#and don’t even get me started on future gohan. i love time travel i love the cosmic irony of goku’s kid having to raise vegeta’s kid bc

[un-pearable]

<- has thoughts about gohan now. no i can’t turn them off

[ahkaraii]

"I'm sorry if it hurts Chi-Chi and Gohan, but please don't try and resurrect me. Besides, Gohan's a lot better person than I was..."

I think about this line a lot. It shows a lot of self awareness from Goku, y'know?

I have a lot of Goku feels, not all of them fandom-friendly. Twitter folks either bash him or defend him unto death, very black and white binary split-like, which makes it difficult to talk about in 140 characters or less. “Good” dad or “Bad” dad is subjective. But I think his actions -- and inactions -- had profound effects on his family and the world beyond, for good and for bad.

Lemme word vomit for a while and see if I can get something coherent out xD

I think he’s a fantastic shonen protagonist -- arguably the template!! -- and I love him as a character that steadfastly drives the story inexhaustibly forward, to stronger and stronger opponents, to ever more fantastic plotlines. But I personally Iike to take a magnifying glass to the small moments, the quiet moments; the breaths in between the panels. And in these moments, I think Goku is a fascinating chimera of a character: a patchwork man he stitched together through mimicry and good intentions and animal impulse.

He acts like a doofus and in many cases its genuine -- he practically self-raised himself in the wild after not just accidentally killing his grandpa, but also after suffering an actually plot-significant brain injury -- but he is no idiot. I think Goku knows he’s different and not just because he’s an alien with a regrowing tail.

Goku isn’t a normal human because he doesn’t connect like a normal human. He loves but it’s because he chooses to love. He’s loyal because he chooses to be loyal. It’s not sociopathy, but it is a kind of almost... autistic spectrum like inability? I hesitate to step on toes here, but I’m basically heavily projecting my own father -- who is himself a man with high functioning autism -- so that’s where I’m drawing my main inspiration.

Goku struggles immensely to understand people who are emotionally volatile. He defaults to humour and acting like he doesn’t get it just to defuse the situation, because otherwise it’s time to Fight and Goku never takes fights lightly, and that often doesn’t end well with squishy humans. He has a moral code but he doesn’t Regret like a normal person does upon causing injury, physical or emotional. He doesn’t empathize like an emotionally adept person can. He reads body language better than tone.

On the vein of being on the spectrum, or just surviving a brain injury, or just being a saiyan, or a combination of all three -- Goku’s special interest is Fighting. And that’s one of the sources of his family’s problems.

Before Raditz, Goku was content fighting in the World Tournament and marrying the world’s strongest woman, and raising a family with her. Farming to make money to support Chichi and Gohan was boring but it was a form of training if he squinted, and he was fine conforming to that. He looked forward to Gohan growing up enough to train him (remember him saying Chichi wouldn’t let him until Gohan got older), and there he’d have another sparing partner. How exciting! He can’t wait. Let’s go fishing, Gohan, I’ll show you how to use your tail just like I used to! Can you catch a bigger fish? I know you can! Isn’t this fun? Haha! I wonder if this is what Grandpa Gohan felt. I miss him. But Gohan’s here with me! Gosh, I can’t wait till I can teach him all I know!

But after Raditz, Goku was introduced to Strength Beyond Earth, and I believe that was the start of the death of Goku’s attachment to his humanity. Because humans had a limit, and the stars did not.

Goku’s not a bad person. He’s not a terrible father. But like a good shonen protagonist, he’s addicted to chasing strength, and the strength beyond even life itself ultimately called him to abandon his mortal coil (which we see culminate in GT’s ending).

It began by wanting to stay dead. He doesn’t want to hurt his family -- he genuinely doesn’t! -- so after surviving Namek’s destruction he preferred to keep them ignorant as he trained on Planet Yardrat, since what good would it do for them to know he lived if he didn’t plan on coming back yet? Then he mastered Instant Transmission!! How amazing! Now he can travel to and from any reaches of the vast universe; he can come home whenever he wants to. Now he doesn’t have to hurt his family AND he can fight whenever and wherever he wants! Wahoo!!

So he comes back to life. Aaaand life’s not the same. Chichi’s not the same -- she mourned his death and she’s still angry he lost her Gohan for a year, and then took him to space, and then he nearly died for it, too -- and Gohan’s not the same. He’s not four years old anymore. He’s not the wide-eyed kid who looked like his father had all the answers. Krillin’s gotten older.  Everyone has changed, even if just a little. Everyone but Goku.

(Except Goku HAS changed. There’s a whole universe to discover. There’s so much strength he can defeat, still. He looks up at the stars at night and feels for Yardrat’s ki. He feels so much ki everywhere up there. He wants to chase it all down. Is it because I’m a Saiyan? Or is it because I’m a bad person? Goku don’t know...but Goku longs for it. He longs for the peace he finds in letting go).

Future Trunk’s message that a heart illness will kill him politely confuses him. Goku doesn’t fear death -- he knows what’s beyond it, now. And there’s fighters there. Even if he dies, there will be people to fight. No worries. But he does worry about this nebulous future where all his loved ones are dead, too, all except Gohan. It sounds like his boy’s gonna have it rough if these android fellas win. Time to beat some androids! :D And hey, this is finally a good excuse to train with Gohan!! So he does that for a couple of years, teaming up with Piccolo. Gohan’s gotten so strong! How exciting!

Chichi’s slowly come ‘round to him again, so that’s nice, too. He doesn’t really get why she’s still so mad but he rolls with it. He responds to violence he can’t fight against with a smile. Her emotions are too hard to follow, and it can get a little tiresome. But he loves her -- he chose to love her, so he does, and he always will. In his own way.

Then the androids come, and then Cell comes, and Goku steals Gohan away for a day and a year inside the Chamber, and he finally, finally realizes -- gosh, Gohan’s not like him at all. Gohan’s what a Real Human should be. What a Real Hero should be. The hero the Earth needs. Because Goku can’t be that hero anymore -- he never could be. He’s not human.

And there’s so many people to fight beyond the stars....

So when Goku choses to die alongside Cell, it was a choice, too. Gohan’s a better person than him, anyway. He’ll make Chichi happy, and he’ll protect the earth, and maybe one day Goku’ll meet him again and they can spar to see their strengths :) He’s so proud of his boy....

So........ is Goku a good father? A bad father? A good person? A bad person?

I think Goku is Goku. So I’ll let you decide :)

(Here’s the canon Goku dialogue from the end of Cell saga: )

[saiyanwhore]

Dragon Ball Z: Boyfriend Scenarios

Part Three: How He Confesses His Feelings

A/N: Sorry it took so long everyone!!

Goku

The only person in the group that knew of Goku's crush on you was Bulma. She was always rooting him on and giving him tips.

This morning, she suggested he try to cook for you since you were always cooking for him.

You walked downstairs to the smell of something good...and something burning. It was a weird mix.

Immediately alarmed, you hurried yourself to see what was going on. You were immediately stopped by a panicked looking Goku.

"No, no Y/N you can't come down just yet." He nervously chuckled.

"What did you do Goku? It smells like burnt food in here!"

"Really! There's no reason to worry! I promise! It's all under control." He flashed you his goofy grin as you attempted to push past him.

"Goku! Come on! What is going on!?"

"It's under control Y/N!" You hear Bulma's voice shout.

"Bulma!?" You were shocked. "Goku you must have really fucked up if Bulma's here to fix it!"

"Please, Y/N!"

"Move!"

"No!"

"Move Goku!"

"I can't."

You knew just how to get him. Tickling.

You began to tickle his sides as he doubled over and you quickly sped past him and into the kitchen. You looked at the table to see your favorite breakfast food prepared.

Goku came up behind you and placed a hand on the small of your back. He looked a little red in the face as Bulma laughed.

"He tried to make you breakfast and completely failed." She laughed. "I came to help out. Almost done! Just finishing up the orange juice."

Bulma winked at Goku as you turned around and started giggling.

"Well, you see. I've never been the best at cooking and..."

You interrupted. "Goku, it's alright. I appreciate the effort. Thank you."

You engulfed him in a hug being sure to squeeze him extra tight. His large arms snaked around your waist as he began to whisper in your ear.

"You know, I tried to make breakfast. Well, because..." He sighed softly. "I kind of, sort of like you a lot."

You started laughing even harder, Goku pulling away and giving you a confused look. He scratched the top of his head as you continued your laughter.

"Goku! Come back!" You grabbed his hand and pulled him into another hug. "Surprise! I like you too." You whispered back.

"Told you so!!" Bulma stuck her tongue out at Goku as you happily sat down at the table.

Vegeta

Tonight Bulma was throwing a party and despite not wanting to go at all, Vegeta did because he knew you would be there.

It was nice to take a break from training and just hang out.

Throughout the night, you danced, drank just a little, and chatted with everyone.

It wasn't until the night was almost over that you remembered Vegeta said he would be here tonight.

You were so used to not seeing him at these sorts of things that you just sort of expected him not to show up.

Vegeta had been sitting inside watching TV the entire time you were outside with everyone. He had even gotten so comfy on the couch, he fell asleep.

"Hey, have you seen 'Geta?" You questioned Bulma.

She pointed inside, to which you quickly rushed in.

You found him sprawled out on the couch, snoring away. He must have been tired from training.

You giggled as you crouched down next to the Saiyan. "Vegeta." You whispered his name. He didn't budge.

You stood up, gently picked him up walked outside where you immediately flew away, being careful not to wake him.

You were going to your place.

Once you landed, you walked inside and gently placed him on the couch, grabbing him a pillow and blanket. You covered him up and gave his forehead a soft kiss before making yourself a cup of coffee.

You sat down in one of your chairs, sipping away at the warm drink, waiting for him to wake up.

Eventually, he did.

His onyx eyes fluttered open and an immediate look of confusion plastered on his face. He glanced around the room before spotting you and quickly sitting up.

"Woman! Where am I?"

You laughed. "My house. You fell asleep at the party. I carried you here."

Vegeta's heart fluttered at the thought of you carrying him back to your house. Taking care of him.

"Who knew that the Prince of all Saiyans looked so cute while sleeping." You teased him. "Want some coffee?"

His face went red as he looked down at the floor. "Please..." He grumbled, rolling his eyes.

You made him some and handed it to him, taking a seat next to him on the couch.

"You were really out cold. I tried to wake you, but you just kept snoring."

Vegeta felt a wave of embarrassment fall over him as he shrugged. "You should have left me there, woman."

"Oh yeah. As if. Bulma would have rolled you off the couch and yelled at you to get out. You're not exactly the nicest to anyone other than me." You chuckled. "Why am I so special anyway, Vegeta? Why do you only talk to me?"

"I train with you."

"Ah."

Vegeta took a sip of his drink before leaning forward and setting it on the table.

"Well, you're special to me Vegeta." You looked away, a bit flustered.

He just grunted, crossing his arms and looking toward the ceiling.

"Vegeta. I like you. A lot."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"You only think you do."

"I like you Vegeta. As hard as it is to like you, I do. I like how you're not easy on me simply because I'm a girl. And how you treat me like a warrior. I admire you. You're strong and proud. I love that about you."

Vegeta's face went as red as a tomato. His voice was low. "How convenient."

"Huh?"

"Oh god, I've become all...soft." He cringed. "For god sakes woman, I like you too!"

Gohan

"Absolutely not Gohan! You two are getting too old to be having sleepovers together!" Chi-Chi said to her son.

"Oh come on mom! Y/N and I are just friends! Just this one time! Last time I swear!"

"That's what you said last time! No!" She crossed her arms and started tapping her foot.

"Mom, please! I promise this time is a definite last time!" He begged. "I'll put in extra time for studying!"

Chi-Chi's ears perked up once he mentioned studying.

"Okay Gohan, but this is the last time!"

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He laughed as he flew out the front door towards your house.

Gohan landed at your front door, knocking rapidly.

You opened with a happy face. "You convinced her?"

"Yeah! All I had to tell her was extra studying!" Gohan laughed as he entered your house.

"Gohan, sweetie! How are you?" Your mother greeted.

"Oh just lovely, Mrs. L/N. And you?"

"I'm doing good!"

You grabbed Gohan's hand and dragged him up to your room where the two of you sat on your bed.

"Sneaking out tonight, right?" You questioned.

"Uh, yeah!"

Up until the start of the new school year, you and Gohan did this all the time. You'd stay the night at one another's house and sneak out at night. Most of the time it was to stargaze.

When it finally was nighttime, the two of you opened your window and flew out to an old abandoned barn in the middle of nowhere.

You landed on the roof, Gohan laying back and staring up at the sky, hands behind his head.

"This really might be the last time we do this." He mumbled. "Mom's been pretty strict about us seeing one another lately."

You scooted closer to him, laying down. "I don't know why..." You responded.

Gohan nervously chuckled and took a deep breath. "I think she thinks we like each other or something."

Your heart began to thump as you looked over at him, his eyes shimmering under the stars.

"Well, she has every right to be suspicious. Neither one of us date and we're with each other all the time."

"Yeah. Right." He grinned, grabbing your hand.

You tightly gripped his hand, eyes locking with his.

"Maybe mom is right about us."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, hypothetically speaking, what if I liked you and you liked me and we started dating, huh?"

You smiled at him.

"Would it give me permission to do this?" You rolled over and straddled him, his cheeks immediately turned red and eyes wide.

You leaned down and kissed him square on the lips, his hands moving to your waist.

He tasted so sweet and lovely.

He pulled away due to the need for air and looked up at you. "I think I'm going to need you to do that again just to be sure."

Future Trunks

It had been a few months since the last time you had seen him. You were beyond excited.

Trunks had told you the exact date, location, and time of when he'd arrive.

It was only a matter of time before the androids would show up, and not only were you excited, you were also scared to see what was going to happen.

You stood impatiently, tapping your foot. Krillin stood by your side as you nervously chewed at your nails.

"Hey Y/N it will be alright. I'm sure he'll be here any mo-" And before Krillin could answer, the air zapped and the time machine appeared right before your eyes. It landed on the ground and you immediately flew up to the top, busting open the dome to reveal Trunks.

"Trunks!" You grinned, grabbing his hand and pulling him out.

He looked up at you with his bright blue eyes, a grin plastered on his face. He laughed softly before nervously scratching his neck.

"Y/N! Good to see you too."

"Come on you two! We don't have much time." You heard Piccolo from the ground.

You both flew down. Piccolo and Krillin stayed with you to wait for Trunks while the rest of the gang headed to gather in the designated area.

Piccolo and Krillin lifted off and you and Trunks followed.

"I missed you." You mumbled, glancing over at him.

"Me too, Y/N." He looked down.

Silence filled the air as you traveled Trunks looked nervous and on edge. It was understandable considering he was facing the androids, who destroyed his future.

"It'll be okay Trunks. We'll beat them together." You smiled.

His eyebrows knitted as he looked over at you with worry glistening in his eyes. He frowned. "No, Y/N. You don't understand what they're like. They've killed thousands of innocent people in my future. They won't hesitate to do it here either. They're monsters."

You flew a little closer to him and grabbed his hand. "I know. Which is why I'm motivated to kill them once and for all."

Trunks squeezed your hand softly before clearing his throat.

"Y/N, before we arrive. And before we begin our battle, there's something you need to know." His throat bobbed.

"Yes?"

"If the androids kill you or me I need you to know..." He choked. "I love and like you a lot."

Piccolo

Another day at the lookout...

"Hey, Piccolo." You disturbed the Namekian during his meditation session.

He opened one of his eyes and peeked over at you, a small smile playing upon his lips as he crossed his arms.

"What is it, Y/N?"

You laughed at him before walking over and grabbing one of his hands and tugging him along gently.

"I want take out. It's been soooooo long!" You grinned ear to ear.

"Fine." He had been looking for an excuse to be alone with you anyway. Dende and Mr. Popo always seemed to be sneaking in to watch the two of you flirt like a soap opera or something.

"What?" You were shocked he gave in so easily.

His forehead crinkled. "I said fine. Don't make me regret it."

"Yes! Yes! Yes! You're the best, Big Green!"

A purple tint appeared on his cheeks.

*Later*

You and Piccolo were preparing to leave the lookout, saying a quick "goodbye, see ya soon" to Dende and Popo.

You both flew down towards the ground, Piccolo attempting to make small talk whilst you made your way to the Chinese restaurant.

"Why didn't you just go on your own?" He questioned, not looking over in your direction. You had put something nicer than usual on to get his attention, and it had worked by the look on his face.

"I enjoy your company clearly. You are the reason I am even at the lookout, Piccolo. I mean, seriously. I'm just a mere human."

He growled. "No. You're a warrior."

"Well still."

You eventually landed and Piccolo walked closely by your side as you made your way down the street.

The Namekian held a hand to the small of your back, guiding you along. He really was a gentleman no matter how tough he liked to act at times.

"You know, I appreciate you coming with me." You grinned up at him.

"Uh. Yeah. Sure."

You grinned as you leaned into his side. His heart stopped as he looked off into the distance with a blush overcoming his face.

"Why do you always go purple when I touch you?"

"W-What?" He exclaimed, a panicked look on his face.

You giggled softly. "I think someone has a crush on silly, old me."

"What? No!"

"Yes!" You stuck your tongue out at him.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"And so what if I did?" He stopped dead in his tracks and crossed his arms.

"Well, I'd say I like you too."

"You would?"

"Mhm." You nodded, falling into his chest.

It took the Namekian by surprise, but soon you felt his arms snake around you and you stood in his embrace for a while before starting back up on your walk. His hand is yours.

[duhragonball]

cell for the character ask cuz i just wanna see you talk about him

WULL IT’S TIME

IT’S TIME

IT’S VADER TALK ABOUT CELL TIME

Give me a character and I will answer:

Why I like them: Dragon Ball Z is a fuckin’ awesome TV show, and Cell is the best character in said TV show.   

Let me see if I can word this any differently than I have in the past.   He’s a monster from the future, cloned from the DNA of Goku’s mightiest, most memorable opponents, including Goku’s greatest opponent, Goku himself.   In a meta sense, he combines arch-villains from multiple classic 80′s movies: The Terminator, Jeff Goldblum version of The Fly,  Old Biff from Back to the Future Part II, and Nuclear Man from Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. 

