#Something something something Ginyu Force! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tobiasdrake · 9 months ago

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Haven't had a chance to talk much about the Ginyus yet, so here we go. Talking about the Ginyu Tokusentai/Ginyu Force/Dairy Special Forces requires putting them into context with the greater Dragon Ball universe around them.

Something that has always been incredibly limiting for Dragon Ball's worldbuilding is that, despite much of the brand being about presenting Goku with new ladders to climb, Goku doesn't climb ladders. He leaps from ladder-top to ladder-top.

What this means is, Toriyama had a tendency to be hyperbolic with the challenges Goku was presented. Toriyama doesn't pit Goku against powerful foes. He pits Goku against the most powerful foe, then has to sit back and figure out another arena for Goku to go fight the champion of.

This creates issues of perspective. We don't get to see a lot of development of the worlds Toriyama creates because Goku only shows up to fight the Very Most Powerful Guy and then leaves. And this also means we don't get to see what being the Very Most Powerful Guy means relative to people who are not.

If you followed Dragon Ball Super, you might have noticed that issue with the Tournament of Power. The way the story leaps straight from "Multiple universes exist" to "Goku vs. The Strongest in Universe 6" and then to "Goku vs. The Strongest Guy in the MULTIVERSE!" without even stopping to breathe.

What is that universe even about? Who knows? But this guy sure is their STRONGEST GUY. And that's something that's been with Dragon Ball... honestly, since all the way back at the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai when his second arc adversary was the Earth's legendary ultimate martial arts master.

The whole concept of aliens enters the Dragon Ball universe by way of Raditz introducing the Strongest Alien Race in the Universe.

Shortly after that, Goku is fighting the Strongest Saiyan, who is technically referred to as Strongest in the Universe... right up until a retcon introduces the Planet Trade Organization and Goku fights Frieza, the Actual Strongest in the Universe For Realsies.

So. Yeah. It's hard to get a sense of perspective for how powerful our guys are when they leave Earth because they only ever brush elbows with outlier titans.

But to give some idea, we already know that Earthlings are considered to be a pretty weak species.

Raditz's arrival retroactively explains Goku's destructive Oozaru transformations. This thing?

This is the Doom of the Earth. The planet-killer meant to exterminate every last human being on this planet. Boy, sure would be fun to be in the ring with that, huh?

It's also clearly touching down outside of the ring so I don't know why this wasn't a ringout. Since when is the waiting room's rooftop considered part of the stage? But I digress.

When Goku was three years old, his Oozaru was measured to be sufficient to slaughter this world. That is how weak Earth is on the scale. By contrast, Namek is considered to be one of the more powerful worlds. Vegeta describes Namekian fighters as "extraordinary".

That's something we get to see for ourselves, when Extraordinary Namekian Fighters happen to Frieza Force soldiers like a typhoon.

This is what's considered extraordinary on a standard galactic scale. These are three warriors from one of the stronger races in the universe tearing apart soldiers whose job is to exterminate races. Once they start fighting, Dodoria reads their battle powers as 3,000.

For comparison, Raditz was said to be equivalent to a Saibaman at 1,200. We never got a read on Nappa but he found the idea of Kakarot being at 5,000 unbelievable enough to go into denial, and he shit himself over 8,000.

So, with that in mind, we can understand that these nameless Namekian nobodies are pretty fucking tough, well within the realm of Saiyan ability. They're also familiar with advanced martial arts concepts like ki suppression that the Planet Trade doesn't understand.

There's probably a reason why, despite Namek apparently being well known to the Planet Trade, nobody's seen fit to gentrify this one yet. This is a fight Frieza's more elite forces can win, to be sure. But also, there are easier pickings to be had.

And then we have the Saiyans, said to be the most powerful race in the universe. Raditz, a loser scrub who doesn't know a thing about martial arts, is able to thoroughly humiliate Goku and Piccolo in terms of sheer stats, even after Goku's been trained by Popo.

This guy is the Saiyan equivalent of Appule. Goku's been personally trained by God's right-hand attendant, and Piccolo is the reincarnation of God's evil counterpart; These are not humans of this planet, but two guys who demonstrated five years ago that they're in a realm beyond the humans.

And this loser is still doing this to them. This is what a low-rate Saiyan looks like.

And this is what a Saiyan elite looks like:

Like I said, we're never given an official reading on Nappa but he found 5,000 BP to be ridiculous for Goku to have and 8,000 to be unthinkably terrifying. The Daizenshuu pegs him at 4,000, but they also peg Piccolo at 3,500 which would mean Piccolo and Nappa are closely matched.

I don't know about you but I don't see it. But that may just be me.

In any case, this gives us a general understanding of how powerful the races of the universe are. Earthlings weak. Namekians strong. Saiyans strongest. And then there's outliers.

Throughout the universe, there are... mutants. On rare occasions, an individual is born to a race who have vastly, unbelievably, ridiculously, stupidly tremendous ki.

The Planet Trade employs these mutants for their upper staff. Zarbon and Dodoria are mutants, as are the Ginyus and even Frieza himself. Especially Frieza. The reason we've never gotten elaboration on Frieza's race is because Toriyama didn't want Frieza's traits to be taken as indicative of a whole people.

According to interview, Cold was born with abnormally high power and cruelty for his race, and these traits were passed down to his son Frieza. Whatever species they came from, it is nothing like them.

They're not the only ones. The Planet Trade collects and employs these uniquely ultra-powerful mutants for its elite forces. The Saiyans are the strongest race in the universe, but these mutants are the strongest individuals in the universe.

To grasp how powerful these guys are relative to the rest of the universe, we need to talk Saiyans again for a moment. Raditz? Raditz was the yardstick for what the bottom-tier of Saiyans was. He made Earthlings look like trash, but he would have been eaten alive by those unnamed Namekian warriors.

However, a Saiyan's true strength lies in the Oozaru. Goku as an Oozaru was meant to be able to reduce the standing population of the Earth to 0. Raditz, as an Oozaru? Would still have gotten his teeth kicked in by Vegeta, the Saiyan super-elite. He is so ridiculous, he could win a straight fight with the planet-killing Oozaru.

...I mean, not after being beaten within an inch of his life and taking a Genki-Dama to the face, he can't. But if Vegeta were still at the top of his game, this would be a very different fight.

Meanwhile, the Ginyu Force.

So. Yeah. By the time we get to them, we are far beyond the ordinary limits of the universe. Saiyans are the strongest race, and Vegeta's pressing up against the limit of Saiyan ability. He's one Zenkai away from breaking through the Saiyan ceiling. Goku already has.

And these mutants they're up against are the most powerful freak aberrations of unexplained super-ki ever to have occurred anywhere in space.

IIRC it's never directly stated but for reference, Broly would probably be considered a mutant. Whether he is or isn't, he makes as a pretty solid equivalence. These guys are to their respective races what Broly is to Saiyans. What Uub is to humans.

This is all vital context for understanding the way the Ginyu Force fights.

Because.

Like.

You need to understand.

These guys suck.

On purpose.

From a technical standpoint, they're not good fighters. They're sloppy. Poorly trained around big showy moves that are meant to look cool. Style over substance.

This is because they can get away with it. They are the most powerful beings in the universe; Powerful on a scale that is an order of magnitude beyond everybody else that exists. Even the Saiyans look like shit next to these mutants.

Saiyan super-elite hits Recoome with everything he's got right in the face at point-blank range.

And the mutant takes it like a fucking champ. Vegeta's about to be killed by a man who keeps pausing to do this.

The Ginyu Force is badly trained on purpose. Which isn't to say that they're trained to lose fights, but rather that they aren't trained to compete with an equivalent rival. They can afford a martial style focused entirely on showmanship because there is no competition for them. They're too powerful to ever lose fights. Nobody else in the known universe even compares to their mutant might.

Which, as previously noted, is something Frieza is also afflicted by, in different ways. There is no reason for the Ginyus to hone their skills the way the Earthlings do because. Like. Who's going to challenge them? They're naturally born into being top of the field by a wide margin. They're going to auto-win every fight they ever involve themselves in, so their idea of self-improvement is centered instead on looking as cool as possible while they do it.

