#it could be fun except for the self fireball potential!

[my-least-favorite-savior]

Should we first talk about why no other Volstrucker has ever left?

First of all, a big part of Trent’s process is making sure that they have nowhere else to go. First, he isolates them from their peers at the Academy. (Caleb says that Trent was originally one of many teachers he had the Academy, and then Trent became his primary teacher. Bren had no friends aside from his fellow Volstrucker trainees.) He takes over their schedules so they’re spending all of their time with him and others who are under his thumb, and he tells them that it’s because they are special and better than their peers anyway. They’re fifteen at this time, so they believe him. Then, he makes them kill their family. It’s kind of brilliant, in a sadistic way. He subjects them to slowly escalating abuse for years, and then he hands them a match and tells them to burn their only bridge away from him.

Let’s assume that Astrid really does have an uncle, and wasn’t just playing along. Of course she hasn’t spoken to him in years. What could she possibly say to him after murdering his sister? Making them kill their immediate families is also a pretty good way of blowing up their relationships with their extended families.

It’s not like Trent stops controlling them when they reach adulthood, either. They live in houses on his estate and report to him daily for orders. Trent chooses them when they’re 14 years old, destroys everything else they have, and keeps them right under his thumb for the rest of their lives.

Then he calls them family He takes their original families from them, but he offers his own twisted mockery of a family in return. And they take it, because it hurts less than empty space where their parents used to be. Caleb called the Volstrucker locked up in Rosohna his sister without ever having met her. Trent invited Caleb over for a family dinner. What happened to their parents was an unfortunate necessity, but they don’t have to feel alone; the Volstruckers are their family now; Trent is their family now.

The second reason they don’t leave him or tell anyone is that Trent specifically chooses students who are unlikely to do that. Trent chooses his students partly for the fun of it, to see what he can sculpt out of their unique natural talents, but he’d be a fool not to consider their temperaments as well. It’s easy to imagine Bren, Eadwulf, and Astrid as teachers pets who were eager for Trent’s approval as teenagers. Even now that they’re adults, Trent is very intentional with when and how he praises them, and praise is his go-to way of love-bombing Caleb at the dinner.

Trent has access to all the students at the Soltryce Academy. This is already the pick of the litter in terms of the Empire’s magic-wielding teenagers. Anyone he chooses is going to be gifted. He has the luxury of looking at other factors, like how eager they are to please him, how susceptible they are to pro-Empire propaganda, and whether or not their families will be missed. (Is it really a coincidence that Bren, Astrid, and Eadwulf were all from the same rural town that is firmly under the capital’s thumb? Probably not.)

So, after he picks out kids are that going to respond well to his brainwashing, he brainwashes them. That’s the third reason none of them have ever left before.

He tells them they’re family. Not by blood, but by shared goals and shared suffering. I can’t prove that Trent ever actually said that, but it fits perfectly with the way the Blumendrei talk about each other and with Trent’s view of the world. The pain they endure together bonds them (and they’ve got matching tattoos to prove it).

Their pain protects the innocent of the Empire. They do their bloody work so others don’t have to. They endure this pain so others don’t have to. Someone has to hurt, because that’s how the world is, and if it’s not the Volstruckers, it will be the innocent children of the Empire.

Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made. Your innocence. Their lives. Someday, maybe your life. These sacrifices are what keep little Empire children safe and warm in their beds at night. It’s for the good of the Empire. It’s what any good Empire citizen would do. You should feel honored to have been given this opportunity.

Trent inflicts pain in on them because pain makes them stronger. Because they are smarter and stronger than their peers and they can save the Empire, if they just let him teach them. Trent hurts them because he sees the potential in them and wants to bring it out. Trent hurts them for the greater good. Trent hurts them out of love.

That’s what he tells them. That’s what he told them at dinner.

They’re spoon-fed a million excuses for their own abuse, and they have little choice but to swallow those excuses, because (reason #4) Trent made them complicit in their own abuse, and each other’s abuse, and the murders of their families. The alternative to accepting Trent’s apologism put Bren in an insane asylum. “All of that pain and suffering and death was absolutely unnecessary and you not only subjected yourself to it for no reason, you helped for no reason,” is not an easy thing to process.

Liam has done a really good job of showing how Caleb struggles with that and how it led to so much self-hatred. And Caleb had a loving support network. Most Volstruckers have one or two equally broken people from their class that they can mostly trust, if they are lucky. Most Volstruckers are only given one framework to process these feelings through, and it’s the abusive framework laid out in #3.

