#but yeah. like in my mind. if frieza did kill a lot of his race. i cant see zarbon being in the position to be buddy-buddy with frieza

[skeletalheartattack]

About that tag in the commentary...I definitely agree with you there. Like sure MAYBE (a very big maybe) Frieza and Zarbon do have a chummy moment in good days. But people forget at the end of the day, it's all conditional, especially in Frieza's hands. Idk Zarbon's possible prince status could have leverage that, but he's no bestie to Frieza.

honestly you took the words out of my mouth, that's basically how i see their relationship.

everyone seems pretty scared working under Frieza, and rightfully so, and i can honestly see Zarbon feeling the same way, atleast when he's the one having to watch after Vegeta after beating him unconscious. like, him being higher up in Frieza's force only gets him so much i think.

i think you can really feel Zarbons panic after Vegeta escapes, and i feel like it even clouds his mind when battling Vegeta for the last time, because if he doesn't do something about, then Zarbon's on the chopping block... though i definitely have a feeling that even if Zarbon had succeeded in taking care of Vegeta, that things still wouldn't end well for my man.

that said. i kinda wish there was more lore for Zarbon, since the only extra lore we get from him are games and spinoff movies, and it's hard to really know what's true to the actual series, given some movies don't fit anywhere in Dragon Ball's timeline.

[saiyanwhore]

Arranged (Vegeta X Reader)

Chapter Ten // Earth Meet Us!

It seemed that after the first six months of being dormant in the pod, you had lost all sense of time. Each time you had woken up from slumber, you would fall victim to awful panic attacks that caused you to thrash violently. You felt trapped, claustrophobic, exposed. 

It was clearly evident you were also pregnant. Lying naked in the pod, feeling hopeless, carrying the Prince's child. You clung onto any remaining hope that you would make it to your destination before going into labor. The thought itself terrified you and you were at least thankful you were safe from Frieza.

You didn't bother trying to communicate with anyone through your scouter. As Frieza promised, Planet Vegeta was more than likely destroyed. You couldn't run the risk of him locating you. It would just add to the long list of the troubles on your mind. It was hard not to just give up all at once knowing that Vegeta was probably dead. The pain in your chest was inconceivable. Nonetheless, you tried to keep yourself strong for your baby.

You had no idea how long it had really been. You had been estimating by the size of your stomach. You had figured seven months, in reality it was almost nine. With this kind of thing the two months really did make a difference. You checked the screen in the center of the console of the pod, noticing that you were headed straight for a planet. 

Planet Earth.

It was exhilarating and petrifying all at once. Only a few hours left before you would land and you decided that you'd want to sleep through it. So that's exactly what you did.

...

"Goku! Quick! Come here!"

"Blah, blah, blah! What do you want Bulma?" Goku waltzed over to Bulma who was gawking at your pod in front of them.

You stirred awake, noticing a sharp pain in your stomach. You immediately cried out, it feeling as though someone had just stabbed you in your sides. You curled yourself into a ball and held onto your stomach tightly.

Bulma pried open the door to the pod, noticing instantaneously you were in pain and clearly pregnant. Her eyes became enlarged once she put two and two together.

"She's in labor! Come on! We got to get her to a safe place! You have some senzus right?"

"Yeah."

"Well! What are you standing there for!? Come on!"

"EW! BULMA SHE'S NAKED!"

"JUST SHUT UP AND GRAB HER YOU BIG DUMMY!"

Goku plucked you out of the pod and Bulma grabbed onto him tightly as he started flying. You felt your eyes getting heavier and heavier as each second ticked by. Eventually you passed out entirely from pain, not giving a care in the world that they had just seen you naked.

When you had come to, you felt absolutely fantastic and were a bit perplexed as to why. You laid entirely still in the bed. Your brain started to flood with memory of you crashing into the dirt and being in an excruciating pain. You also remembered a boy around the age of 12 or 13. 

Your eyes shifted around the room, looking for any clues. You sprung up in the bed once you noticed the kid hovering over you with a grin on his face.

"Hey! Where are you from!?" He screeched, looking a little too enthusiastic.

"What?" You questioned him, feeling a bit overwhelmed by his creepy stare.

"Well, you have a tail, right? And your baby does too." He pointed over to a child in the arms of the girl and you immediately recalled her from earlier. 

She smiled, rushing over to you with your child. "It's a boy!" She giggled softly, handing him down to you.

