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duhragonball · 8 months ago

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I like to think that part of the appeal of Dragon Ball is the fact these random martial artists keep on taking on world-ending threats, because they are the only ones strong enough to do it. For that reason, do you think Dragon Ball would have gotten as good as it did if none of it's villains could blow up the world?

No, I don't think that would have affected the quality of Dragon Ball.

To be sure, blowing up the whole world is a cool way to raise the stakes. It's awesome how Vegeta tried to ragequit his invasion of Earth, and Goku had to stand his ground because the entire planet would have been destroyed if he didn't try to repel that world-ending Gallick Gun. It's also awesome that Frieza tried to destroy Namek because it was easier than fighting a Super Saiyan. It's awesome that Cell had a self-destruct feature, and the only way to foil it was to take him to a different planet with a smaller population. And of course, it's awesome that Majin Buu just went ahead and destroyed the Earth, and no one could stop him, and the story just kept on going anyway. Those are all big impressive story beats, and Dragon Ball might be poorer without them.

All that said, I don't think taking them out would make the story worse. The Red Ribbon Army arc was great, and the height of their power was that they could probably conquer the Earth with the right leadership and resources. The King Piccolo stuff was great, and the most he could do was to subjugate the Earth and perhaps wipe out its population.

I think it says a lot how the Piccolo Junior arc was such a classic, and yet the stakes were basically the same as the arc before it. Piccolo is back, and if Goku can't stop him then he'll just repeat what he did before. It works. The only real difference there is that Piccolo Junior was stronger and laser focused on eliminating Goku.

Radditz threatened to kill everyone on Earth and sell the empty planet to the highest bidder, which is cool because it goes beyond even what Piccolo had planned for it, which reinforced the notion of Piccolo and Goku teaming up to stop him.

Now you could stop right there, and continue the story with that same limit on "How bad could it get?" and things still work. Frieza planned to destroy Namek after making his wish, so that no one else could use the Dragon Balls, but he needn't have bothered, since killing Guru and the other Namekians would settle that just as easily. Cell's self-destruct could have just been some sort of biological agent that would kill everyone without damaging the planet itself. Kid Buu could have just fought Goku and Vegeta on Earth, though admittedly that's a tough call. You set this guy up as a planet-destroying monster, so it strains credibility that he's stuck on Earth for two days and never goes through with it.

Still, I think there's more to the story than just blowing up planets. Look at Super Hero, where all the major players are much, much stronger than the "planet busters" of Z, and yet it never comes up. Nobody in the story wants to destroy the Earth, so the fact that they can doesn't come into play. Cell Max seems to be nearly mindless, but he also knows how to fight pretty well, so he must have some rudimentary control over his power, which keeps him from wrecking the earth every time he goes berserk. I assume his self-destruct is designed the same way. It's contained to destroy whatever killed him, but it doesn't blow up the whole world because Dr. Hedo isn't as nihilistic as his grandfather was.

"The whole world might be destroyed!" is just a tool, one of many that Akira Toriyama had in his toolbox. The fact is, once he introduced that level of power, he couldn't really raise the stakes much higher. Villains like Buu or Zamasu could destroy every planet, but it basically amounts to the same thing, so Dragon Ball has been on that same level of stakes ever since Vegeta fought Goku for the first time 35 years ago. And if the stories have been all right over those past 35 years, then there really isn't a need to raise the stakes any higher, is there?

Likewise, if he had kept that notion off the table, and the worst Vegeta could do was to render the Earth uninhabitable or something, then we'd have 35 years of that being the worst anyone could do, and I don't think it would make that much of a difference.

To come at it from a different direction, I don't think "villains who can blow up the world" is what made Dragon Ball good. It was already good well before that came into play. And if Toriyama could tell a great story without that angle, then he's no worse off with or without it.

I was thinking the other day about how irritating it gets when fans argue over whether "O.G. Dragon Ball" is better or worse than "Z". They're the same story, after all. It's like arguing over which half of a movie is better. But it struck me that this is a big part of Toriyama's legacy. Dragon Ball is such a classic that fans talk about it like he made two classics and debate which one is the best. That's pretty damn impressive.

I think it proves that there's not some single "special ingredient" that makes the story work. Way back in the beginning, it was made clear that martial artists have a duty to use their special skills to help people, and that's been the through-line of Dragon Ball. Saving the entire planet from some world-busting menace is taking that idea to the extreme, but the idea still works, even if it's just Goku helping a sea turtle get back home, or tackling the Red Ribbon base to wish Upa's dad back to life.

#dragon ball #ask duhragonball

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jennsterjay · 8 months ago

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Clawcode Headcanons (because I could literally talk about them all day)

If Miles G is unsure about someone he'll put up a mask/front with them, but the minute Ganke M walks beside him and says the funniest unfunny joke known to man he snorts and the tough guy act completely crumbles against his will

Ganke M is the 'bro let's have fun' to his 'my life is the grind, all I know is the grind'. Even when Ganke M helps Miles G with complicated missions, afterwards he'll patch him up, then get him some Wcdonalds or King Burger and then play some Mario's Cart with him the rest of the night. Cue them falling asleep together on the couch

I'm still not over the idea of them getting each other Dragon Ball Z matching dog tags (rip to the goat of course 🙏🏾). Like there's so much sauce there it's perfect. Spider-Miles from 1610B would think its the coolest thing ever even when he teases Miles G about it, and the first week Ganke M wears it he makes sure every one can see it proudly around his neck

Ganke is Pan and Miles is Bi and Ganke doesn't think about gender too hard

Miles G: Rap, Trap, Rnb, J-Pop/Anime Music, Rock, and more

Ganke M: K-Rap, K-Rock, Nightcore, Daycore, Rap, Techno, Video Game Osts, J-Pop/Anime Music and more

And they influence each other's music taste

They know each other's birthdays, favorite foods, shoe sizes, game catalogues, jokes, childhood stories, favorite songs, allergies, icks, moral boundaries, biggest secrets, and worst fears...and they've only known each other for a year and a few months

Ganke M is simultaneously the class clown and one of the smartest students in his grade. Miles G is the other top student. Despite Miles G wanting to keep a low profile, when he's around Ganke he can't help but joke around and start roasting people and clowning in class too, and the two become pretty popular among the other students. Between their high grades, class disruptions, pranks, one or both of them disappearing to 'use the bathroom for a sec', prize winning robotics projects, funny jokes, and passing test scores...their teachers don't know if they should flip a coin to give them awards for their grades or to send them back to detention again

Rio and Jefferson were suspicious of Ganke M at first, thinking he was a bad influence, but eventually they warmed up to him and welcomed him after seeing how much he made his son smile. Even after Jeff was no longer there, Rio would still smile and welcome Ganke to their house just like they always had. Ganke sometimes even stops by to cook some Korean dishes and helps clean up whenever he visits Miles.

When Aaron Davis finds out Ganke M knows Miles G's big secret, he meets with Ganke alone for the first time (even though he would meet him once or twice in passing when Jeff was alive, they've never really talked to each other until this moment). At first Aaron is intimidating and tries to tell Ganke to stay out of Miles' business, but Ganke has never been a pushover and refuses. After a while, Aaron can see his determination and realizes Ganke's loyalty to Miles isn't shakeable. He sees something in Ganke that reminds him of himself. So Aaron says if he really wants to help Miles, then he needs to become stronger. It's after this that Aaron teaches him to box and fight, and teaches him more about tech, engineering, surveilance, tracking, stealth, and hydraulics.

Even though Miles G can hear his mom in his ear saying not to waste any food, Miles doesn't like eating the crust on sandwiches or pizza. But that's ok because Ganke will eat his own food and then eat the crust for him. Ganke will eat the tomatoes off of Miles' burgers too

Months after Miles G and Ganke M meet their universe's Gwen V. Stacy aka Gwenom, and she becomes an ally, she admits to them that she thought they were a couple at first. They weren't dating yet so she's not completely right, but with the way the two look at each other after she says that, she knows she's not completely wrong either. She totally teases them about it.