We can’t go without mentioning that shared guilt is one of the oldest tricks in the book to get a victim to keep quiet. It’s the classic ‘You’ll be in trouble too.’ “Do you really want to go the king and confess to the murder of innocent Empire citizens? Your own family, no less?” It wasn’t like Trent put the poison in the food or threw the fireball.

Reason #5: Lots of people already know and simply do not care. While Astrid’s comments in e131 do imply that the king doesn’t know what Trent has been doing to the children of his kingdom, the Cerberus Assembly knows and has known for a while. Every time Caleb has brought up his abuse with a member of the Cerberus Assembly, he’s gotten empty sympathy and dismissal. He hasn’t even had to explain the abuse to them. Multiple people have heard that he was a student of Trent Ikithon’s and immediately responded with sympathy... but also in ways that made it clear that they didn’t plan to do anything about it. The Cerberus Assembly knows. Ludinus would be very bad at his job if he did not know, considering that Trent recruits from the Academy. The Volstruckers are used to Trent doing what he does out in the open, in front of other high-level officials.

It’s not like Trent is hiding his abuse of them, either. Trent takes kids home for the summer and they show up for Intermediate Transmutation the next fall with fucking experimental crystals in their arms. Ludinus knew. Even Vess knew. The Volstruckers know that Ludinus and Vess know. At best, they likely believe that there is no point in talking. At worst, it reinforces everything Trent is telling them and makes them believe that they are the problem if they can’t tough it out.

Last but not least: mortal terror is the sixth reason why no one has ever gotten away from Trent before. Trent broke Bren’s brain and then made him disappear for a decade. Trent made all of their families disappear. Do you think Astrid got investigated for murder after some poor neighbor found her family’s bodies? No. Trent made that disappear. How easily could Trent make one Volstrucker disappear? Volstruckers die all the time, after all. There wouldn’t be many questions asked about a Volstrucker’s death. There might not be any questions asked at all. Who would notice a Volstrucker was missing, except for other Volstruckers (who are loyal to Trent. And terrified of Trent. And may have helped with the murder.)

So that’s why Caleb is the first to ever leave. (1) Most Volstruckers have nowhere else to go. (2) Trent gets to hand-pick students to abuse, so obviously he’s going to pick ones that are likely to respond well (by his standards) to his abuse. (3) Volstruckers are brainwashed into accepting Trent’s abuse apologism. (4) Volstruckers are made to feel morally culpable for their own abuse and are not given space to process these feels outside of the brainwashing framework Trent provides them with in #3. (5) People with power don’t care; people who care lack power; people with both are out of reach. This is a pattern embedded in their psyches well before they kill their parents. (6) Trent could literally straight up kill them have a couple of teenagers dig a shallow grave in the woods. No one would ever ask questions.

[sepublic]

When Eda/Luz is Threatened...

           Okay, I know @novelist-becca already went over this in the past, but screw it, I’m in the mood to gush about Eda and Luz, so;

           It’s worth noting that there’s a pretty clear difference between how Eda reacts towards someone who threatens her, VS someone who threatens Luz. Tibbles and Lilith serve as pretty good control groups, given how they’ve interacted with Eda and Luz separately on a different basis, and Eda’s reaction to them in each scenario clearly differs…

           In Tibbles’ case- There isn’t any retaliation to begin with, at first! Yeah Eda hates his guts, but as soon as she gets her elixir, she and King just ditch him to his fate. Eda doesn’t even know that the Mud & Sundry stand is about to collapse on Tibbles when she leaves, so from her perspective, HER issue with getting the elixir is well and done- And that’s it! No need for revenge, Eda has no pragmatic quarrel with Tibbles, and it’s very practical of her as a result.

           …But when Tibbles threatens Luz, King, Willow, and Gus? When he tried to KILL them outright, whereas the last time, he just dressed King up in cute clothes? THEN Eda retaliates violently… Tibbles’ scheme is already ruined and she could easily steal his snails for herself, the kids and King are safe, Eda herself had no participation in Tibbles’ scheme… But the kids were threatened, and Eda goes out of her way to dump a bunch of crab-apples upon Tibbles, setting him up to be eaten alive by his own animals- She’s trying to kill him here, and honestly, I can’t blame her.

