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xcherricutie · 9 months

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➤ Messy

Vegeta x F!Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count - 1.5k

Summary - Vegeta is a clean freak with anger issues and pent up emotions, and decides to take it out on you for fun.

Notes: This is my first time posting here. I am from Wattpad, so I don't know tumblr etiquette, apologies.

“Your habits are disgusting and you’re a mess.”

He would follow you around and criticize you for what felt like hours on end. It was enough to drive anyone mad, and he did it to you on purpose. He was a man on a mission, out to make your life as miserable as possible. That’s just how it was, being acquainted with the prince of all saiyans. It didn’t matter if you tried to avoid him, he would find you, and he would let you know of every flaw in your life. Almost as if he took a sick satisfaction in seeing you wallow in your own misery and insecurities.

“Vegeta, her house is none of your business,” Bulma scolded with a harsh glare, slapping your discarded napkin out of his hand. You hadn’t had the time to clean up your living space before Bulma and Vegeta dropped by, unannounced. You didn’t mind surprise visitors, but Vegeta was an exception. Every single time he came by, which had become noticeably more frequent, you made absolutely sure that he could not find a single reason to complain or nitpick. You were simply thankful Bulma was there to keep her dog on his leash.

“Sorry for the mess,” you forced through grit teeth with a smile, before your face relaxed as your eyes landed on Bulma. “What brings you here? You’re not one for random visits.”

“Right, sorry,” Bulma chuckled, brushing some strands of her azure hair behind her ear, glancing over at Vegeta as he tip-toed through the specks of dirt in your carpet. Bulma rolled her eyes at the dramatic saiyan, sighing. “I need you to keep an eye on him. I don’t really trust him to be alone at Capsule Corp., and my mom and dad are out on vacation. I’ve got a big workload on my hands and can’t deal with him right now. I’ll pay you good, I promise.”

You wanted to say no. You wanted to tell both of them to get out of your house and never come back. Babysitting Vegeta could have perhaps been Bulma’s most unreasonable request for you. He had not been on Earth for long, and yet had antagonized you more than anyone. You rarely even showed your face at Capsule Corp. anymore because of the man. And Bulma was your best friend that you visited nearly daily for years. She knew how much you hated Vegeta.

And yet, when she pulled the wad of cash out of her pocket, you immediately found yourself agreeing to the impossible task. Bulma’s payments were usually unreasonable amounts, as if the stack of paper zenni she handed to you was less than allowance money for her. It felt wrong to take, but what could you say? You were living independently in the city - you needed any cash you could get. Even if it meant spending a day with the most annoying being in the universe.

As soon as Bulma had left, it was not long before Vegeta started to act up. He almost acted like a prepubescent boy at times, unable to properly convey his feelings, resorting to anger to vent. You had even made a point to clean up around the house so he wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable, but some of the things he complained about were unreasonable.

“The geometry of your living space is poorly designed, woman,” Vegeta commented as he stood in the midst of your living room, looking around at the furniture. You rolled your eyes as you vacuumed the carpet, tuning his voice out.

“Nobody is stopping you from just leaving. You hate all of us, I don’t understand why you continue to torture yourself on this planet,” you muttered, unsure if he heard you over the vacuum. You didn’t care much if he did or not, barely having the energy to speak to or at him.

“I’m waiting for Kakarot to come back to this miserable planet. But I’m starting to doubt he will,” Vegeta said as he placed his hands on his hips, searching for more things in your house to nitpick about. You had done a pretty good job hiding things for him to complain about.

“Maybe he’s avoiding you,” you said with a smirk at the idea. You would not blame Goku one bit if he was avoiding the entire Earth because of Vegeta’s presence. Vegeta did not find your comment very funny as his head whipped to your direction, glaring harshly.

“Then I would track him down and drag him to this miserable planet to humiliate him in front of his loved ones,” Vegeta sneered, lip raised in a slight snarl, as if the mere assumption were the most offensive thing he’d ever heard.

“Is it really that hard to accept that somebody doesn’t like you and doesn’t want to see you? I really don’t understand you, Vegeta,” you stood up straight as you turned off the vacuum, turning to glare at him. “You antagonize people on purpose, and then get mad when everyone leaves. What do you want from us? Why won’t you just leave?”

“My business is none of your concern, woman. I suggest you close your mouth and not utter a single sound from now on, unless you really want to see what antagonistic looks like. I could put you through a world of misery with words alone, I haven’t done anything to you yet.” Vegeta’s harsh eyes stared into your soul, as if knowing you weren’t going to listen. He had been here less than a year, and yet knew you would not stand for such nonsense.

“This is my house! I suggest you shut up if you know what’s good for you, asshole!” You yelled, leaning closer to his face. His warm breath hit your face as he scoffed, looking down at you as if he were so high and mighty. He was barely three inches taller than you.

“I could destroy you, and this house, and this whole planet in a matter of seconds if I wished. Your empty threats mean nothing to me, human.” Vegeta smirked down at you. That was your breaking point as your hand moved on its own. Even Vegeta found himself shocked by your sudden movement as your hand left its mark across his cheek, its shape searing into his cheek. Head turned from the sudden force, Vegeta stared at you with wide eyes, as if to let his brain process the attack on him. You expected him to blow up. You needed to gain control, fast. You would rather your house remained intact by the time Bulma returned.

“Wh-What’s with the surprised look? Didn’t think a girl could hit you? Bet you’re completely smitten, huh?” Your face lit up like a lightbulb, cheeks burning as you smirked, watching his every muscle movement. You didn’t even mean for the words to escape your lips, but as they did, you knew you were dead. “You want to kiss me so bad, huh, Vegeta?”

You saw the blush bloom across his cheek, making your hand mark burn ever brighter. That was the first time you had ever seen an emotion other than anger or pride on his face. But the view did not last long, as you suddenly found your vision obscured, his large frame right in your face, his lips connected to yours. This was an unexpected development, to say the least.

His touch sent lightning through your nerves as his hands uncharacteristically gently slid up your arms, gloved fingers brushing over your cheeks. His kiss was soft, as if to show you everything he had been unable to get across before, many emotions flowing through one small touch. That one small touch, however, began to grow more desperate as Vegeta grabbed your shoulders, firmly pressing his lips to yours. Your scent was intoxicating, and every little jolt of electricity to his nerves sent him spiraling through his pent-up emotions even more.

It wasn’t until your palms were pressed to his chest, trying to push him off, that he broke from his much-needed kiss. You stared up at Vegeta in surprise, watching many emotions flow through his dark pupils, before he finally came to his senses. You were pushed away, although much softer than you would have expected, his warmth pulling away from you as he left you standing there. He plopped down onto the sofa, sinking into the cushions as he crossed his arms, avoiding meeting your gaze. Your eyes stayed glued to him for a moment longer, before you let out a silent scoff, smiling in amusement.

Vegeta had not uttered so much as a word after that. No more comments on her habits or appearance, no more jabs at her life and home. He had sat silently at her side, stealing glances at her every once in a while as she read her book in peace. And perhaps it was the cleaner environment, or just something in him beginning to bloom, but you looked much better than when he had shown up.

And you weren’t sure if it was just the sunlight hitting him at just the right spot, or if he just looked like this when he wasn’t constantly raging, but Vegeta had a different look about him, almost a glow. Perhaps he wasn’t as bad as you had originally thought.

#dragon ball x reader #vegeta x reader #vegeta x you #vegeta x y/n #dragon ball #dbz #dbz x reader #dbs #dbs x reader #vegeta

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tobiasdrake · 5 months

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You previously anaylzed Yamcha's fighting style and the flaws he doesn't overcome. Do you have any thoughts on how Krillin fights?

Krillin's fighting style is one of my favorites, to be honest. He's a dedicated pragmatist, ready and willing to do whatever it takes to win. His techniques and strategies are deceptive and tricksy, always on the lookout for a way to circumvent the straight fight.

Krillin's fighting style is all about cutting the knot. It's just a shame that, Dragon Ball being what it is, his methods run counter to its central philosophies and so he is doomed to constant failure.

We get our first glimpse of the kind of fighter Krillin is going to be when he defeats Goku in the rock hunt on the first day of their training.

He first tries to win the competition by forging a counterfeit rock. But when the Muten-Roshi sees through that, he instead uses his counterfeit to fake out Goku and steal the real rock for himself.