In this universe Dr. Ophelia Octavious is an African American scientist, ruler, and engineer who is part of the Sinister Six and runs a big part of the city. Miles G and Dr. Octavious have a Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr.Eggman type dynamic. Miles G keeps getting in the way of her plans and she knows he somehow has a connection to the original Prowler. Still, she secretly admires the kid for his heart and genius at least, not that she would admit this. One time at her base she successfully captures Ganke M saying "I have your little boyfriend" to try to get leverage over Miles G, but Ganke M is smarter than he looks and doesn't give her any information right before he escapes on his own with a dohickey he has in his pocket. When Miles G comes in to save the day and go toe to toe with Octavious, Ganke M looks from side to side and backs up towards a computer terminal and inserts a flash drive that hacks into and shuts down her whole system. Ganke and Miles slip away when the lights shut off, and all Octavious can see in the darkness is a computer terminal that has an anime girl dancing with flashing text that says 'Get Miku-ed'. Dr. Octavious is in disbelief and has several emotions at once before laughing and saying "I hate heroic teenage couples"

Their universe's Felicia L. Hardy will either work with you, be your ally, con you, or sell you out and Miles and Ganke don't know what to make of her. She guesses they're a couple almost immediately with the way they fight her (when Ganke already has his own suit) and even when they're on different sides, she teases them like she's an aunt or a big sister. Eventually they meet her girlfriend and even she teases them affectionately too.

Ganke's mom cooks Miles so much food when he visits (even when they don't have a lot) and Miles struggles to finish it because he's already so full from the first five plates but it's ingrained in him not to waste food. He taps out and brings the rest back home in Tupperware for him and his mom.

Ganke M and Miles G go to the rooftop a lot to listen to music and look at the stars together. Now that they know their universe is so big and that there are other universes out there, it really puts it into perspective that in the grand scheme of things they're grateful for what they do have in this world...

And that is each other

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rennorthernlights · 10 months ago

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The World We Knew

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4: Snakes In The Garden,

Warnings: The depictions of the priest are not at all an embodiment of other priests and Christian. Implied grooming, Creepy older dudes being weird around KidReader, Nothing happens to the KidReader though, Zombies, Mentions of minor character death, Sexism towards woman, Zombie apocalypse brings out the worst

Backstory to get a better insight about Issac and Radio girl’s first group. (Radio girl being Reader)

She remembers the day she went to church for the first time. An impressionable age of 10 years old. Her mother made her father swore that if they ever had children that they should be allowed to choose their faith. Her father, a devout Christian, agreed to her mothers, an atheist in every sense of the word, request.

Granted her father tried to persuade his daughter to go to church, she just never wanted to go. That is until her father made Captain in the police department. His church was holding a celebration for her father’s honorable work. The people were nice and even though she hated being forced into a frilly dress that her mother picked out. She’d much rather watch Kim Possible or maybe Dragon Ball Z but at least Sunday school was fun.

Some of the kids even made her laugh and she sorta had a lil crush on one of the boys too… much to the teasing and amused smile her mother gave her. “Alright now, lil lady church is starting.” Her mom said as she waved goodbye to the cute looking boy. Sitting in the hard pews as she had half a mind to fall asleep that is until the robe looking dude walked up to the wooden thing. Tugging on her mom’s sleeve to ask her who and what that is. “That man is a priest. Father Abraham Norton and that’s a pulpit.” An O on her face as she nods and looks to him.

They say that children can understand an adult far better than an adult could. Something about being able to clock when something just ain’t right. That tiny, small feeling of something most would miss.

The beady eyes of the priest is what set her off. Not her fault since she was always the best at games like I Spy and Hide-and-Go-Seek. He was off… so to speak, at least about the way the man looked. “Like a snake,” her brows furrowed as her mom pinches her elbow to be quiet and to listen. She couldn’t shake how much of a snake he looked like to her. Blame all the zoo books she got for Christmas.

The way his tongue rolled on S’s and the eyes the man had. Like they were searching for something. “Good morning, my lambs.” The man says with a soft smile. Eyeing the crowd and she shakes her head of nerves when his eyes land on her for a bit. “Now I know we are celebrating and honoring our new appointed Captain but there is something that I must say.” His shoulders fall as he looks sad but almost forced, like when she gets caught taking another cookie when she’s not supposed to.

She looks to her mom but her mother just tilts her head motions for her to keep listening. “I have come to ask for forgiveness.” Some people gasp in the congregation. The Father continues, “20 years ago, I gave in to the sins of desire for a woman. I was seduced by the way she looked, and I couldn’t stop myself.” His brows creasing as he places a hand on his chest.

Her dads eyes widen and then narrow, like he’s calculating. His thumb tapping against his thigh as he always does when he’s recalling something. Until it stops. “If we were back in the old days then I would gladly pluck out my eyes. I’ve found out recently that I have a son. A man that is now 22 years old named, Issac.” He extends his hand, and a man stands. Tall, light skin, brown hair and green, beady eyes. The same as his father.

“A fitting name, Issac Norton-Cortes,” her father grasps her mothers hand and they stare at each other. Wordlessly speaking as the Fatherspeaks solemnly. “Unfortunately, Issac’s mother has passed from unforeseen events. Her last wish was for Issac to be joining our church to help out so please… bare no ill will towards him. It is not his fault that his mother seduced me. He is innocent in his creation that was formed by sinful lust.”

The priest is still speaking as her mother taps her hand, and she looks confused before her mom says, “We are leaving. Now.”

Standing up and walking out as her father has a distant look, a thundering storm raging in his eyes. Being sent up to her room as she doesn’t understand why her mom and dad wanted to suddenly leave. Her dad loves going to church, makes an effort to always have Sunday off. Her dad was about to be celebrated or something like that. So she couldn’t understand why they’d want to leave. Why is her dad so… strange right now?

Tip toeing out of her room as she overhears her parents speaking softly, “-other is Elizabeth Norten. I knew her, Maria. She wasn’t seductive or would ever do something like that. She was just barely 18! Now I know why she suddenly forced to leave.”

“Jamie you can’t mean…”

“Look, she… Elizabeth was troubled, got into fights, did some smoking but she’d never... She would’t.” Her father sounds… upset and angry. “For years I wondered what happened. Her parents never told me.

“Sounds like you really knew her.” Her mother says softly. Her brows turned upward as she’s never seen her husband look so. So distraught before. “Was she your friend?” A tentative ask.

“She…” he sighs, “she helped me out a lot with my dad. Sure, she was a bad influence sometimes, but she stuck up for me whenever I came in with a new bruise from my old man.” She moves closer to get a better look over parents as they look sad. Her mother holding her father in a tight embrace.

Whispering words that she can’t hear as her mom rubs a hand on her dads back. “Her parents brought her to Father Abraham to see if he could help. She wasn’t the same after the first week that she’d have confessionals. She became more and more quiet. Wearing hoodies and always being covered.” His voice breaks.

The realization of it comes crashing down on him nearly 22 years later. “If I’d known… If I had just taken a closer look… I didn’t even reach out to her.” Tears forming in her fathers eyes and the man rarely cries. “How did I not think that it was suspicious?” He remembers how Elizabeth’s parents suddenly disowned her. A crushing guilt in his chest. Her mother says nothing but just holds him to her. “No one knew why… until now.” He glares hard at the floor.

From then on, they’d barely go back to that church. Making up a reason to be excused as the priest smiles assuredly. She was always around her mother since she wouldn’t let her little girl out of her sight. Getting tired of it like children do with overbearing parents. She decided that to sneak away to play with the other kids.

Playing soccer with the kids until she gets tired of it. Can only kick a ball so much before boredom creeps in. She spots the Churches garden and voice in her head to not go in but against her better thought she goes in. Her eyes widening as the garden looks well cared for. Different plants and even some trees. She grins as she crouches near one of the plots. Her hands digging into the soil.

“Hello there,” a voice calls out as she sits with her knees on the dirt, playing with the rolly pollys. The other kids laughing in the background, most likely still playing soccer. She tenses and moves to look at whose is speaking. Green eyes and a wide grin, something that supposed to be kind yet for her 10 year old mind… she doesn’t feel okay.

“All by your lonesome in the garden? Where’s your parents?” He looks around before he steps forward. “My names Issac and you are?”

“My mommy and daddy says I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.” She tells him shyly as she stands up. Her feet shuffle close.

The man grins and he holds out his hand, “That’s very smart. You’re a very smart girl, aren’t you?” He laughs like it’s the funniest thing in the world, “Well my name is Issac.” Grabbing her hand and shaking it. “No longer strangers, see? I bet your name is Eve. A pretty name for a pretty girl.”