           Eda’s lax attitude towards Tibbles is also prevalent early in Really Small Problems; He’s apparently been trying to send her death threats, and even if that wasn’t Tibbles… Eda seems more concerned about Tibbles’ potential plot towards her, than actually getting back at him for past incidents. Even when she easily sees past Tibbles’ attempt to poison her, Eda just… Goes on with her day, doesn’t bother with Tibbles. She leaves him be, repeatedly spares him of her own volition- And so Tibbles pushes his luck when he targets Luz. THEN he only has himself to blame when Eda sets him up to die; If we never see Tibbles again after this, it’d be a safe assumption to say he actually gets killed off-screen because of Eda.

           All in all, Eda’s attitude towards Tibbles is incredibly lax- Yeah he’s a threat to her, yeah he’s annoying and despicable… But otherwise Eda only does what needs to be done, until Luz is threatened. This pairs well with her interactions with Lilith- Lilith is set to capture Eda… And obviously, Lilith doesn’t plan to actually kill Eda, Lilith thinks she’s helping Eda, and also they’re both sisters who –mostly- know one another… So yeah, that plays a role into Eda not feeling all too threatened nor preemptively defensive when Lilith is around. She lets Lilith into her space, doesn’t try to strike back in anticipation UNTIL Lilith messes up…

           And even then, Eda never actually aims to hurt Lilith! She goes out of her way to save her, and their duel in Covention was clearly treated as more of a fun spat than an actual attempt to hurt each other! Eda seemed to treat it that way at least, and when her curse is brought up, Lilith makes it clear again that, yes, she doesn’t actually mean to hurt Eda (even if she still does anyway by accident).

           But then Luz is captured, and… Well, Eda’s downright murderous attitude towards Lilith says more than enough. When she confronts her sister minutes before execution, Eda first mentions Lilith hurting LUZ above all-else, as if that’s more important to her than being cursed. And, I can see why- The curse happened years ago. Eda knows that Lilith has been trying to fix the curse, that much was made clear since Sense and Insensitivity at the latest. She obviously regrets what she did, and hey, it was only at EDA…

           But Luz didn’t deserve to be threatened. Luz didn’t deserve to almost die, whereas Lilith’s curse never physically harmed Eda, at least not in a direct sense. And it’s King vouching for Lilith by pointing out that she helped LUZ, that Eda then stops her attack- That, and to also not hurt King. Eda seems to care more about Lilith hurting her found family, and conversely, that means Eda is less than impressed by attempts to appease her; But attempts to make up by appeasing the ones she loves and helping them, THAT changes her tune!

           Which, one could perhaps get into speculation that maybe this relates to Eda perhaps not thinking very highly of herself… Or at the very least, she of course values her loved ones WAY more than she does herself, which doesn’t necessarily mean Eda has any low self-esteem! She definitely seems confident enough and it’s not exactly an illusion, but Eda’s own pride in herself could’ve partly stemmed as a survival tactic from the pain and ostracization of the curse by others, being persecuted by the Emperor’s Coven, etc. She does seem to genuinely believe what she says, Eda isn’t just saying it to fool herself- And while there are cracks in the façade here or there, they seem more standard insecurities, and not pointing to Eda making everything up.

           Really, you could go out and say that this evokes the attitude of Eda not really blaming people for being mad at her, even! She knows she’s mischievous and a troublemaker, a rascal who revels into it- She’s a pickpocket and well aware of it… Eda has a tendency to intentionally aggravate others, so she figures it’s not too personal if people hate her, because YEAH- If Eda met herself, she’d hate Eda too! It’s like Eda’s lowkey accepting and admitting her own flaws, or that in some scenarios, such as Tibbles in Hooty’s Moving Hassle- It isn’t meant to be anything personal besides individual gain and greed. It’s just someone trying to get by, even if it IS at the expense of someone else, but that’s about it. And even when Tibbles DOES try to get personal with Eda, again- She lets him be.

           Eda accepts that yeah, she IS a bit irritable and a mess, what about it? It is who she is, and HEY, she’s pretty empathetic, she can understand why people do things, she won’t hold a grudge… But when her own loved ones are threatened, that’s different, because they mean SO MUCH more to her! Not to mention Luz is a literal child and doesn’t deserve any attacks by whatever adult is targeting her… Eda’s willing to forgive and forget, but when it comes to Luz, hurting her apprentice/daughter is borderline unforgivable.