You were immediately engulfed with emotion. You looked down at your son, his dark locks pointing upwards in all kinds of directions. His dark eyes looked up at you, examining your face. Well, it was clear he already had his father's thinking face. In fact, everything about the little boy in your arms was the spitting image of his father.

Vegeta.

Your mind flashed to your lover, images of him danced around your brain. His scent almost tickling the tip of your nose. His dark eyes always so observant. Lips threatening to throw insults at anyone who looked weird at you. That pretty frame of his, so thick and muscular. You'd kill to feel him against you once more. You began crying softly as you looked back down at your son, never really knowing if he'd ever meet his father.

"What's her problem?" Goku scratched his head in Bulma's direction.

She threw her hands on her hips, foot tapping as she glared at him.

"Goku, shut up! She just gave birth!" 

Their bickering reminded you; why didn't you remember any of it?

"Why do I feel fine!?" You questioned the two, more tears threatening to spill down your face. "What did you do to me?" You weren't sure if you should trust the two strangers, still a little shaken from the events that just took place. It was a lot on your mind.

"We gave you a senzu bean. It allows your energy and physical health to be restored." Bulma explained in a very matter-of-fact tone. "So what's his name?"

"Daio."

"Where are you from, lady?" He interrogated you again, appearing at your side once more.

"I'm from Planet Vegeta." You raised an eyebrow at him and looked at him angrily. "Why?"

The boy turned himself around and stuck his butt out in your direction. You watched his tail wave back and forth freely. You heart started beating rapidly in hopes he escaped the Planet before it was destroyed. Maybe he would know where Vegeta was.

"You're a Saiyan too!" 

"A what?"

"A Saiyan! We're a warrior race. Did you forget?"

Goku shook his head no and furrowed his brows. "No. I've only lived here on Earth."

"Oh..." You mumbled, the feeling of disappointment overcoming you.

"Well, I better be on my way." You stood up. "Thanks for your help. I appreciate it. See ya!"

You blasted the wall open and flew out with Daio in your arms.

[arlingtonpark]

SNK 113 Review

Sad! Edition

Arlingtonpark presents: SNK 113, a play in three acts.

Act I

Act II

Act III

GIVE ME A BREAK, OKAY? THIS CHAPTER DIDN’T GIVE ME MUCH TO WORK WITH!

This was a more leisurly outing for this arc compared to the previous string of chapters. We get some insight into Zeke’s plan (but not a full elaboration), Levi makes a monkey out of him, and the EFC arrives in Shighanshina. That’s it.

Ironically, this was one of the more action packed chapters, yet it’s not as thrilling as, say, SNK 112, which was mostly our main trio sitting at a table.

Our heroes, sans Eren, have been mostly helpless in the face of Zeke and the EFC’s machinations, and Isayama has pressed this to good, suspense-inducing, effect.

We still don’t know much about Zeke, and why Eren is acting like he is now is still not completely understood. The opposition is opaque and they’ve been on a real winning streak so far. Just like how reports of a serial killer in your neighborhood can put you on edge, our heroes are put on edge by…just everything that’s happened so far, and we feel that gnawing fear by extension.

But now might be a turning point.

For the first time, Zeke/Eren (Zeren?)’s plan has hit a real snag. Now, now things will really start to get interesting. Pieck and Galliard did escape and participate in the Liberio fight, and Gabi and Falco are unexpectedly here on Paradis, but those were hardly setbacks. Detours maybe, but they didn’t threaten arrival at the final destination.

This is different. The plan was to rendezvous at Shighanshina and that’s just not going to happen now. Levi is dragging Zeke around like a monkey on a leash and Eren is none the wiser. And there’s no way for him to know that.

It’s not like they can communicate telepathically. unlike Hange and Levi When the time comes to meet up, Zeke isn’t going to be there. From Eren’s perspective, Zeke may as well have disappeared off the face of the Earth.

The plan apparently was to provoke an attack on Paradis by a coalition of the world’s forces. But this plan also apparently hinges on being able to use the Wall Titans to repel this attack. But that’s out the window too now. Zeren’s plan is in danger of catastrophic failure and at the worst possible time.

The enemy is already here. Pieck is on Paradis, no doubt gathering intelligence. It’s good that Zeke is subdued, but that creates a power vacuum and there’s no one around to fill it.

The legitimate government is facing a legitimacy crisis.

The EFC will be in damage control mode now that their plan is in danger of falling through.

And oh yeah, Marley has already infiltrated the island.