Confusion evident on her face at the name, “My names not Ev-“

A voice cuts through the garden making both of them look towards the person speaking. “There you are! Where have you been I’ve been calling you for an hour.” Her mother spots her and rounds the corner faster as she spots Issac. The man grips her hand harder as she tugs back. Finally letting go when her mother places a hand on her shoulders. Her eyes narrowing as she holds her hand out for her little girl to hold onto.

“Gotta be more vigilant with your lil girl. Almost snatched her up,” he laughs but something in his eyes isn’t playful. Her mother pushes her behind her as she smiles far too sweetly. He continues speaking as he looks down at her and not her mother, “She’s a pretty thing too. She’ll make all the boys fawn over her especially at her age right now.”

The smile on her mothers face drops as she glares at him. “10 year old girls shouldn’t have to worry about boys. Stay away from my daughter.” Her tone tight as she moves her and her daughter along as he smiles wide.

As soon as they were closer to her father her mother told her to not speak to Issac again. That the man is up to no good especially since he’s talking to a 10 year old girl like that. Her mom can’t prove it but that man… that man is not a good man. She just knows it. Her mom has never been wrong about people before.

————————————————————

She groans awake. Her hands clenching and unclenching as her eyes blink. “Finally awake, my Eve?” She shivers with disgust at the nickname. Eve, it’s what he called her on the day they first met, and he’s been calling her that ever since. No matter how many times she tells him that’s not her name. Her head pounding as she tries to remember what happened. Her hand moving to massage her head, but she finds that she can’t move them. “Your head hurt, Eve? Sorry I was so rough with you.” The fake worry in his tone doesn’t go unnoticed by her as she glares. “Shouldn’t fight your husband next time.”

“We ain’t married, Issac.” Glaring at him hotly as she struggles in the binds. “You’re not my husband and I ain’t your damn wife!”

“Oh, silly me,” he laughs that stupid noise. All nasally and all teeth, “How presumptuous of me. We never did consummate on our wedding night.” Her glare hardens as she remembers all too well that night and the days before that lead up to it.

————————————————————

She’s been on her own for a couple weeks. Given up hope that her parents are alive. Both aren’t answering their phones and when she went to where her mom worked it was already overrun with dead children and screaming teachers. Her father was one of the first responders to downtown Houston…. They don’t call that place a Dead-zone for nothing now days. It’s a miracle she even made it this far with what little she has. She’s been seeing a group every now and then… maybe she could talk to them and ask to join?

“Holy shit,” her eyes widen as she recognizes the priest. Her parents never let her go back after that whole incident with Issac when she was 10. Apparently, that alone was enough for their parents to leave that church. But… beggars can’t be choosers especially since the Priest is opening up the church for everyone to go to. The priest immediately recognized her as “Jamie and Maria’s daughter.” He smiled with those beady eyes that she could hear her younger selfs thought of him being a snake.

It wasn’t so bad save for the son that kept trying to talk to her. 2 months have come and gone faster than many anticipated. The random cold days and hot days messing with peoples perception of what month but she’s betting it being near December. She had hoped that the son of the priest would’ve forgotten about her in the 2 months that she’s been here but no.

“He really, like really, likes being around you.” Angelica, a friend she’s made in the time that she’s been here. “You don’t think it’s strange?”

“I know it’s strange but s’not like I can mention it.” She sighs as she grabs her pack. “If you haven’t already noticed. His dad is becoming like the leader of this group.” An annoyance in her tone as she thinks on it. It wouldn’t be too bad if the priest wasn’t spouting his ideas to everyone. At first everyone had a voice but slowly but surely it’s like the woman are being treated less. Just a couple days ago and she was almost taken off a scavenging hunt due to her being a woman. Issac stepped in and that’s the only reason why she’s still on the team.

“Doesn’t even make sense that they wanted to take you off. You’re one of the best especially since they’ve been coming back with less and less people.” Angelica notes. It’s true though. Yesterday the Andrews brothers, Edward and Connor, died. Issac was leading that scavenging group. Eric and Alexi died four days ago also when Issac was leading them. 2 weeks prior a couple more died… Issac was also… leading at the time. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s killing them.” She snorts and elbows her friend for being so bold with her words.

“Don’t say that. It’s not like those men were helping out round town anyways. Edward was a drunk and tried to drink all the alcohol that we’ve been using for wounds.” Rolling her eyes but it does seem strange that people have been dying. “Besides… it was zombies that killed them.” Patting her pants as since Issac would always come back to tell the harrowing tale of the dead outside, “that’s bound to happen at this point.”

“I’m just saying.” Angelica raises her hands. Her eyes flickering as some of the men come around. A look of disgust on Angelica’s face and she laughs. She wishes she would’ve meet her in university. “Here comes the dicks.” Her arms crossed. She knows her friend’s just upset because she’s been on ‘cleaning duty’. Some old fart told her that it’s better for a woman to be doing a ‘womans job’.

She’s just glad that— “Eve!” Speak of the devil. Issac comes running up with a wide grin. All teeth in it as he eyes her up and down making her bite back a shiver.

“That ain’t my name.” Gritting through her teeth as politely as she can. He’s been insistent on calling her that. It was cute in the beginning but now it’s just downright annoying. “What’s going on?”

“You’ll always be my Eve.” He laughs, his hands on his hips. Leaning forward, “No, no, just wanted to tell you that they’re passing out some more rations.” Her eyebrows perk up and even Angelica looks shocked. Angelica’s lips purse as she stands closer.

“Thought we were running low?” He looks at Angelica, his fingers flexing a lil as his left foot shifts a bit.

“We are but,” he pauses as he looks back from the friend to her. “We found some deer a couple weeks ago and we’ve been getting it ready to share it. Isn’t that wonderful, Eve?” He steps closer getting more in her space.

“Couple weeks ago?” Angelica muses and is shoulders tense a bit. “You mean when you came back with nothing?” Her arms crossed as she ain’t buying it. Angelicas’ never liked Issac, been more vocal about him being a creep and honestly that’s what she loves about Angelica. She’s never been afraid to speak her mind. “Came back with nothing except some men dead save for your friends. Strange ain’t it?” He turns his head towards her, his green eyes staring at her as his hands flexes again.

“We found a deer but didn’t want to say anything incase it’s infected. As for the men that died, I told you. Zombies attacked us.”

“Was that before or after you found this miraculous deer?”

Her hand touches on Angelica’s shoulder as Issac and her are having a stand off. The atmosphere shifting and she swears she could hear a pin drop. “Angelica.” She says and then looks to Issac and her, “A deer was found that’s all that matters.” Her friend scoffs and backs away. Walking away to cool off..

“You should’t be friends with her, Eve.” Watching Angelica leave before he turns and faces her fully. “My dads gonna announce some things when the food is passed out in the church. I’ll save you a seat.” He doesn’t offer, he never offers and always expects her to sit next to him.

“I appreciate that but I’m already sitting with Angelica.”

His hand reaches up and puts a hair behind her ear. It takes everything in her to not shove his hand away. “A pity. You need better friends.” A grin spreads on his face and she takes a step back.

Later that night when the food from the deer was passed the priest announced that he will be taking more of a leadership role, “Just until a vote happens.” He smiles wide and some of the men and even the woman are happy about it. Angelica had her concerns about it but nothing could be done. A couple months go by and the ones that tried to be leader would either get sick or somehow die. Of course, her friend called it suspicious.

“Georgie was the last person to try for it and he went on a scavenging group and somehow died by a zombie attack.” She says hotly, she hasn’t let it go and has spoken about it again and again. “Georgie was built like a brick house and knew his way with a knife and you’re telling me that he somehow died but not Issac or Issac’s friends?” She scoffs and scrubs the dishes.

It has been suspicious. Especially with the way things have been turning within the group. More and more women are put in ‘womanly’ roles. The men have outright refused to wash or clean things. Mandatory church meetings whenever the priest feels ‘called’ to say something too. Even she’s been takin off the scavenging groups finally. The men even tried to take her fathers rifle from her.

Doesn’t help that people have been on edge, everyone thinks the rations might be bad or spoiled since a good amount have been getting sick. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, but you need to keep it down. Ange,” her friend walks off in a huff, “Ange, come on.” Her hand reaches out and grabs hers. “I trust you. You know I do. If you say it’s weird then I believe you.” Her voice softer as she looks at her friend.

“Look I think we sho—“ the sound of a bell ringing cuts her off. “Great.” Glaring in the direction of the church. “What has he been called to speak about now.” Normally the loud noises would attract the attention of the zombies but cars and some wooden fences have been used as walls. Along with patrols, their relatively safe. “Let’s get this over with.”

