#but they gave us the super saiyan emote this time :(

[couple-o-commanders]

I need the Mist Reward Potion to come back.

[pikahlua]

Okay, here's my MHA criticism.

Everyone has their own personal hangups about the MHA ending, but mine is not about the ending itself. The epilogue doesn't feel rushed to me--the entire final act does, ever since the PLW ending.

But I can't say that the issue is actually rushed writing. There was a change in the writing, and it came with pros and cons. Ever since this change, a lot of people felt a lack of Izuku's introspection, but I still see his introspection all over the place. It's just not compelling introspection, and it's the natural consequence of this writing change.

The thing that changes is the way Horikoshi depicts character interaction and reflection.

To cap off the story's themes, Horikoshi chooses to focus on select emotional beats involving specific characters as short, finite set pieces. Some of them work great, like Katsuki's apology. But what is lost in this process are the other emotional beats Horikoshi doesn't spend time on, such as Izuku's quick, comical, emotionally dissonant reunion with All Might back at UA after going vigilante. The set pieces Horikoshi chooses to focus on at Tomura's end are two moments, one between All For One and Yoichi, and the other between Izuku and Tomura. But what is lost in this case is the strangely off-screened encounter between Nana's and Tomura's vestiges, and we're just given the fact that Nana preserved Tomura's sense of self as an offhand remark. This is a recurring theme where Horikoshi lands the set pieces he has likely visualized for years but that somehow don't have the same impact as the emotional scenes from earlier in the story. The details that build up to these moments are lacking, and it's because the characters don't interact as they should.

Horikoshi has overall messages he wants to focus on, such as the unity in everyone coming together inspired by Izuku at the end. But he places so much focus on his entire cast of characters at large to achieve this theme that the story becomes unbalanced. We as readers have read about his characters over the years, and we've grown especially attached to some of them. Even if there are minor characters we may enjoy, if Horikoshi is doing his job as a writer, the majority of us should be here for the main characters. If Horikoshi wants to feature every single one of his characters in the final arc, then he has to do so with balance. The main characters should be given more emotional weight than the side characters.

Hanta Sero can have his cool moment no problem, but why does it come so late into Izuku's final battle??? It makes no sense emotionally for it to be there. At this stage in the story, we would expect any other major character to fill this role. Hell, Iida is sitting right there with not much going on for his character this arc.

And the same emotional underwhelm goes for so many other moments. Why is the primary character screaming in agony over Katsuki's death Neito Monoma??? Aizawa is right there, and all we get from him is a horrified face but no reaction otherwise. He fades to the background immediately. Izuku's reaction to Katsuki's death is built up so much and yet not nearly enough time or weight is devoted to the actual moment when it happens. Compared to such iconic reactions to death in the shounen genre that came before it such as Goku's super saiyan transformation in response to the death of his best friend Krillin, Izuku's reaction to Katsuki's death is utterly forgettable.

The issue is not that Horikoshi gave Sero and Monoma these moments. It's that he either weighted or timed them and many others like them poorly. No one reading MHA wonders what wisdom Sero would have to offer at the end or what sort of reaction Monoma would have to Katsuki's death--or rather, they don't wonder these things more than they wonder about the main characters themselves. Main characters are the characters we're SUPPOSED to care about. If you give Sero and Monoma big moments like what they got, then the main characters have to have even bigger moments following in order to still be impactful. But we don't get that. We get the set pieces, but we don't get any of the logical character interaction and reflection these set pieces beg for. If I have to choose between Izuku's reaction to Katsuki's death and Monoma's, I want Horikoshi to spend all his time and effort on Izuku's every time. It's nice to see how main characters interact with side characters and to hear those side characters' perspectives but NOT at the cost of the main characters interacting and sharing their perspectives. Horikoshi makes too much space for his side characters, and so we lose the detail that could have gone into important moments between the main characters. The overall story remains coherent and complete, but it also leaves something to be desired for the characters themselves. As a result, I find myself both given closure and longing for a more robust, impactful resolution for the main characters.

tl;dr Horikoshi gave too much to his side characters and not enough to his main characters, which particularly affected the interactions between the characters we all care most about

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super manga ch.84-86

“Hey, honey, I got the crap beat out of me.”

“Well don’t just stand there!  Go show the baby!”

“Oh yeah, good call.  Hey, son.  I got worked over pretty good.”

Currently, Goku and Vegeta are trying to stop Gas, who became nearly invincible thanks to a wish on the Dragon Balls.  Their only chance is that Bardock once fought Gas before, and as Goku listens to the audio recordings on Bardock’s old scouter, he suddenly has a recollection of his infancy on Planet Vegeta, up to and including the moment when his parents shot him into space. 

That scene is shown in here as well, but I think I like the above page the best, where baby Kakarot was just watching his mom putter around the house throughout the day.  He didn’t see much of his family while he was in the incubation tank, but he saw some, and now he finally remembers it. 

You might think the Bardock audio would be useless, since it didn’t provide any special insights into how to defeat Gas, past or present.  Bardock just hung in there and kept sluggin’ away until he won.  But that’s actually exactly what Goku needed to hear.  As Whis tried to explain to Goku earlier, the key to mastering Ultra Instinct is not to devise some cool new transformation, or to imitate Whis’ angelic calm.  Goku has to be himself so he can find his own path to Ultra Instinct mastery.  Hearing his father’s voice, talking about victory and survival above all else, that reminds Goku of who he is, and who he’s always been. 

And Vegeta needed to hear it too.  He had been trying to use Destruction energy like Beerus, who had advised Vegeta to cast aside his guilt over the sins of the Saiyan people.  Now he’s finally figured out how to do that properly.  Before, he was just acting like he no longer cared about the Saiyans’ crimes.  Now, he finally accepts that their crimes are not his responsibility. 

So when Gas finally returns to Planet Cereal to settle things, he finds Goku and Vegeta are ready for him.  This time, they fight him together, and their Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego forms are much more focused than before.

Elec tells the Heeters that he expected something like this, and it doesn’t matter that these two power-ups gave Granolah some trouble, since Gas is stronger than Granolah.  But Goku and Vegeta don’t give a fuck.  Screw the odds, they just want to kick some ass. 

Let me skip a bunch of this fight.  I feel bad about doing that, since the action sequences are probably the best feature of Toyotaro’s art.  But I’m here to talk about the plot first and foremost.  Basically, Vegeta sets up a beam struggle with a big Hakai blast, and while Goku pushes it, Vegeta tries to flummox Gas at the same time.  It doesn’t quite work, but Vegeta still manages to hang in there, because Ultra Ego feeds on the damage Gas dishes out.  So it becomes a question of whether Gas can take down Vegeta before he surpasses Gas in power. 

Gas tries to solve that dilemma by killing him all at once, but good luck one-shotting Vegeta.  Of course, eventually Vegeta does fall, because Gas hits like a speeding truck, and Vegeta can only take so much punishment.  But while he’s fighting Gas, it gives Goku a chance to figure out how to optimize his UI.

I should really write about this in a separate post, but it seems like Goku is just sort of inventing a new form specifically for the way he plans to use Ultra Instinct here.  With the silver-haired form, he could use it well, but it only lasted so long, and he had to keep his emotions in check.  Now, he’s using this other version that looks pretty close to his base form, but he can use his turbulent emotions and Ultra Instinct at the same time.  And this freaks Gas out, not because of Goku’s methodology, but because the result has him looking a lot like Bardock did right before he kicked Gas’ ass forty years ago.

To be clear, Goku always looks like Bardock all the time.  The resemblance isn’t what got in Gas’ head.  It’s the confidence Goku found in this moment, where he’s totally in synch with who he is and what he’s trying to do. 

By contrast, Gas had some pride in himself as a warrior, but all he ever does is what Elec tells him to do, in the name of some grander agenda for the Heeters, which I doubt Elec has ever deigned to explain to him.  And that plan involved Gas surrendering his warrior pride to get a boost from the Dragon Balls, so his morale is shot, even if he won’t admit it. 

Sure, Gas may be stronger than Goku... no, wait, maybe he’s not.  As Goku fights, he seems to get just a teeny edge over Gas.  It’s not much, and it won’t last long, but it’s just like Vegeta warned Granolah earlier.  The rankings don’t mean much in the long run.  Strongest, second strongest, it all changes with the weather. 

But then Elec gives Gas another scolding/pep talk, and that reawakens Gas and he starts to fight even harder.  Also his body looks messed up.  Macki and Oil begin to get concerned, even as Gas seems to have Goku on the ropes.

But then Granolah shows up to make the save.  So somehow, Monaito managed to heal all three of them up during the 20 minutes while Gas was away.  That’s not hard to believe, except Monaito kept complaining about how he could heal people very fast, and now he seems to be improving. 

Anyway, Goku agrees to keep Gas busy while Granolah charges up his full power for a single attack.  You know the drill.

Goku has trouble, but fortunately, Vegeta gets a second win and helps buy more time.  Then Oil and Macki try to jump in but Monaito stops them... with the power of hypnotism!  Well, whatever works. 

But it still isn’t quite enough, so then Goku activates his Stand, or whatever that giant Goku thoughtform is supposed to be.  It’s the same thing he used against Moro, so I guess it makes sense.  Anyway, he grabs Gas and chucks him into the sky so Granolah can get a clear shot, and Oatmeel helps him aim, since his eyes are still hurt from before.  The power of teamwork!

Granolah fires, and it looks like one of those classic anime blasts where the bad guy disintegrates into nothing, but instead Gas falls back to the ground, and Granolah explains that he didn’t kill him, because he’s decided to forsake revenge.  Then he apologizes to Goku and Vegeta for the trouble he’s caused them, and it looks like that just about wraps things up....

... or does it?

[onesillybeach]

I just went off on a tangent in the group chat, but I want to share it, cause like... Does anyone else feel this way?

___

I think Vegeta holds his intelligence, and other's intelligence, with a certain pride. Like recognizes that it's super important. Which is why he seems to respect Gohan more than Goku. Cause he can see Gohan is actually striving for knowledge, unlike Goku who just wants to get stronger and stronger.

That's not to say Goku isn't a smart fighter. He's super intelligent when it comes to martial arts and combat.

I also believe Vegeta was attracted to Bulma, not just because she's strong-willed and beautiful, but she's highly intelligent. I think King Vegeta, being regarded as the smartest Saiyan in his time, probably instilled that into his son. Like: "Listen, son. Being strong is important, but being smart is necessary. Our family did not come to such power by muscle alone. You must train your mind as much, if not more, than your body."

But then when Frieza got a hold of him, Frieza knew that if he kept the Saiyans stupid, then they could continue to be controlled. But Vegeta was just a kid when Frieza got to him. Vegeta was still very much impressionable. And Frieza fucking used that. He made sure to convince Vegeta that strength was everything. You have to be strong. If you aren't strong, you're weak, and useless. And useless soldiers die. Just be strong. Which I think would have created a conflict in Vegeta. He's got Frieza threatening to kill him if he doesn't keep getting stronger. And he's got his dad in his head saying he has to be smart. So eventually, he learns to hide his intelligence from Frieza. He has it, but doesn't dare use it. He can't. Frieza doesn't want to see that. And then as years go by, it just becomes part of his personality. Secretly smart. Outwardly strong and egotistical. And years go by. It's gets worse. More years go by. It's so much worse. Vegeta's now 20 and a complete asshole and has great strength. But no one even suspects he's got a functioning brain. He's just a stupid monkey Just this obscenely strong stupid monkey And then on Namek, Frieza death beams Vegeta. And we see his real intelligence. We see a piece of the real Vegeta as he fucking cries and tells Goku about what happened on Planet Vegeta and why he joined Frieza in the first place. It's a very small little snippet of the real Vegeta. But it fucking speaks volumes. He tells Goku those things because he's figured out that Goku gains strength through emotion. Vegeta has figured out, in the very short amount of time he's actually known Goku, that Goku is a genius martial artist and uses his sentimentality to find the strength and will to keep fucking going until he's either dead or his opponent is. Vegeta is feeding Goku his own pent up emotions and hoping Goku can sympathize or even empathize with him and use it to kill Frieza for good. And it fucking works. Cause Goku ends up fighting not only for himself and his friends and family like always, but he fights for Vegeta and his entire obliterated race that he's never known. And the only reason Frieza didn't die, was because Goku gave Frieza a chance to live. And Frieza, obviously, is fucking durable as fuck

[luxshine]

Headcanons for that dragon!Ram 'verse

That I might write once Despacito (Moon Knight) is done.

And I need to write this out before it makes my head explode.

Dragon-hybrids are born from eggs. This is important for later.

The British empire has been methodically killing every dragon and dragon hybrid in their territory since forever, as they don't want anyone more powerful than the Empire getting ideas. So they attacked the Dragon villages first, fast and not leaving any survivor.

Ram is a fire-dragon hybrid, and was rescued from the dragon massacre by Venkatarama's wife, who hid his egg by pretending it was her pregnant belly. While neither her nor Venkatarama knew exactly how to take care of a dragon hybrid, they did their best to encourage him to embrace both sides of his nature, while at the same time teaching him to keep his dragon side hidden from anyone outside of the family for his own safety.

Dragon hybrids usually shift when feeling great emotion or under great duress. Ram has taught himself not to shift no matter what, as he is the king of supressing emotion. All that shifts when he's starting to lose control of those are his eyes, which turn gold/red, and his eyelids that start showing his gold scales. HE is quick to hide those, and usually throwing water on himself or deep breaths calm him enough to shift to full human. In full hybrid form, when he's angry, his hair turns white. Very Super-saiyan.

His first book from his hoard was a fairy tale book that his mother gave to him as a gift. He keeps that book with him always, when he needs to move and create a new hoard for himself.

He has wings and can fly, both in hybrid and full dragon form. But he doesn't really like it as he feels that he could forget his mission because he feels so much joy when flying.

Dragon hybrids have an instinct to protect those weaker than them. This has made Ram very conflicted when he is undercover as all his instincts yell at him to help those he's fighting at all times. (This is also why he absolutely forgets all about chasing Lachuu in order to save the boy in the river)

Ram can breathe fire, but he never did it until Akthar found out he was an hybrid and started using it to make smoke figures to make Akthar laugh.

Dragon hybrids mate for life, and have a pre-destined mate. In order to find them, a small section of their scales -usually where they are to be touched by their mate for the first time- are the color of his mate's. Ram has a circle of green-blue scales, the color of the seas, in his right arm so he knows his future mate is a water dragon. (Yeah, I decided to go angsty and yes, Bheem is a hybrid too. More on him below, but he obviously has a circle of gold-scales in his right arm too, just that he has never seen it)

Dragons hybrids are not easy to kill, as they heal faster than humans (Ram's uncle insists that Ram shifts every night in the privacy of his apartment so that he can heal from the punishment he gives his body), and usually would be immortal. However, they can die from a broken heart if their pre-destined mate rejects them for any reason (The mate doesn't die, just never finds a new mate) or dies after the hybrid has accepted them as mates.

