#dbz essay
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Parenting styles in Dragon Ball Z (and Super)
You know, to me, the interesting thing about this scene (and the one where they could to the aforementioned park) isn't the fact that Vegeta keeps his promise.
It's the fact that he uses positive reinforcement to motivate Trunks.
Do you think Vegeta was ever rewarded for landing a good hit? Definitely not. It was expected of him.
As an expert in children's development, I find it fascinating to look at this example of Vegeta parenting Trunks and what it says about his parenting style. I've seen headcanons that go from calling 'Dadgeta' authoritarian to neglectful, but I disagree.
In the following, I will briefly describe the four styles of parenting with focus on the authoritarian and the authoritative styles. I'll also compare them to how DBZ parents appear to raise their children, but mainly focus on Vegeta.
Authoritarian:
This is the old school parenting method where restrictions and punishments go hand in hand. The parents expect the children to obey rules without a clear explanation as to why and corporal punishment is used when the children overstep.
Unsurprisingly, it seems like a lot of people believe this is how Vegeta raises his children (If he is even involved; I'll address this later on.) It was likely how he was raised.
However, the only parent we actually see using this style is Chichi. She's not entirely unreasonable, but we do see her expect things from Gohan without explanations and she has a lot of restrictions set up. This might have something to do with Goku's parenting style, but more on that later.
Piccolo also uses authoritarianism with Gohan, but he isn't trying to parent him, just train him.
What's really interesting is that children raised in a household practicing authoritarianism tend to hold a lot of anger inside. They also have low self-efficacy and high self blame. Remind you of someone?
Indulgent
Here we see nurturing, accepting parents who don't have behavioral expectations of their children. They are responsive to the children's needs and wishes, but do not expect them to be the same toward other people. The parents want to be the child's friend rather than a demanding parent.
Children of indulgent parents tend to grow up without a sense of others' boundaries and generally have less discipline than their peers. They lack impulse control and are often irresponsible.
In DBZ we do see signs of this parenting style, but only limited. It's not commonly used in Asia and therefore, Toriyama didn't add it. In GT it's obvious that both Trunks and Bulla seem have been parenting this way by Bulma. It's also why many doubt that Vegeta has been much involved.
It's also easy to argue that Goku parents this way, although it's up for discussion.
Neglectful
Although many think that the indulgent parenting style have created a generation of undisciplined young people, the neglectful parenting style has actually had a greater effect.
The parents are either more interested in themselves and their own goals than their children's. (Although sometimes it's because the parents struggle with stress or depression) Children of these parents are usually lonely and melancholic, often have very low self esteem and are needy after affection and approval. This leads them to be easily manipulated and they are at a higher risk to end up in abusive relationships.
I think many of the Vegeta antis and those claiming Goku is a bad parent would place the two Saiyans here.
However, Goku is clearly involved in Gohan's upbringing, albeit choosing a more casual approach than Chichi, and returns after being dead for seven years, ready to be involved with Goten (and Gohan if he wants it). The reason that Goku mainly focuses on training isn't just because it's his own interest. It's what he knows for sure how to do.
Most importantly: it was how Goku was raised himself. First by Grandpa Gohan and later from his other father figure, Master Roshi. It isn't just in his blood; it's in his upbringing.
And then there's Vegeta’s parenting style which was my main focus for this post. It got a little out of control, but we have finally arrived at the last parenting style:
Authoritative
This is the most modern parenting style, even though it isn't really new. It's been used for years in well functioning familes. This type of parent is both demanding and nurturing, being present and engaged in their children's lives. They explain things to their children, teach them how to regulate their feelings and therefore expect a mature behavior from them.
Children of authoritative parents tend to be more successful in their adult lives, capable of discipline and well-liked. Because they aren't constantly being restricted, they naturally develope autonomy within set boundaries and learn to respect others, regardless of authority.
So, what does this have to do with Vegeta and Trunks?
As I mentioned in the beginning, in the scene in the Gravity Chamber, Vegeta uses positive reinforcement to motive Trunks. Positive reinforcement has proven to be a healthy way to motivate children (and animals) and is a part of the authoritative style. By using it, Vegeta provides Trunks with rules that foster motivation and discipline in the child. The fact that Vegeta knows about the amusement and can use it as an incentive also shows that he is involved enough to know what may get Trunks to do his best.
But the most important thing we see is that Vegeta upholds his promise, despite hating every second of it. It shows that he respects Trunks' efforts and achievement. By honoring his word, he also teaches Trunks to do the same.
Of course, this is a small scene and we don't know how Vegeta behaves otherwise in regards to Trunks. But it's safe to say that Vegeta does take his son's wishes into account and uses it to encourage him to move beyond his limits.
I admit that I'm not a fan of GT and don't consider it canon, especially because of Toriyama's lack of involvement. So, while I dislike many aspects of DBS, I do think it's the best representation of the characters.
In Super, both Goten and Trunks are well adjusted boys who both have discipline and test the boundaries of their autonomy. They act like boys their age, albeit with incredibly strength, and it goes to show that their parents have raised them well.