The people move closer to the church, the cold making people bundle up as much as possible. Texans aren’t built for the cold. More for heat and crazy hurricanes. Everyone thinks it’s somewhere near February. Maybe early April since sometimes it can still be cold. One of the reasons why everyone’s been snappy lately. Typically, animals should be coming back since Spring is slowly creeping up. “Yeah,” she murmurs in agreement, “Let’s hear what he has to say now and move along.”

The priest smiles at everyone coming in, not like anyone has a choice. His Bible prepped as he speaks on the pulpit. He drones on and on about sin and that the sinners outside the walls are trying to lead people astray, the sinners being the zombies and anyone not in town. Something she’s found weird. He keeps speaking and she looks around bored until he says something that makes her tense. “And as for the lovely woman of our town. God has put on my heart that it is now time for us to repopulate the earth. Even some of the man has said that they’ve felt God’s call to marry some of the woman here.”

Her blood runs cold as she can feel eyes on her. Angelica moves her hand to grip hers. “I would be more than happy to marry off people in our lovely town. I think it’s time for marriage and eventually… children.” The smile he gives doesn’t feel right. She doesn’t like the way he says children. Doesn’t like how she just knows Issac is staring at her. Hair standing up on the back of her neck.

Finally, the sermon ends and she leaves quickly with Angelica in tow. “We need to leave.” Angelica pulls her aside. “I don’t like this one bit. Not shittin on any Christian here but this feels more like a man-made call than God’s call.” And she can’t help but agree. They know they can’t just outright leave. They have no preserves and no way of knowing how bad it is out there since they aren’t allowed out anymore. None of the woman are.

Tensions rising in the town as the men have made proposals but the woman that have been proposed to would say no. The priest would mention how it isn’t right to go against God’s word but he understood by saying, “The ladies are just nervous about having such fine suitors.”

Things changed in the coming months, when Spring slowly started getting warmer. Summer on the horizon. People are still dying on the scavenging groups and people aren’t getting as sick from the rations. Unmarried women are no longer allowed anywhere without a chaperon because of ‘safety’ reasons. “Ladies aren’t as strong as our fellow men. The Lord has implored that we protect the weak and feebler bodies.”

Issac has been more and more insistent with being her chaperone even with Angelica always being around. He’s been hovering more around her, and she hates it especially when he keeps getting in her bubble. Someone tugs on her hand and then pulls her into a closet. “Hey!”

“Shh!” A hand presses to her and she relaxes as she recognized that Angelica is the one that grabbed her. “They’re kicking out some of the woman that has been saying no to getting married.”

“What?”

“Lily, you remember her? Button nose Lilly,” she nods and Angelica continues, “Sam’s been trying to marry her for weeks now. I just overheard Issac saying that he and the men are going to take her stuff and kick her out.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Dead fucking serious.” Her stare hard as she leans against the wall. “We need to leave.”

“And go where?”

“Anywhere but here. I’ve told Tommy no 10 times already. If I’m going to get kicked out then I want to do it on my own terms.” Her hand reaches out and grabs hers. “Come with me. No more Issac. No more town. Just us.” Her thumbs rub on her hand. “We can leave this all behind us. Finally visit New York like you were telling me about.”

Thinking it over as she always does, careful and cautious, as she looks at Angelica. “Ange, I…”

“Look I.. I like you,” her eyes widen but Angelica still speaks, “and I don’t want to leave if you don’t. I’ll get kicked out anyways but Issac.” Her face sours. “I know he won’t let you leave. He’s been obsessed with you. I don’t like it. I don’t like how he stares at you.”

“You like me?”

“Is that all you got out of what I said?” Angelica frowns and then slowly smiles. Pulling her closer as she smiles. “Yes, dingus. I like you. Have for a while and I—“ the sound of a bell ringing again and she growls in frustration. Stepping back but a hand grabs Angelica and pulls her close to press a chaste kiss that makes her gasp.

“I like you to.”

“You Motherfucker.” A blush spreading and she glares lightheadedly. Holding her hand as they walk out the closet to listen to what the priest has to say. The sermons have been getting more and more strict. More far-right Christian ideals. The priest stands at the front of the church welcoming everyone in like he always does. His beady eyes stare at her and as she holds Angelica’s hand.

They sit at a back pew, whispering their plan as the priest talks. The men saying their amens as the woman, at least some of them are speaking. “It is with a heavy heart that I must say that Lily White will no longer be in our town.” Some gasps in the congregation as she holds tighter to Angelica’s hand. “From now on, a woman must marry if they are for their hand in marriage. The men have all been called to marry certain woman. To deny that is to deny God. We cannot allow sin and disobedience to be in our town.” They both look at each other and as soon as the sermon ends they nearly run out.

Green eyes watching as they rush out. Not stopping until they are in their shared room. “We need to leave, Ange.” Angelica nods and immediately starts packing their things.

#rennorthernlights #TWWK #the world we knew #john price #johnny mactavish #kyle gaz garrick #simon ghost riley #call of duty #poly141 #poly141 x reader #zombie au #Don’t get attached #the Christian’s depicted on here are not good #that doesn’t mean that every Christian is bad #a-hole dudes being sexist and it ain’t cool #don’t be sexist #don’t be creepy

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generositygullet · 8 months ago

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A letter to Akira Toriyama

Dear Akira Toriyama,

I first interacted with dragonball when I was in 6th grade or so, when I started playing dragon ball fusions for the 3ds since the trailer looked cool. Kind of a weird start right? But I was getting really into anime at the time, and wanted to check out one of the most popular ones. I had NO idea who the characters were, and had NO clue what the story was about. But for some reason against all the odds, as soon as I saw the title screen boot up with that soaring music I was hooked. The game was super fun, no doubt about it. But what REALLY kept me going when playing it, was the world of dragon ball itself.

Again I had no clue who any of these people were. But seeing these characters interact with each other, seeing these different setpieces made, seeing all of these powers and personalities, it was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. It channeled the raw kid desire in me to see two buff dudes duking it out, and god I adored every bit of it.

I didn't dig any deeper than that initially, and like all my other hyperfixations it died down. But again in 7th grade I started playing fighterz, and I was hooked again. But this time I dug deeper in preparation for the release of the new GT dlc, and so the first dragon ball media I actually watched? Was GT. Which is hilarious in hindsight, but I still adored every second of it.

In 8th grade things were not going so well for me, I was losing friends due to being an asshole, and I had to change myself to be worthy of the people around me. I was pretty depressed, and everything seemed sad and hopeless (I know it's pretty dramatic for a literal like 13 year old but bear with me lmao). It's around that time when I decided to watch Dragon Ball Super. And again, I was hooked. I binged it so fast, all 130 something episodes. I could talk big about the characters and everything, but honestly it was just so plain cool. It made me feel excited and happy, it made me feel like everything was ok. And those positive feelings made that much of a difference in me.

From that point on I always was interested in Dragon Ball. my first and only hyperfixation to never really go away. I read the OG dragonball, and started REALLY noticing your artistic talent. From the way you drew Goku moving across the battlefield and the poses he struck. To the illustrations of the action and the punches thrown. It was all so dynamic and energetic. When I was reading it I was always engaged, excited to see the next panel. I wanted to channel the same energy in my own art somehow, to encapsulate the same excitement you instilled in me with your drawings.

I FINALLY got around to watching and reading Z a little later. And of course I loved it. I knew all the basic plot beats, and had a 3 in one Goku vs Vegeta volume collection that I would reread constantly. But seeing them play it is so different. I also started to admire your character design more and more. Trying to draw them in my free time, and getting a bit sad when I couldn't capture the same magic you could.

All of this, of course, was older material though. This was all before my time, I was never there to experience it when it initially happened. Not for super, not for the OG DB, and not for Z. I adored it all, but I always knew what was going to happen.

I remember the reaction on my face when the news of DBS Superhero dropped. I was so so SO excited. More than you could ever imagine. Something new, something I could see with my own eyes, and something about Piccolo and Gohan??? It was amazing. And seeing it in theaters a few years later? God I was on the edge of my seat the entire film. I even started reading the DBS manga, I think it's amazing so far.

When I heard that you were gone yesterday night, I was crushed.