This is precisely what the Muten-Roshi worked so hard to prevent Goku from becoming.

Something else I mentioned before is that Trunks demonstrates his serious goal-oriented nature by never naming any of his techniques. He has some distinct and identifiable moves, but none of them have a formal name that he shouts out when firing them. He's here to get the job done, not to show off.

The Ginyus are in the opposite boat. They know they can't lose fights, so they are absolutely, 100% here to show off. They name the shit out of their techniques.

Flying knee? Nah, bro. That is a Recoome Kick.

Running in and throwing a punch? Nuh-uh. Recoome Mach Attack.

Lobbing a ki blast at the opponent? Crusher Ball.

These basic attacks are given huge, flashy names. And, I need to specify, they're English names. Moves like the Kamehameha or Taiyoken or Sokidan or Makankosappo also have names but they tend to be Japanese names with descriptive meanings.

Turtle Destruction Wave, signature move of the Turtle School of martial arts.

Fist of the Sun, an intense blinding art.

Winding Ki Bullet, a remote-operated bullet of ki that Yamcha can manipulate how he likes.

Demon Piercing and Killing Light Gun, a Mazoku technique that pierces and kills.

This is not the same thing. These guys are screaming exotic English words to look cool while throwing hands. "RECOOME KICK!!!" Recoome screams in English as he throws a kick.

There is only one other character in Dragon Ball who fights like this.

That's right. Recoome Kick is the same kind of thing as Satan Miracle Special Ultra Super Megaton Punch. All shouted in English as well. The Ginyu Force is what Mr. Satan would be if he was as formidable as the world believes he is.

They're showmen, even moreso than the Earthling martial artists who were born for a tournament stage. Hell, some of Recoome's moves are inspired by pro wrestling.

They are the ultimate demonstration, both of the unquestionable might of the Planet Trade's human resources, and of the absolute waste that is the Planet Trade's capitalist philosophy towards martial arts. The PTO doesn't train warriors; They scout the strongest guys their money can buy and give them marching orders of "Get 'em." Their super-elites are no exception.

Except the Captain.

Much like Vegeta was with Nappa, Ginyu is the only one who gets it. He sees Goku's reading and immediately assesses that Goku's suppressing his ki. Ginyu knows his shit. He's just never drilled this kind of information into his soldiers, opting instead for cool-looking battle poses.

It makes sense that he understands ki suppression. He's Frieza's highest-ranking officer, and Frieza is the universe's unparalleled master at ki suppression. The lengths Frieza has gone to for the sake of suppressing ki....

But he hasn't taught it to his men. They're learning flashy modeling poses instead of martial arts.

I guess I can see the logic. Powerful as they are, why would it matter? Those three extraordinary warriors earlier were also suppressing their ki, but a range of 1k to haha actually 3k doesn't mean shit to the Ginyu Force. If nobody's true strength can match them then why waste time on tactical study?

But unlike his soldiers, Ginyu himself has the spirit of a martial artist. He doesn't waste time on battle poses or scream "GINYU FLYING PUNCH" in English when he throws a punch or do elaborate two-minute windups for his signature moves.

He's even pretty good at reading people. Ginyu lowballs Goku at 60k before the fight, but reassesses after he's traded blows with Goku a few times and estimates 85k instead.

Goku's official non-suppressed Battle Power at this point in time is 90k. So 85k is a pretty fucking good estimate for a guy who can't sense ki. Ginyu knows his shit. He's as reliant on tech as the rest of the PTO but he's experienced enough to have a strong understanding of what various levels fight like.

This is especially impressive when you remember that he's never fought someone at 90k before. Remember, further up, when he first judged Goku as 60k? He was getting excited about his lowball 60k estimate and saying he's never had a chance like this before.

If he's never fought 60k, he's certainly never fought 85k. He just. Knows enough about how lower levels fight that he can apply that knowledge and extrapolate to higher levels. It's an impressive estimation that demonstrates his experience. Ginyu isn't just the second-most powerful guy in the Planet Trade. He's the best martial artist in the Planet Trade, bar none.

He's also got a... theoretically cool ultimate technique that utterly sucks in practice: Body Change.

He may be the best martial artist in the Planet Trade but he's got nothing on martial arts master and analytical counter-fighter Son Goku. It takes Goku no time at all to realize that Ginyu's technique sucks. He doesn't know how to fight with Goku's ki.

Ginyu-Goku thinks this body will give him 180k BP because that's what he read on the Scouter when Goku used the Kaio-ken. But not only does Ginyu not know how to perform Kaio-ken, he doesn't even know how to use Goku's ki at all. It's not his. It doesn't work the same way. In Goku's body, Ginyu's reduced to a distressing 23k BP when Jeice reads him.

He's not just failing to put out Kaio-ken power. He's getting his teeth kicked in by Krillin. It's embarrassing.

I've heard the theory go around that Ginyu started out weak and worked his way up via Body Changing anyone that was ever stronger than him, but I'm not convinced that's the case. Because this right here? This seems like a critical flaw. It's hard to believe he'd be entirely ignorant of this drawback if he's ever seriously used this technique before.

Ginyu being incompatible with a Body Changed host's ki doesn't seem like something an experienced Body Changer would need Goku to explain to him. In practice, the hypothetically awesome technique is bad for reasons Ginyu wasn't able to foresee, not unlike when Tenshinhan brought Shishin no Ken/Multiform to the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. Or Goku's first time attempting Super Saiyan 3 in a living body. Cool in theory but a massive fucking oversight costs him the entire fight.

This seems more likely to be something Ginyu, the only real martial artist in his crew, developed in his own time and showed off to his men. Something he's never actually stress tested, that he's been sitting on and waiting for an opportunity to use in the field.

Whatever the case, it pins an unexpected and interesting capstone on the Ginyu Force. They're a group of clowns who can get away with clownishness because they were born into unparalleled privilege. And they're led by a shockingly well-educated and capable martial artist who's never worked the kinks out of his ultimate technique for lack of adequate competition in a universe that could rarely hope to ever challenge even his weakest man.

#dragon ball #dragon ball z #ginyu force

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paganminiskirt · 1 year ago

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I love how Raditz uses him and Goku’s familial relationship to trick him into letting go of his tail so he can start whaling on him again, all the while having Gohan hostage in his pod. And then later on, Vegeta’s transformation into a great ape causes Goku to realize that he killed his own Grandpa Gohan all those years ago, accidentally or otherwise. It’s like this one biological side effect of his Saiyan heritage both robbed him of a relationship and prevented him from properly mourning once he realized what had happened, with his empathy and willingness to forgive being leveraged against him by those same Saiyans to destroy other familial bonds. It’s such a brutal introduction to a previously unknown part of your identity.

But then on Namek, Vegeta applies him & his father’s own situation to Gohan and Goku when he’s explaining the danger that the Frieza Force represent, saying how “they don’t have to be stronger than you to beat you, they could take your son hostage.” Obviously he’s referencing his childhood removal from King Vegeta’s “care,” but a side effect of that arrangement is that the King himself isn’t a tangible presence in his son’s life, certainly not by the time he’s on Namek. Vegeta does have something vaguely resembling a father figure when he makes that comparison, but it’s not him, it’s Frieza.

Frieza & Vegeta’s relationship is certainly not parental on an emotional level, but the mechanisms of keeping people as indentured servants naturally tend towards paternalism, and it’s obvious that Frieza has a weird little fixation on him besides. The entire Namek saga lowkey constructs this wildly uncomfortable parallel between Goku’s care for & devotion to Gohan, (putting himself in harms way and crossing between entire worlds to keep him safe over and over again,) and Frieza’s similarly relentless but antithetically possessive & degrading relationship with Vegeta, (repeatedly demanding that he be brought back to him alive no matter how much of a nuisance he becomes, to the point of having him nursed back to health after Zarbon claps his ass just so he can torture him himself.)

It’s Gohan who first notices that Captain Ginyu stole his dad’s body, and Gohan who keeps fighting through exhaustion and extreme violence before Goku gets to Namek. Later on in the Buu Saga, Goku realizes the projection of Gohan inside Majin Buu isn’t really his son quicker than anyone else does - their emotional bond is sturdy enough to transcend the physical, even after it’s repeatedly acknowledged that a young child shouldn’t be involved in situations as gruesome as these.