           Then we have people like Wrath; Eda seems like she could’ve initially humored his request to be his girlfriend for like, a day or two before she’d make it backfire on him… But then she notices Luz, who’s being physically harassed by Wrath, and she makes up her mind- If Luz has to put up with this danger and discomfort for even another second, and ploy or ruse to get by Wrath isn’t worth it! Eda will take him head-on, and even then… She makes it clear that her main concern is always Luz, she makes sure LUZ gets away from the Conformatorium, even at the risk of Eda’s self- It’s Luz who matters for Eda, it’s what happens to Luz that forms the basis of her priorities!

           We have Adegast, who Eda mostly knows as the creep who targeted Luz and held her hostage… And likewise, he had a LOT of those fake maps created, so who knows how many people he’d target, or already had? And how many of them are kids- These ‘Chosen One’ maps seem like they’d only work for the kind of young kid with that sort of imagination… So naturally, Eda doesn’t hesitate to kill Adegast by eating him alive, because hey, she can also get a snack out of it!

           There IS a bit of an exception in the Slitherbeast… However, the Slitherbeast isn’t some malicious adult- It’s literally just a wild animal, they don’t and usually can’t operate on our usual standards of morality. Not only that, but the Slitherbeast didn’t go out of its way to hurt Luz, it ony retaliated when she wounded it with a pretty huge fireball- And even then, it didn’t actually hurt Luz, it only succeeded in kidnapping Eda, Emira, and Edric. The Slitherbeast DOES at one point corner Luz later on, but she manages to fend for herself, and with everything mentioned above- And yeah, Eda isn’t going to hold any grudges against the wild animal that HAD been trying to mind its own business, when Luz had accidentally hurt it- And it’s not like it could’ve known that was an accident.

           So, Slitherbeast gets a pass. Then there’s Once Upon a Swap… Again, Lilith is a special case in that Eda knows she’s fundamentally a good person, they’re sisters and whatnot- And of course, Lilith doesn’t know she’s threatening Luz, she think she’s going after Eda, so Eda can’t blame her for intentionally trying to hurt Luz, that’s a pure accident that’s kind of Eda’s fault anyway. On the flipside, you have Boscha and her friends attacking King-in-Luz’s-body… And to be fair, it’s King- King can definitely get himself into deserved trouble. So they’re not REALLY retaliating against Luz for her own actions, it’s King for HIS own actions, even if they think it’s Luz… Plus, Boscha and her posse are literal kids.

           Aside from mixing everyone’s bodies up to provide cover for herself and the others, Eda doesn’t try to harm or retaliate! She doesn’t even try to get back at Roselle and Dottie, who tried to hold her prisoner! Again, Eda really is a forgive-and-forget kind of person, but when it comes to others… She can’t speak on their behalf, and she doesn’t ever want a kid like Luz to feel obligated to forgive an adult who hurt her. That’s not Luz’s responsibility, she shouldn’t have been hurt no matter what in the first place.

           Then we’ve got all those other episodes… Eda doesn’t know that Amity tried to get Luz dissected, and anyhow I doubt Amity actually intended for Luz to be hurt, just aiming for her to be pushed into a corner where she’s forced to out herself. Being a young kid like Luz, whom Eda knows is the child to Odalia and Alador, who likely stood out to her as a nasty bunch… And she can understand, even if it’s wrong- At least enough to not go out of her way to seek revenge on a literal child. This also applies to Covention, and Amity didn’t even try to hurt Luz, and as far as Eda knows, Luz agreed to that binding oath to not practice spells if she failed!

           Eda doesn’t know about the Demon Hunters who threatened Luz or the others… She DID meet them in Escape of the Palisman, but she doesn’t seem to recognize them, and clearly Luz and the others tried their best to cover up the incident. If Eda had recognized the Demon Hunters, I imagine she wouldn’t have just let things be, but who knows? She doesn’t hold anything against them, and in THAT case, they didn’t know Eda was a witch, they thought she was a wild animal out of control and a threat to others… Which she WAS (Eda even threatens Luz and King in that state), so Eda can’t blame them.

           Eda doesn’t know about what happened in Lost in Language… Mattholomule’s antics and that Detention Monster are already being resolved and anyhow aren’t life-threatening. Eda isn’t aware of what went on with the Bat Queen, but ultimately the Bat Queen turned around for Luz’s sake and only tried to chase off Luz for Owlbert’s sake, because Luz DID hurt Owlbert, so Eda can of course sympathize with that kind of protective nature- Plus Eda and the Bat Queen are on good terms and they love each others’ kids!