I’m a junior now. And after a long time of thinking about it, being anxious, afraid, and scared of the future. I think I want to be an artist or filmmaker. I want to bring the same energy you did to the world. I'm still trying to figure out my artstyle, and how I want to draw. I’m not great at it, but no matter what, I want to keep going. Because I want to bring a character to life, like you brought Son Goku to life and so many others as well. I want to inspire so many others like you inspired me. With your messages, you brought me happiness. You told me that simplicity was ok with Son Goku. You told me that we need to fight for what we love with Son Gohan. You told me that we should aim to be better than our predecessors with Piccolo Junior. You told me that we shouldn't let our pride consume us with Vegeta. You’ve shown me and the entire world so so much. And I hope you were proud of it. I’m

I said the world of Dragon Ball earlier, but really, it was your world Akira Toriyama. And your world changed mine forever in the best way. Thank you, for letting me dream again.

#dragon ball #dragon ball z #dragon ball daima #dbz #dbz goku #dragon ball super #akira toriyama #dbs #dragon ball gt

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textfromthelookout · 1 year ago

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Super is a horribly made cash grab. Something like the Dragon BallZ multiverse would've been a lot more interesting to watch.

Especially the early chapters were we see universes with diffrent "what-if's" like Friza taking over, Planet Vegeta still around, Cell or Buu winning, Goku being raised as sayin, introducing the games etc.

I especially hate how super ignores Vegeta's already established character development and makes him regress. Either they just didn't know how to write a Vegeta like that or simply didn't care.

And god Gohan got the worst treatment ever. I understand the man doesn't fight, it's not what he does and that's a great point to his character but not keeping up with his training especially after cell and buu? Is out of character. The man is smart and knows that a bigger threat can come in at any moment.

Just wanted to leave that, drink some water

Perfectly valid opinion! Nevertheless, I disagree with you, and you’ve given me an excuse to ramble on at length about Dragon Ball, so ramble on I shall.

Super is a horribly made cash grab.

I think you’re thinking of the Z movies (which, for the record, I like). A cash grab’s supposed to be something you make quickly just because you know it’ll sell, and while I’m no economist, I do know you have to follow appreciably current trends when you’re trying to make one. While you may be right, it’s hard for me to feel that something is a cash grab when there was a ten year dry spell between GT ending and anything important that was DB-related coming out—and it wasn’t even Super, it was a little festival special that a bunch of people don’t know about because it never came overseas. Battle of Gods didn’t drop until five years after that, after the first half of DBZ Kai had already wrapped up, and Super didn’t start properly until the second half of Kai finished two years later. You don’t spend seven years feeling out if people are still receptive to something after a ten-year hiatus if you’re trying to make money quickly, is all I’m saying.

Something like the Dragon BallZ multiverse would've been a lot more interesting to watch.

I’ve never read Multiverse so I leafed through the first 400-ish pages to see if I agreed with you, and I don’t. A common complaint about the Tournament of Power is that it’s the most dragged out 48 minutes in existence, and from the looks of it, Multiverse is like if Super was nothing but the Tournament of Power. To me, one of the best things about Dragon Ball is that it doesn’t have to be all high-stakes head-to-head all the time. You get things like the Orange Star High arc, or the filler episode where Piccolo and Goku have to get their driver’s licenses, or the one where Goku doesn’t quite have control over his ki for a day or so because he essentially shorted out the wiring fighting Hit (which is a cool fucking concept that I wish they had done more with). It’s just fun. It opens the door for questions that are more entertaining—and more importantly, more varied—than arguing until you’re blue in the face about who would win in a fight between X and Y.

Sure, I’ll give you that, Multiverse does knock that concept around a little. The problem is it doesn’t do much of anything with it. The setting is a character too, in its own way—arguably the most important one, since it’s the one that every other character has no choice but to interact with. You’re right, all of those what-ifs would be interesting—if they were set in the what-ifs.

Here, I’ll share one of my favorite what-ifs as an example to try and explain. What if, instead of being able to retreat back to his lab, Dr. Gero was destroyed along with 19 by Vegeta’s attack? There would be no reason to go check his lab out if the android threat is eliminated, so 17 and 18 would still be asleep. Cell would grow unhindered for 17 years, and when he hatches, he could simply go up the ladder and attain perfection without a fight. Goku wouldn’t have died at the end of the Cell Games. There would be no training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for anyone. Does Vegeta become an issue again, since his character arc stalls at the part where he’s reveling in his own power? If so, how does that resolve? How would the struggle against Cell play out if they had no warning at all that he even existed? What role would Gohan play in it—or Goten or Trunks, since they’d be old enough to be a factor? These questions and any number of others you could pose don’t even account for the fact that it entirely upsets the timeline—Buu arc would occur before Cell, if it occurs at all. Assuming it does, would they stand a chance in hell against Buu without the power they gained in Cell arc and the seven year gap? Could Cell somehow end up coming into conflict with Buu? In short—how does this change things?

Multiverse answers this with ‘who cares, where does it put you in the power-scaling?’ and that’s not compelling to me in the slightest.

I especially hate how super ignores Vegeta's already established character development and makes him regress. Either they just didn't know how to write a Vegeta like that or simply didn't care.

Define regress. If you’re referring to Vegeta retaining his determination to get stronger than Goku after the ‘you are number one’ speech, that’s. Pretty integral to his character, frankly. Just because he’s learned and accepted it’s not the end of the world if he isn’t stronger doesn’t mean he has to drop the competition entirely. I read it less as a set-in-stone declaration of Goku’s superiority, more like a concession of his own defeat. ‘You’re number one forever because you’re better than me’ vs ‘You win for now, but when the next fight rolls around, I’ll outdo you’, you feel what I’m getting at? He does show up to fight Goku in the tournament during the very end of Z, after all. My point is that it shows Vegeta’s worldview and perception of himself is more malleable now—and so, confines him far less.

As it turns out, that concept of ‘freedom’ is the direction Super chooses to develop him in, and I feel that it pairs very well with what he goes through in Z (spoilers incoming). In Z, Vegeta is restricted by The Way Things Are Supposed To Go. In Super, especially later on during Moro and Granolah, this has a natural continuation in how his past actions in the name of TWTASTG weigh on him in ways that hamper his growth. This has been one of his biggest stumbling blocks for forever—he thinks so goddamn much, he can’t get out of his own head.

His defense of the Namekians and Earth against Moro is motivated in part by Vegeta feeling obligated to right the balance, so to speak—and he says as much, even going so far as to ask Moori if he bears a grudge against him for his actions. He still considers himself a villain bound for hell. In effect, this idea that he has to atone for his sins via being the one to save the day (which essentially amounts to being stronger than Goku on some given day) has snuck in and made itself into the new Way Things Are Supposed To Go without him realizing it.

Beerus realizes, though. I couldn’t think of a way to eloquently get across what Beerus does for him short of copying down the dialogue wholesale, so fuck it, that’s what I’m gonna do, since not everyone has access to the official translation. (From ch 69)

BEERUS: How many planets have you Saiyans destroyed? VEGETA: ? Hard to say. Fighting was the only way of life for my people, so we had a way of racking up sin after sin. B: Sin, huh? V: However, it wasn’t until Freeza’s clan came along and began using us that the destruction and invasions became business as usual. B: You trying to lay all the blame for your wicked ways on Freeza and his people? V: Not in the least. In his pursuit for power, my father built his own kingdom atop countless deaths. Freeza’s clan taking control didn’t help, but the seeds of the Saiyans’ destruction were sown before that. B: So it was the Saiyans’ destiny to be wiped out, then? V: I’d say so. B: Hmph… Ridiculous. V: But never mind that. My people’s problems aren’t your concern. B: I’m saying it’s ridiculous! V: ! W-what? What do you mean? Weren’t you going to show me a technique used by Gods of Destruction?! What could that possibly have to do with the history of the Saiyans? B: Plenty. […] As long as doubt weighs down your soul, this power’ll never be yours to wield. V: D-doubt, you say? B: Your own crimes aside, you’re feeling guilty for the sins of all Saiyans. That’s awfully self-centered of you, mortal. Here’s a fun fact. The one who suggested that Freeza eliminate the Saiyans… was me. V: W… what? B: You still think it was destiny? You’re just gonna accept that? […] Everything those Saiyans did in the past… what’s it got to do with you now? As long as you’re trapped by the past, you’ll never manage to grow past this point. My mind’s always on destruction and nothing else. That’s why there’s no limit to my power. Listen. If you really want this power, you’re gonna have to destroy any stray thoughts and recreate yourself from scratch. Before creation comes destruction. Get it?