Compare that to Vegeta, who’s only visible relationship with his father comes from sharing violence as a form of giddy self-aggrandizement, until he sells him to a more powerful stranger - which he can’t even say was especially wrong by their own standards, the transaction as much a moral injury as an emotional one. As Frieza pointed out during his fight with Goku, he literally just beat the Saiyans at their own game, picking up where King Vegeta left off by using his son for the benefit of himself & the empire instead of for the benefit of his father & homeworld.

The fact alone that his relationship with his biological dad can begin to amalgamate with his relationship to a person who calls him a pet speaks volumes about how emotionally warped Vegeta was from the beginning. It’s a small wonder he clings to the dynastic propaganda of the Saiyans so hard, using the title he gets from the King in spite of the fact that his reaction to the man himself’s demise is so muted & repressed that it’s depicted using the imagery of a child encased in a mountain of corpses. It's the only thing that can potentially delineate what happened to him as unjust & undeserved - if it’s the violence itself that’s wrong, then what does that make him, his values, his scattered family, their entire culture. What does that make everything he’s been told since the moment of his birth.

And even in that scene where Vegeta is shrugging off his dad’s death and the planet’s destruction, the messenger mentions how Frieza offers his sympathies: as if Frieza isn’t the same person who killed him, this sickly pretense of warmth intended only to cover it up. You might recall how Goku is always mussing Gohan’s hair, and everyone knows that infamous scene where Vegeta strokes his hair before knocking the wind out of him - which can be read as a precursor to that horribly intimate beatdown Frieza lays on Vegeta and the others later, the one he had been planning to give Vegeta this whole time which is only compounded in brutality since Vegeta thwarted him, the one where he licks blood from Vegeta’s mouth off his face as he holds him up by his neck like a dog with it’s pup. It re-contextualizes the head stroke/brutal attack combo Vegeta pulled on Gohan as him acting out the sadistic objectification Frieza raised him on using another Saiyan child.

And in the end it comes full circle, with Vegeta using his last moments to pass the vendetta of himself and his own father on to Goku and his line. And this happens willingly, as a productive challenge to the Saiyan’s culture of domination, unlike the grotesque re-appropriation of that same culture that we’re presented with when Frieza takes Vegeta from home: Goku assumes this mantle after Vegeta is dead and fully incapable of forcing him. He also contradicts the callous disregard Vegeta displayed during the aforementioned scene with the Saibamen by treating his corpse with so much care. He holds him, he buries him. And you could argue that it’s better than he deserves at that point, but like. I think the fact that the gesture is unwarranted is a part of the point.

#dbz #Vegeta #frieza #Gohan #Goku #king vegeta #I guess he’s here too #dragon ball z

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bones4thecats · 6 months ago

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Their S/O Being Based on 2021! Carnage

Characters: Fused Zamasu, Cell, and Frieza Inspired By: Me remembering how much I love the Venom movies A/N: I love this so much, I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you Dragon Ball fans/simps enjoy!! ⚠️ Spoilers/Trigger Warnings for: Mentions of death, murder, fighting, threats of being lobotomized, and blood ⚠️

Disclaimer: The Symbiote! Reader (Carnage) has their own form

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╚═════ King Cold ══════════════════════════════╝

🌨️ As a very potent weapon used by the Cold Force, you never knew much outside of fighting and torment. So it surprised you when King Cold began to speak to you more kindly, and honestly, you thought he was doubting your abilities at first

🌨️ He, for some reason, enjoyed your presence. You may be known for your sadism and beyond-murderous personality while fighting and really around anyone else, but you proved to be at least a bit intelligent

🌨️ King Cold adores to fight alongside you, or watch you do it yourself. Just seeing you fight was enough to satisfy his desire of you. He could sit on his thrown and watch you annihilate opponents left and right with your shapeshifting-abilities

🌨️ When he asked you to rule by his side, you were beyond shocked. You always thought he would only see you as a tool for battle, but as you felt his hand gently clasp your own clawed-one, your weapons protruding from your back disappearing as you looked at his face for any detection of a lie

🌨️ As you looked into his eyes, King Cold just smiled chivalrously. His royal-mannerisms showing through as he lightly laid his forehead on yours whilst you relaxed and wrapped yourself around the royal warrior. Neither of you had to say anything to know what you both meant; You loved one another just as much as the other

╔══════════════════════════════════════════╗

╚═════ Cell ═════════════════════════════════╝

🔬 Cell always called himself the 'Perfect' one out of your duo. You just would roll your milky-white eyes at his words, mentally calling him 'stupid' and 'egotistical'. Honestly, sometimes you could be a bit hypocritical... not that you'd admit it

🔬 Underneath that bravado he always put up, he did see you as something worthy of his attention. Your fighting skills were not weak, you could get him slipping with your extra appendages that you would mold into many different weapons to attack with

🔬 It was when he was was facing off against two of the final warriors nearby that he saw just how amazing in battles you were

🔬 You had jumped into the air, smashed into the ground before launching five tentacles at the fighter, making him get distracted enough for you to kick him into the nearby building. This causing it to fall on him, crushing him to death as you turned around and just stabbed the other fighter with your arm being shaped like a spear-head

🔬 Cell had widened eyes as you walked up to his form and patted his shoulder, telling him better luck next time. Why you...

🔬 You were perfect... how did he overlook that quality of yours for so long. You were ruthless, cunning, and beyond everything else, amazing while showing off these traits

🔬 But, in true Cell fashion, he couldn't just admit these feelings so plainly. He needed a plan to make sure you said yes to his advances. So, for now, he would just scoff and begin a long and vigorous insult-session between the two of you... between two, for now, allies

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╚═════ Frieza ════════════════════════════════╝

🏔️ This guy was shocked when you came up in the ranks of the Frieza Force so quickly. I mean, you were just recruited what- five weeks ago?! And now you were stronger than the entire Ginyu Force combined... hopefully you weren't a danger to him

🏔️ The galactic tyrant was not amused when you were brought into a meeting with him and his father, with the taller alien praising you on defeating an entire army on another planet without any assistance

🏔️ The way you sat there without any interest in your eyes and how you just scoffed and began messing with one of your newly-grown appendages, just annoyed this guy so much. How could you be so ungrateful for such powerful beings praising you?!

"But, I believe that with your power, you have defeated the Ginyu Force, correct?" King Cold asked.

"Yeah, why?" You replied, a hint of animosity in your tone.

"I think that you would be the perfect right-hand to my young boy, Frieza! Wouldn't it be nice to see tiny yous running around? By what I remember, your kind produces asexually, am I correct?"

"Father!" He yelled, a small amount of fuchsia blush appearing on the tyrant's nose and cheeks.

🏔️ Your eyes widened as your eyebrows furrowed in agitation, you hated any kind of mention related to the concept of family. It reminded you of that bastard of a father you had. Saving those pathetic humans and stopping you from being the strongest Symbiote on that forsaken mud-ball of a planet!

🏔️ A tentacle reached out and wrapped around his wrist, pulling him closer to you as you looked in his eyes, a solid glare entering his system. And honestly? This was one of the only moments in life where King Cold was scared and Frieza was frozen in shock

"Mention that again, and I'll lobotomize you... understand, your highness?"

"Yep!"

🏔️ Letting him go, and therefore sending the royal back into his chair with force, you scoffed and walked away, your old scanner crushed on the table with remnants of dried blood -obviously not from you- on it

🏔️ Perhaps you were more interesting than Frieza first thought. He was going to have to get to know you better for this power of yours to come to use...

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sith-qween · 2 months ago

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Come, Let Us Teach You

Fandom: DBZ

Pairings: Reader x Vegeta, Reader x Nappa, Reader x Raditz

Words: 4.0K

Rating: M (later on)

Warnings: Sayian Reader, Mating Cycles/Heats, Ginyu Force, Dark Frieza, No protection, probably more, I will update as we go lol

Tags: @bdudette @beakami @vee-vee-writes (just ask c:)

Things had definitely taken a very interesting turn in the last few months. You went from having no respect and needing to fight nearly every waking moment, to having men from one of the strongest races at your beck and call. It was amazing how fast things could change and, honestly, it was refreshing. There was no more fighting for every necessity. You had access to what you needed, you had a team you could rely on, and the missions were actually worth your time and energy.