Paradis can easily devolve into chaos, now. Pixis’ government is a leader without much of a following; Eren has popular support. The EFC has a following but their leaders will soon be scrambling to regain control of the situation. And all Marley cares about is killing everyone.

And this raises a very intriguing question: How will Eren react to this?

Like I said, things have mostly gone smoothly for him. Yes, Eren’s had this stone cold demeanor, even in the middle of his fight in Liberio, but really he’s been coasting so far. Things have done nothing but go his way. Now it suddenly isn’t. So how does he react to that?

If SNK 112 is any indication, he won’t handle things well. Eren lost his cool at a backhanded swipe by Armin. And I’m not gonna lie, if that was all I had ever seen of Eren, I would have said he was weak.

Sad, even.

When it comes to Eren, Isayama will probably go the classic shonen villain route. Think Frieza or Cell from DBZ. Calm and cool, but only when they’re in control. Once they lose control, they lose their cool and reveal themselves as the wild animals they always were.

This will probably play into his freedom complex. Eren wanted to free humanity from the titans so they could explore the outside world. He framed it in terms of control. Freedom=control is the equation here.

Not being in control, to him, means not being free, so when he realizes he’s not in control anymore, he’s going to go apeshit.

Like the Trumpian figure that he is, Eren will probably resort to dominance rituals to sooth his own ego.

Floch had better watch out. When the guy at the top is a dominance obsessed lunatic, it doesn’t matter how high up the food chain you are. If you’re not at the top, you’re at the bottom. If my Eren=Trump framework is correct, Eren is going to abuse that to hell and back. He’s going to subject Floch and co. to all manner of degradations.

I honestly wouldn’t mind that, if it’s not extreme. Floch would deserve it.

Where do I even start with Floch?

In the past, I’ve compared the story of SNK to the current political landscape in the US. I don’t think this is intentional, to be clear; it’s just a very amusing parallel.

As leader of the Yeagerists, Floch roughly corresponds to Mark Meadows, the leader of the House Freedom Caucus. The HFC is a band of extremist, Trump-aligned, Republican politicians who openly rebel against their leadership. Meadows is the group’s current chairman.

Floch and Meadows share one overridingly important similarity: neither of them can create; they can only destroy.

John Boehner (pronounced “baner.” Seriously.) was leader of the House Republicans, until he was shit-canned because the Freedom Caucus didn’t like him. Here’s how he described their mindset:

“They can’t tell you what they’re for. They can tell you everything they’re against. They’re anarchists. They want total chaos. Tear it all down and start over. That’s where their mindset is.”

That’s basically Floch. He wants to Make Eldia Great Again and he thinks the Wall Titans have a role to play in that, but does he have a plan beyond that? Almost certainly not! That would require building something up, and that is beyond his feeble abilities. He thinks Hange is soft and opposes that. He thinks the military is old fashioned and opposes that.

Is there anything concrete that he supports? He supports using the Wall Titans and he supports Eren’s leadership, but his “game plan” is basically:

Use Wall Titans.

???

ELDIA IS GREAT AGAIN!!1

That’s hardly a plan.

All Floch and his team have accomplished is create chaos and dysfunction.

That’s it.

They instigated a social uprising, decapitated the government, and now? They’re just running around trying to find Zeke. (Even though Zeke and Eren already have a rendezvous point worked out.)

All Floch is good for is blowing stuff up and shitting over everything. But in the words of the great Sam Rayburn:

“Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.”

Floch is no carpenter. Floch is a coward. This pitifully small boy. This absolute failson. It’s no surprise at all he’s where he’s at.

Floch talks big now, but that’s only because he’s riding high now. I bet he’s the type of person who buckles under even minimal pressure. You all saw how he was during the Shighanshina battle. Everyone kept their composure even as Zeke’s rocks were closing in on them. Except him. He was the first to crack.

My sense is that Floch is not a constitutionally strong person, and he knows it. And he thinks he’s a coward, so we know he doesn’t think well of himself.

That’s the key. That’s why he is so devoted to Eldia.

He can’t feel pride in himself qua himself, so he has to feel pride in himself qua an Eldian. His logic is that if Eldians are strong then he is strong by proxy because he is one of them.

It’s the same thing with Trump supporters. Trump’s base supports him because Trump wants to maintain the racial hierarchy that benefits white people. And Trump’s base supports that because a lot of them are poor, white people. Because even though they don’t have a lot going for them, “at least I’m not black.” There’s little in their lives to be proud of, so they take pride in their race to feel better about themselves.

It’s like the evil version of gay pride.