Of course, it's also important to remember that both DBZ and DBS (and even GT) are a product of their time and the parenting styles reflect that. DBZ is from the 80's where the authoritarian (Chichi) and indulgent (Goku) styles were the most common. GT is from the 90's where the media started to focus on indulgent and neglectful parents - even though it wasn't a new thing - and it's shown that Trunks, Bulla and Goten have grown up as spoiled and undisciplined. DBS shows that the parents in the show have become authoritative and their children's behavior reflects that.
It's clear that the parents are doing their best and that the fathers have become more involved nowadays than before. This is the case in modern parenting as well.
Anyway, this is the end of my long rant. I think, as both an expert in children's development and as a parent myself, it's interesting to look into the relationships between the characters, especially the father-son interactions which are explored the most. There's no doubt that Toriyama knew the importance of being a father and wanted to portray it, mainly in Goku and Gohan's relationship.
I don't think Toriyama saw Goku nor Vegeta as bad fathers, but he knew that everyone has different strengths, even in parenthood.
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Despite not enjoying reading Planet Vegeta survives AUs very much, I still end up spending a fair amount of time thinking about what Vegeta would have been like if he’d actually grown up in the role of prince like he was supposed to. Obviously, he would have still been a tyrannical mass murderer except with far less insecurity and trauma, but that’s not really what I find interesting. I’m curious how he would view his role.
In the regular timeline where basically every other Saiyan dies, he’s clearly (imo) decided that he needs to embody the absolute ideal for a Saiyan (or at least the version that he’s come up with, which is strongly biased by the fact that he grew up with only one adult Saiyan, was surrounded by people who hate his whole species, and was influenced by Freeza who both enjoyed messing with him and could directly profit if Vegeta was wrong about his own culture. So uh, probably not a particularly accurate version. But that’s a different concept to explore.). I’m not even sure if it was a conscious decision by Vegeta or not now that I think about it. Being very likely to be the last member of his species puts a very strong pressure to live up to or down to the expectations that everyone who met him would have. Beyond that, he’s royalty, and that means he’s supposed to be held to a higher standard, so he’d feel that pressure to leave a final impression even more than Nappa or Raditz. (And they both seem to care about it too, especially Raditz, which is interesting, but I’ll leave that sort of meta to the hardcore Raditz fans since I mostly just care about Raditz for the way he impacts Vegeta and don’t think as strongly about him)
So in contrast to the canon timeline, if Vegeta was growing up in a timeline where there were plenty of other Saiyans, would he feel that same pressure to be exactly what everyone expects of him? He’d have a more accurate picture of those expectations as well. I can’t decide whether or not I think that alternate version of Vegeta would still want to be the perfect Saiyan in quite the same way. Would he chafe against the actual ideal if it wasn’t more or less a framework he formed for himself? Would being able to actually be judged against it make it less appealing? What if some of the ideas about what makes a good Saiyan were things he disagreed with? Or would he still be loyal to his species and do the best he could to be the perfect Saiyan prince and then king, regardless of how high that standard might be or how much he dislikes some of it? He’s certainly canonically willing to subject himself to an impossible standard that causes him and everyone else a lot of problems. But is that only because it’s a standard he constructed himself?
Admittedly, at that level of divergence in experiences between canon Vegeta and a Planet Vegeta lives AU Vegeta, it’s hard to even really call the resulting character Vegeta still (the reason I don’t enjoy Planet Vegeta lives AUs) but I do feel like something about this question has relevance to actual Vegeta’s characterization and motives. Does he care so strongly about being Saiyan only because they’re all dead and therefore he’s forced to represent the whole species whether or not he wants to, and he’s embraced it at this point? Or is it because his father did a good job of instilling pride in him during the brief time they were together (for all the good and ill that his pride has caused)? Is he only so devoted to his “Saiyan pride” because he’s the one who came up with his version and no one else can truly decide how well he’s following it? Or does not having any external validation of how well he’s doing just make his self-imposed (and generally self-destructive) task harder? How much of why he’s so insistent on it is due to Freeza?
Freeza has a line shortly before he starts torturing Vegeta that I think about sometimes, where he basically says that he thought Vegeta was special and better than the other Saiyans. Up to your interpretation of Freeza whether Freeza genuinely believed that Vegeta is special somehow or if he was just doing some particularly cruel emotional manipulation there. Regardless of the intent behind it, if that was the attitude that Freeza was demonstrating most of the time, maybe Vegeta doubled down on being Saiyan because Freeza kept trying to claim he wasn’t like them, and he was able to see the insult. There’s also an alternative interpretation of Vegeta that he was convinced he was better than the rest of his species because of the way Freeza treated him. It’s an extremely good way to isolate him after all. In which case Vegeta only started (I often mentally call it “performing Saiyan pride” but I’m sure there’s a better way to refer to the behavior) after realizing he’d been lied to and manipulated for the majority of his life. So embracing being Saiyan so aggressively is a sort of penance for discrediting his people in the past. Or if he’d been performing Saiyan pride all along, the reveal that Freeza killed the Saiyans just spurred on a more intense performance.