Because Ram is a young dragon-hybrid, his full dragon form is still small. He's about the size of a wolf, which is why he can curl easily in a nest of books or on top of his desk.

Once Akthar discovered Ram being a dragon-hybrid, Ram's favorite place to sleep when shifted is on Akthar's chest. He also likes to curl up around his shoulders. Akthar/Bheem is the only one outside Ram's adopted human family who has ever seen him in his full dragon form, and the only one outside his adopted human village who has seen him in hybrid form.

Sita is Ram's adopted sister. He loves her a lot, but he doesn't love her romantically as dragon hybrids only fall in love with other dragon hybrids.

Here's the angsty part because we need MORE angst besides the whole betrayal thing from the plot: While Bheem IS a dragon hybrid, AND Ram's destined mate... He also has no idea he's a dragon hybrid. In order to protect him (And also, a bit selfishly), the Gonds who found his egg and adopted him as part of the tribe have been feeding him a medicine that suppresses his dragon side completely, and rising him to ignore some of his dragon instincts, such as hoarding, while taking advantage of his protection instincts to have an immortal protector of the tribe. He has never shifted, so he has no idea he can.

SO... Ram instinctively knows that Bheem is his mate, and doesn't get why, if Ram has been so open about his dragon side, Bheem won't even show him his real eyes (By the way, they go blue with a green halo). Bheem, for his side, loves Ram but knows that since Ram is a dragon, he can't love Bheem, so he's trying hard to hide his feelings and pretend he's in love with Jenny, even if he only sees her as a nice british lady and a way to save Maili. Bheem also thinks that the reason why Ram is so affectionate with him is because he's the only one who knows the secret, and so, the only one with whom Ram can be himself.

Lacchu is the one who knows how to make the medicine for Bheem, and at some point may have to decide between telling the truth to Bheem to save Ram's life... or let his torturer die knowing that Bheem might survive the broken heart as he never acknowledged Ram as his mate.

Bheem discovered Ram being a hybrid one day when he just went to his apartment late at night to have dinner with him (notice how when he goes there in the movie after the market with Jenny he just goes to the kitchen and grabs food? He's so used to be there it's home), when Ram was already asleep in his hybrid form. Because Ram already had decided Bheem was his mate (Before Bheem convinced him he was human) he just felt so safe he never woke up nor shifted to human instinctively (as he had gotten in the habit whenever he sensed danger)

Bheem at first thinks Sita is a dragon, the way Ram talks about her as his fiancee (As part of his cover with the Empire). He is VERY surprised when he finds out she's human and thus, can't really be his fiancee.

Bheem can breathe underwater. He has never figured out that that's not something other protectors could do.

Before meeting Ram, due to how the Gond tribe raised him, Bheem never had a hoard. But the day he met Ram, he picked up a small pebble from the river where they rescued the boy, as it reminded him of Ram's human eyes. After that, any pretty rock or crystal that called his attention ended up in his hands. He doesn't realize he is creating a hoard until someone else (Sita or Jenny maybe?) point it to him, and he can already sleep on it in human form.

Jenny is a sort of expert in dragons, as she has collected books about them (Some of which at some point would end up in Ram's hoard if she can find a way to give them to him, when she finds out he's a dragon) She hates that the Empire has killed them and is trying to find one alive to see if it's possible to bring them back from extintion. She also is not that blind to how British people treat natives, and in secret she had also been helping revolutionaries escape. No one ever suspected her as she always acts so innocent. She also speaks Telugu, but pretends not to in order to keep her status (This is why she invites Bheem so quickly to the house. She KNOWS he wants to go, but needs to pretend to be completely oblivious in case her uncle's spies are watching. It is also why she has no angst at her uncle and aunt dying. She was actually thinking of doing the deed herself given how cruel they were.)

The very first time Ram loses control of himself, and needs to run to his place to hide, shift and manage to bring his emotions back under control before anyone sees him is when he sees Bheem leave with Jenny for the market.

Edward and Scott have boasted that they have killed dragons single handedly. This is not true, Edward has never faced a dragon, and Scott only saw the dead bodies after the attack on the Village where Ram would have lived if he had been raised by dragons.

Dragon-hybrids are very, very single minded once they got a prey. That is why Ram's uncle was very surprised that Ram was content with just showing the sketch around instead of looking for more clues to find Lacchu, but then, he meets Bheem and understands why his nephew's focus is so divided.

Snake venom usually does nothing to dragon-hybrids. The reason why the bite of the banded krite almost killed Ram was because he was already fighting his broken heart, thinking that Bheem would rather be friends with a human than accept him as a mate and realizing that Bheem had to be the man he was chasing. He just wanted to be wrong about the second thing and die in Akthar's arms, skipping the whole heartache process.

At the same rate, the only reason why his body fought the venom in the end was because the antidote had been given to him by Bheem. Even if his mind wanted to die before hurting his mate, his body wouldn't let him because Bheem wanted him to live.

Before dying from a broken heart, Dragon-hybrids can go completely feral. Despite knowing his dragon form was too small to cause too much damage, Ram was counting on that happening during his execution -that wouldn't take, as you can't kill a dragon-hybrid by hanging- so that he might kill Scott and as many british soldiers he could, hoping that he'd retain enough of his old self not to kill any more of his people.

If Bheem could shift to his half-form, he could have talked to the animals and explained them why he needed them. Then the massacre would've been a lot bigger.

During the whole fight for his arrest, Ram's eyes were in his dragon form as he couldn't control himself. The anger and betrayal that Bheem felt was so great that his eyes ALMOST shifted, fighting the medicine of the Gonds.

Dragon-hybrid's skin reacts to their element. Ram's is always a higher temperature from humans, so those who don't know his secret think he's running a small fever. Bheem's is always cold to the touch, like a river.

The first time Bheem's eyes shifted was when he saw Ram again, in the solitary cage. The shock of seeing Bheem again, looking at him with love, with his true eyes, brought back Ram from the edge of going feral. Bheem, from his part, was too overtaken by emotions to notice that he was seeing more colors and more clearly than usual (Dragon-hybrids can see in the dark)

Once they get the weapons to Ram's village, Ram starts skulking again because Bheem STILL insists he's human and can't be Ram's mate. It falls on Sita, Jenny and yes, Lacchu who has now started to see why Ram and Bheem belong to each other, to bring Bheem's instincts back up so that he will realize who he is (When told directly, he laughs and tells them to stop joking, so more extreme measures are needed.)

[z0-ne]

Hello! Sorry if I'm bothering you but I just got this idea, and I would like if you would write it!! :)

Can I request a trunks x female Saiyan reader, Soulmate AU, so a soulmate AU where future trunks finds his soulmate and she turns out to be a SAIYAN, her family kept her hidden this whole time, and she was sent to earth and adopted by a family after planet Vegeta was destroyed.

let me just say something about the reader😌 She's

✨ DROP DEAD GORGEOUS ✨

And she has this calm powerful Aura around her, She's also a full blood Saiyan 🤭 but she doesn't get easily angry like most female Saiyans which is surprising 😮(since most do but not all) And she's STRONG STRONG, and when she powers up, she doesn't just go super Saiyan, but she even has like her own different unquie form.

Thank you again for this request! I hope its okay if I use a specific AU for this! I'll use the Sharing Pain Soulmate AU! (Where bruises, cuts, blisters, and such appear on your skin if your soulmate gets them and visa versa. Like if you get a paper cut your soulmate gets the same cut.) This takes place after the andriods and cell! POSSIBLE TRIGGERS! : Talk about sc@rs, death, and hints of emotional abuse

Not A Curse (FUTURE! TRUNKS X (FEM! SAIYAN! READER!)

Soulmates are commonly known across most timelines as a blessing, a gift from above, or a golden string of luck. Unfortunatly, not all timelines have such a romantic way of finding ones soulmate. Some get little marks that tell them when or where they'll meet, strings or even words on their their arm or something cute, and harmless.

While others get the bad end of the stick, like not knowing until it's too late, deadly breakable bonds, blinding them until they finally meet and so many more.

Trunks was unlucky enough to be apart of that timeline with a method that did more harm than good in his eyes. Something that made him wonder if he ever wanted to meet them in the first place.

Trunks was forced to share his physical pain with his soulmate, from the moment he was born up to now, and everyday he couldn't help but feel bad for his soulmate.

It must've felt more like a curse rather than a blessing.

The andriods, his father, and both fights with cell and his demon spawns. Every victory just felt like a bitter win as he sat back and thought about how much it must've hurt his soulmate to experience.

If they were even alive. For all he knew they could be dead and gone in his world because the last time he remembered feeling anything close to pain was in his chest when he was no younger than ten,

Trunks was eighteen now. It's been eight years since his soulmate gave him any sign of being alive, and after what those andriods did he wouldn't be suprised if they weren't, but he'd still be hurt.

Even now, after training he found himself looking at his bloodied knuckles and arms as he sat on the ground with a towel drapped over his neck, sweat dripping off his head and onto the ground.

'I wonder if they're still alive...They're probably in a lot of pain because of me if they are.'

Mentally scolding himself as he looked at the broken skin on his rough hands. He must've hit something a little too hard too many times if it did this to his knuckles.

'This Soulmate thing is so stupid. It's like some curse."

___________________

Your Soulmate had to have been the most reckless person known to man. Even as a saiyan you've experienced pain your parents have tried to hide you from.

Which is another reason for them to act even more protective, not even including the death scare they got some years ago due to those andriods.

First and last encounter with those things were you getting shot through the upper back. It was a miracle that you were able to survive such a shot.

However, thanks to that you were brought under ground and hidden from the world as a whole, you didn't even know anything past what they told you.

Even then,they held the truth up until now.

Alien parents who got into some freak space accident and sent you there, where your parents would then find you and isolate you from a world that was already nearly a ghost planet.

They did everything to keep you "out of trouble and pain free", but thanks to your soulmate they couldn't savve you from everything. So in an effort of keeping you safe.

They forbid any form of contact with your soulmate.

Training was allowed, Learning, and even wondering around the hideout was all permitted, but anything like going outside or doing anything that might trigger something was forbbiden.

It was all in some strange effort to keep you from contacting whoever you thought your soulmate was, because in their eyes your soulmate was just some no good delinquint that would get their baby hurt or killed.

Which was the reason why when you turned eighteen you left to see the world for what it really was.

Now you weren't sure if you made the right move.

The world was in absolute rubble. Those andriods must've destroyed everything before going into hiding, and you couldn't call your parents because phones weren't a thing anymore.

Not that you would really want to after finding out what you found out,

After your shock and a little more flying you felt a sting on your knuckles, only this time you were actually relieved to feel that pain. It meant that some people were left alive through this massacre.

Staring down at your knuckles for so long, you finally remembered that the andriods might still be alive, so you landed in some random area with mountains taller than anything you've seen before.

"I should be okay walking for now."

You said out loud as you continued through the rocky trails left in between some giant mountains and smaller boulders. It wasn't like you couldn't just break them, but you had no want to do that.

Actually now that you looked around, you noticed it was a good place to try out a proper power up. With no people, crops, or andriods from what you could tell for miles, you had a great opprotunity.

So, you took another quick glance around, not noticing the lavender haired man from above staring at you as you removed your coat, and showed your scared stomach and back.

Then you wrapped it around your waist, and shifted your body in a proper stance.

Soon you focused your energy from the pits of your stomach to the rest of your body, and let your power grow to what you felt like was it's full potential.

-----------------

Watching them from afar stood Trunks, at the top of one of those mountains he sat on a little while ago. He only caught on because he felt a different source of energy and he didn't know who or what it could be.

It wasn't until he saw you take off your coat that he saw your scars, and noticed how they matched up with his. Especially the scar that sat directly ontop the left side of your chest.

It matched up perfectly with the one he got when he was killed by Perfect Cell a few months ago.

That's what really dragged him over the edge, close enough to see how you slowly started to grow stronger, and eventually there was a huge amount of power coming from you.

He nearly fell to his knees due to just how overwhelming your aura was, and he could only imagine how it must've felt up close.

Even fighting Cell in the past he hadn't felt such power to the point where he felt a million times more weak than someone he wasn't even fighting.

As he watched you adjust to the sudden transformation, you looked like you were moving as light as a feather! It was almost as if that amount of power meant nothing.

'Wait..'

There was a sudden realization and want to get a closer look at you that he pulled out of thin air, and that thought or realization made him both curious and upset.

Without even thinking, he jumped down and sped towards you, and rightfully so he was nearly hit with a beam that was a little too strong for his liking.

He was lucky enough to dodge, but looking at the huge amount of damage it left behind. A huge crater in the ground, the nuclear explosion, and not to mention the radiation alone was enough to leave his skin feeling a little charred.

"Hey! What the hell?! Are you tryin to kill what's left of us!?" He didn't even know why his first thought was to be upset considering that if someone with any type of strength that he thought might've been a threat came at him he would've done the same.

Coming at you a little slower now because you relaxed your stance, and to avoid nearly getting killed. Trunks eventually ended up infront of you.

"Oh- I'm sorry, I thought you were an andriod! I'm (Name)! Lovely to meet you!" You held out your hand to the man who's face shifted from angry to a little shocked when he heard who you thought he might've been.

Those andriods had been dead for a good few months now, and he went back to get rid of that weird Doctor's lab so nothing else was coming out of it.

"Wait, What? Those Andriods have been dead for months now? I killed them, and..Trunks.."

He responded, reaching out to shake your hand, and you took notice of his damaged knuckles as he did.

Squeezing his hand you could feel him flinch a litte, and quickly let him go. You hadn't powered down yet so it made sense that he was a little shocked.

"You killed them? You must be a Saiyan then? That's actually refreshing considering I'm a full blooded Saiyan too!"

"Half Saiya- Wait did you say FULL blooded?! " Honestly, The shock of you turning out to be a full blooded Saiyan and being completely unaware of the andriods for years is what caught him off guard.

"Ye"

"Where the hell have you been all this time!?"

"Um- Underground? With my parents?" "What!? You mean to tell me, While we're out here getting slaughtered like animals by those andriods, you were this strong and you hid away and didn't even try to fight!? Do you know how many people died?!" He didn't get it. You were more than strong enough to do something about the andriods long before he left and came back. There was no reason for you to not even try to help.