He's narratively punished for this victory when his reward dinner poisons him via badly prepared pufferfish. But we see the foundations of what will become his martial style beginning to take root here.

Krillin is a tricky trickster. His goal is to be the guy still standing at the end of the fight. That's what he's here for. Though he does quickly soften up and become Goku's Male Bestie (opposited Bulma as Goku's Female Bestie), he carries this pragmatism with him as he begins to develop his skills.

Note that this is not to say Krillin isn't a capable fighter in his own right. As a pupil of Kame-senryu, he is a formidable martial artist. He begins to show the fruits of his martial training as early as the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai, where he crushes one of the monks that used to bully him in the preliminaries. He also pressures his own mentor, the Muten-Roshi, by raw skill alone.

Krillin's got the skills and he uses them. When I say he's underhanded and deceitful, I don't mean instead of fighting straight. It's a weapon in his toolbelt but not the only one. Nonetheless, it's a potent one, as he nearly defeats the Muten-Roshi via a special technique that only Krillin would devise.

Goddammit, Roshi.

He starts out using these kinds of underhanded tricks to compliment his martial arts. But as he grows as a martial artist, he begins to incorporate strategies like this into his art itself.

Aside from a brief and mostly offscreen bout with General Blue, his next significant fights are in the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. His fight with Chiaotzu demonstrates the way Krillin's sneakiness and martial training complement one another, as a major spotlight of it is his ki exchange with Chiaotzu.

Chiaotzu, like Tenshinhan, is a trained wielder of the Dodonpa. A lethal technique first introduced by the assassin Taopaipai, designed to fire a thin ki bullet from one finger, straight through its target for a mortal blow.

To counter this, Krillin attempts to perform the Kamehameha for the very first time. Which. Is. Absolutely stupid and reckless, as the Muten-Roshi notes. Baby's First Kamehameha is a poor choice to defend himself from the Dodonpa.

Or it would be, if that were the plan.

This is Krillin's strength in action. He fakes out everyone with an in @ Me Bruh bluff and then skirts around the direct competition to blindside Chiaotzu when he isn't looking. This is what a tricky trickster martial artist looks like.

In his next match with Goku, we see Krillin's ruthless pragmatism on full display. He devises his own version of Tenshinhan's Taiyoken/Solar Flare.

And he nearly wins by a tail when he once again breaks out his weak, improvised Kamehameha.

This bluff is brilliant. He gets Goku's focus on the Kamehameha while his true goal is Goku's tail. Unfortunately for him, Goku - under advisement from both the Muten-Roshi and his Grandpa Gohan - has been training his body to rid himself of that critical flaw over the last three years. His tail no longer saps his energy when it's grabbed.

But if Goku were still the same fighter Krillin knew before, this bluff would have been game-ending for their semifinal match. Krillin's abilities both in martial arts and in knot-cutting have advanced substantially. It's just that Goku's have advanced as well.

Krillin only gets one fight in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. But he goes hard.

In the three years since last tournament, Krillin's devised bending ki blasts that home in on their target. Holy shit, what a stellar-

GOT YOU SUCKER THAT'S A FAKEOUT IT'S KRILLER TIME

Krillin's invented bending ki blasts that home in on their target as a distraction. Sadly for Krillin, characters at this point are beginning to distribute Bukujutsu, the Flying Technique, among themselves so surprise ringouts aren't an option anymore. Piccolo's been capable of performing Bukujutsu since his previous life.

Krillin loses the match, though he does force an admission from Piccolo that martial artists of his caliber will make the world difficult to conquer.

The next chance Krillin has to put his skills on display comes six years later when the Saiyans attack the Earth. Vegeta and Nappa grow their six Saibamen, forcing the Earthlings to entertain them by battling these veggie monsters. Tenshinhan and Yamcha handily defeat two of them, though Yamcha's killed by a surprise attack.

And then Krillin decides enough is enough and makes his move: Opening fire directly on Nappa and Vegeta with everything he's got.

A fool's attack guaranteed to fail against the insurmountable might of the Saiyan-no, wait, what's he doing?

Ha, fuck you, he was aiming for the Saibamen the whole time! Made ya look. Though he does also hit Nappa and Vegeta for good measure.

Krillin is technically the first Earthling to ever land a hit on either of these guys. Imagine that. It doesn't do shit to them, but still.

This fight also brings out Krillin's ultimate technique. The epitome of his skills, the final fruits of his labors, the be-all end-all of Krillin Techniques. You already know what I'm talking about.

This. This, right here. The Kienzan/Destructo Disc is peak Krillin. Literally a knife with which to cut the knot. Everyone else is throwing ki punches except those assassins shooting ki bullets. And Krillin stops to ask, "What if I sharpened my ki into a buzzsaw so I can slice open an opponent's flesh rather than trying to beat them at punching?"

Prior to Goku's arrival, this technique from one of the weakest fighters on this field is the closest the overconfident Nappa ever comes to defeat.

Nappa outright tries to take it like a punch. But for Vegeta paying the fuck attention, this would have taken his head clean off. Even Frieza can't resist it.

Because it's not something you resist. It's a buzzsaw. It doesn't hit, it cleaves. It's a technique that's so utterly Krillin in nature.

In fact, the entire Namek arc in general is peak Krillin. A three-way tug-of-war over the Dragon Balls between Frieza's ungodly might, Vegeta's rogue wildcard antics and deadly force, and Krillin being a tricky trickster gunning for any opportunity to scoop victory out from under them.

That Krillin wins.

This is the key to Krillin's longevity as a character. Like the rest of the cast, he eventually falls victim to inability to keep pace with Goku's advances, and becomes further and further de-emphasized from the big action pieces of Dragon Ball.

Krillin's tricky methods were rarely allowed to grant him much success in the ring due to the way they chafe against Dragon Ball's tone. This simply isn't a series where ruthless pragmatism and knot-cutting generally wins the fight. But those same methods also gave him staying power and an ability to continue influencing the plot of Dragon Ball long after he ceased to be relevant as a fighter.

Krillin's style is designed to punch above his weight class, and he's in general a tricky trickster outside of the ring too. The result of this is tremendous staying power as a weaker character brushing elbows with the titanic super gods of the cast. He may not be the clincher in a fight but there's almost always something for a pragmatist like him to do.

#dragon ball #dragon ball z #krillin

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saiyanmazen · 4 months

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Vegebul fics recs!

So, my last rec list was well received. Therefore, I thought I would do another, not only for those interesting in reading, but for the writers as well. I know I'm blessed with wonderful readers and I love everyone for it.

These are all ongoing multichapter fics with Vegebul as the main ship. There's a lot of amazing one shots out there as well which I will make another list for soon.

Pet Project by VestigialWings: Why is Vegeta eating catfood? And how can Bulma’s new project help him heal?

The Scientist and the Saiyan by EverydayBulma: Human AU where Bulma is forced to find a new roommate. Suddenly, she finds herself living with one grumpy Vegeta.

Given by Light When it Gleams by klty: An amazing soulmark fic taking place during the three year gap where Vegeta sees his own name written in the Saiyan alphabet on Bulma. Naturally, he does everything he can to avoid that she finds her name on him.

Inevitable Retribution by LilacStorm: An original take on Bulma and Vegeta meeting in space. They're both planning to take down Frieza, but don't think they are on the same side. And Bulma is not the only Earthling in space.

Mission Critical by herpb4uderp: Vegeta and his men are tasked with transporting precious cargo that can save Earth, along with the scientist who made it.

Ad Astra by darkscreener: Bulma, Gohan and Vegeta are the only survivors after Namek. They make an uneasy alliance as they go in search of another set of dragon balls while different fractions begin to fight for control over the former Frieza Empire.

Euphorics by DesertParadox: Future Bulma said that it was a one time thing between her and Vegeta. She omitted the fact that it was a one time marathon!

Remember that these are ongoing fics. The authors will most definitely love and be encouraged by kudos and comments.

Make sure to check out my last post for more recs!

#vegebul #bulma #vegeta #vegebul fanfiction #dbz #dbs

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jacquelinemerritt · 1 year

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Dragon Ball Z: Abridged Episode 60 Review

What does it mean for an abridged series to go even further beyond?

Part I

I started this review series in 2015 because I loved Dragon Ball Z: Abridged, and I needed there to be writing out there that explained why I loved it so much.

