#and he absolutely abused vegeta don't @ me

[tobiasdrake]

Hi! Absolutely adore your DBZ analyses, thank you so much - just spent a delightful time reading them all. I was wondering, since you've commented on Chi-Chi and Goku's marriage, what do you have to say about Vegeta and Bulma's relationship? (I've always been entranced by it - mostly because as with all his romances, Toriyama had the wisdom not to show any of it onscreen. But I'd love to know your thoughts about it.)

Bulma and Vegeta are a match made in Hell, and they deserve each other. (Which is to say yes, I love this ship.)

Hooking Bulma up with Vegeta was a hell of a narrative swerve. Generally speaking, stories rarely do this; They rarely let characters break up once they're already invested in a romance, unless it's supposed to be like a love triangle thing.

And Bulma? Bulma was invested. At least, to a degree.

This was the birth of the original Bulma romance that ran through about half of the manga. Two teens interesting in the opposite sex suddenly realize the availability of the other and a relationship is born.

Toriyama says he's bad at writing romance but to be honest, this has always hit me as more believable than your typical drawn-out five-seasons-of-pining Will They/Won't They affair. I'm a girl. You're a boy. Wanna go out and see what clicks?

And these two... these two do not click. We only really see their relationship from Bulma's perspective but it's clear that these two are miserable together.

The manga sorta takes Bulma's side, in that we never really get to hear Yamcha's opinion about their relationship one way or another. When he's around, all he wants to do is talk shop about martial arts. Since Toriyama doesn't like to write romance, we simply don't see much of it from them. What little we do hear about it comes from Bulma complaining about how miserable she is.

Bulma is pretty much always pissed off whenever the relationship is in focus at all.

Anime filler tends to take Yamcha's side instead, portraying him as a put-upon victim of Bulma's jealousy and abuse. A nice guy who doesn't deserve the way she treats him.

It's not hard to buy into this interpretation of their relationship since, as noted, we rarely get anything from Yamcha with regard to his relationship to women or Bulma specifically but we know Bulma's a lot. It's easy to accept Bulma as the "bad guy" of this relationship because. Like. Remember that time she enslaved a sentient being? Good times.

Though one particular moment from Yamcha later on kinda stands out as a bit of a retroactive Yikes.

Yeah. Uh. Threatening violence against a woman for rejecting his bro is a bit of a Yikes. Is this who we were supposed to see Yamcha as all this time? Because, if so, it might have helped to let him opine about the relationship more. Just saiyan.

According to Toriyama in interview, Yamcha and Bulma ultimately broke up because she caught Yamcha cheating on her. I guess that's what him being "popular with girls" was supposed to mean: Once he got over his gynophobia and found confidence with the opposite sex, Yamcha became a player.

But that doesn't necessarily come across from the statement, "Bulma can't stand that Yamcha's popular with girls." A lot of fans took that to mean girls just like him for no reason, and Bulma's unreasonably jealous about it. The anime took that position too.

Note that the "Yamcha is popular with girls" thing isn't helped by the fact that we never see it on-panel because he's only ever talking shop when he's around. But we do see a wandering eye from Bulma often enough.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying the aesthetic appeal of another party even when you're in a monogamous relationship, but it doesn't really present the "Other party is a womanizer and cheater" case when you're the only one ever seen doing this.

So it feels like there's a lot about Yamcha and Bulma's relationship that never made it to print yet influenced later decisions. Those decisions ended up being controversial because the foundation for those decisions was never laid. Here, Toriyama's disdain for writing romance worked against him.

But ultimately, regardless of whose side you take, it doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter who the "bad guy" is. A healthy relationship does not have a "bad guy" in it.

Whether or not Yamcha cheated, whether or not Bulma's just an unreasonably jealous hell-beast, it doesn't actually matter. What matters is that once you reach the point where you're taking sides over which party is the most obnoxious asshole and I hate you and I wish we never met... this relationship is not working for anybody.

It doesn't matter who the bad guy is. It doesn't matter who deserves the blame for this relationship being a toxic shithole. That there is blame to throw around in the first place is the problem. Every relationship has its ups and downs but if one party is constantly miserable for years and has possibly been looking for an escape hatch since year 1, that's not a little tiff.

What matters is that these two are not working out. Any time we see their relationship in focus, they are miserable together. The anime tried to do some patchwork on that with audience reception by giving them some cute moments as well, but because those moments aren't canon the pair remained miserable.

And then this happened.

Despite everything, I think we all assumed that Bulma and Yamcha were going to work it out. Fictional relationships are often portrayed as tumultuous. To a writer, nothing says true love like being constantly miserable and despising every waking moment you spend with your awful, nagging ball-and-chain of a spouse. That's just. Like. What the straights think romance is. It's weird.

I think we all thought that was going to be the deal here too. And then Trunks came along and said, "Nope, actually, they finally severed the cord."

Again, Toriyama says he's bad at writing romance but holy shit, the toxic and miserable relationship actually ended. The two characters involved who only got together out of loneliness and desperation later found they were incompatible with each other. That's so real. Much moreso than a lot of fictional romances.

Instead, we got the absolute crack ship that is Vegeta and Bulma. What a wild-ass revelation for Trunks to drop.

Like. Until the end of the Namek arc, this was the only time these two characters even met.

She also saw Vegeta for like two seconds here.

That was it. That was their entire history together until Goku defeated Frieza while Kaio sent everyone to Earth. But that's when everything changed for Vegeta.

Stranded on Earth with no ship, no affiliations, no ability to leave the planet and nowhere to go or be and no obligations to anyone but himself, Vegeta's circumstances were wildly different than they'd ever been before. He had become one of the Namekian refugees.

And Bulma was offering refuge.

Hard to resist, indeed. That moment is absolutely hilarious in retrospect. Bulma rolled a Nat 20 on that charisma check. It's pretty clear who the instigator of this relationship was.

Like. It needs to be stated that at this point, the only thing Bulma knew about Vegeta was that he tried to kill them all multiple times, and also he's kinda hot. But. Like.

It's Bulma. Anyone who doesn't expect this from her by now either hasn't been paying attention or started watching the English dub of the anime when they did Z first.

So, naturally, Vegeta is a kind and loving man and became a phenomenal husband and fa--

Wait. No. I got my notes mixed up. It says here Vegeta's a rotten dirty bastard. Like. Chronically. He has Supreme Dickshit Syndrome. It's genetic.

Most of Bulma and Vegeta's developing relationship happens offscreen. From what snippets we get, Vegeta has a tendency to vanish during the day, but he still lives at Capsule Corp so Bulma sees him around.

By the end of the three-year timeskip, it's official. Or semi-official. Yamcha and Bulma broke up at some point during that timeskip and Bulma's given birth to Trunks.

As for Vegeta, he's evidently moved out of Capsule Corp and into his own place.

I guess he's still keeping contact with Bulma since she knows what his intentions are. Not to mention he found his tranquility during these three years, though it's somewhat ambiguous as to what exactly brought that peace to his heart.

But the relationship is off to a rocky start nonetheless. Clearly something went down between Vegeta and Bulma that drove Vegeta out of Capsule Corp. To. Uh. Somewhere.