He was mad, and even though he was yelling, you not only powered down but you stayed absolutely calm throughout his scolding. In his mind you weren't even listening to him.

"I don't but I saw the cities, and I'm sad about it but please-"

"Are you even listening! You should be mad! Not sad! You're a Saiyan, and you stayed underground because what!?"

He was starting to sound like his father, and as much as it made him mentally cringe to admit, he was too upset to really stop himself at the moment.

Even though he was still angry, you kept calm and even offered to explain to him what he wasn't aware of, even if he might've not wanted to listen to what you had to say.

"If you'd let me finish, you'd understand."

Getting a moment of silence for the first time you decided to tell him everything you were allowed to know, how things went and just why you weren't able to help.

"My first and last interaction with those andriods resulted in my near death. So my parents moved me underground and told me something that was obviously a lie. "

"That's all I think you need to know. I'm sorry about your friends, and those people but there was nothing I could do against them if I didn't even know if those andriods were killable."

You explained as you slowly hovered above the ground, and turned your back to the man and flying off before he could get a chance to utter a word out of his mouth.

Keeping your composure anger wise wasn't hard considering you've done it your whole life, but being a little sad wasn't exactly something you learned to prevent.

Trunks felt a ping of guilt when he saw you turn away. Maybe it was because he knew he was wrong for reacting to a strangers sudden apperence with anger, or maybe he calmed down enough to actually listen to what you said.

Either way he went after you.

__________

It had been some hours, and the sun had set.

Trunks wasn't exactly sure if he'd find you or not, but he was hoping he could apologize for what he said a few hours ago so he wouldn't exactly give up.

Eventually, he was lucky enough to find you curled up ontop of a mountain with a clear view of one of the cities the andriods had destroyed some years ago.

Slowly, he went ahead and landed behind you, and got a good look at your back and saw the scar from the attack you had mentioned earlier. Similar to the one that showed up when he was ten.

"I know you're there. No need to sneak around."

He jumped at the suddenness of your voice, but regardless he walked around and sat beside you in silence. It wasn't until you had spoke up to break it.

"I'm sorry. I honestly didn't know. If I did I would've went out and at least tried."

That didn't exactly help the guilt he was already going through right now.

"No. I'm sorry for snapping. I was just upset I guess. I thought everyone would've known about them."

He was right, everyone should've known about them, but then again he didn't even think at the time that some people were fed lies in hiding about those things.

There was another awkward silence, and you broke it once again.

"They kept me away from the surface until they couldn't physically and mentally restrain me anymore. My parents I mean."

" They kept things from me, like my actual past. The truth about those andriods, and I went years only knowing what they told me becasue I trusted them."

"Even my anger was an Issue for them. I was trained to contain that, and I guess it built up into some weird form of power I learned to unleash just now. " "It wasn't until they noticed those weird marks and bruises that they realy got bad and went as far as forbbiding any form of contact with my Soulmate for the sake of keeping my curiosity at bay. So when I found out everything on my eightenth birthday, I guess I just snapped and ran."

By now, it was obvious that you were both each others Soulmates, and Trunks knew that just as well as you did.

He Tried to comfort you in his own way. Apologizing again for what he had said earlier, and trying to offer to listen if you wanted to talk more.

When you shifted the conversation to him, and asked about his life out here with the andriods you were met with what could be hundreds of stories filled with grief and absolute horror.

The amount of pressure he must've felt, thinking he was the only one left to save the world from being absolutely destroyed at such a young age, especially after loosing his mentor like that.

It was horrible.

After taking some time to comfort one another and apologize once again, there was more silence. Only this time around it wasn't nearly as awkward as it was before.

Actually it was like a weight was lifted from both of your shoulders. Turns out carrying stuff like that was hard, and finally talking about it let you both feel like you could breath.

_____________

A few months passed since then, and every day you both ended up in that same spot, talking, sparing, and just bonding when you both got the chance.

Same night as the first time you both met, but this time it was silent and comforting.

Silent because you had fallen asleep leaning on Trunks's shoulder by now, and he was silently admiring the beauty that was leaning against him, The beauty that turned out to be his soulmate.

While he still felt a little guilty for the first meeting between you two, he was happy that he had met you, regardless of the scars he felt so strongly about in the past because he felt like he gave them to you.

This couldn't be the work of a curse, because if it was he would've messed up his chances all those months ago, or you could've died all those years ago.

You're first meeting wasn't the most romantic, but it was not because of a curse.

[devilcatdarling]

Hollow, Ghost

7, 12, 13

Hope you don't mind that there are many of these :>

Ok so I did #12 and #13 for Hollow in another answer recently so be sure to check out the "#Hollow Knight Asks" tag for my page! I'll do #7 for Hollow here since I've not done that one for them yet and then the rest for Ghost!

7. the moment of theirs that made me the happiest

- Hollow: it's a tie between them walking out of the temple in Embrace the Void and them going batshit on Radiance in Dream No More. They get so little screentime in game so the absolute bad bitch energy of "I win and there's nothing you can do about it" in both of these endings made me go feral and I (accidentally) slammed my Xbox controller down during their two seconds of (half) onscreen time in ETV and the poor controller still makes a rattling sound to this day lol. The fact they gave us a canon ending where Hollow lives and actually staggers out. Yes I know DNM is more popular but ETV is the cope I needed mentally for the "you thought you'd seen the last of me! Surprise! I survived through all this shit and will live while the gods responsible roll around in their graves" and will gladly grab and run with it like the feral little rat that I am

-Ghost: shade lord Super Saiyan transformation complete with happy meal snacking Radiance and then Godseeker as desert because she talked so much shit. Something about the entire ETV ending timeline where Ghost looks at the other solutions and says "nah" and goes through so much so they get to smack the Radiance around like a squeaky dog toy is my favorite thing for them. I literally yelled "YES GET HER ASS! YOU TELL HER!" when they go for Radiance and then I just dissolved into ungraceful incoherency when they snatch Godseeker up like the last Pringle chip in the can. Ghost got what Ghost deserved lol

12. what I like about the way the fandom portrays them

Ghost- I like the specific flavor of fandom Ghost where they're this absolute force of (controlled) chaos. A bundle of fully-capable-of-mass-destruction God wrapped neatly in this tiny potato form and they are quiet and observant, giving little ability to read them as they observe the world. An enigma. They give off this older-than-time-and-knowing-beyond-comprehension feel and yet at any moment they want to they're going to whip out the nail and smash some shit to see what it does or buy an overpriced new lantern or charm they don't need because it's sparkly and looks cool. I love the carefully calculated balance between "This is an ancient force capable of swallowing gods and unleashing hell upon the unfortunate and it's face and body language gives nothing away" and "this is a shiny button that says Do Not Press and I'm going to press it anyway because I can and ooooo is that a rotten egg? I need it right now"

13. what I don't like about how the fandom portrays them

Ghost- ehhh probably when people make them TOO overly emotional and openly expressive. So little is elaborated about their backstory that there's nothing that really bothers me too bad, though I like when they have a careful balance of some childlike wonder in the world, mixed with this muted sense of an ageless otherworldly creature with a quiet way of doing things. Ghost is kinda an enigma in that we don't really know WHY they are the way that they are. They seemingly hatched with Hollow and are a clutchmate so they're definitely not a "baby" in that sense, but physically Hollow matured into adult form whereas Ghost apparently didn't. Is it because they needed something external to promote growth into an adult molt that they were deprived of? Are they even Hollow's past hatchmate or just the Shade god of the abyss condensing itself into a form tied to the Hollow Knight's greatest regrets to allow it to move more freely? Either way they clearly have a will and certain desires, but it's muted in such a way that just really seems to fit with their mysterious persona and when people make them too openly clingy and visibly expressive in their motivations it kinda turns me off. "What are they doing and why?" As they do things with little elaboration and explanation fits better for them imo

[megamattzx]

Dragon Ball New Frontier: Tales of the Time Patrol

Scars

The Time Patrol was enjoying a day of peace and quiet that they didn't usually get. One conversation going was consistent with the guys of the Time Patrol's best group, the multiversal Dragon Team, talking about their scars.

"No," Xeno Bardock explained. "This isn't the worst scar I've got."

GT Present Trunks then began to pull his shirt slightly, showing a massive stab wound scar on his left hip. "He's talking about one like this, right?" He asked.

"Yeesh!" Gohan responded with. "Whoever gave you that, got you good!"

Future Gohan then began showing the massive scar still present from the left side of his upper body. Much worse than the one over his left eye, the entire shoulder area as well as the armpit area were most definitely scarred. "This was given to me by my original versions of Androids 17 and 18, when I originally lost my arm," he said as he told the story. "Although I eventually got my arm back, the rest of the scar is still intact, as you can see."

Vegeta Jr, aka Vegeta the fifth the shows a scar on the top part of his right arm, all the way to the entire shoulder. "This was a gift from the evil Legendary Super Saiyan, Z Broly himself", the Clone and Adopted son of Vegeta proudly boasted. "Though we eventually defeated him, he was most definitely a worthy foe!"

Super Broly went next, showing his Achilles heel, which had a huge burn scar, that went up his lower leg. "A gift from Demon God Demigra, himself!" He said. "Out of commission for months afterwards so that it healed properly."

Goten then went next, removing his shirt and showing various scars on his upper body as he started looking for a specific one. "I've gotten plenty over the last hundred years," he said as he then began touching a scar on his right hip near his stomach. "But the worst that I've gotten has gotta be this one, right here. Impaled by a clone, similar to Copy Vegeta, of me. Everything I gave, he delivered right back."

Everyone looks at Goku Jr, causing him to sigh before he starts to remove his own shirt. "Alright, fine." He finally said as he struggled to take off the weighted shirt.

"Atta boy!" GT Present Trunks said. "Here, I thought you'd be sensitive and emotional about this stuff!"

"Really?" Goku Jr responded with. "So that's how you think of me...."

"Do you have any scars to show, before Kaka out does us all?" Xeno Goten asked GT Goten.

"No, not really," GT Goten said. "Plenty of stories, but nothing to really show for it."

Once Goku Jr removed his shirt, everyone could see various scars across his back and front areas of his upper body and even parts of the arms that the shirt was covering. Some of them are scars from getting slashed or stabbed, others being actual burns. "It's hard to say which one I've gotten is the worst in my opinion," Goku Jr said with honesty. "Although some of these, I don't remember much, mainly cuz I passed out or died shortly after obtaining them."

"Damn....." Most versions of Yamcha, Krillin, Tien and even Hercule simultaneously said.

"Did it hurt!?" Beat was heard asking.

"Again, little Bro," Goku Jr. answered. "I don't remember much with many of these."

"Judging from looking at these scars with my own eyes, that's probably for the best," GT Gohan declared bluntly.

"I got you beat!" Cabba declared. Causing everything to look at him. Cabba then placed his hand on Goku Jr's shoulder before he continued. "A Saiyan Princess as beautiful as the setting sun, shattered my heart like a mirror into a million pieces."

Everyone then began laughing as even Goku Jr was seen chuckling a bit.

"In that case, then I definitely got all of y'all beat," Present Trunks said. "Boy all the Ladies, I've met."

"Oh brother!" Goten said before everyone continued laughing.

"Joking aside," Goku then said. "He's Right. The worst scars can't be seen."

[melishade]

📕?

This ask game

Does me writing and not completing it technically count in this situation?

So back on ff.net, my very first fanfic was a DBZxTeen Titans (2004) crossover. Basically the summary of that was that Trunks had a malfunction in the time machine after the Cell Saga and ended up in Jump City in a different timeline. Because I was in middle school and was a fairly novice writer (also I didn't get a lot of comments on it) I deleted it and decided to not pursue it.

I did still think about it though in the past and what I would do to pursue that story now if I had the energy to do so:

-I would have had Trunks land a few episodes before Trigon's arrival. So before Raven has to fulfill that prophecy to bring her father out and cause ruin and destruction across the known universe. This would allow Trunks to build actual connections with the Titans and care about their own future.

-His introduction to the Titans is stopping one of the villains in Jump City that's on a Rampage. Plasmus, specifically. He senses a human body using ki and practically tackles him out of there. The Titans are grateful and decide to treat him to some food.

-He would be reluctant to reveal that he's from the future and that time travel exists when he does start interacting with the titans. Because even when he intentionally altered the past to save his future, it did nothing to alter his timeline, and the past that he went too exceedingly differentiated from the norm. He could've made their timeline better or worse if he said something but he kept it to himself.

-Of course he does eventually get found out. Trunks has no where to go and he's trying to get back home, but Starfire and Beast Boy want to offer their gratitude and get the others to agree. Of course, the last time a super-powered human came into their home had no where to go, she turned into Slade's apprentice. So there is some digging that is done. Robin initially thinks that Trunks is some sort of Kryptonian Hybrid with his abilities. He even kept a spare Kryptonite shard from Batman and had it in front of Trunks, but Trunks just picked it up and gave it back to Robin. They still ask him questions through small talk and meals, but Trunks is still selective about what he's choosing to share to prevent the timeline from breaking. Cyborg can't find any actual records on him, and Raven senses that his aura is completely different from everyone else. Like it doesn't belong in their world.

-This all kind of comes to a head during the whole Mother-Mae-Eye situation. I think it was Episode 45 of the show. Basically what happens is that Trunks kills her off the bat once he realizes what's happening, which does not go over well with the other Titans, especially Robin, who was raised on the no kill rule. There's an argument between all six of them, Trunks gets a tad bit emotional, and let's it slip that everyone he knows and loves from the future is dead because the threat he faces wasn't killed. This takes them all aback, and their demanding answers. Trunks is now forced to explain that he's from the future. He went back in time to warn his mother and her allies of the threat that was going to come. He went back to help them deal with it, and tried to go back to his timeline to take care of the Androids then. He even shows them his time machine, which Cyborg and Beast Boy can't help but gush at. Trunks still hides how strong he is and the Super Saiyan Transformation.

-There is still some heavy tension between Robin and Trunks because of their clashing ideologies. Robin is still holding steadfast to Batman's philosophy of "if we kill them, we're no better than them". But Trunks retorts that type of thinking is a privilege. One that only applies if a society is still in place, but the Androids destroy homes, lives, dreams. He lost almost everyone he cared about, and his mom put her blood, sweat, and tears into giving them a fighting chance to protect their home. And Robin can see through Trunks' eyes that this is so much different than what he even speculated. He lets it go, hell, he's sure he really can't stop Trunks, but he asks that if he stays with them, that he follows their rules. No killing. Arresting only.