Seeing a version of Vegeta with different pressures on him might give answers to some of these questions I have about why he behaves the way he does (yes it’s because he was never meant to be inspected this closely and he takes the roles he needs to for the sake of the plot, no I do not care I’m taking him seriously anyway), so I end up thinking about that version of him where he knows for sure what it means to be a Saiyan.
#Vegeta#dbz#long post#More or less a long post at least#I also think that how few other Saiyans Vegeta has really met is absolutely part of why he was willing to wait#Three hours to meet Goku like yeah he says he wants to torture him but there’s definitely some curiosity there#He just can’t admit to it because that goes against his idea of what a Saiyan is supposed to be#There’s also definitely still more to explore in why Vegeta performs Saiyan pride so aggressively that wasn’t relevant to an AU where#Vegeta knows a lot of other Saiyans#Like in the canon timeline how much did meeting Goku#Who is not at all like what Vegeta thinks a saiyan should be#Cause Vegeta to double down on his saiyan pride?#I barely even touched the surface of whatever the fuck was up with Vegeta and Freeza because that’s at least another essay#That I tend to leave to people with more qualifications to write
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youtube
#dragon ball#dragon ball z#dragon ball super#akira toriyama#current events#social justice#dbz#dbh#dbs#video essay#media analysis#anime#manga#anime and manga#anime video#manga video#tumblr recommendations#recommend#recommendation#youtube recommendations#video recommendation#youtube#youtube content#youtube link#video link
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people who don’t understand the back and forth inspiration Sega and Toriyama gave each other during their creative process don’t get the intricate links between Sonic and DBZ
#juniper.sth#LIKE. Toriyama inspired so many others with his creations#which were loosely based on Journey to the West#so essentially Sonic is a Journey to the West tribute too in this essay I will#I grew up in a time when both Sonic and DBZ were highly popular among westerners so I see it
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The Ultimate Form, Its Evolutions, And How It Lives Up To Its Name (DBS: Super Hero Spoilers Ahead)
Dragon Ball is a show with many different power altering techniques and transformations, from Kaioken to Super Saiyan to even fusion. Knowing this, many characters use these different forms and techniques in their goal of attaining further strength. But which is the best and why is it the best? If you were to ask me, that honor would go to the Ultimate form.
The Ultimate form has been and is known as many things throughout Dragon Ball’s lifespan: Potential Unleashed, the Mystic form, Power Unleashed, Power Awakening, and obviously Ultimate. Essentially, the form draws out all of a person’s hidden potential and even heightens a person's senses, as Gohan was able to see without his glasses after transforming in Super Hero, but his eyesight reverted to being poor once he powered back down into his base form. As if that wasn’t enough, the form seemingly doesn’t take any stamina away from the wielder to use. The form is typically gained through enduring Elder Kai’s ritual, but Piccolo showcased the ability to be granted the form from Shenron via a wish.
In no uncertain terms, the power that this transformation can grant its user is absurd. Gohan was able to outclass Super Saiyan 3 Goku’s power as soon as he received the form, beat Super Buu before he absorbed Gotenks, and after further training in Dragon Ball Super it was shown to be able to keep up with Super Saiyan Blue.
As if the form wasn’t crazy enough, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero gave us the fun information that just like Super Saiyan, the Ultimate form can evolve into separate, more powerful transformations. While this has caused some confusion in the fanbase, as the Ultimate form is already supposed to draw out all of a person’s latent potential, episode 90 of the DBS anime implies that Super Saiyan can be combined with the Ultimate form.
My point being that just because the Ultimate form brings out all of your latent potential doesn’t mean that your power can’t be further amplified. That being said, I think that’s what these evolved forms are doing: simply amplifying the user’s power after bringing forth their latent potential.
But that’s not all these evolved forms have to offer. When I said “just like Super Saiyan, the Ultimate form can evolve into separate, more powerful transformations”, I didn’t mean something like an Ultimate 2, Ultimate 3, etc etc, I meant that everyone who evolves their Ultimate form gets a transformation (seemingly) entirely unique to them. While it’s never directly stated why in Super Hero, I think the reason is pretty obvious: the transformations are themed around the sources of the character’s potential, and different character’s potentials come from different places. Gohan’s Beast form is unlocked in a moment of rage at seeing Piccolo hurt by Cell Max, just like the rage boosts he would experience as a child.
Piccolo’s potential comes from his Namekian heritage, but more specifically, his fusions with Nail and Kami. Think about it: his Orange form was granted to him by Shenron, the eternal dragon originally created by the Nameless Namekian who would eventually split into Piccolo and Kami. By fusing back with Kami, that means that Piccolo has returned to being the Nameless Namekian, so Shenron helping out his creator with a new transformation makes sense. You could also argue that Piccolo’s fusions not only made him stronger in the moment, but increased his potential, allowing him to grow further and faster than he would have been able to without undergoing them, but that’s a discussion for another time.
