silly fanart question for people who like drawing Vegeta with scars: do you have a consistent set that you're giving him or is it just whatever feels right in the moment? If it isn't random, do you have like, a backstory in your head on what they're from?

Dragon Ball Minus

So I’ve been covering the Jaco manga, but there’s one last chapter to go over, and that’s the Dragon Ball Minus feature at the end of the collected edition.  The finale of the Jaco story revealed that Jaco was sent to Earth to intercept a Saiyan invader, which turned out to be baby Goku.  So Jaco was a prequel to Dragon Ball all along, and now Dragon Ball Minus turns the clock back even further to show how and why Goku was sent to Earth in the first place. 

So let’s unpack this a bit.  In 1990, Toei produced the TV Special “Dragon Ball Z: A Lonesome, Final Battle – The Father of Z Warrior Son Goku, who Challenged Freeza.”  The English dub shortened this to “Bardock: Father of Goku”.  If you’re not familiar with it, I wrote about it here.  The special was a grim tale of Goku’s father, a brutal, uncaring cog in Frieza’s war machine.  Before he dies, one of Bardock’s enemies curses him by giving him visions of the future. This allows Bardock to see horrifying scenes of Frieza destroying the Saiyan homeworld, as well as the life of his infant son growing up on Earth. By the time Bardock understands what’s happening, it’s already too late.  But as Bardock dies with his homeworld, he takes solace in a vision of his son growing up to confront Frieza someday. 

It’s a darker story than most of Dragon Ball.  While DBZ had gotten very violent, it was still pretty clear who the good guys were.  But Bardock was an antihero at best.  I’m pretty sure the only purpose of the psychic powers was to make the character at least a little sympathetic.  By giving him a peek at his own destiny, you can have Bardock confront his own mortality, and share in the audience’s appreciation for his son.  Without those insights, Bardock would just be one Saiyan among many, with nothing to make him stand out besides a familiar haircut and a famous son that he doesn’t even know.

The story goes that the special left such an impression on Akira Toriyama that he decided to canonize Bardock by writing him into the manga.  When Frieza first meets Goku on Namek, Frieza finds Goku’s face somewhat familiar, and he recalls that one Saiyan who opposed him right to the very end.  So even though the Bardock TV Special was anime-only, I think a lot of fans considered it to be canon, since Toriyama had included the scene of Bardock opposing Frieza from the very end of the special. 

However, to quote Toriyama himself:

“I really like the story of Bardock, Goku’s father. It’s quite dramatic, and the kind of story ‘I absolutely wouldn’t draw’ if it were me. It was like watching a different kind of Dragon Ball in a good way, so I thought it was nice.”  --Akira Toriyama, Interview on October 5, 1995, published in Daizenshuu v.6.

So he enjoyed the Bardock special, but if he had to create his own story about Bardock and the destruction of Planet Vegeta, then it would be very different from “Father of Goku”, which he “absolutely wouldn’t draw”.  Not because he disliked the special, but because it’s just not the kind of story that he would tell. 

I say this because I think there were a lot of fans who took umbrage with Dragon Ball Minus for changing Bardock’s backstory from the lore we got in the special. But Toriyama practically warned us all way back in 1995 that if he ever did a Bardock story of his own, it would almost certainly be very different. 

So now that we’ve established that, let’s get down to business.  In this story, Bardock is killing aliens just like he did in the TV special, only he only seems to have one other Saiyan backing him up.  That unnamed Saiyan gets a call on his scouter, and he relays the message to Bardock: All Saiyans have been ordered to return to Planet Vegeta.  Bardock is immediately suspicious, since this seems to be an unprecedented move.  The Saiyans have been working for Frieza for some time now, and they’ve been spread out, conquering various planets for him.  Why would Frieza recall all of them back home at the same time?  When he sees Frieza’s spaceship in orbit around Planet Vegeta, he gets even more suspicious. 

Frieza’s visiting the planet because he’s had his henchmen talking to the Saiyan locals, asking them about their folklore.  His goons dismiss the tales of the Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan God, but Frieza refuses to overlook even the slightest possibility of a Saiyan growing powerful enough to oppose him.  As it is, he knows the Saiyans are too proud and willful to be truly loyal to him, so he feels justified in wiping them out before they inevitably turn against him. 

This... might just be my favorite character moment for Frieza.  A lot of DBZ was devoted to explaining and re-explaining his decision to destroy the Saiyans.  His reasons generally boil down to the following:

1) If the entire Saiyan population revolted, they could pose a threat to his rule (Early Namek Saga, the Bardock TV Special)

2) Frieza’s afraid of a Super Saiyan emerging from the Saiyan population and overthrowing him (Late Namek Saga, and Dragon Ball Minus)

3) Beerus wanted to destroy the Saiyans but was too lazy to make the trip, so he commanded Frieza to do it for him.  (Battle of Gods)

What sets this story apart from the others, though, is that we get to see just how Frieza heard about the Super Saiyan Legend in the first place.  He asked around.  And apparently this isn’t the first planet where he’s done this sort of thing.  “I’m sure they’re just the usual heroic legends we hear about all the time.”

At some point, it hit me that Frieza has an interest in this sort of thing.  Not that he’s particularly fond of alien legends, but the characters in those stories the only thing that can possibly challenge his power.  So he seems to make a point out of learning about those mythical heroes whenever he can, just so he can weigh the risks of the legends coming true.

And maybe if the Saiyans were more devoted to him, like Zarbon and Dodoria, maybe Frieza might have chosen to ignore the Super Saiyan tale.  But he knows the Saiyans hate his guts, and he probably only kept them around as long as he did because his father had gotten so much use out of them.  And he might have been willing to keep the Saiyans alive a while longer, but then you have to factor in Beerus’s command to destroy them.  So in this story, Frieza asks if all the Saiyans are back home yet, and his men report that most of them will return within a month, but they’ll have to wait for stragglers if they plan to get them all.  Frieza won’t do it, though.  He plans to destroy Planet Vegeta one month later, and he can deal with the handful of survivors later.  He can just tell them Planet Vegeta got hit by a meteor. 

The story doesn’t spell it out, but I think Frieza accelerated his plans because he didn’t want to risk angering Beerus.  Not that Beerus was going to show up a month later to check his work, but Frieza had no way of knowing for sure, so better to blow 99% of the Saiyans away as soon as possible. 

And this is what saved Saiyans like Vegeta and Raditz.  Well, that, and the fact that Vegeta had no intention of obeying the order to return home.  Maybe he had the same suspicions as Bardock, or he just felt like he should defy Frieza wherever possible.  In this case, he could get away with ignoring the order, so he chose to ignore the order. 

As for Bardock, he finds his wife Gine chopping meat in his home village.  The narration informs us that the Saiyan population is only several thousand strong.  They’re warlike, so their population doesn’t increase too easily.  That sounds kind of vague, but interpret it as you will.  Bardock embraces Gine and asks about their children, which I think rubbed some fans the wrong way.  Gine wasn’t even in the TV Special, so the idea of Bardock being a loving husband and father bugged some people.  Hell, I think some fans can’t stand the idea of Bardock being anything other than a relentless badass.

Gine explains that Raditz has already been sent out into the field, with Prince Vegeta as his partner.  As for Kakarot, he’s been in an incubation tank for three years, and it’s almost time to take him out.  As he looks at Kakarot, Bardock resolves to steal a space pod and send the boy to another planet. 

Now, this also bugged some fans, because this directly contradicts what Raditz told Goku about how and why he ended up on Earth.  According to Raditz, Saiyan babies were tested for their combat potential, and those with the worst scores were sent to relatively defenseless planets, where they could either die alone or conquer with a bit less of a disadvantage.  Saiyan elites, like Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta, were allowed to remain on Planet Vegeta and receive proper training and resources, so that they could fight as part of the Saiyan military. 

Dragon Ball Minus flips that idea on its head.  Yes, Raditz was correct about the Saiyan practice of “infiltration babies”, as Gine puts it.  That is a thing Saiyans do with their weakest children.   However, in this case, Bardock is using that practice without permission.  Instead of waiting around for the authorities to decide where to assign baby Kakarot, Bardock is going to send him to Earth, just to keep him safe from anything Frieza might be planning. 

And, perhaps unintentionally, these differences provide a critique of “Father of Goku.”  Like I said earlier, the only real purpose of giving Bardock visions of the future was to make him sympathetic.  He could foresee Frieza’s treachery and realize he was doomed, but he could also foresee his son thriving on Earth, eventually rising up to avenge his people. 

But Dragon Ball Minus cuts the Gordian Knot in half with a sword.  Why does Bardock need psychic powers to predict Frieza destroying the Saiyans?  The Saiyans have resented Frieza from the beginning, so why would they expect anything less than treachery from him?  Bardock doesn’t need the gift of prophecy to figure this out.  He just needs to pay attention to what’s going on around him.  And as for his son, maybe Bardock could just care about Kakarot from the beginning. He doesn’t need to see visions of Goku growing up on Earth.  He can just see the baby floating helplessly in an incubator and then imagine what will happen to him if he’s still on Planet Vegeta when Frieza makes his move. 

And this might irritate some Bardock fans, but at least this way he gets some agency and character development.   The dirty little secret about “Father of Goku” is that Bardock is a puppet of fate in that special.  The Kanassan is destined to give him the curse of foresight.  And once Bardock has that curse, he’s powerless to prevent Planet Vegeta’s destruction.  He sees Goku’s future, and seems to approve, but he has no control over that either.  Others make the decision to launch Goku into space, and so everything Bardock does in the special is futile. 

Sure, “Father of Goku” kind of works because of that futility.  I’d argue that “futility” is a theme of the story. That’s what makes it dark.  But I prefer Toriyama’s take, where Bardock suspects that he’s already doomed, but he still gets to make a choice to do something about it.  By sending Goku to Earth, Bardock gets to make a difference, even if he doesn’t realize how big a difference it will be. 

As they prepare the pod for launch, Gine asks why they don’t just all leave the planet in pods, and Bardock explains that Frieza would just track them down with scouters.  Kakarot, with his miniscule power level, can escape, but they’re trapped here, on Planet Vegeta, while they wait to find out what Frieza has planned for them all.  The two of them say their goodbyes, and Gine makes plans to contact Raditz to tell him where they’ve sent Kakarot.  She also promises to retrieve the boy if Bardock’s fears turn out to be unfounded.  But we know how that will turn out. 

So they watch the pod leave in an emotional scene. 

But the launch has not gone unnoticed.  The Galactic King has discovered the Saiyan invader heading toward Earth, so he orders Jaco to intercept it.   He clearly isn’t too concerned about the matter, though, since he regards Jaco as one of his least reliable Patrollers, and the Earth as a backwater planet of little importance.  I guess he sort of cares, but not enough to send the best.

But we already saw how Jaco handled that mission.  He missed Kakarot’s arrival on Earth, and he was adopted by Son Gohan instead, and grew up to become Son Goku, who would confront Frieza on Namek.  And now you know.... the rest of the story.   Paul Harvey... Good Day?

So that wraps up Jaco.  The only real issue I see with all of its retcons to Dragon Ball lore is the fact that Jaco has such close ties to the Brief family, and he even gives Dr. Brief his spaceship to reverse engineer, and yet this never came up in the Namek Saga, when the good guys desperately needed a way to travel through space.   Instead they use Kami’s old spaceship, which took a month to make the trip, and then Dr. Brief reverse engineered Goku’s space pod, which made the journey in six days.  Maybe Jaco’s ship was slower?  Or they just forgot about it?  Oh well. 

I’ll be taking a break for a couple weeks, and when I get back, we’ll star in on Dragon Ball Super. Until then, keep watching the skies.

How do you do? This is another question related to fanon because it's someone a artist friend on DA of loves over canon.(Especially when in comes to the characters in Naruto since they were done dirty if watch it clearly) So, what details, or other stuff you would add in your own DB fanon? 😶

Doing well. Hope you're well too.

I can understand certain examples of why ppl prefer fanon over particular parts of canon. Especially when its to improve and mend events for characters done dirty. (I wish I knew more about the Naruto series but I don't have much time to watch other series besides the ones I already do; like DB or a few slice of life anime & One Punch Man. {Although I'm about 2 years behind in reading the OPM manga.})

As for my DB fanon ideas? Kinda have a lot. Some of these are what I wanted to put in my DB Data-Book/Biology Book. Some Inplan to use for comics too.

This gonna be a VERY long list. There are 63 of them in total... sorry for those who come across this. 😅

The post I made about Krillin & 18's fertility.

Yamcha dated Tights for years without Yamcha knowing she was Bulma's sister & without Tights knowing he was Bulma's ex. (I actually have a comic I want to make out of this.)

Blonde Lunch had a crush on Tenshinhan while Blue Lunch didn't. (Seems to be supported by the series from what I can tell.)

Krillin's attraction to 18 stems from his crush on Lunch. A tough blonde delinquent with a sweet side. Except Launch's sweet side is literally another side of her. (This is why I ship Krillin/Launch sometimes.)

Krillin shares his birthday with 18. (Wrote a fic about it too.)

Towa is either Dabura's half sister or adopted sister (or even step sister). I can't get over how different they look lol.

Cell is "female." Better explained in this post.

Krillin's wish for 17 & 18 to become fully human didn't work for a few reasons. Shenron says he can't grant the wish because their powers are too great and strange (strange because of cybernetics & bio-organic components). He cannot effect those greater than his creator's power. But he also adds that he cannot effect them against their will. So perhaps, 17 & 18 wanted to remain cyborgs so that they can defend themselves. This is especially true with 17 who loved having powers. But seemed to be less so for 18 who didn't really care but saw her powers as necessary for protecting herself. (Shenron being unable to do a wish against the will of someone with power beyond his own is like how Goku refused to be wished back to Earth at the end of the Namek Saga.)

Tenshinhan was able to learn the Mafuba as quick as he did on his own because he already understood how to use his life energy with attacks from using the Kikoho.

Future Trunks may look like Present Trunks, but they are actually not genetically identical. Different sperm fertilized a different egg, but due to Saiyan genetics greatly limiting the variations of how Saiyans appear is why both Future Trunks & Present Trunks ended up looking the same. Plus the chances of the exact same sperm and egg joining is pretty much impossible. And Future Trunks realized that he would not have prevented his own birth because its a multiple timeline thing in DB, not a singular timeline.

Goten & Trunks were born without tails while Gohan & Future Trunks were born with tails. Which is 1 reason why I believe Goten & Trunks were able to turn SSJ so easily. And being born with tails is why Future Trunks & Gohan were able to have their own unique transformations in DBS.

Saiyans don't notice certain ki signatures unless they focus. Likely due to them instinctively not using them due to sensing ki being naturally foreign to them. This is why Gohan & Vegeta never realized Goten & Trunks could turn SSJ despite living with them.

Saiyans were cannibals. They eat anything. And if one of them died, they probably ate their comrade. They're animalistic in nature. I'm pretty sure that Paragus & Broly ate Beets after Paragus killed him.

Freeza's race reproduce like certain lizards. And that is through asexual reproduction.