  The Androids arc was crazy enough.   Frieza was the most powerful guy in the universe, but then new enemies show up that are so much stronger than Frieza that they already won, and someone has to travel back in time to to try to prevent it from happening.    That’s insane, and then you have this green bug man show up and he promises to make things even worse.   How can Goku stop him?  He can’t.    Cell wins Dragon Ball Z, and then he throws a tournament just to get a New Game Plus out of it before he destroys the Earth and finds something else to do with his time.   

Why I don’t:  Fuck outta here with that shit.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): Probably the episode where he coughs up 18, just for the sheer WTF-ery of it.    Up to that point, you wonder if his absorption of 17 and 18 could be reversed, and then Gohan literally beats 18 right out of him.    And then he kind of reaches down for her, like he’s hoping he can stuff her back in somehow.    Could that even work?    We never find out, and I’d like to think that even Cell doesn’t know.

Favorite season/movie: There’s really only one option here.   If we’re going by Funimation’s smaller arc-divisions, I’ll stick with the Cell Games, since that’s the culmination of his arc.

Favorite line: “Stay away from me, you monster!”  This is from the dub, in the episode where Gohan’s kicking his ass while he’s stuck in semiperfect form.    I love everything about that, because Cell had been such a nightmare up to that point, and he has the temerity to call anyone else a “monster”.   Of all people, he’s terrified of a cinnamon roll like Gohan, who only became a threat because Cell pushed him too far.   

Favorite outfit: Butt naked, as Dr. Gero intended.    If we’re talking about forms, then Perfect Cell, all the way.

OTP: Yeah, fuck that noise.   I see all these people all thirsty for Cell, and I sort of get it, since he’s built like a bodybuilder in a goofy bug suit, but he’s a fighter, not a lover.

Brotp: He’s like Pee-Wee Herman, a loner.  

Head Canon: I was watching a video about Mitochrondrial Eve, mainly because the term is somewhat confusing and potentially misleading.   The main gist of it is that mitochrondria in human cells have their own DNA, apart from the DNA found in the cell’s nucleus.    These can only be inherited from one’s mother, which is why Mitochrondrial Eve is the most recent common ancestor from a strictly matrilineal line.   Everyone’s mother’s mother’s mother’s mother’s, etc. until you end up with that one person where all the common mitochrondria would have come from.   

So why do mitochrondria have their own DNA?   One of the widely held hypotheses for this is that mitochrondria originally started out as independent life forms, prokaryotic cells, like bacteria.   Eventually, they and formed a symbiotic relationship with early eukaryotic cells, living inside of them and performing a role that the host cells couldn’t do on their own.   And this relationship continued until the mitochrondria might as well be considered organelles of the host cell.

The point I’m getting at is that this might explain what Cell means when he speaks of having “the cells from Frieza”.    I never understood that, because I figured a creature like Cell would have to have DNA spliced in from the other characters, so he should only have Frieza’s genes, not entire cells.   But maybe Gero found a way to turn all those donor cells into something akin to mitochrondria.    They exist inside Cell’s cells, providing powers and abilities that wouldn’t be possible through a mere genetic recombination.

Unpopular opinion: I cannot stress enough how vastly superior Cell is to Frieza as a villain.    One sits on his spaceship like some shitty wine mom.  The other eats people with his ass.    Pop quiz: What’s your favorite Frieza moment?   The one where he talks a lot and doesn’t do anything?   Is it one of the 800 flashbacks to him destroying Planet Vegeta?    How about the one where he could end a problem in two seconds, but doesn’t, because he’s such a lazy shitpiece, and then he whines because the problem hasn’t gone away?   Frieza sucks so bad.  The only good thing he ever did was provide useful cell samples to Dr. Gero, so that his computer could produce a proper archenemy for Goku. 

A wish: I wish Movie 12 had been longer, and featured a Great Saiyaman vs. Cell fight.    Nothing too long, since Gohan was pretty far ahead of Cell by that point, but it would have been pretty cool.   Or Tiencha could fight Cell.   I forget which one I’d rather see.  

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Toei’s done a good job not doing anything with Cell in the post 2013 Dragon Ball renaissance, and I’d just as soon they keep it that way.

5 words to best describe them: Perfect villain, cool and good.

My nickname for them: What, is “Cell” too long for people?

[mdgrissomv]

Tagged by: @yourdesertsunflower (I kinda like this type of asks)

NAME: Maryu Deslyn Grissom... Not my real name, tho. But have part of it :b (You can find me on facebook with that name)

NICKNAMES: Mary, Des or Gris.

GENDER: Female

SEXUALITY: Pansexual with grissexual tendencies and kind of queer.

HEIGHT: 5'4" or 163 cm

LANGUAGES: Spanish, some of English (can’t talk well), tried to study french, but my grades were a shit on U

NATIONALITY: Caribbean... I really don’t mind giving my nationality, but many people didn’t know that my little lovely island exist. And when you say “caribbean”, if you know were it is, your first thought it’s than I am from Cuba or PR. Bi-tch, there are more little island on Caribe than Cuba an PR, think of it. The only clue I will give: We share the island.

CURRENT TIME: 18:30

FAVORITE SEASON: Summer. I don’t like much the cold. If in a future I travel to a land with low temperature I will froze.

FAVORITE FLOWER: I don’t really have(?) Lilies, maybe. I like the name.

FAVORITE SCENT: My scent in my blanket... Don’t ask.

FAVORITE COLOR: Gray :b... But I like all the colors.

FAVORITE ANIMAL: Wolves.

FAVORITE FICTIONAL CHARACTER: Ok, this is hard... They are the obvious one, and I don’t even remember my first fictional crush. Gohan from DBZ, maybe (?)

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: 3-9 hours

COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE: Hot chocolate.

NUMBER OF BLANKETS YOU SLEEP WITH: My blanket, bed sheet and bed cover. Usually I only use my blanket, in winter I use the bed sheet too.

DOGS OR CATS: Why not both?

DREAM TRIP: “More than a trip I need a permanent place to go. Take me anywhere out of my country.” - @yourdesertsunflower. Agree. The meme LATAM dream, it’s get out of here.

DREAM JOB: Writer.

BLOG ESTABLISHED: Two years ago.

REASON FOR MY URL: Chou in japanese means butterfly, and I’m rolpelaying Chouchou, so... two butterflies(?) It’s a form to redeem myself for the hate I have for Chouchou in start. She is a lovely, chubby, amazing, confident, beautiful girl.

RANDOM FACT: I have a homework that was left to me last week, I had to deliver it on Monday and I haven’t done it yet.

Tag to anybody that wants to do this... Maybe my new followers, or some of the followers and mutual, I see like my post most, and I want to know better @kerrenrivera @hiurakirina07 @pyzkapu.

Of course, you do it, if you want.

[smokeybrandreviews]

No Fate But What We Make

I was watching someone go in on Terminator: Dark Fate for having too many identity politics and it got me thinking; Why are all of the Terminator sequels after Judgment Day, absolute sh*t? I really enjoy the first two films and even consider the third a guilty pleasure. I remember seeing Salvation in the cinema and thinking to myself how goddamn terrible it was a a film. I passed on Genisys when it was released in theater but caught it on VOD. Man, the less said about THAT clusterf*ck, the better. I passed on Dark Fate, too, until it hit home. Admittedly, i liked that one more than it’s predecessors but that’s because it’s basically Terminator 2 with hints of the emotional sprinkled in, and the T-X from 3. With a world rich in potential like the Terminator franchise, why can no one make a good sequel? Why do all of these movies constantly suck? Interestingly enough, i think each subsequent film explains, through there very existence, why the franchise needed to end after Judgment Day.

Judgment Day - The Narrative is closed.

Sarah and John Connor are over. Their story is done with the climax to Judgment Day. There is no where to take those characters. Forcing them into a narrative outside of the future war will never work. I liked what they tried to do with The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but even that plot got convoluted and asinine real quick. Which is why i find it funny Genisys cribbed a ton of ideas from it. Sarah Connor’s story is, one hundred percent, resolved. After Judgement day, she’s irrelevant. That film was the passing of the torch to John, so to speak. It’s supposed to be his franchise now, like Dragon Ball Z was supposed to be Gohan’s series. Thing is, how do you tell that story? How do you embellish John’s narrative without making a contrived cash grab? The answer is you can’t. That’s why Cameron never revisited the world of Terminator. His story was done. Those characters were finished. To him, the story was told and there weren’t anymore to tell. That don’t stop studios, tho!

Rise of the Machines - No one cares about awkward adult John Connor

Terminator 3 is a notorious cash grab of a story but i like it enough. It’s harmless to the mythos, overall, and has some cool ideas but it falls short in so many other aspects. I think this one was the first to be rated PG-13, which neuters much of the action the franchise was known for. It kind of made up for it with Kristanna Loken naked and wet for a little while. Also inflate-o-boobs. The killer flaw with this movie is the fact no one cares about John Connor as an adult outside of his war time bad-assery. That bit with the nightmare he couldn’t possibly have, because he has no idea what the future war looks like, in the beginning off the film? Yeah, that’s where the franchise should of went. That’s where the logical narrative progression goes. That’s what everyone wanted to see. Instead, we got a vagabond John Connor who’s too stupid to move out of the city he grew up in, after “dropping off the grid.” Shenanigans ensue, Terminatrix occurs, Judgment Day still happens. Colonel Candy is the best thing about this movie and that scene was cut completely out of the goddamn movie. Also, what the f*ck happened to Cyberdyne?

Salvation - The future war needs to have a compelling story

The thing about Salvation and why it failed so miserably even though it is exactly what fans wanted, is the fact that it’s rehash crap. You get glimpses of that dystopian future in the beginning of the first three films, each peek getting better and more elaborate as budgets increase and tech gets better. By the time Salvation blew it’s load all over cinemas, every one had an idea about what that war would look like. How awesome would it be to see a wave of robot skeletons unloading on human targets. The “creatives” chose to set this film in the beginning of the goddamn war. John is not the bad-ass he should be. He’s kind of a petulant asshole, to be honest. I mean, motherf*cker ain’t even in charge. More egregious is the fact that this is literally Terminator 2. all over again. Adult John is Reese, Young Reese is young John, and the T-8oo is that weird hybrid dude. There are some original elements but they’re terrible and inconsequential. We were promised a barren, dystopian, world of ashen skulls and metallic terrors, slaughtering humanity in unrelenting waves. We got Vietnam with cyborgs. No one asked for that. You showed us what we wanted and gave us a box of sh*t instead.

Genisys - Set it in an alternate timeline that convolutes the already convoluted mythos

Alternate timeline is actually a viable option and completely plausible withing the established law of the universe. Genisys made an attempt at this and i thought it was an admirable try. Unfortunately, the movie starts a convoluted mess. If you go this route, you have to set up a brand new narrative, a brand new arc. You need a new conflict and new characters. You can’t rehash the sh*t you did before because, at that point, why the f*ck am i watching the new movie? Why wouldn’t i just watch the original content? That’s exactly the trap Genisys falls into. There’s a lot of great ideas but the execution was just plain awful. All of that time jumping and alterations and whatever else, created a plot so bloated, you’d be forgiven in you thought it was ripe for slaughter. Terminator was never this heady. The plots to the most successful entries in the franchise are exceedingly simple. Protect Sarah Connor. Protect John Connor. Stop Skynet. What the f*ck is the plot to Genisys? Why is there so much extra sh*t in the way of the three leads and their development? I liked Terminator John though. That design was dope as f*ck. Also, i have a massive crush on Daenerys Targaryen so watching her in anything is kind of dope. Even this fart. 

Dark Fate - Reboot the franchise but cling to the old like your life, and profits, depend on it

This option is probably the best option going forward. I would love to see the future war that Cameron envisioned but i doubt he revisits this franchise. He’s got a hard-on for Fantasia or Avatar or whatever the f*ck the blue cats do over there. Dark Fate f*cked up by being wildly unoriginal. Everyone says it’s the best sequels since Judgment Day but that’s because these assholes pulled a Force Awakens and literally just remade Judgment Day. It’s the same movie, beat for beat. They even brought Sarah Connor back to be the mentor figure. Like i stated before, there is a ton of “muh feminism” all up in this movie and that is divisive to lesser people but my problem with all of this “GRRRL Power”, i s the fact that none of them are good, well written, characters. They even found a way to make Sarah Connor a caricature of who she once was. You’d think watching her son be murdered in front of her, buy a machine from a future they eliminated, would give you some kind of PTSD. That sh*t wasn’t even remotely explored. Dark Fate hits the rarefied air of being a terribly bad narrative AND a botched rehash.

The Terminator franchise should have never made it past Judgment Day. Those two films were excellent and told a comprehensive story. The characters reached their inevitable conclusion and most plot points were resolved. If you wanted to make a Terminator sequel, the Connor saga had to end. You absolutely had to move away from those characters and that part of the world. But that’s that conundrum; How do you create that story? What characters are even relevant to that very specific, very Connor-cenetric, narrative? Who in the Resistance is worth following? Who is in the Resistance, period? What event is worth creating? A lot of long running franchises have this problem. Aliens is crippled by this sh*t. We finally got off the Ripley train but now we’re on the David train. I feel like there are incredibly creative individuals out there that can do something with the the Terminator toy box. Neill Blomkamp immediately comes to mind. The stuff he wanted to do with Alien was incredible and I think time traveling, cyborg, war machines is one helluva world to play in. Alex garland can probably give you some sort of existential terror to grapple like he did with Ex Machina and Annihilation. I think he'd be great with portraying the incremental evolution of Skynet and it's eventually take over. Denis Villeneuve did wonders with Blade Runner. His flair for sweeping visuals and impactful scenes would be perfect to frame the future war. Any of these directors could create a dope ass Terminator film but it would be an original tale, something not tied to the Connor saga, and there's no way any studio would allow that to happen, not in this tepid Hollywood atmosphere. There is a distinct lack of creativity in Hollywood and an acute aversion to taking actual risks. That sh*t has handicapped the box office. That sh*t is why all we get are reboots , sequels, and reimaginings. That sh*t is why Terminator should have died back with Judgment Day.

[smokeybrand]

No Fate But What We Make

I was watching someone go in on Terminator: Dark Fate for having too many identity politics and it got me thinking; Why are all of the Terminator sequels after Judgment Day, absolute sh*t? I really enjoy the first two films and even consider the third a guilty pleasure. I remember seeing Salvation in the cinema and thinking to myself how goddamn terrible it was a a film. I passed on Genisys when it was released in theater but caught it on VOD. Man, the less said about THAT clusterf*ck, the better. I passed on Dark Fate, too, until it hit home. Admittedly, i liked that one more than it’s predecessors but that’s because it’s basically Terminator 2 with hints of the emotional sprinkled in, and the T-X from 3. With a world rich in potential like the Terminator franchise, why can no one make a good sequel? Why do all of these movies constantly suck? Interestingly enough, i think each subsequent film explains, through there very existence, why the franchise needed to end after Judgment Day.

Judgment Day - The Narrative is closed.

Sarah and John Connor are over. Their story is done with the climax to Judgment Day. There is no where to take those characters. Forcing them into a narrative outside of the future war will never work. I liked what they tried to do with The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but even that plot got convoluted and asinine real quick. Which is why i find it funny Genisys cribbed a ton of ideas from it. Sarah Connor’s story is, one hundred percent, resolved. After Judgement day, she’s irrelevant. That film was the passing of the torch to John, so to speak. It’s supposed to be his franchise now, like Dragon Ball Z was supposed to be Gohan’s series. Thing is, how do you tell that story? How do you embellish John’s narrative without making a contrived cash grab? The answer is you can’t. That’s why Cameron never revisited the world of Terminator. His story was done. Those characters were finished. To him, the story was told and there weren’t anymore to tell. That don’t stop studios, tho!

Rise of the Machines - No one cares about awkward adult John Connor

Terminator 3 is a notorious cash grab of a story but i like it enough. It’s harmless to the mythos, overall, and has some cool ideas but it falls short in so many other aspects. I think this one was the first to be rated PG-13, which neuters much of the action the franchise was known for. It kind of made up for it with Kristanna Loken naked and wet for a little while. Also inflate-o-boobs. The killer flaw with this movie is the fact no one cares about John Connor as an adult outside of his war time bad-assery. That bit with the nightmare he couldn’t possibly have, because he has no idea what the future war looks like, in the beginning off the film? Yeah, that’s where the franchise should of went. That’s where the logical narrative progression goes. That’s what everyone wanted to see. Instead, we got a vagabond John Connor who’s too stupid to move out of the city he grew up in, after “dropping off the grid.” Shenanigans ensue, Terminatrix occurs, Judgment Day still happens. Colonel Candy is the best thing about this movie and that scene was cut completely out of the goddamn movie. Also, what the f*ck happened to Cyberdyne?

Salvation - The future war needs to have a compelling story

The thing about Salvation and why it failed so miserably even though it is exactly what fans wanted, is the fact that it’s rehash crap. You get glimpses of that dystopian future in the beginning of the first three films, each peek getting better and more elaborate as budgets increase and tech gets better. By the time Salvation blew it’s load all over cinemas, every one had an idea about what that war would look like. How awesome would it be to see a wave of robot skeletons unloading on human targets. The “creatives” chose to set this film in the beginning of the goddamn war. John is not the bad-ass he should be. He’s kind of a petulant asshole, to be honest. I mean, motherf*cker ain’t even in charge. More egregious is the fact that this is literally Terminator 2. all over again. Adult John is Reese, Young Reese is young John, and the T-8oo is that weird hybrid dude. There are some original elements but they’re terrible and inconsequential. We were promised a barren, dystopian, world of ashen skulls and metallic terrors, slaughtering humanity in unrelenting waves. We got Vietnam with cyborgs. No one asked for that. You showed us what we wanted and gave us a box of sh*t instead.

Genisys - Set it in an alternate timeline that convolutes the already convoluted mythos

Alternate timeline is actually a viable option and completely plausible withing the established law of the universe. Genisys made an attempt at this and i thought it was an admirable try. Unfortunately, the movie starts a convoluted mess. If you go this route, you have to set up a brand new narrative, a brand new arc. You need a new conflict and new characters. You can’t rehash the sh*t you did before because, at that point, why the f*ck am i watching the new movie? Why wouldn’t i just watch the original content? That’s exactly the trap Genisys falls into. There’s a lot of great ideas but the execution was just plain awful. All of that time jumping and alterations and whatever else, created a plot so bloated, you’d be forgiven in you thought it was ripe for slaughter. Terminator was never this heady. The plots to the most successful entries in the franchise are exceedingly simple. Protect Sarah Connor. Protect John Connor. Stop Skynet. What the f*ck is the plot to Genisys? Why is there so much extra sh*t in the way of the three leads and their development? I liked Terminator John though. That design was dope as f*ck. Also, i have a massive crush on Daenerys Targaryen so watching her in anything is kind of dope. Even this fart.