-Now in regards to dynamics between Trunks and the Titans. There is tension between Robin and Trunks due to ideology. However, everyone else is not that bad. While Trunks does keep SS a secret, he does tell them that he's half alien and that his father is a Saiyan. Starfire's stunned because she's heard about the Saiyans before. They're quite similar to Tamarans in nature, but they're not as advanced as they are. Because Starfire is one of the strongest out of the team and can keep up with Trunks, the two of them spend a lot of time sparring together, allowing Starfire to get really strong. Cyborg can't help but ask Trunks about technology in the future as he's helping repair the time machine so Trunks can get back home. Trunks gives what he can because he's not the expert. His mom is. Beast Boy...well Beast Boy is honestly a nice change of pace for Trunks. The shape-shifter always tries to include him into stuff and makes him feel as welcome as possible. He helps get the conversation rolling and introduces him to movies and games from his time. As for Raven, the two don't talk initially, but Raven ends up asking how he's able to control his own powers with little difficultly. There's still a difference in how they control the energy in their bodies: Trunks using Ki and Raven using Chakra and Magic. But they swap ideas and start meditating together from time to time. Raven has asked to look into his mind in order to find a possibly memory of him looking at his mother's schematics so that Cyborg can fix the time machine. Trunks does agree, but Raven ends up seeing more glimpses of the future and just how horrible Trunks' life has been. She doesn't ask again for a while just to cope. She does tell Robin to go easier on him as a result though.

-However for Trunks, being here in Jump City is the most relaxed and happy that he's been. The future's in peril and every time he visited the past it was always to prevent a terrible future. He never had the time to enjoy the beauty the world had to offer. He's never had this level of safety and security before. On top of that, he's never had friends around his age. He never had friends...ever! It felt nice. And it was nice to be normal for once.

-Until Raven started acting weird one day. She was trying to make breakfast for the team, trying to be uncharacteristically nice, trying to not make rude comments, hell even forcing a smile. He also noticed that her ki felt off. And then he saw her collapse, and the red markings on her arm, and her crying. The Titans explain that before he arrived about Raven's birthday and an ancient prophecy that would bring her demonic father, Trigon, to their world and cause the end of it as they knew it. Trunks is devastated and he and the other titans install precautions to protect Raven, but Trunks senses demonic ki from outside the tower. He and the other titans are met with Slade and his army of lava ghouls. Now normally, Slade would think this was going to be a walk in the park. He sees Trunks, but doesn't think too much of him. But Trunks, without a word, blasts the entire army, excluding Slade to dust.

Slade: Oh shit.

Titans: Oh shit.

-Slade tries to summon more of Trigons army but Trunks is dealing with them too without going SS. And Trunks is ready to just erase Slade because it's either him or the whole world, but Raven uses her strength to knockout him out and everyone else out while also providing that protection from Trigon's wrath. So when they wake up, Trunks senses Raven's ki, picks up Cyborg and Robin like they're grapes and books it to her location with Starfire and Beast Boy struggling to keep up. But it's too late. Just as Trunks drops Cyborg and Robin and decimates the army present at the altar but it's too late. Raven opens the portal destroying herself, and Trigon comes through and destroys the world, save for the Titans and Trunks. And when they wake up to a ruined world, Trunks just screams out in despair because it happened again. Another future, another world, was destroyed.

-And then Slade makes himself known to the Titans again, and Trunks immediately tackles him and is ready to kill him. And Slade has no control over this situation and none of his powers, so he quickly blurts out that he knows where Raven is which gets Trunks to stop and the Titans to listen. Slade explains where she might be and that they need to find her soon and that they need to split up and distract Trigon. Titans are in protest, but Slade immediately says Trunks can be the distraction, stating that he knows hidden power when he sees it. Slade tells the Titans that Trunks has been lying about how strong he was, and Trunks just really hates this guy. But Trunks knows that Slade isn't lying. He's teaming up with the Titans out of pride and selfishness, just like Vegeta did. Trunks confesses and says that if he really wanted to, he could've destroyed the planet that they were on with a simple ki blast. He'll fight Trigon while the others go get Raven. Starfire decides to stay with Trunks and help. He can't do this alone and the two of them have been training together for months. They can do this together. Cyborg and Beast Boy go with Robin and Slade to get Raven.

-Now in any other situation, Trigon would have unleashed clones on Starfire and Trunks the moment they attacked in unison and hit him so hard that it knocked him backwards and destroyed the tower. But Trunks isn't playing around and activates Super Saiyan, and Trigon is excited. Because he's heard the legend of the Super Saiyan but he never thought he would see it in person, and through an abomination like Trunks (Since he's a hybrid and what not). And Trigon personally gets off his throne to fight Starfire and Trunks. Note that Trigon is significantly stronger in this version of the story.

-So the remaining titans get Raven, Slade gets his body back, and they all come back to Starfire and Trunks fighting for their lives against Trigon. And despite how well the two aliens are tag teaming together, Starfire gets knocked out of the sky hard and Trunks is heavily injured. But they still get up and continue to fight, and the Titans and Slade provide help. And little Raven is stunned at how their all fighting and hurting Trigon. All the Titans and Slade are defeated, but Trunks is still standing. Trigon praises his ferocity and battle prowess, but knows that he's a man out of time, trying to change fate and constantly failing. Trigon even says that Trunks was always destined to fail and suffer for his failure. But Trunks refutes it. He doesn't care if it's destiny. prophecy, or fate. As long as he was still alive, he was going to fight and defy fate. Trunks flies into the air and charges his attack while Trigon charges his own. Trunks screams 'Final Flash' and fires while Trigon fires from his eyes. Two are going at it with a beam struggle and everyone is watching from below. Raven sees her father struggle against Trunks, and Trigon is even forced to use his hands and fire energy in order to hold back Trunks attack, but Trunks is still pushing on. But he's starting to lose, Raven needs to help! Raven uses her power to age back up to her teens and flies up to Trunks. She holds his shoulder and lends her energy and fires her own beam of energy at Trigon to aid in the struggle. The rest of the titans are attacking from behind to distract Trigon.

-Now because Raven is technically a demigod, since Trigon is the literal devil, lending her energy helps Trunks awaken god ki. Doesn't go full SSG but he does look like this:

Raven screams out 'Azarath Metrion Zinthos', and with her and Trunks' combined might, they vanquish Trigon and bring the world back. However, Trunks is still heavily injured and has to get medical attention.

-But after all that, Cyborg does manage to fix the time machine, and Trunks is finally able to go back home. He says his tearful goodbyes to the Titans, saying they were really the best friends he could have. Beast Boy makes sure that they all get a group photo together and give a copy for Trunks to take and to remember them by. As Trunks leaves, Cyborg can't help but ask Robin why he didn't give Trunks the communicator. They could have really used someone like him if they had a crisis like Trigon again. Robin says that Trunks has been through enough, and if anyone deserves to live a normal life, it's him. The Titans do hope that they can somehow see him again.

-And as Trunks returns home, he sees his mom, and she's elated to have him back. He had so much to say to her. About the Androids, the past, Cell, the Titans. But after everything he's been through, only one question burned in his mind:

"Hey mom, did you ever meet dad?"

Trunks ends up telling her everything, kills the Androids, and keeps the picture he took with the Titans framed.

Also Slade is super fucking happy that Trunks left! He's never been that relieved before!

...So yeah, that's what I have for this unpublished story. Glad I got it out of my systems. I don't know if someone did decide to do it when I scrapped it but oh well.

[sweetescapeartist]

What do you think of the recent Toyotaro interview where he says:

"WHIS IS ABLE TO USE UI WITHOUT ANY SPECIAL FORM, AND I WANT FANS TO SEE THAT GOKU IS GETTING CLOSER TO THAT FORM."

Is this a case of, good/decent idea, horrible execution?

Decent idea. Horrible execution. (But Toyo can make a decent idea look bad.)

Now to elaborate...

Goku does not have to turn off his emotions. Control of emotion is what is needed. Control is not the same as being emotionless. (This is true for both anime & manga)

Goku showing different emotions while in Mastered/True Ultra Instinct. He is able to show emotion, but its controlled emotion. Toyo is changing this and saying that Goku is emotionless while in MUI. That's a boldface lie.

Not even Angels are devoid of emotion, so why should Goku be emotionless? (UI Goku never was devoid of emotions. Toyotaro is falsely claiming Goku was emotionless to create the illusion of development )

Then, Victory Uchida says that Goku incorporates his emotions into the black-haired Ultra Instinct. Toyotaro agrees.

Becoming overwhelmed by your emotions has been shown to diminish the effect of UI. Toyotaro wrote in the Moro arc Goku saying that his emotions being all over the place during intense combat is why he can't get easily acquire Ultra Instinct. Then, we see Goku being calm & focused while Moro, who had absorbed Angelic abilities, couldn't handle the power of UI due to an untrained mind & body. He wants Goku to be scared yet, Goku is calm & level-headed. Once again, Ultra Instinct requires control of emotion. Not the absence of emotion.

Toyotaro has written that Whis said he's fundamentally different since he is an Angel. But, a mistake he made was in the previous arc with Merus. In this interview, Toyotaro says that Whis doesn't need any special transformation, yet he gave Merus an Angelic transformation of sorts. How does an Angel that naturally has UI need to transform in order use UI? Even with Merus being an Angel trainee still means he is an Angel that possesses Ultra Unstinct naturally. If he makes himself look mortal, there is no need to transform to "Angel form." So that statement alone from Toyo makes no sense from what he wrote himself.

Another thing in the interview is that Toyo says that Goku needs to be in UI at all times wether he is asleep or awake. But, when Goku is unconscious in CH 86, he transforms into True Ultra Instinct (silver-haired form). So what's the need for this "Goku's true Ultra Instinct" idea? There's no need for this new UI stuff.

Not to mention that in DBS CH 71, Whis said that Goku should be able to use UI in ANY FORM when his heart is calm. So having a calm heart is a requirement. But suddenly in chapter 85, Goku says that his heart isn't calm. That single line destroys the idea behind UI because it is used completely wrong.

Yes, silver-haired UI Goku looks different, his power is different, & his personality is different. Goku's personality was different with Super Saiyan too. SSJ Goku changed from his laid-back attitude to rageful. With UI, Goku remains calm & focused during battle while base Goku gets excited from battle.

+ this new UI form that they've called Goku's True Ultra Instinct is indeed a form. And Whis told Goku to not equate UI as a transformation. Yet here Goku is, using UI as a form & also he never got rid of the stamina issue that Whis told him he needs to overcome.

This change when using True UI (silver-haired) is in fact "normal." Its focus at the highest level. Goku is serious. This new emotion driven UI is a lame copy of Super Saiyan & is a regression of Goku & a rejection of what Ultra Instinct actually is.

Victory Uchida then says that "Goku's feelings & method of getting used to the form have changed." & Toyotaro agrees. But this is contradictory because having a calm heart & having control of your emotions is the requirement for UI. The deeper you go into this focused state, the greater your UI power becomes.

There is a such thing as calm/controlled anger. But Goku says in CH 85 that his heart is not calm. Toyotaro is going away from martial arts principles & regressing to the wild & unrestrained fighting style of Saiyans then calling it "progress."

This is Toyotaro doing damage control.

He's putting giant holes in his story & trying to cover them with band-aids

[thesupersaiyanprincess]

So yeah, here we go again, a highly slightly revised version of Splits' Chapter 1

It's set in some kinda AU where you're a saiyan and there are other saiyans alive and on earth, as if more than just Gokus parents sent them off to earth as babies to start a better life not just to destroy it. Perhaps part of the resistance against Frieza?

I'm expecting this to top out at like 10 ish chapters, if anything probably less, i don't want it to stray to far from the plot or spend another 6 months on it lmao

Warnings include: violence, emotional abuse, very dark Vegeta, sexual themes, choking but not in a good way

Word count: ~1,600

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                      Chapter 1                      

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You’re sitting in the living room, bored, surfing the channels on the TV when you hear the front door click. Your face lights up at the sound that you know means your boyfriend is home, and you run to the hallway to greet him. 

“Hey 'Geta,” you say with a smile as you plant a kiss on his cheek. You know he hates it when you’re cutesy like that, but you like riling him up. Little did you know, today was not the day for it.

“Get off of me, woman.” Vegeta shoved you away from him harshly and made his way to the bathroom after taking off his shoes at the door, he didn’t even look at you as he barged his way down the hall. There was definitely something wrong, even if he didn’t like kisses he never reacted like that. Something was up, and today you were feeling especially brave so you decided to follow him down the hall and grab his tail. Bad move. He swung around in an instant pinning you by your throat to the wall.

“Don’t. Touch me.” he said with a growl in his voice before throwing you to the ground and continuing down the hall. 

“'Geta that hurt, what’s the deal with you today Mr. grumpy pants?” you said in a huff as you picked yourself up from the ground, patting down your jeans. “I thought we talked about this; no aggressive wall pinning unless I ask for it.” He didn't stop or turn around to look at you. “Oh, so you're just going to ignore me then, that's great, I guess I'll just go back to watching TV since you’re being a big grump.” you waited a second longer to see if you'd get a reaction, but no, he just kept walking and eventually made his way to the bathroom, locking himself inside as you walked back to the living room.

You wondered what could've happened today to make him so irritable. When he left this morning he wasn't mad, so something must've happened while he was out training with Goku. Maybe Goku reached a new form and Vegeta was jealous? No, that's happened before and all he did was rant about how it should be him who gets to unlock new forms, not that stupid, low class, pathetic excuse of a Saiyan, Kakarot. He was the prince of all Saiyans after all, and he should be the one with all the power. No, this was something else entirely, and you were starting to worry what could have made the mighty Vegeta so angry. 

Against your better judgement, you decide to go knock on the bathroom door. “Vegeta! Open up! What's the matter?” you shout through the door, hoping he can hear you over the running water of the shower.

“Go away! Go make yourself useful and cook me something, woman” of course that's all he would say. Damn these Saiyans and their insatiable appetites. 

“No, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me why you’re mad.” you plant your feet outside the door as you hear the water shut off. After a moment he unlocks and opens the door with a towel around his waist. He always looked so good right after a shower, silky hair wet, tangles framing his face, water droplets glistening across his gorgeously broad Saiyan chest. He truly was a sight to behold. 

“Get out of my way” he said to you as he tried to emerge from the bathroom, you were blocking his way and he really didn't like that. “Move now, or I’ll move you myself.”

“And what if I don't, what’re you going to do to me?” you said with a smirk on your lips as you stared seductively into his eyes. Usually when he was mad you could make him forget about it for a while with sex. Today was different however, and instead of pinning you to the wall and devouring your mouth with his, he gave a blow straight to your stomach, instantly knocking the wind out of you and making you crumple to the floor. He stepped over you and headed to the bedroom to get dressed. 