Saiyans are genetically recessive while humans are genetically dominant when it comes to physicality. This is why a hybrid's hair grows longer and they are physically less durable than a full-blood Saiyan when their ki is not raised. This is also why Bulma's children resemble her (except for Trunks' eyes). But with Chi-Chi, since she has only sons, their appearance resemes their father due to limited variations of Saiyans appearance. And since she has black hair, her children do too. But Saiyans traits are dominant when it comes to ability. This is why hybrids can transform into a Super Saiyan. But once there is less and less Saiyan DNA in the descendants, the ability can be lost. At that point, the hybrid is not necessarily a Saiyan since they cannot turn Super Saiyan and do not have other Saiyan abilities. And the potential of hybrids is actually from the human side, not the Saiyan side. Ppl often get that backwards. (I disagree with Goku Jr & Vegeta Jr being able to turn SSJ just because they have Saiyan blood. Contrary to popular belief, most Saiyans cannot turn SSJ. Just because you have the ancestry of a Saiyan doesnt mean you automatically can turns SSJ. It was the human potential with Saiyan ability that allowed the hybrids to transform. But with the traits of Saiyan ability becoming less and less, the ability to transform is lost. I beleive Goku Jr. & Vegeta Jr. being able to turn SSJ is a case of them luckily inheriting the almost gone trait of Saiyans.)

Goten's hair actually looks like Gohan's when he was a kid. But Chi-Chi styles it to resemble Goku in memory of him. She gave him a name that has almost identical meaning, so why would she not style his hair to resemble his father too? But Goten cut his hair later so he wouldn't be mistaken for Goku. And the back of his hair is somewhat long at the End of Z. Shows that his hair grows like an Earthling since he is a hybrid.

Saiyan hair is like that of certain animals; they shed. This is why their hair keeps the same look without growing too long. And if their hair gets cut, it regrows over time back to its original length and the shedding process begins again. But they can grow facial hair like humans. But I believe there is a limit to the growth and it starts to shed at a certain length as well. But facial hair grows slow. As for hair on other parts of the body? Also sheds after it gets to a certain length. They are animal-like, so why would they not have similarities to the fur of animals? Also their tails shed.

Human lifespan in Dragon Ball is 90+ years.

The reason why Saiyans know that once a Saiyan turns 80, they fall out of their prime and lose their ability for conbat is because it's happened to low-class non-combatant Saiyans. And a few times when combatants in their 80's tried to fight & were easily defeated. Most Saiyans usually die in combat before they turn 80 since they are a warrior race. They prefer falling in battle over aging anyways.

It is said that Videl's mom passed away when Videl was young. I believe it was when-- actually... I'll save that story for a comic/fic. 😉

Krillin is one of the few who knows that the 3 weird little kids at Capsule Corp are the Pilaf Gang because he's seen their file in the police reports. Another is Yamcha who put it together quick since he's pretty observant in DB. Goku & Bulma were absent minded until they saw Future Mai and connected the dots. But the Z Fighters all are so strong now that they dont care. If Tien, Piccolo, & Vegeta turned good, surely the goofball trio from their past can turn good too.

Krillin has reluctantly arrested Launch before. But other times he tries to get her to sneeze so he doesn't have to arrest her and she can get back to her peaceful life.

Some ppl in the DB world probably weren't resurrected again. If they died when King Piccolo returned, then again when Vegeta & Nappa blew up a city, then again to Cell or when Vegeta blew up part of the audience or when Buu wiped out everyone on Earth... The Dragon Balls can only wish ppl back enough times.

Farmer with a shotgun is alive again due to the wish during the Namek Saga to wish back those killed by Freeza's minions. Raditz worked for Freeza before he died, so the farmer is revived. (But this might also mean some aliens were revived but their planet was destroyed, so they died again... The dark & unspoken about side of DB?)

Baba was born AGE 250 & Roshi was born AGE 430. My only explanation is that either their father or mother was granted limited immortality like Roshi, or they were a witch or wizard and had a job like Baba that allowed them to go back and forth between the land of the living and the land of the dead. Cause Baba being 180 years older than Roshi is kinda insane.

The immortality elixer Roshi drank was from the Phoenix who made it out of the Paradise Plant. But it was given to him while he was an old man so he didn't stay youthful. (But Krillin on the other hand gained access to it while still relatively young...)

Officer Black survived the explosion from his battle jacket mecha, but he was turned into a cyborg by Gero. And since Black wanted to take over the Red Ribbon Army & wanted Gero to obey him, & since Gero took orders from the true successor, Gero deemed him as one of the failed artificial humans & deactivated him.

Yamcha was staying in a crappy hotel room in DBS because he lives like Ryu & wanders the Earth. He just wanted a quick and cheap place to stay while he's working as a freelance bodyguard (because Toriyama said that's what Yamcha does along with helping Tien farm sometimes).

Krillin has actually beaten 18 in a sparring match ONCE. But because 18 was embarrassed, she told Krillin that she let him win. It ended up motivating Krillin to train harder so he can beat her in a match for real. All the while he doesn't know he actually won once already.

Launch has her own business; a food truck company.

Launch leaves messages & videos to herself to help herself out. Blonde Launch leaves videos on how to fight and use a gun for her blue haired personality, while Blue Launch leaves cooking videos & other how-to videos. This way they can both run the Lunch Food Truck business as well as protect themselves.

Launch actually knew 17 & 18 when they were Lapis & Lazuli before they were kidnapped and turned into cyborgs. She helped the kids steal food and clothes. Both sides of her influenced the twins' personalities in different ways. But, Launch hasn't seen them in many years and 17 & 18 have been robbed of those memories when Gero tried to take over their minds.

Son Gohan & Gyumao learned the Turtle Style from Roshi, but Gohan was more interested in the spiritual aspect of fighting and learned ki attacks like the Kamehameha. Gyumao was more interested in the physical & learned Roshi's full power form. Gohan was also an older man while Gyumao was young.

Goku is technically a prince through marriage to Chi-Chi, but never acknowledges it. Unlike Vegeta, Goku doesn't care to brag about titles.

Krillin is the captain of a special forces unit of Satan City Police Department.

Bulma slept with Vegeta because of her crush on Goku and wondered what being with a Saiyan was like. So after breaking up with Yamcha and a night of drinking, she managed to seduce Vegeta. She found out being with a Saiyan wasn't as good as she thought. But it was too late now. Baby on the way.

Dr. Gero was trying to recreate his family and live in a world he could rule. Turned himself into a cyborg, recreated his deceased son, & in DBFZ, he had his computer recreate his deceased wife. He was evil, but he did care about his family. But, he was still evil so... Good job, 17. 👍 (Also, kinda interesting how 16 & 21 became good despite being modeled after the RR Army Soldier, Gevo & the RR Army Scientist, Vomi.)

Upa climbed Korin Tower like he said he would.

Upa, Bora, & Chi-Chi are actually way stronger than Mr. Satan. Videl is close in strength to Chi-Chi but still weaker despite being able to fly. Also, Bora withstood gunfire when he raised his ki back in OG Dragon Ball. Mr. Satan can't do that.

Yajirobe is a ronin. Probably once had a master but went his own way for some reason. I like to go the comedic rout & think he was kicked out for eating all the food lol. He has an appetite like a Saiyan. Only a few humans are like that (Krillin being one of them), & it ain't cheap.

Chi-Chi wants to enter the World Martial Atrs Tournaments to win some money since she's the strongest non altered human on Earth. But she never does because she doesn't want to influence her children to fight instead of getting real jobs. Fighting is good and all, but you also have to provide for yourself and a possible family. So she did farming & cooking on her own (besides having her sons help her) to make money while Goku was in Other World, hoping to influence her children to be hard workers instead of just fighters.

Chi-Chi was so against fighting because she saw her fiancé nearly die fighting Piccolo, then her husband died fighting his alien brother while her 3 year/4 year old son was kidnapped by by his alien uncle then kidnapped by Piccolo for an entire year, then she saw her 4 year/5 year old son unconscious from fighting murderous adult aliens & her husband crippled. No wonder she didn't want Gohan to fight. But after knowing Gohan saved the Earth due to Goku's training and sacrifice, Chi-Chi saw the importance of training again. So she trained Goten as well as made sure he did his studies. Chi-Chi had it rough, but most fans ignore that.

Krillin had brutal training to be a monk when he was a child. And on top of that brutal training, he was often beaten up & bullied by the older monks. So part of his distrusting & sneaky personality in his youth was his defense mechanism to keep himself safe physically & mentally. But having his first true friend be Goku helped Krillin shed his "mask" & become his true self. A pure hearted guy like Goku.

Krillin & 18's house was bought with the money she won from getting 2nd place & blackmailing the 1st place prize money from Mr. Satan. Ppl mistake her to be money obsessed when she's actually trying to make life easier for her family and get away from Kame House. Ppl mistake Chi-Chi as being money obsessed to, but she's trying to provide for her family when she was a single parent feeding two very hungry Saiyans.

Tenshinhan's dojo is placed at the foot of a mountain as a refernece to how the mother of Erlang Shen (from Saiyuki) became a mountain or was imprisoned unter Mount Tao (Tao Paipai connection there). Chaozu/Jiaozu takes the role of Erlang's dog and deceased brother, Yurin takes the role of Erlang's sister (although in DB they are not blood related). And now the family is all together again at what is probably a dojo in the village where Tenshinhan was born before he became a student of the Crane Hermit. (I know ppl ship Tien with Yurin, but I view them & Chaozu as having some sort of sibling bond.)

Yamcha was raised by wolf Beastmen bandits. This is where the Wolf Fang Fist came from. He created it to emulate his adoptive wolf family's fighting style. He was eventually left alone after his wolf family was killed & had to survive on his own since he was young.

17 & 18 ki is suppressed that it seems like they dont have ki. But Krillin has learned to sense the faint ki signature due to him being a master of ki and being close to 18 for so long. I got this headcanon from this fic that @longmonthartist made.

Krillin, Yamcha, & Tenshinhan don't use the Full Power form (buff form) like Roshi does because they see the limitations of the form. Increased strength, but decreased speed. Goku noticed the same thing with SSJ Grade 3. All the strength in the world means nothing if you can't touch your opponent. Tien's shoulders were so buff in the Cell Saga because he was using the semi-full power form that Roshi uses when he fights in tournaments (cause Roshi is scrawny, then semi-buff, then super buff). Krillin & Yamcha (& later Tien) used a similar method Goku did when making his SSJ form like his base form (Kame School knowledge). Which is why Tien's giant shoulders are no more.

Tenshinhan did like he said and put his own twist to the Kaio-Ken. But he doesn't use it like Goku did because of how damaging it is to the body. Goku could barely handle it with having the durable body of a Saiyan. Its too dangerous for a human. So the twist Tien did with the Kaio-Ken was used for the Kikoho. He used Kaio-Ken principles to make it stronger so he could use it multiple times instead of just once. But it still wasnt enought to damage Semi-Perfect Cell, only slow him down temporarily. But the improved Kikoho still damaged his body and almost killed him without killing his opponent.

Yamcha used some of the Kaio-Ken principles to improve his Wolf Fang Fist (which is kinda a mortal version of Kio-Ken Yamcha created himself). But even when using Kio-Ken principles, the improved Wolf Fang Fist didn't amplify his power too much because he used it safely. Otherwise it would damage his body like the Kaio-Ken would. And since he's no Saiyan, he doesnt get stronger after healing from near death. Nor would it be smart to use such a dangerous technique without Senzu beans.

Goku had an advantage over all the other students of Master Roshi. Grampa Gohan taught Goku the Kame Style at a young age and Goku went on to learn directly from Roshi. Meanwhile Krillin has Shaolin training for 13 years, Yamcha had his personal wolf style for 17 years. Goku's Turtle style is the most pure out of all the students. And those principles being ingrained in him for as long as he can remember are a reason why is one of the top students only rivaled by Krillin who trained under Roshi for more years than anyone else.

Krillin learned all of Roshi's attacks, but rarely uses them because he wanted to create his own attacks and advance other attacks that would be useful in combat against stronger opponents. So he can do the full power form, the electric shock attack, hypnosis, ect. But Roshi refused to teach him the Mafuba because it can kill the user.

Tenshinhan & Chaozu learned how to fly from Crane Hermit, Goku learned how to fly from Kami, Yamcha later learned how to fly from Kami in DBZ, Gohan learned from Piccolo, Piccolo & Vegeta appear to have known it naturally (as some aliens do). Krillin is the only Z Fighter who didn't have anyone teach him how to fly. He figured it all out by himself without a teacher. Not even Roshi figured out how to fly on his own & he's hundreds of years old. Crane Hermit was the only one to figure out the bukujutsu on his own, but Krillin figured it out & mastered it in a far shorter time than his master's ancient rival. Thats just one reason why Krillin became the strongest Earthling. He was able to understand ki control on a different level than the others & he did so without somebody teaching him. And the better your understanding & control of your ki, the stronger you become.

Krillin is one of the few characters that can use the Genki Dama, but gather the energy needed for one on his own. He knows how to form it into a ball and how to properly sense evil to use it in an attack, but he never learned to collect the energy. Another is Cell since he has everyone's techniques. He probably knows how to gather the energy. (One game shows Cell make one and he says "I told you I could do it.")

Teenage Lapis & Lazuli snuck into the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai to watch the fights but like the rest of the audience who realized it was the evil Piccolo there, they ran off to escape from him. Later, they were kidnapped by Mercenary Tao soon after Goku defeated Piccolo. Then, the twins were experimented on in captivity for years until they almost completely forgot their past from before they were androids. All part of Gero trying to rewrite their minds and make them his killing machines. (Succeeds in the future, but fails in the present due to turning himself into a cyborg & not weakening the twins to further overwrite their minds.)

17 & 18 are around the same age as Krillin. Gero had been planning his revenge for years and gathering data since the Saiyan Saga. 17 & 18 had to have been in captivity for at the very least, 5 years. Meaning their age at the very least is about 23 or 24 during the Cell Saga. At the most, they were about 28 or 29. So just slightly younger than Krillin. (Or even possibly, they weren't teens when they were captured or were at least 19 yrs old. If thats the case, they could even be 1 or 2 years older than Krillin.)

17 & 18 are almost completely immune to mind control. Dr. Gero took extra precautions so that his weapons to prevent his "weapons" from falling into the hands of his enemies. The only problem is that he did too good of a job at it. 17 & 18 wouldn't obey him either. Well...not until he suppressed their power in the future timeline to control their minds. But, since he didn't turn himself into a cyborg in the future, his "kill all humans" command got him killed by his own weapons. (GT is a different continuity from the main one. But 17 & 18 being controlled by Gero was him trying to finish his programming.)

Yajirobe felt bad about yelling at Krillin to throw the Genki Dama because he l accidentally warning Vegeta which allowed Vegeta dodge the attack. Which is why he rushed in later and sliced Vegeta's back. He tried fixing his mistake. But after getting a beating from Vegeta, he retired from fighting.

DB characters are aware of their funny name puns. Or at least some of them are. Bulma's family being an example since she hated her name when she was young because how its an underwear pun. And Krillin named his daughter with a similar chestnut name pun. Chi-Chi naming Goten with a similar name meaning to Goku. Videl and her anagram. Others are just considered coincidences or something like that.

A NSFW one... Piccolo & other Namekians have a penis. But, it's sole function is to expell waste by urinating since they only need water to survive. There's a reason why they wear pants & why DBH had a cloud covering the crotch of a gigantic Lord Slug. And since they can eat, they must poop too. (Sneak peak into stuff I plan to put in my DB Data-Book I want to make.)

