Here for the Spikey Space Plant

PetitJ here. So I’m back to my vices and apparently they now take the shape of Trigun. I’ve been lurking like a cryptid for weeks, but here I am, finally posting. Expect fic updates, feelings, and probably way too many thoughts about blond men with trauma.

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This has been the most stressful, emotional, and exhausting month of my professional life, so I guess it’s time to write some VashMeryl to soothe my nerves 😭💛

Because apparently my coping mechanism is putting fictional people through feelings until my feelings are better 🫠

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My shippy brain has fully hijacked the new Devil May Cry season and turned every Dante & Lady moment into a Vash & Meryl scene. The dynamic is suspiciously familiar and I refuse to apologize for it 😂

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I was talking with a friend about the meaning behind this piece. At first, we thought it was Vash before the last episode aired, but it doesn’t quite match, especially because of the hair and the bit of greenery. Then they suggested it might be one of Vash and Meryl’s descendants returning to No Man’s Land.

Yeah we agreed it’s a reach but you have to admit that is a beautiful headcanon.

Unfortunately this idea won’t leave me alone until I write a fanfic about it so I’m not sure if I should thank my friend at all 😂

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Okay WAIT so what I’m hearing is that in this iteration Vash and Meryl basically get to grow old together while exploring the universe with the others, and then return to No Man’s Land when they’re old and grey, still believing in a better future where the next generations will understand the Plants better...

and you’re telling me those future generations could very much be theirs?????

Ok no?? No one else???

It’s okay… just let me have this. Just let me be happy.

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As a writer of sorts, one of my favorite exercises is taking a canon I love and asking “what if?” Changing one detail, pulling one thread, and seeing where it leads. That’s actually what I did with my latest multichap fic The Promise. Anyway, this is the result of one of those sessions.

So here’s my take of What if Vash met Meryl before the Big Fall?

Does it work? Maybe that’s up to you to decide, but I think it’s a concept lovely enough to inspire some fanart.

In case you want to read more about it here’s my version of how that would play out.

Meryl is on the same ship as Vash, Nai, and Rem. Her cryopod malfunctions during the voyage — maybe Nai tampers with it, curious about whether he can connect with someone his own age. Whatever the reason, she wakes up right before the Tesla discovery, and Rem takes her in while working to repair the pod.

Rem tries to keep the twins away from Meryl to protect the secret of their existence, but eventually curiosity wins and the three of them start spending time together. Rem is a bit uneasy about it, but allows it. It’s good for Vash and Nai to interact with another human, and it’s good for Meryl too, who’s alone while her family sleeps. Still, Rem is clear: once the pod is fixed, Meryl goes back into cryosleep. She promises the twins they’ll be able to find each other when they reach the new planet.

The three of them bond. Meryl tells them about life on Earth. They show her the rec room. Nai gets along with her, but Vash becomes her best friend. They have a lot in common, and there’s some puppy love happening on both sides. Nai starts to feel left out.

Nai suggests to Rem that she look for available pods on other ships. Rem understands what he’s doing (partly trying to help, partly wanting Meryl gone) and that puts her in a difficult position. But she knows Meryl’s safety comes first.

Rem makes the arrangements. There’s an open pod on another ship. It’s hard for Vash and Meryl to say goodbye, and even Nai feels it more than he expected. They make a promise to find each other in the new world. Vash doesn’t know Nai was the one who set this in motion.

Rem takes Meryl to the other ship. Shortly after, they find Tesla.

The Big Fall happens.

Vash survives carrying two losses: Rem, and the near-certainty that his friend didn’t make it. And if she did, she is growing old somewhere without him. He hopes she’s having a good life, and leaves it at that.

The story follows its usual course. But here’s the twist: Meryl survived the Fall, though only her pod and a handful of others made it — her parents not among them. Survivors only wake others up when there are enough resources to sustain them, so it takes a long time. Meryl is woken up about twenty years before the story begins, in a world she doesn’t recognize, with a family that’s already gone. She gets taken in by relatives and builds something like a normal life, but her memories of the weeks before the Fall are fragmented and dreamlike, and she’s never been entirely sure they were real.