Yeah. He takes this and he intentionally divorces his efforts to get stronger from his tendency to dog Goku’s heels in leveling up. Ultra Instinct isn’t a power suited to him, so he gives it up instead of torturing himself over it and works on what eventually becomes Ultra Ego instead. Here’s the thing though. The biggest indicator of Vegeta’s growth to me is that he can’t tap fully into that power because he’s no longer callous and unfeeling, and he knows it. He identifies too much with Granolah to simply destroy him. And he tries to lead Granolah off the path that ruined him for so much of his life. That doesn’t sound anything like regression to me.

The way things stand with Goku and Vegeta right now, the next step seems to be adapting their Ultra forms to them personally, so I’m curious to see how Vegeta will bend that power to the person he is now.

You could be right, but no amount of kvetching is going to change what the writer wrote, so you may as well stretch your critical thinking legs and ask yourself why the writer thinks this is in character. Speaking from the perspective of a person who makes a hobby of examining these pieces and spackling them together into something cohesive (fanfiction. I write fanfiction, in case that was somehow unclear), this is the more fun option for me. I’m not saying it’s really That Deep (‘don’t put more thought into something than the creators did’, yak yak yadda yadda) or that my personal interpretation is correct and canon or anything, I just know that writers rarely write something a certain way without a reason.

Because you’re right, Gohan is a smart person. I don’t think he did stop training after Buu in the way you’re thinking of, for two reasons. First, he mentions at the end of Super Hero that he’s been practicing the Makankosappo in secret, and the Makankosappo took Piccolo presumably several years nonstop (between OGDB and Z) to make from scratch. Gohan may have prior knowledge to base his experimentation off of, but he has a lot less free time too, between his family and his father’s tendency to one-track-mind the things he’s passionate about—Videl says he’s been in his room working on his ant project for several days. So how long has Gohan been practicing it?

That’s rather theoretical though so, second, Gohan was ready for the Tournament of Power with 48 hours of training, which I don’t think would be possible if he wasn’t at least keeping himself physically in shape. Indeed, when Piccolo is training him (DBS episode 88), his problem is not with Gohan’s practical technique—it’s with his attitude. Freeza notices this and mentions it earlier in Resurrection F as well, that Gohan is going out of his way to leave the people he beats alive. Piccolo describes it as a failure to ‘close the deal’, in the sense that Gohan needs to be able to win in a way that leaves no room for a rematch or a sneak attack at the last second. This doesn’t necessarily mean killing, mind, especially since the Tournament of Power has a no-kill rule. What Gohan has let go to rust is his willingness to be ruthless enough to remove an obstacle that has to be removed. That, I think, is the true meaning of the ‘training’ that everyone in universe harps on him for. Gohan’s always been softhearted, after all.

I will concede that it is very stupid that he apparently doesn’t recognize Piccolo’s ki when by all rights he’s probably the person most familiar with it. I consider that ‘out of character’, in that I have no clever explanation for it, but given that it isn’t load-bearing so the story functions, I mainly shrug and ignore it. That’s the healthy thing to do.

completely forgot to say... I *hate* how bulma is now. Nothing to the bulma we saw in Z, even at her most vexing she was never like the one we see right now. Genuinely massacred her

Personally I would be angrier about Videl in your position, because boy does she just not exist in Super. More to the point, I don’t know exactly what you mean by this. Unless I’ve misremembered/misread something, Bulma is still doing what she’s done from day one. She’s still smart. She’s still willing to try using her charm to get what she wants. She still builds things that are plot-crucial (Goku Black arc couldn’t have happened without her replicating her own time machine! Which she couldn’t have done had Future Bulma not counted on her and left her own notes!) She still wants to get a look at every would-be destroyer of Earth du jour, even though it’s really not a good idea. If you’re referring to her occasional shallowness/bitchiness/pettiness, that never went away, you know. That’s a pretty big part of Bulma.

Just wanted to leave that, drink some water

Cute, but I’ve been on the internet too long to get upset when a random stranger boos something I enjoy. Thanks for the opportunity to write way too many words about it though! 2500 of them, in fact! I’d genuinely love to hear your thoughts on them.

#vegeta #son gohan #bulma briefs #dbz #dbs #dragon ball z #dragon ball super #text from the mod #long post #i'm not being sarcastic either tell me what you think #i swear i don't bite

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rainbowangel110 · 8 months ago

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My little sister watches Toh saga

We uh... got through episodes 8-11 so a bit to cover!

Episode 8

Starting off the episode with Hooty. She was already invested.

"I'll never find a way into Amity's heart!" cue Rock face from here

So uh as much as she loves Hooty she still was weird out by him... swallowing King

"What is Hooty eating???" Cuz King was covered in some stuff.

Oh shit this is puberty talk I thought in a panic

Anyways!!! Bug dance was funny. She was re repeating DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER for a while.

"HOW BIG IS THAT SYRINGE??"

Voice powers had her hyped actually, she was all "What is that?? HE HAS POWERS NOW???" Cute

Onto Eda!!

"I want those cookies." I am not letting you get roofied by a baked good, kid >:(

Oh she was not ready for Owlbeast to attack Dell lemme tell ya.

We got the Archivists part of the Owl Beasts memories and I popped off

She really loved the segment where Eda talked to the Owl Beast.

"I want a plush of it."

"THAT'S SO PRETTY!!!!" in reference to the ending of the dream sequence

SAY HI TO HARPY EDA KID :DDDD

"SHE CAN DO THAT???"

Onto the Lumity segment (y'all were waiting weren't you)

"Stop blushing so much oh my gosh." "They do that a lot trust me."

She was all "ohh nooo" at the reveal of the Tunnel of Love and I was dying inside.

"Amity calm down oh my gosh!" I am in tears rn

she was sooooo hyped at the part where King used his powers again

Little tiny gasp at the Lumity part immediately after

the part where Luz was dancing around asking Amity out she was YELLING

"JUST DO IT ALREADY!!!"

Hooty receives a letter from someone

"KING'S DAD!?!?" no

Episode 9

She has been obsessed with what Belos looks like under the mask ever since we first saw him

"Oh man sure hope Little Rascal doesn't get caught...." "Why?" "... Remember how Belos eat-" "NO I DON'T WANT TO-" (Doing just fine here-)

"That's what he looks like?? ... ew what's the green for??"

I am freaking out right now kid, don't ask me

I paused so much because wow implications when you know the full story are REAL

"What did you think of that conversation (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)" "... Creepy." GIRL SAME

"Is that-" "Dragon Ball Z? Yes" (knows through memes okay?)

"Oh what happened to her??" "She's sick :("

we will now skip over a bunch of stuff nothing too exciting happened here tbh

I am pausing so much during this episode and it's annoying her (YOU WILL UNDERSTAND I PROMISE!!!)

"Lotta projection going on here." "... what?"

Had to explain some stuff about the convo between Hunter and Amity over the Tamagotchi (give her a moment)

"Oh. That's not good." "It really isn't."

Don't mind me just sobbing inside at every Hunter/Flapjack interaction.

Was so so so worried for Owlbert there.

"It's in the key?!?" Yeah uh so here we are :)))))

She was so entranced with the animation and so was I (with internal screaming though)

"SHE CRACKED IT!!!"

"Mushroom Luz."

Was awwing over Flapjack and Hunter at the end (don't mind me just... gonna go over here and AUGHHHHH)

Episode 10

"Who is that?? How is she in the mirror"

"Weird door."

In between is really interesting actually

"IT'S!!! HER!! THE SLUG!!"

Again I found her watching this show at S3E1 at the intro part (all she remembers was Hunter and Vee thank god) so she popped off here.

"She's cute. I like her."

*pause* "Okay so you see that?" *points at Gravesfield logo* "Remember that." "okay..."

"Oh and those two." *points at the the Wittebanes* "Okay I will sheesh 🙄" /lh

She will not

"The basilisks remember? "OH YEAH-"

Not much from her until the rain sequence.

"HOW IS SHE HOLDING HER??" girl don't sweat it, cry with me instead :)

"I feel bad for Camila.' SAME

Episode 11

Honestly not much happened here with her so uhhh....

Biggest take away for her though

"CAT COVEN PERSON!!!" (coven scout)

"King read her diary-"

#the owl house #just posting #little sister saga

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vertebreakher · 8 months ago

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When I was a little kid, I used to be pretty arrogant and elitist towards a lot of anime. I thought shonan was stupid and Dragon Ball Z was for idiots. I thought I was hot shit for drawing the characters from the playstation games I was interested in and that the kids who drew dragon ball characters in their notebooks were shit artists by virtue of "being unoriginal" or something.