Another NSFW one I have concerns the Saiyans. They are built for combat while humans are built for pleasure. Which is why the males prefer combat over sex & can easily go without sex for years (example being how Goku & Vegeta leave to train with Whis often & Vegeta was even gone for an entire year, only coming back to fight Freeza. Or how those two trained in the Room of Spirit & Time for THREE YEARS.) Arrousal for Saiyans come from battle. This is why they get goosebumps & get excited because that is fisson (skin orgasm). So, defeating an opponent gives them some sort of sexual gratification. And when they are defeated, its kinda like some sort of combat blue balls. (You'll see this referenced in an upcoming project.) And because Saiyans are built for combat & prefer combat over sex, it makes sense why the Saiyan population was so low. They just reproduce to have stronger warriors. Female Saiyans love combat, but their maternal instincts also make them desire to have their own children. So, the females are the main reason why the Saiyan population was nowhere near as high as human population. They were around 10 thousand while we are in the billions.

Saiyans are similar to chimps and bonobos in the way they engage in sexual activity. Once the female is in heat, it attracts males. But like these apes, Saiyans will also engage in same sex activities. When in heat, they just need to get off for that time period (for Saiyans, they may go into heat every 4 yrs or so like how the apes they are based off of do). And they engage in sexual activity with male or female or by replacing sex with combat (cause as I mentioned earlier, combat gives them some sort of sexual release). And if a Saiyan male is off planet when females on Planet Vegeta are in heat AND there are no female Saiyans off world with them, the males are not interested in sexual pleasure. They desire pleasure from combat. But a female Saiyan goes into heat regardless and might try to mate with another aliens if they aren't in combat with them. The hybrid children of certain Saiyan women were probaly looked down upon, executed, or sent to die fighting on another planet because they were weaker physically than full-blood Saiyans. Saiyans sent their own young on suicide missions, so why not sent weaker half-breeds? Probably why Vegeta & Nappa knew about hybrids, but were unfamiliar with Earthling hybrids having more potential to be strong (that's thanks to Earthling DNA). The only hybrids they knew of were weak. Also, since Freeza destroyed most Saiyans, without Saiyan females who go into heat, the Saiyan males have little to no sexual desires since combat is their main priority. There is no "mating season" for them anymore.

Another NSFW one. Saiyans are like & based off of certain apes. And apes don't have large penis sizes. I think it makes sense that Saiyans are similar. Why not? (maybe Saiyans even have a baculum?) Saiyans are built for combat, not sex. And they prefer & desire combat over sex. I never understood why fans say Saiyans are packing & humans aren't. Aren't you fellas human? Why would you want to be a battle-addicted small penis Saiyan? Humans are the ones who are literally built for pleasure. If you want to be a "strong" like Saiyan, it comes with a price. If you want to be build for pleasure like a human, then it comes with the price of a low physical limit. However, that limit can be pushed far beyond its limits if you learn ki control. (Due to their intense training, the 3 strongest Earthlings can one-shot all full-blood Universe 7 Saiyans who ever existed besides Goku & Vegeta & Broly. They are the exception, not the norm.)

That's all for now! I kinda went overboard and named a ton of them. 😅

Thanks for the ask!

Random Headcanons that no one asked for on Raditz:

He was the type of kid who would be the one trying to keep him and everyone he is around out of trouble. Like, if he grew up with Goku (who would have responded to the name Kakarot) Raditz would be the one to try and keep the both of then out of trouble. Often seen as a worry wart for overthinking things.

Raditz was DEFINITELY a mamas boy. (And with a great mother like Gine, would you blame him?) And with how he tried to keep everyone safe, she would be very proud of him. And that went a long way. Gine was the only one who openly appreciated him. Wheras Bardock had more cryptic ways of showing how he saw his son. He congratulated him in the most subtlest of ways.

Raditz was very torn up about losing his planet, as well as his parents. It left an empty void in him. But he tried to put on a brave act, much like Vegeta. But it just confused Nappa that he would respond like this. Saiyan children try to be as tough as the adults, but even Nappa was left shaken and beside himself. (He was pretty much looking at these two kids wondering what was up with them?) But Raditz would be holding back from mourning the loss of his planet and his parents for years, often dreaming about them. Building up a wall. On top of being rediculed- not just by Vegeta and Nappa- but by all of Freezas forces for being the weakest member. (Some even mentioning the entertaining idea of throwing him into a room with multiple Saibamen and see how long he'd last.) Freezas soldiers were always borderline verge of killing one another. More threats than anything.

Vegeta would never admit it, but he was glad that Raditz had enough sense not to lash out at people the same way that Nappa would. The eldest Saiyan was almost always ready to bash heads in for speaking insults to the Saiyan race. While Raditz stayed back, silently grinding his teeth. But that was the only positive Vegeta had on Raditz throughout their years working together. As Saiyans prided themselves in strength and accomplishments rather than caution and tactical minds. Raditz would have done much better in a coordinated team rather than one who accomplished things solo.

By the time he got to Earth, he relished in spouting how much of an "Elite" he was to the ones who lived on the "backwater planet". It was his time to make others see him as their superior. And he was almost ready to have them believe he was a superior even after he died.

If he had lived, Raditz would have actually liked living on Earth. He was stronger as a thinker rather than a fighter. Being on a planet where there were people who would treat him without expectations would have insulted his pride a little, but after a while, he would have enjoyed people not holding him up to what class he was. He would be humored by the history of many warriors throughout Earths history. Some even sharing some attributes that Saiyans have. Such as the Spartains, Nords (especially the myths involving Thor) and even the Vikings.

(And yes, I like the idea of him getting together with Launch. He'd fall for both her hostile personality, and her kind personality. Because, let's be honest, only a Saiyan would survive her pulling out a gun and try shooting everywhere. Her ready for action side mentioning hostile shinanigans would pull more chuckles out of him than any other Earthling ever could. And the kind Launch would eventually get him to the point where he could feel safe enough to let his walls crumble. Also Saiyans with a wife that can cook is an amazing bonus. But I can see Raditz also taking up cooking with Launch as his tutor. Since Earth food delighted even the God of Destruction Beerus... I think he would get into the many recipes Earth has created over the years of its existence. But I can also see Raditz being amazed by Bulmas and Capsule Corps inventions. But not as much as cooking and history.)

(I very much like the image of Raditz being a pretty good- if more of a jokester- of an uncle. Quite similar to Piccolo treats the kids. But more smiles and loud laughter.)

Just some rambling about my Mirai AU wheelchair!Vegeta WIP…

Vegeta has a lot of issues in this fic besides being a wheelchair user. He’s chronically ill(thanks to Freeza) and he has epilepsy due to brain damage he sustained as a complication from surgery on his spine. The Androids injured him and he’s struggling with PTSD from that incident. Being triggered for him can be anything from an outburst of rage to total dissociation along with the outburst.

Btw Vegeta’s chronic illness isn’t a huge issue for him, since Saiyajins can spend decades in states of organ failure that would kill a human in days. He still has to be careful with certain medications that are toxic to the heart and kidneys, so everything he takes gets monitored. Bulma keeps reminding him that doctors check to make sure nothing is getting worse, because becoming disabled did make a few things a little worse!

Trunks grew up from a baby into a young boy seeing Bulma tend to Vegeta. He’s the only one who never knew Vegeta when he could walk and didn’t have seizures. Vegeta’s epilepsy is well controlled with meds, but certain upsets to his brain like passing out in the gravity room or autonomic dysreflexia lower his seizure threshold and he goes down in a tonic-clonic. Once medicated, his chances of having seizures are very low, but never zero.

So Trunks is a helper. He sort of copies his mom, but as he gets older he does it bedside he loves his dad. It’s not pity that moves him to help, it’s love. Sometimes seeing his dad dissociate or have a seizure is traumatic to him. He always worries about Vegeta’s health. There’s a really cute scene where he checks on Vegeta as he’s sleeping after a seizure and Vegeta wakes up because of the light shining on him. He reassures Trunks that the actual seizure doesn’t hurt because he’s “not there” for it and agrees to eat something because Trunks is worrying about him going hungry. Like I said, it’s sweet.

Bulma shielded Trunks from seeing Vegeta’s seizures when he was really little. Trunks has seen maybe three or four total (not counting the ones he sees in the fic) over a seven year period. Bulma saw Vegeta have over a hundred in the span of a single year until he got diagnosed and on a medication that works.

Vegeta kinda hates getting fussed over when he has a crisis due to his seizures or PTSD, and he despises when strangers see any of those happen. But he doesn’t mind it as much when it’s family doing the fussing. That’s an instance where he feels how much they love him and it’s touching for him…he’s just kinda bad at reciprocating beyond cooperating or the occasional compliment.

And Gohan, well…Gohan is not as close to Vegeta’s issues, so he ends up being the guy who makes accidental ableist mistakes and Vegeta is kinda mean to him. 😅 It’s not because I don’t like Mirai Gohan. He’s adorable. Vegeta just has huge beef with him for being Goku’s kid. But yes, poor Gohan witnesses one of Vegeta’s seizures and gets a better understanding of how serious some of his struggles are.

Vegeta and Gohan do bond a teeny tiny bit because Gohan loses an arm just like in the History of Trunks movie. (This story has some bits from that in it, they play out different because Vegeta is alive.) So they do have moments of mutual understanding.

Stuff goes down and Vegeta sees Trunks showing PTSD symptoms and that’s what gets him to realize how serious his own PTSD is. He has Bulma get Trunks diagnosed because he thinks Trunks is ‘early’ enough in it to get helped, but he gets told he’s not beyond help himself. It’s just a matter of him daring to reach out, and that’s where Vegeta is at the moment.

Bulma is trying to be the toughest one of all. She’s raising Trunks, building the time machine, taking care of Vegeta and managing to hold herself together. But she has trauma, too.

Everybody is dealing with their struggles in their own way.

Vegeta’s Character Analysis Looooooooooong Read

Oh my, what can I say? I just really love to write long essays in a language that isn’t even native to me, lol.

Well, nobody’s perfect, I guess. ... Were you expecting a Cell joke here? I may not be perfect, but that doesn't mean I have to be that predictable.

Ahem, anyway.

This isn't exactly a psychological analysis of the character - more like, hmm, a storytelling analysis. Or something in between, really.

You may not find anything fundamentally new in this text, but I definitely had fun writing it, haha.

It's mostly amateur. I have a useless psychology degree, but not a literature one.

My classic rant about vegebul fics is included, of course.

Summary: proper psychological analysis requires a single continuous personality, which Vegeta simply doesn’t have.

The more I think about Vegeta, the more I come to the conclusion that he is only pretending to be a consistently evolving character.

In fact, he's a bit like 10 different characters in one, which abruptly replace each other (and that's without considering the difference caused by the voice actors’ approach and the changes in his looks). Essentially, Vegeta's a collection of disparate images, arbitrarily lined up by Toriyama and hastily glued together. And the beginning of this line is so far from the end of it that these two extreme images cannot be perceived as belonging to the same person. Well, because human psychology just doesn't work that way.

(Not that Vegeta is unique in this respect – it’s a common feature of characters in long stories that authors compose as they write. Still, his case is quite extreme and interesting as example.)

I mean, take Vegeta in the Saiyan or the Namek arc. He's a complete psychopath. He clearly doesn’t suffer at heart from the unnecessary violence (as, for example, Guts from Berserk). His behavior looks like something natural for him, not an unhealthy defensive reaction. He enjoys it, he smiles happily, killing and torturing weak innocent people. And such a degree of psychopathy is not something that can be healed by a couple of deep personality crises or years of peaceful family life. Vegeta's redemption arc works through strong emotional impact and forgetfulness of the audience, but makes very little sense when viewed in retrospect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Perhaps the biggest, hmm, splitting of the personality occurred with Vegeta right after the Namek arc. Toriyama had already made a small retcon of the character’s motives before (to include Vegeta in the context of the Freeza army after the Saiyan arc), but it didn't feel that drastic.

You see, until Vegeta was invited to Bulma’s house…..

(Gosh, Toriyama, you could’ve done it more subtly, really. Vegeta killed Yamcha, threatened to kill Bulma, gutted Zarbon in front of her eyes, slaughtered an entire Namekian village... Oh well.)

…Ahem, anyway, right up to Bulma's invitation, Vegeta looked to me like a character who, hmm, has a life of his own? I mean, you have always felt that his motives and behavior were generated by the bizarre social system, not related to the little world of Goku and his friends. Simply put, Vegeta was a natural product of the big space civilization, an organic part of it. His whole personality was formed by it, all his plans, motivation and ambitions were associated with it. And although in the Saiyan arc, he gave the impression of an independent entrepreneurial chief at the head of a small hierarchy, in the Namek arc it was revealed that Vegeta is actually far from independent. He lost his throne and his people, he was in slavery to the tyrant all his life, and wants to take power for himself. So, his social background and the motives caused by it post factum get much more complex. But in short, Vegeta wanted a highest possible position in the hierarchy he knew. In this way, he was… social? His belonging to the Saiyan race was only a small (although important) part of the overall picture. Because the Saiyans were dead, but the Freeza Empire was alive.

But when Toriyama realized Vegeta's popularity and decided to keep him in the story after Namek, it came as a blow to the character's personality. Apparently, the author simply couldn't come up with an elegant way that could keep the character in all its complexity around, and therefore did a very clumsy thing. He roughly cut Vegeta out of his social context and almost forcibly glued him to the main character group like a poorly done appliqué. But although you see rough edges and glue drips, the story moves on rapidly, distracting you with Freeza and Future Trunks, and you don't stop to think about what happened. This is how, almost imperceptibly, Toriyama changed Vegeta's motives (and, consequently, the basis of his personality). Yes, Vegeta's saiyan pride was also significant part of his character previously, but when it became his sole and central motivation after Namek, you feel like a very big and important piece of him has been arbitrarily cut off. This wouldn't have happened if Toriyama had followed the logic of previously established social motives, rather than his desire to make Vegeta a convenient figure. Now, bound hand and foot by the author, the character is forced to behave as the plot requires.

Still, all this can be justified by the fact that Vegeta experienced a deep emotional shock as a result of death, which forced him to rethink his life priorities and wait for Goku (especially in the manga, where he just lived with Bulma for a whole year after Namek, without even trying to use dragonballs) ... And then he waited for the androids (despite the final death of Freeza and his father, which was an excellent chance to try to take over the decapitated empire). Anyway, this rationalization doesn't negate the fact that the character, as a result, has lost a significant part of the fire that he demonstrated in the Namek arc. His new energy, the energy of obsession with surpassing Goku, turns him into a new character – bitter, marginalized and focused on training.

(Ironically, the very splitting that made him a less attractive character in my eyes allowed vegebul to take place. After all, imagining the romantic relationship of the nice Bulma and Vegeta at the height of his villainous ambition is really difficult. That just would be a psychologically implausible story.)

In the Android and Cell arcs, after brief glimpses of the SSJ superiority, Toriyama turned Vegeta into a plot tool, whose personality flaws he could use to spoil the situation favorable for the heroes. As a result, Vegeta continued to be an angry and unhappy character who has lost most of his charisma, but on top of that, he also started to be really annoying. ... Still, also kinda amusing thanks to his truly impressive inability to draw obvious conclusions from the ego bruises he gets.

(If you ask me, the character's biggest contribution to the Cell arc was to ignore the existence of condoms, lol. Although strictly speaking even it was an achievement of Future Vegeta (RIP). But seriously, Vegeta's relationship with Trunks turned out to be one of the few things that I was really interested in about this part of the story.)