I like to imagine Vegeta living in some shitty West City apartment he rents off a stipend Bulma's sending him that he refuses to openly acknowledge. Like, room 101 is a down-on-his-luck tax accountant, room 102 is a couple with a kid trying to make ends meet off two retail workers' salaries, and then room 103 is Vegeta, Prince of All Saiyans. Sometimes he goes to community events and pretends he isn't having fun.

No lie, I would absolutely watch that as a sitcom.

As for Vegeta himself, he's still a rotten dirty bastard.

Worth noting that Vegeta's saying this as a Super Saiyan which means he's drunk on the form's enhanced aggression. But. Still. Vegeta is an absolute monster being dragged kicking and screaming into a pleasant life that he'll one day resent himself for enjoying. This is his arc moving forward.

It's not so much a redemption arc as it is a domestication arc. The uniquely evil even by Saiyan standards Vegeta is gradually being changed by his new terrestrial life. He doesn't want to own up to how much he enjoys it here. Seven years later, he's still desperate to avoid owning up to it.

He doesn't want to be happy here. He doesn't want a loving wife and a son who looks up to him and the most lavish home wealth can afford him and easy, comfortable days spent with friends and loved ones by his side. He doesn't want a happy ending.

But it's like Bulma warned him: Dragon Ball's queen bee is hard to resist.

Welcome back to Capsule Corp, Vegeta. We hardly even noticed you were gone. Honestly, Future Trunks deserves a lot of the credit for this; Watching him die at the Cell Games was what flipped the switch in Vegeta's head that he wants the family he and Bulma have spawned together.

Sure is a good thing we have Dragon Balls because this is a hell of a time to suddenly decide you love your son. But we see the consequences of that seven years later, since Vegeta moved back into Capsule Corp from... I don't know, wherever he went. They're gonna miss him at the next community poolside summer BBQ event for all tenants.

Part of what makes Vegeta and Bulma work, I think, is that they're on the same page about one crucial point. For Bulma, there is one person who will always take precedent in her life above all others. Romance comes and romance goes, but this is the relationship that matters most to her.

Especially when it comes to martial arts and fighting. Bulma doesn't know a lot about the subject, but she knows that Son Goku is her #1. She has no reservations about saying that to her lover's face either.

When fists start flying, Bulma knows who she's rooting for. If Goku's involved, then it's not her guy. That's. Just. Something that anyone who wants to be with her has to be willing to understand. The single most important relationship in Bulma's life will always be her friendship with Goku.

And the thing about Vegeta is... He kind of agrees? Like. See above, re: I wanted Babidi to destroy my feelings for Bulma so that I could become the warrior that can fight with you, Kakarot.

As much as Goku will always be Bulma's #1, he'll also always be Vegeta's #1. He even gets included into Vegeta's fond farewell to the family he loves.

Goku is basically the platonic third in a two-person polycule. This is the second marriage that this poor ace plays a vital role in despite having no real interest in romance whatsoever.

Bulma is selfish, spiteful, petty, and vain. At one point, DBS: Broly directly compares her to Frieza; A comparison that manages to be unbelievably unflattering to both participants.

They're the same picture. A revelation that would probably be horrifying to both.

And Vegeta. Especially Vegeta. But. Like. She warned you she was irresistible. You didn't take her seriously and now look where you are. Married to the She-Frieza. Maybe you should think about your life choices.

This is just. So much fun. As I said at the outset, Bulma and Vegeta are a match made in Hell who make it work because they're both similar brands of awful.

As for Yamcha, it's a little known fact but Yamcha rebounded and moved on with his life. He stops having much story relevancy after he leaves Capsule Corporation so we see very little of his private life from there. After retiring from martial arts and splitting up with Bulma, Yamcha's left without any story hooks to keep him involved.

But there was this interesting moment, when he realized they had a Shenron wish to spare.

After Krillin comes up with something better to use the wish on, he takes it back and claims it was a joke.

This is, surprisingly, a point of contention in the fandom as some of Yamcha's fans prefer the idea that he died miserable and alone after Bulma ruined his life by leaving him. This takeback gets pointed to as proof that he made up his girlfriend entirely. However, in context, it's clear that a) he's trying to brush off his earlier attempt at making a petty wish and b) the thing he's transparently pretending was a joke is the necklace wish, not the existence of his new girlfriend.

Like Bulma, Yamcha moved on with his life after the break up of their miserable relationship. And that was the final word that was ever uttered on Yamcha's romantic prospects, because this was the last time he was ever meaningfully involved with anything at all.

[shannonsketches]

I'm just ranting about DBS' anime under the cut again don't mind me I'm having a Time

I was so confused about why Goku Black/Zamas is such a popular skin in Fortnite and then I learned that Toei once again missed the whole point of that arc. Both of them. One is Vegeta being inescapably confronted with how loved he is and how much he loves his family, which we knew Toei was never going to allow, but my god, Zamas??

The point of Zamas is that he's a wildly privileged chronically online 4chan fascist deciding an entire way of life which he does not participate in, has a surface-level understanding of, and is not personally affected by, is morally disgusting. Like, that's it that's his whole character. He's a young god with every possible comfort deciding that anything that is not like him is immoral and should not exist.

It has nothing to do with Trunks or anyone, it's solely because he's a shitty little Light Yagami kinnie in his extremely sheltered bubble of (perceived, not lived) experience. Dude is intolerable in the manga, and that's the point. His justice is not justice. His reasoning is outright fascism.

But they also missed the point of Trunks being Alone in the future (save for Mai) and Bulma not being there at all (her murder and subsequent absence in the future timeline is a vital component of the arc's emotional weight for Vegeta and Trunks, in fact, which of course they made about Goku instead :))) y'all really work so hard to pretend goku has any kind of social heirarchy and that scenario wouldn't play exactly the same way with anyone goku loved, but it's too late! we have the freeza saga on your own show to show you he would)

There's no militia, there's no resistance, there's no Help. Trunks is isolated and out of options, his Time Machine only has enough fuel for one trip and he has to take it without Mai. He didn't leave anyone behind, he thinks she's dead. He got out because he thought it was the only thing he could do. He didn't try to bring Goku and Vegeta back, he didn't think there would be a back. He was just keeping his promise to Live, for his mom.

Trunks has no one else in his Timeline. Just him and Mai against Zamas, who has murdered Bulma while she went out to do routine maintenance on their power supply. And Zamas isn't even actively trying to kill Trunks until that point. He's purposefully keeping him alive as a way to make himself stronger. He doesn't hop a ring and go to the AU. He's chillin at his cabin. He's enjoying the cat and mouse game, and is stoked when Goku and Vegeta show up for the same reason. Zamas is abusive and corrosive and DEEPLY self-obsessed (as most fascists are), he panics whenever he starts losing (as most supremacists do), and blames everyone but himself for his situation (as many extreme narcissists do).