Gay people take pride in their homosexuality because it’s a form of psychic preservation. They are denigrated for this one aspect of themselves, so they emphasize pride in that aspect to counter the stigma. It’s a way of preserving their sense of self-worth.

People like Floch take pride in their race because they have no self-worth to preserve. They’re empty and sad. Their race is one of the only things they have going for them. So they fight for Eldian greatness because a restored Empire will make them feel all big and strong.

It is utterly pathetic.

That’s one thing Floch and Eren have in common. They’re both sad. From Eren’s sad enslavement to the vague notion of freedom, to Floch’s sad belief that if Eldia is made “great” he’ll be made great in turn. It’s sadness all the way down.

The exemplar of that in this chapter is when Floch confronts Shadis.

It’s hilarious how Shadis calls Floch out on being a sad pissant and Floch tries to prove him wrong, only to prove him right in the process.

Not only does Floch miss, he’s stupid enough to say so out loud. He even explains what he was trying for.

Duuuude!

Just play it off as a warning shot! You’re trying to put up a tough guy front. Don’t admit to having failed spectacularly.

He would have been better off doing that anyway. Hitting Shadis in the foot just for mouthing off also would have proven him right. If you feel the need to shoot someone for mouthing off to you, then yeah, you are, in fact, a sad pissant.

But if it was just a warning shot to the ground around him, then that still would have been excessive, but it wouldn’t make you look insecure as hell.

To quote Game of Thrones:

“We’ve had vicious kings, and we’ve had idiot kings, but I don’t think we’ve ever been cursed with a vicious, idiot king!”

He’s not just vicious. He’s not just an idiot. He’s not even just a vicious idiot. He’s a vicious idiot with power. God help them.

But this idea of insecurity being the root cause of nationalist behavior raises an important question: why are the denizens of Paradis also on board with this nationalist program?

Well, nationalism runs on tribalism, so the people need to care about their Eldianism. Their being Eldians.

And going by that…it might actually be the Survey Corps’ fault.

At the start of the series, the Walldians were apathetic about the outside world. But thanks to the (not unjustified) efforts of the Survey Corps, the Walldians started to care.

Rod’s titan was over twice as big as the Colossal Titan; it loomed over Orvud like a kid looms over a toy cityscape playset. A lot of parallels were made in that sequence to the original Colossal Titan attack. In hindsight, Isayama, in his typically blunt style, was probably motivated by more than a need for a stylistic flourish. He probably did it to impress on the reader what he intended the Walldians to take away from the same event: From their perspective, this was another Shighanshina.

But the ending was different this time.

This was bigger than the first attack. Much bigger. Thousands upon thousands of people died in the first attack and its aftermath. Literally no one died the second time. Rod’s titan was subdued without incident. Awesome, but it also had the effect of inspiring nationalistic pride in the people.

Historia’s plan, very explicitly, was to exploit these nationalist feelings to the Survey Corps’ advantage. Stopping a second Shighanshina created a sense of communal unity among the Walldians. The plan was to encourage and then use those feelings to “stabilize the situation” as Historia herself put it.

And it worked, only it worked too well. Now those nationalist feelings have carried over to the Marley conflict to deleterious effect.

And then there’s the Wall Maria operation. That was described by the narrator like this:

“The area within Wall Maria represented one third of the land humanity had left. When the territory was lost five years ago, the loss of human life and property was massive. And, as those who remained inside the two walls quickly realized, those losses were only the beginning. It seemed wrong for us to continue living. Whether humanity could survive another day was out of human hands. Everything was now up to the titans. Because humanity had no way of defeating them. But, that day, one boy gripped the dagger in his heart and used it to kill a titan, stomping its massive head into the  ground. How did the humans who saw that sight feel? Some were filled with pride. Some were filled with hope. Some were filled with rage. But all of them screamed. Now, if Wall Maria is taken back, what scream will fill humanity’s hearts?”

The term for the “scream” the narrator is describing here is “nationalistic fervor.” The Wall Maria operation inspired further feelings of nationalism in the people. And again, those feelings have carried over.

This is a case study in unintended consequences. They wanted humanity to fight, now humanity is fighting and it’s backfiring spectacularly. The people are out for blood. Only this time the blood doesn’t evaporate without a trace.

It’s very revealing how Floch acts towards Shadis compared to Hange.

Hange didn’t have a very high opinion of Shadis the last time we saw them in a room together, but they still stood up for him. Even when they’re pissed at someone, they still don’t lose sight of the humanity of that someone.