And then there was Goku’s death and the 7-year-gap. ... At the end of which Vegeta still didn't look like a happy man who has found his place in the world. Even though he had seven whole years (and a spaceship) to change something. I mean, this is the case when it'd be logical to expect changes in the character, but for some reason they didn't really happen (or they did, but veeery quietly and unstable). I mean, Vegeta trains with Trunks, yes. And he's married to Bulma now, apparently (which we learn only at the end of the arc though). And he hasn’t killed himself yet, which means that he sees some meaning in his existence. Hurray, I guess?.. The problem is that when we first see Vegeta after the timeskip, he keeps walking around with such a sullen expression, as if Goku had died just yesterday. (Remember Vegeta in the Saiyan arc? He smiled quite often. For the wrong reasons, but hey.) Basically, Toriyama tried to sit on two chairs at the same time here - 1) keep Vegeta as recognizable as possible (because he hasn't decided what to do with him yet) and 2) keep him around (which doesn't make sense for the character if he hasn't undergone significant changes during the timeskip). And the result of this hesitant approach is an undesirable effect - it feels as if Vegeta hasn't built a new life for himself all these years, but only waited for Goku to return.

As if the man is unable to evolve without Goku's influence. Until Kakarot does or says something, or is just around, everyone else in Vegeta's life and his own reflection has little or no meaning. Old social ambitions? His wife and child? New insights gained from life on Earth? Pffft. Goku is able to destroy the seven years’ worth progress (no matter how small it may seem) in one day, and at the same time, one fight with him is enough for Vegeta's character development to jump forward explosively. It sounds like a solid ground for shipping, but In fact it’s just a direct consequence of the author's poorly chosen narrative structure.

The thing is, Toriyama tend to avoid romance and slices of life, and shows Vegeta's personality mainly through fights and their consequences. And at the time Goku just turned out to be the only significant character for Vegeta, the fight against whom could be used as an excuse to develop the character in front of the audience. Well, Toriyama couldn't get Vegeta to fight Bulma or himself, you know.

I believe that the plot structure chosen by the author (rapidly changing action events immediately after a long timeskip) is not a very good basis for a redemption arc. For a good redemption, a character had to have screen time during which small changes accumulate gradually, between the big points. And Vegeta simply didn't have it. Besides, the scheme by which Vegeta develops is really messy. Because at first, Toriyama kinda froze his development at the neutral point (thereby partially devaluing the influence of Vegeta's family on him). Then in one moment, the author abruptly reversed even this the-end-of-the-Cell-arc development with Majin Vegeta (this time completely devaluing the family factor, because the betrayal was Vegeta’s conscious decision). God, how I hated the Majin Vegeta idea. And in the next scene, the author made a quick retcon, which gave the family’s influence the status of a ground for Vegeta’s personal growth again for no apparent reason. It's as if a huge bundle of family values was post factum squeezed into the character in defiance of everything that we just saw with our own eyes. This is a complete narrative mess.

But... oddly enough, Vegeta's redemption still manages to work, and work spectacularly. My guess is that it's because by that time the audience is already SO sick of Vegeta, frozen in his bitter anti-heroism, that it desperately wants the author to finally do something new with the miserable guy. Well, at least get him out of his misery. So people are willing to accept it in any possible form.

... And the author chose the form of a powerful emotional catharsis. The explosion was legendary, haha.

I don't even know if this is a good reason to call Toriyama a genius (after all, he found a very clever way out of a difficult situation, in which he found himself thanks to his own bad decisions.)

The only thing I'm sure of is that despite everything I was very sad because of Vegeta's death. I didn't even realize that I had become emotionally attached to this asshole until he made such a spectacular exit, lol. As if something had broken inside of me, and all the analyticity of my mind couldn’t prevent it. I was surprised when I found myself crying really hard - usually my emotions don't reach this level due to fictional stories. (Well, maybe it was due to the fact that my own father was dying of cancer at that time, and the moment just triggered my emotions. ... Oops, it seems a little too personal, doesn't it? Well, at the end of the day, this fact is an integral part of my unique dbz experience. Come to think of it, in dbz, fathers die regularly).

But while this scene greatly affects emotions and forces a new viewer (or reader) to truly reconsider their attitude towards the character for the first time, the absence of a neat gradual movement towards this moment weakens its influence somewhat.

At this point, Vegeta’s character splits once again (perhaps the last time within DBZ). You simply cease to understand who this man really is and who he was before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, when I look at all the images of Vegeta in general, I come to the conclusion that I like this character the most in the first two arcs and in the end of the last arc. Two directly opposite moral poles.

(Funny enough, because my initial reaction to Vegeta and Nappa was annoyance: "Well hello, the next stereotypical villains who like to chat and laugh maliciously instead of simply killing their victims." (Still, against the background of Freeza, Vegeta turned out to be a much lesser evil in every sense, haha). You see, usually I'm not a person who likes villains. Basically, I only distinguish such characters from others as a result of romance or redemption. It’s only after that I begin to see aesthetics in their villainous charisma as well.)

And now, in retrospective, I believe that at the beginning of the story Vegeta is at the maximum of his vitality and charisma. Especially compared to his ever-crisis moody version (who supposedly lives happily with a loving family). In the Saiyan arc, he's objectively the most powerful character (Freeza didn’t even exist in Toriyama's head at the time). Vegeta is domineering, playful and unpredictable, but most importantly - his self-confidence is fully justified. Oh well, it was good while it lasted. He's really in control. These are, if I may say so, quite exciting qualities in a man, haha. Even if he looks like an evil dwarf in stupid armor and bullies some weaklings. I'd even say his demeanor in the Saiyan arc (especially with the voice of early Horikawa) is suspiciously easy to translate into a sexual context (well, until he loses control and gets hysterical, lol).

The Namek arc, placing Vegeta in a broader context, somewhat spoiled his original image (after all the big words, it turned out that he was running errands for Freeza all this time), but gave him a more interesting background and a strong drive. He had ambitions and a socially significant goal, and he actively and passionately fought for them against a clearly superior enemy. In addition, his inability to defeat Freeza by brute force forced him to use his brains from time to time, and not just pull another power up out of his ass, as is now traditionally done in DragonBall. (Needless to say, I consider high intelligence to be one of the most attractive traits). All this made his position in the plot as interesting as possible. He literally sparkled with energy.

Well, we know what happened next. Brain Death, an eternal chase after Goku, and an off-screen family life on a backwater planet that Vegeta is supposedly happy with. Until he suddenly became a really beautiful character without a proper justification for this (well, at least the explosion was spectacular). Really, I like the general concept of redemption, and yet... the way Toriyama portrays it in the story just doesn't work convincingly enough for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another point I’d like to cover in this already too long essay ahhh I'm a monster is Vegeta’s personality in fanfiction.

Reproducing (?) Vegeta is a bit like playing with a lego set - his personality and behavior is always the result of a conscious reconstruction, which is based around a specific point on the long contradictory line. Depending on which end of the spectrum the chosen point is, the author is forced to shade facts related to the opposite end, or to give new context to Vegeta's past (or future) actions. It's always noticeable when the author extends the later, sympathetic Vegeta's image to an earlier segment of the story. Apparently, it's possible to kill the person who raised you (with an evil smile on your face) just because the situation was too stressful lol. Likewise, when the authors allow Vegeta to remain a charismatic psychopath, the story wouldn't work without ignoring some parts of the later canon.

(And, of course, there is always a "medium" type of Vegeta - Vegeta from the 3-year-gap, whose personality is almost entirely based on anime fillers. Yay, here comes the promised vegebul rant

Honestly, I'm pretty tired of this "gravity room exploded again woman grrr" type of Vegeta.

Because if you take the manga, we have no idea how Vegeta actually behaved with Bulma and her parents, what his training regimen was, and what he did in his free time besides unprotected sex. People elevate his rudeness and irrational self-torturing to the absolute because of all these filler patterns, but this is just one of the possible versions of the events and the character's behavior during this time (albeit partly canonical). But... there are also alternatives. There are smart Vegeta, curious Vegeta, civilized Vegeta. Honestly - I don't think Bulma would've married him later if there was nothing in his personality that’d make communication with him enjoyable. I mean, she's a rich modern woman, she doesn't need a husband just for convenience and Vegeta is a marginal freeloader anyway. And if we subtract good looks (which people often attribute to Vegeta) from the equation, then the idea that he has no interest in anything other than training and cannot maintain an interesting conversation becomes completely unconvincing. Toriyama clearly didn't attach much importance to the fact of their marriage, and generally avoided romantic scenes as if they were on fire (and, perhaps, did the right thing), but these two just had to be capable of adequate and mutually pleasant personal interaction in order to take this step.

In general, Toriyama's lack of attention to most aspects of the characters' lives other than fighting and training, on the one hand, can be considered a drawback of DBZ, but on the other, it creates a lot of room for fans' imagination. But not everyone uses it. Most authors generally repeat the same tropes over and over again and don't try to look at the three-year-gap from a new angle, although the canon provides all the possibilities for this. Because of this, fics in this genre often seem boring. But in fact, it's not the setting itself that is boring, but only dusty formulas in the heads of the authors.)

Ahem, so where were we?.. Oh yes.

Actually, Vegeta's inconsistency is a very handy character trait for the authors, as it minimizes the chance of accidental OOC. Indeed, it's quite difficult to make someone to behave out of character if he has many different canon versions of himself, lol. On the other hand, this leads to the fact that the character seems to... kinda disintegrate. You never see his whole face, because he simply doesn't have it. As a result, Vegeta turns into a mosaic that must be reassembled each time. And I keep staring at this crazy kaleidoscope like an idiot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, that's... quite a lot of contradictions in my relationship to Vegeta, haha. Still, life without contradictions would be somewhat boring, I guess.

Thanks for your attention I suppose?..... lol, as if someone really got to this point

The End.

P.S. 1: The antisocial version of Vegeta who doesn't understand stupid human rituals and hates crowds, but puts up with it for the sake of his family is my spirit animal, haha. This is just so damn relatable to my autistic personality. Maybe I'm an alien myself.

P.S. 2: Actually, my favorite dbz character is Piccolo. Yep.

Cold Blooded

A Dragon Ball Horror Fic {Part 9}

☆☆☆

Some days have come and gone, bruises were healed ribs are fixed back into place. Vegeta is off with Goku training themselves in the time chamber for the night, in all their forms to test themselves fully.

Bulma had asked her to house sit the entirety of Capsule Corp for the night, Carlie happily obliged since she still had her old room beside the balcony. The scientist rushed to her lab and came back up to her temporary bedroom and sat down on her bed, only to dress into a sleep shirt and pull out her bottle of whiskey, an old stache in her night stand and the new bottle of Merlot for Frieza. She ordered a hot pizza for herself and maybe Frieza if he was willing to eat. 

She had a movie ready to watch and unwind. An old classic and take on horror, Alien. A solid 3 hour long movie that she loved to watch when she was younger, one of the first movies that peaked her interest hardcore to alien races all together.

She singlehandedly carried both the pies and the wine and whiskey in her arms down the hall in the direction of the theater, which is on Friezas side of the building She felt one of the bottles slipping and started to quietly curse herself when it falls from her arms, she awaits the impending crash and liqour splattering everywhere. When it didnt she looked to her side to see a tail tip encircling the bottle.

 “Tsk. Well if that were to break that would certainly be tragic, wouldnt it, Ms. Carlie?” Frieza said standing beside her with a small smile, Carlie smiled at Frieza and laughed abit embarrassed. “Thanks, Frieza.. Want to help me eat these pizzas?”She lifted the pizza boxes and the smell wafted up to the Emperor, he hummed and held his chin between his fingers. “I am quite hungry. Pizza you say? Id love to accompany you, dear.” 

He holds the bottle and saunters beside her down the hall, tail fluttering slowly behind him, a bit of blood still on the very end of his terribly strong tail.. From his most recent murder that day. “I was actually going to watch a movie too, so hope you enjoy feeling lazy eating pizza and getting abit drunk cuz thats going to happen with me tonight” She giggled and gently nudged open the door to the large theater room. “Oh there is no issue with that, I was wondering how you were doing anyway so to spend some quality time within your company is just what i needed.” 

You too will realize this

Frieza curtly nods and places the bottle of whiskey down besides the two large pizzas with hot sauce to dunk in, Carlie lifted the bottle of merlot to Frieza and smiled. “Wanted to give this to you and we can get abit drunk together.. Except i dont know your tolerance to alcohol.” “Wuite alright, im no light weight.” “Excellent!” she claps her hands together and grabs a wine goblet and one Whiskey glass.

Frieza watches her form shuffle away, eyes raking slowly down to her pretty soft legs. Her bottom showing just slightly from the shirt raised up behind her. Frieza hums and seats himself on the extra large and extravagant couch bringing the Wine up and looking at it.. His little smirk showing in the glass bottles sheen in the movie theaters dim light. “Care to tell me what we would be watching.” She tilts her head and comes back with the glasses sitting comfy besides Freeza, the light of the theater dimmed very slowly until the only things visible were Friezas eyes and the screen turning on to suit the room. 

“This movie is one of my favorites from when i was younger. It is called Alien, plot is basically a bunch of humans awake from cryostasis and there's no reason why, and then this insectoid alien called a xenomorph makes its appearance and you'll see the rest. It's great!” “Ohohoho! How precious.. Humans having their own interpretations of Alien kind is quite amusing! Cannot wait to see what kind of monstrosity your kind has imagined.” He uses his ki to pour them both some wine and whiskey. “Hey you might like it, don't knock it till ya try it.” she giggles and clinks the drinks together and takes a sip. The movie begins and she is immediately entrenched in it like its her first time watching it.

Watching a classic with the late emperor. His arms are crossed as this large fluffy white quilt is brought up to her lap and encircles her so comfortably, her slippers fall off her feet to the floor. Frieza watches her out of the corner of his eye while she watches the screen with expectant wonder.. 

He watched her pretty gossamer locks, some that were tied up and some that were loose, falling out of her messily tied bun, down her shirt, her lightly tanned skin glistens with some nice smelling body spray, tantalizing and sweet. Like her. The fact she wasnt wearing glasses made her look more appealing and this deeply confused Frieza… His eyes snapped to the screen and he took a sip of his drink, his back curving to relax into the plush cushion. 

Friezas tail slid beneath her back, she didnt flinch, she shifted a tiny bit, maybe to make sure he was comfortable, maybe to welcome it.. He took it as the latter and proceeded to welcome the warmth of her back upon his tail. 

‘You beautiful little thing…’ he thinks crossing his ankles and watching her fill another glass full of whiskey, right as the first sight of the Xenomorph came up on screen his eyes widened and he tilted his head. 

Watching humans cower in abject horror made the emperor smile in pride of the idea that this is what humans find entertaining and terrifying..the tail around her waist slowly drags her to his side; spurts of blood and the absolute massacre that sprays forth from its victims peaks his interest. Down to the idea they grow and procreate and are fast and nimble, with predatory intent to kill and overwhelm, ambush with ease. 

The very similar comparison to his 3rd form was just the icing on the cake for the emperor that made this all the more amusing. Shes familiar with the immense amount of horror this form can bring...Maybe this was intentional.. Maybe she wanted him to see that he wasnt afraid of him, no matter what form he took. 

She had eaten almost all of this pizza along with the dip of the hot sauce that made her lips look glossy and inviting...a thought Frieza never entertained before but here he was, staring at her lips and her neck where Vegeta left a bite.