“Food woman. Now. Don’t give me more reason to be mad at you.” he called over his shoulder as he entered the bedroom. As you were curled up on the floor, clutching your stomach and gasping for air to finally reach your lungs, you couldn’t help the thought that maybe he didn’t love you anymore from crossing your mind. A thought that threatened to bring tears to your eyes. But you were stronger than that. You stood up shakily clutching your stomach for a moment before straightening up and walking after him into the bedroom.

“What the fuck 'Geta!? What's wrong with you? Why’d you punch me in the gut like that!?” you yell at him with an anger that made the air crackle with energy. “I thought you loved me 'Geta! How could you hurt me like that? What did I ever do to you?” You hated to admit it, but you're an angry crier, and the hot tears came spilling from your eyes as your hair flickered flecks of blond. Even though you had reached Super Saiyan form yourself, Vegeta was still 100x stronger than you on a good day, let alone when he was angry.

He ignored you completely, dropping his towel and putting on a fresh pair of briefs. He acted like you weren’t even there at all actually as he picked out some clothes to wear. Taking his time to sift through his messy chest of drawers to find his favourite shirt. Black and skin tight with Shenron and the DragonBalls printed on the back, it hugged his muscles in all the right places. It was your favourite on him too and for a split second you forgot your anger and stared at how the fabric clung to his still dewy skin. It all came flooding back when he turned to face you.

“Did you not hear me? I said food. Now.” he snarled through gritted teeth. He hated it when you didn't follow his commands, but right now he wasn't your master, and it was so not sexy of him to treat you like this. 

“If you want food you'll have to make it yourself. I'm not cooking for you until you tell me what's wrong.” you say back to him, with the same amount of force, trying to make your voice sound as demanding as his to no avail. No matter how hard you try, you'll never get his aggressive tone of voice down pat, you just sound like a pissed off chew toy and it makes you even angrier. 

“Whatever.” He grumbles just loud enough for you to hear as he continued to search for some pants. 

“Whatever?! That's all you're going to say?” you yell as you stare at him in disbelief, one more dismissive or demanding word from him and you were going to snap. “What about an apology? For shoving me, then throwing me, then straight up punching me!? Are you even listening to me, Vegeta?” You pause for a long second to see if he’ll say anything, and when he pulls up his pants and heads for the door, that's it. You power up to Super Saiyan and block the doorway, glaring at Vegeta, daring him to step closer. 

“Silly woman. You think that just because you're a Super Saiyan, you can stop me? How pathetic.” he said, his voice hollow and cold as he goes Super Saiyan Blue and picks you up with one hand by the throat and holds you off the ground. “You couldn't stop me with both my hands tied behind my back,” he sneered at you before throwing you into the wall outside the bedroom door, almost knocking you unconscious as your head hit the wall at full force, leaving the plaster cracked. Your energy faded and your hair returned to its regular dark colour as your vision blurred and your ears rang from the impact. 

He walked over to stand above you, laughing menacingly. “You're weak and pathetic. The only reason I kept you around was so that you'd cook and clean for me. Oh, and so that I can fuck that tight little pussy of yours.” The edges of your vision started to go dark as he picked you up against the wall by your throat again. “You are nothing but a toy for me, a sorry excuse for a Saiyan. So low class I wouldn't let you shine my shoes with your spit. But you cook good and don’t complain whenever I want to fuck, so you’re not completely useless.” he squeezed your throat tighter, “I want you to know that I don’t want you anymore. I never loved you, not one bit. I was only using you for my own satisfaction. And now that I don’t want you, there's no reason for you to keep breathing.” as he said this, he was gradually squeezing your throat tighter in his grip. You didn't understand what was going on, Vegeta had never been what you'd call affectionate, but he was never so mean. The Vegeta you love would never say such harsh things to you, or hurt you in any way what so ever unless you were fucking and asked for it. In fact, he put several higher ranking Saiyan's in the med pods because they were antagonizing you for being the weakest Super Saiyan. The sudden change in him had tears pouring from your eyes as you tried harder to keep from passing out. “Now be a good little weakling and go to sleep for me.”

“'Geta… p-please… d-don’t… hurt… m-m…” You managed to spit out between desperate gasps as you faded from consciousness. 

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So whatcha think? Please leave comments and likes, I'll also be posting this over on my AO3 when i can figure that out haha

Always remember, reblogs>likes <3

[groundbreaking-science]

Section 3-2: Amplification

Warning! The following section contains exercises that may cause exhaustion, fainting, dissociation, abreaction and cardiac arrest. No exercise should be undertaken without explicit permission from a medical practitioner, and mental health support may be required for exercise 3.2.5. The reader proceeds at their own risk.

Prerequisites: Exercises in 1.4, 2.1-5, 3.1. Additionally material from section 1.9 is referenced.

The first time my father sensed the Earth and his place in it, a soft dawn was breaking. He stood shaking and gasping for air atop the world's tallest tower, with a view rivalled only by God above. A thick carpet of cloud rolled out to the horizon far below him, the very real verdant lands of Yahhoi still present and visible in glimpses between breaks, and he felt relief.

He'd spent the night screaming in deepest pain and writhing on the indifferent marble floor. He'd flickered between life and death, battling the effects of a poison he'd chosen against all advice to imbibe. It was said that the poison would draw out the drinker's latent power - should the drinker survive the process. My father, at the still tender age of sixteen, was the fifteenth warrior to try and the very first to breathe in the morning's cool air.

In that new light he felt rather than saw life stirring, and he understood the interconnectedness of his own life with the Universe around him. For the first time he sensed a power through the ki-field: the overwhelming strength and evil intent of King Piccolo. With renewed certainty in his abilities my father set out to face down that evil, and the rest is literal history.

After enduring the poison my father obtained the ability to consciously interact with the ki field. Though he wouldn't learn to amplify his abilities with any measured and focused intent for a while, needing guidance from more divine or experienced sources and more powerful, urgent motivators, every one necessitating the honing of a particular element in efficiency or technique. My father's spiritual awakening was slow-going then, though that is not an insult to his effort - even the Monk among our ragtag band took decades to fully master his unlocked potential, and I know there are towering heights I could yet reach.

It is that endless struggle that ultimately gave me the confidence to include this chapter. My current proficiency and my promise to impart certain skills make the work seem simple, but I know I have reached this level with a genetic advantage and a range of thankfully unique life experiences. Yes, nefarious forces could use this chapter to escalate their havoc by orders of magnitude, but that is a highly unlikely outcome, as I'm sorry to say the majority of readers will never achieve a level of amplification that could cause any material damage. Instead I believed it more pressing to think of those curious individuals compelled to perform the "super" techniques covered in the rest of this chapter and beyond, and these skills require ki amplification to perform safely, if at all. And besides, it would never have been fair to keep from you a skill that is considered an Earthling technique at heart.

So whilst I am no God, nor a questionable feline apothecarist making my home amongst the clouds, I am able to employ more traditional teaching methods to improve your ki output with conscious intent, rather than resorting to cryptic life-and-death experiences. And so, in a more measured way, we begin to tie together many elements you have already explored.

Before we delve back into the ki field, I wish to return to the ki we already possess - genki - and the two elements that contribute to the total energy output: the charge (energy per particle) and the flow rate (particles per second). Increasing one or both of these will increase your total genki power output.

The easiest way to achieve a step-change in power output - although impossible for many - would be to utilising a transformation. Simply growing larger means more cells need to be governed, which requires more parcels of genki to be released. You can think of the size of the centre (and therefore the centre's hypothetical surface area) increasing along with the body. A larger surface area with the same flux (flow per unit area) gives a greater power output.

Namekians are able to physically grow in size and therefore power, as demonstrated by Piccolo (the Junior) at the 23rd Martial Arts tournament. This ability is a learnt skill and under conscious control. Saiyans can also grow to gigantic proportions taking on a more ape-like form as Oozaru. Whilst this is an innate transformation and so more accessible (for Saiyans with tails, at least), it requires the reflected sunlight of a full moon to induce, and the Oozaru form does not naturally have a rational mind. Mastery and use of the form is therefore restrictive.

Earthlings on the other hand aren't known for their strength-inducing transformations; the mysterious Shapeshifting Schools utilise magic and transformations in this manner do not appear to grant a power increase. The innate transformation magic of Giants, Manwolves and similar teratoidal folk does grant an increase in power, and zoomorphic people of larger frames will have a greater genki output than the average anthropoidal person, but anthropoidal Earthlings are not granted either of these advantages (by their very definition).

However, Earthlings of all kinds do have access to one technique that will raise the ki particle flow rate: the Kaioken. Against received wisdom I will detail this technique later, if only to emphasize the dangers of trying to learn this skill away from the healing properties of the Heavenly Realm. The technique involves warping the centre's surface, therefore increasing the surface area but preserving the effective volume, allowing more ki particles through. Performed with too much gusto this technique can tear the body apart cell-by-cell, so for those of us bound to the mortal realm, mastery of this technique could take a lifetime.

There is a trade-off to these size increases, however. The pool of ki particles in your centre depletes far faster when deviating from its natural surface area and size. If all particles are used up, you will be left without a way to draw on ki, and will have to rest for an hour to fully replenish.

A further way to boost power output and to much greater effect is to increase the ki particle's average charge. Again some species have access to physical transformations that can achieve this; Frieza's race being one, where various naturally armoured and therefore lower-energy consumption forms reduce the draw on the centre's ki (both in flow rate and charge), and these forms prevent the individual from overwhelming lower ki energy folk around them.

Saiyans have access to another transformation called "Super Saiyan", one that does not increase the size of the body, but does impact every cell, creating a greater demand for charge per particle on the centre. From the combined research of scientists across the Universe, including my own, we know the transformation requires a level of circulating so-called "S-cells" in the body. In brief (as this transformation will be detailed later), high levels of emotion in the body trigger the S-cells to release a message in ki to all cells, asking them to call for more ki in readiness, in turn triggering the centre to release more ki which manifests as a transformation with recognised stages.

The final way to boost your genki output is to use a different version of genki entirely. The Gods and other non-mortals appear to use their own version of ki that is functionally the same in nearly every way, though God ki is more powerful - the reason for which remains unclear. Curiously, God ki is undetectable by mortals unless they receive specific training. Given how parallel they are, I believe then God and mortal ki to be of different chirality.

Chirality is a concept we find in nature. It is woven into the very structure of our bodies, even. When we look at ourselves in the mirror, our mirror image has the same make-up as us - the same number of blemishes on our face and hairs on our head - but there is no way to spin you around to make you look exactly like your mirror image. You and your mirror twin will always be left-right flipped as "optical isomers" of each other. Similarly, some molecules can have exactly the same chemical formula, but the structure can be left-right flipped. In our bodies, one molecule we ingest can fit snugly into a receptor and work as intended, but the optical isomer will be completely ignored (or worse, cause unpredictable damage in the body).

Mortal and God ki then, with their dyadic relationship, can be thought of as chiral mirror images. Unlike chemical optical isomers however, mortals can learn to accept and use the chiral God ki, but it is not natural and so must be unlocked in some manner and developed.

3.2.1 Raising Yuuki With Kiai

Earthlings are Universally known for their ability to change their ki output without reliable access to transformation or divinely developed techniques. Their wide emotional range and social nature can be repurposed or redirected to drive that increase in power. For an instantaneous boost of genki, we can rely on our yuuki. If you recall section 1.9, yuuki (courage) is not a true form of ki but a mechanism of bolstering the flow rate, and comes from reducing fear to free up "effort" and ki-particles and therefore energy otherwise poised to react in a more animalistic fashion to the stressors before us.

Consider the question - "when we run from a bear, do we run because we're afraid? Or are we afraid because we run?" This truth is a mix of both. Calming the mind can calm the body, yes, but changing our physiological state can also affect very real change in our emotions too, which can in turn free up mental capacity for other purposes. Likewise, amping up the body can amp up the mind and ki in tandem.

In section 2.3 we discussed kiai, the guttural yell. We slowed our breathing, using the inward and outward breaths to create a rhythm that our ki synced to. When our core tightened to yell our ki flowed steadily with the breath, expelled with the kiai. Kiai also raises yuuki, as the steady, conscious breathing slows the heart rate, reducing the physical sensations we attach to fear and therefore fear itself, a calming feedback loop. We can then think of that freed energy as released in a short, sharp burst of "courage" instead.

To practise this, perform a push intent with and without kiai. Notice the increase in strength as ki becomes more dense when paired with kiai. Then repeat the exercise, this time explicitly utilising yuuki. Calm the body to begin with, and with the freed capacity of mind, genki should be easier to focus and kiai more effective, the rush of emotion with each kiai honing the intent rather than distracting from it. Practice these four states until you can sense the difference in power, both in quality and quantity. Throughout your practice keep in mind whether your yuuki is well-maintained or not. There is no need to be perfectly physically calm every practice, only to be able to note how calm to better estimate the strength of that day's intents.

3.2.2. Yuuki - Advanced Calming

Slowing one's breathing has the ability to start a soothing chain reaction through the body. But there is a shortcut - to hack our bodily ki intents themselves, intercepting the messages intended for the heart and other systems.

To learn though we must be quiet to begin with. Sit quietly, slow your breathing, and feel the subtle pulse of ki intent that ripples with your heartbeat. Not the ki itself, as that will be flowing through the body at a near constant, rippling with the breath and heartbeat, but the change in intent that drives the heartbeat. This ripple will track back to the upper-right of the heart (close to the body's centre-line) to the pacemaker cells which control the heart's contractions, and will spread from the pacemaker cells to the rest of the heart. These are the intents we must intercept.

Follow these ripples and imagine them slowing - I think of a soothe intent to envelope and slow the beat intent, and before long you'll feel your heartbeat begin to slow too. The other physical symptoms of fear will leave you as the mechanisms triggering them unwind, freeing your mind and therefore affording you yuuki to use for ki manipulation. With familiarity you'll be able to track these ripples when under huge mental and physical stress.

It should go without saying that upsetting homeostatic equilibrium is extremely dangerous. This technique should only be performed for a few seconds before you let the body drive itself again. I only ever use this technique as a kick to my system, like a full-body shiver to reset. Slowing the heart too much will leave you breathless, drop your blood pressure and cause you to faint. Playing too harshly with pacemaker cells directly could cause them to fall out of sync, triggering cardiac arrest.