Still, the need to find out never fully goes away. She looks into a lady REM Saverem and confirms she existed, which means the woman from her maybe-dream was real. But the twins are another matter, since they were never officially registered on the ship, so there’s no record of them anywhere. She can’t prove they were real. She carries that uncertainty for years.

Eventually she becomes who she is in canon: competent, stubborn, someone who imposes order on chaos for a living. That’s not unrelated to waking up alone in a world she didn’t recognize.

And then she gets assigned to track down Vash the Stampede, and something strange clicks before she even meets him. The boy she knew was named Vash, yes — but what are the odds it’s the same person? And that he became Vash the Stampede, of all things? Besides, she didn’t know he was a Plant. If he is alive, he would be really, really old.

They meet the way we know. Except there’s this feeling, on both sides, that they’ve met before. Meryl doesn’t trust that her memories are even real. Vash has spent decades assuming the girl either didn’t survive or is long dead. Neither of them really mention Rem by name…But then, slowly, the pieces start falling into place…

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Trigun Softgaze continues 💕

Also, Milly is us shipping them

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Different versions, but the vibe is the same when it comes to Vash appreciating Meryl.

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They are killing meeee! 💖

Ffs stop!!!!!! (don’t stop)

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Okay but...this cannot be a coincidence, right?? 😭 I mean, the way he looks at her in every single episode… like?? hello??? Am I crazy or are we ALL seeing this?? because I refuse to believe this is accidental 😩💖

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The way Vash looks at Meryl this season gives me years of life, especially those moments where she’s framed from Vash’s POV. It gets me every single time.

Anyway, surprise commemorative post because I just realized I’ve had this Tumblr for a whole year now hahaha 🥹✨

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What's in a name by PetitJ

"To be someone's something"—that's all Vash has ever wanted. A study of identity, belonging, and love, told through the names given to him, the ones he chose, and the life he builds around new ones with the person who sees him truly.

Hi again! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? 🌸

This draft has been sitting in my WIPs since late December. I usually write during breaks at work (outrageous, I know), but I haven’t had many of those lately, so this took longer than expected.

Anyway, here it is! I really enjoyed writing this one. There’s something about words, and the way we choose them, that fascinates me, so I wanted to explore that through Vash. And, honestly, that last scene has been living in my head forever, so I had to get it down ✨

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So the obsession begins again 😂

Honestly I didn’t like the opening that much but I loved the ending so soooo much! So I had to make a VashMeryl version of course

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The Promise- PetitJ

Final chapter is out

The end of the road has arrived for Vash and Meryl. It’s time to go back to where everything began—only this time, they’re not running toward uncertainty, but walking hand in hand, carrying a promise of the brightest future ahead.

Thank you so much for reaching the end of this fic with me. I know I took my sweet time finishing this last chapter, but I really wanted to give this story the closure it deserved.

This story turned into something a bit different from what I first imagined, but I poured my heart into it—especially into Vash’s journey through depression.

I hope you like it and see ya next time! 🌸

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Finally done!! I never tried emulating the OG style before so this was a difficult one but I am SO happy with the results! I read somewhere it would have been great if they had some time to catch up after reuniting in chapter 67, so this is my version of that idea! Hope you enjoy!

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The Promise- PetitJ

Chapter 13 is out

The council's verdict arrives, but it's not what anyone expected. Now, faced with an offer that could change everything, Vash must confront the one thing standing between him and the future he wants: himself.

Next chapter will be the last! Thank you so much for all the love—hits, kudos, comments, everything. You’ve been incredibly kind, and I can’t tell you how much it’s meant to me. 💛

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Yes, I should be writing my fanfic, but after all the Trigun Stargaze news today, I had to draw these two swapping eyewear.

I loved Meryl’s googles! 💕

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Trigun Maximum: a summary