He sneers and his bright red eyes return to the screen, when she places her whiskey glass down her hand touches his thick cold tail while she puts it down the emperor cracks the goblet from the grip.. Not breaking it entirely just enough to crack it.

*Thats enough of this little game…*

This gives him an idea. One to finally act upon this beautiful little woman besides him whos blanched stark white and almost flush against the 

“"this movie is quite entertaining. Kill or be killed and absolute domination with zero regard for human life. Procreate and maim, all for the sake of their queen" Frieza muses, his arm bringing the soft white blanket into his lap and his cold strong hand finds her bare thigh, Carlie was abit tipsy but she wasnt blind... "You enjoy this bloodshed dont you, Carlie.” He lets the goblet go to float gingerly to the table infront of him and tilts her head to face him. “Frieza, what are you talking about.. Its just a movie.” He straightens his back hard and looks her square in the eye; a knowing look blooms across his minimalistic features and his red eyes dilate.

“I know what happened to you the other day. Vegeta harmed you while you were intimate, I saw your back and those horrific bruises and scratches.” Her eyes went wide and she backed her head up abit from him as he held her hand in his own. “Frieza.. Me and Vegeta are fine it was a one time thing that wont-” “And how do you know that Carlie?” “Huh?”

“Ive known Vegeta for decades. Since he was a small chimp with a dead father. I WAS basically his father figure, to hell with any of his old Saiyan counterparts. They had as little an influence as i did on him. He had a temper that could never be put out..”  He snapped, raising his voice harshly almost into her face.

 For a split second.. He felt bad for doing that.

“That Saiyan bravado is all brute force and abuse. Never anything gentle..” Carlies eyes remained wide as she slowly- like cold molasses on the brain-took everything he said in. “He would never abuse me..” She pushed his hand off her leg and his tail slunk slowly beneath the shirt to her smoothe soft belly, then to her thighs to keep her still, but not enough to harm her. “He did though..  He most certainly did though… your back had proof of it.. Why would he throw you so violently… you his little mate.. That damned ape knows nothing about delicacy… its disgusting…” 

He sneers forcing the girl to her back with little effort on his own part. Carlie started to panic... “Frieza, let me go. C'mon if i didn't trust Vegeta i wouldn't be with him, let me the heck go please.” SHe pleas and pulls against the tail as the emperor cradles her head and stares down at the little scientist, a hypnotic unblinking stare as his tail tightens around her soft midsection and her quivering legs, his tail pulsing around her body.

   “Carlie… Would I lie to you.. Vegeta’s a great danger to you, he's highly unstable and you know it.. No amount of affection or care will break that ape down to what you want.. He is a *Saiyan* careless, heartless, if you were to die he wouldn't bat a lash.. Just look at where you are.” His tail sliding between her legs to lock them together to ensure she doesn't struggle too hard. SHe was all ears as she complied and lain still turning her head to the side crying…

“He left you with me… alone.. Instead of staying he went off to probably train and..” the back of his knuckles slide down her cheek. His eyes looking longingly at the slender pretty neck and her soft plush lips back up to her eyes… 

What is going ON with him….

“Inflict more harm upon you…Possibly kill you..” He pulls away and sits up his tail uncurling quite satisfied with his claim. Hoping he made her change her mind he folded his hands in his lap. 

“You are my only friend Carlie, I'm saying this to protect you.” 

Carlie stood up and backed up staring at him. “I don't know where you get off.. Speaking to me like that.. Frieza I gotta go.. Dont fucking follow me i cant fucking think…” she slurs, turning on her heel and taking the whiskey and headed for the door.

  “Look at me.”

 She stops dead in her tracks. Frieza didn't even have to turn completely around. “That creature… the Xenomorph on the screen.. Is my 3rd form likeness..” 

3rd form… no one said anything about forms with him… “.............” She gulps and listens, letting him proceed. “This is my Final Form.. From this i can get stronger in my Golden form… one day i hope to show you its glory… But until then… know i could have killed you.. But i dont. I enjoy your company. If you choose to leave that is your choice, and i bid you a pleasant night my dear.” He raises the now full Goblet to his lips and sips.

He heard the door close and the emperor simply closed his eyes.. Her energy left the room. It was lonely. It actually *hurt* Frieza to feel her go.

"Consider this friendship squandered... i will take what i want... and what i wanted from the very beginning was you" He hissed under his breath. Continuing to watch the movie and enjoy the rest of his pizza. “I hope you have a lovely last night as Vegetas.. Because i will make you mine. Empress Carlie...you have no choice…” He muses eating a slice and licking his fingers clean. 

His tail rests in the spot where she sat. “You never really did.”

☆☆☆

Authors note: Super sorry yall. lifes been batshit and i hope yall like this truly. Were coming up on the wrap up~

Taglist: @gallickingun​ @gonuclear​ @dragonblobz @dragonballcollector @lilfriezatyrant @mommaofthesayianguild @lizardhipsdontlie @supremeleadershitlord @thotful-writing @trans-asshole @memevember  @msgreenverse​ @dragonball-hcs-or-sum-shit​ @chickiedinner​ @kamehamethot​

Out of Time

THANK YOU @7h3hy8r1d​ FOR SENDING THIS IN i made it MUCH MUCH longer than I should’ve and i didnt proofread but...here it is.

WORDS: 1,936

CONTENT WARNINGS: Mentions of death, injury, blood, choking, basically its a lot of action fighting scenes and angst and me trying to fit something self indulgent into a canon scene.

SHIP: Jeice x Tomae (self insert)

   The Grand Elder had died, and with the Dragon Balls turned to stone behind them because of his demise, the scene was dire. Freeza's long, alien tail thumped and swayed in furious irritation as he greeted the Z fighters from above, standing on a tall rock formation. His expression was a cold and empty smile.

    "Now look what you've done," He spoke softly, but with an air of danger, "You've destroyed my dream of immortality..." His eyes trailed over Krillin, Gohan and Vegeta, and the little Namekian known as Dende. All but Vegeta would flinch at this. Still, he paused.

    "Mmh, and I see there's no trace of the Ginyu Force...Did you destroy them? My goodness, you are industrious little tykes, aren't you...? And now even the Dragon Balls are useless..." The corners of his mouth twitched downward. "My one great desire is lost to me..."

   Hopping down from the rock, he was now level with the four individuals. His smile was still there for a moment longer as he said, "Never, ever before has anyone made such a fool of Freeza..." And then, a scowl replaced his blankly polite stare. "Curse you all..."

   As the land began trembling under his powerful rage, he shouted now. "You despicable maggots! I'll torture you to death, inch by bloody inch...!!" In response Gohan and Krillin leapt back in separate directions, staring with pure terror. Vegeta seemed nervous, but nowhere to the same extent...

    Was it over for them?

........

    A bit away, a saiyan stared at the sky from within Freezas broken spaceship. Said spaceship had been damaged from Vegeta's earlier rampage, but still functioned as a temporary base. More importantly, the sky had gone dark for a few minutes...

     But as this planet had three suns...

   "What was that?" The saiyan asked, glancing back at his companion, an injured red alien with puffy white hair. "An...an eclipse, maybe?"

     "I doubt it, mate..." The ex-Ginyu Force fighter replied weakly, clutching his wounded side. "Nghh...!"

      Tomae gasped and rushed to be knelt beside him now. "Jeice! A...Are you okay?!"

      "She'll be right...I've dealt with worse, yeah?" He gave a soft smirk. But it vanished within seconds, and he winced. "But...We oughta get out of here, Tomae..."

      "...Jeice, y-you know, why don't we get you into a -"

      "All the healing pods are wrecked, thanks to Vegeta..." Jeice shook his head, "There's one - an older model - but those bloomin' Earthlings put one of their own in there. Goku, I think his name was..."

       "W-well, then I need to find you bandages..." Tomae's voice cracked, and he paused as Jeice's gloved hand touched his face.

     "...Like I said, it'll be fine." The fighter's voice was softer now.

     Tomae's eyes watered, and he pressed the hand against his cheek. Gloves or not, the touch was gentle. "....If you say so..."

     It hadn't been easy to rescue Jeice this far. Vegeta had only let Tomae rescue the alien because of a debt that needed repaying from long ago...If it hadn't been for that, then Jeice would've....He wouldn't be here right now.

     Some silence passed, and Tomae's eyes eventually fluttered open again. "Jeice..."

     "Hm?"

     "I....I want to help them."

     Jeice stared. "Help who? Hold it, you don't mean...."

     "...I do."

      Tomae began to stand, but Jeice grabbed onto him. "T-Tomae, you..."

      "I know your orders were to destroy the Earthlings, Jeice, but...I think they're onto something. I don't think we should be listening to Lord Freeza."

      Jeice stared, his expression becoming slowly more horrified. "T-Tomae, what're you going on about? We've served Lord Freeza for years, I...You can't turn on him!"

      "...Vegeta did."

     "Yeah, fat load of good it did the crazy bloke. He's probably dead now, you know?!"

      "...I don't think so. I think Freeza would be back by now if he'd killed them already..." Tomae shook his head, and pulled free of Jeice's grip. "I came here to rescue you, but if I can do a bit more, then I-"

     "Then you'll throw away the first thing you came here for? C-C'mon, Tomae, stop talkin' like this...We gotta escape while we can..."

     "....Yes, you do." Tomae didn't look at him. "I want you to use your pod to get out of here."

    "....W-what?"

     "Please. Go to whatever planet you want, but just...Get out of here."

    "Tomae..."

    A moment of nothing but tension would come now. Tomae trembled slightly, his fingers clenched into fists. His tail was wrapped firmly around his waist, and even that looked like it was twitching in anxiety. Jeice stared, eyes wide, at the Saiyan he cared so much about...

     "....Fine."

     Tomae jolted. He looked over his shoulder at his boyfriend, who was beginning to stand up. "What? A-ah, be careful..."

     "We're partners, right?" Jeice extended his hand. "You may be doin' somethin' stupid, but I won't leave you behind."

      Tomae hesitated....Then began to cry again. Rather than take the hand extended, he threw himself into Jeice's arms. The red alien almost fell over, but managed to muster enough strength not to.

........

      Freeza's final form, a sleek white-and-purple design, had come to fruition by this point, and his tail was wrapped around Vegeta's throat. Piccolo had joined the battle, Krillin and Gohan had almost been killed multiple times...And the life of Dende had been lost.

     "By the way," hummed Freeza sadistically, looking to the three he wasn't currently crushing. "You can help him whenever you feel like it..."

    And then a flash of light was seen as a blast was fired at the tyrant. Freeza simply sidestepped it, but seemed surprised by it. "My, my, has someone else come to join the party? But where...?" His eyes scanned the scene, then landed on a patch of sky.

    "...Ah, another monkey."

     Tomae landed on the ground nearby. "...Well you've been busy, Lord Freeza..."

     "Indeed. I grow weary of this whole rebellious primate thing, though..." He shook his head. "You're not even a warrior, and you still intend to fight me..."

    "T...To...." Vegeta choked out, though Freeza's tail's grip tighrened and silenced him once more.

    "Who...?" Piccolo seemed to be asking Gohan and Krillin for explanation. "Is that another Saiyan?"

    "Y-yeah...." Gohan gulped, "He...He showed up earlier, but..."

     "G-gah!!" Krillin suddenly exclaimed, "It's that...That one guy..."

     Indeed, Jeice hovered above, slowly coming to stand by Tomae. Freeza stared blankly for a bit, then pursed his lips.

     "Now this...This is the surprise of the century. A soldier handpicked by my father to serve me has joined the revolution as well?" He gave a light, but sick chuckle. "...I suppose you really can't trust anyone but yourself these days, hm?"

    "It's over, Lord Freeza..." Jeice spoke,  "Not even your men are willing to follow you..."

    "Yes, well...You speak with such confidence, but you're starting this off clutching your side..." Freeza sighed, "How annoying. Who else is going to show up and be a bothersome pest? My brother Cooler, perhaps? Father himself?"

    "Shut up." Tomae's eyes narrowed. "I'm not serving you anymore."

    "I gathered as much. Still, such a fiesty attitude..." Freeza lifted his hand, not even putting Vegeta down. "However...I need only a finger to defeat you two."

     "W...WATCH OUT!" cried Gohan suddenly, voice cracking, but the light at Freeza's fingertips was already forming.

    Tomae knew going into this he'd die. He knew he'd never be able to actually help, but it felt wrong to run. But he knew he would die, and knew there was no hope to even avoid this shot...Jeice knew all this as well.

    So he took matters into his own hands.

    Pushing Tomae out of the way with barely enough time to dodge himself, Jeice leapt up to the sky. Tomae gasped, hitting the ground with a thud, and looked up at where the wounded warrior was now flying. "J-Jeice...!"

     Jeice grinned. Moving his hand from his side, he lifted it into the air instead. "Oi! You're messin' with a member of the Ginyu Force, mate!"

     Freeza looked ever so slightly stunned, but it quickly faded to frustration. Throwing Vegeta's limp and barely conscious body to the size, he turned to look up as well. "Ex-Ginyu...But I see you still have some spunk...I'll have to rip it out of you, along with the rest of your hopes and dreams!"

       Jeice's hand began to glow. A large ball of energy was forming. "CRUUUUSSHEEEERRRRRRRRRR........................." He yelled, "BAAAAAAALL!!!" And with that, he threw it at Freeza.

     Piccolo grabbed Gohan and Krillin and ducked out of the way as it headed towards the platform. As it neared him, the space tyrant gazed blankly and...smacked it to the side with a flick of the wrist.

    It flew far, blowing up a nearby island instead.

     Tomae didn't waste a moment, though. He managed, somehow, to appear next to Freeza, and swung his leg. The tyrant grabbed the Saiyan's ankle and tossed him to the ground. "Honestly, how many of you are going to die before you realize you don't have a prayer?" Freeza growled.

     And he kicked Tomae, whose wind was immediately knocked out of him. "T-Tomae!" came Jeice's voice.

    "You know, Jeice..." Freeza murmured, "I never understood your appeal towards this rotten ape...I tolerated him for you, but...Really, what good has he ever been?"

   "St-stop...." Teary, Tomae tried to get up, but Freeza's clawed feet slammed into his chest and kept him still.

   "What good has ANY of these monkeys been, in fact?" Freeza's eyes narrowed, "They've been nothing but disgusting beasts..."

   Jeice trembled above. "L-Lord Freeza...! St-stop...Stop, you're hurting him!"

    "You see now? Nothing ever comes of making me angry...Nothing ever comes of playing the hero. Why don't you come down and help take care of the smaller pests, Jeice? Perhaps I'll kill you less painfully, if you choose to use your final moments to help me."

    Jeice stared. Jeice's fists clenched, but his wound had lost a lot of blood and he was scared. Goddamn, was he scared...Tears began to form in his eyes, and he lowered himself from the sky slowly. "I said to stop, you bloody bastard..."

     "What a shame...You were always spoken so highly of by Captain Ginyu..."

     Captain Ginyu. Jeice's hands fell to his sides. Guldo. Recoome...Even Burter had given his life to serve Freeza. Burter, his best friend, was probably rolling in whatever grave he had, at Jeice's mutinous actions...

    ....Burter, who'd died before Jeice's very eyes.

     Was he going to let Tomae suffer the same fate as his best friend? Tomae, his own boyfriend.

   No.

    Without another thought, Jeice attacked. He had no form, he had no patience, so he was bound to lose even with this. But he refused to give up. He punched and punched at Freeza's ugly mug like there was no tomorrow.