The next question both the curious and antagonistic among you will ask is whether this same soothe intent will work on others to incapacitate them. The answer is yes but, thankfully, there is an inbuilt difficulty; these homeostatic intents written with a ki signature are so tightly bound to that person's subconscious that overriding the messages takes considerable skill. I know of one assassin using this method to trigger cardiac arrest, and the genki "injection" must be delivered with great, well-practised precision within close-range. Miss and the assassin is wide open for a counter. I do not recommend developing this technique both for the safety of others and your own.

3.2.3 Field Ki

Genki manipulation has its limits. We have a finite amount of genki (created from chemical (food) energy) and a finite number of ki particles to assign it too. So there is a maximum amount of genki that we can release in one instant and whilst substantial, it is most unsustainable.

Instead the most reliable, near limitless way to amplify ki is to increase the charge per particle by converting genki to field ki (banoki). In section 1.9 we discussed the ki field; how the ki field is a lower energy state consisting of a soup of decayed and garbled ki energy separated from us by a barrier of ki particles. In 2.2 we visited the surface of the ki field to read the ripples created by the ki of others. Now we will reach through that undulating surface to harness the ki energy beyond.

Find a comfortable and well-centred position. Lower yourself to the ki-field as when learning to read the ki-signatures of those outside of auratic contact (exercise 2.2.2). Feel the waves of others, those vibrations, and settle 'above' them. Remember, your spirit is tethered to this reality by its very existence, so it would take a deliberate act to cut that tie and fall in. I'd hope by now you would be familiar with this exercise and such visualisations would be of little use, but for now attend to the ripples to aid the next step.

Now, you must expend a little effort and genki. Let your mind follow your decaying genki down to the field and visualise yourself penetrating the waves' surface with a hollow reed of ki, finding your way between the surface of empty ki particles at the still spots between the waves. A through or part intent works well here. Your genki and the field ki energy will meet through the imagined reed. The link will feel tenuous at first, as both your effort and genki used in the process will render the exercise counterproductive in net ki, but do not fret - with a little practice you will break even and then excel.

Once the connection is established, you will need to gather field ki. Imagine the reed straw you've made growing roots, spreading through the endless sea of field ki below to efficiently fill the space. Imagine those fine tendrils reaching, your ki signature spilling out as genki converts to give a semblance of structure in the field ki. Then, suck that captured ki back through the reed, palming it into your very real hands. Retrieving the ki can be tricky - overextend and your fine genki root system will break, essentially wasting that genki as it breaks down far too fast. Spread too little and, whilst safe, some genki will be wasted, unable to touch field ki and convert. Take your time - the amplification will come. Aim to be able to repeat this cycle of reaching and capture as a smooth, continuous flow. When this convoluted process becomes second nature, amplification can be achieved with a simple boost or swell intent.

3.2.4 Storing and Moving Ki

At first, this mix of kis will be heavy and unwieldy to move between foci as your ki signature is weakened through the mass. The usually chatty and fast to react genki will take a while to send intents through the rest of the more neutral ki, the genki acting as lit touchpaper. The best way to manage this mass of ki is to maintain the "rootlike" structure of genki through the mass, enabling fast communication between genki and the furthest section of field ki.

To practice, focus genki between your hands and swell the mass. As you sense the energy convert, try to send the ball of ki from left to right between your hands. Notice how, as you continue to amplify (and at first even lose total ki energy during the conversion) this movement increases in difficulty, demonstrating that as the fraction of genki energy in the focussed ball lessens, it takes more time to propagate your intent from the ordered, ki-signature laden genki to the unstructured mass of field ki.

Notice too, that if you were to apply for example a push intent, the strength of the ability would falter at first, the genki now having to learn how to send out this particular intent as well as apply it to itself. You will be frustratingly back to those early days of learning the basic intents. With time and practice though your skill and dexterity with intents will return - and faster this time around. When you've matched your previous skill level across a variety of intents when using only a tenth or less of the genki usually required without field ki, you will be ready to move on.

In the heat of the moment more powerful techniques will require more ki than can be created instantaneously, necessitating you to charge up the ki intent. There is a fine balance to be had between adjusting your genki flow as and when you need it for amplification, versus letting your mind work on autopilot at a fixed conversion rate to over-produce ki. The former of course saves you energy, but the micro-management could make you slower to counter. It is therefore prudent to know how to amplify and store that ki for later. If charging and amplifying a specific attack, of course bring ki to the focus in question, but to be ready at a moment's notice to push, to explode upwards to fly and to guard, you will need to store ki in an aura.

The fundamentals of this particular technique were covered in exercise 2.4.5, but to recap, use your centre as a focus, but this time expel ki. The ki should surround you in an approximate sphere, ready to be gathered into external foci like hands or feet, to report back to you nearby danger, or to create a near-instantaneous barrier. Remember when charging to use a hold intent too, otherwise the genki, untasked, will degrade. This technique is named "aura-shoring". When performed at high ki energy densities, ki will spontaneously interact with the world, creating an impressive and intimidating visible glow around the body.

3.2.5 Raising Shouki

We don't only trade genki for field ki during amplification. We expend effort to maintain spiritual calmness, shouki. If yuuki is the calmness between mind and body, shouki is our self-assuredness, the calmness between mind and ki. The stronger our connection between mind and ki, the easier amplification becomes. As discussed in 1.9, disrupting this link by agitating an opponent through very incisive taunts will knock their power-level down considerably, as they will be unable to efficiently convert genki to field ki. Now we wish to raise our own shouki.

To do so we must get in contact with our spiritual selves - not necessarily in a religious manner, but to know and speak our own truth. For my father, his brush with death was enough for his young self to begin to attend to that spiritualness, but you do not need to go to such extremes.

Mindfulness, the ability to just be in the present, comes easier to some than others. Mindfulness is not the ability to empty the mind, for that can be frustrating to achieve as worries for the day pop in and out. Instead we must notice those thoughts, the emotional and physical feelings, and maintain curiosity toward them before setting them aside for the moment. This benign distance affords us the ability to take stock. Spending time attending to how genki moves through our body and the environment around us can also assist in this mindfulness process. It is a focus on the here and now, and is something we can do alongside other exercises.

Mindfulness however is not dissociation, where we disown thoughts and experiences as not happening or not our own as a defense mechanism. And that leads me to a warning. For individuals dealing with dissociation as a result of, for example, psychological trauma, forcing the mind back in the body can cause an abreaction and worsen your state of mind. If you find you have constant bad reactions to mindfulness, or exercises and martial arts that encourage this open state of mind, then please seek professional support before continuing further. I know of one individual who broke through life-long trauma through sheer force of will, but it took him decades and could have ended poorly. However, dealing with the emotional block monumentally improved his raw power through yuuki and shouki, so your mental health is worth working on in whatever capacity you can. I also speak from experience. Fluctuating shouki was a difficulty I had in my childhood, and it took a lot of self-compassion and support from family and friends to let go of the guilt a child can swallow when they do not know any better. Simple grounding exercises - feeling the earth between your toes, naming sounds, colours and smells in the world around you - can suffice to bolster shouki somewhat in the meanwhile, and was the technique I used until I could be truly still and in the moment.

I told you once that I made the fortuitous decision to sit cross legged over seiza for twenty hours of a twenty-five hour ceremony. This ceremony, to unlock my fullest potential, required me to keep very still at a time I wanted to do anything but; my friends and family were in grave danger, some even passing away in the meanwhile, and the god performing the magic did not come across as particularly competent. As the hours ticked by I felt no different, only frustrated and wrestling with all my concerns with little else to distract me. It was only as my anger boiled over that I felt the ease at which ki enveloped my clench fists, and I understood the power of stillness. Whilst I know the silent magic of the god played a more than substantial part in my increase in power, I know holding out hope for Earth while confronting myself and my fears during those endless hours did play some part in repairing and raising my shouki, and I am grateful for that time to reflect. I hope you can find this time, too.

With every possible type of amplification in your knowledge and the most accessible at your disposal, it is now time to relearn all techniques with field ki in the mix. I know, I know it feels a step backward, but trust me, this step is a huge leap forward, and will give you access to all the work following on. When - or if - you can amplify the strength of your techniques by a factor of two with only a tenth of the genki available, you will be ready to proceed to the next section on guarding.

next previous first contents ask?

[firestorm1991]

DBZ Dissertations 1: Vegito

The Fusion into Vegito: Why is Vegeta now the opposite of Saiyan Saga Vegeta? (Constructed 4/6/2021)

Goku and Vegeta were mortal enemies even in the moment Vegeta reluctantly took the potara earring and they iconically fused into Vegito. Then Buu ate Vegito, and inside his gut, Vegeta and Goku defused back into their original selves, which was a surprise because they were told the fusion would be permanent, a fact that was retconned in Super. Once the two Saiyans had their own bodies back, there was a difference in the way they interacted with one another. One could argue that the events of “Fusion Reborn” are canon, most accept they are not. This means Goku and Vegeta did not fight Janemba in hell together and have that moment of understanding before Vegeta went back to Hell.

So what happened when Goku and Vegeta were themselves again that is of interest? Well, when they separated, they no longer seemed like enemies. In fact, they seemed to bicker like friends, brothers even. When just an hour ago, Vegeta was snapping and yelling at Goku, against fusing. Now, he acts like the back and forth bickering is normal between them, and like he hasn’t hated him all this time. That always struck me, and it stuck other friends of mine as well.

So how did they go from enemies to friends in an instant? Heck, how did Vegeta get seen as good, which even shocked the Saiyan prince? My theory is that the fusion did more to Goku and Vegeta than can be seen on the surface level.

Out of nowhere, Vegeta, who was always calm, cool, collected in the face of danger, who spoke derisively to those he feared. Yes, he was afraid and sometimes displayed that when he realized that he was screwed in battle. But he never flat out freaked out, wanted to throw up over some irrational fear. So why in Buu’s body did he react like Goku does to needles to the worms? That was not a very Vegeta thing to do. I mean, even if he was afraid of worms/bugs, he could have destroyed them like he did Arlia (yes, I know that’s filler). But the man who was raised in kill or be killed universe didn’t just kill the worms. He used to purge planets and surround himself with death and eat the buggy carcasses of the victims (see Episode 2 when he and Nappa are just finishing purging a planet). Food for thought.

Also, yes, we know Goku was always a fighter. He always answered the call to protect the world. His Saiyan blood awoke and he wanted to battle strong opponents. But in DBZ, the androids being the only exception after he and Vegeta denied Bulma’s desire to track down Gero and end his project, Goku never invited danger into the world. They all just came for him. He chose to stay away to protect everyone. Then we have Super, which starts a few months after Buu saga, and now he’s invited people to hunt him down, put the multiverse in danger, and suggested “hey, let’s bring back Frieza!” His behavior is much more reckless than DBZ. Interviews have shown that this is the vision Toriyama always had for Goku, but Goku through childhood to adulthood never seemed to be so inconsiderate. When Roshi died in the ToP and Goku resuscitated him, I felt such empathy and turmoil for the Earth-raised Saiyan in that moment. He was almost human in that moment, the same way he was when he discovered Krillin dead as a child, and it was like the old Goku was back in that moment.

Let’s explore. It would be safe to say that the Saiyans Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta described in the Saiyan saga are exactly like that. Single-minded, battle hungry and ready, no thinking of consequences or family (which we all saw Goku with Little Gohan. He seemed like an okay father in that first episode before Raditz came and destroyed the quaint family life and Goku died. There were four years where Goku, Chi-Chi, and Gohan lived happily and in peace without fighting). Now, after fusing with Vegeta, Goku has reverted back to Saiyan tendencies he never fully seemed to possess through DB and DBZ.

My theory is this: when Goku and Vegeta fused into Vegito and separated, they took a piece of the other warrior with them. This led to Vegeta understanding Goku more, seeing him as a friend and comrade in arms as Goku saw him, gave him a goodness that he took back home with him so much so that he was willing to relinquish his pride for his family on multiple occasions (Bingo dance anyone?). There are many people who are angry about Vegeta’s complete 180 from the Saiyan saga and Namek saga Vegeta. But he went through a lot of changes throughout the series. Both in nature and nurture, evil was taught to him as normal. It wasn’t until he saw another way of life, namely living with Bulma and fathering a child, that he ever considered he could live a life that didn’t involve him slaughtering other races. I believe part of his psychological transformation was due to his life with Bulma and Trunks, trying to be a good partner and father despite a traumatic and horrific past, and experiencing peace for the very first time ever in his life (because until the seven year period, Vegeta’s life never had one iota of peace) in contrast to Goku who experienced peace many times. Now, after fusion, Vegeta knew what to do with those unfamiliar experiences and emotions…and then exposed his irrational fear of buggies, so there’s that.

Likewise, Goku, the good, honest hero of Earth who did everything in his power to protect the planet and his family and trained to get skills to combat these various enemies, now became more Saiyan-like. He fought and trained for himself, much like Vegeta once had in his pursuit to be the strongest. Now, Goku doesn’t care about being the strongest; he just wants to fight strong guys to get stronger. He still uses his power to protect, but after instigating the risk factor. Goku Black could have been avoided if he didn’t have the desire to fight Zamasu and got with Beerus and Whis for the same of fighting the deity in training. The ToP wouldn’t have happened either without Goku pushing it. Thankfully, that worked out, but it was still very reckless. And he lied multiple times to his friends who he once trusted in times of trouble and brought back the greatest evil who harmed his friends multiple times without even a second though in addition to promising to bring him back to life.

I wonder if the reason Goku keeps getting worse and worse and Vegeta keeps getting better in better has anything to do with the other times they fused. I will say that I believe a lot of their changes definitely come from them and their changing personalities, but I definitely they think they’ve influenced each other, if not by fusing and having access to the other’s thoughts, then by their strange friendship resulting from the fact that they are the last two (not including Tarble, Broly, and Paragus) full-blooded, universe seven Saiyans.

Anyway, let me know what you think of this fan theory. Do you agree, disagree, or have additional ideas that reflect this topic? Feel free to let me know. Just remember to be constructive and respectful to others who share their ideas. Until next time!

[emotionaldepravity]

Dragon Ball Android Au Hcs

-In this Au, most of the dragon ball characters are androids that exist as companion bots to the general population. Some are used just for emotional support. Some are body guards, personal or otherwise. Others are used as aids for specific jobs. No matter what they might be doing, these bots are quite loved and a huge part of the society. 

-The first Android ever created was Bulma. Dr. and Mrs. Brief loved Tights so much that they would do anything in the world for her. One day, a very young Tights begged her parents for a little sister. Dr. Brief wanted to promise Tights that she could have a sibling, but he found it difficult to explain to a child that her mother wasn’t able to have another child or that even if she could there was no guarantee that the child would be female. To circumvent those issues, Dr. Brief decided that he would build an android so that Tights would have her little sister. Since he wanted Bulma to have similar experiences to her sister, he made different body frames for her, and when she was ready, he transferred her memories into the next frame to let her grow up.