However you had started to notice that each of them were different in their own ways. Sure all three of the men were all brash and hard to get along with at times, but once you got used to them it was a cake walk.

Vegeta, his royal highness. He was always high strung with a God complex. Who wouldn’t have called that one. Mind you, he paid attention to the small details, things most people would never notice, or not care about. Small glances, or rambling thoughts about something you missed, somehow he made it work. If you longed for a certain food, and just let your thoughts ramble, the next day it would somehow wind up in your room. However if you ever confronted the prince about it, he would deny it till his dying breath. Stubborn to the core, no doubt about that.

He was a very prideful person, and he wasn’t about to bow to anyone or anything, he merely acted for Frieza, knowing how far he could get away with pushing. Afterall he had a deal with the tyrant and he wasn’t going to be the one to mess up. He was a very proud man, especially when it came to his race. He loved his planet and his people and there wasn’t a day that passed where he didn’t miss it. Whatsmore, the prince would often think he was sly in his glances. His eyes wandered over your frame when he thought no one was watching, but the joke is on him - you always knew.

Nappa on the other hand, was loud and abrasive. He had next to no filter, nearly every thought he had would find its way from his mouth, whether or not it was the time or place. The hulking man had little awareness of his space, and did not care if he knocked something over or broke it. Now when it came to you on the other hand, there was a softness to him. He was still loud and often unfiltered, but he took notice of how he was around you. Careful not to knock your stuff over, or take up your space. Outside of training and missions, he would even treat you as if you were fragile - would never admit to it tho.

That and he enjoyed the little things. Back on Planet Vegeta it was not unheard of for the Massive Saiyan to head on over to the hot springs when he was relieved of his duties for the day. It was a full time job watching the young Prince, however it was all worth it to watch his grow up into a fine prince, not to mention the springs. The royal hot springs were something the man would often reminisce about, just lounging and relaxing after a long battle, or just a painfully uneventful day.

Then there was Raditz. This man was different from the other two. Unless to save face in front of his associates, he was honest. He was much more level headed and animated. He had a rougher upbringing than the others, and it gave him humility. He fought and earned everything he had, nothing was handed to him on a silver platter. He was easy to talk to and joke with, the two of you shared more realistic lifestyles. He was the kind who would save you from falling on your face or messing up in the wrong places. Never would he admit or show the others - but there was a kindness to him.

There was also the fact that unlike the other two, Raditz came from commonfolk. His parents were nobodies in the grand scheme of things. In their terms he was a “low class”, and that was why he was often pushed below the others. But he was used to it, and he had fought to be there anyways. One night he had even shared he had a brother somewhere out there, hoping he was still alive. Craving for his own family to have somehow survived, something to hold onto hope for.

It was almost embarrassing just how much you were learning with each of them. Not only historically, but also physically. The longer you were with them the more pride you felt for your race, how much more determined you felt to live up to the name. Not only that, but the more time you spent alone with them, the more it brought out your true nature. Raised to be modest, you were a joke to your race. Now you stood with more confidence, empowered by your blood and much more willing to just take what you wanted. To embrace the race of warriors you belonged to, you were ready to make a name of your own.

However for such an elite warrior race, there were still a lot of holes. It was clear none of them were used to feelings or expressing them. Maybe it was your more feminine and soft side that was starting to get to them. With the new arrangement to always be with one of the three men, they each started to get more comfortable with you. The air was far less heavy then the first time you all met. From the icy insults and threats, you made a lot of progress to be at a more relaxed and jesting vibe. It took a while, on all ends, but you were all making it work.

The chirping of your pager was enough to pull your drowsy mind to attention. Fluttering your lashes, you lifted your gaze to the hulking man that was lounged across your tiny couch. Vegeta had taken Raditz to train earlier that morning, and after eating you wanted to spice things up a little and relax. Sure enough Nappa tagged along, and somehow he wound up passed out, and you were not too far behind. Blinking the sleep from your eyes, you were careful to try and not wake the other as you reached for the scouter.

Lifting the device to your eyes you pressed the button. The little green piece started to slow with a message. It was of high priority; go and report to Lord Frieza. Reading this, you could feel a chill start to set in the room. Why would you need to report anything? Surely Vegeta and Raditz could do so, they would be closer anyways. But was it for the team, or just you? You didn’t recall hearing Nappa’s scouter ping anything.

“M’what’s up?” a sleepy grumble broke through the sea of thoughts that were flooding your mind. Blinking out of your stupor, you managed to pull the device down and meet his hazy gaze.

“I just got a page to go and report to Lord Frieza. Did you get anything?’ you managed to keep your tone level. You could understand why the Prince bowed his head to the tyrant, you had the pleasure of experiencing it first hand. The very thought of needing to be in the same room as that man was enough to drain some of the colour from your features. There was a lethargic shuffling as Nappa checked his own scouter only to shake his head,

“M’nope looks like it was just you. Best not to keep him waiting though, I can walk you there. Just be sure to page me when everything is finished.” he drawled out, giving a huff as he pushed himself into a sitting position, taking the time to stretch his arms out over head. There is a moment of pause between the two of you before you finally let out a breath you weren’t aware you had been holding. Nodding you threw your legs over the side of the couch and stood up.

Not much was exchanged between the two of you, the peaceful, lazy air had been pierced and now the growing anxiety that rose in your throat was the only thing you could feel. You were thankful he was prying on the matter, but you also felt a bit guilty to be robbing his nap from him. Mind you, it was probably a good thing since relaxing seemed to be something frowned upon here. Everything was always on the go and busy. Why should today be any different?

There was a silence in the room as the two of you started to get ready. Whether or not it was comfortable or uncomfortable was something you were still debating. There was an uneasiness that was starting to form in the pit of your stomach, but now isn't the time for that. You couldn’t exactly get cold feet about meeting with Lord Frieza after all. If he said jump, you were expected to ask how high, no questions about it. Finishing up the two of you left the room without much else exchanged.

Walking side by side the larger man just kept his eyes ahead, making the short walk seem to drag on forever. Before the turn to the tyrants room, the bald man stopped and stretched himself out,

“I shouldn’t go much further with you, just make sure to let me know when your all done.” he managed, his voice sighing as he released the stretch, “G’luck in there”

“Thanks” you mutter out as the man turned and headed down another hall, presumably off to go and find something to busy himself with while he waited around. Couldn’t blame him, it would probably look bad if he was seen just lurking just outside of the office of Lord Frieza. With that you took a breath and turned down the hall and made your way towards the grand doors. You were more concerned as to why it was only you, maybe you had messed up somehow and he was going to quietly finish you off this time. Maybe he just wanted to intimidate you, maybe it was nothing. The possibilities kept going through your mind, it wasn’t fair how easily he could get into someone's head like that.

“Afternoon, [y/n]!” Ginyu’s loud voice greeted you. As always, way to optimistic sounding. It was enough to make you want to gag, it should be illegal for someone that close to Lord Frieza to have this much positivity in life. However you were able to keep a straight face as you gave a tiny bow, best to be formal.

“That was a quick response! I’m sure Lord Frieza will be pleased. Whenever you’re ready, step inside.” Ginyu instructed. With a small nod, you thought, better just jump in and get it over with instead of wasting time mulling it over and making the worst possible scenarios up in your head.

With a quick breath you pushed past Ginyu and pushed open the large doors and stepped inside. The droning sound of the doors closing behind you was silenced with a soft thump. Careful not to show any signs of weakness you managed to keep your head held high and chest puffed out. Confident strides carried you to about the middle of the large, dome-like room before you stopped and knelt before the tyrant. As your knee met the cold steel, the phantom stinging across your skin pricked in a vivid memory of your last visit.

With your head bowed, you were unable to see the vast view of space from the large window that sat just before the man. The one who took his time in turning the chair so that he would face your form on the floor before him.

