if there is some VxM hinting or validation. I wouldn't want to see a romance though, and there's no way in hell that it'll turn into one. If they made a movie where Vash and Meryl had 15 babies, I would be left wondering what happened to all the angsting and badass gunfights.

[angstymcgoth.livejournal.com]

Bitch, he owes us everything. You see how much dj we put out. EVERYTHING.

[cadesama.livejournal.com]

. . . there's a Trigun movie? OMG, that just made my day.

[andmydog.livejournal.com]

All the things I love about Trigun are things that will still exist even if Nightow takes out a two-page ad in Newtype that says "HAY GUYS VASH AND MERYL SUX0R HAHAHA KTHXDIE."

Random aside: I think I'd love Trigun and Nightow more if he did that (for any pairing, really).

[arafel.livejournal.com]

What about a two-page ad that said "YOU ALL THINK WAY TOO MUCH ABOUT WHO'S BONING WHO?"

That would amuse me just as much.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

Word.