I was a pretty shit kid. It took watching Gurren Lagaan years later to course correct me on my frankly objectively terrible opinions, and I didn't stop viewing Dragon Ball with some measure of contempt until much later after that. My first exposure to Dragon Ball was through the abridged series, and I was one of those people who believed that DBZA actually wrote it better. Which is an exceptionally arrogant and unfair idea. There's a sort of pseudo-intelectual attitude towards Dragon Ball Z that I inherrited, as I was growing up being sarcastic and critical towards media was attractive. The internet was full of an entire cultural landscape of Nostalgia Critics, and video game reviewers who couldn't help themselves when describing everything japan makes as outlandish and wild. Ever western cartoon I was exposed to would inevitably do a bit where they would have some godawful parody based on someone's surface level idea of anime. I think that attitude is alive and well today, quieter but buried in the hearts of a lot of people who are on their way from being young adults to becoming crotchety old farts. Ready to speak up and pressure others to find ways to apologize for liking something. After I finally grew to love Dragon Ball Z for what it was I also grew to deeply dislike the framework of judging media through quantitative statements. Better, worse, dumber, smarter, peak, cringe.

I've never thought of myself as a Dragon Ball fan, but I've grown to love it more and more. Dragon Ball is a series that will find a way to burrow into your heart one way or the other. After you give it that first bit of forgiveness you'll find yourself letting go of more and more of the unfair reasons you hated it.

I won't belittle Akira Toriyama by pretending he ever had to be a perfect author. And I won't diminish his work by describing it in all the boring stupid ways people are keen to use. Dragon Ball Z can't be described honestly by calling it a show where people just glow funny colors, yell for a whole episode, and then start punching each other and throwing energy blasts. The curtains aren't just blue and neither is SSGSS, unless you suddenly need things to be complicated in order for them to be meaningful. Dragon Ball Z is a show about how he inherit the love people have raised us with, the arrogance and pettiness of the powerful elite, disregarding the idea that what you are capable of has anything to do with how you were born, and how hateful people can be irrevocably changed by being forced to acknowledge the worth of a single kind idiot. It is also exceptionally emotional, uses presentation and escalating force to poke at all the right spots of the brain to make you excited and interested in a show of power you otherwise might never be so you can feel the same adrenaline rush and payoff Goku does, and watch the atmosphere of the fights warp and twist around the changing feelings in the hearts of both the combatants and onlookers. It rocks and if you think it's all an accident I can point you to a man who says "I like birds." and make you look like a moron.

Gonna start fucking crying now.

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sc-intothedarknightofthesoul · 4 months ago

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😅 🤡 ✨❌💔 from Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask?

AH! ANON, PLEASE! I CAN'T TAKE IT!

Just kidding, I'll write this point for point.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists? 😅

For stories, I used to write Dragon Ball Z and Vocaloid crossover fanfics in my teen years. One of them is still on my FanFiction.net.

I also used to have a Quotev (it's almost like an alternative Wattpad) where I wrote Hetalia lemons around that time too. Shocking, I know. Adult me is surprised to this day that younger me somehow got away with those, but thank the Gods I deleted my Quotev as soon as I got bored of it.

I remember making an RPG Maker game based on one of my original stories, The Last Human, before it went through a complete do-over and instead turned it into a webtoon. I really don't wanna go into detail on what happens, but I can't even play it knowing how frickin DARK the prologue section of the story is.

Regarding Into the Dark Night of the Soul...why the fuck did I write about elephant stampedes as an excuse for why the Conduit passed out between Chapter One and Two?!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh? 🤡

I'll admit I have a habit of editing my story after they're published, but there was that scene I went back to fix after Kasta and Maxi finished sparring with Haoran, and Haoran compliments somebody's aggressiveness in the fight.

Funny story with that, I completely misinterpreted the scene from Libra of Soul while initially writing this part for the fic, I actually thought Haoran was complimenting the Conduit for their aggressiveness in the fight, when it was actually Maxi he was complimenting.

I looked back on it and thought, "Holy shit, I can actually do something with this."

Allow me to show this fantastic exchange:

When he [Haoran] recovered and pulled himself to his knees, he formed a "T" with his hands to suggest a time-out, "I yield! You win!" When that was done, Maxi extended a hand to pull Haoran onto his feet, "I must say, your aggressive style is most impressive." "Now hold on," my cheeks flushed red like a tomato at Haoran's comment, "I wouldn't necessarily call a series of sweep kicks "aggressive" per se. Well...actually, maybe it was a bit harsh considering it's mostly just me being sneaky and--" "You humble yourself, Kasta," the man beamed as he took his hand off me to wipe the dust off his shoulder, "But I was referring to Maxi with the aggressive fighting style." My cheeks burned hotter than hot with embarrassment as a lump in my throat formed upon realizing my mistake, "Oh. Heh, right. I knew that..."

Also, any scene that features Cornelius being a complete chaotic gremlin to Kasta and others, because 1. He's a frickin cat, cats are chaotic and unpredictable as hell and I love them for it, and 2. He keeps stealing Haoran's mooncakes, sometimes out of Kasta's hand or Haoran's travel bag.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. ✨

Uh...uh...uh...

*Wraps it into a blanket burrito and sits down beside it on the couch to watch movies with popcorn, pizza and soda.*

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

❌ What's a trope you will never write? ❌

Unless it's written in a way that wows me and has some realism to it, the trope that annoys me to hell and back is the cliche "they got married and lived happily ever after."

Like, that's it?

Am I supposed to believe it's all smooth sailings after probably going through some of the most traumatic stuff from the story that lives in their consciousness now? How do they adjust to their new life?

I could write horror stories about people who unironically expect this in their relationships.

Some of these questions I have are what make me appreciate the fact that Disney made sequels to their movies at some point.

Other than that, I'm not sure, I'll have to think on it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart 💔

This is gonna get into Trigger Warning territory mentioning abuse of some kind, so beware.

But believe it or not, yes.

I'll admit, what I've written for Into the Dark Night of the Soul so far has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride.

The scene that was pretty gut-wrenching for me to write so far was the dream Kasta had of their mother attacking them for looking like a demon and not...like...her child.

I'm not gonna spoil what I plan to do with this later down the line, but I would say that yes, it's based on the relationship I had with my mother and how she raised me before she passed away in March of 2021.

Another thing that I've made that was utterly gut-wrenching to look back on was my original draft (the version I made an RPG Maker game out of) of The Last Human, an original story I mentioned got the major redo and is on Webtoon (I'm on hiatus).

It was the first mature story I've written when I was 15, before my Hetalia and Dragon Ball Z x Vocaloid crossover phases.

Not gonna go into detail with what happens, cos like I said before, it gets really dark. But the gist of the original draft is that a genocide happened and it's all the main character's villainous and creepy stepfather's fault. The thing that made it dark is that he attempted to do something horrible to her that scarred her for life.

The new draft (the one that's on Webtoons) I made has a similar premise, a genocide happened, but the main character was spared that fate when she was rescued as a baby.

I'm on hiatus from that story now, but I thought I brought up a bit of lore about myself.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Looks like that's all the questions I've answered.

Thank you for the ask and I hope you have a nice day/night (depending on your timezone).

#ask game #fanfic writer emoji ask #anon ask

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fuckstories · 1 year ago

Text

The Pharaoh's Curse And The Genie's Blessing (RAP)

Now Shhhhh!

Lurk And Be Quiet As I Sing You A Song!!!

Let's Begin By Taking A Moment To Pray

To God Above, Our God, That We May Be Given His Peace In These Troubled Times

We Must Pause And Let This Wonderful Message Wash Over Us As We Remember That

There Are Some Things Worse Than A Plague!!!

Like A Rapper With No Talent!!!

That Is Something A Bitch Shouldn't Even Think About!

Oh Yea I'm Bitter!!!

But Let's Not Focus On Me!!!

Let's Talk About The Pharaoh's Curse!!!

The Pharaoh's Curse Came Upon Egypt In The Year 1303

And Killed Almost All The People Who Ever Lived There!

Including Those With "Z" Names

Except For Those People With "Z" Names Who Were Dead Already!!!

Well Folks I Told Y'all It Was Bad!!!

I Didn't Say It Was Good!!!