And of course this arc wouldn't be complete without Toei's classic 'take everything that was about Vegeta and give it to Literally Anyone Else, just throw him under the bus and completely rewrite how his only time referring to himself as the prince of all saiyans was to goad and distract GB while Trunks healed Goku because Vegeta told him to heal Goku instead of himself for their best chance at winning,, Trunks has to ask Vegeta to go with him to fight Zamas?? Vegeta was like "I'm gonna beat this man to death" the second he found out he killed Bulma lmao be so fr rn!! so this can be about how Goku is morally righteous and a very normal person' but it's fine it's whatever why would I be mad that Vegeta and Trunks aren't doing the intense emotional bonding that losing Bulma would force them to do when we can have (checks notes) Yajirobe be a part of things, for some reason

like i don't--

And Toei just. Nah. We're gonna focus on his power ups and his being mean to Goku, Specifically, is what makes him a bad bad man. "His power is unstable he has complex emotions-"

No he doesn't.

No he absolutely does the fuck not.

He wants every mortal to die and he's having a breakdown that three mortals are standing in his shitty little way. That's it. Very simple emotions. He's behaving like a spoiled brat because he is one.

bruh they even changed it to Vegeta taking an unconscious Goku back to the Present, I'm aksjdkaj

That was fully Vegeta, who snapped at Goku for leaving Trunks behind. (And again, Bulma just??? Being mad at Everyone?? And going to the future?? When in the manga she's running support on the home front?? and then talking up Goku and Vegeta getting mad, despite Vegeta also being like 'i want this mf dead in my hands but Kakarot's our best shot' in the manga?? Adding to his whole motivation in Super of wanting to be strong enough to Not Have to Rely on Goku to protect his family, since his whole thing is consistently not being enough to beat the bbeg? And wtf Little Trunks being super jealous over tiny Mai even though that ALSO is not a thing? He's just "Tiny Boy Laments because his de-aged 42yo Crush has a crush on a 30yo Version of Him after showing No interest in child him because he is, in fact, A Child")

And then had it be Bulma, Trunks, and Mai's fault the seal didn't work when Goku did the ma-fu-ba and accidentally brought one of Roshi's Girlbar coupons instead of the seal?? God Toei's team is really allergic to anything being Goku's fault. Don't think I didn't see you skip over the part where Buu failed his written exam and Goku only barely passed with a 50% and then got mad at Vegeta for suggesting a written exam.

god everything I learn about the anime is the worst thing I've ever learned about the anime aksldjsal

First deciding that ALL of the Z-Fighters, including Gohan and Piccolo, would get their asses collectively beat by Ginyu, who has been a frog for a decade (a frog which was used for the sole purpose of him not being able to switch out of that body, mind), because apparently being a frog is way harder than idk fighting cell and majin buu and beerus, and despite the strongest guy in Freeza's army being Roughly as strong as Cell was, but okay -- just so they could rewrite Gohan's baller action scene of kicking ass and saving Piccolo into Picowo Dead Pls Daddy Save Me I'm Not Stwong Enough Despite Toei Deciding Piccolo Died in Front of Me and My Whole Thing is Rage-Induced Beating Everyone's Ass Syndrome U_U,

but also that Goku Black is doing this because ... Trunks? Upset the timelines? And that, of all the thousands of years of fuckery and 5+ rings from others doing the same shit and having watched a tournament in which one guy's whole thing is altering time, is what we're gonna use to try and drag out this fight and validate Zamas?

And then giving Kale lipstick and making her transformation about a Man? And not about Caulifa getting beat to shit by Freeza to have Kale go 'I thought you'd hate me if you found out I was strong' and Caulifa go 'yo that was fucking rad are you kidding me shine on you crazy diamond'??? Toei that shit was already Highly Lesbeans you didn't need to make it fucking weird and centered around Cabbe and Goku??? FUCKS sake, my man.

I remain so glad Toriyama took Daima away from those writers holy shit lmao Just rehauled the entire thing

and you know what even if I hate it I know it'll be better than whatever the fuck Super's writer's room was on in 2018.

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

I have a little bit of a tsams hot take that probably won't go into the main tags.

Monty's character has really gone downhill since he got his own show and left Tsams.

And I know Davis voices the character, but since Monty has left Tsams, and been split between writers between LAES, TSAMS and MGAFS...

He is so mixed.

LAES: Sweet, if a little brash. Cute, the supportive boyfriend. A bit of an asshole to Lunar, but they get along alright.

TSAMS: Don't acknowledge his existence unless they need something or he's paired with Earth. He's just... there. For all intents and purposes. Does not have the same relationship he had with Moon or the other Celestial Siblings before. And the void of where he left is filled by Solar. And I love Solar, but they seem to forget (in Moon's case) or refuse to acknowledge all the help he did for them up till the point Lunar exploded.

MAFS: Honestly. The worst version of himself. This Monty... Abuses his friends for no good reason, lies to his girlfriend for no good reason, hurts children for no good reason.

And yes, this can all be faucets that make up a character if that's what they're trying to do by showing different sides of him... but like... It's so absolutely disjointed, I do not know how his character will be in every given episode.

Example...

Monty recently was given a Female Body (this Monty is gender Fluid) that was commissioned by his Deceased Father (go with it) that Foxy found out, and gave to him as a gift. Foxy is the one who got it all set up when the package arrived for him.

(honestly the way they did those episodes is masterfully well done. Super respectful and relatable)

They loved it and were overwhelmed with emotion, spent a few days in his new body...

First by spending the day with their son Vegeta animatronic (go with it) although reluctantly,

and then another emotional episode in LAES where he comes out to Earth, and Earth accepts them in their new body...

So... What does Monty do to Foxy for helping him set up this body? You think he would thank Foxy for bringing this to his attention.

He turns him into a Fox plushie, and punts him around the pizzaplex, physically abusing him for laughs.

He legit physically abused him and I know why he did this. Monty was turned into a real life gator awhile back, but that was not Foxy's fault and it was an accident made by Puppet.

Monty only tortured Foxy so they could be "brothers but closer" I get Monty got lonely after Lunar blew up, but he does not fuckin need to abuse people to be his friends. He always feels like he does.

......You see the dichotomy here.

It's hard to get a grasp on Monty's character between episodes and shows.

In LAES, he's a misguided sweetheart. In Tsams, he exists when he needs to. In MAFS... He's a lying sack of shit who abuses and lies to his friends and girlfriend in order to not feel so insecure.

I do like Monty as a character across all three shows, but because his motivation and who he is tends to change so much between episodes.

To the point I remember that Monty lied to his girlfriend about being sick so he could spend time with her in MAFS.... and then either the same day or a few days after, in his next appearance in LAES... Earth and Monty have their first kiss and it's super romantic and sweet....

(by the way, neither here nor there... The "fake sick" episode LEGIT triggered me because I got horrid flashbacks to my Exes and I could barely stomach the episode and I will never watch it again)

It's like they want to have their cake and eat it to, with Monty being a kinda "Always Sunny in Philadelphia" character in one show.... and then... Just the perfect Hallmark Boyfriend in another show.

Just my opinion. I like Monty and everything. I just kinda wish his motivations and behavior was consistent so I would get a good grasp on what he's doing... Other then just "he's an abusive asshole for the lols don't take it seriously" and then turn around and have characters like Earth or Foxy in other shows or even the very next episode excuse that horrid behavior.