Dark Fate - Reboot the franchise but cling to the old like your life, and profits, depend on it

This option is probably the best option going forward. I would love to see the future war that Cameron envisioned but i doubt he revisits this franchise. He’s got a hard-on for Fantasia or Avatar or whatever the f*ck the blue cats do over there. Dark Fate f*cked up by being wildly unoriginal. Everyone says it’s the best sequels since Judgment Day but that’s because these assholes pulled a Force Awakens and literally just remade Judgment Day. It’s the same movie, beat for beat. They even brought Sarah Connor back to be the mentor figure. Like i stated before, there is a ton of “muh feminism” all up in this movie and that is divisive to lesser people but my problem with all of this “GRRRL Power”, i s the fact that none of them are good, well written, characters. They even found a way to make Sarah Connor a caricature of who she once was. You’d think watching her son be murdered in front of her, buy a machine from a future they eliminated, would give you some kind of PTSD. That sh*t wasn’t even remotely explored. Dark Fate hits the rarefied air of being a terribly bad narrative AND a botched rehash.

The Terminator franchise should have never made it past Judgment Day. Those two films were excellent and told a comprehensive story. The characters reached their inevitable conclusion and most plot points were resolved. If you wanted to make a Terminator sequel, the Connor saga had to end. You absolutely had to move away from those characters and that part of the world. But that’s that conundrum; How do you create that story? What characters are even relevant to that very specific, very Connor-cenetric, narrative? Who in the Resistance is worth following? Who is in the Resistance, period? What event is worth creating? A lot of long running franchises have this problem. Aliens is crippled by this sh*t. We finally got off the Ripley train but now we’re on the David train. I feel like there are incredibly creative individuals out there that can do something with the the Terminator toy box. Neill Blomkamp immediately comes to mind. The stuff he wanted to do with Alien was incredible and I think time traveling, cyborg, war machines is one helluva world to play in. Alex garland can probably give you some sort of existential terror to grapple like he did with Ex Machina and Annihilation. I think he'd be great with portraying the incremental evolution of Skynet and it's eventually take over. Denis Villeneuve did wonders with Blade Runner. His flair for sweeping visuals and impactful scenes would be perfect to frame the future war. Any of these directors could create a dope ass Terminator film but it would be an original tale, something not tied to the Connor saga, and there's no way any studio would allow that to happen, not in this tepid Hollywood atmosphere. There is a distinct lack of creativity in Hollywood and an acute aversion to taking actual risks. That sh*t has handicapped the box office. That sh*t is why all we get are reboots , sequels, and reimaginings. That sh*t is why Terminator should have died back with Judgment Day.

[otomeverything]

CODE REALIZE: WINTERTIDE MIRACLES

Release Date:  February 14, 2019 (North America) Developers:  Idea Factory, Otomate Publishers:  Aksys Games Platforms:  PS Vita, PS4

  I literally took my time playing this FD, knowing it’s the last (physical) otome game that will ever grace localization in the PS Vita.

Code Realize: Wintertide Miracles (Shirogane no Kiseki) is the second fandisc of the series, Code Realize. This game contains varieties of alternate and after stories that happened after the events of the last fandisc, Future Blessings.

  This fandisc contains the following stories:

Cantarella (Side Story) – Walkthrough available here.

Finis’s Epilogue

Sholme’s Epilogue

Love Triangle Stories (Short Stories)

Wintertide Miracles “First Christmas” (Alternate Stories)

Special Epilogues (Epilogues for White Rose’s stories in Future Blessings)

  ART AND MUSIC I know this is probably redundant as I’ve gushed about it a few times in my reviews for Guardian of Rebirth and Future Blessings. But, the artist Miko has done it again! I could not for the life of me, describe how incredibly beautiful the CGs are for this fandisc. There were also new sprites available for all the main and side characters, wearing their cozy winter outfits. Even Queen Victoria gets a new sprite wearing her expensive royal fur faux garb!

What I also loved about this fandisc were the new BGMs added for the series, they were all unforgettable and were specially made for the game’s Yuletide theme. One song that really stood out to me was the second Ending theme (Finis’ and Sholmes’ ED) “Beside You” by the artist SHOJI. Listen to the full track below:

***I purchased the whole soundtrack for Code Realize: Wintertide Miracles in iTunes. Link here.

  NEW CHARACTERS

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Cantarella (CV: Mamiko Noto) – Fuuka (Persona 4), Kotomi Ichinose (Clannad), Inia Sestina (MuV Luv), Felicita (Arcana Famiglia), Marvis Vermilion  (Fairy Tale)

Miles Strand (CV: Keiji Fujiwara) – Kagura Mutsuki (Blazblue), Jiro Hyuuga (Binary Star), Reno (Final Fantasy), Kiriya (Senran Kagura), Sakuya Tougane (Psycho Pass)

Baron of Aiguille (CV: Sugiyama Noriaki) – Akito (Norn9), Thor (Kamigami no Asobi), Suou Hana (Ayakashi Gohan), Katsuragi Naomasa (Yunohana Spring), Kashika Galle (Cendrillon Palika)

  SIDE STORIES AND AFTER STORIES I did Cantarella’s route first, followed by Finis and Sholme’s epilogues, then knocked out the love triangle dates before I played the main course, that is the “First Christmas” alternate stories for Wintertide Miracles. I myself, enjoyed this play order, though I would suggest playing whatever story you feel like playing first because that’s the whole point of a fandisc! lol

  CANTARELLA (Another Story) This story happened somewhere in the middle of Guardian of Rebirth’s common route. On their way home, after watching a performance at the Royal Opera House, Cardia and the rest of Lupin’s gang witnessed an attempted kidnapping of the Opera House’s beloved songstress, Cantarella. They’ve managed to save her as well as send her perpetrator running for the hills. They then took Cantarella to her home for safety measures, which lead the gang to meet her so-called “father” Miles. In this story, Cardia finds a friend in Cantarella and later on, discovers her true identity as both their existence managed to connect each other’s fates.

Just like “Lupin’s Gang’s” (side) story in Future Blessings, Cantarella’s route offers new likable characters and an interesting new plot for us to follow. Although I’ve very much enjoyed this story (for what it is), I didn’t like how the writers threw in these important characters on the third game, since canonically they don’t matter anymore as the main plot officially ended in Future Blessings. I would rather have this as an alternate story than a side story because It felt kind of unfair for Cantarella, Miles, and Auguille to get dissed like that after this little episode. lol Unless they’re planning on a third fandisc! (laughs)

Although the choices you make in Cantarella’s route, will not change the whole outcome of her story. It will, however, change a few scenes and dialogues in the game depending on the guy (main characters) your choices are inclined to. You can view my walkthrough for this route here.

  FINIS’ EPILOGUE (After Story) This after story took place right after the end of Finis’s route in Future Blessings. 

Six months have passed since Cardia managed to save his little brother, Finis from the unfortunate Nautilus incident in London. During this time, both twins return to their home in Wales and spend each day cleaning and repairing their old abandoned house while enhancing their bond as siblings. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose when one of Isaac Beckford’s invention called the “Knockers” have been spotted destroying a couple of buildings in London. It was made clear in the story, that these supposed-to-be-quarantined inventions of Isaac were “wrongly” activated by accident and it is now, up to the  Beckford twins (Finis’ most especially, since he’s fully knowledgeable when it comes to their father’s inventions) to stop this heaving uproar that threatened London its peaceful days.

This was probably one of my favorite After Stories in the series. Not only we get to see Finis in his true nature, as Cardia’s adorable cinnamon roll lil’ brother. We also get to see Lupin’s Gang and the Gordon Family in action as they help out clear the disruption in the streets of London during the main incident. ***This epilogue was very heartwarming and I absolutely enjoyed seeing Finis’ soft side while he deliberately declares threats whenever one of the main bois flirts with his sister! *chuckles* (´ ω `♡)

  HERLOCK SHOLME’S EPILOGUE (After Story) This after story took place right after the end of Sholme’s route in Future Blessings. 

It’s been half a year since Sholmes defeated his arch nemesis, James Moriaty (in Code realize Future Blessings). During this story, Cardia becomes part of Sholmes’ Detective agency together with his partner John Watson. The three of them fight crimes for the cause of good, even to the extent of ‘trying‘ to stop Lupin, the gentleman thief’s planned diamond heist of the prized jewel called “Mermaid’s Tear”.  Though try as they might, Lupin, as cunning as he is, still gets the upper hand and was able to escape with ease together with his genius engineer assistant, Impey. I know this was just a filler episode but it was kind of weird seeing Cardia as their enemy for once, but oh well…

Anyway, Sholmes actual main story revolved around finding a cure to Cardia’s poison.  As the Horologium still present in Cardia’s body, this fact still poses a threat that one day it will activate again, killing her along with the demise of London and its people. With this complication at hand, Sholmes gathered his A-team geniuses in the field of science and medicine; Victor Frankenstein, Dr. John Watson, Impey Barbicane and even the deviant genius scientist Nemo, who apparently now lives in a tiny cardboard box located in sewers (laughs) 😂 Poor guy! As all of them try their hardest to conduct research on a formula that will counteract the horologium’s poison, more problems seep into the picture that eventually causes Sholmes and Cardia make one life-threatening decision.

I like how Sholmes’ epilogue was narrated in a fairytale-esque kind of way. I enjoyed the story’s fluff content though, to be honest, this is probably the weakest story in the game (imo) as there really wasn’t anything “new” going on. Nonetheless, if you’re a fan of Sholmes, I’m sure you’ll have an awesome time discovering a few surprising sides of our favorite hot daddy detective. 

  FIRST CHRISTMAS “Wintertide Miracles” (Alternate Stories) These are “after stories” that happened right after Finis’ route in Future Blessings. It’s merely an alternate story where our heroine Cardia finds love during the Yuletide season. We get one story for every five main characters. What’s really special about these stories is that Cardia falls in love with one of the guys while his brother is alive! …THIS couldn’t be any more perfect, ❤️ I almost wished this was headcanon!

  Spoiler Warning: I will only be posting each story’s premise but I’m putting up my spoiler banner just in case.

  Victor Frankenstein After Isaac Beckford’s Nautilus incident that wreaked havoc in the city of London six months ago. Victor ended up opening a clinic located in the downtown part of London in order to help as many people as possible at a cheaper cost.

Victor’s main story started when one day he receives a mail from his parents in Switzerland telling him to settle down. He, in reply, told them he has no plans in getting married anytime soon but then started talking about how he’s currently interested with this ‘one girl’ and went all out writing two whole pages regarding his feelings for Cardia. (´ ε ` )♡ Without thinking of any repercussions, he sends the letter back to his parents judging its only the right thing to do as he’s speaking honestly from his heart. uwu. The next few days, he receives a reply letter from his mom saying they’re coming to London for Christmas so they can meet their son, Vic’s girlfriend. 🤣

In result, a panicked Victor travels to Wales to ask Cardia to be his “pretend” girlfriend just for Christmas while his parents are in town. 😂

***This was by far the cutest, most endearing “First Christmas” story I’ve read among the selections and I absolutely enjoyed it to bits! Besides its overwhelming fluffy contents, we also get to see Victor introducing Cardia to his parents (in CG!).

  Saint Germain Six months after the Nautilus Incident, Saint Germain, visits Idea’s leader Omnibus and reports that both Finis and Cardia, Isaac Beckford’s “problematic twins” are now living peacefully in Wales as normal human beings and are no longer a threat to humanity. As one of Idea’s faithful apostle, he awaits for Omnibus next order but was surprised to hear her tell him to take a long sweet vacation instead.

Still dumbfounded by their leader’s words, Saint Germain goes back to the mansion to find something to do with his newly acquired free time but since everyone in Lupin’s gang went about their own lives after London’s incident, he was left as the only resident in his house. This made him feel lonely and he admits to himself how much he misses the rowdy group clamoring inside the premise of his mansion. What’s more, is that he longs to see the face of his beloved, who he has not seen since his last visit in Wales.

This made him decide to write invitation letters to the group for a Christmas “Get-together” party. Though unsure if his anticipated guests would actually make it to the planned event. Saint Germain waits with hopeful eyes to see the faces of his precious friends again.

***The part where he waits for his friends actually made me tear 😭. Why are Saint Germain’s stories always melancholic? Why?! Thank goodness, this ended really REALLY happy. I would also like to gush on the fact that this is the only episode in the whole series where we get to see Guinevere outside her armor! Seriously, you absolutely can’t miss this!

  Abraham Van Helsing After London’s Nautilus incident, Van decides to travel with Delly all over United Kingdom in search for survivors of the Vampire War.

During their travels, the duo hears about the upcoming Christmas festival in London and decides to come home for the occasion as well as attend the gang’s Christmas party at Saint Germain’s mansion. They haven’t seen everyone in a while, so this decision made Van and Delly both excited. While at it, Delly proposes to take a side trip to Wales before coming to London and see the Beckford twins. Van agrees with him with Cardia in mind. ( ´ ▽ ` )

A few days have passed and they both arrived at Cardia and Finis’ home in Wales only to be disheartened to see the twins not being around. But with optimism as their friend, Van and Delly decided to wait. Night falls, and finally, Cardia and Finis arrived in the most unfashionable way ever (their automobile almost came crashing towards the duo) 😂 Everyone says their greetings when Cardia noticed that Van and Delly have been waiting out in the cold for too long, so she insisted they stay for the night.

The supposed-to-be one night stay turned into days and the group eventually decided to go to London together. While still in Wales, Cardia wanted to make everyone Christmas presents in the form of knitting and Van insisted on helping her with it.

***I love this! (/▽＼*) This surprising side of Van Helsing is all I ever wanted. I’m so glad to see him happy, always smiling and in his positive beaming self. It’s so refreshing! I need more happy-ray-of-sunshine Van Helsing in my life!

  Impey Barbicane Half a year has passed since the Nautilus incident in London and Impey visits the deviant scientist Nemo in prison from time to time as he plans to re-invent the gravity alleviator and is currently taking notes on Nemo’s advise while at it.

One day, In Saint Germain’s mansion, Saint tells Impey they received word from Van and Delly saying they’ll be back in London for Christmas. Since Lupin and Victor are already residing in the city, they decided to might as well invite Cardia and Finis in order for the gang to reunite once more this Yuletide season.

Meanwhile, in Wales, Cardia, (while fixing their automobile) thinks of how Impey’s constant declaration of love for her makes her heart feel woozy. She gets confused because she’s sure she loves Impey back but also “loves” the other members of Lupin’ s gang as well as her brother Finis. With this train of thought, she pesters her little bro and forced him to say the phrase “I love you” (to her), to which a blushing Finis, with all the effort, reluctantly did. 😂 But then yo girl was like “Oh but why does it feel different when Impey says it?” 😂 😂 😂 ROFL. This was adorably hilarious! I just can’t! 😂 

Later that day, they received a package from London in the form of a miniature Impey doll with a recording of Impey, Saint Germain and Lupin’s voice telling the siblings to come home for Christmas.

***I really enjoyed reading this one! I love how Cardia was strongly forward of wanting to explore her own feelings as she tries to discover the different meanings of “love”.  …and seeing Impey immensely blush time and again was such an awesome treat, I couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear! Another plus point was that we get to see Nemo give love advises to yo boi and that, to me was the icing on the cake in this story! (laughs)

  Arsene Lupin After the Nautilus incident in London six months ago, Lupin is back doing his thievery schemes like the proud gentleman thief he is.

One day while on a mission to steal a prized necklace from a corrupt Duke’s estate, he ends up being chased by Leonhartd as usual and just when he was about to execute his dashing escape, he gets distracted (by thoughts of Cardia) and gets shot by a rubber bullet instead. This, not only surprised Lupin himself but his perpetrators, Leonhardt, and his men were also perplexed at how they were able to take out the famed gentleman thief in one easy shot. In the end, an injured Lupin still managed to get away as he limped his way back to safety.

Back at the mansion, Victor along with Impey confronts Lupin saying he’s not being his usual self lately and asks him to perhaps, take a rain check from work (theft missions). A week later, Saint Germain chimes in, telling him the same and suggests that perhaps he’s longing for “someone”.  Taking in the Count’s advise to heart, Lupin begins to think of Cardia and how her absence is taking a toll on him. He then concedes with his true feelings and finally admits he misses her badly and the only way to cure this yearning is to see her face to face. So he starts writing the ‘perfect’ love letter for his beloved lady. 😂

***I must say, this after-story has the best CGs, as expected from the game’s headcanon boi. Just like Lupin’s uwu story in Future Blessings, it had its glorious romantic moments between the couple. As far as I see it, the game is clearly biased on Lupin’s story… the kabedon scene and that loooong kiss at the end, come on!  I couldn’t ask for more!

  TRIANGLE DATES (More CGs!) These are short stories which involve scenarios of Cardia spending her day with two main characters in the series. Although these are rather shorter stories compared to the ‘Wintertide Miracles’ selection, I was really impressed by how exceptionally good these little episodes were. You think you’ve had enough doki-dokis? Try this one on for size!

Here’s a list of all the Love Triangle episodes (you can play it in any order):

Lupin and Victor

Lupin and Impey 

Lupin and Van 

Lupin and Saint Germain 

Van and Impey 

Van and Victor 

Van and Saint Germain 

Impey and Victor 

Impey and Saint Germain 

Victor and Saint Germain 

Secret Episodes:

Delly and Sisi 

Aliester and Nemo 

Hansel and John Watson

  SPECIAL EPILOGUES These are short epilogue stories continuing the last events of Future Blessings (White Rose). These will unlock last, after finishing all of the above’s selections.

  IMPEY It’s been a few days and Impey hasn’t returned home after going on a work-related project (fixing airships and submarine engines in London).  Cardia was left alone in the mansion and although she knows Impey will come back soon, she thought of surprising him by gathering a lot of research documents related to their ‘moon-project’. She leaves for Wales to collect any information her father might have written in the past that can possibly help with the project. Not to ruin the surprise for her hardworking husband, she leaves a note that says “I’m going”.