As If The Pharaoh's Curse Wasn't Enough, Then There Was A New Scarcity That Turned Out To Be A Blessing!

A New Scarcity Of Oranges!!!

In The Year 1303

An Old Man Was Working On An Orange Tree

When He Sucked In His Breath At A Buzzing Sound

That Caused Him To Sneeze So Hard That The Whole Orange Tree Swung Right Over Him And Hit One Of The Peers In The Face!!!

It Turned Out To Be The Greatest Scarcity Ever!!!

The Man With The Best Sneeze Went On To Have A Long and Successful Career

He Started Out By Selling Oranges in New York

Then He Had The Idea To Make Jellies!!!

And So He Did!!!

I Want You To Try And Picture All This In Your Head

Please Pay Attention Now!

Here's How It Is Gonna Work!!!

A Few Minutes From Now We Will Turn Off The Light!!!

And Put Some Cotton Balls Over Our Mouths!!!

Before We Begin We're Gonna Read Out Loud

An Amazing Tale That Will Rock You Like Nothing Before!

The Story About The Pharaoh, Who Got Turned To Stone And The Genie Who Showed Him The Way Out Of It!!!

Let Us Pray Again To God Above To Bless Us And Keep Us Safe As We Remember That

There Are Some Things Worse Than A Plague!!!!

Like A Rapper With A Terrible Voice!!!

Ya Heard Me Right!!!

So Listen Up People, All Is Calm... Now Begin!!!

Here It Is!! The Pharaoh's Curse!!!

My Dear Brothers and Sisters, Listen Carefully

While I Sing You A Story, I Will Never Forget What I Saw

What I Saw During the Time I Was In The Underworld

There Once Was a Pharaoh Whose Name I Can't Even Say Out Loud

Who Died In The Year 1303 And Left His Empire to Go Down There With the Other Dead Bodies!!!

I Did Too!!!

But First I'll Tell You The Part Where I Went Down Under, Which Is Called Hell!!!!

My Journey To Hades Started On Christmas Eve Day, The Same Day My Dad Was Turned into a Spider.

I Went to Church But Not Because I Believe in God

But Because I Love Going to Church.

I Think It Would Be Wonderful If We All Went to Church!!!

Because It's Always Nice To Sit Down With Everyone

But Back To The Pharaoh...

When We Got There

I Saw Many, MANY Other People

Lined Up In A Giant Circle

That Had to Go on Without Their Friends And Family

All Because They Killed Someone

Who Had A Name That Had A Z in It!

To Be More Specific They Killed Them With "Z" Names!!!!!

This Is A Long Story

But Let Me Stop Here and Bring The Pharaoh Into the Story!!!

I Got In Line Behind a Group of Girls Named Stephanie, Alexus, and Azalea

They Were Very Loud Because They Weren't All That Intelligent.

One of the Girls Screamed, "It's OK To Get Angry With God!"

Another Said, "I Am SO Angry!!!!"

And Another One Said, "I Hate That My Parents Named Me 'Alexus'!!!!"

Then Another Girl Screamed, "But I Don't Know What To Call My Daughter When She Gets Older!!!!"

I Thought About Saying That to the Girl With "Z" Names but I Wasn't Ready Yet to Be Annoying So Instead

I Put on My Cute Eyeglasses

That My Dad Sent Me From Germany

That Shaped Like A Dragon With Golden Wings

And Everyone Thought I was so Cool and Cute

Because I Was Different From Everybody Else.

The Pharaoh Looked Very Strange Down Under

He Had The Cutest Smile and Blue Eyes

And A Face that Will Never Look Bad in Photos!

The Pharaoh Was Waiting In Line

Along With All The Other Dead Bodies

Until He Got to the Top

Where He Found A Dead Fish Eating Another Dead Fish

The Pharaoh Stopped Eating and said, "Excuse me... You are eating another dead fish?"

The Dead Fish Said, "No... I'm Eating a Living Fish."

The Pharaoh Said, "OK Then, You Can Have It"

So the Pharaoh Touched His Sword, And Swallowed The Living Fish

Then He Looked Around for Something He Could Eat

He Saw A Worm, Which was Also Very, Very Dead

But When The Pharaoh Touched it It Turned Into a Boy Who Said, "Hi! My Name Is Pete!"

Pete Was A Little Creepy Looking Because he Had No Eyebrows Or Nose Hair

Or Ears On Both Sides Of His Head

But That Didn't Stop Him From Being Friendly!!!

Pete Was A Good Boy!!!

And he Talked and talked about God For So Long...

The Pharaoh Thought The More Talking the Better

Because He Would Never Run Out of Things To Say!!!!

The Pharaoh Thought, "God Is Great"!!!

The Pharaoh Thought, "I Wish I Was God So I Can Keep Talking To People for Free."

The Pharaoh Thought, "God Is Good."

But after the Pharaoh Stopped Thinking and Said "I Want to Be God"

Another Worm Came Along

And When He Touched It

It Turned into A Girl Named Patrice.

Patrice Was Pretty Cool but the Pharaoh Wanted More!!

Patrice Talked for Hours

About The Bible

God's Son

And How There Is Only One True God

Who Created Everything in Existence!!!

But when Patrice Finished Talking

Another Worm Came And Turned Into a Boy Named Jason, Who Had His Parents' Name

Which Made It Really Weird!!!!

Jason Talked for Days and Days and Days and Days

And Eventually He Turned into God, The Creator of All Things!

God Told the Pharaoh that He was God and Had Seen The Pharaoh in Line

He Said, "You Will Rule over All the Dead Bodies."

The Pharaoh Did NOT Think This Was True!!!

But God Was God

And The Pharaoh Didn't Want To Upset Him!!!

So the Pharaoh Wore the Crown of a Ruler over His Head

And Started Chanting Names of Gods in a Long, Long, LONG Song

He Said Names Over and Over and Over and Over and Over...

The Pharaoh Singed...

"God is Great

God is Good

I Am Not God

I Will Eat God"

He Shouted it

Over And Over Again

Until His Voice Cracked!

He Couldn't Make the Voices Go Away So he Shouted The Last Thing he Could Think Of!!

"God Is Bad

I Am A Good Person

I Do Good Things for the Good of Others!!!"

He Turned To God, Who Was Standing Right There In Front Of him, and Took His Finger And Pressed God's Nose.

God's Nose Blew Water

And He Sprayed All Over The Pharaoh!!!!!!!

The Pharaoh Woke Up, Completely Wet

He Washed Himself with The Water from the Fountain

And Then Looked Outside to See Where The Rain Came From

But It Wasn't a Raindrop... It Was the Face of God Looking At the Pharaoh

In This Moment God Gave The Pharaoh a Gift:

A Magic Staff of Light

So That The Pharaoh Could Never Be Put On a Pedestal

Because All Good People Are Like Everybody Else!!!"

It Happens Every Year...

The Moon Rises Over A Different Place...

All the Pretty Flowers are Cut

Everybody Eats a Very Strange Fish, Including The Pharaoh...

The Pharaoh Wears a Crown over his Head

That Makes Him Never Feel Pain.

He Shouts out "I Am God!!"

Then God Punches the Pharaoh in the Face and makes him Swallow A Living Fish, That He's Actually Eating the Worm...

This is All a Dream...

All I See Is the Moon Over Egypt...

I Can See Everything Happening Here

Even though I'm Thousands of Miles Away from my Home Town

"Alleluia"!!!

God Save The Pharaoh!!!

(from my memory)

Thank You To My Fans For Your Patience Over These Last Few Months. I Know You Were All Waiting To Hear A New Song From Me. The Great News Is That My Song, "The Pharaoh's Curse And The Genie's Blessing", Finally Came Out This Week! (I know it took a little while, but that just shows you how special this song is!) You'll Be Amazed At How Powerful This Song Is!

I Think You'll All Agree That This Song Is More Than A Little Bit Bizarre!!! I Am A True Professional Who Always Delivers The Best Possible Music I Can But There Are Still Times When The Music Makes The Music! This Is One Of Those Songs! Please Be Sure To Give This Song An Honest Chance, If It Doesn't Hit Home for You Right Away You May Still Find Something That Resonates! In Fact, If You Would Please Share This Song With Your Friends, I'm Pretty Sure Many People Will Find Themselves Feeling It Deeply By The End!

That's the Kind of Song This Is Folks! I Hope You're As Excited As I Am!!!

If Not I'm Sorry This Was The Song I Had To Bring To You!

That's All Folks!

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