I don't remember this being a problem when he was Old Moon's "Go-to" guy in Tsams. It was usually just a money problem and Monty trying to impress Moon.

Just my opinion tho.

[risingsouls]

[The DragonBall fan boys have to be the grossest fan boys, and that's beating hentai fan boys. Under the cut because. Good fucking grief it's gross. If you're an actual Goku fan, i suggest avoiding this one. Goku isn't my favorite character, but I like him, and this made me want to tear off my own limbs and eat them.]

[So I'm absolutely not surprised that this kind of garbage is created and spewed by this fucking fandom, but this once again proves the fan boys of this series want to project SO HARD onto the characters to live out their gross little fantasies with fictional characters. Which you know. Fine. But theyre doing it this time by tearing a character to ABSOLUTE SHREDS to do it. So they come up with this. That somehow, the most loyal and probably borderline asexual (demisexual maybe? His libido isnt fucking high guys thats obvious and he isnt a damn horn dog) character bangs all the "attractive" women, leaves his wife--who yes is written like shit but is attractive as well and he fucking LOVES HER as the fan boys and writers of at least Super conveniently forget--and has...a couple more kids with three different women? Like this is so fucking nasty I don't know where to BEGIN.

Like...fuck. the art is nasty and hyper-sexualizes at least Vados with big tiddies and her nipples showing through her wedding dress in one image.

Then there's the fucking ChiChi abuse. And you know. I'm not the biggest fan of how ChiChi is written, and I know this is a staple for the fan boys. Toriyama and Toyotaro really just made her a walking, awful stereotype like they've done with Bulma. But good grief. The "artist" first of all is wishy washy with her with this...fucking weird idea of ChiChi being okay with Goku shacking up with Vados, and serving them in bed? Like there is so much wrong with that from the obvious to like some gross societal ideas that once a woman reaches a certain age she's only worthwhile in a servile role. Unless they look like Bulma that is, who abuses the dragonballs to maintain her youth a d appearance BUT you get me. And despite that, the artist still has Beerus kill her for some reason? Because of course. And then the picture they have of her above the milk jar that I imagine is supposed to be her urn (even though I'm pretty sure a Hakai leaves nothing behind but why am I even trying to find a shred of something that is potentially accurate to the lore in this, when this is already steaming hot garbage and the lore is inconsistent anyway) is of her being angry. Like...fucking God. The idea that Goku doesn't love ChiChi is atrocious and flat out wrong, and he would NEVER select a picture like that to honor her. But I guess at this point who fucking cares because he's brought his hot angel mommy into their marriage home, so who cares about a little more disrespect, right? And that's not mentioning how the rest of his family is just a-okay with this.

I don't even know what to say about Heles and the Zeno baby. Like....wtf. you were fully into this Vados idea but now he's having a kid with Heles who he....literally never talked to. I'm not sure he ever really saw her.

I'm honestly a little surprised Bulma isn't somehow included in this atrocity. I say a little because she's probably not because that would mean taking their king Vegeta's wife from him and we can't have that. Also like...what does it say about the fan boys' masculinity when they want to make their Shonen anime into a literal, raunchy soap opera rather than a series about overpowered warriors fighting evil? Idk but that's not very manly....🙄🙄🙄 (disclaimer: I don't actually care about that kind of thing and men can absolutely enjoys soap operas; I only bring it up because they care about their very fragile masculinity being challenged). I mean these are probably the same people that whine and bitch about the filler in Z that's by and large actually not bad but stan everything Super has to offer, even the absolutely trash filler.

This pervasive shit is what makes it so hard to be a fan of this series, especially as a girl who grew into a woman watching this series since she was 6. And like yeah. Sure. Toriyama wasn't writing this shit for us. The target audience was boys. But damn. I know Toriyama and apparently Toyotaro are a lost cause on the sexist front, but it would be really nice if the fans didn't take their sexism and dial it up to 9000.]

[anonymous-harpy]

I guess I'll give this a shot

1. Trope... Trope... You'd think with me wanting to be an author I'd know how to answer XD I love True Love™ I may not be interested in entering into a relationship myself, but I absolutely LOVE watching two characters come together and forge and bond that nothing can break! Even if those two people bring a lot of baggage to the table

2. I don't write what I don't like. Ever. And narrowing this down is impossible because if you give me a "trope" I don't like but then you do something interesting with it then I'll like it.

3. Goggle Doc and Word Doc. My pc has Word and no Internet connection. My phone however has Goggle Docs and I can convert the files back and furth as needed with minimal crying.

4. Ao3. I stay out of politics so I can enjoy my life 😉

5. I'd definitely say Blood Ice. Trust me there's several things I'd like to fix, but I'm supposed happy with it as is... Also I'm certain it's the longest "regular" fic I've every written and I completed it in a reasonable time frame... HOPE FOR MY DESIRE TO BE A PUBLISHED AUTHOR

6. That's a though one... Because I'd say it's all the stuff I've abandoned, especially from my teenage years. Of my current batch? Well so far it's a fic I deleted "The Moviestar" there's just... Lots of issues with it. Like I liked it a lot but it was most definitely affected my shit going on in my life and I'll revamp it at some point.

7. You all know it's Cooler/Geliaden, my OC. they a comfort couple. Geliaden is already my comfort OC. I dump whatever emotional baggage I need to onto him and he gets some sweet affection from his husband~ of course cannon wise, I'll stand by my beautiful crack ship of Cooler/Baby-Vegeta. I was never into crack when I was younger, but I certainly see the appeal.

8. crackships oddly enough given my prior statement. I don't know, they just have to give off the right vibe. Otherwise I hate any ships that involve shipping a victim with their abuser... I can think of two off the top of my head and they both hurt me greatly.

9. My inability to write certain scenes... Like I don't know how to explain this... But okay, In Blood Ice- all the ballroom scenes after establishing the vibe of the parties the first time, Kaigor being Kaigor and Pirita being Pirita, I absolutely HATED writing all the conversations that weren't between Cooler and Gelid. BUT IT WAS IMPORTANT AND COULD NOT BE CUT OUT and I NEEDED to show not tell. I'm trying to improve and trying to show the moment I do not care about are a pian ib the ass, but I love showing the relationship progres because it's fun, cute and that's why I'm freaking writing gosh darn it

10. It was actually part of a request I got and the line that broke me was "And Cooler is displeased™" The ™ ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED ME

11. Angst and fluff go hand in hand~ angst is especially important for any good conflict.

12. That's lost to the sands of time, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with Sesshomaru my first fictional crush ever

13. Uuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I have like... A bunch of WIPs? I'll just say To Befriend A Tyrant since It's my primary fic right now

14. Inuyasha. The place where I first started simping for the cooler older brother.

15. I'm pretty sure Dragon Ball has the most attention from me. Second place would probably be TF2. (claimed by the sands of time HA!)