“[y/n], you’re surprisingly early.” he practically purred in amusement.

“I wouldn’t want to keep you waiting, my Lord.” you responded with ease. The words were nearly practised, even if it was just to keep you from another broken bone or two. This response got you a chuckle, his tail lazily hanging out of the little floating chair he occupied. It was obvious your response was exactly what he wanted to hear, the pleased tone followed through as he continued,

“I’m surprised. Your race isn’t exactly new to the idea of tardiness. I could recall a number of accounts - but I think I should spare you the details.”

“How kind my Lord. But may I ask why you summoned me?” Your voice was tight, fighting to pull the emotions that were trying to tear their way forward. There had to be some reason to all of this, something besides taunting you with reminders of a dead race. Lifting your head, your eyes were met with the ruby gems that sparkled with nothing but ill-intent. It never mattered what he did, the air around this man always bleed evil. This was no exception.

“I am glad you asked, my little monkey,” he started. Amusement reaching his gaze as he watched you, “I was curious as to how you’ve been adapting to the new group. I know those men are animals, but from what I hear you are used to all that.”

Call it instincts, but you had to bite your tongue to call his bluff. He may rule with an iron fist, but that doesn’t mean he was a good liar. Manipulator, maybe. But his lies were transparent. You couldn’t read past that, but you figured it was best to humour his little facade.

“Ah yes, I am very grateful for the chances of moving to this ship. Things have been much better than on my old one. Less drama and the missions are much more to speed. I did have a bit of a climb to catch up, but I am proud of the scars that prove my growth. I have learned a lot from my new team, however they are a handful. Always a pain and getting in the way of things - however they always come through on missions. Very stubborn and hard to deal with, but never a challenge too big for them.” You reported in a short run down. Hoping that it was satisfactory, you watched his expressions for his response.

“Ah yes, the stubbornness and refusal to admit defeat - that is definitely a monkey thing. Have to give your race some credit tho, you always make the best of the worst.” he droned. The lazy motions of his tail caught your eye for a mere moment, remembering just how devastating that thing was, even though it moved so fluidly. “I take it that you are spending less time in the Med Bay now?”

“Of course my Lord. I wouldn’t dream of wasting my time there if it could be used more efficiently somewhere else.” you were quick to reply, tone sharpening slightly at the implications. You didn’t expect him to drop that day, but it still lit a fire under you at the thought of it. You weren’t going to stay weak and you were bound and determined to make sure that you did nothing but surpass your own power level and keep reaching for the top.

“That’s good. Your race has many great warriors, it would be a shame to lose yet another one.” he grinned, the sinister gleam reaching his eyes as he watched your muscles tense up. It took every part of your willpower not to retort, not to react. He was just trying to get under your skin now, trying to break your composure. And you weren’t about to give in to his jabs.

“Mind you, with that in mind I hope you’ve been keeping on top of your health.” he added, still studying your reactions. When his comment was met with a furrowing of brows he chuckled and shook his head, “I suppose that answers that. [y/n], don’t you think you should start doing routine checkups? Wouldn’t want anything to happen to our newest monkey, now would we? Besides, it's best if everyone gets checked once in a while. We wouldn;t want anyone bringing something back from a forigen planet.”

“I suppose it is overdue,” you trail off. There was no way to explain you had no time for that kind of thing, but it was clear he wasn’t suggesting this, he was telling you. With your own tail curled neatly on the ground under you, you could feel it twitch in irritation. “I can head down to the Med Bays and set up something right away.”

“That sounds like a good plan, [y/n].” he purred, the amusement rolling off of his confidence. Everything was going to plan and it was clear it was the case. The arrogance of the spoiled tyrant made your blood boil. You didn’t know what game he was playing, but you were not enjoying it. “You may leave now.”

Standing, you bowed for a moment before turning on your heels and promptly leaving the vast chamber. Between the goosebumps that were crawling under your skin and the fur on your tail standing on end, you couldn’t stop the unease that pricked away at you. However it was best to do this and get it out of the way. So while you didn’t stop for a moment, your destination was now the Med Bay and you were making haste. Only difference from last time was you were able to walk yourself there - and you were fully conscious this time!

As soon as you turned the corner you were sending a notification to Nappa to let him know where you were heading. Everything went by you in a blurr, lost to your own thoughts. This was such a random thing, granted it did make some sense. Not to mention how often you have trips to the bays, it wouldn't hurt to make sure nothing ended up long term. All you needed was some internal bleeding taking you out, what a way to go.

Pushing your way into the Med Bay you could see the smaller creature jump slightly at the abrupt entrance. Quickly recovering she cleared her throat and looked you once over,

“What brings us the pleasure of your visit?” her soft voice chimed in. Her dark pink skin is carefully covered by white scrubs. It was her dark eyes that didn;t match her sweet appearance, they were cold and harded. Most likely due to the fact that she worked on this ship and dealt with ruffians all day long.

“I have been advised to schedule some regular check ups..” you started, the words feeling wrong on your tongue.

“Well then let's not waste time. Might as well get you started and register for your first one today. Give me your name please,” she piped up, not wasting a second as you hesitated. She was quick to scurry around and start nudging you towards the curtains. You managed to mutter your name out before going to where she wanted you.

She vanished for a moment before she reappeared with a clipboard in hand. Her delicate hands flipped over the sheets with practised ease and she clicked her tongue, shaking her head as she looked up at you, “Well at least you are in one piece this time. What could you possibly do to end up in such conditions, and so often?” she asked, already getting to work checking over your obvious physical condition.

Here you could feel the heat start to rise to the tops of your ears. Well, she didn’t have to call you out like that. “I wasn’t used to other Sayians and got a little too excited fighting with them, and whoops..” you muttered. It wasn’t completely false, it had been a thrill actually getting to fight with the men when you arrived. However she didn’t know it was because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut long enough. Nor did she need to know that same problem nearly got you killed at the hands of Lord Frieza himself.

Her dark optics lifted to meet your own and you could feel the scrutiny in them. Her only response was a very lacklustre hum, making it painstakingly obvious she didn’t believe you for a second. “Stripe so we can get started.” She demanded, which led you to roll your eyes before following her orders.

“Well now, you are currently up to date, everything is checked out. You're all up to date on any shots you need, and aside from the history of beatins - you are one of the healthiest soldiers on this ship. You are free to go, just make sure to come and check back every two months for a quick check up.” the little nurse muttered, her tiny fingers already typing over a keypad as she gave you the results, never once looking up at you.

Gritting your teeth you managed out a quick ‘thank you’ before turning to leave. Her attitude was something that was rubbing you the wrong way, but then again you had to cut the woman some slack. You thought you dealt with a lot, you could only imagine what she saw and dealt with on a daily bases. She was very busy and overall professional, so you couldn’t get too mad at her.

As you pushed past the clear doors, you saw the large Saiyan leaning against the wall, his eyes lifting at the sound of your appearance. There was a sense of calm that reached you at the sight of him. Nothing more than a sense of familiarity in the whirlwind of concussion you just went through. With eyes meeting you gave him a small nod and the two of you retreated back to his room. Thankful for the silence where listening ears lingered, you were able to just relax a little bit.

Reaching his room, you push past him and make your way inside, making haste of removing the gear and falling back onto his couch. He wasn’t far behind as well as he lounged on the couch, similar to he had before. Extending an arm, he invited you closer, giving you the chance to decide. Hesitating you considered it and you finally just crawled over to him to lay against his large body. You weren’t about to admit that the men were starting to become a comfort to you, something about knowing they were around and willing to protect you just made your heart weak.

“So, are ya willing to share?” he asked after a moment.

“Nothing much to share. Like I said he suggested I get check ups, and seemed like he was just seeing how things were going. Made it hard to hold my tongue, he kept dragging our race through the mud,” you finally growled out. The annoyance finally was able to flare now that you were safely away from the tyrant. To that you got a scoff,

“Yeah that sounds about right. You get used to it, he has always thought lowly of the Sayians. That will never change.” he grumbled. Clearly it still got under his skin, and you could only imagine he had been dealing with this for much longer than you. “But it might be for the best for the check ups. After all, you have only used the pods and if that's a trend they need records.”