It should come as a shock to no-one reading that these transformations are ridiculously powerful. Given how Gohan’s Ultimate form allowed him to keep pace with Goku’s Super Saiyan Blue, amping the power of the form beyond that is insane to think about, and it’s no small amp either. Before Gohan obtained the form, he seemed pitiful in comparison to Cell Max, but once he transformed he was able to tank a punch from Cell Max without even flinching. I think it’s safe to say that the amp in power provided by Gohan’s Beast form outclasses the amp that Goku’s Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken x20 amp gives him, which putting it simply means that I think that Beast’s amp is greater than x20 the power Gohan’s Ultimate form provides him.
Orange Piccolo isn’t as powerful as Gohan, but that doesn’t mean he’s a slouch either. The Orange form gives Piccolo enough power to easily defeat Gamma 2, who was stronger than him in his Ultimate state. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the Gammas are stronger than Android 17 who, get this, was also able to fight evenly with Goku’s Super Saiyan Blue form. Given how Orange Piccolo knocked out Gamma 2 with one punch, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that Piccolo’s Orange form gives him a similar amp to Gohan’s Beast form. I’m not saying that Orange Piccolo and Beast Gohan are equal in power, just that the amp their forms provide are similar.
So let’s summarize the main points just to make sure we got everything nice and tidy: the Ultimate form draws out all of the user’s latent potential with minimal to no stamina usage which can be further amplified by other powers, such as Super Saiyan. The form can also evolve into a new, unique form depending on the source of your potential, and these evolved states amplifies the user’s already drawn out power to ludicrous levels.
And that does it, really. That’s why I think Ultimate is the, well, ultimate form to strive for to increase your power in the world of Dragon Ball. I don’t really know how to end this other than saying that this is just my interpretation of the forms based on the information I know about Dragon Ball and that if you have a different interpretation then more power to you. I’m not trying to convince anyone that they have to agree with me, just sharing my own personal thoughts and ideas. I plan to write more short essay stuff like this as well, I think my next one will be talking about the human Z-Fighters!
If you’ve read this far, thank you so much! This is the first time I’ve ever sat down and wrote something like this and while I’m not expecting it to do super well, it’s cool knowing that maybe someone will read it and agree with me. If you see this, have a great day!
#first big post!#dragon ball#dragon ball z#dragon ball super#dragon ball super super hero#db#dbz#dbs#dbs super hero#gohan#piccolo#ultimate gohan#ultimate piccolo#beast gohan#orange piccolo#essay
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life’s hard out here as a dragon ball fan who cares about consistent characterization and nuance
#both with canon and the fucking fans#my life was so much more peaceful before i started caring abt db again#i be like ‘yeah dragon ball. who else was doing it like her. this series sucks btw. here’s my long ass character essay on goku’#IMAGINE IF DBS GAVE A SHIT ABOUT CHARACTER ARCS IM PUNCHING THE GROUNDDDDDD#chatots#me in like january like ‘haha i havent seen dbz since i was a kid. what if i rewatched a bit as a joke’#<- WORST MISTAKE OF MY FUCKING LIFE I CANT BE NORMAL ABOUT ABT THIS SERIES
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aroace goku icon i made for myself on discord but decided i might as well post
[Image description: A digital painting of Son Goku from Dragon Ball Z. He smiles warmly, looking toward the right. He's on a flat lavender background and colored in grades of green and purple, corresponding with two aromantic and asexual flag-colored hearts on the left. The first image has the addition of a small eyelash on each eye, which the second lacks. End image description.]
#my art#dbz#son goku#digital painting#aroace#trying to shorten my ids bc i genuinely be writing essays sometimes and i dont know how helpful that like. suffocating amount of info is#anyways happy pride. men likers i have made some developments that may interest you? im having a bit of a moment#you'll see like. soon-ish#heres a hint. when i was younger dragon ball gt was on nicktoons. there were things about it that echoed into my future#im not gonna say anything else youre just gonna have to wait a little#hopefully not long though bc the art is already done i just need to format it and make sure i dont forget to post it#anyways if you actually use this id definitely like to be credited in some form but ultimately i cant exactly enforce that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#(but seriously like you know how it is yknow)#dragon ball
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bcs obliterations of the self
#clutching my skull yelling like a dbz character#bcs#want to write an academic essay about this show so bad it's making me look stupid
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Akira Toriyama (1955-2024).
You have created the childhoods of many, including me and my brother.
When I was a little girl, I would see reruns of DBZ on the television. I was too young to understand what any of that was, that is until I reached 8 years old. My brother had gotten a copy of Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Wii, and I would watch him play. I was suddenly curious to check out the show because of the game, so I asked my brother about it. He sat me down in front of the computer, pulled the first episode up on YouTube, and my life changed forever.
I would have poorly drawn doodles of Goku and Bardock in a notebook- Hell, I’d even have Turles show up as a villain for a story I was writing in 3rd grade! I would imagine little scenarios where Goten and I would be friends. I would be on the computer for hours, reading the Dragon Ball wiki for fun.
As I grew up, I put Dragon Ball on the back burner for a bit because I branched out to other interests. However, I returned to the show in March 2023 for nostalgia’s sake. And… that spark returned. I ran through Tree of Might, got myself caught up by viewing the good ol’ wiki again, and watched clips and video essays on the show. All this made me want to do better with my work.