Floch also has a low opinion of Shadis. He ordered him beaten for no reason. Because Floch is a sad, maladjusted, man-child. He sees the world in black and white terms. If you support him, you’re golden. If you don’t, you’re not even human.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Floch actually gets off on abusing whatever power he has over people. Being powerful is a high he doesn’t get to experience often, so don’t be surprised of he savors the exercising of it.

So I’ve noticed that the Survey Corps is still training recruits to fight titans. Who don’t exist anymore.

Ooookay.

Where is Isayama going with this?

Floch cites the stagnation in Survey Corps tactics as a reason why Eldia isn’t great. Isayama isn’t trying to both-sides this debate is he?

Floch is an asshole and his movement is repugnant. He’s a right-wing fucking nationalist. But it seems Isayama is trying to send the message that he’s not wrong.

What is it with this series and this schizophrenic approach to right-wing nationalism? The story has condemned it in certain moments, but when it comes to condemning the actual leaders of this movement, Isayama equivocates.

Floch is an asshole, BUT he’s actually right because the Survey Corps really is backwards thinking and in need of new leadership.

Eren is an asshole, BUT he’s actually right because the rumbling *is* necessary to protect Paradis and everyone else was just slow to accept this.

This isn’t just a case of the villains having a point. The key in situations like that is to show they have a point, but that their methods are obscene. Important to that is showing an actual alternative to those methods. Putting forth an alternative is important because it doesn’t matter how horrific Eren or Floch’s actions are, if it’s the only way to proceed then the argument can be made they are doing the right thing.

When the villain has a point, they have correctly identified a problem, but have incorrectly identified the solution.

With Eren and co. the story doesn’t just depict them as having correctly identified the problem. Their proposed solution is depicted as being at least somewhat correct too.

That’s a problem because it means Isayama is granting undue legitimacy to a repugnant, real world ideology.

Them being assholes should be a feature, not a bug. The bug being that they have a point. But the way Isayama has set things up, it’s that them having a point is the feature and their jackassery is the bug.

It all amounts to the story criticizing the nonessential aspects of this movement while leaving the substantive aspects intact.

At this point we’ll all need gas masks real soon because the smoke just keeps piling up.

The last thing of note is Zeke. Apparently he doesn’t get off on pain and suffering. Who knew.

We are apparently going to finally get a peak (you know it’s only going to be a peak) at his backstory and mindset next chapter.

Zeke worrying about his glasses, which belonged to what seems to have been a childhood friend of his, is obviously supposed to signal that Zeke can in fact empathize with people.

I am…warily looking forward to this. The ending blurb teases that he does in fact have a reason for what he’s doing. What I hope Isayama will do, because I think it would be a cool twist, is reveal that Zeke’s motives and plan is merely internally logical, but from an outside perspective, his plan is still totally batshit insane and maybe even nonsensical.

Because that’s how it is with people. People are rational actors, but all that means is that they respond to incentives and harms as they themselves weigh them in accordance with their own internal value system.

In other words, people act in a way that is always internally logical but not always truly logical. The prisoner’s dilemma is a classic example of this. Everyone acts rationally and because of that everyone loses.

How interesting would it be if Zeke’s motives only make sense to him, but are still, in a way, understandable?

The next chapter will end the second volume of this arc. Based on past chapters in a similar position, it will probably end on some event that rapidly escalates the conflict. My guess is that it’ll end on Marley launching its attack on Paradis.

SNK 114 awaits.

[vulcanlsj]

Rightful Heir Chapter 1 (DBZ Alternate timeline fanfic)

Imagine a world where Goku didn't hit his head as a child, and took over Earth. In such a world, Vegeta decided to take Earth as his own, and enslave the humans. My OC Vulcan and Vegeta spar, with Vegeta having secret plans...

Two metal balls hurtled through space from the only area of the north galaxy that the iron grip of the Saiyan Empire didn't reach. One of the balls had a small round glass window, and the sigil of the Royal House of the Saiya-jin. Inside the ball, laid a large man, roughly built, with a scar on his left biceps. He wore silver and red chest armor, with a red cape attached to his shoulders. On the left breastplate was the sigil of the Royal Family. That signaled that he was not only a Saiyan but related to the royal bloodline as well. A brown tail was wrapped around the waist, and red hip guards that ran down his thighs. He wore light blue pants, and silver armored boots, the same style wrist protectors accompanied his arm.