To this logic you couldn’t help but hum in reluctant agreement. You still didn’t want to admit there was logic behind it, but it at least made it feel more sensible then a random summons. Not wanting to think about it any more you just turned your face into his chest and shut your eyes. Your tail lazily wrapping around his thigh, you felt his hand come to your back as the large Saiyan chuckled, before the room was once again met with a peaceful silence.

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

AN: I just wanna say thank you for all for the love you've given this little story so far! As always there is a link in my bio if you want other ways to find me or support me! I also have much more uploaded on AO3 if you wanna skip waiting. Thank you again so much, and I hope you're all doing well!

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reiketsunomizunomegami · 2 years ago

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DBZ boys react to their s/o slapping them playfully

Warning: Fluff, SFW

Feat: Goku, Beerus, Frieza, and Whis

Son Goku

-A Little Shocked by your Sudden action and ask you “Uh Y/N? Why did you do that?” In a very Confused Tone

-and if you laugh it off saying that it was just only a habit of yours Goku will just laugh it out and give your head a pat “That's Quite odd habit of yours Y/N~Chan”

Lord Beerus

-Like Goku he'll be also shocked when you that especially when both of you were having a good time together

-Beerus will stare at you “Why did you that???” He ask and if you laugh there are two scenarios that may happens to you first he will Blow your brains our ir Second he will just let it slide because he loves you more than anything

-and When you apologise and tell him that it was just a strange habit of yours Beerus will just give you a scoff and tells you to (its okay to) not do it again

Frieza

-Stunned as f when you do that

-Frieza will give you a wtf look while he cross his arms up to his chest “ohohohoho You got the nerves now y/n~chan” He will amusingly stare at you until you embarrassingly Avert your eyes away

-This Tyrannical Emperor will cage you between into his strong arms “Forgive me Lord Frieza I didn't mean.. It was just some sort of a weird habit of mine when I'm excited or Happy” After you explain everything to him Frieza will pinch your cheek and tells you that he knows because he noticed of how you slap his Subordinates when you're excited about something (Poor Zarbon and Ginyu Forces)

Whis

-Like Goku and Frieza. Whis actually does not mind it at all therfore he'll be a little bit shocked about your Action

-He will ask you why did you do it and when you tell him that it was just your odd habit he will be just like “Ok” and “That's Odd but cute” Before making his way towards the food that you had prepared for him

#dbz fandom #Dragon Ball z imagine #dragon ball z x reader #Dragon ball z x y/n #Dragon ball z x s/o #Son Goku #Lord Beerus #Frieza #Whis #Goku x reader #Beerus x reader #Frieza x reader #Whis x reader #reiketsunomizunomegami blog #reiketsunomizunomegami #Reiketsunomizunomegami writing

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deusvervewrites · 3 months ago

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Power Levels are only a measure of raw ki

Not even that, they're a measure of raw ki OUTPUT. Transforming species like the Saiyan, the Frost Demons and whatever Zarbon's species is can suddenly increase their power levels to overcome a stronger enemy, and with the right training one can learn moves that temporarily increase the power level (such as the Kamehameha or the Garlic Cannon), or to suppress it to conserve one's strenght, better control one's power, sneak around, and utterly make a fool of someone who is ignorant of such ability (see Goku vs the Ginyu Force, with Recoome and Burter being crushed because the scouters said Goku's power level was 5000 and he increased his output at the moment of the attack too fast for the scouters to pick it up).

Quirks just add another layer of uselessness by being biological and not ki based abilities, thus leaving scouter users completely unprepared when the big guy with a power level of six suddenly shoots fire hot enough to melt through their armor, or the weirdo with a power level of three hits as hard as a Frieza soldier and then does something weird.

Only guy they'd have a correct guess on is Spopovich, and that's because his lack of skill in basic fighting is a glaring red flag that something weird is going on as nobody that unskilled can possibly acquire ki powers without magic help.

I know Freeza won't appear but he'd get bullied so hard

#asks

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our-happygirl500-fan · 2 years ago

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According to JJ Conway’s twitter apparently there are a few scenes in Rise that kind of draw inspiration from Dragon Ball

Something that I kind of found out about is that apparently a few members of the Rise team are Dragon Ball fans & a few references to Dragon Ball can kind of be found throughout a few scenes in Rise.

Such as the pose that Leo, Mikey & Donnie do in the episode Mascot Melee is kind of meant to look a bit similar to the Ginyu Force pose, the Future Version of Michelangelo’s sacrifice at the beginning of the movie apparently also drew some inspiration from a scene with Piccolo from the Japanese Opening of Dragon Ball Z.

Considering that Rise kind of likes to make references to Dragon Ball & the fact that both Rise & Dragon Ball have characters who are time travellers, makes me wonder if they could have had Casey Junior have some references to Future Trunks if Rise had been able to continue.

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #teenage mutant ninja turtles #casey jones jr #casey jones junior #rottmnt #tmnt

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ap-kinda-lit · 1 year ago

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Saiyan Squad AU outline (part 2) ⭐️

part 1

Vegeta, Nappa, Raditz, and Kakarot form a squad and fight in a war between Frieza and what remains of the Saiyans.

At some point early on, they land on Vampa, where they find Broly.

Broly’s father, Paragus, was banished to Vampa after he was accused of working with Frieza. As further punishment, Broly was sent with him so the two would surely die on the planet together. They managed to survive and Paragus swore revenge. Before the squad arrived, Paragus had presumably abandoned Broly. When Broly meets Raditz, Kakarot, Nappa, and Vegeta, they right away recognize his immense power and take him in.

The Squad travel space and go on mission after mission, trying to find a new planet call home and bring down Frieza’s empire.

As king, Vegeta is the self-declared leader and the angry, arrogant gremlin we all know and love. Since they’ve known him since childhood and practically grew up together, Raditz and Kakarot are pretty casual with him and call him names like “boss” or “Geets”, which annoys Vegeta. He also hates how he turns out to be the shortest among his team of giants. Also, after being forced into being a child king, held hostage, and having his world and people mercilessly slaughtered, Vegeta is (understandably) hell bent on killing Frieza himself. He also strives to rebuilding his kingdom to its former glory and becoming the strongest king there ever was.

Raditz is a sarcastic (not so) little shit and the stressed, tired older sibling of Kakarot. He always picks on his idiot little brother and bemoans about constantly looking after him (but let’s face it he does care about his baby brother). He himself is a hot mess who somehow gets into trouble a lot and loves chaos (when it’s done to someone that’s not him, that is).

Ah, Kakarot…he’s essentially still our beloved goofball himbo. He aspires to being a great warrior and may come off as intimidating due to his strength, gruff appearance, and wild nature at first, but Kakarot is surprisingly friendly, kind-hearted, and not as gung-ho on killing as most Saiyans would be. He’s laid-back, happy-go-lucky, and loves a good time. To him, the whole team is his family and his idea of a mission is exploring like he’s on a fun field trip. Kakarot is weaker than his teammates and his demeanor doesn’t make it any easier, so he’s seen and treated as the runt of the bunch. He makes up for it with his loyalty and hard-work ethic. If he is intimidated or attacked, he will fight. He also doesn’t like being mocked. Kakarot tries to be an ideal Saiyan, scary and tough as nails, but his good nature always somehow comes out.

Nappa is basically the Team Dad. He trains and looks after Vegeta, Raditz, Kakarot, and Broly from young ages (so it’s no wonder he ends up bald as a melon so soon). He’s essentially a more butch version of Ginyu; rough but still very flamboyant. He would exercise to The Village People and kick back and happily watch his boys raze a whole city. As you can guess, he’s not a very responsible parental figure.

Broly is the newest recruit and the wild card. He normally keeps to himself and is very quiet, so when chaos erupts (as it almost always does) he usually just watches or casually plays a small part. He’s just glad to be a part of something. But by no means is he all that harmless. If he’s called into action or when things get hairy, you might want to start running. He’s basically a nuclear bomb crossed with an elephant.