-Bulma was happy with this for a while. She was happy to “get older” after her older sister and enjoyed going to school or helping her father in his lab. Over time, Dr. Brief showed Bulma more and more of her code, and once she was able to understand it, she took over for making her own frames to better suit her own desires.

An explanation of the different type of bots below. 

The Originals 

The first androids created. They are quite special and coveted by many collectors especially by those who know how special they are.

-As she worked late one night, she had come to realize that she was lonely. She had dated humans before, but she never stayed long in a relationship. Seeing her parents happily married and eventually Tights too, she made the decision that she would make herself the perfect partner just as her father had created her. 

-She thought long and hard about the sort of partner that she wanted: what they may look like, their gender, their personality, their hobbies, etc. When she was done, her list of traits was so long she had to make a program to sort through all of them. Unsure of what exactly she might like, as there where many possibilities that she fancied, she decided to randomly generate ideas from this list and just make every combination. Eventually one would be perfect, right?

- Each model that she made were deemed the “originals.” She programmed them to be like her in her sentience, but with an extra bit of code that made them want to love and be loved. She didn’t want to make the perfect guy and them him reject her because he wasn’t interested in a relationship.

-As she made each new model, she began to get to know each of them to see if she was interested in pursuing a relationship with them. For the most part, they were all interested in her, Zamasu being one of the few that was actively disinterested in her which she was surprised of but not terribly hurt by, but she wasn’t that interested in them. She recognized that they all had their merits, but none of them quite fit what she was looking for. Some, like Zarbon, were very attractive to her, but the more she spoke to them the less interested she was.

- However, it was in two different originals that she felt as if they were close to what her heart desired: Yamcha and Vegeta. 

-Being one of the first, Yamcha got to spend a lot of time with Bulma, actively trying to make himself known to her. He might have thought he was cool, but she never did. He was dorky and she liked that about him. For a while, she was happy. As Bulma made more and more female androids, she noticed his eyes wander. Though he was never disloyal physically while they were together, she couldn’t help, but question if he would be genuine or not if they continued dating.  

-Vegeta tired to deny his feelings for a while, and with her being with someone else, it was easy enough for him to do. When she was no longer with Yamcha, he always found himself drawn to wherever Bulma was. If they were alone, he would lightly brush his tail near her to get her attention. Again, Bulma was happy with Vegeta. His clashing overprotective nature with his tsundere one charmed her. However, he wasn’t as emotionally close to him as she had been with Yamcha. She wanted to tell Vegeta about everything on her heart, but he felt so cold sometimes that she wondered if she falied to code his emotions properly. Of course, it was a shock to him when she broke it off as he didn’t seem to understand that they had grown apart, but he simply went with her wishes. 

- When she finished the last combination, she felt like a failure. Not a single one felt like the perfect partner for her that she had set out to create. Eventually, as Bulma got more and more fed up with her “failed” creations she decided that they had to leave her home and lab. She couldn’t just randomly abandon them somewhere so she started offering them out to help her friends with jobs so that they could eventually have their own lives. 

-If someone needed a caterer then she offer to have Chi Chi help them, if they needed a garden, then she’d have Nappa go, if they needed someone to eat them out of house and home, then she’d send Goku, etc. 

-Her friends were very grateful to Bulma and the “kind stranger” who assisted them. It only took one of her friends to mention that she’d like to for the android who helped her to live with her, to get Bulma to realize that maybe she should let them. 

-As she found out, most of her friends kept wanting to see the originals, fell in love with their new companions, and eventually convinced Bulma to let all of them move from Capsule Corp to their homes.

-For most of the originals, this change was quite welcome. They had an understanding that Bulma wasn’t that interested in them, and during the time they interacted with her friends, they had realized that perhaps they could come to love someone else.

- For others, they were heart broken. In some way they had help out hope that Bulma would still love them, or, in the case of Yamcha and Vegeta, that she would love them once again. 

-Bulma felt a bit sad to see the last one go, but the entire experience gave her hope that if she started dating again, maybe she too could still find someone out there for her. 

The Fakes

The androids that most anyone can buy. If you see an android on the street somewhere, they most likely are a “fake.”

-After word got out that all the androids were given out, people still sent calls to Capsule Corp asking if she had any more “boyfriends” 

- A bit surprised that anyone else would be interested in more of her “failures,” she turned the strangers away until one single mother promised a ridiculous sum of money if she just happened to have another Yamcha model so her kid could have someone to teach him how to play baseball. Moved by the thought of this little boy having the chance at having some sort of father figure, and a paycheck that was just enough for her to get some even better lab equipment for herself,  she quickly started working. As the next call came from a very wealthy family with a similar ask for a Chi Chi as they had eaten the food made by the original one, and had a lot of zeni up for grabs for their own personal chef. Both were very pleased when she presented them with their new companions.

-She rushed out a few of the early ones thinking that her technique was just as flawless as before, but in her next few she decided to check to be sure. The looks and personality of each model she made seemed to be perfectly replicated, but as she inspected further, there was one major difference: the code that gave them ability to love wasn’t working properly. Diagnostic after diagnostic, she couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Though the fakes didn’t seem to act that much differently than intended, she knew that there was always the possibility that something could be messed up based on this faulty code. However since the buyers of the fakes didn’t seem care, she never thought about it again.

-Though she did eventually find some consequences to the faulty code. For instance, the reals retained the ability to actually have children with their human significant others, but the fakes sadly did not. 

- Another difference that was found out was that the ”real” androids have the benefit of better fighting strength. For example, if they are saiyans then only they have the ability to go Super Saiyan and the forms beyond. This is typically something that only the owner of an original would know as most of the time the greater strength is unlocked due to their desire to protect their owner. 

-Sometimes people will trade androids between each other if they need help with what that android is good at or if they think that a different model is more attractive.

-Most people that have an android got them second hand as they are extremely expensive new. They are even more expensive if you try to get them customized, the saiyans having tails that aren’t originals can be a heavy increased price since after a while Bulma got tired of make them. 

-For the originals that get traded, they actually feel a bit upset by being passed around. Doing a job for someone else is not necessarily hard on them, but if that means a permanent change in owner, and possibly lover too, then they can get quite heart broken. 

The Minis

The minis are smaller versions of the originals. They are small enough to fit in your hand and have a chibi style appearance. 

-In her experimenting with making new frames and possible lovers, she had realize that she needed some help. As she was a bit too embarrassed to let her dad help her, she made a smaller scale version of herself to help with everything from welding and board processing to coding and inspection. 

-When people started coming to her for copies of her creations, she gave into to making mini versions. They had the functional capabilities of the original model, but were much cuter and easier to handle, at least in Bulma’s opinion.

-Bulma loves seeing pictures of people taking cute pictures with their minis or having their big bots take candid pictures with their minis.

-Minis can be modeled after humans too if you are rich enough to afford it. Bulma is very meticulous with her work and so having a custom mini might be expensive, but they will look and act exactly like you!

-Minis can get very lonely if they aren’t interacted with regularly so generally they should be bought with other minis or live with a big bot if they aren’t welcome at your work. Bulma herself found this out with her own mini and made minis of her entire family. 

-Mini Bulma likes to make things for her Mini family to keep them entertained, and for Big Bulma as a way of saying thank you.

-If you do have multiple minis, you might notice that they act a bit differently than if they are by themselves. These “combos” can determine if your mini acts like an angel or a gremlin. 

-For example, a combination of any saiyans will mean that the two are competing or fighting all the time. 

-Mini Cooler and mini Frieza one of the most destructive combos, but if you have a mini King Cold, then they will generally be on their best behavior. They will still fight behind their father’s back and yours too though.

-If you own a big bot and a mini, you might find that they do get jealous of each other, especially with they are the same model. They both love you very much and want your attention so badly it hurts. 

[cynthiaandsamus]

Custom Toonami Block Week 76 Rundown

Code Geass: So we’ve come to this, been kind of avoiding this episode, part of the reason I did the Rebuild marathon last week was to put off this episode for as long as I could. Shirley’s death is fucking bullshit, the whole thing feels like a farce, she dies from trying to help him against someone that wasn’t even trying to kill him just because she triggered Rolo’s Yandere Simulator instincts. It’s a foregone conclusion that Shirley would die at some point, Lelouch is a tragic figure and having him be happy doesn’t really fit his character arc as the martyr that will save the world, like the Zero Requiem would be really fucked up if Shirley was still alive and had to watch Lelouch become Gundam Hitler and then get stabbed. But still the matter of fact nature of her death is so weird, like I feel like a lot of people originally knew this was coming and kind of braced themselves for it but it’s so weird and contrived and sad, Euphy’s death made me cry and this didn’t quite get there but I did get a bit weepy, like fuck this show man, it knows what it’s doing and pulls on the emotional manipulation hard.

Inuyasha: Another filler episode this time around, this one’s pretty funny though with Jaken doing all kinds of Team Rocket-esque hijinks to steal the Tessaiga, it’s some good character building for Jaken and Rin before Rin gets kidnapped leading to the actual canon part of this story and plus there’s a lot of cute fluff with Inuyasha’s group just kinda killing time, like they’re still traveling but they seem to be taking it easy and playing games and shit this time around. Also Kagome definitely saw Inuyasha’s junk in the hot spring so that’s a good reverse on that, we get basically no fanservice for the girls but Inuyasha gets splayed out and spends the climax shirtless so that’s some defying expectations right there.

Yu Yu Hakusho: The Black Black Club arc concludes with Yusuke and Kuwabara vs the Toguros. Honestly this fight does a really great job of subverting expectations since you think it’s going to be two on two but then Younger Toguro basically uses his brother as an Equip Spell Card and it’s essentially one on two. Kuwabara gets his flash of Yukina’s backstory and his Super Saiyan powerup which is pretty standard for how these arcs end but Toguro doesn’t seem that phased by it which is because he isn’t and this is all a ruse and Toguro fakes his loss so Sakyo can win his bet and get rid of Tarukane. The Black Black Club shenanigans have been in the background of this whole arc and spicing up the fights that are otherwise Yusuke and Kuwabara just plowing through mooks so it’s really neat that it ends this way so it can subvert how things are supposed to go and still give us a cool fight, it reminds me of how arcs tend to end in Hunter x Hunter where the climax is often undercut because of outside forces. I think I like this version better though because HxH tends to go for an anticlimax, this is a standard climax but it doesn’t mean what we think it means at first and that’s really kinda cool. Also Kuwabara tells Yukina to not give up on humans and Hiei saves her without telling her he’s his brother cause he thinks she’s better off this way.

Fate Zero: We take a detour from anything of importance to see how Baby Rin is doing, it’s pretty much completely unrelated to anything going on but it is pretty cute and gives some nice character stuff for her that puts her arc from UBW in a new light so that’s nice. Also Kariya shows his face again and reminds us that he’s really the only one who has any good reason for trying to get the Grail amongst all the child murderers, arrogant kids, arrogant adults and general war criminals in this fight. Everyone’s basically “I am a dick, gimme the grail” or “My family’s a dick, gimme the grail to shut them up” and while Kariya is in the latter camp, he’s also doing it to save Sakura and not just “Welp that’s life.” Given that Sakura’s still with the Matous in UBW and no one besides Kiritsugu and Kotomine and Waver are confirmed alive, we probably know how that went.

Konosuba: So the big showdown with the Mobile Fortress is here, I do kinda like how Konosuba peppers mentions of the big bad throughout the arc so it builds the hype when it finally shows up. Everyone gets serious and actually does shit to take down the Wild Wild West Spider Tank, unfortunately it’s not piloted by a racist old man in a wheelchair but a dead guy that didn’t know what the fuck he was doing. For building it on the cheap he sure made it sturdy at least, but Kazuma basically acts as a Mana Dumpster and gives the important people the energy they need to get rid of the core and blow up the carcass. This is Konosuba and our Protagonist is essentially a glorified battery. Also Kazuma’s insane luck betrayed him and threw the core into the Capital so now he’s a war criminal, oops I guess.

Sailor Moon Crystal: So everyone goes to the moon surprisingly easy and fights out from Usagi’s Fortress of Solitude Recording Mom all about how the moon was cool and shit but then everything changed when the humans attacked and the princess was such a little bitch that she gave up right after her man died and the queen had to do all the magic sealing and shit but that also destroyed the kingdom for some reason. Also the Four Kings are formerly Earth Knights also reincarnated like the Sailor Guardians and used to be less dicks and were even the guardians’ boyfriends which feels REALLY forced and even more gross and weird than Usagi’s reincarnation relationship just being told “Hey you love this guy now, you don’t get a say, past life shenanigans decided” and everyone decides that they can’t fight the people they love that they only just remembered so Usagi has to boomerang some bitches in the face and then there’s a four way Solar System Kamehameha to get the Four Kings to fuck off again. Now Beryl’s working on borrowed time since she had to re-brainwash her pawns so she’s gonna brainwash Tuxedo Mask to do it even though he doesn’t have powers and should be less effective than the kings but it’s really dramatic if Usagi has to fight her boyfriend so let’s go with that.

Durarara!!: Reporter Shuuji Niekawa is digging around Ikebukuro to find out about the crazy amount of tough customers the city has. The first half of the episode is the “fuck around” half where he talks to much of the main cast, and then as everyone knows, when you fuck around, that leads to the “find out” half where he is promptly stabbed and becomes a Saika kin and stalks Anri and Shizuo and wants to stab everyone before getting crushed behind a car door by Shizuo while thinking he can finally get his life back on track. RIP Reporter-chan, you fucked around and found out.

[duhragonball]

[FIC] Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan (153/?)

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball, which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation.   This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: This story takes place about 1000 years before 66 years after the events of Dragon Ball Z.

And then there’s these jerks...

[24 December, Age 762.  Planet Namek.]

A stiff breeze blew over the azure plains of Namek.   The Time Patrol had recruited Luffa from the distant past to hunt down a mysterious enemy who was altering history.    She had found them.  

They were humanoids with pointy ears, snow-white hair, and ice blue skin.    They wore matching costumes of black and red.   Towa carried a long spear in her slender hands, while Mira appeared to be the warrior of the pair.    With a voice devoid of emotion he threatened to destroy Luffa for daring to oppose them.    