It’s a funny thing, re-reading all of my old writing about it. Part of the nature of a weekly review series is that you tend to zoom in on the particulars, as that’s where the meatiest criticism lies. Going over the specifics of the story’s structure, how details in the show add to a greater whole, it’s all part of the process of finding out why something in a show works, or sometimes, doesn’t work.

It’s in those details though, that you come to a greater whole. By recounting the specific ways in which a story is threaded together, week after week, episode after episode, you start to bring forward recurring ideas, and piece together aspects that continually make a show work, and contribute to the greater whole. And when you’re critiquing a masterpiece, a show so lovingly crafted that every single detail lines up perfectly for its conclusion, you eventually are able to tie those thoughts together into what is hopefully a masterful conclusion of your own.

Dragon Ball Z: Abridged is the best possible version of Dragon Ball Z.

This might be the most contentious statement I’ve ever made about this show. It’s a statement I know for a fact the creators disagree with. But it’s a statement I believe wholeheartedly, and I even would go so far as to say that Dragon Ball Z: Abridged is closer to the spirit of the original Dragon Ball than Toriyama managed to pull off himself.

The original Dragon Ball manga is a masterpiece of its own. Akira Toriyama did a phenomenal job weaving together hilarious gags with thrilling martial arts action and compelling character growth, all while centering one of the most lovable, fun, and pure-hearted protagonists to ever be written. There’s a reason that it spawned an entire genre of imitators, and that’s because its blend of action, comedy, and growth were all executed masterfully.

I don’t think that Dragon Ball Z ever manages to capture that magic the way the original does. That’s not to say that Dragon Ball Z is a bad show, but by the time Raditz enters the story, the manga and show both change into something much more akin to a melodramatic soap opera. There’s so much waxing from the characters about how powerful these foes they’re facing are, and there’s very little levity sprinkled throughout these long, drawn-out fights, as the circumstances feel too dire for the characters to make jokes and be silly.

Silly humor was core to Dragon Ball’s charm though. The very first fight in the first World Tournament Arc is a gag about how Krillin is able to beat a martial artist who has never bathed and uses stench as a weapon, because he doesn’t have a nose to smell him with. The best side character in this series goes from being an angry, murderous criminal to being a cheerful, innocent sprite every time she sneezes, and she always sneezes at the worst possible moments for everyone. Hell, the entire Red Ribbon Army Arc is a joke about how Goku completely obliterates a major threat to the world on a whim, because none of them are martial artists, and not a real challenge as a result!

The very magic of Dragon Ball Z: Abridged is that it takes this melodramatic source material and finds the space within it to make jokes again. The Saiyans are a world-dooming threat, but Nappa is hilarious, and I will forever quote everything he said. Freeza is a genocidal tyrant who has taken the galaxy by force, but even when the world around him is unable to laugh, his spoiled, petulant attitude is funny as hell, and full of delightful dark humor. Even the darkest timeline of Trunks’ future is filled with jokes, whether that be the genuinely despicable ramblings of TJ and the Wombat, or a 50-year-old Bulma making a pass at Gohan, perfectly fitting her original boy-crazy characterization.

And phenomenally, Dragon Ball Z: Abridged manages to do everything I just mentioned without sacrificing an ounce of drama. Goku’s battle against Freeza is desperate, and his Spirit Bomb failing rips the ground out from under you. Future Trunks’ battle against the Cyborgs is tense, and his first transformation into a Super Saiyan is gut-wrenching. Even in the first season, before they fully found their feet, Team Four Star managed to make the battle between Goku and Vegeta every bit as tense as it needed to be, while still incorporating a constant stream of jokes.

So where does that leave us with Episode 60?

Part II

What, exactly, is the purpose of an abridged series?

I think it’s fair to say that an abridged series is, at its core, an adaptation of a work of art from one medium to another. This is a statement I’ve made before in these reviews, but I don’t think I’ve ever elaborated on it. It feels rather obvious to me that an abridged series be treated as any other adaptation might, because at the end of the day, that’s what artists like Team Four Star, LittleKuriboh, and Something Witty Entertainment are doing. They are adapting a work from the medium of televised anime to the medium of a comedy YouTube short, and making the same kinds of adaptational decisions in creating these series as a production team turning a book into a movie.

You can see this question of adaptation present itself as far back as some of the earliest abridged series, like Avatar: The Abridged Series. Most of that show intentionally leans into the weakest aspects of Katara’s character, emphasizing her feminity, thirst for cute boys, and quick temper far more than the original show ever did. Yet, in its last episode, Katara undergoes a significant transformation in the face of Paku’s sexism, and is completely reimagined with a new voice actress as she goes on a rant about the sexist ways she’s been written, and her refusals to stand for it anymore. The last episode of this abridged series ever made goes out of its way to critique both itself and its source material in its last episode, and it begs the question of how far an abridged series adaptation can go.

Sword Art Online: Abridged famously goes even further in its critique of its source material. Almost every character is completely rewritten to serve as both a more accurate representation of online culture, and a deconstruction of their original persona, with Kirito in particular standing out as a fantastic depiction of the kind of loneliness and self-isolation that comes with being a try-hard edgelord. It takes an entire season of the show for Kirito to learn to truly connect with other people, and that growth is made all the more satisfying by showing genuinely difficult it is for him to maintain anything resembling a positive friendship with anyone because of those edgelord tendencies.

These shows both have very different purposes, in large part due to the evolving understanding of what an abridged series is capable of between their creations, but they both raise a fairly similar question: what happens when you give everyone with a video editor and internet connection the ability to re-tell someone else’s story?1

The answer here is something I think is quite beautiful. The abridged series thrives outside of the realm of copyright locked down by rent-seeking ideas landlords, and allows individuals, groups, and communities to reimagine their favorite stories. Sometimes, what they imagine is as simple as few extra jokes, or a simple rant about the sexist way a character is written, and sometimes, what they imagine is a completely new version of the story that actually raises interesting questions and showcases compelling characters.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the abridged series found its roots in the copyright-less utopia of early YouTube, when anyone had the freedom to take something they loved or hated, and transform it into something completely different. The rise of Content ID has long since taken away this pure, unadulterated freedom from us, and I truly feel that the internet is worse off for it.

When it comes to Dragon Ball Z: Abridged, the show we are watching is the result of a bunch of people who love Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z more than anything else, asking what they can do to make the show funnier, smarter, and more meaningful. Team Four Star found their footing as writers when they began to focus on the comedy that came from character interaction, as we watched these huge personalities clash, and for every funny joke they were able to draw out of that foundation, they managed to draw even more pathos and catharsis for these characters.

Which is to say, Team Four Star took the idea of an abridged series, and went even further beyond.

Part III

Episode 60 of Dragon Ball Z: Abridged is a massive episode that provides a satisfying resolution to the whole series, and nearly every storyline running within it. It also highlights the relationship between its characters fantastically, placing most of the story’s emotional weight on the fractured dynamic between Gohan and his chronically absent father, Goku.

The entire first part of the episode is focused on the tension between who Gohan fundamentally is, and the man his father expects him to be. Goku has, in a stroke of fighting genius (the only genius he is capable of), perfectly planned out this encounter between Perfect Cell and Gohan. He’s manipulated Cell into hosting a tournament for the fate of the world, and placed his son in the perfect position to take down Cell and ascend to power greater than anyone has ever seen. And it’s all ruined because, as Piccolo perfectly points out, Gohan hates fighting.

The subtext of emotional strain between Goku and Gohan has been running throughout the entire series, but it’s finally brought to the forefront of the text in this moment. We see Gohan wrack himself emotionally and Cell wrack him physically, as he and Cell both try to force himself to fill the role his father has placed him in. Even as Cell violently births his own progeny to wreck Goku and his companions, in a last ditch effort to stir a fire within Gohan, Goku’s son cannot bring himself to be the warrior his father believes him to be.

Android 16’s speech and subsequent death changes all of that for Gohan. In a moment set to a breathtaking cover of Unmei no Hi, Gohan internalizes the lesson passed onto him by Android 16, who thoroughly eviscerated the liberal pacifism Gohan has been trying to embody. And Gohan gets angry. So angry that his power skyrockets, and he becomes a Super Duper Saiyan.

Super Duper Saiyan Gohan is fucking terrifying.