The Saiyans come across Earth by happenstance. Kakarot crash lands there after being chased by Frieza’s men. His pod and scouter are both badly damaged in the wreck, so he explores around while finding a way off the planet or at least contact his squad. Along the way, he finds the four star dragon ball. He doesn’t know what it is but he thinks it’s neat and it reminds him of Planet Sadala. He does also get chased after by Frieza scouts and encounters the Red Ribbon Army (who are attracted by his new souvenir and they steal his totaled pod). With all the havoc going on around him, he of course attracts the attention of the Z Fighters (Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Krillin, Roshi, and Bulma).

Kakarot does cross paths with the Ox King & Chichi also and an accidental marriage proposal still takes place, but Kakarot doesn’t understand it at first because Saiyans do not practice marriage and are not that familiar with ‘dating’, ‘boyfriends/girlfriends’, ‘husbands/wives’ or weddings (the closest they have is a very small formal ceremony practiced only by Saiyan royalty). When it’s explained to him and Kakarot realizes he’s technically chosen Chichi as his mate, he’s…thrilled. She’s a cute princess who can use a giant fan as a weapon like it’s nothing and she’s a hell of a cook. She’s pretty much his dream girl.

There’s also Vegebul & Launchitz, but I might go into detail in another post.

On a random, fun note, Nappa and Master Roshi strangely become sort of friends. They’re both bald senseis and they love exercise videos (Roshi for perverted reasons, Nappa actually does like them for fun exercise)

#Saiyan squad AU #Saiyan squad #dragon ball #dragon ball z #dbz #dragon ball super #dbs #Au #alternate universe #saiyans #raditz #kakarot #Goku #son Goku #Vegeta #Nappa #Broly #gochi

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universe2snumber1fan · 3 months ago

Note

4, 13, 14, 35 for Ginyu and Ribrianne 👀

Aw heck yeah! Let's go!

Do they have the same love language?

I'd say so. Both of them are incredibly show-y. If there is an opportunity to do something for the other, they would do it in the most over the top way possible.

Who is a better dancer?

Oh this is tough... Ribrianne is a pop star in Universe 2 so I think she has a bit more experience there. That isn't to say Ginyu isn't an amazing dancer in his own right. One of their favorite activities to do together is choreography.

Who is a better cook?

Ginyu without a doubt. Whenever Ribrianne stays over, he's guaranteed to be up early making chocolate chip pancakes with strawberry syrup for when she wakes up.

What is a piece of gossip others might say about them?

Okay slight angst incoming. When news got out of their relationship, some of the Frieza Force lackeys would often say that Ginyu was hypnotized into a relationship with Ribrianne because "nobody could ever love someone like that of they weren't brain dead". This upset both of them, especially Ribrianne, even leading to her not being able to sleep one night thinking they might have been right. Luckily, Ginyu was able to ease her worries by reassuring her that "whoever made you think that you're unlovable clearly has never met me".

#dragon ball #ribrianne #brianne de chateau #captain ginyu #ribrinyu #cayla answers #ask game #thanks for the ask!

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textfromthelookout · 2 years ago

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if you have the time, I wanna know what makes vegeta so compelling to you, whole ass character arc stuff and what not. I wanna hear you go off on your short king.

Anon do you understand what you’ve unleashed? I don’t think you understand what you’ve unleashed. Or if you do understand, I can almost guarantee you aren’t prepared. This is almost 3000 words of me frothing at the mouth. I hope you know you asked for this. Like the reason I was so late answering was because I wanted to do it justice and could not figure out what I wanted to yell about first.

I guess to understand why Vegeta’s development is so fucking staggering to me, you have to understand who he starts as when you meet him.

Vegeta is around 4 or 5 when Freeza destroys Vegetasei. He’s roughly 30 when he comes to Earth for immortality. In between are two and a half decades of being taken from, which he suffers only because he believes wholeheartedly that he will grow strong enough to kill Freeza and take it all back from him. He lands on Earth with little to his name beyond his pride in who and what he is, and power that, while paltry compared to Freeza and the people in his inner circle, surpassed and still surpasses every member of his race.

Right?

One of the biggest things about Vegeta in Z is that there is A Way Things Are Supposed To Go and when they go any other way, he cannot let it go. Losing to anybody other than the people he has known for years can kill him is unacceptable. Even more so if it’s to another Saiyan. Even more so when this Saiyan is such a disgrace to the blood in his veins. The loss is an impossibility and has to be rectified. Vegeta limps off of Earth with two big driving forces now: kill Freeza for vengeance, kill Kakarot to mend his pride (or at least beat him so far into the ground that his superiority is unquestionable).

Namek is where Vegeta gets really interesting. He’s fresh off a stinging defeat that put a couple cracks into his sense of certainty and self. He knows a way to get what he wants (the Dragon Balls on Namek). He’s in a race against the powers that be for it. He has something of an ace in the hole in that he worked out how to sense ki while he was flying half dead through space, so he’s no longer forced to rely on a scouter—on Freeza’s technology. He intends to make a clean break, and for a while it goes according to plan. Zarbon’s a stumbling block, but he makes it work in his favor, takes all the Dragon Balls Freeza collected and escapes with his life to boot.

And then another repeating theme surrounding Vegeta in Z comes into play. He’ll be a hairsbreadth from getting everything he wants before it all comes crashing down around him, largely due to things entirely outside his control. He couldn’t have used the Dragon Balls even if he had decided to press Gohan on what he was doing in the middle of nowhere with a ‘watch’, because he doesn’t have a password. The Ginyu Force thrashes him, Goku shows up stronger than ever. It’s fine though, because now he knows how to get the Dragon Balls to work, so he’ll never suffer defeat again—it’s a moot point.

…Right?

I think that the point in the story where Vegeta well and truly starts to come unraveled as a person is pretty immediately after Porunga dies and Freeza starts cycling through his transformations. Because like, rudimentary or no, Vegeta’s ki-sensing ability still works. He’s suddenly faced with irrefutable proof, that he can feel in the entire essence of his being, that his power is nothing to Freeza. And he lies to himself, because he can’t accept that he’s outclassed by the magnitude he is. Because this isn’t The Way Things Are Supposed To Go. He’s supposed to avenge his people and embody the legend. He refuses to bend, and so, he breaks.

And it’s sad, y’know? The way he just… stops fighting. For his whole life, he sweats and bleeds and swallows his bruised pride for the sake of survival and hope and what does it get him? I think all the goddamn time about the anime’s interpretation of this, where Vegeta being broken for Piccolo/Gohan/Krillin to witness up close is a deliberate choice on Freeza’s part*. In fact, I may never stop thinking about it. It’s not enough that Vegeta loses his will to fight, he has to know that others know that he gave up, that he can’t do anything against this monster even if he hadn’t. It’s a stunningly cruel blow precisely because he’s so proud and strong.

The man who dies on Namek crying at the feet of both of his bitterest enemies, begging one of them to kill the other for the sake of their race—who in that final moment lets his helpless frustration, his grief, his pride in his people supersede his own personal pride as warrior and prince—is not the same man who fought Goku on Earth. That man is in pieces, and Vegeta will spend every moment for years afterward trying to put him back together with saltwater and desperation. We meme on how death means basically nothing in Dragon Ball, but I go nuts thinking about how, intentionally or not, Toriyama managed to twist that to work with Vegeta’s development.

Because now Vegeta has to reckon with his many abject failures for longer than the few minutes before sweet oblivion, you see. Now it all matters again. As long as he’s alive, he’s still being taken from.

(Bulma’s one of the few—if not the only—person to simply give him something without coercion, or prompting, or obligation. Certainly the first we see. She had every reason to tell him to fuck off, really. She didn’t have to offer him a place to stay.)

Vegeta has a transitive hierarchical logic on strength, which comes up again towards the end of Cell that I’ll touch on when we get there, but for now it will suffice to say that in order to keep moving forward, he has to readjust his purpose in life to focus solely on beating Goku. If he beats Goku, then he beats Freeza, since Goku beat Freeza. Step one, obviously, is attaining Super Saiyan. And he’s so fucking committed to that that he unwittingly locks himself out of it, up until he leaves partway through the three year gap before the androids.