16. I am a lone fish. I tried to co-write once and the problem was I was a teenager and I struggle with motivation. I wouldn't mind co-writing with another person just so long as it was understood my perfectionist ass takes forever to write and I'm excellent for getting ideas flowing more than anything. (Has like 20 outlines for different fics I wanna write)

17. 🤔

18. That would be The Royal Lounge which is sitting, i think, at about 120,00 words. And I'm pretty sure I cranked out 100,000 in less than 8 months for that one which really had/has me concerned, however it's basically a book of tangentially related short stories soooooo eh not the same as writing a bigger fic or a novel

19. I have... A pile of things them yes. Geliaden being by far the most important one to me for several reasons.

20. That's not exactly fair because I've basically rewritten Cooler and Baby-Vegeta is a special kind of unhinged. Of course with Cooler we only have 2 movies worth of material to work with and I like me a soft boy who will snap somebody's neck for insulting his husband. Baby... Well I think I do a good job with him, I just added more crazy to him... And it's a just funny as hell to think of this insane, body snatching parasite randomly thirsting for someone and suddenly turning into an absolute masochist.

Making a fanfiction author ask game!

(Basically bc I’ve seen fanfiction ask games but I’m too lazy to find one with some of these specific questions, so here ya go!)

What is your favorite trope to write?

What is your least favorite trope to write?

What is the main program you use for writing (google docs, the ao3 writing text box, etc.)

What is the main site you publish/write on?

The fic you’re most proud of writing?

The fic you’re least proud of writing?

Favorite ship to write?

Least favorite ship to write?

Biggest pet peeve while writing?

Best/funniest comment you’ve ever gotten on a fic?

Do you prefer writing angst, crack, or fluff?

First ever fic written?

Latest fic written/latest WIP?

First fandom you ever wrote fanfiction for?

Fandom you wrote the most fanfiction for?

Do you prefer co-writing something or just working on it by yourself?

Favorite AU to write?

Most words/chapters ever written for one fic or oneshot?

Have you ever created an OC for a fic?

Hardest character to write/get the characterization correct for?

[knowlessman]

bnha s2e6-9 or, like, something

so yeah tokoyami is, like, cool. hope he stays cool, I don't think I've heard much of anything specific about him

oh damn, plz tell me todoroki isn't gonna try and blackmail him or something -- ah k, just more of a statement of intent. I think.

all might has gotta be at least somewhat aware that he's poking a bear rn -- no he's just… I guess he just really doesn't know -- wow, is endeavor actually just bakugo but grown-up?

…bwhut. his mom did? …damn

deku you are talking to a victim of abuse what is this "I'm just as much a protagonist as you are" shit

got the feeling bakugo is gonna find a way to use this against someone, I don't know that for absolutely positive but I got a bad feeling about it

okay kaminari just lost a lot of points with me, he might be joining mineta in superhell tier if he keeps this up -- facepalm I'm sorry who needs or wants backstory for this seconds-long bit. we did not need to know where the uniforms came from -- invisible girl might be ending up there too tbh, I'm not happy about it but she seems to only really exist for perv bits

come on I wanna see what Gamzee's quirk is

hm. -- oh goddammit tell me gamzee isn't an enchanter. a memory-wiper. -- why are they keeping the pompoms? I guess they're free and they can throw them to distract an opponent?

am very confused tbh but the entire cavalry battle thing was nonstop confusion about how anything worked so whatever

well, we're gonna be seeing shinso up close then I guess. this oughta be weird.

"perverse person" I guess Mineta was too hard to grab, and Kaminari too dangerous. I know literally nothing about this blond rando

"some tried to sharpen their senses" bakugo Blair Witching bc I guess he thinks it'll make him hear better

"put your morals and ethics aside for a moment, because we have a magic medic!" dood you don't wanna say that when you've got people like vegeta in the tournament, she can't fix a corpse can she? -- "anything life-threatening is out" okay that's good to clarify I guess

"'I give up, huh?' it's a test of your spirit then" I'm getting memories of the tournament arc from Hunter x Hunter (uh, one of them, anyway?); I foresee mind games from gamzee here

aizawa with very good points about the physical thing

it's literally just mind control. so, yeah, an inherently evil power, especially since it seems like it also prevents memories forming (or just can do that? unclear). : | at the same time, it's not like you get to pick what your quirk is… (for the record, by "mind games" I was guessing more like "give up or I'll wipe a bunch of your memories," much less straightforward)

wait shit deku has avatar ghosts? daaang

…shinso might be an okay guy. -- "why do you want to be a hero?" deku plz shut the fuck up -- okay yeah gamzee's okay, he's cool

medic lady is right to hate all might's might guy bullshit, he's not consistently as bad as might guy but it is there

all might doesn't believe in ghosts in a world that's mostly supers, got it

who even is sero?

"you have a duty to surpass goku to boost my ego, even though it'll inevitably just turn me against you because you surpassed me"

ojiro is just okay. he's very mid, and his tail is a little gross, but he's just a good guy. he's tien if tien had even less personality than, well, dbza gave him (never watched actual dbz)

oh, sero is tapeface. aight. let's see how badly he jobs this one -- uh? what he do -- zuko. what did you do…? -- I think I remember that screenshot from death battle. I guess they musta paired him against zuko? I don't remember anything about it tho (I stopped watching it awhile ago anyway, not curious enough to go looking for it)

fuck it, next

(skipping thru intro) nextflix has spoiled me so much. hell, imagine watching this on tv. nightmare.

go, plant lady! kick this pervert's sidekick's ass! -- plant lady is starfire apparently. not losing many points, but losing a nonzero amount, and I know this is probably a contentious stance. at least she has character. (tbf to her tho, radio guy is annoying and the assasssin thing was uncalled for) -- dumbass didn't even realize he was at a type disadvantage

momotaro or wevertf his name is (the blond "neh neh class a class b" guy) is like if mineta was just as annoying without being a perv

deku being relatable ig. that gaming geek mindset

hehehe iida has a quirk that has super modes and she still wanted to give him a handicap -- ohhh, she does have a quirk, super vision. cool. also makes sense that it would help with gadgeteer stuff. coolcool

oh cool off, iida, she gave you the win and didn't have to 'XD she maybe went a few boards overboard with it, but you did get a win

uraraka looks like that girl from nichijou who loses her yaoi rn. heavy times approaching, I think

I have a question: are lasergut's lasers not lethal, and if so, how? they could just say energy blasts/beams but they're saying laser. -- just… stop doing the hip thrusts, please, you're fucking gross dude

ooh, birdman vs quiet metal gear, this should be something -- aw. -- radio guy, just get off the mic

METAPOD. V. METAPOD. IT'S HAPPENING. IT'S FUCKING HAPPENING. -- I have a feeling the steel guy is just gonna overheat tho, that might be how this one goes. -- aw. -- ARM WRESTLING 'XD you don't think they're gonna tie with that, too? hell, catch them tying rock paper scissors - oh wait maybe tetsu would pick scissors

aight, mister small pond big fish, let's see what the mankanshoku special has in store for you -- "this isn't the face of a regular person!" no kidding. you're gonna push your teeth out that way bro, I don't even know if that's a thing but you're gonna make it a thing and then have no teeth

…bloodymindedly reaching for the moon? is she gonna get this that way?