Throughout Dragon Ball Z: Abridged, we’ve come to know Gohan as an incredibly intelligent, exuberant, compassionate bookworm. Even though he doesn’t want his entire life to revolve around education and books, he still revels in knowledge and the opportunity to learn, and some of his cutest moments are when he is allowed to be truly childlike, like when he eagerly investigated Cell’s time travel pod for clues.

Every single ounce of compassion and love for life Gohan had before transforming into a Super Duper Saiyan is replaced with rage. Rage at Cell for destroying Android 16, a beautiful soul who did nothing wrong. Rage at Goku for thrusting him into this fight unprepared, and taking away the only hope he felt by throwing Cell a Senzu. And rage, most of all, at the world, for being so fucked up that he was forced into this situation to begin with.

Gohan’s rage is cold though. There is no righteous fury like Goku, no petulant tantrum like Vegeta, no sorrowful torment like Trunks. This Gohan slowly defines the word “filicide” for Cell as he effortlessly commits it, wiping out all of Cell’s children so quickly even Freeza, the most murderous being we’ve met in this universe, would be impressed.

That very rage drives all of Gohan’s decisions, as he lords his power over Cell and takes every opportunity to torment him. He blows away all of Cell’s limbs with a Kamehameha, and then guts him with his fist so hard that he throws up Android 18, and loses his Perfect form. It’s this blindness by rage that leads to Gohan’s greatest mistake, of not finishing off Cell, who tries to blow himself and the planet up in order to gain some kind of victory.

What’s perfect about this moment though is that while Gohan feels entirely responsible for his mistake, Goku knows better. He recognizes the responsibility he bears for Gohan’s bloodlust, and knows that the only way to make it right is to remove Cell from the equation altogether, teleporting the two of them to King Kai’s planet in bold move to save the earth.

Goku’s decision to sacrifice himself also recalibrates Gohan’s perspective, guiding him away from the rage that filled him before, so that when Cell returns, and murders Vegeta’s baby boy, Gohan doesn’t hesitate to put himself in harms way to protect Vegeta from a deadly blow. It costs him an arm, but his commitment to protecting others, even when it’s stupid, and even when it gets himself hurt, is true to the Gohan we’ve come to know and love. All that’s left for Gohan to do is face off against Cell, one Kamehameha against another, and draw on the strength and fighting spirit of his father to deliver the final blow.

Goku and Gohan aren’t the only two characters whose relationship is deepened in this episode. Vegeta’s enraged cry of “MY BABY BOY!” when Cell kills Trunks shows just how much Vegeta has come to love his own son, despite the airs he puts on to the contrary. Piccolo’s love for Gohan is also expressed incredibly here as he lectures Goku for not paying attention to the needs and wants of his son, who just wanted to receive love and affection from his father.

In fact, the love that these characters have for each other, and the ways they express it, is a theme that runs deep in this episode. Trunks love for all these folks around him is shown as he dutifully delivers them all Senzu Beans, quietly making silly puns to each of them. Krillin’s love for Android 18 is displayed wonderfully, whether through him gaining the strength to stand up to Vegeta because she’s resting in his arms, or through him wishing her and her brother free of the bombs implanted in them. Even Yamcha and Tenshinhan are given a moment of brotherly love, as they express for the first time in words how much they both mean to each other.

That very love is also what drives Goku to refuse to be resurrected at the end of the episode, despite Cell having been defeated. He genuinely loves Gohan, Goten, Chi Chi, and all of his friends, and knows that the best way to show his love, for once, is actually to be away from them, and spend time in heaven with King Kai. He’s not afraid of the great change this will be, both for him, and the people he loves, and is willing to embrace the afterlife if it means safety for his loved ones.

Goku’s speech about embracing change and not being a part of his loved ones’ life anymore is also very easy to read as a coda to Dragon Ball Z: Abridged itself. He, and all the rest of these characters, are saying good-bye to us, the audience that has followed them on their journey for years, and they are all embracing the truth that it is beautiful to let this show end on its own happy terms. It’s ironic that, at the time, Team Four Star announced that they would be trying to continue this series, but it’s clear they grew to see the wisdom in Goku’s words too.

A similar message can be found in Cell’s final moments, as he gives us a beautiful rendition of Frank Sinatra’s My Way. Team Four Star, just like this villain, has spent nearly a decade re-telling the three sagas of Dragon Ball Z they loved the most, and at every turn, they chose to do it their way. Sometimes, in the early days, that meant reference-based humor that aged like milk, but more often than not, it meant leaning into their strengths as comedic writers, taking creative liberties with the source material, and working to elevate the text of Dragon Ball Z to something even better than the original show.

I don’t know what to call that other than Perfect.

Epilogue

The journey that I’ve been on with Dragon Ball Z: Abridged, both as a viewer and critic, has been an incredible one. It has meant more to me than just about any other show I’ve ever watched, and stands up there with some of the most impactful art that I’ve experienced. It’s a show I’ve watched when I was suicidally depressed to find some sort of levity, a show I found enough depth in to meticulously critique every episode, and a show I’ve gotten even my shounen-indifferent partner to get extremely hype about, as I showed them the entire show in the lead-up to its fantastic finale.

What Team Four Star managed to create in Dragon Ball Z: Abridged is something genuinely special. It’s a show that makes me laugh harder than just about anything. It’s a show that’s made me cry more times than I can count too, as I was tearing up multiple times while re-watching the finale for this review. It’s even a show that I get to cringe at sometimes, when I think of the early seasons, but that cringing makes it all the more impressive how much Team Four Star improved as storytellers, and elevated their craft to tell their version of Dragon Ball Z better than anyone else could.

I love Dragon Ball Z: Abridged. I will always love Dragon Ball Z: Abridged. And even though it’s over, I know it will always be there for me, waiting for me to tag along with Goku, Krillin, Vegeta, and Gohan, as they power up and save the world.

Rating: 5/5

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Stray Observations

1This question, you might notice, is exactly the same question raised by the existence of fan-fiction, and this is because abridged series are, at their core, no different from any other form of fan-fiction. An abridged series does, by its nature, require more work and expertise than a piece of prose on Archive of Our Own, but all it achieves, in the end, is a greater level of accessibility, like the difference between a written article and a video essay.

I genuinely adore that in this episode, when Piccolo goes to yell at Gohan to dodge, he’s already dodging Cell perfectly. What a great ending to a running gag.

Yamcha’s every line in this episode is great too. He just wants to be included, whether that’s in Team Three Star, or Cell’s plans for tournament entertainment, and I love him for that.

Super Duper Saiyan is also, just, fucking brilliant. Like, what a great way to use Goku’s silliness to get around the awkwardness of these forms being called Super Saiyan 2 and Super Saiyan 3. Vegeta calling the next form Super-Dee-Duper Saiyan just sells the joke even further. If the show had continued for another season, I genuinely would have loved the comedy of these characters shouting about being “Super-Duper Saiyan” or “Super-Dee-Duper Saiyan,” and would love to see a mock-up of Goku’s “even further beyond” speech with these terms in Team Four Star’s style.

Krillin Owned Count: 0. And as a huge fan of Krillin, yeah, this makes me real fuckin’ happy J

Also holy shit, did Krillin cum 39 times??? That’s super impressive for a cis dude, mad props.

#dragon ball z abridged #dragon ball z #team four star #tfs #dbz #dbza #dbza ep60

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pancakeke · 9 months

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my husband and I just watched Dragon Ball Evolution for the first time. as painful as it is to say this, if you like dragon ball you need to see this movie. you need to know how bad it is. its amazing in a terrible and bewildering way.

there are 500 criticisms you can make about it but for the sake of time I'll just name two. they gave Goku Superman's backstory and Luke Skywalker's training arc with Neo's slow motion action nonsense and it wasn't even remotely subtle or interesting. also they tried to make Bulma a cool girl rather than a mouthy bitch and it was NOT any sort of improvement. mouthy bitch Bulma is perfection. normalizing her made her soulless.

#also i need to read the dragon ball and dbz manga now #cause i kept fucking up the canon timeline while trying to figure out what this movie thought it was trying to do

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fanfic-lover-girl · 10 months

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DBZ Thoughts: Yamcha Deserved Better

So I got into Dragonball because I grudgingly watched Kai on Nicktoons with my brother. My complaints became faker as the Frieza saga thickened and before I knew it, I fell in love with the series. Sometime later, I discovered Dragonball and watched that series as well. I think I watched GT after DB.