Upon hearing the news of his death, I was in total shock. As it settled in, I found myself crying in my room. 68 is too young. It just is. I understand that Toriyama and I don’t know each other personally, but it still hurt. He made something that taught us that we can be better people when we put in the effort, and perhaps we could change the world around us because of that.
So, thank you Toriyama. Thank you for your work. Condolences to his family and loved ones.
Thank you. Goodbye. 🕊️🐉
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Personal Vort Headcanons
(And not as a true essay because really, the show gave out so little in specific details for this race that any real attempt to put together a thorough analysis or theory about them necessarily will arise from or give way to fanon fodder at best. Such freedom and gaps in information remains a blessing and a curse.)
- The modern Vortian people evolved from highly intelligent, predatory ancestors which had to adapt to an erratic, competitive ecosystem. Like Homo sapiens, they once filled a niche as both hunter and the hunted, until the development of primitive weaponry and an apt for problem-solving helped them eliminate their natural predators and claim the mantle of dominant species over their home world.
- This origin coincides with a preferred diet high in protein and calorie-dense foods. It’s assumed that Vort dogs, implied to be a kind of processed sausage, are a culinary signature particularly enjoyed by this species. This suggests that Vortians are likely either obligate carnivores, or opportunistically omnivorous. Such a hypothesis is further supported by their jagged teeth, suited for ripping and tearing animal flesh.
- It is possible that their hornlike appendages might be hollow and serve an important role in their hearing; alternatively, they may actually be blood-rich and act as thermoregulating organs. They are shown to be capable of some degree of movement and functionally help a Vortian emote extreme amounts of stress. It may also be that they continue growing throughout the life of the individual, designating a visible marker of wisdom and age.
- Vort’s inventive history is one filled with hyper militarization, not in the pursuit of war, but in dissuading would-be marauders from the outside, such as the Planet Jackers. Their alliance with Irk was one born of shared commercial and strategic interest: While the Irkens began initially behind the Vort in technological prowess, their sheer numbers, connections with other powerful organizations, and continued expansion throughout the galaxy offered an invaluable level of protection to Vort by virtue of being an ally. On the other end of the table, Irk enjoyed a golden era of prosperity and dominance over their territory, directly fueled by Vortian ingenuity.
- The Vort do not have a binary understanding of gender and are a single-sexed people, reproducing either through the use of technology (like the Irkens) or naturally by some form of parthenogenesis. Evidence available indicates that they have a concept of family units, and Vortian fathers are dedicated parents toward their offspring.
- Pre-Invasion, Vortian society was a technocratic republic which selected out its leader(s) by experience. The appearance and significance of the “universe’s most comfortable couch” leads me to believe that it was a luxury designated for the highest ruling despot of the planet, who was either assassinated or usurped by invader Larb to complete his mission. If Vortian growth continues beyond adulthood, then the couch could theoretically be tailored to seat a single incredibly old, enormous individual. This is an idea that draws inspiration from DBZ’s Namekian society , and their Grand Elder Guru.
- Regarding the end of their connections with the Irken Empire, a severe miscommunication was what led to the diplomatic bridge burning on both sides of the exchange. While it was Irk who blamed the scientists of Vort for the death of Almighty Miyuki, the Vortians had correctly identified an Irken transfer as the true perpetrator of the disaster, and decidedly cut ties in retaliation of what they perceived as an attack instigated by the Empire to justify future aggression.
- Following their civilization being brought to heel by Larb, the majority of escaped Vortians by and large have no real leadership and exist as scattered fugitives across and beyond the Empire. Due to their technological marvels and pride falling into Irken hands, as well as their brutal time within the research prison, most of these escapees have had their wills to rebel against the armada beyond a state of “every man for himself” survival broken. Lard Nar is an exception that many of these peers would probably view as moronic and foolhearty for his endeavors leading The Resisty head-on against the Empire.
- Their thin, wormlike tongues hold vestigial remnants of when they were once used as a tool to feed on small tree or crevasse dwelling arthropods.
- Above all else, Vortian leg structure baffles a human-perspective evolutionary analysis, at least at first. Their legs appear to follow an ungulate-like shape, ending in pointed, stilt-like tips; Earth has no surviving carnivorous ungulates, let alone one that has transitioned into an obligatory biped. Both of the latter concepts alone would make for a most inefficient strategy when working with this leg structure. A bipedal gait would suggest a need for stronger, developed legs to support the whole animal, but the Vortians’ remain almost dainty. Their appearance, intellect, and food suggests a history of hunters and prey, but such a leg structure would undoubtedly leave them horribly equipped for fast sprinting or even stable ground holding against a threat.
Sure, there are some gazelle to observe here that can stand for long periods… to feed on vegetation. There are kangaroos and other digitigrade bipeds… which have adapted counterbalancing tails and other means of stabilizing their gait. None of it could make sense to me until I realized I was thinking far too narrowly. Grasslands are where our hooved things thrive, but they’ve managed in more extreme situations before. No one ever said that Vortians were operating under the rules of Earth’s environments anyway. I mean, what hinderance is a weaker gravity to thinner legs? I’ve been thinking at this like a dumb primate that went from an arboreal ancestry to endurance running over long stretches of plains, but what if the people of Vort didn’t follow such a path?