oh fuck off hamtaro nobody likes you

!! -- (hamtaro can still fuck off tho) -- um. uraraka that's cool and all but it's… shrapnel, in a moment, I think?

is she still in bounds tho -- aw, c'mon. I call patriarchy on that, let her play

"frail girl" kaminari joins mineta in superhell tier. dammit

'XDDDDD I told you, I told you about armwrestling, I told you dog - oh the class a guy won. kirishima I think

don't you get out of school at the same time regardless? it might be that your first one doesn't matter as much as your second or third.

we interrupt this moment of People Being Pretty Good to Each Other to put fucking Endeavor on the screen -- "this is one person I can't let know about All for One." good read. -- deku stop poking this bear right now or we're gonna need a replacement protagonist -- (okay good he stopped, phew)

oh holy fuck it's protag vs protag, it's goku vs saitama, goku has to win but howtf is that gonna happen

next time, I'm afraid. I wouldn't be stopping here if I didn't have stuff in the morning, that's for sure

[heinzpilsnergonewild]

Short-ass Appendix to my Big-ass Essay

This is my last post with asses in the title, I swear.

Hmm, you know, I thought about it... And yes, I am kinda biased about Vegeta's appearance in vegebul fics.

Because I can remember the exact moment I became interested in this ship. That was the moment Toriyama broke the "evil little troll can't have a romantic subplot with a nice beautiful woman" pattern in my head. He broke it into small pieces and scattered the dust in the wind. And I absolutely loved it. Don't get me wrong, it didn't make any rational sense at the moment (I mean, what the hell, Bulma?!), and was mostly done just to introduce Trunks into the plot, but I didn't care. By the time my logical part started asking questions, I was already enamored. It was fresh, it was interesting, and it was intriguing as hell. There is an advantage in watching dbz in 2020 for the first time, LOL

(The only thing I really disliked about this was the collateral damage that was done to Yamcha's character in the process. Seriously, I hate the "Yamcha is Abusive Cheating Bastard" trope. Do people really think that if you make Yamcha a bastard, it will somehow reduce the immorality of Bulma's act? Or are women just projecting problems with their own exes onto Yamcha? Or do they think cheating will make the story more dramatic? I dunno, but it really made a mess of the poor guy.)

Ahem, anyway, when the authors of vegebul fanfiction make Vegeta handsome and sexy, they destroy the main reason why I liked this ship in the first place. Because the story of a woman lusting after a handsome but dangerous man is not unusual. This is the old classic forbidden fruit scenario, and it completely negates the pattern break factor that I like so much. So, this is one more reason why I don't like "the gorgeous Vegeta" phenomenon.

(Now it's definitely) The End

[bewareofchris]

Hello! Thank you for answering the previous message! I just want to ask, what should I do with people who criticised me without giving me a chance to explain or even let my story grow to its full potential? They seem to like dragging me down with hate and spiteful comments anonymously. I usually just ignore them but some struck hard like accusing me of having fetish on abusive relationship and/or encouraging self-harm. It's very tiring but I don't plan to leave my story just like that.

+ Criticism is hard; especially if any part of it strikes us in our doubts.  But real, viable criticism often is intended to educate/help fix whatever the source of the criticism is.  Which means if this anonymous person is saying “well this was THIS because of THIS,” it doesn’t hurt to take a look at whatever THIS was and see if it does need adjusting/fixing.

+ “trolling” on the other hand is a bunch of faceless anonymous folks on the internet shouting hateful things at people because they think anonymity gives them a pass on basic human decency.  I’m not sure what setting you are publishing on but most platforms allow you to block anonymous messages.  This is a 100% reasonable and useful option if your own mental health/happiness is being damaged by faceless hate.  Don’t be afraid to use this option, even if its only temporary.

+ I have limited actual experience with faceless hate but I have had a number of very, very passionate (negative) responses to various stories I’ve had.  My own personal tendency is to leave them as is.  I don’t respond to them, I don’t defend my story and I don’t try to make things “right” or “better” for the person that left me the review.  In fact, I literally never defend my story.  Its important to keep in mind that your story is yours and if you write it as best you can, with the message (or question) that you want, there’s almost never going to be a need to defend it.  I’ve been writing (on the internet) for over a decade and I have gone through phases where it felt crucial to defend myself/my story from people who disagreed with me.  It felt like my very belief system/self worth hinged on me being able to get the anons to understand and agree with me.  

+  ok, but its not.  This circles back to, have faith in yourself and in your story.  And as hard as it is (and it was very difficult for me, at first) accept that everyone will have their own opinion and that people will feel compelled to share that opinion with you.  Their opinion is not the true value of your story or of your ability to tell stories.  It’s literally only their opinion.  

+ in fact, story time:

So back when I was a small child (I was like 19, I think), I wrote this story with a name I forget.  It was a DBZ story wherein Vegeta (PRINCE OF ALL SAIYANS) had been kidnapped (sort of) and forced to work in a brothel (sort of) and Goku (SAVIOR) was (sort of) sent to rescue him.  The plot was kind of convoluted because it was written during my I AM GOD OF ALL THINGS phase, but there is a part fairly early on in the story where you are TOLD by Vegeta himself/the narration that he voluntarily let (Bad Guy, idk which one it was) put this like mind control button thing on/in him.  Now this did not set well with a variety of people but this one person was like: I absolutely cannot believe you’d do this and I will never read your writing again.  In a mad dash of desperation I literally explained the entire plot of the story to this person in an effort to convince them that just because it APPEARED that Vegeta voluntarily let himself be turned into a mindless sex slave, there actually never was a choice.  I mean, I wrote impassioned essays to this person defending my every single choice.  Because I thought I had to.  They did come back and read the story and we were pals for a bit after that.  But the thing was, I knew my story would disprove Vegeta’s claim, and that it would explain itself.  At 19, I didn’t have the faith in myself or my story to let it speak for itself.  This desperation that I unleashed on this person was all my self-doubt as a writer that I couldn’t make the point without explaining it first.  

+ story time #2

fast forward to 2014 (I think) and you’ll find a story on AO3 called Safety and Peace that seems to attract people who hate it like a moth to flame I’ve got:

“I hate your Malik. Murderers and rapists are inhuman and have a special place in hell, and people who lie, even by omission, about being raped are scum who do not deserve good things.”