           Piniet… WELL, that’s an interesting conflict- If Luz and King hadn’t escaped, I also feel like Eda would’ve been VERY brutal with him, if aforementioned precedents set any example. She’d of course track down Piniet by learning about Ruler’s Reach, and Piniet would be in for a reckoning… Then we have The First Day, the Greater Basilisk is already incapacitated/dead by the time Eda arrives. Eda doesn’t know what goes on with Inner Willow, who only targets Amity from being literally set on fire… And while we don’t see Eda tackle Grom herself, she was obviously poised to beat it to kingdom come. And then there’s Boscha in Wing it like Witches, which Eda doesn’t know about, and also Boscha is a literal child.

           Repeating what is already well-established and obvious by this point- Eda seems to have an almost selfless double-standard… In that, she doesn’t really hold it against others who have a conflict with her, unless it’s a really personal betrayal like in Lilith’s case… But even then, Eda doesn’t go out of her way to kick an opponent when they’re down, or even hurt them, until Luz is threatened. And, I think that’s really sweet- Eda knows she’s flawed. Eda’s a full-grown adult, she’s definitely done things that would make people rightfully mad at her… But Luz?

          Even if she DID mess up, it’s definitely not out of malice, because that kid is trying her best- Plus she’s a KID, she doesn’t deserve to be hurt for that! Eda can understand if another kid doesn’t quite understand that, because children don’t think things through… But when an adult with power and age levies that over Luz the child? Eda doesn’t necessarily think of Luz as lesser or ‘weak’ for being a kid… More on that later… But while she wants Luz to be able to stand up for herself and be her own person, let her do things by her own request; As someone who was alone for so long, abandoned because of the curse and for being a criminal…

           Eda can’t bear to let Luz handle that burden on her own, even if she could- Because she’s a KID, she shouldn’t HAVE to do that in the first place! Eda’s not gonna fail Luz, not like how Gwendolyn seemed to fail her and Lilith… And, that plays into her kind of laughing off Luz’s attempt to take on Grom, when she first announces it! Eda doesn’t necessarily think of Luz as weak, and it’s clear that by the end of the day, she knows that as a kid, Luz shouldn’t be expected to handle that kind of terror… And this of course plays into how Eda has zero judgment when she reassures Luz and is ready to take on the responsibility of Grom, until Amity steps in. Coupled with giving the Witch’s Wool cloak to Luz (which Eda also had the concern that she herself wouldn’t need it soon enough), and Luz’s own accomplishments in the season finale… Managing to free Eda, fighting her way through the Conformatorium, instantly solo-ing Warden Wrath, and even damaging Belos?

           Coupled with how Eda has no issues with learning glyphs from Luz, because she believes and trusts in Luz’s guidance, knowledge, and skill as a witch- And I think it’s likely that Eda greatly respects Luz’s strength as a witch, if she hadn’t already… She was clever enough to figure out the glyphs, after all- And I think that REALLY began to change Eda’s perception of Luz’s potential, even beyond Luz rallying Tiny Nose and the others against Wrath, and having the maturity to dispel Adegast’s illusions! Luz wasn’t just strong in the emotional, spiritual sense- She has a real pragmatic cleverness, wit, adaptability, creativity, and now magical skill, that is worth recognizing and honing! And not just because she has no other choice, I think Eda genuinely trusts and respects Luz, to be willing to learn from her…

           …Even so- Eda’s totally going to freak out anyway if anyone keeps trying to threaten Luz, and dang it, she’ll do all she can to protect Luz, even if Luz is arguably more capable of defending herself now! Because she’s a kid, just because she can, doesn’t mean she should, Luz shouldn’t have to worry about that, screw anyone else who suggests otherwise!

[tigerlover16-uk]

How would you handle a sequel to Dragon ball super?

Hmm. Here’s an interesting one. Well, I don’t have a plan for a full series, but I do have a bunch of scattered ideas for one.

* It would be an EoZ follow up, taking place about 7 years after Goku left with Uub. During this time Goku resumed living at home at some point due to Chichi becoming pregnant with a now 3 or 4 year old daughter, but Uub is now capable of instant transmission so they’re still able to train together regularly regardless, and he’s more or less integrated himself into the Z fighters.

In this show, Uub and Pan would share the role of main protagonist, both striving to become as strong as Goku to protect the earth in his place someday (and so Goku can challenge them both once they’ve hit their peaks. Because Goku. Hey, don’t look at me like that, at the end of the series it’s pretty explicit that’s part of why Goku wants to train Uub).