    He fought valiantly, and while he didn't land a hit, he distracted Freeza long enough for Tomae to get a break. For Tomae to catch a breather.

     For Tomae to stand.

     "H-hey, you shouldn't push yourself..." began Gohan, who rushed over to show sympathy for the Saiyan, but Tomae ignored him, and used a jump to propel off of the Namekian grass. "A-ah...W-wait!"

     "Let him go, Gohan...." Piccolo said quietly, grabbing the boy's arm and looking up at the fight. "...They're doing this for reasons that have nothing to do with us. If that involves throwing their lives away, then we can't stop them."

     "Still, it's...It's insane...." Krillin muttered, "But....we're out of time, and out of options."

    They really could only hope for Goku to arrive at this point, but if these ex-Freeza soldiers wanted to do their part to give them some extra life...Guess they could only let that happen.

BadaGine Week 2020: Day One

The Life We Share @bardineweek

Day One: Life on Earth 

“How much is it?”

 “Three thousand.”

 “Three thousand?” Mr. Anaheim whistled. “That’s a lot. How about Twenty-Five hundred?”

 No deal. Bardock glanced over at the three huge crates beside him. “I’m giving you a lot. Gine was kind enough to cut the meat in portion sizes which makes it easier for you to sell. Plus, you resell at a higher price. Three thousand or I go higher and to your rival.”

 Mr. Anaheim admired Bardock’s shrewd business mind. If Bardock went to his rival, he’ll lose a lot of profit. Half of his sells were due to his partnership with Bardock.  His rival tried to persuade Bardock to sell to him but Bardock refused. He had loyalty to Mr. Anaheim. He was the first to buy from him when no one else would. It was very strange that this tall, hard looking muscle man came out of nowhere wanting to sell fish and dinosaurs he caught on Mount Paouz.

 Mr. Anaheim asked around but no one knew anything about Bardock or his wife except the old hermit Son Gohan. He was a legend who created a name for himself as a martial artist. It was his reputation that allowed Mr. Anaheim to take a chance on Bardock. Bardock was definitely rough around the edges and inexperienced in business but he learned quick and two formed a good partnership. Bardock was still a mystery to Mr. Anaheim but he made him money and that was more important to him than Bardock and his family’s personal life.

 “You drive a hard bargain, Bardock, but deal.” Mr. Anaheim signaled his workers to step forward. Three men took two trips to pick up three heavy iced crates of fish and dinosaur meat Bardock carried in the shop. The three men weren’t skinny. They were strong but in comparison to Bardock, were very weak.

 As Mr. Anaheim counted Bardock’s pay, he asked, “How’s that wife of yours?”

 “Gine is good. Resting.”

 Mr. Anaheim raised a knowing eyebrow. He understood why Bardock’s wife was resting. “How much longer?”

 “Another two months.”  

 Mr. Anaheim placed Bardock’s money in a thick envelope. “Get as much sleep as you can. Once they are born, you’re never getting it again.”

 Bardock agreed as he took the money. “I know that from the other one. He’s a fireball of energy.”

 Just as Bardock turned to leave, Mr. Anaheim called out to him. “Bardock.” He handed him a flyer. “I think you should try this.” As Bardock read the sheet, Mr. Anaheim explained, “You’re strong. I think you can go all the way. It’ll be good money for your family, especially with another one on the way.”

 Bardock returned the paper to Mr. Anaheim. “Maybe, but it’s not my thing.”

 “Talk to Gine,” Mr. Anaheim insisted. “Maybe she will convince you.”

 ****

 “It’s a girl this time. I’m sure of it.”

 Gine sipped her lemonade on the patio in her front yard. It would be nice. She’ll have an ally among her with all these men if it were true. Gine was an idealistic and hopeful woman but she was also a realist, especially now in her new life. Still, Gine humored the kind old man with a, “You think so, Gohan? I would like a girl this time but Bardock will want another son.”

 Bardock’s son happily ran in the yard chasing his pet dinosaur. The dinosaur was three times the child’s size but the child didn’t fear it. He loved it, especially when the dinosaur carried him on his back and flew him around. The child was brave and reckless, playing with anything he touch. A year ago, he and Bardock came upon the baby dinosaur alone. Bardock couldn’t find the dinosaur’s parents and his son refused to leave the baby alone. His son decided to take the pet home and once Gine learned the dinosaur was an orphan the matter was settled. They were keeping it against Bardock’s wishes.

 The child stopped chasing his pet when he heard the familiar roars of an air truck approaching. He knew that sound. Daddy’s coming home.

 “Papa! Papa!” The little boy waved at the approaching vehicle.

 As soon as Bardock stepped out of his truck, he felt the tiny arms of his son wrap around his long leg. Bardock picked up the child. “Hello, Kakarrot. Having fun today?”

 Gine pushed herself on her foot as Bardock approached her. “Gine,” he greeted his wife with a kiss. Holding Kakarrot on his hip, he touched Gine’s round belly. “How’s the baby?”

 “Kicked a lot earlier but she’s fine.”

 “She?” A daughter would be nice but Bardock wanted a son. “You don’t know that. It might be a boy.”

 “Well, Gohan said it’s a girl. He might be right.”

 Bardock half rolled his eyes. He respected Gohan. Gohan welcomed him, Gine and Kakarrot to Earth after they crashed on Mount Paouz. He taught them about life on Earth and advised Bardock how his family can live but old hermit had some quirky ideas at times. “I rather wait until the child’s birth. Speculating the child’s sex is a waste of time.”

 Gohan chuckled as he poured himself another glass of lemonade. “Loosen up, Bardock. It’s fun speculating.”

 Knowing the two will get in a friendly argument over Bardock’s need to loosen up, Gine changed the subject. “How did the sale go?”

 “Good.” Bardock pulled out the envelop Mr. Anaheim gave him and placed it on the table. “I wanna take this money and buy more equipment. West City might have what I need.”

 “It should,” Gohan sipped his glass of sweet juice. “West City is one of the most scientifically advanced cities in the world. Dr. Briefs, inventor of the capsules, lives there.”

 Gine noticed a folded piece of paper with the envelope of money. She opened and read the letter. “What’s this, Bardock?”

 Bardock drunk from Gine’s glass. “Something Mr. Anaheim gave me. He thought I should participate.”

 “Ten….ka… chi Budo…kai?” Gine read the words carefully like one read something new in a different language. “What is that?”

 “Tenkachi Budokai?” Gohan’s eyes glazed over in nostalgia. He didn’t realize that time has come again. “Ah. The Strongest under the Heavens.”

 “Strongest?” Bardock inquired curiously.

 “It’s a tournament,” Gohan explained aware of Bardock’s renewed interest. “All the strongest martial fighters around the world compete in this tournament. There’s no killing allowed. It’s all in good fun and the winner is declared the strongest in the world. They also get 500,000 zeni.”

 “500,000?” Gine gasped. “That’s a lot of money. Bardock, you should compete. We can use that money.”

 “Anaheim said the same thing.” It was tempting. Bardock hadn’t a good fight since he landed on Earth. Gohan was a fair partner but nowhere near his equal. Still, the old man had tricks. He had an ability called the Kamehameha Wave. Bardock saw it once and as much as he asked, Gohan hadn’t taught him how to perform that trick. “But I can’t. We’re on Earth in hiding for a reason, Gine. We don’t want to bring attention to ourselves.”

 Gine waved off Bardock’s worry. “We’ve been here for two years. No one’s come looking for us.”

 “And they won’t as long as we stay hidden.”

 “I understand your concerns, Bardock.” Gohan knew Bardock and Gine’s story. “But from what you told me, Earth is a backwater planet compared to the planets you plundered. They wouldn’t be looking for two adult Saiyans here. They’ll be looking for a child.” Gohan eyed Kakarrot as he reached for the envelope and flyer on the table. The child’s curiosity could not be squelch. “Someone like Kakarrot.”

 It was as if a bomb was dropped on them. Gine became sullen and Bardock grimaced. The only sounds were of Kakarrot’s nonsensical babbling. Bardock put Kakarrot in a chair and walked off. Gohan wanted to shoot himself with a Kamehameha Wave. He didn’t mean it like that. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I was only saying….”

 “We know, Gohan.” Gine placed a kind hand on Gohan’s weathered hands. “We know you meant no harm by your words.” She looked at Bardock standing alone. She felt her own heart breaking in pain. “Could you watch Kakarrot while I talk to Bardock?”

 “Of course,” Gohan promised.

 Gine carefully waddled to Bardock. On Planet Vegetasai, women didn’t carry their babies in their bodies as Earth women. They were extracted from their bodies and grown in an incubator until they were ready. Being the first Saiyan women in generations to carry a baby like an Earth woman made Gine very nervous. She read all the books Gohan provided her but the birth slightly terrified her. Gohan insisted they will need a midwife to aide them but Bardock was very protective of Gine and against the idea of a midwife. There was something in the child’s birth that would bring attention to them not being from Earth and Bardock wasn’t ready for the world to know their secret.  

 Bardock stood on the edge of the yard. He wore a frown on his handsome face as he stared at the sky. With Gohan, he learned the use of Ki and could feel Gine approaching him. This new trick Gohan taught him was useful to warn him of a possible enemy but very comforting when he knew Gine was coming to him.

 “Are you okay?”

 “Sometimes I wonder what planet he’s on; what’s he doing; how I couldn’t save him.”

 Gine leaned on Bardock. Her hand rubbed her stomach as she gazed at the sky with her husband. “There was nothing you could do. Raditz was taken from us like all Saiyan babies when they’re measured for their power level. You didn’t know what planet he was one when we left. It was impossible to save him.” Gine was crushed they couldn’t rescue Raditz but as always, Gine saw hope with every bad news. “You save Kakarrot and our new baby growing in me.”

 Gine said the right words but it didn’t ease Bardock. “I have this premonition Raditz will come here one day. He’ll be a cold, evil warrior dedicated to Freeza’s regime. He finds us, sees the life Kakarrot and our child has; sees how different it’s from the harsh life forced on him and explode in a rage of fury that won’t be satisfied until we are all dead.”

 “I refuse to believe that. No matter what, Raditz is our child. No matter what anger or darkness that’s in him, we’ll push through that and get our child back. I know we can do it.”

 Leave it to Gine to look at things with a spark of hope. “You and your optimism.”

 Gine saw her optimism as a strength. She believed she, her husband and child can build a life here. Earth was more than what she hoped for. “So, will you enter the Tenkaichi Budokai? That money can help you buy the supplies you need.”

 The money would help. Since establishing their life on Earth, Bardock used what was savaged from his and Gine’s pods and built a satellite room to monitor everything from space. He could only monitor this solar system. He needed money to buy material to make equipment that can reach outside to other galaxies.

 “I don’t know. We’re here to hide, Gine. If I enter, I will win and my name will be in the news.”

 “On Earth,” Gine reminded him. “Not space. The people here don’t even believe life exists on other planets. It’s arrogant but we can use that to our advantage. No one thinks we’re aliens.”

 “They will if our tails are ever spotted. Damn Earthling clothes.” The jeans Bardock wore were more constricting than the Saiyan armor he used to wear. “I don’t think I will ever get use to this.”

 “I like the clothes here.” Gine caressed the soft material of her summer dress. It was loose and flowing. Perfect for a woman in her condition. “When we went to South City, they had beautiful clothes in their shops. We can use some of the money from the tournament to buy clothes. Kakarrot will need some, too. He’s growing so much and there’s the baby….”

 Bardock chuckled. “Okay. Okay. You made your point but we’ll lose some of the anonymity. If I become famous by that tournament, there might be questions about us. This world is very nosy about the lives of famous people. If someone becomes too curious….”

 “I think we’ll be fine. Maybe this tournament is a sign we need to start integrating more with the people on this planet.” Gine looked over at Gohan and Kakarrot. Her son was playfully being chased by the kind, old man. “Kakarrot is getting older. He’s ‘preschool’ age as Gohan says. Maybe we should consider integrating him in school; build more allies; let some people know who we are.”

 “What people? Like Anaheim?”

 “Maybe not him but what about that friend Gohan has? Gyumao. He has a daughter our son’s age. In the last letter to Gohan, he mentioned his daughter being a spitfire. Maybe we can arrange for the two to meet and be friends. Kakarrot should have friends and not just be around us all the time.”

 “What about you?” Bardock inquired. This wasn’t only about Kakarrot. “You keep bringing up the idea we need a midwife.”

 “I do need one.”

 “Gine…..” Bardock warned her.

 Gine wouldn’t let this go. If it was only her health to be concerned with, she would agree with Bardock but there was a life inside her and Gine wanted to give it the best possible chance. She read the books on giving birth but she also wanted someone in room that knew what they were doing.

 “We came here for a new life, Bardock. We escaped the one Freeza held over us. This world is so peaceful; so different from what we had. It’s time to stop hiding, live in it and take all it has to offer.”

 The corner of his lips turned up in a smile. Leave to Gine to get through his stubbornness. She was right; knew it for weeks but didn’t want to admit it. “You should be a, what’s that word I read in that Earth book, ‘motivational speaker’?”

 “I think that’s word.” Gine shrugged unsure herself. “Sounds like it.” Like her husband, Gine was still learning Earth terminology. “So….” Gine pursued carefully, “will you enter the Tenkaichi Budokai?”

 Bardock considered Gine’s words. She made a lot of good points. The money will help them a lot. He can buy the equipment he needs to build a better monitoring system and listen to transmissions outside this galaxy. Earth would be the last place Freeza would come to. It had an abundance of resources and the power levels of the people were very weak but it was so far off from any other galaxies and universes with life. It wouldn’t be of interest to conquer a planet so far out. As Gohan said, if they wanted, they would send a Saiyan baby before they sent an adult and all the Saiyans were gone except a handful.

 It meant Gine, Kakarrot and their new child can live a peaceful life here. It didn’t curb the nasty premonition Bardock had of Raditz returning as an adult; fighting his younger brother and wanting to kill him. If it came to that, Bardock was ready to fight his son but as Gine said, they couldn’t live in fear. That was definitely not the Saiyan way.

 “All right, Gine. I’ll enter the tournament. Maybe… maybe we’ll find a midwife.”

 “I’m sure there are plenty at Gyumao’s village.” She clapped her hands as an idea popped in her mind. “Let’s invite Gyumao and his daughter here. We’ll introduce Kakarrot to Gyumao’s daughter.” The ideas for this meeting raced so fast in Gine’s mind not even Bardock could stop her. “We can do it this week. I can prepare a lovely, yummy meal. You can brush up on your fighting skills with Gyumao and Gohan. Gohan told me Gyumao received the same training he did from his teacher, Master Roshi.”

 Bardock already knew what was going on in his wife’s mind. “If you’re trying to pair up our son with this Earthling child…..”

 “I’m only saying Kakarrot needs a playmate.”

 “I know what you’re doing.” Bardock was no fool. He knew what his wife had in mind with meeting Gyumao and his daughter. Gine used the television and books Gohan gave her to learn about Earth customs. She liked the idea of children playing together for fun, going to school and dating. She voiced more than once wanting that for their children.

 Gine raised herself on her toes to place sweet kiss on Bardock’s lips. “And??”

 Bardock laughed. He won’t win with her. He put his arm around Gine as they walked back to Gohan and Kakarrot. “All right. Set it up. If it’s safe, if we can trust Gyumao and if Kakarrot and his daughter get along, we’ll tell them about us. We’ll even get that midwife you want so bad.”

 “Yay!” Gine squealed.