Impey arrives at home, finds the note then begins to panic thinking Cardia has left him.😂 So he hurries and follows her to Wales to clear out this whole silly misunderstanding.

  LUPIN Cardia and Lupin go on a picnic at their secret place which has a great view of the industrial city of London and Lupin suggest that it’s about time to go on a honeymoon. Next few days, he takes Cardia to his birth city, Paris. There, they visit and the grave of his master, Theophraste and both of them said their prayers. They also ran into the head of the French police whom Lupin coined as someone equivalent to ossan Leonhartd. They had everyone (French police) chase them for fun and the couple gallantly escaped in style.

  VAN Cardia and Van are finally getting married and Shirley helps Cardia put on her wedding dress. Cardia decided to step outside the church so she could practice walking in her high-heel shoes when a bunch of men in black suits kidnaps her and takes her to another wedding location. There she finds an impatient man wearing a groom’s outfit who urges her to walk down the aisle with him. Cardia remembers the combat techniques her husband taught her and throws the man to the floor. Meanwhile, a worried and upset Van bursts out through the church door and started taking down the men in suits Liam Neeson style! 😂 😂 😂 Before things get worse, the gang stops Van and explains this was all a misunderstanding as the kidnappers and groom were actually actors and the bride actress never showed up for rehearsals so they thought Cardia was her by mistake.

The Moral of the Story: Don’t mess with this couple… ever! 😂

  VICTOR Cardia is now working as Victor’s assistant in the Royal Society and they spend their days doing research in Victor’s lab. Though they call themselves husband and wife, they realize that they never really had an actual wedding ceremony. So Victor asks Cardia if she wants to have a proper wedding and she says yes. A few days later, they began their search for a church in London but couldn’t find any since it’s peak season. Queen Victoria, along with Leonhardt notices Victor’s sullen expression and asks him what’s wrong, Victor tells them their circumstance and a snarky Victoria promises to help him only if he can prove to her how much he really wanted the wedding. After their deal, Victor comes home later than usual as he’s working extra hard to get her beloved wife that perfect wedding she deserves. Finally, the day has come for Victor to propose to Cardia and Victoria granted them permission to use the newly renovated St. Paul’s Cathedral. They got married in front of their friends and the Queen, and Cardia couldn’t be any happier.

  SAINT GERMAIN Cardia is now free of her poison and she and Saint Germain return to London so they can hold their wedding ceremony. The Count buys the ship “Gloria” from their mafia adventures in Lupin’s Gang (Future Blessings) episode and tells her this will be their venue. A day before their promised wedding, Hansel takes Cardia to Omnibus cottage and there they meet with Saint Germain and the leader of Idea herself, Omnibus. The old lady gives them her blessing, saying they will no longer be in the watchful eye of Idea and Saint Germain is now finally, freeee!  Both couples said their thanks to Omnibus. They got married in their luxurious ship the next day and all of their friends are with them happily celebrating the couple’s most special commemoration.

  Will I be able to enjoy this game even if I haven’t played Future Blessings? There were a lot of characters and events in Future Blessings that were present and added to this game, so I don’t think it’s a good idea to skip Future Blessings in the series. In addition, the main “Wintertide Miracles” stories continue from the last events of Finis’s route in Future Blessings, so, all the more reason not to skip the first fandisc.

Localization There were a couple of typo mistakes that I couldn’t really overlook which makes me think that perhaps because of it’s promised released date on Valentines Day, the game was rather rushed and there wasn’t a lot of time spent dedicated solely on proofreading it. ┐(︶▽︶)┌

  TRAILER

  FINAL THOUGHTS? ＼(＾▽＾)／ My overall play length for Code Realize Wintertide Miracles was a good 10-15 hours. Despite me trying to make the game last forever for about at least, two weeks, I finished it pretty quickly because I just couldn’t get enough of it.

Cantarella’s side story was way better than the gang’s Mafia adventures in Future Blessings and I sure did wish the ‘Cantarella-characters’ would’ve made a cameo in the special epilogues, because seriously, what a waste of good characters to be squeezed in, on the third game. ┐(‘～` )┌

Finis wins best boi in my book. This was one of the things I really appreciated most in this FD, and I’m sure most Code Realize hardcore fans would agree. Finis’ character finally gets justice! We get to see more of his adorable side as Cardia’s little brother while maintaining his hostile and dubious personality 😂. Who would’ve thought this boy is such a tsun-tsun! ❤

Do I recommend this game? YES (esp. to all Code Realize fans) Take note, this game is the series’ second fandisc. So literally, one cannot play it all willy-nilly without fully playing it’s first two predecessors. Personally, I’ve enjoyed this game a lot but that’s because I’m such a huge fan of the series. Perhaps to those who aren’t into Code Realize, you probably won’t enjoy this as much.

With the production of PS Vita consoles and games, completely shutting down worldwide this year, Code Realize Wintertide Miracles was such a special treat for us otome fans ~ esp. now, where there is scarcity of otoge releases in the West.

The game’s romantic Christmas theme really took this one up a notch and the newly added side stories are really something to look forward to. If you already like this series, loved the game’s main casts and wished for more adventures with them, this game is definitely worth the purchase.

  CHLO’S RATING: 8/10

Code Realize: Wintertide Miracles Review CODE REALIZE: WINTERTIDE MIRACLES Release Date:  February 14, 2019 (North America) Developers:  Idea Factory, Otomate Publishers: 4,080 more words

[joyofcrime-elinorhigh]

Dragon Ball Super: Future Trunks Arc REVIEW:

(Warning: This review contains spoilers.)

Far from now, in a distant time.** I, Zamasu, immortal lord of the Kai’s, UNLEASHED AN UNSPEAKABLE EVIL! But a foolish Saiyan warrior, wielding a giant sword, step forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck he tore open a portal in time,  and ran away from the future, where my evil was LAW! Now the fool seeks to return to the past, and undo the future that is Zamasu!

Gotta get back. Back to the past, stop Goku Black. Wa-Watch Out!~

Hello everybody, my name is JoyofCrimeArt, and it’s been…a while since I talked about Dragon Ball Super. Long enough that my plan to review the arcs as the English dub comes out are pretty much dead. But I’m here now, and ready to review the next chapter in the Dragon Ball saga, the “Future Trunks” arc. Which honestly, is a stupid name cause we already had a “Future Trunks” arc. It was called the Android and Cell saga. Why didn’t they just call it the “Goku Black” arc? But whatever. With each arc in Super surpassing that previous one up to this point, will this arc be able to continue the trend? That’s what I’m here find out. Also, given that this arc is a bit longer than the previous ones, I’m going to skim over or abbrev certain things for the sake of time. (Trust me, when we get to the Universe Survival Arc you’ll be glad I’m doing this.) But with all that said, let’s dive in.

The arc begins in Future Trunk’s timeline years after he defeated the androids. And…things are somehow even worse. That’s right, there world has had TWO apocalypses in the span of about thirty years or so. The few remnants of humanity have been forced into hiding as a small resistant stands to fight against this new threat. This resistance, consisting of Future Trunks, Future Bulma, and a future version of Mai of all characters, has one mission in mind. Rebuild the time machine and travel back in time to get help from the past, to help them stop this new enemy. And who is this new enemy? It’s none other than Goku. Or at least, an evil villain impersonating Goku, known as Goku Black. A name that probably sounds a lot better in Japan than it does in a country that has with a sizable black minority, like America.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDYJO-1IhN8

…Big oof.

But let’s talk about Goku Black for a minute. Now, the idea of making a character that’s designed to be an evil Goku isn’t really anything new. (I mean look at Turles.) However what makes Goku Black, and this whole arc in general, really stand out is the mystery aspect. The whole first half of this arc is all about figuring out who, or what, Goku Black really is and where he came from? And they’re are clues hidden thought that hint towards a larger picture. While Goku Black sounds like Goku, even being played by Sean Schemmel, his cadence is nothing like Goku. His speech is more polite and flowery. Also he refers to Trunks as “mortal” and even “Saiyan” at several points, implying that he is none of those things. It opens questions and allows the audience to speculate. And speaking of voice, Sean Schemmel does an amazing job voicing Black in the dub. Managing to make it sound like Goku while also making it feel distinctly it’s own thing. It’s a really great performance.

Just as Trunks, Mai, and Bulma are about to finish the time machine, Black shows up and attacks. He kills Bulma and injures Mai, but Trunks is just barley able to escape. And while all of this is going on we keep cutting back to wacky hijinks in the present timeline. Things like the Pilaf Gang in school and Goku and Piccolo harvesting lettuces…which really clashes with the incredibly dower tone of what’s going on in Trunk’s timeline. Regardless, Trunk’s time machine arrives in Bulma’s yard. However, they’re not in the clear yet as Goku Black was able to follow them back, briefly, using a magical object known as a time ring.

Goku goes and battles Black. The fight is pretty one sided with Goku holding back, not going beyond Super Saiyan so he can gauge Black’s power and have a good fight. I want you all to remember this, as everything bad that happens in the rest of this arc wouldn’t have happened if Goku had just gone all out on Black from the beginning. After a bit of a brawl Black’s time ring flings him back to the future. But not before he’s able to damage the time machine. Whis notes that the time ring gives the wearers ability to travel between timelines, and are only meant to be worn by Supreme Kais. Not only that but Black’s energy feels remarkably similar to a Supreme Kai in training that exist in universe ten. So with this lead Goku, Whis, and Beerus head off to universe ten, leaving Trunks to explore the present.

When this arc was first announced, I have to admit I wasn’t really looking forward to it. It felt like it was just going to be a rehash of the Android and Cell arcs, with Trunks going back in time to stop another apocalypse. personally, I was fine with the idea of never seeing Future Trunks again, as it felt like his story was over. However, what kinda turned me around on this is all of these neat little interactions that we get to see, which we could only get by having Trunks travel to the “Super” era of the Dragon Ball timeline.

One of these great interactions is between Trunks and Kid Trunks. Kid Trunks forms this almost sibling-esq rivalry with his future self, which is honestly pretty fun to see. And we get the most elaborate two person love triangle ever devised. You see Kid Trunks has a crush on Mai, who’s actually a forty year old woman trapped in a child’s body. (But Kid Trunks doesn’t know this.) Mai, being an adult mentally, has a crush on Future Trunks. Meanwhile, Future Trunks has a thing for Future Mai, who’s is actually a middle aged woman trapped in a young adult body. So…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SC-KleaUBc

We also get to see interactions like Trunks learning that Krillin married Android 18. As well as Trunks getting to meet adult Gohan. Now keep in mind, the last time Trunks saw Gohan he just unlocked Super Saiyan Two and had just completely decimated Cell. And this is what he sees when he meets him here.

Let me explain why this image is the best scene ever. We got Trunks on the left, representing all the Gohan fans out there. We got Videl being all like _“MAI BAE!” _And then we have Mr. Satan who just looks like he’s completely high on Quaaludes and is just here for the ride.

Meanwhile, Goku arrives in universe ten they meet the universes Supreme Kai, Gowasu, along with his apprentice Zamasu. Zamasu was the former North Kai of universe ten, and is now being trained to take up the role of Supreme Kai when Gowasu eventually dies. Whis senses that Zamasu’s energy feels very similar to Black’s, but they don’t wanna tip there hand just yet. So Goku challenges Zamasu to a friendly fight to see if they’re fighting styles are similar, without telling him about Black. Zamasu is hesitant to battle a mere mortal, but he complies.

Now let’s talk about Zamasu. I’ll be honest, one of the main reasons for me doing these Dragon Ball Super retrospects in the first place was just so I could have an excuse to talk about/make fun of Zamasu. Zamasu is great, and let me tell you why. Zamasu is very different from other Kai’s in a multitude of ways. Unlike the generally peaceful Kais, Zamasu has a massive disdain for mortals. He believing that they are sinful by nature, and only cause destruction. As such. he also believes that the Kai’s should take on a more hands on approach to running the universe. When you really look at it, He’s not wrong in his assumptions. The Kai’s are pretty useless in general, and it seems like SOMETHING’S always putting the universe in danger every other week or so. So his way of thinking comes from a fairly rational place.

That being said though, it’s pretty clear from the beginning that something isn’t right with Zamasu. While he doesn’t seem outright evil, he definitely doesn’t seem nice either. And given the fact that he is the only suspect in the Goku Black mystery (and the fact that he is featured so prominently in the arcs theme song.) It’s pretty clear that he is involved in one way or whatever. Usually something like this would ruin the mystery, but it actually works here. We know Zamasu is somehow tied in with Goku Black and is probably up to no good, but we don’t know exactly how. The mystery is less about finding out WHO the culprit is is as it is figuring out HOW the culprit is committing the crime, and finding proof. It’s also a refreshing change of paste to have a villain with somewhat noble intentions, at least at the start. Most antagonist in this franchise are just evil from the start for no real reason, but it’s nice seeing a characters decent into darkness. But it’s not the motivation or the mystery that makes me love Zamasu as a character. _I LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE’S SUCH A FRICKIN’ EDGE LORD! AND THE SHOW ACKNOWLEDGES IT! _Zamasu is that emo kid who thinks he knows everything about the world and believes that he is above it all. “Cause he isn’t blinded like the other idiotic mass! He’s deep man!” And it’s just to great!

Zamasu is voiced by James Marster. At first I didn’t really like the voice, as it sounded a lot older than what I was expecting. But it really grew on me as time went on. James Marster has been a massive Dragon Ball fan for much of his life. Even agreeing to play Piccolo in the Dragon Ball Evolution movie. So to see him get a chance to finally be in a piece of Dragon Ball medium that’s actually…good. He does a really stellar job, capturing the pompousness and the insanity of the character really well. His performance is one of the arcs highlights.

Zamasu fights Goku and Goku is able to beat him in his Super Saiyan 2 form. Zamasu is disgusted that he was beaten by a mortal, and silently swears revenge on Goku for besting him. However, Goku isn’t able to make any firm connections between him and Goku Black. So he, Beerus and Whis head back to Earth.

With Trunk’s time machine was destroyed Bulma and the Pilaf gang began working on repairing Cell’s old time machine from all the way back in the Cell saga, which Bulma had kept in capsule form for all these years. As they wait for the time machine to be prepared it allows Trunks and Vegeta to do some good old father-son bonding.

_See everybody, Vegeta’s great at helping people as long as he can do it by punching and threatening them!

_ While all that’s going on Beerus and Whis get a message from none other than the Omni-King himself. And for some reason, he wants to see Goku. The two are obviously worried as Zeno is capable of whipping out entire universe in an instant and Goku…is Goku. But with no real option Goku, Whis, and the Supreme Kai head off to Zeno’s palace to see what he wants. They are greeted by Zeno’s Grand Priest, who Whis confirms is one of the five strongest people in the multiverse. He leads them down to Zeno’s throne room where Zeno tells Goku what he wants. He wants a friend.

The gods are shocked, but really it makes sense. Zeno is just a little kid, and it must get lonely at the top. All the other deities fear the Omni-King due to the sheer amount of destructive power that he possesses. But Goku is the only one who’s ever treated Zeno like an actual person, due to just how kind and thick headed he is. This lack of hesitation has earned him the Omni-Kings respect. Goku tells Zeno that he can’t play with him right now, since he’s a bit preoccupied at the moment. But he says that when he’s done, he’ll find Zeno a friend that’s even better than he is. Zeno agrees and gives Goku a button that can summon him directly once Goku finds this friend. Goku puts this very obvious Checkov’s gun in his pocket for latter and arrives on Earth just as Bulma is finishing the time machine.

Now that it is fixed, Goku, Vegeta, and Trunks hop in the machine to face Black head on. They arrive and find they’re way to the resistance HQ, where Trunks is reunited with the Future Mai. But it doesn’t take long for them to encounter Goku Black, who through a combination of zenkai boost, and getting a better handle on Goku’s body, is much stronger than he was during his first encounter with Goku. He’s even able to transform into his own twisted version of Super Saiyan Blue known as Super Saiyan Rose.

Vegeta, ready to beat up anyone who looks like Goku, attacks Black. And as we know, every time Vegeta fights the arc’s main antagonist, it-it usually goes really well for him, so we shouldn’t have anything to worry about-

_VEGETA! You’re suppose to learn from your past mistakes! _

And if all that wasn’t bad enough, a time portal opens up in the sky revealing Zamasu. Or at least, a future version of Zamasu with potara and a time ring. That’s right, Zamasu isn’t Black, he’s working with Black. (Or so it seems at least.) The three try to battle the duo in a really well done fight scene, but they notice something about this version of Zamasu. No matter how much damage they inflict on him, he just heals from it seconds after. He’s somehow invincible. This, coupled with Goku Black’s new power, is simply to much for our heroes to handle. Luckily, they’re able to just barley about the escape in the time machine in the nick of time due to Mai distracting Zamasu and Black.

Meanwhile, the present version of Zamasu is becoming more and more fascinated with Goku. Gowasu is as well, and even does some research on him on Godtube. The actual thing that actually exist in this universe and is an important plot point. That’s right, apparently the entire Universe Six tournament was actually live streamed this entire time!. Though I can’t speak to the validity of Godtube as a platform. Heard they’re copyright system is pretty bad.

Dang it, Toei!

Zamasu see’s Super Saiyan Blue Goku’s fight with Hit and is furious that a mortal like Goku is able to achieve such Godly powers. And it’s at this point that you realize that Zamasu is really just the Frank Grimes of the Dragon Ball franchise. And Goku is _Homer. And I’m okay with that…

_But this is where Zamasu learns about the Super Dragon Balls. He goes to Zuno (The all knowing alien from the last arc.) and demands information from him. And this is where Zamasu comes up with his plan. He’ll use the Super Dragon Balls to swap bodies with Goku, than use the time rings to travel to a different timeline, and team up with a parallel version of himself. Then THAT Zamasu will use the Super Dragon Balls in order to wish for immortality. Than they will begin they’re plan to whip out all mortal life from the multiverse. Convoluted enough? But hey, at least unlike other villains he plans on wishing for immortality BEFORE engaging our heroes.

But before he can do this, he needs to kill Gowasu first. As only a Supreme Kai can use the time rings. Goku, Whis, and Beerus begin to figure out this plan. (They figure parts of it out later, but I’m abbreviating this for the sake on length.) They travel to the tenth universe and catch Zamasu in the act of murdering Gowasu, but Whis uses his time rewind powers to save him. It’s honestly a clever and unexpected twist. Seeing the ability again here makes it feel less like it was something only invented to get our heroes out of a jam in the Resurrection ‘F’ arc. Even if it still most likely was.