Luffa had already taken a beating.   Undoing the changes to history had led her to several pitched battles with the Ginyu Force.    Her pants were reduced to strips of yellow rags that hung from her waist and boots.   Fortunately, her black compression shirt and shorts were much more durable.   Since arriving in this strange era, Luffa had found her powers to be a pale shadow of her former glory.   Once, she had been the Legendary Super Saiyan, and she would have destroyed the Ginyu Force with a swipe of her golden tail.    Now, it had taken everything she had to defeat them one at a time.

She raised her outstretched hand towards Mira, and curled her fingers toward herself, beckoning him to do his worst.  

"You acted a bit rashly a moment ago, Mira," Towa said.   Usually you ask my permission to attack before you power up.    Not that I mind, of course.   This Saiyan will make a good test run for you, but I am rather fascinated by how eager you are to fight her."

"He's just smart, that's all," Luffa said.    "He knows that I came here to fight, and you two are next on my list."

Mira charged at Luffa and the battle was on.    She avoided what she expected was a right punch, only for Mira to grab her by the face with his left hand and drive her into the nearby hillside.   She attempted to reverse the grab into an armbar, but he was quick enough to release her before she could lock in a grip.   She settled instead for a barrage of punches and kicks.   Mira deflected all of these with ease, but Luffa was only testing him at this point.    So far, she liked what she was seeing.  

"Towa," Mira called out.    His voice was louder, but showed no more emotion than before.    He spoke like a man reciting passages out of a phone directory, and now he simply raised his voice to be heard.    "This is the one who has been interfering with us all along."

"I'd say you're right, Mira," Towa replied from a safe distance.    If she was concerned at all about getting hurt during this battle, she didn't show it.    It irked Luffa enough that she was tempted to fire a ki blast at her just to make a point, but she didn't want to give Mira any openings.   She would deal with Towa in due time, or so she told herself.  

"It's a shame, really," Towa said.   "We made history a lot more interesting, and then you came along and put everything back to normal again, didn't you?    How disappointing.    You struck me as somewhat impressive, but all you care to do is maintain the status quo.    That's not very adventurous of you, now is it?"

"Is that why you came here?" Luffa asked.   "No big plan, just tampering with history for a few laughs?"

Asking that question nearly cost Luffa her head, as Mira fired a large ki blast from his hands that she almost didn't dodge in time.    It was like her Galick Gun, but not quite.   There was a hint of Saiyan style in Mira's fighting moves, but Luffa wasn't entirely certain what that could mean.  

"Oh, I'm here for more than a good time, if that's what you're asking," Towa said.    "But speaking of laughs, I did enjoy that part where you switched bodies with Ginyu.    Very amusing.    You had no idea he could do that, did you?"

"You two were watching us fight the entire time?" Luffa asked.   "But none of us sensed your energy.     I'm kind of surprised Kakarot and Vegeta aren't rushing over here now to see what I'm up to."

"Your friends will not save you," Mira said in his gloomy monotone.   "They have no idea that you're here."

Luffa went low and attempted a kick to sweep Mira off his feet.   He avoided her foot, but he failed to account for her tail, which hooked his ankle and flung him over her shoulder.    He recovered quickly, but not quickly enough to take back the initiative.    Luffa pressed on, hammering away at his defenses with rapid strikes.    Mira showed no sign of despair or frustration, but Luffa smiled anyway.  

"I've been generating a cloaking field around us ever since we came to this time," Towa explained.   "It doesn’t obstruct line-of-sight, but it does prevent outsiders from sensing our energy, so that way we can operate and observe without attracting any unwanted attention.   That's why you didn't notice us earlier, or on Earth, when we were conducting experiments before."

"Experiments?" Luffa sneered.   "That's what you call it?   That purple crap you used on Raditz, and then Vegeta and the others?"

"I have to give you some credit," Towa said.   "Because of how well you performed against the Ginyu Force, I decided to try the same spell on Frieza's entire crew.   I wouldn't have considered trying it otherwise, not that I expected them to beat you, but it certainly made things more amusing.    And it seems like you've gotten a little stronger since then.   There's something odd about you.   I like that."

Mira suddenly set his jaw and tensed his arms, and a bright green field of energy surrounded him, deflecting Luffa's attacks and forcing her away.   As the field subsided, he pushed back on Luffa, fighting harder than he had before.    

"Getting serious, Mira?" Luffa asked.    "Took you long enough.   I thought maybe you two were waiting for Frieza or some other goon to show up and bail you out."

"Hmph," Towa said from the sidelines.   "I guess you thought I was bluffing before.   You're from Earth, aren't you?   What do they call it on Earth?   A duck blind?   Something hunters use to avoid being noticed by their prey.    This whole area has been camouflaged, so they won't sense any of us, no matter how hard you and Mira fight.    And we're too far away for them to see or hear us.   Well, maybe Namekian frogs could pick us up.   They have an uncanny power to sense humidity.   Did you know that?"

Luffa hadn’t known this, but it explained how she found them.   Captain Ginyu had trapped himself in the body of a frog, and somehow he had noticed Towa and Mira from a great distance away.    Perhaps his new amphibian senses had picked up the moisture from their breath.   If Luffa hadn’t been watching Ginyu, she might not have discovered them.    But she had no intention of admitting that.  

"So there won't be anyone else joining us?" Luffa asked.    

"No one," Mira said.

"Excellent," Luffa replied.

She ducked Mira's next ki blast and then drove an uppercut into his abdomen.     Despite his cold, stoic demeanor, Mira's eyes went wide as the breath was driven out of him.

Luffa used the lull in the action to turn her head and spit on the ground.    "Don't get me wrong," she said.   "I wasn't waiting for someone to help me, and I wasn't worried about someone else showing up to help you.    I just wanted to make sure I could fight freely without causing anymore time anomalies.   And if no one sensed that little love tap, Mira, then I guess they won't notice this either..."

She balled up her fists and began to scream.   Mira recovered from her punch, but he wasn't in any hurry to renew his offensive.   He stood his ground and winced as Luffa's ki aura grew stronger.    Towa raised an eyebrow, but nothing more.  

"You were so excited to fight me, Mira," Luffa said when she finished.    "Let's see how you like me now."   With a cheerful growl, she raised her left hand over her chest and flung a ball of green energy at him.   Unable to dodge in time, Mira tried to block it, only to be stunned as the ki made contact with his body, like his hands had gripped a live wire.    The damage was minor, but it gave Luffa an opening to slip behind him and drive her knuckles into the small of his back.   To add insult to injury, she grabbed the length of cloth that hung from his waist and swung him around a few times before tossing him into the ground.  

"Mira...!" Towa said under her breath.  

"You said you watched everyone," Luffa snarled.    "Observed all of the fighting.    Didn't you pay attention to how those fights ended?"

She pounced on Mira's chest and knocked him over before he could get up.   Then she began punching his head as hard as she could.    Her hands glowed a furious crimson as she charged them with enough ki to make every blow as painful as possible.    

"They ended with my enemies whimpering with fear!" Luffa shouted.    "With me slaughtering them like livestock!    And you call yourselves the hunters?    Not anymore, Mira.   Now you're just another victim."

At last, she hit him hard enough to draw blood.   It was purple.    

"Enough!" Towa gasped as she raised her spear.    Luffa caught this motion out of the corner of her eye, and leaped clear of Mira to defend herself.    

"So, you finally got bored with watching, Towa?" Luffa asked with a grin.    "You're welcome to join us whenever you like.    Mira could use a hand, couldn't you, Mira?"  

With a horrid look in her eyes, Luffa glared at Towa as she licked Mira's blood off her knuckles.    

"You have no idea who it is you're dealing with," Towa insisted.   She was almost beginning to look worried.   "Mira has defeated far greater warriors than you, little girl.    Let me show you..."

The spear began to glow, and Luffa expected an attack, but instead it was Mira who was affected, as he suddenly glowed with a dark red aura, much like the one he had displayed before the fight began.   He rose to his feet, and stared at Luffa with a renewed sense of purpose.  

"Your fate is sealed," he said, his gloomy voice cutting through the rushing pulse of his ki aura.    

"You can make him stronger?" Luffa asked Towa.   "Hah!  You should have done that in the first place!    Do I have to kill him before you'll take me seriously?"

"I had been conserving that energy for other applications," Towa said.   Now that Mira was back in the game, Towa had regained her former composure.    "But I won't just stand by and let you damage my masterpiece."

Mira wasted no time.   As he rushed towards Luffa, she noticed that his wounds had even been healed.  Curious, she backed away, retreating into the sky and keeping her distance.  

"You two make a hell of team," Luffa taunted.    "Mira does the fighting and Towa handles support.   Does she fight at all?    I was looking forward to seeing what she could do after I kill you, Mira, but I'm starting to think she might not last very long."  

Mira didn't answer.    Instead, he increased his speed, and suddenly appeared less than a meter away from Luffa, then caught her with a roundhouse kick to her ribs.    Before she could fall, he caught hold of her wrist, then wrapped his arms around her and dove head-first to the ground.   Just as they reached the surface, Mira released Luffa and jumped clear, leaving her to suffer the impact alone.    

"N-not bad..." Luffa muttered as she slowly rose up from the ground.   But before she could get to her feet, Mira fired a wide ki blast over the crater she had made.   For several long seconds, there was no sign of Luffa from within the intense purple light of Mira's attack.    When he ceased fire, she was still alive, but had dropped to one knee, her head tucked behind her forearms in a desperate attempt to defend herself.   The burns and scrapes on her skin proved that she had only barely managed to survive.    

Mira attacked again, zipping around Luffa with blinding speed, and finally stopping to deliver an elbow strike to the back of her neck.    She collapsed, only for Mira to grab her by the collar of her compression shirt and toss her high into the air.   He crouched and widened his stance, then held his hands together on his right flank.   As he charged his energy again, he spoke.  

"Ka...! Me...!  Ha...!  Me...!"

"Wonderful, Mira," Towa said with a chuckle.    "You really do know how to put on a show."

"...Ha!" Mira finished, and he extended his hands, wrist-to-wrist, and fired a burst of blue light directly towards the falling Luffa.    The beam caught her in mid-air, breaking her fall and shoving her further into the sky.  And further...

And then she stopped.    

"What--?" was Mira's only reaction.    And then he began to feel something pushing back.

"That... that can't be right," Towa said.   "She couldn't be strong enough to handle that attack, especially not after the beating she just took...!"

And then the Namekian skies echoed with raucous laughter.

"Mira!   Finish it now!" Towa said.    "This is no time to be playing around."

"I'm not 'playing'," Mira said.   His expression was as blank as ever, but the strain in his voice was unmistakable.    He was doing everything in his power to kill Luffa.    It just wasn't enough.    And then, finally, his Kamehama Wave deflected at a near right angle.    The beam continued on into the sky, leaving only the one who had deflected it.    

Luffa dropped to the ground and smiled triumphantly.   The yellow rags had all been burned away, and even her black shorts and shirt were beginning to show signs of wear.    Her hands were trembling, and her eyes were wide with wild, desperate emotions.   But she was still alive, and eager to continue fighting.  

"Come on!" she shouted, pointing at her face.  

"You've gone mad with terror, then," Mira said.    "Very well."

He rushed Luffa again and struck her in the jawline.    Luffa absorbed the blow, and responded with a punch of her own.    Mira stayed on his feet, but the impact staggered him.    

"That's not all you've got, you bastard!" Luffa snarled.    "Again!"

"Mira, watch out--" Towa warned, but Mira took the bait.   He tried a kick this time, and Luffa winced and gritted her teeth when his boot hit her ribs, but she recovered and fired back with a kick of her own, which landed squarely on Mira's right thigh.    He shuddered as his quadricep began to spasm from the impact.    

"You used to be a lot stronger than this," Luffa said.   "I can read it in your fighting style.    You're accustomed to fighting on a higher level than where we are now.    But you can't attain that level anymore.    You might get back there eventually, but you've got a long way to go."

"I have all the power I require to destroy you," Mira insisted.  

Luffa laughed and held her hands behind her back.    "You don't have anything," she said as she held up her chin, daring him to take another free shot.   Her wide eyes glared at him as she waited for him to answer.   "You've got skill, Mira, and you know how to handle all that power, but you've got no spirit, and that's why you'll never win against me."

"You're bluffing," Mira said evenly.    "If you think your feeble threats can intimidate me, then you are a fool.   I will end this here and now."

"Maybe you're right, Mira," Luffa said.  "I honestly don't know myself, and that's what makes it so exciting.   But I feel very sure of myself right now.   Like the next punch you land is going to push me over the edge.    So how about it?   What do you feel?"

She held her ground, waiting for Mira to make the next move.    For a moment, he hesitated, but only for a moment.    "It's over," he said.   "Don't worry.   I'll use your energy well."  

Then he drew back his right arm and prepared to strike, until--

"Hold on, Mira!" Towa called out.    He stopped immediately, and waited for her next command.  

"Looks like someone's not ready to find out if I was bluffing," Luffa said.   "Too bad."

"Oh, don't flatter yourself," Towa said.   "I only wanted to ask you a few questions before Mira kills you."  

She approached the two of them and stood beside Mira, who seemed mildly annoyed at being ordered to stand down.    Towa looked very calm, but Luffa couldn't help but notice how she held the spear in her hands, rolling it anxiously in her slender fingers.

"Who's supporting you?" Towa asked.   "Who's backing you up?   It's not as if you could have done this on your own."  

"Why not?" Luffa said with a grin.  

"Don't play dumb with me," Towa said.   "You traveled through time, came to this planet, just to fight us?    It doesn't make any sense.   Someone put you up to this.    I'd like to know who."  

Luffa's only reply was the sadistic grin on her face.    

"I see... So it's the silent treatment, huh?   No matter."   She gestured to Mira.   "Let's leave her for now, Mira."

Mira crossed his arms indignantly, though his blank expression remained unchanged.    

"You don't mind, do you?" Towa asked him.   "As she is, she's nothing right now.   I could extract her energy, but it wouldn't amount to much.   But maybe things will be different... later."

Mira harrumphed in reply.  

"Well, let's move on to the next era," Towa said.  

"What makes you think you can just walk away?" Luffa asked.

The two of them turned their backs to Luffa, and Towa glanced over her shoulder and laughed quietly.   "I'll let you live for now... little girl.   But if you decide to get in our way again... I'll have you erased."

"Why wait?" Luffa asked, but before she could do anything, Towa and Mira vanished.   She couldn't sense them anywhere.    For a moment, Luffa considered that they might be hiding again, using the "duck blind" that Towa had spoken of.   How long would it take to search the planet?   Were they even still on the planet to be found?    

Before she could weigh her options, the world around her began to fade into a swirl of colorful light.   Luffa had experienced this before.    The Time Patrol was bringing her back from the past.    For now, her mission was over.  

NEXT: The Time Breakers.