Gathering all the meta re: plants' bioacoustics and how that is visually and auditorily represented throughout Trigun Stampede (2023) into one post 👇 👇 👇
Did you know that plants speak?
Stressed plants also cry out when injured or dehydrated, "[producing] ultrasonic noises that may be audible to animals and plants as far as 16 feet away."
As fellow plants, Vash and Knives are the only ones who can hear their sisters' cries.
"Vash, you must have heard them. Their screams."
[...]
"Didn't you hear them? Their dying cries?!" (S1, EP 9)
In an interview, Akira Kondo—the VFX artist for Trigun Stampede—confirms that Chladni figures were intentionally incorporated into the series.
Ernst Chladni (1756-1827) is regarded by many historians as the 'father of acoustics' for his seminal experimental work on vibrations.
Chladni is best known for . . . his invention of a method for visualizing the patterns of vibrations on mechanical surfaces.
Chladni figures are the geometric patterns that appear on the sand in the opening sequence of Trigun Stampede.
A static version can also be found all over the plants' bodies, glowing on Vash and Knives's face (and presumably bodies as well since in a few scenes the markings clearly extend to their necks) when communicating/connecting directly with plants, and on the bodysuits the twins wear as children—which Knives continues to wear as an adult.
From the single close-up frame we have of Knives to compare, it appears that Vash and Knives's Chladni pattern is the same, which makes sense as they are identical twins.
As @marxistmandalorianndalorian put so beautifully in a two-Tweet thread:
"...[T]hese cymatic patterns are such a fascinating addition to the meta; how [Vash and Knives] communicate and/or interact with this plane of existence- a visual representation of their voices as plants [and] the frequency with which they resonate with the universe, or one another."
Because plants operate at a frequency that the human ear cannot detect, there is indeed logic to Vash being able to hear Zazie The Beast's buzzing sound.
Vash: "That unique mosquito sound... So you're the one controlling the Worms."
Zazie: "That's odd. It should be inaudible to regular humans." (S1, EP 4)
In a 2019 study, scientists discovered that Oenothera drummondii flowers "can sense natural airborne sounds."
TikTok user @/cowboylivio astutely identified that the plants have a musical motif.
In a flashback of the twins' childhood on the Project SEEDS Ship, Vash says the melody just comes to him unbidden and feels familiar.
Knives: "What's that song?"
Vash: "It just comes to me. It calms me down when I'm nervous. I feel like I know it from long ago." (S1, EP 12)
In the finale of Season 1, after Knives syncs with Vash to forcibly open his gate and access the dimension where the plants' core is located, Vash starts humming the melody again. Immediately after, you can hear the melody in the background music of that scene as Meryl struggles to climb the overgrowth of vines, trying to get closer to Vash and calling his name.
This "plant motif" is also represented in the OST on the track "KNIVES's Piano" by strings which can be heard starting at 1:38.
It's interesting that only Vash knows and hums the "plant motif," further reinforcing him as the twin who is more in-tune with his sisters (no pun intended).
Vash also seems to instinctually know how to calm and soothe distressed plants. We're never shown Knives communicating with the plants, so it's unclear if he's able to the way Vash is.
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