Beerus, being sick of having nothing to do this arc, destroys Zamasu. They return to Earth to tell Trunks about the good news. Trunks tries to explain that time travel doesn’t work that way in this universe, but Beerus just wants this arc to be over with and buggers off. Trunks, Goku, Vegeta, and even Bulma decide to go to the future and see if everything’s all right. Now, I know what your probably thinking. Shouldn’t they have some kinda plan to fight Zamasu and Black just in case they are still in the future? Or at the very least, do some training first? But, y'know, they’ll probably just cross that bridge when they get to it.

_GOKU! You’re suppose to learn from your past mistakes!

_ Things come to a head when Black and Zamasu point out that all of this has been a self fulfilling paradox. If Trunks never went back in time in the first place, Goku would of never met Zamasu, Zamasu wouldn’t have become Black, and the future wouldn’t of been destroyed. And since I didn’t know where else to point this out, I just wanna praise that that fact that everything that has happened in this art does follow the rules of time traveling that the story established. Given how losey goosey Dragon Ball can be with it’s own lore and consistency, I was sure there would be some kind of plot hole regarding something as elaborate as time travel. But, surprisingly, they went through the effort to keep everything consistent. They forgot what color hair Trunks was suppose to have, but they got this right. So kudos.

Trunks is furious when Zamasu and Black point out that, in a way, this is all his doing. He has a breaking point as the two mock him. And in his anger, he develops a new transformation. Super Saiyan…they never name it in the series proper. I know that it’s called Super Saiyan Anger or Rage or whatever the translation is, but they never name it in the series or explain what exactly it is beyond a form that is formed via anger. _AKA: ALL THE NON GODLY SAIYAN FORMS, CAUSE THEY’RE ALL FUELED BY ANGER! _

That being said though, despite the lack of real explanation on how it works and the fact that it doesn’t really add much to the plot, I have to say it’s one of the coolest looking forms in the series. Like Super Saiyan Blue Kai-o-Ken it has two aura’s, as well as incorporating elements from Buff Super Saiyan form used in the Cell saga. I wish they elaborated on it more, cause this design feel way too cool to be this quote unquote generic.

Trunks holds Black and Zamasu off while the rest of the group travel back in time on more time in order to find a way to actually STOP Zamasu and Black for good. Goku goes to Roshi in order to learn how to do the Evil Containment Wave, in hopes of being about to seal away Zamasu rather than kill him. Meanwhile Vegeta goes to train for twelve hours in the hyperbolic time chamber. They return to the future to have they’re final rematch with Black and Zamasu.

While this is going on Beerus realizes that he’s failed to kill Zamasu and actually feels bad. Not bad enough to go and help, but bad enough to send Gowasu and Shin to help in his place.

They arrive in the time machine, which Black immediately destroys, also damaging the jar they were planning on sealing Zamasu in. See, unlike other villains, Zamasu and Black are actually proactive. I like that. It’s up to Trunks, Mai, and Bulma to fix both the time machine and the jar. Fighting ensues as Vegeta just wails on Black. Black realizes that anger can result in him getting more strength, so he channels that anger into…a scythe…that he uses to open a portal in space time, that creates clones of himself….being angry did this. Ah, whatever, the arc’s almost over. Who cares?

_So, could Vegeta and Goku do this too? I can’t think of any logical reason why they shouldn’t be able to.

_ While Goku and Vegeta are busy with the clones of Black, Zamasu heads for Trunks. The only hope is for Trunks to preform the Evil Containment Wave. Luckily Bulma has a video of it on her phone for Trunks to use as a reference. Bulma goes out to buy him some time by trying to seduce Zamasu in one of the greatest scenes ever put to television, and Trunks is able to successfully preform the move, trapping Zamasu in the jar forever…

Or at least he would of if Goku hadn’t forgot the seal! _TWICE! TWICE GOKU FU*K UP IN STOPPING THE VILLAINS! _Since Zamasu’s free, he realizes that it’s time to take these mortals seriously. So using the potara earrings he fuses with Black, becoming FUSED ZAMASU! Who manages to somehow be even more of an edgelord than he was before!

_AND THIS…IS TO GO…EVEN FURTHER…BEYOND! IT’S SUPER SAIYAN EDGE!

_The three of them simply aren’t strong enough to stop Zamasu in this state. They’re only hope is to use the potara themselves and fuse into Vegeto! Which is retconned into only being permanent with Kais. Cause fusions are popular and they’re going to milk it for all it’s worth. Even though they could of had them return to normal without the need for a retcon cause it’s been established that the dragon balls can undo a fusion…but who cares? Now they only stay fused for an hour, but the more energy they use, the shorter amount of time they can be fused. They fuse and go Super Saiyan Blue and we get one of the best fights we’ve had in the series thus far, despite it only being about two minutes. The fluidity of the animation is done in a way that Dragon Ball has never really done up until this point, and resembles a fight from _One Punch Man _more than Dragon Ball.

It’s during this fight that they discover how to beat Zamasu. While Zamasu was immortal Goku Black wasn’t. When Zamasu took Goku’s body he also inherited many of his Saiyan traits, including lust for battle and his desire to have a proper challenge. As such he never wanted immortality and now that he and Zamasu are fused together, he isn’t wholly immortal anymore, and his body begins going into flux. Unfortunately they burn up they’re energy to quickly and defuse before they’re able to kill Zamasu. Unable to even transform anymore due to how depleted they are, it’s up to Trunks to stop him. All the resistance members cheer Trunks on, and they’re hope and belief in him forms into a mini spirit bomb that he channels through his sword. He uses this energy to defeat Zamasu by slicing him in half. Dick first no less.

This ending seemed to be a bit divisive when it first came out, with many people saying it was a Deus ex Machina. And I have to say that I kinda agreed with a lot of the criticism when I first saw it. Trunks learning the Evil Containment Wave so fast via just one video he saw was one thing, but the spirit bomb is literally a move that he never learned. Nor even really had an opportunity to learn. However, while it doesn’t make sense logically, this ending does work really well in a thematic sense. It ties in to the arcs, and even all of Super in general, theme of mortals rising up to reach a power beyond the Gods. It shows that, when all of humanity works together for a common ideal, they is no limit to there power. Cause in the end, humans where able to do what the Gods couldn’t. Beerus’s plan to kill Zamasu failed. Shin and Gowasu’s plan with the potara’s failed. Even Goku and Vegeta’s plan of using God Ki failed. In the end it was all of humanity, giving they’re power to Trunks, they’re one hope, that was able to defeat Zamasu once and for all. And it shows that Trunks was able to save his own future, without needing to rely on Goku and Vegeta or Gohan or anyone else. Zamasu and Black where his problem, and he had to be the one to stop them.

So that was my review of Dragon Ball Super: Future Trunks arc. So what are my final thought…and wait. What do you mean they’re one more episode left?…

…Oh no…

So Zamasu, being truly immortal, isn’t killed by his body being destroyed. He simply transforms into an ethereal state, in honestly one of the most horrifying things Dragon Ball has ever done. He turns into Gygas from Earthbound and in one attack levels the Earth and whips out all of humanity minus our heroes. Without a body there’s nothing for our heroes to fight, and all hope seems loss. Until Goku remembers Zeno’s button and calls him for help. This summons the Future Zeno, which is weird cause you’d think God would be like beyond the confines of space and time, but apparently he isn’t. Zeno see’s all the damage Zamasu has done and decides to deal with this by destroying the timeline completely. The gang escape in they’re time machine before being erased too. You know, I was joking around with the Samurai Jack comparisons at the beginning, but that’s basically what ends up happening. Goku returns to the void that was once Trunks timeline and grabs the Future Zeno and brings him to the present. He goes to present Zeno and tells him that he’s found his new friend. We also learn that the Grand Priest is Whis’s dad.

After returning to Earth, our heroes discuss what to do now. Whis mentions that when Beerus killed the present Zamaus it created a new time ring, and that Trunks and Mai could use that to travel to a new future. One that never had Zamasu in it. That’s right, they’re taking the Rick and Morty approach. “Close enough, right?” They fly off in the time machine together and then the arc ends.

Now, I will say this. Having the guts to have an arc like this end on such a bittersweet note is definitely a ballsy move. In a world where so many problems can be solved by just collecting the Dragon Balls, I like the idea of their actually being serious consequences that can’t be fixed. But because this all happens in the last episode of the arc, there’s no time to let this sink in. And the ending is just to depressing. The arc basically ends on-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ufmrn7BCuA

Everyone in Trunks timeline is dead. Not just dead but erased from existence completely. Trunks failed to save his future, making not just this whole arc pointless, but the Android and Cell saga pointless too! Why even go to a new timeline at all? Why not stay in the present timeline? At least you know these people! Everything Trunks said about the power of humanity working together was wrong. Humans couldn’t stop Zamasu. They needed the power of a God to save them. And the entire DESTRUCTION of an entire timeline could of been avoided if Goku hadn’t summoned Zeno. Or if he had just brought the dang seal. Or, you know, if he defeated Black in their first fight!

So yeah, in conclusion, I feel very mixed on this arc. There are a lot of pros. Zamasu and Black are both fantastic villains who in my opinion deserve more recognition. Also it’s refreshing just to have a new Dragon Ball villain, as appose to all the other arc antagonist who are rivals or…Frieza again. I appreciate the darker tone and the feeling of actual stakes, which is something the last two arcs felt particularly lacking in. And I also enjoy all the fun moments we get seeing Trunks interact with the older Z fighters. But man, does the ending kill a lot of what the arc had going for it. Also the arc drags a bit in parts, as personally I feel you could cut out at least one of the trips to the future. Overall, I think I’d say the arc is still the best arc the series has had so far, but it’s defiantly a case of higher highs and lower lows. But at least we don’t have any evil Goku’s to worry about.

Cause the one we have is enough trouble as it is.

So that was my review of the “Future Trunks” arc of Dragon Ball Super. What did you think? Feel free to leave any thoughts you have in the comments down bellow. I’d love to hear them. Fav, follow, and like the review if you’d enjoy and have a great day.

(I do not own any of the images or videos in this review. All credit goes to there original owners.)

https://www.deviantart.com/joyofcrimeart/journal/Dragon-Ball-Super-Future-Trunks-Arc-REVIEW-793870861 DA Link

[elisajdb]

The New Position

Special thanks to @funsexydragonball for the lovely art and her consent to allow me to write this story inspired by her art.

 Chichi was getting used to what she called the new normal. For two weeks, her husband and son spent the day training with Piccolo in preparation for a fight with monsters called Androids. These monsters in three years will bring death and destruction to Earth. Her precious son, Goku’s friends and more than half the populace on Earth will be killed by them. Her husband is expected to die before their arrival by a heart virus. In a different and unfortunate timeline, he did die. In this future, Chichi hoped with the medicine Goku acquired, he will survive.

 This wasn’t how things were to turn out when Goku came back from space but it did and Chichi was slowly coming to terms with it. She touched her wounded left arm, remembering the fight, her screaming, hitting a wall of her house, cracking a tree with her head, Goku’s numerous apologies for hitting her too hard; his continued apologies after returning from Korin’s Tower empty handed of a senzu bean. Yajirobe had eaten them all and the batch Korin grew wouldn’t be ready for six weeks.

 The first three weeks of Goku’s return, he stayed home. It had been over two years since he’d been home and he wanted time to adjust. He also stayed because of Chichi. With her injuries, Chichi needed help with her housewife duties. Gohan assisted with the housecleaning and laundry and Goku took care of the meals, hunting the main course while Gohan and Chichi took care of the side dishes. Chichi only spoke to Goku when she needed to. Even at night when they were alone in bed, Chichi preferred reading or going to sleep than talking to him.

After the third week, Chichi told Goku and Gohan they can begin training with Piccolo. Her words at dinner shocked them but Chichi knew they were anxious to get started. She wasn’t fully recovered but Chichi felt strong enough to do her house duties without her husband and son’s assistance.

 She was also tired of having fish every day.

 It was after five that evening when Chichi checked on dinner. Goku and Gohan will be returning home from their day of training hungry. She loved sitting at the table watching her famish husband and son eat her cooking. It would be perfect if only the green monster wasn’t sitting with them. Oh, well. At least she didn’t have to feed him. A glass of water and he’s satisfied.

 She stirred her stew, blending her homemade spices in the hot dish. She brought a spoonful to her lips to taste when she felt a breeze behind her.

 She was alone in the house but someone had mysteriously arrived behind her. She may not have Goku’s martial arts expertise but she was good enough to defend herself. Chichi dropped the spoon in the pot, freeing her good hand. She swung her hand as she turned, missing her opponent who deftly dodged her strike. “Goku?” She dropped her arm. “How did you get behind me like that?”

 “It’s the new technique I showed ya. Remember?”

 Oh, she remembered and she didn’t like it. “I told you not to do that disappearing trick.”

 “I couldn’t help it. I was so excited to get home.” Goku opened his hand grinning. “I got it, Chichi! I got it!!”

 Chichi saw a bean in Goku’s hand. “A senzu bean.” She met Goku’s excited eyes with confusion. “It’s been five weeks. Korin told ya the beans wouldn’t be ready until six weeks.”

 “I went to Korin’s Tower every week to see if any beans sprouted early. A few did.” He put the bean in Chichi’s hand. “Go and eat it.”

 Chichi put the bean in her mouth and chewed it. Its taste was bland but it effects were immediate. Chichi felt the mild pain in her arm disappear and her strength returning. She moved her once broken arm and flexed it. Pleased, Chichi unwrapped her arm. “Thank you, Goku.”

 “Do you forgive me?” Goku asked.

 Chichi turned from Goku to drop her wrappings in the trashcan. “I forgave you five weeks ago.”

 “But ya don’t talk to me unless ya have to.” Goku pressed his body against Chichi’s. “When we’re alone you read or go to sleep.” He placed his hands on her arms and rubbed gently. “Ya don’t wanna talk to me at all.” Warm hands traveled upward until they cupped her breasts. “Ya don’t wanna touch me or want me touchin’ ya.”

 “I wanted to talk….” Chichi whimpered as his hands massaged her breasts. “Mmm,” her backside rubbed against him as his fingers pinched her nipples. “I knew where it would lead and I didn’t…..”

 “I missed ya, Chichi,” he dropped kisses on her neck. “I missed kissin’ ya. I missed smellin’ ya. I missed lickin’ ya.” One hand slipped between the slits of her dress. His fingers pushed aside the lace material of her panties. “Ya so wet, Chichi.”

 The door opened and Gohan entered with a wild boar slung over his shoulders. Piccolo followed in behind him. “Hi, Mom! I know you’re tired of eating fish so I hunted a wild boar for you!” He entered the kitchen. His mother stirred a pot on the stove with Dad beside her. His mother’s unwrapped arm caught his eyes. “Mom, your arm is better.”

 “Your father stopped by Korin’s,” Chichi explained with her back to Gohan. “The senzu beans were ready.”

 “That’s great!” Gohan approached his parents. He noticed both had extra color in their cheeks. That wasn’t usual. Before the events with the Saiyans, Gohan remembered seeing his parents with flushed cheeks sometimes. Seeing them like this, gave Gohan comfort things were getting back to normal for his family. What he did think was strange was his Dad having two fingers in his mouth. “Dad, why do you have fingers in your mouth?”

 Goku pulled the fingers out; the color deepened on his cheeks. “Oh….I…. tasted something yummy from Mom.”

 Gohan noticed his mother remaining quiet but the color deepened on her cheeks, too. He smiled. Mom always blushed at Dad’s compliments. “Mom’s cooking always great. I can’t wait to eat myself!”

 Goku suddenly threw a hand behind his head and laughed loudly. “Well, ya got a lotta years to wait before a girl does that for ya, Gohan!”

 “Goku!” Chichi screamed while Gohan looked at his Dad clueless. Chichi turned to Gohan calmly. “Thank you for the wild boar, Gohan. We can have that for tomorrow’s dinner. You and your father should clean up. Dinner’s about ready.”

 Piccolo stood by the door. He watched the entire exchange by the Son Family. There was something different in the air. The smell was different. It was an unusual smell he hadn’t come across before. It surrounded Goku and his wife. He thought to ask but figured the less he knew, the better.

 Dinner was always a happy occasion for the Son Family but it was even happier for them with Chichi well again. Piccolo sat at the table drinking his water watching Gohan eat neatly and Goku eat as if it was his last meal. He didn’t understand how the son had better table manners than his father. Occasionally, he noticed Chichi wiped the crumbs from Goku’s sloppy face with a napkin.

 They were acting differently tonight. Chichi was more attentive to Goku than Gohan. Until today, Chichi didn’t acknowledge Goku unless needed to. Now she was doting Goku. After dinner, Gohan wanted Piccolo to join him in a board game with his Dad. More than once, Piccolo noticed Goku’s eyes drift to watching Chichi who cleaned the dishes. This strange behavior probably had something to do with Chichi being well again.  Humans and relationships. He’ll never understand it.

 When it was time for bed, Piccolo slept outside while the Son Family retired to their rooms. In her bathroom, Chichi prepared herself while Goku waited for her. From the moment in the kitchen earlier, both knew what will happen when they were alone tonight. After almost three years, they will finally be intimate. As she shut off the lights and opened the door, Chichi felt her body throbbing with anticipation. Her nipples poke through her gown; moisture formed between her legs.

 When her eyes laid on her husband, she frowned. “Goku, you’re not wearing anything.”

 Goku rubbed the back of his head and grinned. “What’s the point when we gonna be naked anyway?”

 “Oh, Goku,” Chichi drawled as she joined him by the bed. With him nude before her, Chichi took the moment to feast her eyes on her husband’s body. He was definitely bigger than when they were last together. His chest was wider, his muscles more defined. Her eyes fell on his penis. She missed that, too. She missed what it did to her. She missed tasting it; missed feeling it move inside her.

 Goku’s hands touched the ends of her nightgown. He pulled it over Chichi’s head and let the material drop to the floor. Goku took the moment to appreciate Chichi’s body. She still looked in fine form from her pert breasts, muscled abs, round hips and slim legs. The smell wafting from her tasty center had him licking his lips in anticipation.