It’s come to my best guess now that Vortians originated not from distance runners, but exceptional climbers.
Performing meme necromancy aside, consider the humble ibex or mountain goat. Fascinating animals for sure, seen not only scaling damn near vertical cliff sides, but able to nimbly navigate up at down them about as easily as they scamper over flat ground, and all for the sake of a good salt lick. How on earth does something tiptoeing on a hoof pull that off? The first neat trick up their sleeve is that it’s a very specialized, split hoof in fact- Cloven toes and rough inner pads that allow them to really grip onto the rock surface, even amid strong gales and other harsh alpine weather. Vortian forelimbs have taken this to the next step, aiding them with a dexterous upper grip as well, equally fit for higher tool use and traversing heights. A less visible adaptation that mountain goats also utilize is their enlarged inner ears, which provide them an incredible innate sense of balance and coordination over their relatives. It’s absolutely a possibility that the organs on a Vortian’s head may even play some similar, if not well understood advantage on this front as well. Alongside the development of their larger skulls and and sapient-like intellect, their evolution spared no waste to giving them a sure-footed agility. And this lifestyle needn’t have been for the soul sake of licking rocks, for we’re free to interpret what we may about the threats and prey that old Vort was packing. Under this idea I’d like to think that the first Vortians congregated in tribal packs like early anthropoids, but taking to the cliffs, or maybe even the trees as their prowl. From higher vantage points they could both elude larger predators as well as feed upon all manner of smaller life forms they could pluck off of the rocks and out from hidden crevices. If larger game was an option, it was likely either scavenged, or taken down collectively, the whole group enacting a precise ambush from above.
#invader zim#planet vort#iz headcanons#vortian#iz#invader zim headcanon#vortians#iz lard Nar#scarlet talks about things
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wrote something for facebook about my history with anime and journey towards born-again weebdom:
Something weird happened to me over the past year. Like a frog in a pot of increasingly hot water, I found myself way the hell into anime again, and at a level I don’t think I ever had been before.
Anime was always kind of in my periphery, especially with stuff like Pokémon, Dragon Ball Z, and Sailor Moon blowing up in this side of the world. I was a fan of all three as a kid, plus I’d watch the odd show on Toonami and Adult Swim here and there, but I didn’t consider myself much of an anime fan beyond that. Especially not in high school, and if you went to school with “Naruto kids” like I did, you can probably understand why. I didn’t really seek it out.
About 10 years ago I decided to finally see what this Neon Genesis Evangelion business was all about and it rearranged my brain. I had no clue something like that existed before I’d even heard of Pokemon. I had to see what else was out there that I missed. I caught up on shows like Gurren Lagann, Nichijou, and Madoka Magica, and even followed Kill la Kill and the first season of One Punch Man as they were airing. From there, though, I kind of petered out again. I’d watch the occasional Netflix drop here and there, catch up on Jojo, and rewatch the Evangelion movies like they were recurring holidays, but that was kinda it.
Around this time last year, though, I randomly remembered a show that I loved as a preteen, one that I was just as excited to watch alongside DBZ on weekdays after school: Tenchi Muyo. It didn’t really have the lasting impact the other Toonami shows did, but I loved it when it was on (and let’s be real, that many beautiful anime women jam-packed into the same show was something of an awakening for my pubescent self). I decided to seek it out and see if it held up, and it mostly did! I ended up watching most of the franchise, or at least the parts of it that actually involve the main cast.
From there, I found a video essay on YouTube about one of the Tenchi sub-series that absolutely hooked me, and I’d be happy to share it. Anime became something of a YouTube rabbit hole for me, and I was inundated with recommendations for shows I’d either heard about and missed or that left a mark I wasn’t even aware of. Then I decided to finally play Persona 5. Then I decided to see what this Chainsaw Man business was all about. And what else was airing that season. That snowball kept rolling.
By my count, I’ve watched some 38 discrete anime series in the past year and change (plus another three that I started and am in no hurry to finish), and I’ll gladly list them if asked. Granted, anime seasons are short and a handful of them are spinoffs, so the number’s not as crazy as it might look on its face. It’s still a lot, though, and I would actually recommend most of them! I definitely stuck to some niches; I’d say at least half were comedies and there was plenty of action-oriented stuff in there as well. But it’s been really incredible just seeing how far it can reach as a medium to depict just about anything the human brain can conjure up.
Anime fuckin’ rules, y’all.
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Can you tell us anything about Philip in your au. Cause it feels like Luz and Caleb is all we are getting at the moment.