“I hate this story. UI hate it because I now how he feels. I wake up just about every morning, crying, because I am a girl, and I hate My body so much, and, what people expect you to do with it. But, I hate HIM. Your character. Because, if I was him, I would not have been a COWARD. I would have KILLED Myself, before ANYONE could FORCE Me, or put a PARASITE in Me. (And if I could not, I would kill the UNWANTED child. Everyone of his IDEALS he let fall, to being called MOTHER at the end. Just what makes him a COWARD, again.) I'd rather die. There are worse whtings then death. And I'd face it if not gladly, bravely. This story made Me SICK. At ALTAIR, at his WIFE, at Malik, at EEVRYONE. Maybe that is a sign of your powerful writings, I don't know, all I know is that this is the final nail in the coffin of Me EVER reading another omega fic. Because, I can't feel this sick ever again, and, even though there are SOME rare good ones, where O's FIGHT, and do not let people FUCK AND BREED them like CATTLE, but, they are too few, and, I keep finding fics like THIS, that make Me to sad, and push Me ever closer to making that decision about a sex change, because of the fucking NIGHTMARES I have. Omegas, (WOMYN.) are not just broodmares, uterus's, the sum of there parts, (SOME of us, HATE kids, and want our body for our OWN, and do not, will not WILLINGLY, WILL NEVER HAVE KIDS. FUCK YOU WORLD.) but, there fics remind Me how it used to be for this gender, and, STILL IS, in too many places. I can't stand it, and , these fics just make it worse. So, no more for Me. Good writing, but, the CONTENT....... Sigh. Bye.”

and:

“oh god it was awful and not in the good wayit was simply horrible... I expected good things out of it but I am disappointed”

Just comments, sitting on my story.  Reminding me that these people basically hated everything about it.  In my head, I’ve probably provided counter-arguments to these statements but I wouldn’t put the effort into typing them.  Because it’s not about me or my story, it’s about their perception and their experiences and how my story spoke them.  I can’t control that.  (This is the wisdom I’ve gotten after a decade of trying.)

+ in summation: take a minute to reflect on any genuine constructive criticism, remember you do not owe anonymous people on the internet any explanation, have faith in your story to explain your meaning, and do not be afraid to turn off anonymous comments for your own well-being.

(and I’m sorry if I got side tracked, or if I rambled.  I do that.)

[platonicpinotnoir]

HI ... SMILING SO HARD.

I rarely log onto this account so I'm late ... OUGH THIS IS MAKING ME SO HAPPY THOUGH.

NGGGH CAN WE LISTEN TO "Foxy Foxy" by Rob Zombie together !??!?!

This is so awesome ...

This is going to sound so crass but I'm just trying to refer to a phenomenon so bear with me: You know how people tend to keep finding certain stories, certain patterns or situations, in their art or in the art they see, and it's a perspective unique to them that has to do with whatever life they have lived and whatever imprint it has left on their psyche? It's an expression of the raw material of the mindbody? Or whatever?

Well my point is that when it comes to the character of Vegeta, he represents some specific things to me, and I tend to need a few different things out of him - and one of those tropes that I seem to keep putting him in is the role of the unequivocal abuser/MONSTER. Usually I have to admit that I'm just throwing him under the bus (or reaching if I do have some sort of explanation per his proposed psychological state), but in THIS INSTANCE, it's JUSTIFIED because he really WASN'T anyone commendable yet!!!!! He hadn't changed his ways or reflected on how his history or philosophies are keeping his spirit down. He hasn't attempted any healing.

It's less overt but I've caught myself peddling this one too many times for it to be innocuous: I tend to need Trunks to experience UTTER BETRAYAL. Just the absolute shaking-shuttering of a shattered trust-bond, where the only reflex that remains is to retreat and isolate.

THIS IS BOTH OF THOSE THINGS.

THIS CONCEPT AWAKENED SOMETHING IN ME ... In truth it would have bounced off of me if it weren't for previous ghoulish stories that had me open to these sorts of things, but, this one was interesting, and I had a lot of fun piecing it apart / mulling it over / figuring out what it could mean / why it struck me the way it did / what I could do with it.

In the end, it's really something poetic... succinct and distilled. There's a lot of room for discussions about reenactment, the pervasive trend of parents not respecting their children's boundaries, the power dynamics therein, sexual repression and sexual perversion, the duo nature of the sexual instinct and how the yin-yang aspect of it could be disturbed and abused, how hurt people hurt people, ETC - LITERALLY ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING ELSE - all from the epicenter of one tangible event:

That old man fucked him in the Room of Spirit and Time. (<- A venerated place meant to teach discipline and constitution, but that never once promised to protect you...!)

I agree that people are afraid of the "antis" -> they are afraid of being outcasted -> they don't feel like they are strong enough to defend themselves -> they are afraid of themselves and of their own potential to resonate with art that is not palatable to the shallow ego and current trends of astringent (but not meaningful!) morality.

THATS SO FUNNY THAT BITCHES HIT LIKE ON YOUR FICS THO!! BUT JUST DONT WANT TO BE SEEN READING IT ... GAH.

Also like other than how fucked up this is the comedic potential is also like .... there. Future Trunks lying in bed in the room of spirit and time tyring to sleep and obviously not sleeping and thinking in his head "Okay Today Was Messed Up But Um I Mean I Mean I'm Sure theres some Meaning to it like some Reason Um ... Um ... OK So I'm going to deal with this when i get Out becasue for now I just have to make it throuhg the year." And then when they do exit the room we can see Future Trunks walk out Hair Unkempt & Overgrown and his posture looks stuck-scared-stiff and his muscles are all constricted because he is still carrying the trauma but he thinks "OK we just have to defeat Cell first and then I can go home and process this then." And then when he does go back to his own timeline he's like "Oh that was all LITERALLY in the past why would i think about that .. I just wont think about it ever again." And so he does nothing to try to work throuhg it or create a sense of safety within himself or anything.

And then when he has to come back Vegeta is such a different man and Future Trunks thinks to himself that he has to be "mature" about this so he conducts himself as if he wasn't tortured by Vegeta in the Room of Spirit and Time all those years ago ... And he hangs out with his present self and he's trying to look interested while little Trunks talks about Minecraft but Future Trunks is stuck thinking on loop in his head "HE IS IN DANGER. HE IS IN DANGER. HE IS IN DANGER."

Becasue he hasn't resolve the original trauma and he is hypervigilant and by instinct he is waiting for the other shoe to drop.

IT'S SO MORBID..... But funny..... Idk ...SORRY FOR RAMBLING AGAIN ....

Oh my god this made me so happy you have no idea. I feel like it's just been me out here in the trenches writing in my journals ... it's so refreshing to see another user openly acknowledge and peddle fucked up shit. Like as long as this is a safe space I'm just gonna say that the story that had me right before I found this fic (and what had those doors of consideration open for me) was a story where EOZ Goten finds himself being .. Well what's the term .. GROOMED by Vegeta. I understand that formally Vegeta is very much a virtuous man by this point in time but the ETERNAL DEPTH and NUANCE of the MADNESS compelled me .. What can i say I evidently needed to express it. (And TBH the spin-off versions were ADDICTIVELY HILARIOUS and IMMENSELY POPULAR (to the audience of myself))

THANK YOU..........

HEART <3

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dragon Ball Rating: Explicit Word Count: 1006 Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Future Trunks Briefs/Vegeta Characters: Future Trunks Briefs, Vegeta (Dragon Ball) Additional Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Mildly Dubious Consent, Mild Breeding Kink, Parent/Child Incest, Trans Character, Loss of Virginity Summary:

The strong hand in his hair fists it tighter, yanking his head back far enough that all he can see is the empty white of the chamber.

[risingsouls]

[Apparently, it’s just OOC day (sorry to people waiting on replies 😬), but at least half(?) of those posts counting this one are about my characters.