 Bardock kissed the top of Gine’s head tenderly. “Like you said, we have a life on Earth now. It’s time we live in it.”

☕️ OH YKNOW WHAT AT THAT NOTE? Talk about that dbs broly movie cuz yknow. That’s a hot topic of the ages that folk feel particularly really strongly about

ooooh ive been waiting for this one. We watched this together on discord so you know my general feelings but Im happy i got this ask lol.

putting this under read more cause it gets long 

The new movie that everyone seems to love and adore.... that I dont. It was a pretty middle of the ground, meh overrated af movie. Not bad, just nothing special. I enjoyed watching it sure, but not something I have an inkling to return to anytime soon if ever. It was just ‘there’ for me. 

First, I’ll say the good stuff. The visuals looked really pretty. Nobody was THAT out of character of the existing cast (save for the ending), which i feel weird to have to even mention it as a positive, but nothing really stood out to me as a defining moment for the little cast we had besides Goku’s “youre not a bad guy, i can tell” or w/e. SUPER SAIYAN 1 IS STILL GOAT. It looked soooo good in this movie i wish we couldve kept it the whole time instead of Blue. But i will say, Blue looked much better in this movie than the series. The darker-blue with the lighter blue eyes was a nice change from instead of the ugly bluish-green the series did. Also the aura looked better. Backgrounds like the ice area and even Planet Vegeta were amazing. Action was great too. little Bulla was cute. The OST i liked (the chanting really grew on me) and Blizzard is a banger i love that song. Oh and the aritisic license they took for the fusion scene with the reds and blues spiraling together was great

Anyway thats all the positives I have lmaoo

This film includes Minus and I already went in depth on why I hate Minus with a passion and why it’s the worst thing to come out of modern Dragon so yeah moving on. But the fact that they devoted screentime to Gokus backstory which ultimately served no purpose to the story of the film and couldve been used more valuably elsewhere. 

I said the action was good, and it was, but it almost too good. At times it was so fast to tell that was going on and really lessened the impact for me. Like when they went into the other dimension or whatever, Gogeta went blue and Broly went LSSJ (idc if the name is different name, itll always be legendary SSJ to me lmao) so ast it was a blink and you miss it moment. like what? those moments shouldve been given even a little bit of focus. 

Next the cast. Goku and Vegeta. AGAIN. snorefest. no Gohan, Piccolo is just there to show them the fusion, Goten and Trunks are still kids and look like babies (and Pilaf gang is with them which is another can of worms), no Android 17, who the series established as one of the top 4 fighters on Earth. 

Do we get any of that? Nope. Just the two Blue and Bluer fucking again and again I. dont. care. anymore. Their dynamic is so boring and played out id rather watch paint dry. It was fun in Buu Saga, hell it was even fun in GT, but DBS constantly forcing this dynamic and Vegeta as the second Main Character needs to fucking STOOOP. Toei and Toriyama has no idea how to further Vegeta’s character because theyre stuck in this infinite loop. 

Vegeta doesnt want to help Goku, he mentions Bulma and/or Trunks, Vegeta blushes, and then he decides to help. THAT HAPPENED LIKE SIX TIMES IN DBS ALONE. It happened in Buu saga as well, but it organically worked cause it was the first time but Bulma and Trunks were ALREADY DEAD/ABSORBED. The look on his face wasnt blushy or pouting for a gag, dude was legit shocked. I rag on Vegeta but he had some legit great moments in the early arcs and later parts of Buu Saga. Anyway im off track. They repeat that same exact character moment OVER AND OVER. cant tell you how many times we had “my Bulma, my bulla, my Trunks, my cabba” in the Tournament of Power alone, and this movie is no different.

DO SOMETHING ELSE FFS

Then we have Broly. ohhhhhh boooy Broly. if you can even call this version of him Broly. His backstory is kinda the same as original movie 8/Broly LSSJ, but its more tragic becuase according to most fans, if youre background is a sobstory, that equals better character. NO. sure it could, but that trope was so worn out so long ago I hate it. “waaa his life was bad, hes not a bad guy” bruh i dont care thats not Broly. just make an OC if you wanna do that. but nope. gotta use the marketing! (More on that later)

People like to criticize Z Broly as “he hates Goku cause he cried” or “all he says is Kakarot” which both are false. On the first point, Broly is a psychopath. He was stabbed as an infant and left to die along with Paragus cause he was too powerful. Then that same day Planet Vegeta explodes practically on top of them. The rest of his life hes basically either being controlled or on a rampage. So that one moment of peace is “ruined” by Goku in a sense cause he subconsciously associates that with Goku. On the second point, Broly was already mentally unstable and then nearly dying, getting caught in the explosion of a SECOND PLANET and then being frozen for seven years will fuck anyone up in the head. Z Broly in the original movie was sadistic af and he had a lot of memorable moments and lines that werent just screaming Kakarot, that Second Coming made him infamous for. 

New Broly is legit a man-baby. People talk about old Broly having no personality and this new version having a deep character, but I dont see it. He acts like a child when hes with Cheelai and Lemo and then once the fighting starts he doesnt say a single word but yell. SOUND FAMILIAR?? But he gets a pass because the canon police says so right??? fuck off. New Broly is boring. Im tired of trying to make the Saiyans into ThEyRe noT aLl BaD sEe The SaIyAns ArE AcTuAlLy GoOd!!!11111 ugh i hate it. keep Broly a psycho and keep Bardock a prick. even that guy that went with Buzz Lightyear I mean Paragus was a sweet guy who couldnt fight because of course he was. At least they kept Paragus being a prick when he killed him. Tho his death was lame. 

Cheelai’s overrated af. Shes just green bulma lmao. and the fact that they included the “big soft-spoken man gets mad and saves girl from drunk lowkey-rapey pervert” trope just had me roll my eyes like dude stop. Lemo was fine? Nothing against him but didnt do much for me either.

FUCK. FREEZA. i went over this one before too so ill be quick with this as well. I hate hate hate the fact that they brought him back not once but twice in DBS, but even worse that they left him alive to do whatever tf he wants including going back to mass murdering people and expanding his army again. Goku and Vegeta just LET HIM LIVE. Why tf did they go all out and attack Broly, but not Freeza? when one of them was fighting Broly th other easily could have taken out freeza but nope we need a token villain like Joker or Skeletor cause unoriginality. Even at the end, Gogeta does a full power blast to wipe Broly tf out, but when Freeza tries to kill Cheelai and Lemo (two innocent people, feelings on them aside) Gogeta basically just shakes his finger like nuh-uh! dont do that! and then he flies off. Just let this mfer die already im sick of seeing his ass. FUCK I HATE IT SO MUCH GFGFFGFGFGF

Lastly this movie is legitimately Dragon Ball Fanservice The Movie. 

Gogeta vs Broly, which the games have been doing since fucking 2003, is the main point of this film. Theres no originality whatsoever. Minus is discount Father of Goku special, and then its a mashup of Broly LSSJ and Fusion Reborn (both of which are superior movies imo). This creatively banrkupt shell of a franchise cant think of anything new, so they legit remake an old movie, through in fusions because that sells like hotcakes, and make the animation pretty because thats all that matters.

Imo, this movie, like 99% of Super, is all flash and flair but no substance at all. At least this movie looked nice. unlike the show. 

ok thats all i got lmao

DRAGON BALL SUPER: BROLY SPOILERS AHEAD

So I just got to watch the new DBS movie, and I fucking loved it.

I’m gonna gush about it through most of this post, so don’t be fooled by me starting off on a negative note--namely, turning Bardock into Jor-El almost negates the entirety of his nuanced characterization.  Watching Bardock be a concerned father instead of being ashamed of how weak Kakarot and Raditz were sucked.  Watching him smile warmly was jarring and out of character.  You see, the point of Bardock is that he’s a shitty person.  He’s an awful mass-murdering mercenary, an evil, evil man who doesn’t care about his kids or the people he kills.  What’s interesting about Bardock’s character in the Z movie is how conflicted he becomes as he finds a reason to try to protect his people, motivation to change things and avenge the deaths of the only people he did care about--that red bandana he wears is a white cloth stained with the blood of his best friend.  That struggle makes him just about my favorite character in the entirety of Dragon Ball canon.

This version of Bardock is based on the terrible Dragon Ball Minus comic that itself completely missed the point of Bardock’s character, but he’s in better shape here--it’s still made clear he’s a remorseless mass-murderer, he’s just...also a dad, I guess?  I didn’t like it.  At least they added his last stand back in, in a beautifully animated few seconds that left me craving more.

Fortunately, it was the low point of a fantastic flick, and it only gets better and better from here.

For every crime perpetrated against Bardock’s characterization, Broly’s gets improved and expanded upon.  This version of the berserker is engaging, likable, and sympathetic--not so much a creep held in check (in an indisputably justified fashion) by his father as an innocent, abused victim who poses a real danger to everyone around him, whose abusive dad only manages to make things worse with the justified-adjacent (and much MUCH crueler) measures he takes to prevent Broly from going nuts and destroying everything and everyone in sight.  His interactions with Cheelai and Lemo say more about the character than the entirety of the original Broly movie.  I love love love the new Broly, and was actively rooting for the heroes to keep him (and his two new friends) through the entire movie.

A small bit--Bulma and Freeza’s wishes being so hilariously petty was hilarious and I loved it.

Most of the movie is dominated by one long extended fight between Broly on one side and Goku and Vegeta on the other, and holy shit.  This is the best fight in the entire franchise that I’ve seen.  I haven’t gotten to watch Super yet, but everything I’ve seen about that says to me that nothing in it holds a candle to this fight--and nothing in Z or GT did, either.  It’s beautifully animated (with the exception of the animators breaking out the choppy 3D models a couple times, though thankfully they’re smoother this time around).  It’s beautifully choreographed, those excessively so at a couple points.  It’s emotionally resonant, as you spend most of the fight sympathizing with Broly, something completely unthinkable in his original incarnation.  The transformation into the Legendary Super Saiyan being motivated by his father’s death was heartbreaking, and the fact that Freeza got the idea from remembering what pushed Goku over the edge was a brilliant touch.  The movie’s a cavalcade of canon in general, with references to and tidbits taken from events throughout the series and canonizing elements of the Broly and Janemba movies in fantastic ways.  Rehashing the failed fusions was a little boring, but forgivable.

Cheelai in particular has become a favorite character of mine, and not just in the context of this movie; I love the way she’s characterized and she’s up there with my favorites in the whole franchise.  I was also heartbroken when I thought Broly was going to die, but the turnaround right after into Cheelai and Lemu wishing him to safety made me incredibly happy.  Can you believe it!  Broly got a happy ending, one that was deserved while still recognizably being Broly!  He’s also teased as possibly appearing in future content, which has me incredibly excited.

I’m completely in love with this movie, to be honest.  Not even the stuff it did to Bardock can meaningfully dampen my love for it, and it’s got me even more enthused for Dragon Ball than I’ve been in a long time.  I’m gonna spend next month watching Super in my spare time, I think--yeah, sorry, it won’t be a liveblog beyond me posting commentary in the community Discord server’s anime chat.  Some things have to be For Me, and I haven’t maintained a healthy balance of that lately.  Besides, I already know the broad outline of events.

tl;dr I cannot recommend Dragon Ball Super: Broly highly enough.  Also, the end credits song is a fuckin’ bop.

Tysm for your tags it’s just so fucked up. Woke up without his bangs one day to blow up a planet from orbit and immediately go back to just sulk around until next mission

Exactly lmao. I wish I could draw the awkward realization for that: go to sleep, bangs intact, wake up, bangs gone. Experience one confusing emotion, blow up a planet about it, back to sleep, hopefully he doesn’t wake up bald this time (he did not. but the fear is now forever etched into his mind).

idk that he’d even mind the bangs being gone, now he has that royal hairline and he looks less like the child he never really was. (How fucked up it would be if you were an alien species just chilling and someone who was recognizably a very young juvenile of an alien species killed all of you singlehandly is its own rant) But it certainly wouldn’t help the mind/body/emotion disconnect. The first few years on earth must have been a massive adjustment period, and I feel like actually experiencing a continuous existence for the first time in a long time (maybe ever?) is very interesting. He’s sort of being forced to be more in sync with himself and the things around him just by the assurance that they’ll all be there and almost the same tomorrow.

Second tangent, if you assume that they’re also unconscious in the healing tanks then the subjective timeline of the Saiyan arc/Namek arc for Vegeta is hilariously compressed. From Vegeta’s pov he heard about Raditz dying to his low class brother and found out about a potential way to defeat Freeza and took a nap. Got his ass kicked really hard and took another nap. Found out Freeza was going to steal his cool idea and took a third nap. And then the events on Namek took place over about a week, during which time I am not sure he slept at all besides that unfortunate plot-crucial nap lmao. Everyone else present in both arcs got over a month of downtime while reprogramming and then flying the spaceship. But for Vegeta all of these events must feel like they took place over slightly more than one really fucked up week. They’re probably not separated at all in his mind. It was just all one big extremely hectic misadventure ending in his death.

Kakavege week - Sunset/Sunrise - 1298 words

Most wouldn't think it, but baring world ending catastrophes Capsule Corp was a generally peaceful place. Sure there was the occasional explosion, but they were contained to the labs (if it was Bulma's doing) or the Gravity Room (if it was Vegeta's doing). It took Vegeta many years to grow to appreciate the constant peace Capsule Corp had and very recently he even started secretly reveling in it. After long days he'd take solace in the sunset. It was the only time the sky reminded him of his home planet. Angry reds and oranges painted across the sky, not a hint of anything else, anything human.

Vegeta had long since memorized the night sky over Capsule Corp. After most sunsets he'd find a high rooftop and gaze at the stars, far above anyone else who could interrupt his serenity. He watched the months turn constellations around and back again, some he learned the names and shapes of from the inhabitants of Earth and others he made up on his own. He'd found the dark spot where planet Vegeta's twin stars should have been and decided the ring of stars around it was a crown in honor of his race and his family.

On these quiet nights he'd muse on how his life could have been different. The first fantasy he'd usually visit was deciding how his life would have gone without Freeza. He'd of course be crowned king of the Saiyan race, ruling over his people like he was born to. He'd find himself a wife or have one given to him based on merit and status. They'd have two sons, the first one of course being named after himself and all his paternal ancestors since they first came to their planet. He'd spend his days holding court and war council (one measly planet for the might and pride of the Saiyan race? No, there would be many campaigns in the name of expansion and power). He'd never make it out to Earth, likely never even hear of it or of it's Dragon Balls or Cell or Majin Buu. He likely wouldn't have even heard of Kakarot unless he did something outrageous (a bitter voice in the back of his mind suggested he'd still become the first Super Saiyan). He visits this thought a lot, tweaking it from time to time. After Bulla was born he wondered about having a princess in that life. That never changed anything, as a king his children had little to no affect on his life except training his son to be the next king. Thinking about having neither his children nor his rival left a bitter taste in his mouth and he quickly moved on.

From there it would vary what he thought about. If he had beaten Kakarot the first time they fought everyone on Earth would be dead, there'd be no Dragon Balls, Earth would fade as a distant memory and he'd still be a slave to Freeza. Any time Vegeta found a scenario Freeza lived his scowl would deepen and he'd drop that train of  thought quickly.

The moon rose high in the sky. A full moon, not that it had much sway on the prince anymore.