It’s a little difficult because he’s pretty spoilery territory. The story revolves a a little more around him and Luz in the future than it does with the other characters. I’ll make some more non spoilery sketches for him since you asked though! I’ll give some details too — Philip in the modern day is pretty similar to his canon self. Same as everyone else the personality is very similar but the way that person experiences their life is very different. In this version I wouldn’t call him evil but he’s…not a good kid. It’s a little hard to draw him because I’m just not sure where to go with his design? Should I lean into good old bellos? Should I draw from average 2000s trends? Should I draw him in cringy anime shirts? Canon doesn’t give us much about Philip as a person and what he does in his free time so it’s super hard. Does he draw?? Write?? I mean he journals and we see a few drawings but how does that translate to a more modern hobby? Idk he’s an enigma and while I feel his personality in my brain is very clear his design is still kinda in the air.
He’s a loser though! Total geek about his little DBZ or FMA and he definitely writes online essays about characters and theme. The morals of the stories he likes seem to trip him up though…lol.
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So I have this long-standing tradition where, after I finish a video game, I sit down and listen to the soundtrack outside of the game's context.
It serves as a sort of "conclusion" to the experience and simultaneously helps me evaluate the game as a whole a little better... After all the soundtrack is often what sticks with us long after we're done actively playing a game. It preserves the memories we've made along the way.
That means: I have finally found the FF Sixteen OST online in its entirety and could finally follow through with this tradition. (Debatable how much it applies considering I didn't actually play the game myself, but it felt necessary.)
The final missing piece to the pissbaby gamer rage essay. Significantly less raging this time, though.
It's okay. I don't love it. There's worse.
I had very unfavourable opinions of the OST during the game itself which might have been due to the overall pacing issues, where large stretches were filled with the same hub music and then everything bombastic all happened at once and either side of the coin was exhausting in its own way.
I still can't believe there are over 200 songs in the OST when I could have sworn I heard like. Maybe 10 or so during gameplay. A lot of it is very same-y. A large part of the OST can be split into "loud choir explosion" or "sad piano". There isn't a whole lot in between. Good for people who like it, not so much for me.
Which means my biggest issue is the very subjective "I just don't like the style". It's not a bad soundtrack, but I'm just really not a fan of the direction the music took. The battle themes are over the top (fair for the equally over the top DBZ kaijū battles, annoying with 3 wolves that show up on the side of the road). The calmer songs don't really hit right for me. No chord progressions or melodies that hook me. Unfortunate. I did however appreciate the electronic influences in the music when the alien baddies were on screen. (in this fantasy game that is based on medieval reality and that's why people of colour cant exi-)
I have also since learned that there isn't one acoustic guitar song that plays for 20 hours straight. There are like 6 or so that all sound the same. I don't know if that makes it better or worse. I hate them all. (I don't hate acoustic guitars. It's these songs in particular.)
That said - I was curious about which ones are people's favourite tracks of the OST and went checking those out in particular. Consistently in people's tops was Ascension and I can't deny that one's been plagueing (semi-endearing) my memory a bunch the past days. Probably the theme that stuck out the most to me while watching the game. If not the entire theme, then at the very least That Violin Part. If you know, you know.
You know what. If you don't know, here:
(footage stolen from here)
Like damn. Good rhythm going on there with the off beats. Also fits the relevant character nicely in terms of mood. And I like that the battle phase before this one has a more low-key version of this song playing before it goes into this full ham version.
I just kinda wish more of the battle music had been a bit more... this. A bit more... subtle. Like yes it slaps hard but this song legitimately feels calm in comparison to the other battle tracks. This drives me nuts.
There's one other song I keep getting stuck in my head which is one that plays fairly close to the end (in the final... "dungeon" (cutscene? sequence? QTE battle?)). I figured out today that I don't actually really enjoy listening to the song on its own but I like it in-game in combination with the voice perfomance. There's an interesting dissonance in it that blends super nicely with the voice acting. (I'm being held hostage by the game's voice acting. It's unfortunately way too good. Voice actors are once again holding too much power over me.)
Other than that... I have one final criticism. The prelude theme. We must. Leave it. Alone. Enough. It's fine playing once as a gimmick somewhere in the game (I do genuinely like the menu (pause screen?) arrangement) but having it woven into what seems like every 5th song feels like someone is smacking a sign into your face that screams "YOU ARE PLAYING A FINAL FANTASY GAME." Seriously it's unbearable. (Also I did take notice of the FF1 overworld theme being rearranged into a battle theme for the final segment of the game. I don't know why, but fine. Not complaining about that one.)
Overall it's a solid "mh" from me. Not the worst OST we've had in the series (thirteen trilogy exis-COUGHAGFNJKN) but definitely on the lower end for me. Not of bad quality, but not my cup of tea at all. Dark Souls III OST executed the epic orchestra choirs better somehow. More interesting composition. Spaced out better throughout the game. Idk.
Welp. Back to getting haunted by voices and violins now o/
#at some point i will have made 122 posts about this game and every single one will be about the exact same battle sequence#like a horse wearing a blinker
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Bonjour, Bonsoir !