Nappa gets me emotional. And like this isn’t the first time, but damn. So, for context, I was writing the latest chapter of the fic and, long story short, got into a conversation with Lea ( @synthetixviola​ ) about the dragonballs and how they were (and weren’t) used between the Saiyans’ arrival and after Namek. If you keep up even with just this blog, you’ll know that I took a page out of TFS’s book and had Nappa be revived via the technicality of the fact that Vegeta was working for Frieza technically when he killed Nappa, and the wish made on Earth’s dragonballs revived everyone killed by Frieza and his men (I know that at least some translations if not all actually have Popo specify on Namek but listen; I do what I want here if that wasn’t clear enough already).

Anyway, those of you who know about Lila know that she’s from East City, which is where Nappa and Vegeta landed. Somewhere along the line, Lea had mentioned that the people of East City were never wished back. Since I was doing research (and having a near crisis about plot holes and inconsistencies which is normal; this one was solved, though), I saw that, by the logic I applied to Nappa, the people of East City should have been revived for at least my story which put a damper on a conversation they were going to have. Until Lea brought this idea up:

Wasn’t Nappa working for Vegeta? Could you technically use that? For a minute, I was like, nah I don’t think that really sticks but then I considered it more and was like...You know what? That absolutely could work simply because of who Nappa is, his history, etc., and it’s fucking emotional when you think about it that way.

Basically, by going with this idea, it’s basically stating that Nappa’s loyalty to Vegeta and the Saiyan race (what was left of it from the physical Saiyans left to what he could maintain of their culture and lifestyle) was far stronger than his loyalty to Frieza. And at first, and I had this half typed out to Lea before I erased tf out of it, I was like, “I don’t know if that would work because, due to self-preservation, Nappa would likely follow Frieza’s orders over Vegeta’s.” But...I don’t think that’s true. I think if it ever came down to it, even if it meant his death, Nappa would have maintained his loyalty to Vegeta and, by proxy, the Saiyans. And, since it was Shenron making this distinction, this is basically a god CONFIRMING just how deep Nappa’s loyalty for Vegeta and his race went. Which is bad news for East City but damn. Damn, Nappa, you’re not supposed to have this kind of depth what gives???

But seriously, I’ve always loved exploring the depth Nappa could and should have had. He’s a character in a very interesting position and, as usual, we don’t really get to see how that manifests. The Saiyans may have been employed by Frieza and the Cold Empire, both the army as a whole before the planet was destroyed and the OG Squad, but Nappa’s (and, I imagine, MANY older Saiyans’) allegiance was ALWAYS to the Saiyan race and the crown until his dying breath (fucking Vegeta), and damn does that fucking hit. Man had it fucking rough.]

[risingsouls]

🦎 //If you were to rewrite Bulma, how would you write her?

Momo Talks About Shit So She Doesn't Fall Asleep At Work || Open!

[There's a big question. I can't say I have a whole lot of like...detailed ideas because every time I think about Bulma I both get sad and angry, but I'll give a few more general things i would try to do to make her feel...less like garbage.

So first things first: how she is portrayed in Super would be immediately wadded up and thrown in the trash. I cannot think of a moment that she's on screen in Super that I enjoyed seeing her, what she had to say, or what she did. They even ruined future Bulma's five minutes before they killed her off by making her be like "oh how I wish I could see Vegeta again!" when she would have EVEN LESS of a relationship with that version of Vegeta than present Bulma would with hers by the time he died in either timeline. But that's another conversation. Point is, Super ruined Bulma, so I would not be using that for any inspiration in writing her.

However, to start, that's not to say I hate that she has negative qualities. In fact, I would keep many of them intact because they make sense and actually make her character interesting (or could have if they knew how to write women and balance shit rather than do everything for the lulz or objectification of her). It fits Bulma's character to be vain, bratty, flirty, and spoiled considering her lifestyle. I honestly don't mind any of that and would include it in my portrayal. But here's the kicker: these wouldn't overshadow everything else. This wouldn't be all she is because I feel DragonBall and Z prove that she is so much more than that and did actually grow up.

Thing is...Bulma has shown that she can be kind. She can give a shit about other people. And not in this flippant, "Ugh whatever, I'll just throw some money at you and be done with it." Or, worse, "I'll just abuse the dragonballs to get what I want or grant your minor little wish." And I'm not saying she's a saint by any means. I can see her being charitable to a degree but it's definitely not at the forefront of her mind. I think she absolutely has enough of a degree of decency to help her friends where she can and when they need it. It would be a DIFFICULT balance, but i would definitely want to showcase that she can be thoughtful and isn't just the literal stereotype of a rich heiress and/or the 1%. It would still be THERE but, before Super, it felt...more nuanced in subtle ways? Basically, I don't want to be able to EASILY draw parallels between Bulma and Frieza like I can do now.

I would also ABSOLUTELY put more emphasis on her genius in more than just being a sort of convenient plot device who JUST HAPPENS to have the right answer or gadget right away with no real reason for it other than "We want her to be relevant!!!!" sort of vibes. Like this was SUCH a BIG opportunity to give Bulma relevance in a meaningful way and they just...didn't take it? Z could have done better with it too if I'm honest but yeh. It's one of those things they overshadow a lot and it kills me. Also I would actually make her show a shred of like...actually being smart once in a while. We get glimpses but then I feel like it gets slapped to the ground in favor of her, usually, negative and obnoxious traits.

My version of Bulma would also not be married to Vegeta. Not just because i don't like the ship, don't think it was developed, and is absolutely toxic on both sides, but also just because...fuck I'm sorry but I think Bulma would have a shred more decency and self respect than to marry the guy that not only treated her like a servant and like shit every time they interacted, but who also had a hand in killing her boyfriend and a bunch of her friends. I honestly see them having her marry and fall in love with Vegeta as a HUGE disservice to her character because it just makes her look callous, ready to marry thr first (depressed) man she can trap ot get her claws into, and lacking any shred of self respect. And I can contend she does have some issues with her own confidence once in a while when it comes to relationships (see how she treats Yamcha when he's done literally nothing wrong, for instance), but good grief. Like at best they would have some kind of agreement that Vegeta could stay there in exchange for him "being there" for Trunks and her being able to call him her husband to save face since, as she's pretty well known, she would probably face a lot of shit for having a kid out of wedlock and all that sexist shit. But tbh? I don't think I would even really go with that. Bulma being a single mom, even if only temporarily, is dope af and just fine. Plus, her whole premise to begin with was that she wanted to find a boyfriend. I think she does want the traditional marriage, love, and family life, but my Bulma would not be so desperate for it that she would settle for someone who pays her and Trunks so little mind, has killed her friends and continually threatened them, and has treated her like shit since day one. It's just so damn silly and gross and just showcases that the writers really just...struggle with a woman that doesn't in some way fit the housewife mold.

Anyway. Those are a few things I know for sure I would try to do. In a nutshell, I just want her to be halfway likeable. To actually BE the "boss bitch" people try to refer to her as now when,especially super's portrayal, does not begin to embody that for me. I think Bulma had a lot of potential and they just said, "nah she's just going to be sexy, annoying, and a plot convenience once in a while." ]