 Goku touched Chichi’s shoulders as he brought his lips to hers. “I missed ya, Chichi.”

 Chichi welcomed the kiss as it started off slow and tender; her desire rising as her mouth opened to his for a more exploratory and intense kiss. Chichi wrapped her arms around Goku’s neck as he pulled her body against his. She could feel Goku’s hardened penis rub against her wet sex. She didn’t hold back the groan as they rubbed against each other. Her body tingled with pleasure and she felt so hard up, she could come by rubbing against Goku alone.

 Being intimate with Goku left her feeling many things. Happy. Excited. Warm. Hot. This was the first time she felt light. She felt so light she couldn’t feel her feet on the floor.

 Wait, what?

 She wiggled her toes. They were off the floor. Chichi broke the kiss from her husband. “Go-----” she screamed as she was suddenly flipped. Her body hung upside down, arms and legs spread eagle and her face was slapped by Goku’s hard shaft.

 “Goku, what are you doing?!”

 Goku licked his lips as he marveled at Chichi’s slick, pink flesh. Her scent alone was overwhelmingly delicious. “I can’t wait anymore, Chichi! It’s been so long! I gotta taste ya!”

 She couldn’t deny that. It had been so long for her, too. She anticipated exploring Goku with her mouth since dinner. Perhaps it was the blood rushing to her head but as she hung at a sweet angle, in perfect alignment with Goku’s penis, she was overwhelmed with desires that she held back for almost three years. She rolled her tongue around the perfectly shaped tip before gently pulling Goku’s cock into her mouth.

 Goku gasped as his lower back involuntary thrust forward, giving Chichi even more to swallow as her tongue ravenously work the full length of his cock. His eyes nearly rolled back. He forgot this intense feeling. This brought him to the early days of his marriage; the time before the Saiyans where they would be in bed, the shower, the kitchen, even outdoors camping where Chichi deliciously suck him off as if he was a meal.

 As she wonderfully sucked and licked him, Chichi’s scent got stronger and she got wetter. Oh, she smelled so good now! Goku flicked his tongue over her clit before tracing it down her moist slit. He felt Chichi squirm but he tightened his hold over her. He pushed his tongue in her lonely hole with thrusts and licks, tasting her, teasing her for what he will do with his shaft later. As wet she was getting, it was clear he was sorely missed by her. He vowed to make up this drought to her.  

 He went to work, licking her swollen lips and hard clit; tasting and swallowing her sweet juices. At the same time, Chichi worked him; running her tongue over his shaft, teasing his head and swallowing the drips of his juices coming from his head. It felt good and normally Goku could hold off until Chichi came but it had been almost three years and he was out of shape in this area. He smothered Chichi’s sex in his mouth and bit her clit as he spurted in her mouth.

 Chichi nearly gagged at the salty liquid spewing from Goku’s cock. One eye opened at the premature release spilling from her filled mouth, and thanks to her unique position, Goku’s spunk filled her nostrils and dripped down her forehead into her hair. She pulled out, coughing to breath. No longer enclosed in Chichi’s mouth, the rest of Goku’s essence squirted parts of Chichi’s face and hair. Goku’s hold on her loosened as he removed his arms from her waist. Chichi dropped but not too far. Her ankles were still crossed over each other so when Goku released her, her ankles locked over Goku’s neck.

 “Goku!” Chichi yelped. She grabbed his calves to steady herself in case her lock around Goku’s neck became free. “Don’t drop me!!”

 Her voice broke Goku from his euphoria. “Oh!” Goku grabbed Chichi’s waist, turned her over and gently set her on her feet. Chichi glared at him while Goku grinned embarrassed. He gave her a kiss. “Sorry.” He touched her forehead with his. “Forgive me?”

The glare fell from Chichi’s face as her lips turned up in a sly grin. “Ya didn’t kiss like ya sorry.”

 Goku kissed her again with more intensity as his mouth explore hers, tasting her and tasting himself. When he pulled away, Chichi was blushing. “Better?” Breathless, Chichi could only nod.

 He picked up Chichi and laid her on the bed. “Sorry. I came too soon, but it felt good.” He moved his hand between legs, stroking her. “Did ya come?”

 “I did,” she laughed, recalling how it happened, “when you bit me.”

 “Sorry,” Goku apologized.

 “It’s fine,” she moaned feeling Goku work his fingers inside her. “We should try that new position again sometime. I liked it.”

 Goku grinned. So did he. He pulled his fingers out and licked them clean. So tasty. “I’m ready to go again.”

 “I know.” She felt Goku poking her rear. “I am, too.” Chichi expected Goku to climb over her and slip in, but to her surprise, Goku forced Chichi on all fours. “Goku…” Chichi steadied herself. “This way?”

 “Yeah!” He opened her legs and settled behind her. “I’ve been wantin’ ya in this position since dinner!”

 Chichi gasped as Goku surged forward. She gripped the sheets as Goku smacked her repeatedly from behind. “Mmmm, Goku…..” It felt so good to have Goku pummel her this way. She thrust back trying to match his pace but he held her firm. He wanted to control the pace. “Faster…..” She wanted more. She wanted, no needed to make up for lost time. “Deeper.” Her voice trembled with need.

 Goku obliged Chichi’s request, carefully increasing his thrusts. As she cried for more, Goku put more into his thrusts, pounding into Chichi’s receptive body. Damn! He hadn’t felt this good in a long time! Sweat glistened his body, his skin tingled. He was gonna come again and it was gonna be a good one!

 “Ah, Chichi!” He was close but something felt off. Strange. He felt another presence nearby. He turned his head towards the window and opened his eyes.

 Piccolo with purple cheeks and a hanging mouth locked eyes with Goku.

 Oh, sh….

 Goku screamed and waved his arms frantically. “Don’t look! Don’t look!”

 “Hmm?” Chichi opened her eyes hearing Goku’s frantic scream and his sudden pull from her body. “Wha….” She stared at Goku who suddenly bolted to the window. “Goku?” Chichi climbed out of bed and joined Goku. She looked out and saw nothing but their empty backyard and a dark sky. “What is it? What did you see?”

 “Uh….” He couldn’t tell her truth. Chichi barely tolerated Piccolo. If she knew Piccolo saw them, she’ll be mortified and in her anger may forbid him and Gohan from training with Piccolo.

 “An animal,” Goku blurted. “It peeked through the window….and when I told it to not look, it went away.”

 Chichi’s shoulders sagged with relief. She left the window. “Oh, is that all? Honestly, Goku, you had me scared. I thought ya saw Piccolo out there.”

 “Piccolo?” he laughed nervously. “Why ya think that?”

 Chichi stood by the bed. “He is sleepin’ out there. The wilderness has been his home for years. Bein’ in our home is probably the first time he’s seen human interaction. It’s alien to him. Imagine if he saw us in our most intimate moment.”

 “Oh…yeah.” He looked out the window one more time before joining her. “That would be embarrassin’.”

 “Tell me about it.” Now that was settled, Chichi was ready to resume their marital duties. “Goku….” She smiled slyly at him, grabbed his arm and threw him on the bed. She grinned as she crawled over him.

 Piccolo sat on the dome top of Goku and Chichi’s home. Even with his hands over his ears, he could still hear the moans and groans from Goku and Chichi’s bedroom.

 It was his damn sharp hearing that got him in this mess.

 Even though he was invited to sleep in the house, Piccolo always preferred outside. He was used to the fresh air, the silence and wilderness; not the confines of a house no matter how happy the place seem to make Gohan and Goku. The house brought interaction with the people who live in it. Human interaction to be precise and aside from Gohan, Piccolo didn’t prefer the interaction humans shared.

 Over the five weeks living with the Son Family, Piccolo always stayed outside at night. As the Son Family prepared for sleep, his sharp hearing picked up Gohan saying good night to his parents, but his parents, when alone, didn’t interact at all. He wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping but his hearing was extremely sharp and picked up things. From what he noticed, Goku and his wife weren’t talking. He figured it centered on her injuries. With her well, as he suspected, talks resumed between them.

 Piccolo was set to ignore them except the talking stopped and odd sounds replaced voices. Against his usual common sense, Piccolo followed the sounds to the window of Goku and Chichi’s bedroom. What he saw shocked him. The positions Goku and Chichi were in were something he’d never seen before. He heard of it, knew humans did this but he never saw humans mate before. The act was so horrifying, so shocking he couldn’t move.

 That was until Goku looked in his direction. Goku’s screams spurned him into action. He jumped out of view and landed on the dome top of the house. The sounds between Goku and Chichi stopped. As soon he relaxed and thought he could fall asleep here, they started up again! Their sounds were so aggravating Piccolo ripped his ears off. He cauterized his wounds. In the morning, he’ll regrow his ears. Piccolo thought he found peace at last but as soon as his eyes closed, he saw Goku and Chichi mating in his mind.  

 It was going to be a long night!

[daloverboi-blog]

How DBS should've been (IMO)

In Super at least, they don’t know what to do with their characters. So they just keep trying to fight their way out of every corner with Goku and Vegeta but nothing ever changes. No one learns anything or grows. All they do is unlock another Super Saiyan hairdo

Resurrection F Arc

They should have left Goku and Vegeta out of it. Focus on what everyone would do if they weren’t around. They started to do this, but then they didn’t. Keep Goku and Vegeta away while Frieza attacks.

Hell, send Piccolo to Namek. They shouldn’t rely on him either. Maybe he’s trying to learn some ancient Namekian fighting style so he’s been gone a while idk. It’d be a great way to make him relevant again. Maybe he learns how to go from a Super Namekian to a Namekian Dragon. (Not literally turning into a Dragon. Dragon is just a title. Basically it’s a name for the Red Eyed Namakian transformation from heroes.) Awesome, now he’s got purple God Ki with red lightning sparks. He’s equal with Goku, Vegeta, and Frieza now. They can stop avoiding him because he doesn’t have a Flashy new power up.

Now we FINALLY get to see the Earthlings shine. Well more like, eat shit and get fucking trashed. They didn’t see this coming, they’re not prepared. They haven’t trained in years. It’s so desperate and bleak, just like on Namek. Now, when we hit that low moment with Gohan it hits way harder to see him struggling to become a Super Saiyan. Bring 17 and 18 back that way, I’d love to see a reverse of Future Trunk’s timeline where they save Gohan instead of killing him. If you’re going to foreshadow Ultra Instinct , do it here, and do it with Gohan. He has to fail though, that’s important.

Then if you HAVE to, let Vegeta catch wind of Frieza coming back and make up an excuse to go back to earth. Goku’s an idiot, so he just buys it and stays with Whis to train. Vegeta FINALLY gets his revenge on Frieza. One on one and sends him back to hell proper. Then he comes back to finish training with Whis, and Goku is completely oblivious to everything. It would have been hilarious and great.

The Future Trunks Arc

First off, how is this not titled “The Black Future Arc”

The Future Trunks Arc

The Black Future Arc

Instead of all the Time rings, alternative time lines, body switching, and potara retcons, just make Goku Black, a grown up Goten from a timeline where Zamasu has manipulated him into agreeing with his messed up world view. It’s way more interesting and less complicated.

I know, I know, how it sounds, but it could work. Just roll with me, this post is already long enough as is.

Goten is evil now because Goku was never around and Xeno kept demanding that he come play with him. His Visit’s to Xeno keep getting longer and longer and one day he just never comes back. The Earth gets attacked one day and without Goku there A LOT of people die. Maybe Goten is defeated and has to watch Chi-Chi die or something. Even though they have the dragon balls, the experience sticks with Goten, blames his father and Yada, Yada…

Zamasu hates the way the universes work. Hes told Kai’s shouldn’t interfere or what ever. He doesn’t hate ALL mortals. Just the corrupt ones. He’s just more black and white about it. He thinks Mortals like Frieza and the violent uncontrollable races like the Saiyans should be wiped out. He thinks the best way to teach a species not to fuck up would be to Wipe them out to the bare minimum needed to continue starting with the most corrupt, and force the last living members of the race to “try again”.

He thinks Universe 10’s God of Destruction is a lazy tyrant who would rather destroy anyone who bugs him slightly. So, he cooks up a plan to train and manipulate his own God of Destruction candidate, overthrow the current GoD, become Supreme Kai and institute his new hands on approach to teaching. Shin and Kibito visit him and Gowasu and, after Shin mentions Goku and looking him up on GodTube Zamasu’s like, “I need a Saiyan."

Enter lonely disillusioned Goten who feels weak.

(I’m aware that theres some holes here but look at how long this post is, just go with it.)

Basically the rough plot would be something like this:

- Goku and Vegeta prepare to leave to train with Whis. Goten and Trunks ask if they can come along, but get denied.

- Future Trunks and Mai, come from the future asking for help because this dude calling himself “Black” is fucking the world up.

- Bulma suggests he and Mai just stay in this timeline.

- Beerus threatens them both with destruction if they don’t return to their time within 24 hours because time traveling is a crime and all that jazz.

- Goku and Whis travel to visit Xeno, who wants Goku to be his friend and live with him. He gives Goku a button that will allow him to visit whenever he pleases and vice versa.

- F. Trunks, Vegeta, and Goku begin training in the Hyperbolic Time chamber. Cause 24 hours and blah, blah, blah…

- Heroes arrive in the future, to fight Black “Oh no, it’s Goten!!!!” -gasp- and F.Zamasu!?! -double gasp-

- over like 4 or 5 episodes: Zamasu destroys the Sensu beans, we get Future Goten’s backstory and why he’s evil. Super Saiyan Rosé happens and we get an Emotional Trunks V Goten fight. Black doesn’t switch sides but he does begin to doubt his own motives long enough for Trunks to fuck up Zamasu. Zamasu forces Goten to fuse using the potara earrings. (Slight retcon here: Supreme kai’s who fuse with ANYONE using potara fusion, will retain the dominant personality, regardless of difference in power. Think of it as a weird countermessure kind of thing specifically for situations like Elder Kai’s with the Witch. It makes sense and really doesnt change much.) Almighty Zamasu,(instead of Merged Zamasu), kicks a bunch of ass, and kills Trunks, who dies along with Mai, protecting Vegeta. (Its super touching and sad)

- A. Zamasu kicks the exhausted desperate Saiyans asses. Goku remembers the deuss ex machina. I mean the Xeno button and calls Future Xeno to Earth. We find out Future Goku DID try to come back to earth to help, but F.Xeno erase’s him for leaving. F. Xeno destroys the future like normal and Vegeta and Goku escape.

- Goku, and Vegeta, make it back to the present and go with Beerus confront Present Zamsu. Zamasu attacks, same as the show, and Beerus destroys him.

- Whis reveals that only a Destroyer can alter a timeline rather than creating a new one. When a Destroyer uses the "Hakai " technique, that person is destroyed in every timeline. To prove it, he shows F.Trunks in his new timeline introducing Mai to his parents and a good, but lonely F.Goten being invited to dinner with them. Which saddens Goku. (He’s a bad father but, he’s not heartless)

- Heroes go back to earth and find F.Xeno lodged in the time machine very confused. (Since he wasn’t in his timeline when Beerus destroyed Zamasu, he was unafected and still exists or whatever. Shutup, its MY story.) Goku gets an idea and uses the button to bring F.Xeno to the present Xeno so that they can be friends and Goku can stay on earth.

- Whis asks Goku and Vegeta if they’re ready to go train. Vegeta is but Goku decides to hang back and asks Goten if he wants to play.

- The end

I’m fine with the other Arcs I guess except for the Universal Tournament of Power Arc but with all the issues it has I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Gohan totally should have been the one to get ultra instinct though. Don’t put in 10 fighters if you’re only going to use 2.

Hope that answered your question.

TL;DR: I think it needs Character development.

[uzyplus]

11. July 2020

Overview

Hello, long time no see ~who am I joking, no one ever reads this~. The life has been... fine I guess? Nothing really happened, other than I totally stopped watching anime, which I think was my last post about, or like 2-3rd last, who knows. So instead I’ve been reading manga a lot. Unfortunately I no longer have my list sorted by the starting date, as I had problems navigating through the piles of non updating mangas, so I sorted it into 2 groups: releasing and last released in 2019 or before, and even sorted the releasing into kinda: horror, slice of life, fantasy, adventure/isekai and manhwa groups. I’ll post pics of what I read later after finishing this. 

I don’t read so munch manhua anymore, mostly coz the stories usually suck, all have the same setting and same cliche moments and well, the ones I packed on back in 2018 on webcomics finally came to their end, with only a small group still releasing. I don’t think I’ll be returning to them ever again; the biggest reason being that they just end without any notice, the author decides to not just continue their series anymore and so be it. Well at the time being I still have a few over dozen releasing on webcomics so I guess I have to just survive through it somehow. ~Tho it’s true that I can find most of them on mangakakalot, but well, I don’t want to spam my list with them, let them be quarantined in their own app~

On the other hand there are Korean comics also known as manhwa. Most of all I love how beautiful many of them are and how the stories even tho may have the same background setting always get developed in their own unique way. I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed in any of them. I also love scroll style of reading opposed to pages so I like them a bit more over manga in that aspect. I have around 13 of them at the moment and out of them the ones I love the most are: A returner’s magic should be special ~for thrilling story and overall enjoyment of story~ Who made me a princess [also called Suddenly became a princess one day] which has the most beautiful art I’ve ever seen and lovely story; 

In manga section I’ve been enjoying few Gyaru romances along with slice of life romances lately; I cannot really point out any of the slice of life ones, as they usually are fantasy and I just have too many of them to even remember the stories sometimes, but for gyaru one: Gal Gohan, which finished releasing few months ago, it was the first gyaru romance I’ve read ever and it kinds opened the whole school romance section for me, coz before I never touched that place, as I hate romance comedy combo, but as I read more and more I can safely note that it’s the animes that make the shows just total garbage, as most of the comedy romance animes I’ve watched and didn’t like actually have pretty good mangas. 

Another section of manga are the slice of life married romances, which I like for not having the whole shy aspect to them and well it doesn’t take the characters whole story to just confess their feelings that were introduced to us in like chapter 1 to 10. And also it doesn’t have just one kiss scene at the end of the whole thing, which is just the most annoying thing about these school romances. Out of them I love Tonikaku Cawaii the most. It has already a good amount of chapters and plentiful of romance, kisses, hugs, all these things you don’t get from these shy romances, that I strove for back in my anime times, but not often got. Apart from that one there also is On the way home, I got a bride and twin daughters, but they were dragons; [this era will be remembered as the long manga names one and I’ll drag about it to my grand kids, if I ever have any]. It’s not a long one, just 9 chapters so far [11 in raws], but well I love it; I actually put it into the not releasing group, but it released just few days ago, which made me really happy, coz it has so much potential to grow.