Since I watched DBZ first, I cared little for the human characters. I liked Piccolo because of his relationship with Gohan. And I enjoyed Krillin in the Namek/Frieza saga and I felt sad when he died. But I didn't really CARE. Tien and Yamcha were afterthoughts. I thought Chiaotzu was lame and a waste of space. All I cared about were the Saiyans.

But then I watched Dragonball and I fell in love with the human characters. So much magic and wonder. I like DBZ but Dragonball hits differently.

Anyway, I liked Yamcha. Was never a huge fan but I have really begun to feel sorry for the guy especially since my love for Vegebul has kind of faded a bit. I admit that even in the height of my Vegebul fanfic days as a teenage girl, I felt super uncomfortable or annoyed reading fics where Yamcha was painted as a loser, abuser or cheater. I hated how fanfic writers treated Yamcha like trash to make Vegeta look better. People out here trying to make Yamcha into a monster to make Vegeta, the guy who beat on Gohan in the previous two sagas and killed a village of Namekians with sadistic glee, look good :(. Now that I look back on it, I was reading trash!

Intro aside, I wanted to reflect on some ways that Yamcha could have been treated better in the series (DB and DBZ). I think Yamcha is a great character already and he does not need to be a bloodthirsty Saiyan to be amazing...but just some small things that could give him some more wins.

Dragonball: Yamcha vs Tien as the semi-finals fight

Yamcha's fight showcased Tien's cruelty. Roshi's fight symbolized the older generation being surpassed by the younger. But would the story change all that much if the fights were switched? Give Yamcha a chance to make it to the semis and use it as a storytelling device to show that Yamcha is catching up to Roshi as well. I think the story could have been even stronger if Tien was shown to surpass the older generation but then showed his cruelty.

DBZ: Bulma & Yamcha's breakup ending more amicably

I HATE how many Vegebul fans treat Yamcha. Yamcha is a good man and Bulma was always the abusive and unfaithful one in the relationship. I was not a huge Bulma fan in DB. Honestly, I don't think I truly liked Bulma until she got with Vegeta and became a mom. Anyway, why is it necessary to paint Yamcha as a cheater to pave the way for Vegebul? There are many ways for people to break up! The breakup could be a mutual thing where they decide they are better as friends (just look at their sibling vibe in the Buu saga). Maybe Future Trunks' arrival causes Yamcha to be more insistent on marriage and family and Bulma does not feel ready for the commitment. Maybe Yamcha walks away because he can't stand Bulma being friendly with the guy responsible for his murder. So many ways to paint Yamcha, and even Bulma, in a better light so that Yamcha does not look like the loser beta male who lost in the love triangle.

#pro yamcha #yamcha deserved better #dragon ball #dbz #dragon ball z #vegebul #anti vegebul fanfiction #vegebul critical #yamcha #yamcha vs tien shinhan #yambul #bulma briefs #vegeta #android saga #22nd World Martial Arts Tournament #tien shinhan #dbz thoughts #yambul breakup

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celticcatgirl2 · 4 months

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“OH FUCK!!!”

“That shit REALLY woke me up what the FUCK was that!?!??”

“The person who’ll make you LOWER YOUR STANDARDS?!?”

“Lower them to where? BELOW hell?”

#shut up alex #personal #dragon ball #bulma #vegeta #bulma brief #vegeta iv #anti vegebul #alice and edwin watch dragon ball #bulma briefs #prince vegeta #vegebul critical #dragon ball z

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dballzposting · 1 year

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I don’t know how to fucking draw.

Yamucha mall santa

BELABORED Textpost about Yamucha Dad Swagg under the cut

It’s a very simple equation .. it takes a village to raise a kid and Yamucha is a part of that village.

Picture this. Trunks is just a little guy walking around Capsule Corp. Sometimes he goes days without seeing his father, and when he does see him there is no warm greeting. That’s fine and cool because that’s just Vegeta’s way and Trunks is used to it / raised to it. He sees his mother more frequently than his father, but she is just as busy, and she is always trying to teach Trunks about computers and whatnot - this is fun and fine because Trunks doesn’t yet know that he lacks the natural spark for invention and that his potential pales in comparison to his mother. So it’s good bonding time.

Ultimately, his parents are concerned with his growth, and they do much to encourage it, and that’s awesome. But warm family time just isn’t the love language of the house. Trunks’s grandparents are pretty warm, but they also aren’t that interested in playing video games, just the technicalities of it, so Trunks’s conversation material is stunted.

Trunks will see the other Z Fighters occasionally, but he mostly knows Of them than Knows them. Sometimes, though, his mother will have a friend over.

And something interesting happens when Yamucha visits. Trunks can actually hear his mother laughing from the other room.

And if he sneaks around the corner, he can see his mother actually having a real damn conversation with someone for once. Trunks never sees his parents converse like this, so it’s odd and enamoring to see Yamucha and Bulma talking like normal people.

It’s weird, because it’s not typical to Trunks’s house, but he’s seen it in others, like how Gohan and Videl talk for instance, and it’s sort of .. nice to see.

Not that he’s thinking in those terms - he’s like, IDK, 9, and though he’s a precocious kid, he’s not yet adhering to adult standards of what’s “nice to see.” He doesn’t think that it’s “nice to see” his mother be able to have a non-argumentative conversation with a man. He’s not concerned about what’s good for his mother or not, not in that way. He’s still a kid.

But. He does grow comfortable to the sight.

Bulma and Yamucha’s conversations are still pretty much what you’d expect - Yamucha is only visiting to get this car fixed, she makes some harshly-toned but inconsequential joke about his being unwilling to pay someone to fix it so he’s hoping to get it fixed for free by a friend, and he rubs his neck and says “everyone’s a critic,” and she fixes his car and makes him have tea with her as payment. She complains that he never fucking visits unless he needs some help and he says the same to her. She asks him how life is going and he tells her that Puar is starting a new semester at Shapeshifting University, that he’s working on his Master’s. She says that she’s working on a new type of engine that will revolutionize the industry and he says that his wood stove keeps breaking in odd ways that he can’t make sense of.

She asks him if he still trains and fights and he says Sometimes. He asks her if she finds herself yearning for adventure and she says Sometimes.

IDK where I’m going with this. I don’t know what I haven’t already said in previous posts. It’s just that Yamucha is a nice man ...

Trunks is used to being either A.) treated like a little adult or B.) brushed off, so when Yamucha literally treats him like one would a child, it completely throws Trunks off of his rhythm and he doesn’t know what to do about it.

He ventures into the room where Bulma & Yamucha are conversing and Yamucha is quick to be like HEEEY KIDDO! THERE YOU ARE. WAS WONDERING WHEN YOU’D SHOW UP. HOW’RE YOU DOING?

and Trunks is like HWAH becasue now this man is talking to him and now he’s gotta snap to attention and be polite and civil like his parents taught him. But also it’s Yamucha he doesnt hold him in a very high regard at this time. And he’s just gotta get throuhg this exchange of pleasantries so that they can all move on with their day.

Unfortunately however Yamucha is not Vegeta and he is not bored with pleasantries, he’s honestly interested to see Trunks join the conversation. Trunks is a funny little DUDE yknow? He’s always running around and defeating bad guys and stuff. Yamucha held him when he was a baby a few times and he always sends him a birthday card in the mail. He’s honestly interested, at the high point of the day before the daily fatigue has set in, to invite him into the conversation.

Trunks has no tact for this however becasue he’s not used to this senseless genuineness from an adult. Usually adults will get whatever info they need out of him and then exit the conversation. Usually there’s a point where the adult gets bored and tired and Trunks is used to this pattern and he knows how to recognize it and stop talking about things that only he cares about.

But before Trunks can understand what’s happening he’s being launched into this conversation about Minecraft because one thing led to another and now Bulma has momentarily adjourned the room and Trunks is sitting at this table explaining Minecraft to Yamucha. And he’s sort of fretful and stressed about it because he doesn’t know why Yamucha is doing this to himself? This isn’t typically how things go.