I could write another entire essay on how Super Saiyan can be read as a trauma response and how it differs between all the Saiyans in Cell saga (and especially about Goku on Namek), but this is surely already more than you bargained for when you opened this can of worms, so, Vegeta. When I think of Vegeta’s awakening to Super Saiyan, I tend to default to the original dub’s take (ep129), because it has lived in my head rent free since I saw it and it will not give me peace.

Take this part of my rambling with a grain of salt, I know I’m about to get a little ‘it’s not that deep’ about it, but. Here’s my interpretation of this. Vegeta only attains Super Saiyan once he has done away with distractions—not entirely because now he can focus on nothing but his training, but because he’s inadvertently given himself space to even begin to process all the shit from the last 25 years of his life, even if he fights it every step of the way as weakness. All the self-hatred, yes, but also the aforementioned frustration, the grief, the anger. The helplessness. ‘I didn’t care if I lived. I didn’t care about anything.’

Ultimately the trigger to Super Saiyan is a single moment of all-consuming emotion, so whichever thread of canon you personally subscribe to, the facts are that something happened in Vegeta out there in the middle of nowhere space. And he returns to Earth riding high. I’m not gonna lie, he’s rocking some seriously manic energy when he shows up to waste Android 19, and honestly why wouldn’t he be? He’s latched onto this new power and he doesn’t have to feel anything else. Things are finally going right. He’s invincible. He’s the king again. This is The Way Things Are Supposed To Go.

…

…right?

Super Saiyan is supposed to be a solution for Vegeta, and instead it eventually turns itself into a problem during Cell and the androids. To be fair, he can’t misestimate the strength of an opponent he can’t sense in the first place, but even so, he’s so blinded by the euphoria of succeeding for once in his goddamn life that he can’t imagine that anything can be stronger than him. Androids 17 and 18 are a rude fucking awakening. They are the ultimate pulling-the-rug-out-from-under-you vibe check. All those pieces that he struggled so hard to put back together, kicked apart again without thought or effort. He has a bit of a crisis over it, understandably.

In the interest of brevity, I’m glossing over the intermediary parts between Vegeta coming out of the time chamber (wish we had more info on what transpired in there, personally) and the tail end of the Cell saga, because it’s something of a repeat of what he did with Freeza, except he’s using Goku’s ‘let Freeza power up to 100% to hammer home his superiority’ logic. I made a previous post on my main blog about the post-Cell part of Vegeta’s character arc, which I’ll copy down here with some minor revisions:

The hell of Vegeta swearing to never fight again is that he actually follows through, at least in the beginning.

There are seven years between Cell and Buu. In every version of the media I’ve gone through—English manga, uncut dub, uncut JP, Kai dub—Bulma says that Vegeta has trained the last five years before the tournament. Which can only mean that there was a two year gap right after the Cell Games where he didn’t train at all.

And like. Can you really blame him. His purpose in life has been cut out from under him not once but twice, first by Goku attaining Super Saiyan and avenging their people by killing Freeza, and then by Goku’s decision to stay dead and deny him the opportunity to surpass him. His strength has proven insufficient time and again no matter how hard he works, overshadowed by that of a boy half his age, who doesn’t even like to fight. His pride hinges on both of those things and even before that was mercilessly trampled on. He has no people. No planet. No purpose, power, or pride.

I really do think the only things keeping him going by this point are inertia and spite. Almost without doubt, this is the absolute nadir of Vegeta’s existence: at least, the nadir for the man he thinks he has to be, or can’t reconcile not being. If he has nothing, if the last things tethering him to his supposed innate nature (to borrow a line from this fic, shameless plug,) are torn away from him, what is left for him to do but accept defeat and submit to change?

What he doesn’t know yet is that that’s okay. He doesn’t know yet, but the seven years that Goku is no longer a presence in his life is perhaps the best thing Goku could have possibly given him. Without Goku physically there to be actionable on (for lack of a better phrase), new things can grow in the spaces where his animosity and aggression burned holes in him. Even if Vegeta is still nursing the embers of that blaze and ignoring the encroaching growth as hard as he can, he is still beginning to care about things that the old him wouldn’t. (coming back to Vegeta’s logic on strength: to Vegeta, Gohan’s victory over Cell is also Goku’s victory, and Trunks’ loss is his own loss. Bulma mentions to Gohan that he’s dead set on making Trunks stronger than him, and why would Vegeta care about that goal specifically unless Trunks’ victory over Gohan is also Vegeta’s victory over Goku?)

And then.

And then all of a sudden, Goku is back in the picture. And when he comes back, so does the Vegeta from before, like a relapse.

Because as much growing as does, he still has seven years to gnaw on the same question he has been for ages now. Why is Goku so much stronger than he is, being what he is? Why is he so inadequate? There is now a window, fleeting as it may be, for Vegeta to get some answers he had no reason to assume he’d ever get. There is now the terrible possibility that he can make things go The Way They Are Supposed To Go. And Goku’s willing to let him take that shot and get those answers, right up until the whole business surrounding Buu disrupts everything and then he isn’t anymore.

Because the thing is, they were scheduled to fight each other before anybody else. Vegeta was not supposed to see the gap between himself and Goku until he was experiencing it firsthand. Picture for a minute the timeline in which the tournament plays out normally. Goku and Vegeta fight, Goku wins, and then Vegeta’s only recourse is to demand answers from Goku—who would surely give them, to the best of his ability!—or to come to his own conclusions and act from there. Either he makes peace with affairs, uneasy as it may be, or he blows up immediately, and Goku is there to stop him before he gets too out of hand. Instead, what happens is that he’s given the opportunity to realize that he’s still inferior, he still doesn’t understand why, and most importantly, that there’s a third option open to him. At the cost of his will, there is a way.

Submitting to Babidi to force Goku’s hand and close the gap is the act of a man who knows that he is running out of time. Whatever pride Vegeta still has would not possibly have allowed this unless he was so desperate for closure that he couldn’t see another way. For ten years he’s been trying to rebuild a sandcastle below the high tide line, and it’s not that he’s too stupid to move farther up so he isn’t freshly shattered at every pass—it’s just that trying to power through in the face of futility is literally all that he knows to do. He has been coming apart stitch by stitch ever since he met Goku, his worldview and his preconceptions of destiny and self dissolving in slow motion under his feet. Goku will only be here for a day. This is the last chance he has, and he knows it. He knows he’s not going to see Goku in the afterlife, even before he asks Piccolo.

What the fuck else was he supposed to do?

The music in the background of this scene is ‘Trapped Between Past and Present’ and if that doesn’t sum up the backbone of Vegeta’s arc in Z, then there’s nothing that does.

The beauty of his sacrifice is that he still has the mark of evil on his forehead when he dies, even though he’s bucked Babidi’s mind control by that point. He chooses the present. He chooses to symbolically and very literally raze his old self to the ground for the sake of all that his new self cares for. That is why the impermanence of death in Dragon Ball works for him. That’s why I go insane over the Majin arc specifically. New growth roots in ashes, phoenixes and sapling trees both.

Super (and end of Z) is where you get to luxuriate in that growth and watch it pay off, and oh my god does it ever pay off. Without going deep into spoiler territory (formally begging all of you to read the manga here), the later arcs begin to address Vegeta reckoning with his personal sins against the Namekians, and those of his race, who destroyed countless worlds under Freeza. Vegeta and Beerus have a conversation in chapter 69 of Super where things I’ve described in this here essay are worded explicitly into the canon. I think of it to this day. I think of all of the things Vegeta does in Super and I think it’s incredible just how far he’s come.

Before creation comes destruction.

Alright that’s enough pretentious meta. Here’s Vegeta being very happy about a well-earned victory. Isn’t he so fuckin’ cute.

*ep85, or 41 if you prefer Kai

#vegeta #dbz #dragon ball z #dragonball z #wanna hear me talk about dragonball characters? WANNA HEAR ME TALK ABOUT EM SOME MORE?#drop an ask or smth bc boy have I got things to say about Things.#i swear to god i didn't send this ask to myself #basia and breezee if it was one of you you better fess up right now #long post #text from the mod

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