Meanwhile, Bulla, Marron, Trunks and Goten would also be major supporting characters training alongside Uub and Pan to help defend the earth, while having their own character development and subplots going on. Goku, Vegeta, Gohan and etc would all be firmly in the role of mentors for most of the series, occasionally helping out in the case of a big threat to the universe. The rest of the Z fighters would still be around to various degrees of relevance, several of them also helping to train the next gen characters and teach them their techniques at various points, but Uub, Pan and the next gen characters are the main focus throughout.

* Majin Buu would basically follow his storyline from the Dragon ball Online/Xenoverse lore, creating himself a wife through some kind of weird magic and beginning to create a whole race of Majin’s. At the time the show starts, they would have one son who’s about 4 or 5 years old and is about the size of Kid Goku, and would be one of the next gen Z fighters, while Buu and his wife also have several dozen baby Majin’s to take care of, with help from dear uncle Satan of course.

* Pan and Bulla would become a couple at some point. Because the franchise could use some gay characters that aren’t minor one offs like Kakunsa and Vikal so far, or offensive stereotypes like General Blue. Also, because Vegeta’s reaction to his daughter dating Kakarot’s granddaughter would be HILARIOUS.

* Tien would still be teaching students at his dojo, many of whom are expert Ki users by now, while Krillin has taken over the reigns to the Turtle School of Martial Arts from Master Roshi, who left a while back on some sort of “spiritual journey” (Meaning he’s on a road trip around the world with Oolong trying to pick up chicks). He wouldn’t appear again until much later into the series, so for now Krillin is trying his hand at being a martial arts instructor, Marron being his prized student.

* Yamcha would have found a loving girlfriend and is living a happy life like he deserves already.

* Optional, but I might have Piccolo have become a father by this point with a child who has the potential to be as strong as he is, but is surprisingly meek and tranquil, to Piccolo’s awkward bemusement.

* In addition to being her personal trainer, Whis would have basically taken on the role of Bulla’s surrogate Uncle, having a surprisingly close relationship with her as they hang out on Beerus’s world all the time and Whis talks to Bulla about her personal life and helps her work through personal issues. Beerus would also have a soft spot for her, but tries very hard to hide it and pretend Bulla is a burden.

* Pan’s personality is basically a lot closer to her adorable EoZ self than her GT self. She would learn how to go super saiyan fairly early into the show, and ascend to super saiyan 2 either at the end of the first or second saga. She and Uub share a sibling like relationship, despite initially having a rocky start prior to the start of the show due to Pan being a tad jealous that Goku ran off so suddenly to train with Uub, but we get some flashback episodes at some point showing how they worked it out.

* Marron would basically be characterised as a cool big sis figure to Pan, Bulla, and other young characters like Goku and Chichi’s new daughter, Buu’s kid and Vegeta and Bulma’s new son (Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that?). She’s warm, expressive and friendly in similar ways to her father, but can be as intimidating as her mother when in a fight or when she’s in “Babysitter mode”. She starts the series off training under Krillin and 18, and has aspirations to be the first human member of the Galactic patrol, a role she acquires half way through the show after apprenticing under Jaco for a while.

* Launch by this point would be a minor recurring character married to Tien. The two of them have a young son who shares Launch’s split personality quirk.

* Uub’s family would be recurring minor characters in the show, and his village is thriving due to funding from Mr Satan.

* Gohan by this point is a successful scholar, and is also once again serving part time as the Great Saiyaman. Pan is the new Saiyagirl, and is just as much of a lovable dork as her dad when in character.

* The series would start with a number of episodes introducing and fleshing out each of the next gen cast and the current status quos of the old Z fighters and their allies, before moving into a saga that’s basically a dragon ball hunt. As a test, Goku tasks Uub, Pan and their friends (Sans Goten and Trunks, who had done a similar exercise before) with finding the Dragon Balls during summer break from school, without the use of their flying abilities so they have to hike around the world to find them by a certain date.

What they don’t know Is that Goku has set up a number of challenges along the way for the group to overcome. Nothing especially dangerous, but stuff that would give each of the new Z fighters their own difficult obstacles and opponents to overcome (part of which would involve calling in favours from some of his allies from other universes). Beerus however, who’s in on Goku’s test, decides by the end of it that his final challenge is a bit too tame (Read: Not guaranteed to get the kids brutally killed if they’re not careful enough), so basically goes behind Goku’s back and has Whis round up a group of the universes most dangerous super powered criminals to attack the young Z fighters, after making sure that Goku and the other high-tier Z fighters are off world at the time so they can’t find out quickly to deal with the situation themselves. Things work out after a huge struggle though.