Ce dessin est totalement une adaptation de mes OC Dragon Ball dans l’univers d’ @amiz06-certified-b1mb0 , ALLEZ VOIR SON TRAVAIL, C’EST JUSTE INCROYABLE CE QU’ELLE FAIT 🥰
Pour résumer, elle a créé un univers alternatif où la famille de Freezer ont une forme humaine (c’est vraiment très résumé.). C’est indéniablement mon personnage préféré, n’importe quelle œuvre confondue et de ce fait, j’en ai vu des fanart de Freezer en humain, j’en ai vu beaauuucccooouuuppp. Mais le sien… Oh my...😳 Bref, je n’ai jamais encore pris le temps pour présenter mes OC DBZ donc je vais en faire une rapide présentation :
Dress est une ancienne subordonnée de Freezer, elle a quitté l’armée suite à une certaine mission vers une planète inconnue (un jour, je raconterais ça plus en détail.) elle atterrit sur Terre et fait la rencontre de Son Goku et de toute la Team Z lors du 22ème Tenkaichi Budokai et en devient un membre à part entière. Elle cache ses origines auprès de ses nouveaux amis qui ne sont pas familiers au monde extra-terrestre, jusqu’au jour où Raditz débarque sur Terre et que son passé sera révélé surtout lors de leur confrontation avec Freezer avec qui elle a une relation… Particulière (De l’amour ? De l’amitié ? Compliquée à expliquer dans un bref résumé)
Kuriza est le fils de Dress et Freezer, il n’a de son homologue de Neko Majin uniquement le nom et le fait d’être le fils de Freezer, tout le reste n’a rien à voir X) Il est né sur Terre un peu avant l’arrivée de Mirai Trunks et a donc grandit entouré de la Team Z, sa personnalité contraste complètement avec ce qu’on pourrait imaginer au premier abord, malgré les apparences et son irrémédiable franchise et arrogance, il est profondément gentil et essais de vivre en dehors de l’ombre d’un père qu’il n’a jamais connus.
Je suis très nul pour faire des résumés y’a trop à dire 😭
Bref, Je suis en train de peaufiner un peu leurs histoires dans l’univers d’ @amiz06-certified-b1mb0, Mais je pense que Dress y tenait le même poste que Zabon et Dodoria dans ce monde, mais qu’elle en est partit il y a longtemps pour des raisons encore floues. Ce qui est sur c’est qu’elle avait bel et bien une relation avec Freezer dont est découlé Kuriza (Qui du coup dans ce monde devrait avoir un autre nom, mais je sais pas encore lequel 😭) Mais elle n’était pas pour autant une de ses ex-femmes, du moins j’ai du mal à l’imaginer ainsi.
Pour une première rencontre entre Kuriza et la famille de son père, il a un scénario qui me semble idéal, et cela tient en un détail : Kuriza chante très bien, ce qui pourrait pas mal intéresser un certain membre de cette puissante famille s’il cherche un nouveau membre pour son groupe 😉
#dragon ball#dragon ball z#amiz#human au#dbz oc#dragon ball oc#freeza#dbs#freezer#frieza#dbz ocs#dbz#cooler#human form
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Thank you, Toriyama 🕊
When I was super little, I saw a glimpse of Dragonball when I really young when my cousin and relatives watched some episodes together. I clearly remembered the Goku vs Jackie Chun fight where Goku turns into an Oozaru, and the very first few episodes of Z up to when Raditz kidnaps Gohan. I forgot it existed until 2011 when Dragonball Z Kai aired on Nicktoons. There, I watched the very first episode and was obsessed. Drew a lot of fanart, played the games, things I still do after getting back into it. What really drew me in was the iconic art, the relatable and memorable characters, and the fights that get you on the edge of your seat. In a way, the story felt compelling in its own simplistic ways. To this day, DBZ has always influenced my life one way or another. It inspired a lot of my art and writing (I still use DBZ characters as pose references. Toriyama was a literal master of his works). Without his works, I probably wouldn't have created the characters I have today. I can honestly write a whole ass essay of how much this series means to me.
Sometimes, it blows me away how popular and influential this series is worldwide back in the day and in modern times. The fact that any kid, teen, and adult around the world has watched DBZ at least once or more is crazy to me. It only hits even more knowing that we lost a huge legend who inspired countless of people across the globe, be it mangakas like Oda Eiichiro, voice director Christopher Sabat, and content creators like Lythero and DevilArtemis. It's truly a large wave of emotions reading statements across the globes about Toriyama, especially ones by the people who worked close with him.
Thank you, Akira Toriyama. You were gone too soon, but your ideas and legacy will continue to live on and the positive impact on people is undoubtedly crystal clear through your stories. Rest in peace, you absolute legend. Say hi to King Kai for us! 🕊
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the summers i spent at my grandma's house in the middle of nowhere in rural georgia watching dbz videos on youtube (the abridged series and video essays and ardbz) reading fancomics and reading kanzenshuu forums of 30 year olds arguing about translating the names of the characters (saiyajin vs saiyan blooma vs bulma vs freeza vs frieza) and faulconer vs the original score real ones know... ☝🏾. the chokehold dragon ball had on me from age 10-11 needs to be studied for science fr
#10 y/o me reading people argue about if GT is canon: FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT#i brought funimation remastered dvds of the ginyu arc for my 11th bday and i still got them laying around somewhere#it was rly my first hyperfixation fr
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