When all other musings left him he thought of Kakarot. Ever unreachable, unattainable Kakarot. A walking, talking, fighting, living contradiction. He had no memories of being a Saiyan but all the instincts. All of the strength but none of the pride. Vegeta had hated him for a long time, but anymore he grudgingly respected him. He even… maybe, maybe not. His feeling about Kakarot were complicated, he refused to put anything to words before he was certain.

The moon bathed him in its cool gentle light.

"I love him."

It didn't quiet taste right but he couldn't say it tasted wrong either.

_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_

It was always quiet when Goku woke up. The only sound he could hear was the soft breathing of Chichi sleeping beside him. He gently got out of bed and put on his usual gi in total darkness. He loved getting up before the sunrise to watch the world gain its vibrant colors and listen to it wake up.

Once he was outside he started moving through simple stances working his way toward more complex routines. He liked the pattern of it all, something he could lose his body in while he took the quiet time to think.

In his head he fought previous battles, wondering if there could have been a way for a better outcome. He still hasn't forgiven himself for a single time he lost a friend and tries to find a way that he could have saved them all from ever dying. He wonders if there could have been a way to talk Raditz down, if they could have found peace long enough for him to know his brother. Maybe having one more person at his side might have stopped any of the death he'd brought with him to his adopted home. He wondered what roles Grandpa Gohan would have played in his life. If Gohan, his son, would have liked the man his was named after.

Goku's movements quickened as he warmed up.

What if he hadn't trained Gohan to take on Cell? He and Vegeta could have probably trained together to get strong enough and with Trunks there too? No question. Hell, he could probably still have trained with Gohan, just taken things seriously with Cell from the beginning. He would have fought more strategically, conserved his energy, maybe even ascended to Super Saiyan 2. (He could have taken advantage of the tournament set up, sending his friends to wear Cell down until he could finish him off (or honestly anyone who could take him out, just doing it right from the beginning.)) He could have at least tried harder, or not given Cell a damn senzu bean.

The crack of a tree being snapped brought him back to the world around him. The sun was finally peeking out from the horizon. Birds squawked and fled the area. He shook his head and moved back to the center of his little clearing. Maybe thinking about things he regretted wasn't the best way to start the day, for himself or his surroundings.

How would things be different if he didn't lose his memories? The planet would be devastated but what then? Would his pod still work or would it have been broken by a raging Oozaru? If it did work would it take him back to the rubble of planet Vegeta? What would happen then? Would there still be patrols looking for survivors to kill or take back to Freeza. Would he have met Vegeta? How would things have changed if he was what Vegeta wanted him to be? They wouldn't be friends like they were now, probably just king and peasant like Vegeta always says he wants.

Without a thought Goku flared up to Super Saiyan. He opened his eyes and looked around. It was full light now,  maybe 6 or 7 in the morning. Chichi would probably being finishing up breakfast soon and tapping her foot waiting for him. He let go of Super Saiyan, not really sure why the thought of Vegeta and him not being close made him ascend.

A small voice in the back of his mind knew. It whispered to him during fights and talked like Vegeta did. It preened itself in his power and scoffed at his softer moments. It knew what he wanted and had no problem reminding him. Just for a second he let it loose.

"I love him." Goku admitted to the empty morning.

He wasn't sure if it was himself or the voice that spoke out loud but either way he couldn't disagree.

------

@kakavegeweek

only thing i finished for this week but I loved all the prompts and I’m so happy to see all the participation!!

Dragon Ball Z Abridged: Episode 60 - Part 3 - #DBZA60 | Team Four Star (TFS)

The following is fan-based reaction to a fan-based parody. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, and Dragon Ball Super are all owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Shueisha, and Akira Toriyama. Dragon Ball Z Abridged was created by Team Four Star. Support the official release, will ya? Also, Spoilers, I guess...

>OH FUCC TRUNKS

>CELL’S HATE BONER IS IMMORTAL

>OH FUCK SAIYAN BIOLOGY. HE’S PERFECTER CELL NOW!

>KRILLIN NOW’S NOT THE TIME!

>GOHAN’S FUCKING PISSEDER

>YAMCHA SHUT UP VEGETA’S HORRIFIED THAT PERFECTER CELL JUST SHOT HIS SON!

>VEGETA NOOOOOOOO

>GOHAAAAN! -Piccolo, and all of us.

>VEGETA JUST FUCKING APOLOGIZED

>TIEN AND YAMCHA ARE THE BROTP

>PICCOLO HOLY FUCC

>DAY OF FATE REMIX MAKES THIS INFINITELY MORE AWESOEM

>Actually, Krillin. That’s a very good question... I suppose it’d be considered an impediment, but really, it all depends on who you ask.

>King Kai is awesome.

>Goku is giving out some utterly awesome encouragement right now.

>You are Son Gohan!

>This is literally anime dialogue. It’s fucking awesome.

>Oh shit. Vegeta!

>OH SHIT!

>QUIT SINGING CELL TAKAHATA HAS AWESOME PIPES BUT HOLY FUCK

>THAT’S FUCKING MY WAY

>MY GRANDMOTHER WOULD LOVE THIS COVER BUT THAT’S BESIDES THE POINT

>CELL IS FUCKING DEAD

>DRAMATIC FINISH

>Off to the lookout!

>Piccolo takes up the role of hate-boner haver!

>Mr. Satan takes the credit as expected.

>HAIL SATAN!

>King Furry.

>Hello, Super Kami Dende. Sorry to bother you, but we’ve got dead people we need to bring back.

>Yamcha, death literally means nothing.

>Krillin and 18 have a really nice, if not awkward moment.

>Sup Shenron?

>I see Trunks met King Enma already.

>Oh, hello Mr. Popo. I’d ask how you’ve been since the start of the saga, but... well, you know.

>Goku is choosing to stay in heaven to keep Earth safe.

>Goodbye... for now at least.

>”THEN WHO DOES?” “Hi.” “Because they’re incredibly fair and balanced!” Best exchange so far.

>KRILLIN BULMA LITERALLY TOOK THE NUKE OUT OF 16 WHY NOT HAVE HER TO DO IT

>17 never got that boat.

>God, I love these dorks.

>Ah, Yajirobe! Whiskers the Wonder- I mean, Korin!

>Oh... Chi-Chi... I forgot you existed for a minute.

>Oh, Ox King... I forgot about you too.

>OH MY GOD FATHER-SON FLICK-OFF!

>And thus, the Cell Saga draws to its conclusion. I gotta say, everyone at TFS has come a long way since their early days. The comedy, the character building, the references, the music... God, you guys are great. Is it weird that I feel proud of each and every last one of you? Cause I don’t feel weird at all.

>OKAY NOW I FEEL WEIRD. PLEASE DON’T FUCK.

>THE FUCKING OWNED COUNT TICKED DOWN

>A MIRACLE OF JESUS HAS OCCURRED. THE HEAVENLY BUDDHA IS GETTING HIS DICK WET!

>16 in a land filled with birds... and things that are not birds... where he can live in peace. Cell was wrong. He had a soul, however synthetic it may have been. There’s no need for him to kill Son Goku anymore.

>THE COUNTER HAS BEEN DESTROYED.

>Season 4 is happening boys and girls and those of not previously specified genders! AND I’M GONNA COMMENT ON EVERY SINGLE EPISODE THAT COMES OUT FROM NOW ON!

>O h... that means... Super Buu... God... if Freeza gave me nightmares, and if Cell crushed them beneath his heel... what would Majin Buu do?

This one of THE worst analysis videos I’ve ever seen, for a number of reasons. For one, half the time, the footage or clips they show have literally NOTHING to do with the thing they’re talking about. Just plain sloppy editing. For another, their points are... well, wrong, even counting their title as simple clickbait hyperbole. Let’s have a look at the damage

-Goku is apparently “evil” for liking to fight and... obsessed with winning above all else, even the lives of his friends. Their example? Trying to observe how Beerus fought as opposed to simply rushing in to face him and ensuring an ass kicking. Again. Yes, this somehow proves he’s not obsessed with having a good fight, but with winning it at all costs. ...That’s not Goku, boys. Goku WANTS a fight that pushes himself to his limits. They also accuse him of literally picking fights with alien entities who then “turn their wrath toward earth”... when the sole time that ever happened was with Beerus, who was headed to Earth regardless, and not out of wrath. Most of Goku’s fights were incidental in that regard. -They repeat the “Goku got all these universes genocided” argument that has been debunked countless times and even disproven within the series itself for OVER HALF A YEAR NOW. For comparison, this is the equivalent of making theory videos based on the first episode of Season 1 of a show after the season finale aired... for Season 3. After you’ve already reported on relevant episodes on your own site. -They... literally blame Goku for Resurrection F and what happens. It’s because of Goku’s “arrogant actions” that the Earth is destroyed, because... he didn’t run into the ROSAT before fighting Freeza? He didn’t NEED to. That’s literally got NOTHING to do with what happened. Or because he went to train with Whis INSTEAD of using the ROSAT? Cuz uh... training with Whis is literally what got them the form that gave them even a tiny chance. And Freeza destroying the Earth happened because Vegeta took the time for one last taunt and never dreamed Freeza would risk killing HIMSELF by destroying the planet while he was still on it. Y’all literally rewrote the arc/movie to pull that one out of your asses. -...they literally, LITERALLY try to blame him for Zamasu’s insane actions. Because he wanted to spar with him. Holy hell, way to blame the victim, ScreenRant. Besides, Zamasu already hated Mortals. Seeing Goku’s power simply scared him into acting early, and gave him the idea to steal Goku’s body to do it in. They also claim nothing bad would ever happen if Goku would just give up fighting but... the entire series says you’re an idiot. -Okay, so... I have no idea what the actual hell their next point is. It seems like they’re talking about the Tournament of Power again, but they’re showing footage of the Tournament of Destroyers with Universe 6. Assuming it’s the latter... Goku never cooked that tournament up. The stakes and the rules were agreed upon by Beerus and Champa. If they mean the ToP... still not his idea. Zeno came up with that. As for the consequences, they sound more like the ToP consequences, so idk, but they’re def not the stakes of the ToD. So either this is plain bad research, or laziness. Or both. Probably both. -Goten and Trunks fighting Buu? Really? First, not even his choice. He wanted to fuse with Gohan to fight. Popo was the one who suggested the boys. Second, Goku also explained, in detail, why he felt the need to stay out of this; he was dead. The living needed to be able to handle things without him being there, he wanted them to not be so dependent on him now that he was gone. And using his new Transformation required so much energy, it shortened his time back in the realm of the living to boot. But finally: Gotenks stood more than a chance against Buu in that form. He was evenly matched, in fact. But Goku had no idea Buu would take that form, or even could besides, so... not sure how he’s somehow wrong for that? Besides, isn’t throwing untrained kids into deadly situations something Piccolo gets praised for? Also why was this segment called “Tournament of Power”??? More sloppy editing. -They literally call Goku a “super villain who doesn’t care about Earth” because he conserved his energy and didn’t go all-out against Frost. No. Seriously. They do. -Aaaand now they’re citing anime filler when he was training Gohan in the ROSAT. Even in the context of said filler, their criticism here is ridiculous. Apparently, in trying to push Gohan into going Super Saiyan, he “evilly” fires a Kamehameha at his son who doesn’t have the form yet. Which is evil. Or something. Screw the fact that this was a desperate situation that required Gohan to tap into that latent potential at will to stand a chance vs Cell, he’s evil for doing it. -AND THEN... AND. THEN. They have the absolute nerve to suggest he was evil for having transported Cell off of the Earth. Why? because he went to King Kai’s planet, so he merely “traded one planet for another instead of dropping Cell off in some desolate place like deep space”. Two problems there: 1. King Kai’s planet is the size of a city block rolled into a ball with four inhabitants. Far, FAR cry from comparable to the Earth. Even King Kai was understanding of the decision. 2. Goku’s Instant Transmission requires him to either be able to specifically see where he wants to teleport to, or to have an energy signal to lock on to to get there. It’s why Gohan had to flare his power as high as it could go to get Goku back to Earth when Freeza came. It’s why Kaioshin had to rescue them when Buu destroyed the Earth, as Goku couldn’t find an energy signature to lock onto in time. This is BASIC. STUFF. Holy sweet Jesus, you should be embarrassed by this. It’s ignorant AND poorly-made.

I agree with your thoughts on Freeza running out of steam. He was introduced as a mountain for the heroes to climb, and they did...but he became almost *too* iconic in the process. Resurrection F seemed to lean into that, to the point I half-read it as a conscious effort to move past him: he gets his fanservice-y comeback, but still has the same weaknesses, most obviously his sense of entitlement. They brought him back just to confirm that the heroes and the franchise had outgrown him. (Pt1)

Of course, that was before the Universe Survival arc, but at least that has potential to be a *bit* more complex than 'the good guys beat up Freeza for the umpteenth time'. Well, I hope...

The problem I have with the Tournament of Power scenario is that it’s really just another absolute. 

In the beginning, Frieza was completely invincible, and everyone else had to choose between obedience and death.  He didn’t care if he won or lost because he always won.

Then Frieza was defeated, and he simply refused to accept this, no matter how foolish or pathetic he became as a result.  He didn’t care if he won or lost because he was in denial.

Now we come to the Tournament of Power, where Frieza basically has nothing to gain.  He’s dead, he’s fighting for the survival of a universe he despises, and if he steps out of line, there’s at least two dozen spectators in the audience who won’t hesitate to erase him from existence.  He doesn’t care if he wins or lose because he’ll go back to hell or get erased no matter what happens. 

So there’s a role reversal going on, where he’s been reduced to a pawn in someone else’s game, but the absolutism remains.  To be fair, DBS has offered some small sliver of possibility, but let’s examine that for a second. 

Goku promised to wish Frieza back to life with the Dragon Balls if Frieza helped U7 win the tournament.  Recall that Goku told half his teammates that there was prize money for winning the tournament, and he neglected to inform them that the universe would be erased if they lost.  So it’s pretty clear Goku’s not above lying to get this team assembled.  Why should anyone believe he’s going to follow through on this promise?

More importantly, how does Goku plan to execute this wish?  The winning team gets to make a wish on the Super Dragon Balls, but there’s only one wish to be made, and I don’t know how the winning team decides who gets to make it.  I think Frieza suggested simply using Earth’s Dragon Balls, except they were already used to wish him back to life in Movie 15, and they can’t repeat that wish a second time.  The Namekian Dragon Balls can revive people multiple times, but I’m pretty sure the Namekians aren’t going to want any part of this. 

Besides, even if Frieza does get wished back to life, what good will it do him?  Goku, Vegeta, or Beerus can kill him all over again.  He can’t even destroy the Earth out of spite, because Whis can just reverse time like his did in Movie 15. 

On the other hand, there’s always the possibility that he might find some other angle and turn the tables on everybody, but I fail to see how.  The King of Everything won’t let him jump ship to another universe, so he has no way to benefit from  betraying Goku.  He’d like to defeat KOE, but he has no idea how. I’ve been wondering why we haven’t seen Frieza do a whole lot since the Tournament started, and I assumed it was because they’re saving him for later, but it may be that they honestly don’t know what to do with him.  Without agency, he doesn’t have much hope for a true conflict, so you can’t do the sort of spotlight episode that Master Roshi got a few weeks ago. 

So we’re kind of caught between two possibilities.  Either Frieza does exactly what he’s agreed to do and goes back to hell, or he finds a way out and basically replays the events of Movie 15 all over again.  If there’s a third alternative, I sure can’t see it.