This saga would mostly be a fun adventure story in the spirit of the original Dragon Ball and chock full of character building moments and interaction. Maybe some fun fanservice with the young Z fighters encountering some of the characters from the original Dragon Ball, like Suno and Android 8 (Heck, maybe throw in a Dr Slump crossover while we’re at it).

*Each saga would have a number of breather episodes between them, much like what Dragon Ball Super does, to further focus on supporting characters that don’t get as much limelight in the main sagas and also to just further flesh out our primary cast.

* The second saga would be a tournament arc, featuring another multiversal tournament. This scenario assumes all the universes that participated in the tournament of Power were revived, and that Goku convinced the Zen-oh’s to hold annual multiversal tournaments WITHOUT blinking anyone out of existence for stupid reasons.

However, the main thing to note is that there are actually TWO tournaments held annually, a Tournament of Power every two years featuring the absolute strongest fighters from each universe (Goku and friends, Toppo, Jiren and the Elite Pride Troopers, the Kamikaze Fireballs). And every year after it, there’s now another tournament meant for less experienced fighters from the various universes (Young Pride Trooper recruits and a young magical sidekick to Ribrianne in the vain of Chibiusa from Sailor Moon, for some examples).

Uub and the other next gen fighters compete as a team in this tournament, which is structured a bit more similarly to the World Tournaments from the original Dragon Ball except with whole teams competing together. This tournament would basically be a chance to introduce a bunch of new characters that’ll be more important later in the show, as well as re-introducing and catching up with established other universe characters from Super like the Universe 6 saiyans and Hit, Toppo, and the various Gods of the multiverse. It would also establish that there seems to be a feeling of discontent between the Gods of Destruction of the other universe, especially in regards to a newly appointed God for one of the universes that seems shady.

* A potential third arc would involve an invasion from the Demon Realm Dabura ruled over, possibly lead by his widowed wife who has a grudge against the Z fighters because she believes them and the Supreme Kai at least partially responsible for her husband’s death.

A notable thing that would happen during this saga is that the villain would use  a special kind of dark magic to effectively nerf most of the strongest Z fighters. Goku, Vegeta and Gohan would lose their ability to assess their super saiyan transformations and Gohan’s ultimate form for example. I suggest this mostly as a way to make sure there’s tension for later sagas so that when bigger threats start popping up, Uub, Pan and the other next gen characters can still be the main heroes of the story and Goku can’t just use his God forms to easily end all the conflicts himself.

The first half would basically be the main villain and a group of elite mooks scheming to find a way to break the barriers between realms so that an entire army of demons could invade universe 7, while the Z fighters try to stop her. But because Dabura’s wife is a chessmaster and a scheming genius, she basically plays them all to help her succeed in her goal, and the second half of the saga deals with the next gen characters and the weakened Z fighters all trying to repel the invasion and minimize damage. This saga would also feature cameos of various ally characters like Android 8, Upa and Bora, Korin and Yajirobe, Baba and her monster fighters, Jaco and the galactic patrol, namekian warriors and even minor villains like Master Shen and Tao Pai Pai fighting demons attacking various places around the earth and other parts of the universe.

The explanation for why Beerus isn’t around to deal with this situation is that he was in universe 6 challenging Champa to poker, and at some point the two ended up having a drinking contest that got them both so drunk they passed out for a month. Whis decided to hang out in universe 6 for the time being and catch up with Vados in the meantime, being unaware of what was going on in universe 7.

*At least one or more sagas would take place almost entirely in the other universes

And, that’s all I got for the time being. Might go back and add to this later for the fun of it. I just hope we get another EoZ sequel at some point for real, there’s SO MUCH potential for that era and the characters beyond that point, and I would HATE for GT to be the only show ever made taking place following this era because of how badly it screwed that all up.

[oldtestleper]

kharro, leya ?

Kharro

Full Name: Samir Kharro

Gender and Sexuality: Female, grey-ace and demiromantic

Pronouns: she/her

Ethnicity/Species: Togurta

Birthplace and Birthdate: Unknown. She was abandoned as a small child on the steps of the Jedi Temple. It may have been sheer luck that she turned out to be Force-sensitive.