So Trunks at every sentence is trying to pull the brakes on this whole operation, growing more anxious about it the longer it persists, and it does inexplicably persists - Trunks just keeps trying to wrap up his thought but then Yamucha seems to keep encouraging him. “So it’s a computer game? You can play it with an XBOX too? What about a PS2, I used to have one of those.” “You craft what you mine? What do you mine, rocks and stuff? Oh, that’s just the term for the mechanism of acquiring world blocks? And you can craft? Oh, Minecraft, that’s clever.” “You can build anything you want? What do you build?” “What’s a mob? What’s an NPC? Oh, they’re bad guys? Sometimes? Do you fight on Minecraft? WITH A SWORD? I see why you like it.” “Is there a plot? What’s ‘sandbox’? It’s an ‘open world’?” “Can you play it with other people at the same time, like those arcade games where- oh, different screens, same world? REALLY? Over the internet you say? Now how does that work?” “THEY HAVE WOLVES IN MINECRAFT?”

And Trunks keeps trying to Not go overboard but if you ask an obsessed 9 year old about minecraft What TF Do You Think is gonna happen.

Trunks is WAITING, WAITING, WAITING for the inevitable “say, kid, yknow, it’s getting late, I gotta run...” or whatever polite manner Yamucha will use to end the conversation. Trunks is keeping vigilante for it. He’s studying Yamucha’s face and words for any hint of it.

Eventually- “say, I don’t suppose you got any snacks around here in this house of fortune, do you?”

There it is, the Topic Change. Yamucha moves to stand and Trunks silences the urge to finish the tangent he was on. He’s actually relieved - that was getting scary, he didn’t know when the interruption would come. He doesn’t want to embarrass himself any further, so he’s glad for the long-awaited topic change.

They set out to amass a plate of snacks. Yamucha encourages Trunks to pick his poison, and Trunks doesn’t know why he’s still being involved in this operation but he likes snacks so he sticks around. Yamucha remarks that Bulma hasn’t yet returned and Trunks can’t stop himself from responding immediately with what was on the tip of his tongue:

“Yeah, she doesn’t like to hear about Minecraft.”

Yamucha laughs it off, genuinely entertained, saying something about how Bulma didn’t have the patience for most things. He suggests that they go find her and bother her, and Trunks says that she doesn’t like to be bothered when she’s working, and Yamucha says “yeah I know.”

Somehow though they end up talking about Minecraft again. And this vexes Trunks so strongly. Especially when Yamucha finally says “yknow I don’t really understand the appeal of video games myself .. I dabbled in it but it didn’t really take me far” THEN WHY ARE YOU ASKING ABOUT MINECRAFT ???

My point is that the “topic change” was not a topic change, Yamucha was totally gonna return to the Minecraft thing. Which, again, makes no goddamn sense to Trunks.

Yamucha’s just a nice dude. And he’s not annoyed with Trunks becasue he A.) isn’t as seriously-minded as Bulma and Vegeta are and B.) is not Trunks’s actual father so he doesn’t need to fucking see him all of the time and deal with his shit on a regular basis.

IDK. That’s just a story. I feel like it’s a good place to start the development of Trunks getting attached to Yamucha though. Like there are many ways you could spin this but it all sort of starts the same .. Trunks getting judgeless attention from Yamucha, who is warm and friendly and chill and visibly mature and middle-aged.

I mean this could happen at any time but hear me out:

Trunks ages 0-5 would respond well to any friendly adult because’s that’s what babies are like. As long as the adult didn’t have a scary face.

Trunks ages 6-9 will take a bit more convincing to warm up to you, because he’s got opinions and a snotty attitude. But ultimately he’s polite when it matters and he likes to have fun, so if you’re fun then he’s fun, and he’ll be excited to see you, because that’s what kids are like.

Trunks ages 10-15 is an even tougher sell, because his precocious self-awareness now actually MEANS something, and progressively more so throughout the years. And though he’s living life pretty naturally and in-tuned with himself by necessity of his craft, he would still shudder at the sensation of affection / want of attention from an adult other than the expressly accepted Bulma & Vegeta & his grandsparents & Gohan & Videl & to an extent Goten’s parents. Being a little baby kid and wanting to spend time with a beloved adult is one thing, but Trunks is much too self-aware at this age to allow the easy flow of vulnerability. Like, HOW STRANGE. How strange to think he would need something from someone. How strange to think that there could be a shift in the familial dynamic that’s always been. So he would experience some confliction and some shame at a perceived immaturity of the self. Even though he is getting older, humans develop in a gradual way, and by his Saiyan blood he is still a baby, so he is still responsive to warmth and attention, even when it is bewilderingly unconditional and pleasant.

Moreover: Trunks has himself a self-image of self-sufficiency and independence by this time, and he would struggle with how small and clingy he feels when Yamucha is nice to him, and he may just avoid him entirely for it.

Trunks ages 16-18 is no longer susceptible to a new juvenile attachment but he is a kid who likes to party. He is friendly enough and could make a mentor out of Yamucha yet. He could love him like one too.

However in the event that he already had the experience of wanting Yamucha to be his dad when he was younger: by 18 he thinks he’s totally over “it” though he never gave “it” credit for what it was: how much he appreciated the sense of safety that being raised by a village gave him. And that’s literally a normal thing and Trunks is literally capable of seeing that but he’s not Goten so he still is a little slow on the uptake. So he thinks he’s “over it” but as soon as he gets eyes on Yamucha he .. Oh my god I’ll just repost the last image file of a previously-shared comic

This is just so goddamn funny like .. That first panel I wish was way bigger becasue I think it’s everything. The crazed and vigilante yet amiable and PLACID look. It’s like he’s a shark and he’s caught blood in the water. It’s like he was a normal dude before but then he got eyes on Yamucha and his middle-aged man used-car-salesman swag and a biochemical reaction began to occur in Trunks’s brain and he’s become one-track and pursuit-predatorial and now he’s looking at him like this

With so much warmth and love and contentedness .. like he thinks he’s amazing. Like he’s out for blood.

And then he warmly says “you could marry my mom and I wouldn’t be mad.” LIKE ... that’s so funny .. he’s 18 so he thinks he’s an adult but he’s still Someone’s Boy. He’s still a kid. It takes time to mature fully. He’s tall and taught like a greenbean plant and he hasn’t actually yet matured into the heat of the season ... He’s tall and energetic and he wants Yamucha to marry his mom so that he can see his mom get along with someone and for that someone to be Yamucha. It’s not that Trunks dislikes his father - he really really doesn’t - but it’s that he also wants Yamucha to be his dad.

By the time we get to Trunks age 23 - GT times - he really is beyond this. He really is a chill young adult by then. He doesn’t feel the juvenile attachment. He’s a mature organism. He probably forgot he ever felt that way to begin with.

It’s just funny idk.

ANYWAY.

In the event where Bulma and Vegeta formally split (which wouldn’t happen because Vegeta has nowhere else to go really...), Bulma would be cool with it but like any woman with self-respect she would undergo a certain grief to start. It doesn’t last long and she knows she’s happier being single but she allows herself the tenderness. And in this time she may reconnect with friends to feel better, including Yamucha.

And Trunks is around age umm idk let’s say 9 again, and he doesn’t think that his parents formally splitting is a big deal. From his POV, the only thing that will change is that he won’t see his father at the dinnertable anymore and he won’t train with him in the gravity chamber for a while (I say “a while” because Vegeta will come crawling back to use that fucking thing). But Trunks still knows where to find him, and he will still be training and learning under him. So it’s not a big deal.

His mom seems a little sad, which he wasn’t expecting. But she’s said and will keep saying that it was for the best and the mature thing to do, so Trunks doesn’t think much of it.

But much like how this post started, there’s a day where Trunks can hear his mother laughing in conversation in the other room. And it strikes him, rings in his head like a knell, secretive in its pull but inexorable all the same-... it’s been a while since his mother seemed so happy to be talking to someone.

Under the guise of helping Bulma through this difficult time, but really for old time’s sake, but really actually because Yamuch’s cabin has a cockroach problem right now, it’s been arranged where Yamucha is gonna hang out and live at Capsule Corp for a while.

OK don’t let me make this damn post so damn long. You know where it’s going. Trunks despite himself warms up to Yamucha and at the end asks him upfront if he’s gonna marry Bulma. And Yamucha is like NOOO No No No NO! Lol. And Trunks is like WHY NOT?? YOU GET ALONG SO WELL ..

and Yamucha explains that he’s just trying to be a friend right now because he and Bulma did NOT work out in the past. And Trunks is like “Ok so are you going to live here forever then..” and Yamucha is like..........nooooo.........I’m gonna go home to my cabin ..........

and Trunks is like WHAT ???