 Adventure or Isekai is well, just as the name suggests; all these mangas in RPG world, where they fight monsters, get levels, skills and complete quests belong here, most of them Isekais, coz well that seemed to be popular at the time I picked them. Oh oh and also the majority of them have stupidly long names, because of course, nothing identifies isekai adventure more than name so long it doesn’t fit on screen. I dunno whether it’s even possible to pick an individual one out of them to write about, as most of them have the same settings, backgrounds or developments, either it’s being summoned, killed and being reborn or just being the part of the part of the adventure set world to begin with [tho only a few actually have that setting]. Well from hat I wrote it can be noted that they’re very cliche, but I use them as sort of stops in reading longer mangas, as most of them are up to 20 chapters long at the time. Well actually now that I’m looking at the list I see one that I can bring up a little more, called  I Was Kicked out of the Hero’s Party Because I Wasn’t a True Companion so I Decided to Have a Slow Life at the Frontier, I had to copy paste this name, coz reasons... In this one the mc is actually a resident of the world the story is set in, which is a bit more of a rare sight in these, tho the part about being kicked out of the hero’s party is really common. The main difference is that instead of it focusing on the adventure part and having mc train, get skills etc, as most of adventure/isekais do, it develops the romance, it’s just 21 chapters long and I already love the way it’s going.

Then there’s supernatural or fantasy mixed with romance. There are very few of these, as majority of them can be either placed into slice of life romances or adventure romances. There’s not really much to talk about, the only difference between them and adventure/isekais is the leveling system and all.

After that I have few slice of life and romance fantasy pieces, out of which I already talked about few of them already, Tanikaku Cawaii, Gal Gohan or you know the long name one On the way home... 

Horror genre is my most recent preference, you see, over time my taste degraded so much that I sometimes like to just watch characters suffer through gore and so on, or actual horror romances, which is basically romance between a human and a ghost or zombie apocalypse, vampire love, these kinds of things. Usually as long there are demons or other beings tha devour humans I put it in here. The ones I’d appoint would be Dreamcide, a great Korean zombie apocalyptic manhwa, it surely doesn’t lack content to read, with its 171 chapters, the story is mostly about the main character’s chaotic ability to time travel and his will to save the future before the shit can go down. The second one is called Sachi-iro no One room. I greatly enjoyed reading it. It’s in this group even tho it’s not really a horror, I just noticed... But well I’ll leave it be. The genres are romance, slice in life, psychological, drama. What I love about this one is that it doesn’t reveal the thoughts of character and just leads you to believe something, to then blow your mind, showing you that the actual motives behind characters’ behavior is just the total opposite of what you expect.

That’s basically all the groups. There are just 6 more mangas on the top of my list, basically the ones I want to immediately notice when they release, because I l love them the most of all on the list or are just left at the cliffhanger.

With that I end my post. It was really lovely to let my hands let free and write this, I really lacked it during the last few months, but never really felt like going here and just spending one and half a hour writing, coz well, with the online school and stuff, pc was the last thing I wanted to see really and then the time for me to pick graduation topic and start working on it came and all, and I just felt like it now, tho almost turned around when the stupid 2 step verification kept rejecting me for 15 minutes, really glad I didn’t.

Also 1503 words, this post is a beast among the beasts.

[aotopmha]

Dragon Ball Super Episode 27-104 Thoughts

It hit the big 100, so I thought I’d actually write a Dragon Ball Super post because it has grown on me. 

First, though, I haven’t seen all of the first 27 episodes of the series, but I have seen Battle Of Gods and Ressurection F, along with a couple of the slice-of-life episodes at the start of the series.

Battle Of Gods is a great DB(Z) movie mostly because it’s generally well-animated and just having a lot of fun. What it does with Goku’s character and what could come from it down the line is interesting (and if it doesn’t we have his character explored in a different light than before). Beerus and Whis are in general great characters.

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Ressurection F has some good action scenes and I like how it highlights Goku’s and Vegeta’s rivarly and weaknesses, which also could ultimately lead to some great payoff (and looking at episode 98 we are seemingly getting some of that with them actually teaming up). Overall it’s okay, though - I didn’t hate it or find it straight-up boring, but I also do have problems with the lack of tension it had for being a movie about bringing back one of the series’ most iconic villains and the mess of an ending it had. 

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I like the U6 arc because it introduced characters with strange powers again like Hit, Botamo and Magetta. Beamspam has been a dominant thing since Freeza, even more so Cell. It’s nothing big or amazing (and it’s not meant to be), but seeing Vegeta trying to reserve his energy for possible strong opponents and struggle against Magetta with the constraits put in the match was interesting and something we hadn’t seen for a while.

The Cabba fight did a great job highlighting Vegeta’s character development.

For being a stoic rival archetype, Hit’s simple personality was made likeable by just making him eager to push his limits and giving him cool time manipluation powers. Hit vs. Goku is one of my favorite DB fights just for the “keeping up step-by-step” element of it.

The U6 arc ended pretty satisfactorly, but it was very much the Goku and Vegeta show, just like BoG and RoF. Piccolo lost in his match (even if he did hold his own and I do appreciate that it was shown that way) and Buu was just thrown aside. I also actually thought making Frost an actual good guy would’ve been more interesting, but at the same time I like it for essentially being an acknowledgement that Freeza will always be evil.

I liked the U6 arc! It was low stakes, but it was never meant to be something huge, just a set-up arc and introduction to other universes. What it aimed to be, it did well enough. The most questionable story part of it was in my eyes Cabba’s transformation, but even that has a basis in the fact that U6 Saiyans are different. (Would be nice if that would be explained)

The U6 arc ends with episode 42, the summoning of Super Shenron.

I love the Pan-centric episode after that because it showcases Goku actually genuinely caring for his family. It’s sweet, but also genuinely funny and charming. It’s still probably one of my favorite Super episodes. 

The Copy Vegeta arc is the worst Super has been for me, though. While it further shows Vegeta’s care for his family (which is why I don’t understand the dislike of him getting these goofy moments - a part of his character growth, as Whis says, is that he needs to chill), but that’s the only thing worth anything in these 3 episodes, not even Trunks and Goten get anything interesting. It’s what I had the most problem with in GT: it was boring and the only part I genuinely had trouble sitting through in my marathon. As much as I dislike the execution of Ressurection of F, that had some interesting elements going for it. This one? Only one thing at most and that’s done better prior and after. But at least it’s only 3 episodes.

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Next up was the Future Trunks arc!

Black was an entertaining villain. I like that his name is actually so cliché because Bulma is bad at naming. More importantly, though, his nature and personality are actually pretty interesting takes on the “Evil Goku” trope that we have seen several times at this point. He’s not Goku, but he’s also not Zamasu. So that results in the unsettling “politeness” Freeza has and the potential for brutality that Saiyans are capable of. He takes great joy out of being cruel. It’s a good, entertaining basis for a villain.

I love what is done with Vegeta in this arc. He took on a mentor role for Cabba in the U6 arc and this is further shown with his moments with Trunks and encouraging him. He beats up Goku Black while expressing the respect he has gained for Goku and unlike being wholly against it, this time around actually accepts to fuse with Goku fairly easily. It’s good, solid character writing that makes sense. The relationship between Vegeta and Trunks brings some cool moments like the Father-Son Gallick Gun.

While Goku has a couple of clumsily written moments of incompetency, like forgetting the Mafuba seal and the Senzu Beans, I liked his moment of anger when he learned Chichi and Goten were killed. It goes back to the Pan episode and we see more depth from him beyond just “wanting to fight strong guys”.

I like the focus on Kid Trunks becoming more serious and actually meeting Future Trunks. I like the episode where Future Trunks meets Gohan and eventually comes to the conclusion that Gohan doesn’t have to be the Gohan he knew because he′s happy and that’s what truly matters.

Future Mai isn’t half-bad of a character - she’s just a normal human, but manages to keep the surviving groups of humans alive and save Trunks at points. Bulma’s efforts ultimately do save Future Trunks and Mai, I liked that she played a major part in the arc.

The character building blocks for the arc are solid and that’s the reason why I actually genuinely like it.

Unlike the U6 arc, it has some notable problems, though. Zamasu alone is a pretty one-dimensional and dull villain, but could’ve been great would he have been built up and presented better. The time travel aspect is badly written - mostly because it’s so complicated. I have no problems with Trunks’ rage and spirit sword, though, because ultimately they had the balance of effectiveness: Trunks ultimately failed and I actually also don’t mind Goku Black being Zamasu because it was made clear that he wasn’t entirely Zamasu prior to it, which is the most interesting part of his character - at the same time, it’s the execution that really annoyed me - why keep juggling his identity?

The ending of the arc is infamous, but I do like the idea that it wasn’t entirely happy. My problem lies in the incompetent execution of it. If you don’t do the payoff right, the whole arc suffers greatly.

I don’t really care about the power level stuff, which has been a mess since Freeza. In fact, it’s probably always been more of a narrative convinience rather than anything consistent, but they always make sense on a basic level. Trunks keeps getting beaten down and getting Senzu beans? Of course he’s stronger now. Goku Black gets used to his body? Of course he’ll be able to use more of Goku’s power. Trunks got the finisher because he’s been the one fighting the most in the arc and that’s after Vegito wore Zamasu down. It’s all about what feels satisfying, looks cool or seems interesting story-wise. Goku got to Super Saiyan in 6 days, but him defeating Freeza was extremely satisfying because it all felt right narrative-wise.

So, the Future Trunks arc is a flawed arc, but I was generally entertained by it and it was a pretty big improvement in terms of animation quality. A lot of the problems it has are similar to other Z arcs. Time travel was a problem in the Cell arc. Power levels and sudden power ups were a problem in the Buu arc and these problems really aren’t in any worse forms here considering the outcome to it all. In fact, I probably find it more entertaining than a big portion of the Buu saga, which had it’s great moments, but really wasn’t worth the 100 episodes it took, while the previous sagas generally were worth their time in some fashion. In the end, the Future Trunks arc was only 20 episodes, but unlike every DB arc ever, the problem wasn’t that it was too slow, the problem was the pacing was too uneven. 

The Future Trunks arc ends with episode 67 and there is about 10 breather episodes between this and the Tournament Of Power arc. The Shenlong episode was cute, but the Arale and baseball episodes were pure old DB fun. Arale is a fun character, but the baseball episode gave more time to the U6 characters and Yamcha of all characters - it was an absolute blast. The Hit two-parter did the same for Hit - it was cool to see Goku finally figure some of Hit’s techniques out on his own. It felt like the story was getting it’s stuff together and settled on a steady pacing instead of just rushing through everything or being really slow in the worst ways.

The Gohan and Krillin two-parters did some wonderful favors to their characters by giving them direction again and even Roshi gets to be the mentor again. When was the last time we saw that? When was the last time Gohan sparred with Goku? When was the last time we saw anything of Krillin? It’s nostalgic, but also puts their characters back on track in the most logical way it possibly could. This is where I started to disagree with the criticism thrown at Super. They were actually trying and it actually made sense. Prior I got the criticisms better, but now I disagree. It’s competent enough direction and writing for what this series is going for, and.. it no longer looks like crap, either.

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So we move on to episode 77, where the current arc starts. The Tournament Of Power... and it takes about 20 episodes to get there.

I’m actually rewtaching original DBZ right now and this pacing is nothing compared to how the Saiyan Saga was paced - this time around, all the characters actually get their focus episodes, instead of the 20 episodes being just split up between Goku and Gohan and barely focusing on anyone else.

Buu and Gohan get cool fights in the Zen Exhibition Match episodes (Goku’s aren’t anything that special, but have a couple of interesting character things going on and I do like Toppo). Gohan’s and Krillin’s characters are given further focus, same goes any of the 10 fighters. Roshi’s and Tenshinhan’s contributions are the weakest of the bunch (I’m so sick of pervert Roshi, more mentor/cool old man Roshi please), but they actually get something for once. Every member of the major cast at least gets one or two nice moments in these 20 or so episodes. That’s a considerable improvement to a lot of DBZ which was all about the Saiyans for a large majority. Add to that, most of it is substantial in some way, even if sometimes takes too long, but that’s DB in general for you. Pacing is something in DB that has always been annoying and at this point, after consuming roughly 500~ episodes of this story, I’m very patient with it. All I want from an arc is some sort of payoff that is satisfying. BoG and U6 were good with that RoF and FT not so much.

They also do their best to patch up the plot holes. They went out of their way to make sure Vegeta destroyed the Time Chamber and Buu fell asleep when there wasn’t enough time to get in there. Goku chose Freeza because they needed another strong fighter to replace Buu and he was apparently the only one who hadn’t moved on from the afterlife yet (it’s not as solid explanation as it could be, but I think it can be overlooked because his reintroduction was really entertaining and opened some interesting story possibilities). The time limit also sets up a possiblity that not all the fighters are the best of what the universe has to offer because the gods of all the universes have varying levels of competency and priorities. Gowasu had trouble because he was doubting himself, U9 and U4 were plotting against U7, Beerus and Shin are lazy and incompetent respectively and nobody listened to U11′s Kai to actually try and  convince Zeno to not destroy the universes because they were too busy arguing amongst themselves and worrying about their survival. 

My biggest problem with this portion is that some of the episodes also really do feel like a waste of time - 87 (the second part of the 17 two-parter) and 89 (the Roshi and Tenshinhan episode) were the weakest of the bunch. There is a lot of fluff here.

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Moving on to the actual Tournament Of Power, it’s introduced in episode 97, but starts proper with episode 98. Here’s my rundown of the past 7 episodes.

98 was cool for the Vegeta and Goku team-up because they actually never really have genuinely done that without messing up in some way. It wasn’t delibarate, but it also didn’t end up with them being dropped out, so I’d say that’s an improvement. I also disagree with Vegeta’s character being regressed because he’s still Vegeta. When the group left for the tournament, he glanced back at Bulma, but he still has the rivalry going on with Goku and he still has a sense of pride. The whole point is that at this point, when things really get serious, he’ll put his pride aside. Being more caring is not the same as being prideful. It’ll be a reasonable criticism if he doesn’t deliver when it matters, though and if his scenes remain limited to a few lines (also if he doesn’t get to do much substantial).

99 was cool for everything involving Krillin and 18 and I can’t help but feel that because Krillin is out so early he might become relevant later on in a different way. This might not be the case, but his moment didn’t seem like a “big moment”. Maybe this’ll be another Yamcha case of buildup not being equal to payoff, but at least it was still cool.

100 was the weakest so far, but Caulifla has a great personality, which I think saved that episode in hindsight. I didn’t mind the Kale stuff as much as some seemed to have, her character in general seemed the type to be set up for growth. The case in point being that 101 did a alright job at giving Kale a character direction and did a good job with writing the Kale and Caulifla relationship. Their relationship is probably the strongest part of their characters.

102 had the great magical girl parody stuff, which was genuinely funny and Android 17 shining, even if it was really slow.

103 had a good character moment for Gohan and actually the first genuinely solid fight that seemed to push a character with Obuni vs. Gohan.

104 had the great Hit vs. Dyspo fight in the first half. Again, it’s one of the first fights that genuinely seemed to push the characters we knew. Hit actually had to struggle against Dyspo somewhat.

I like that the pacing didn’t go to overdrive and they take the time to build stuff up. It’s probably going to be frustrating when following it weekly, but in hindsight might work out for the better. DB has always been a series that has emphasized the story coming together as a whole rather than something big happening every episode. It emphasizes build-up through smaller moments and the reward for that build-up. Which means if the reward is underwhelming, it hurts the arc a lot overall.

I mentioned it above, but the Tournament Of Power reminds me a lot of the Saiyan arc - everything up to the fight with Nappa was kind of a series of small moments for each fighter. The contestants of the Tournament Of Power are essentially Saibamen, except some have more distinct powers.

I like it so far, but the fight with the less significant characters can’t go on for too long without getting boring at this point. I think if they play their cards right and put effort into the big battles, along with rewarding character development, this will be a solid arc. Right now, it really isn’t meant to do something big yet because it’s still in the beginning stages of setting everything up action-wise. Some of the moments in the Future Trunks arc are some of the best in DBS so far, but I have much more confidence in this arc coming together as a whole because they do take their time.

At the very least, I don’t see how you could call the story genuinely horrible at this point myself. Not amazing or flawless, but it is at least competent for what it’s trying to do.

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So yeah, I think the good outweighs the bad with Super. It’s a good shounen for knowing exactly what it is. DB was never meant to be anything complex and the fact that DBS is so self-aware helps with it a bunch. I don’t go into DB looking for the most consistent or complex storytelling, I’m looking to have some moderate fun with maybe some great moment shere and there. It’s not great, but at this point I do keep coming back to Super because I care, mostly for the characters, but also where it ends up.