Guilty Pleasures: Arik’s company (that is, spending time with him lmao, not his command). She knows he’s head over heels for her and she knows she’s sliding slowly but surely in that direction, but she doesn’t want to hurt him by cutting off their relationship. And it would be bad for morale if suddenly the battalion’s COs weren’t on speaking terms…. at least, that’s her excuse.

Phobias: She has abandonment issues to a degree, but I don’t know about any proper phobias

What They Would Be Famous For: Being that one Jedi who’s probably gone Dark but nobody can actually get any proof

What They Would Get Arrested For: IDK about arrested, but she’s probably risked court-martial a few times.

OC You Ship Them With: Arik (but only after the war)

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Arik

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: She likes pretentious art-house films and poetry because she likes to find ways to pretend to herself that existence has meaning

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: “Sexy Togruta” trope, goddammit

Talents and/or Powers: She isn’t all that great when it comes to lightsaber combat, but she has exceptionally deft control over her telekinesis and Force perception despite her lack of tremendous raw power.

Why Someone Might Love Them: She’s super loyal to her men and to the Cause™ and always leads from the front.

Why Someone Might Hate Them: Jedi tend to dislike her because she’s a fairly aggressive person who is carrying all kinds of baggage she refuses to let go of and who constantly seethes with suppressed emotion. Also, she has almost zero respect for the Jedi Order except as her commanding officers. She considers herself answerable ultimately to the senate, not to the Jedi, which pisses a lot of people off. A clone might hate her for being a Jedi in theory, but it’s not going to be one of her lot.

How They Change: As the war goes on it takes a tremendous mental and emotional toll on her. Eventually she quietly abandons her allegiance to the Jedi Order and to Jedi spirituality and focuses entirely on fighting a successful war. If she kind of looses her soul in the process, then she’ll deal with that fallout after the war (if she lives to see it).

Why You Love Them: She’s another disillusioned Jedi trope, but not on strictly moral grounds like most are (like Jusik is, for example, hha) and I think that’s fun. And Togruta are lots of fun to draw.

Lt. Leya

Full Name: CT-7785, “Leya”Gender and Sexuality: Female, lesbianPronouns: she/herEthnicity/Species: Fett cloneBirthplace and Birthdate: Kamino. I don’t know her specific birthdate but she’s one of the older generations.Guilty Pleasures: Sweets, lying around in bed (this especially becomes an issue once Gold, who LOVES cuddling, enters the picture)Phobias: Space!Cockroaches. She hates the way they scuttle. She doesn’t mind spiders, though.What They Would Be Famous For: Filing her teeth down to points and, inevitably, using them on some unfortunate bastard (this is not something she really does. but it is something she probably would do.)What They Would Get Arrested For: Starting a bar fight and causing thousands of credits’ worth of property damage in the span of only a few minutesOC You Ship Them With: Someone I haven’t introduced yet! Her name is Gold, she’s a clone technician on Kharro’s cruiser. Natural blond, a bit runty, very sweet and shy.OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Ghost would kill her on purpose (and vice versa), Carver would start a fight with her and kill her on accident (or vice versa). And of course Seppies are a constant threat to her life.Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Action/Adventure for movies, she likes that it’s stylized and dramatic enough not to make her Twitchy most of the time, but there are still enough fireballs and violence to be kind of cathartic. As for books, she likes a nice dense urban fantasy.Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: Everyone lives happily ever after. Either she has to watch it with an escapist’s eye and be disappointed when she reenters the real world, or a cynic’s eye and be bitter through the whole thing. It’s lose-lose, she doesn’t feel like she gains anything out of it.Talents and/or Powers: She’s a rock-solid strategist and a force of nature in any type of hard contact.Why Someone Might Love Them: Leads from the front, great soldier. Gold loves her because Leya lets herself show a bit of a softer side to her personality around Gold. Really, Leya has the potential to be endlessly patient and considerate even if she does operate under the assumption that being right is more important than being gentle with other people’s feelings.Why Someone Might Hate Them: Blunt, doesn’t have patience for anyone’s bullshit. She and Carver have a working enmity because she think’s he’s a diva (she’s… not wrong) and he thinks she’s a pretentious hardass who tries too hard and doesn’t know how to unclench lmaoHow They Change: Idk, I like to think that she eventually takes a more forgiving attitude towards self-care and learns to be better about opening up to people rather than trying to deal with everything by herselfWhy You Love Them: She’s the aggressively blunt person that I wish I could be