And Yamucha, who is not trying to become a father, and who has been unsure how to treat Trunks as he sees him getting more and more clingy over the weeks, has to finally concede at this moment that: Trunks evidently needs this right now. He needs a friendly father figure. Yamucha wasn’t trying to get involved in all of this because he at this point in his life does not feel confident enough that he has what it takes to be a good parent .. that he could really give a kid what he needs .. he doesn’t think he’s good enough ... but at this moment he realizes that Well Soemone Has to Watch Stupoid Movies with This Kid and It’s NOT gonna be Vegeta So.....!!

so he tells Trunks “you know where to find me..!” and that he can visit at any time. But Trunks still seems a little sad about it and I can tell you why: it’s because he wants to feel loved enough that people will seek HIM out, not that the onus is always on him to maintain connections.

Yamucha sees that he’s still kind of sad so he makes an impulsive promise to “visit sometimes” and Trunks seems happy to hear that.

In any story you want to spin about Yamucha Dad Swagg I think it pays to consider Trunks’s hesitance to attach, because of his attitude problem and because he does already have two parents, and also how as a kid he responds to the budding connection with insecurity and confusion because even as a kid he takes it upon himself to be totally self-aware and to know everything, because that’s how his parents are raising him.

And it pays to consider what type of attention and affection that Trunks is actually receiving at home.

And it pays to consider that Yamucha is sort of washed-up and is in some ways content with that and in other ways insecure, and that he doesn't feel quite good enough to be a father but he doesn’t want to be without a family for forever, but he is a nice person who is good with kids, and Bulma is a dear friend of his, and he will do what he can to do well by her son. And he’s just naturally friendly and goofy and that gets him into hot water when he accidentally causes Bulma’s evidently-underappreciated son to latch onto him, like a baby bird imprinting upon you because you just happened to be there.

It’s all very simple really. At a Z-team get-together Trunks really wants to pull up a chair between Yamcuha and Bulma but he doesn’t know how to do that without it being weird (he thinks it’s weird becasue he’s self-aware to his own detriment). And he really wants the simple comfort of physical affection that he stopped receiving when his mother set him down as a baby for the last time, but he doesn’t know how to hug Yamucha without it being weird. And he really wants to just like stand next to Yamucha or something but he feels like if his own real father sees him standing next to Yamucha it’s gonna be weird.

In reality Vegeta doesnt give a shit, and if he knew about all of this then he would encourage Trunks to seek out the humanistic family structure he evidently needs to thrive, becasue Vegeta knows that he’s not capable of paying out in that way. But this all goes unspoken so Trunks just feels weird about the way that everything seems like it’s going to be okay whenever Yamucha is around, and he’s trying to find a situation in which it would be acceptable for him to cuddle up with Yamucha like a cat.

It’s sort of stupid because that’s literally all it is. And there IS a day where Trunks drags Goten over to Yamucha’s cabin and they roast chestnuts and watch Caddyshack (1980) (one of the only movies that Yamucha owns and he always watches it when he’s sad and drunk and he doesn't even recognize it when he’s sober? He doesn’t know why he has it.).

And it’s fun obviously becasue Goten is there and they eat popcorn but when they’re watching the movie on Yamucha’s new couch (it’s new at this time) (it’s red and swanky) (he thinks it really classes up the place) (now there’s popcorn oil stains all over it of course but he’s trying to be gracious about it), Yamucha realizes that it’s a movie unfit for kids, and Goten gets bored when the popcorn is gone, and Trunks is not watching the movie at all because he is taking this opportunity to hug yamucha as hard as he can as he settles next to him on the couch.

And Yamucha is thinking “ummm this isn’t a very good movie for kids” but he literally can’t get up and do anything about it because Bulma’s damn bastard whelp is clinging to his side with the ardent ferocity of a drowning monkey to a floating log. And also the kid is pretending to be asleep so that no one will try to disturb him but his grip strength gives him away. And so basically Yamucha has to just sit through this weird movie. And Goten gets bored and really does fall asleep next to Trunks. So now Yamucha is committed to this damn movie. And there’s popcorn butter everywhere

Anyway. If Trunks started to bond with Yamucha then he really would want to learn stuff from him / model after him. And that’s where we may run into problems, becasue in practice, their continued involvement may be more of Trunks fixing Yamucha’s car then it is Yamucha teaching Trunks how to do stuff.

But there is still quite a bit that could be done here. Trunks would learn the Spirit Ball from Yamucha. He would learn how to go to diners and tip 30%, 40% if the server was cute. He would learn how to relax and enjoy life. He would learn how to hang out. He would start getting into Yamucha’s music, and then music composition once Yamucha pulls out his old guitar. He would pretend to care about baseball. He would have a new appreciation for monocolored suits. He would try whiskey for the first time. He would develop on his emotional intelligence so that he would eventually be on-par with Goten. He would listen to stories of the past because lord knows that Trunks’s parents don’t fucking tell him anything. ETC.

One more thing. You know that one .. science experiment where they put a baby monkey in a cage of sorts and gave it two “mothers,” one made of warm cloth that served no function and another that was made of wire and that contained a source of food? And they discovered that when the monkey was scared, he always huddled up to the cloth mother for comfort, even though she was not the one to feed him? And the result was something about the realization of the importance of comfort for babies? Yeah well it’s kind of like that .. Bulma & Vegeta are the wire mothers who offer substance of body mind and character, and Yamucha is the cloth mother who can’t do much for him but he’s always down to watch a movie and hang out or something.

END POST. Good grief

#dballz posting #dballz draws #Yamucha Dad Swag Tag

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fabuloustrash05 · 2 months

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do you agree chichi is severely overhated? i love her and i don’t think it’s fair she’s hated on for wanting the best for her children.

Definitely. Chichi gets way too much hate that is completely undeserved.

I will admit that as a kid I did not like Chichi. I thought she was annoying, an overbearing mom, and not a good wife to Goku. But as I grew older, I completely understand her POV. Her constantly being worried for Gohan is Z is very understandable. He is her first born son so of course she’s gonna be worried about him all the time, considering the dangers he always goes through. We also have to remember that in between Raditz kidnapping Gohan and the ending of the Goku vs Vegeta fight, Chichi has not seen her son in over a year (same thing for her husband. For an entire year, she was alone). So it makes sense that after that traumatic experience, she always wanted to have him around.

We have to give her credit where credit is due, she is a loyal wife to Goku, During the seven year time skip, she was the one who trained Goten before Gohan took over (which shows her character growth in allowing her sons to become fighters). The fact that she also has to cook for THREE Saiyans is impressive. I can only imagine what their grocery bill looks like.

My biggest annoyance with people criticizing her character is saying how she’s been resulted to just be a housewife when fans don’t realize that that’s what she always wanted. She never wanted to be a martial artist. In OG Dragon Ball Chichi makes it very clear that all she ever wanted was just to marry Goku, settle down and start a family. So I don’t know why fans shame her for doing what she always wanted to do??

And like yeah, she can be aggressive and hot tempered around Goku, but we have to remember that Goku has admitted that he likes that she’s feisty. (Also Goku is Goku, I can’t imagine what it’s like being married to a fighting obsessed goofball like him) Much like Vegeta with Bulma, Saiyans like strong willed women, and Chichi is indeed strong in her own right. She’s a skilled fighter and though she doesn’t do martial arts anymore, you can tell that she’s still got it (knocking out that one woman in the Buu saga during the tournament), she loves her sons and her husband, and her family is her number one priority.

In conclusion, Chichi is a good character (she does have her flaws, I think saving the world is more important than doing your homework), her and Goku are cute, and does not deserve all the hate that she is given 💛

#this post went longer than I thought #chichi is not my favorite character but I will always defend her #asks #answered #anonymous #dragon ball #dragon ball z #dragon ball super #chichi #son goku #gochi

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carnal-lnstinct · 1 year

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Friends with benefits Broly x Reader?

BROLY (DBS) X READER

☆☆ Content: ( au: post - super hero, friends with benefits, implied size difference, oral - male receiving ) ☆☆ Warning: ( M / 18+. MINORS DNI. explicit language )

☆☆ A/N: I can't believe I haven't written spicy broly since November, now he out here getting "foodie calls"

You don’t know how you got roped into this cycle of feeding saiyans. There was no obligation for you to do it like Bulma and Chi Chi, but it quickly became a regular thing and at least twice a month you had the three showing up at your home after training waiting to be fed. It all started with their new addition and your new mutual friend, Broly. You quickly became acquainted and whatever you chose to label your loose commitment, you grew more familiar with him than any other man you’ve known as “just a friend”. Regardless, you accepted this cook role for what it was if it meant you got to see more of Broly. Certainly, this was his excuse to see more of you. You even found yourself planning out meals for their next visit to flex your cooking skills.