[suzume42]

Send me an AU and I’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it

So an anon asked for 5+ about a ‘Raditz lives’ AU. I pulled a bit from both canon and Team Four Star; I hope I did it justice! 1) It, a little ironically starts in Hell, after one of the many times that Goku falls off of Snake Way. Raditz approaches him cautiously but determined. He’d peeked in on Prince Vegeta and Nappa from his place in Hell and he knows they don’t plan on bringing him back; that they never did. So Raditz offers to train Goku, to teach him about the weaknesses of the other two Saiyans so as to ensure victory. He is surprised when Goku turns him down about the weaknesses, but accepts the offer of training later, after this is all over. Raditz will soon learn this is the norm for Goku and he has to wonder how his brother lived so long. 2) Raditz watches them on Namek and his anger at Vegeta only grows. How could he ever have followed such a selfish man? [He knows why; They’d been the only known Saiyans left in Freeza’s army. They’d stuck together for safety and familiarity. Apparently nothing more and nothing less. Without him and Nappa, Vegeta is on his own and the pressure is breaking the other man.]  He also watches his nephew; curious about the child and eventually even becomes regretful at how their first encounter went. 3) When people are being wished back, no one is more surprised than Raditz when Goku both refuses to come back to Earth and instead suggests that they revive Raditz instead. Exactly /how/ they were all convinced to go through with this, honestly no one could say; but it happens and now Raditz is alive on Earth and so horribly displaced he doesn’t know where to start.  Chi-Chi takes over at that point, grabbing hold of his ear to give him what for for kidnapping Gohan and /technically/ for kick-starting all of this mess. As he is lectured, this somehow winds up with him moving in into their home and agreeing to help out around the place. He....honestly is not sure how that was arranged. His sister-in-law is much like a female Saiyan and more than once Raditz has to wonder how they even got married to begin with. [He sees it though, when Goku finally comes home. Goku and Chi-Chi are near inseparable for hours and there is deep love and affection in their hugs and touches and words.] 4) In the meantime before Goku finally comes back, Raditz finds himself facing a problem. Namely that his nephew is afraid of him (though for admittedly good reason) and that a wannabe demon king is constantly swiping Gohan away for training. Chi-Chi is also irritated at this but for different reasons.  Eventually, Raditz challenges Piccolo on taking all of Gohan’s time as well as his training of the boy and Chi-Chi also steps in to argue about her son’s schooling. Somehow this winds up with them working out a rough schedule where Gohan would have schooling in the morning and then train with either Piccolo or Raditz in the afternoon, with the odd day off here and there to rest. They polish it over time and sometimes even group up if there’s need for it or it’s manageable.  5) To his own surprise, Raditz finds that he likes teaching Gohan martial arts as well as other subjects. (Why is everyone so surprised that he’s great at maths? Is Earth’s space travel ability seriously /that/ low?) Through Chi-Chi’s insistence, this is how Raditz finds work; through both Master Roshi and Bulma.  Master Roshi still has connections in the world of martial arts and so sets Raditz up with a teaching job in a friend’s dojo; Raditz also becomes a roving instructor, mostly going around to let people break themselves against him because they no longer can safely fight other humans/any of the other races on Earth. His services quickly become in demand for both occupations. Bulma also hires him on as a consultant for Capsule Corps. Between his knowledge and Vegeta’s (they’re still on very awkward terms but Capsule Corps is agreed neutral ground), her company is making /massive/ leaps forward in advancing Earth’s technology and the overall quality of life for everyone. Raditz winds up giving most of his pay to Chi-Chi; he’s not quite sure what else to do with it for now and besides, it feels nice to help out in other ways besides just getting firewood or hunting or doing any of a variety of other chores. 6) When Goku does return and that strange boy from the future leaves (after giving Raditz a very weird look, obviously confused as to who he was; Raditz was more confused why the kid had the faint smell of Vegeta and the stronger smell of Bulma but Piccolo tells him everything later that day, when they’re talking about Gohan’s training schedule. Raditz has /never/ laughed so hard or long his his life, ever!) and all the talking is over and done with, the first thing Raditz does the following morning is punch his little brother in the face, hard enough to send him tumbling through a pair of trees. Goku just pops back up with a laugh and charges him with a shoulder slam after shaking the leaves out of his hair. They spar until Chi-Chi comes out to call them for lunch, her trusty frying pan in hand as an unneeded just in case.  Their little home is strange but it works and Raditz can’t think of anywhere else he’d rather be now.

[breezytealy]

Can you pleeeeeeeease do Trunks for the character thing?! Pretty please?! 💛😊

(msg refs this post)HI NONNIE! (Who are youuuuu~~~~?) I’ve had half of a response in my drafts forever but finally got time to finish! Wow, it’s almost like everyone knows exactly the characters I want to write about :’DDone Goten, have Marron after this post…I’m going to do this mostly about present timeline Trunks rather than future timeline because that means I get the Terrible Trio done in these asks.Why I like themHe’s a little cheeky turd! Obviously I’m talking about Present rather than Future Trunks (who is a real softie). Trunks is such a manipulative kid, getting Goten to go along with his plans (in Buu saga Goten’s too young to argue back effectively, can see Goten just being chill later though). It makes sense he’d just expect people to follow his lead though. He lives in a house with staff and everyone probably agreeing with his Mum out of respect - and his Dad out of fear. He is a little full of himself and I love it. (More after cut)

Why I don’t…I’m legit trying to think of things and I can’t… if he was a real kid in my charge I would be so irritated by him. (Also Super has him too small, my eternal complaint).Favorite episode (scene if movie)The Mighty Mask stuff gets me every time :’D Trunks calling the shots and poor Goten just resigned…

Favorite season/movieBuu saga, and Broly movies for him just being such a rude shit, flipping the bird, the family hand sign.

Favorite lineLess a line and more a state of mind; every time in GT he got exasperated at Goku and Pan behaving like kids was my favourite. We know he’s a bit of a slacker in his presidential role in GT, preferring to go out flying (who wouldn’t) but he is ultimately quite responsible as an adult and adulty. 

Favorite outfitFuture Trunks not present Trunks but same body so stands to reason, that green jumper F.Trunks wore in the Black arc looked pretty good on him! I do like his green gi as a kid but not sure where that comes from? I wonder if he’ll switch to Vegeta’s Saiyan uniform when he’s older or keep the gi  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

OTPI am a stickler for canon ships (it’s like a personal challenge, don’t hold anyone else to it) so it looks like Trunks x Mai is going to play out in current timeline. I know a lot of people don’t like it, and even those that do usually stick with the Future timeline. But I find it /fascinating/ how Mai’s brain would work (it should be going through all the childhood developmental stages again) and how that relationship would develop. She must tell him her situation at some point. I picture Mai rejecting his advances as a young teen, and then explaining why before he goes to college when he’s old enough to understand. I’d see a bit of a distancing after that for him in particular to process though coming back together after as they do see something in each other, especially as he grows more responsible. With the responsibility I do see him as a little of an “old soul” for lack of a better term - (and I might be projecting my own partner onto him here but) the kind of guy who starts reading adult papers as a teen and is clued up about politics and genuinely likes music twenty years too old for him, so they just work well together. He skips the party stage and goes straight to the boxset on sofa stage.

I know a relationship between two people where there’s a huge age gap (it started when she was 18 and he was late 30s) and it’s the strongest marriage I know. Whilst that’s not as big a gap as Trunks x Mai honestly if it works then I don’t see a problem. Many of the problems with age gap relationships come down to power differentials and people being in different stages of their lives physically. If these aren’t there then who gives a monkey’s? As I said on the Goten one I do see some TruTen happening at some point due to the intensity of fusion but not sticking into a traditional relationship. I see Trunks as a true “all or nothing” prince charming romantic type (serial monogamist) and Goten not being able to maintain the intense romantic tendencies needed for something like that.

BrotpGood old Goten can it be anyone else? I do see them as having some form of intense soulmate-like relationship though which is basically an OTP but not in the standard way TruTen is depicted. Looking at them interacting you’d probably think they’re a married couple bickering half the time because the effect fusion has of making you see someone else more of an extension of yourself than separate. Sounds harsh but I actually see them as old men and can see one dying of heartbreak if the other goes first

Head Canon I have Goten being effortlessly friendly with people as he’s grown up in a mixed environment with people of all classes (he knows rich people from CC, he knows Gods and how to behave, interacts at markets with normal people). Trunks has been stuck at CC and so is used to the power differential in most interactions. I can see that really messing with him and it just… manifesting as him being an unintentional ass as he gets older (though I think his interactions with future Trunks might have started to soften that). Maybe insisting on going to public high school for a couple of years and it just not going the way he plans (you can’t organise people. Goten yes because he just rolls with things but not everyone else). Making few friends, growing suspicious of people and their motives because they’re just after money or influence… social stuff is more complicated than he thought. He can’t have been great to CC workers as a kid really, since he treated the place as a playground. I have him insisting on taking on a gap year before college (that way he can go with Goten (kinda forcing Goten to go in a way)) and wanting to spend it travelling in space. Vegeta and Bulma have other ideas and make him do a year’s internship at CC, rotating through departments and starting with the most aggrieved - maintenance. The staff treat it as a hazing and Trunks learns humility and how to interact with people better, they grow to like him, and when he takes up a position at CC after college there’s far less animosity towards him being gifted a management position. He’s still not that good in social situations without a framework like work to work with and he can come across a little awkward. He’s best when he just relaxes and is a really good earnest guy and easy to talk to then, but he’s more often second-guessing how some people are going to behave and how he’s coming across that he’s a bit hard to interact with with that wall up. When he’s chill he’s quite witty and is full of puns. Some of his jokes can be a little dark (mostly born from having a dad that threatens to murder you for every little thing) and he’s the kind of guy with intrusive thoughts (”I could kill everyone in this room”) but not the type to act on them obviously. It’s where Gotenks gets his mean, slightly cocky streak from. I see him taking on a lot of responsibility, seeing himself as the group leader and making the final decision on strategy for fights that the kids take part in. They look to him for it. Really though Goten is the glue that holds the group together and without Goten softening things Trunks’ leadership can be a little hostile. Still, he takes a lot on his shoulders and feels the weight of it often. He’s an analyst, good for engineering but breaking down every little problem and possibility can be tiring. He’s the person most concerned about keeping the public from finding out about the superpowers and makes them all use secure chats and code names when talking, he wears a beanie hat in public to hide his hair (rarely works). Public see him as a man of mystery though and have decided he’s some brooding amazing guy instead of a paranoid dork. That frown he inherits from his Dad is more from worry than his Dad’s trademark irritation. He tries to do too much with the business and training and can be constantly tired, running himself ragged, Bra takes some stuff off of him to help. Eventually he opens up the sword school with Goten after Gohan’s book’s released, leaving CC day-to-day management to Bra (who is far better at marketing and being extraverted and all that shizzle) and as they’re now open about their powers he can relax and enjoy himself and focus on spreading the responsibility through a group of enthusiastic recruits, aged 39. 

Unpopular opinionBeing from the UK I had the Blue Water GT dub. I haven’t played the games very often and I’m more likely to rewatch GT than Cell Games so my internal Trunks Voice is either KaiserNeko’s from Dragon Ball Abridged or Blue Water’s Matthew_Erickson. I like Vale’s voice as I had it for Future Trunks but I just… every time I write dialogue with adult Trunks it’s one of the two softer voices ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A wishBecause the kids haven’t aged in Super we’re missing out on the “generic teen phase” for the kids. Having Trunks rolling around in an unwashed hoodie talking about “how hard my life is” and “no one understands me and my genius” with all the self-awareness of a jam jar would be amazing. 

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happenA bit silly but please don’t have him be cool. Future Trunks was cool because of his skills and character rather than actually trying to be, in reality he was a bit of a cute dork and I hope that happens. The idea of Trunks trying really hard with interactions and failing (like trying to impress Mai with the sword) is funny, I just couldn’t take the blandness of him actually being cool with people and popular, you know? That natural charisma is more Goten’s domain to me. 

5 words to best describe themResponsible, easily-exasperated, romantic, strategist, “not good with strangers or people he knows” (to quote Father Ted)

My nickname for themI have them all referring to him a T (“Trunks” being a famous name you don’t want to bandy about in public because it would attract attention) and Goten calling him T-Dawg as some kind of ironic jibe. 

[fandomchoirboys]

Kakavege week - Space Travel

AN: Takes place in an AU where when Raditz came to Earth, Goku regained his Saiyan memories after they both were killed by Piccolo. Out of a sense duty to his race he went with Nappa, Raditz and Vegeta after the brothers were brought back with the Dragon Balls. Nappa and Raditz later die at the hands of Freeza in glorious battle on Namek and choose not to be brought back. The rest follows the basic timeline of Dragon Ball Z except Goku and Vegeta still have their space pods and use them to go to other worlds as either defenders of planets in need or in search of remnants of the Cold's Empire.

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Royal Catalog: Recorded transmissions between King Vegeta IV and King Consort Kakarot between the Ages 761 and 784 (as told by the King Consort's log dates after pod is repaired by Royal Scientist and Royal Mother Bulma Briefs). Year of Catalog: 13 PGR*, may King Vegeta IV and King Consort Kakarot's glory live on forever. 4582 TMC** and Galacdate 397412.47.

Age 761

'Hey, you awake?'

'Kakarot, regardless of there only being four of us left, I am still your Prince and I demand you show me the respect due to me.'

'Right! Sorry, sir. Your Highness! Sir.'

'Moon above, I know Raditz found you on a backwater planet but honestly...'

'I'm sorry Prince Vegeta! I'll try to be better!'

Transmission enhanced and remastered 'Not like it really matters, a prince of three isn't much of anything.'

'Whatya say? Sir!'

'Nothing Kakarot.'

'Okay your Highness. Ya'know, I'm here so if you ever wanna talk or something at some point.'

'Kakarot.'

'Sir?'

'Shut up.'

'Yes sir.'

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Age 763

'Hey, Vegeta!'

'Yes Kakarot?'

'Whatya think we'd be doin' right now if Freeza hadn't blown up the planet?'

'You'd be an infantry level soldier with dreams of maybe making Lieutenant and I'd be living in lap of luxury with beautiful women seeing to my every whim, the planet magically running itself without me having to life a finger.'

'C'mon Vegeta, that's no fun. We'd still be friends!'

'How would we be friends Kakarot? The only reason we met was because we are literally the last of our species and I decided to disobey Freeza and go somewhere I wasn't supposed to.'

'Yeah, but can't ya feel it? It's like, when I first saw ya I knew we were meant to, I dunno, fight together and stuff. Even if Freeza didn't destroy our planet, we'd have to be together.'

'If you say so Kakarot.'

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Age 765

'Ya ever wonder what everyone would think if they saw us now?'

'Like Raditz and Nappa?'

'Well, yeah them too, but mainly everyone else. I mean, two Super Saiyans in a generation, crossbreeding with another species, ya know? Like, we're kinda breaking all the rules of normalcy and without anyone to reign us in, we're like making up a new definition of what being Saiyan is and-'

'Kakarot how much sleep have you been getting?'

'Not much, my chest has been kinda hurting lately.'

'Our next mission can wait a bit, we'll go to Earth and see if that woman can find what's wrong with it.'

'Oh really! Thanks Vegeta!'

'Can't very well have you watch my back if you're distracted now can I?'

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Age 774

'You think if I started teaching him our culture younger, Gohan would be out here with us instead of running around Earth in that costume?'

'Hard to say, I don't think it would take much for you to do something similar, I mean, when we met you were a fashion designer and a strong sense of morality away from being a superhero.'

'I was not-'

'Mysterious/unknown background: check. Unnaturally strong: check. Overthrow despotic and/or militaristic government: check. Magic bullshit, archenemy and Deus Ex Machina devices: check, check and hell yes check.'

'C'mon, it's not my fault we had Dragon Balls-'

'Deus Ex Machina devices.'

'What?'

'Deus Ex Machina devices. It's a literature thing. It's like out of nowhere, for seemingly no reason other than god caused it, something happens that just fixes whatever it was that went wrong.'

'Huh, yeah, the Dragon Balls'll fix just about anything you could dream of…'

'Exactly.'

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Age 779

'If you could have any wish, what would it be?'

'That you'd stop interrupting the knock out gas in these pods with questions.'

'C'mon, what would you really wish for?'

'…I don't know, I honestly haven't thought about it much. I wanted immortality for so long it's hard to think of anything else. And since all your Earth friends agreed that after seeing what a hassle Garlic Jr. is that no one else is allowed to wish for immortality, regardless of their intentions towards Earth.'

'I guess that's fair, I can't think of anything I want either after I bring King Kai and the rest of them back, but that's only fixing my mess, not getting something that I want.'

'That reminds me, I've been wanting to ask for ages: why didn't you Instant Transmission Cell into space? I know we've set up beacons for you to use.'

'I panicked. Piccolo had just finished giving me the dressing down of my life about how I was sending my son to die and then Cell was a sore loser and was gonna blow up everyone and King Kai's place was the furthest place I could think of where no one would get hurt. Besides, the only beacons we had set up at that point were in the lower atmosphere and maybe one on the moon, we were still testing my reach and our ability to make beacons at that point. Hey, ya think if we still had our tails and we went to the moon, we'd turn Oozaru?'

'No, the Blutz waves would be too weak if we were standing on the source. I don't know what it is about a planet's atmosphere, but it amplifies the Blutz waves to make them strong enough for us to transform. It's why we never had to worry about transforming in space and making sure our ships could survive its crew suddenly becoming at least twenty times larger.'

'Huh. I never even thought about that. It's like our biology wanted us to travel the stars.'

'I guess you could say that. Anything else you wanted to talk about? I'm exhausted from our last mission and was really looking forward to the forced sleep.'

'Oh, no, that's it. Goodnight my Prince.'

'Goodnight Kakarot.'

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Age 784

'Where are we going?'

'C'mon Geets, you know if I tell you it won't be a surprise anymore.'

'You know I hate that nickname.'

'You've yet to offer a proper one to replace it and before you say it, no: Your Highness and Prince are not proper nicknames if I want to call you something while we're cuddling. If we're having sex, they're fine since I know what they do for your ego, but otherwise no. And besides, we're almost at our destination.'

'What do you mean we're almost there, there's nothing here since Freeza- Moon above you did not Kakarot.'

'Maybe I did.'

'You wished back our planet?'

'And our people. You would not believe the hassle and promises I had to make to everyone in Otherworld from King Yemma to Supreme and Elder Kai. And that's not even counting actually summoning the dragon without anyone knowing and trying to make their own wishes. I had to fly to the south pole and even then our sons were about halfway there by the time I summoned Shenron. Those poor penguins, they had no idea-'

'Yeah yeah yeah, back to the part where you wished back our entire planet, race and culture without telling me.'

'Well I wanted it to be a surprise. Oh, also I wished for our tails to grow back after a week living on Planet Vegeta. I remember one time you said that having your tail cut off meant you were exiled but at the same time I didn't want to grow them back before we got there 'cuz you might guess something was up and I didn't want them to grow back in the middle of you seeing your dad again or something so…'

'You wished our planet, race, culture and tails back. It- I- I didn’t know I wanted this. Kakarot you- I- I can’t thank you enough, you- you're perfect.'

'Love you too, my Prince, now come on, let's go meet our future.'

End of Transmissions. Continuation of Transmissions between King Vegeta IV and King Consort Kakarot are filed under: "Recorded transmissions between King Vegeta IV and King Consort Kakarot between the Ages 785 and 803 (as told by the King Consort's log dates after pod is repaired by Royal Scientist and Royal Mother Bulma Briefs)."

*PGR - Post Grand Resurrection **TMC - Traditional Method of Counting