There was a language of love in cooking for others who enjoyed it, and it shined in your determination to awe them for the next time. Delving into recipes from the common modern cuisine to some from your cultural background. Sometimes comparing your own meals to the others often made you hesitant to try bolder recipes, however. Bulma can produce high-quality and multi-course meals at the snap of her finger, enough to feed them for months at a time. And Chi Chi’s a virtuoso with creating unique, hearty, and delicious home cooking from scratch, able to use all her resources to satisfy the hungriest of warriors. They’ve also been doing this longer, you have to remind yourself.

But you’ve never gotten criticism from either one of the saiyans intending to bash your skills, only from how quickly certain portions can disappear without a ready refill from Vegeta and Goku.

Broly never complained, he accepted everything you could give him with quiet contentment and simply ate his share of the large portions. It’s hard not to notice when the other two are so vocal about wanting more, so you just made sure to give Broly a little extra here and there. A polite thanks is given in return when you refill his plate before it empties. You don’t know exactly where he came from, other than Goku describing it as “repugnant”, but it was nice to know that someone capable of such frightful powers still came with his manners. He may have been the biggest saiyan you’ve ever seen, but he was without a doubt the most soft-spoken and polite, an amusing change from Goku’s free-and-easy demeanor and Vegeta’s snobbish persona.

You used to think the sex would help bring Broly out of his shell (it did wonders for Vegeta’s personality), knowing he is locked in this mundane routine of physical and mental training, but it may have just made him more docile. Perhaps he mistook it as more training for his emotions. It did make it easier to talk about with him, at least.

You eventually left the three to finish chatting up about their day and finish up the last of the food, returning to the kitchen to start cleaning the dishes. The only downside to their company was being left alone to clean up the mess so you figured you’d get a headstart. You weren’t left alone for long, however, a sudden large hand on your shoulder almost jolting you out of your skin from Broly’s quiet approach. You laugh off your scare and quickly take notice of the timid, yet distressed frown in his features, realizing it was there before he accidentally surprised you. Did you miss something over their mealtime?

“Oh, hey. What’s the matter?” You asked, concerned about the reason behind this change from his normal demeanor. Based on what you did tune into from their chatting, you could think of one reason this may be. “Bad training session?”

“No.” Broly paused, then looked further disappointed by his answer. “Not…really.” He corrected. They couldn’t stop talking about Goku and Vegeta’s exhibition while they ate, but Broly and Goku sparred too. Along with its abrupt end, it never came up for conversation. Had he not almost lost control, maybe things would have ended differently today. He would have a nice story to share with you on his progress instead.

It was truly an experience to be on the spectator side of a fight for once and Broly was moved to try to emulate the other two saiyans’ ability to maintain their power as they fought, however he couldn't overlook his lack of dominance over his strength and be ashamed. Being unable to control his power even after a couple of years of training with Goku made him feel like he was missing something in his lessons. He's improved dramatically, but still so much is left to learn.

“Did you…lose focus again?” You asked, halting your cleaning entirely to look at him. Broly nods softly.

“Only for a moment.” He admitted. Even for just a brief instance of a slip-up where he caught himself, he wanted it to sound better than it was, how it made him feel. In search of that relief, you were more than receptive to his troubles and willing to help.

"Do you need help with ‘focusing’ again?" You inquired further, a sincere concern with a suggestive undertone he did not miss. In fact, he hoped for it. With nerves building in the base of his chest, Broly swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded at you again.

You smiled at him, charmed by his ability to say so much with his actions than words. And still so careful and shy about approaching you for your “help” after doing this a couple of times already. You quickly felt your insides come alive, motivated by the decadent impulses that would consume you from here on. Indulging saiyans is truly a delight you never thought you wanted until you had it.

Calmly drying your hands, you close the space between the two of you and hold up your hands invitingly. At the ready, Broly follows along. His larger hands press into yours where your fingers interlock. He watches you close your eyes and take a deep breath, doing the same.

“Where am I?” You asked him and you feel the little squeeze of his hands around yours.

“You’re here.” He says, his heart skipping a beat but another deep breath eases its rhythm. Your smile grows hearing him do so and you reopen your eyes to look up at him.

“Where are you?” You follow up, giving his hands a squeeze in return.

“Here..” Spoken gently, Broly opening his eyes, finding himself lulled to the familiar relaxed state of being with a floaty sensation, yet his senses were so keen and sparked by the body before him. Then his eyes locked onto yours and he allowed himself to fall into his urges. Giving in only to those that could desire the warmth of your body, all others drowned out in the placid state of his mind. A shade of pink rises in his tan cheeks remembering the acute sensations of you, leaning down to kiss your lips the way he learned. He moved more confidently than he has before, more controlled, which you appreciated.

It’s not exactly the place you want to do this, but you doubt the other two would be in a hurry to move after putting away all that food. Urgency was the key still as Broly would have to return to Lord Beerus’ planet after this. You freed one of your hands to cup his chin, basking in the sweet kisses heating up between you as he fills his hand with your face as well. Deepening the kiss. His unspoken neediness reared itself quickly when you found your backside bumped against the counter, bound in the small space with his body pressing closer to you. A mess waiting to happen if you knock over the stack of dishes. So you opt for something else.

His pelt brushes over your nose when you got on your knees in front of him, the mixed scent of his musk from training and the last time you cleaned it for him filling the air around your head. Alluring and rugged, you couldn’t help taking a moment to let it intoxicate you. Half of your face disappeared beneath his pelt as you kissed along the tent on his formfitting pants, feeling it flinch in return. Your eyes peer up at him, checking in. Broly is slightly hunched over to watch you, eyes darkened and face glowing with his desire.

"I'm here." He reassures you, encouraging you to continue for more. He sees your eyes smile back at him and it felt like his heart was flipping in his chest in anticipation of what was coming next. You pulled the purple fabric free of Ba’s ear and down the bulge before you, freeing his hard cock as it hung erect above your face.

The size of it never failed to impress you, the mere fullness of his girth and its strong length bearing its weight. One could easily be lost in staring at it just by how intense it looked and only the brave like yourself could find how sensitive it truly was. That had to be your favorite part. You give the exposed head a kiss before you grab him at the base of his length and rub your flattened tongue across the tip. Broly took in a sharp, deep breath once your lips wrapped around him, falling past his lips with the shaky heat from his chest. His eyes softened at the touch, fighting his instincts to close them so he can keep them on you. This was where he needed his control the most, when you trusted him to hold his focus. He’d bite his lip bloody and bury his nails into the palm of his hand before he would let himself hurt you.

But it felt so good, the warmth of your mouth wrapped around the head of his cock, suckling around the sensitive glans and working your way further down the length with your hand coming the opposite way. It sent a shiver all the way up his spine as he leaned his hips into you, his voice creeping out of his slacked jaw. You truly enjoyed the way your mouth felt opening up to his size. It was easier for now, but you knew the further this went the more trouble it would be to hold it in your mouth as you were, let alone slide it as deep as you could.

Broly came with a little trick you never seen before and made you curious if all saiyans did it, but as fully erect as he was, he was far from his true size. With a strong hand cupping the end of the counter and the other on the nearby wall, you feel him buck against your opened mouth and your eyes look up to him, relaxing your jaw so he would slip free. His cock twitches more excitedly, missing the sensation of you.

"I-I'm here…" Broly breathed heavily. Practically pleading in his lust for you to go on, licking the dryness from his lips.

He does let his eyes close this time when you draw him back past your lips and his head lulls back as a moral vocal groan leaves him. As you picked up your pace, you started to feel his girth swell, expanding your jaw to a more discomforting stretch and you knew he was about to cum. Your one hand and lips couldn’t quite meet in the middle any longer, so you brought your second to add to his pleasure. Slick with your saliva, you switched to pumping the swollen length while you continue to suck only on the sensitive head of his cock, motivated to keep this pace by the lively twitches under your ministrations.

#♚ ;; [ requests ]#broly x reader #broly imagine #dbs broly #dbz imagine #dbz fics #nsft #lemon #My writing

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