His face was his most interesting feature. The first was the unusual dark brown hair, which might signify that he was a Demi-Saiyan, including its short nature. It was parted up the middle, and was barely half an inch in length. He had three noticeable scars: one on the left side of his neck. It was as though the maker tried to puncture his jugular.

The other ball held a young woman, with equally unusual violet hair. She might have been a Demi-Saiyan as well, her straight hair didn't betray that aspect. She was wearing similar armor to the man in the first ball, minus the royal sigil on her breastplate.

The occupants were concentrating on a task that they would soon be putting into action. She seemed more calm than he did, as his face had a look of pure determination. In his mind, he though about a day 27 years ago, that brought about this day.

He entered the atmosphere, and landed on one of the landing cushions. A couple of guards came out, and opened his space pod.

"Hai, Vulcan-sama, it is nice of you to visit Earth," one of the guards said as Vulcan got out.

"Today, is something supposed to happen that I wasn't told about?" Vulcan asked with a stern face.

"Y-yes sire, Vegeta plans on beginning a tournament for the humans to prove themselves to us. He hopes it to bring some form of entertainment to the planet."

Vulcan tensed at that statement. He never liked holding entire races that had very similar appearances below his own race. He based his opinions on the person, like in the case of Zarbon or Dodoria.

"You think forcing people to make a bloodbath is called entertainment? That is just a disgrace!"

"Y-y-yes Vulcan-sama, but Vegeta-sama wishes that you attend. He wishes to talk with you over certain matters."

"Alright, but first, tell me why he called me here in the first place. And don't test my patience," Vulcan stared down at the guard.

The guard stepped back, and tried to think, but couldn't get anything. "I don't know, the sire did not tell me any information about your arrival, just that you were coming, and to tell you to come to the arena. I will have some escorts take you there." The guard just looked scared out of his wits, and reached to his hip. He grabbed a communicator, and turned it on.

Vulcan turned away and stopped paying attention. He looked down to the streets of the city. There were many humans in ragged clothing, straggling around trying to clean up through slave labor.

The guard tried to get Vulcan's attention by tapping him on the shoulder, which was a bad move for him. Vulcan instinctively swung his arm backward and smashed his fist into the guard's face, breaking his nose, and fracturing his cheekbones. The guard fell to the ground holding his face. Vulcan stared down at him with a look of irritation.

"Never startle me. Understood?" Vulcan belted at the fallen guard and everyone else that was there.

"Y-y-yes s-sir Vulcan-sama, it won't happen again," the guard stammered back. "But what I was going to tell you was that your escorts are here, follow them through that door, and to Vegeta-sama's palace arena."

Vulcan followed his escorts without saying a word. He looked at them both, and learned that one of them was female, a rarity among Saiyans. He looked at her with amazement. She had long, wild black hair, wore a dark blue suit, with the normal shoulder guard armor with white gloves, and toed boots. At her hip, she had a restraining collar gun. She was pretty strong looking for a Saiyan, appearing as though she could take a few Saiyans on at once, and come out the victor. She probably could take more, but Vulcan couldn't tell at the moment.

"Excuse me miss, can I ask your name?" Vulcan asked the woman as they were walking.

"What, oh, my name is Lenora, why do you ask sire? Have I done something disrespectful?" she questioned him with a puzzled look.

"No, its just that you look like you could handle yourself in a big fight, and not a lot of female Saiyans I've seen can."

She blushed slightly, and turned away. "Thank you sire, I appreciate that."

"Good, I like a woman that can accept a compliment. Why don't you see me after the tournament today? I'm not sure where I'll be, but I'm sure Vegeta has a special place for me." Vulcan emphasized the word "special."

"Hai, sure Vulcan."

"Yeah, but when you visit, you don't have to call me by my formal name, alright?"

"Okay, um, this is the place, Vegeta is through this door."

"Thank you, I'll see you later." Vulcan opened the door, to see the short prince sitting on a throne, looking out to an arena, where spectators were screaming for something to begin. The prince turned to look at Vulcan, and then a wicked grin grew on his face.

"Welcome Vulcan, I'm glad you could come. I see that you decided to join me at the arena to watch what I hope to be a magnificent tournament. Please, sit down next to me and Kakarot, we have the best seat in the house," Vegeta welcomed Vulcan as he offered him a seat.

"Thanks, but no thanks, I'd like to stand if you don't mind."

"Oh, no, I don't mind, as long as you are comfortable. I mean, I don't want you to strain yourself."

"I'll be fine Vegeta."

Then came the signal to begin the tournament. The tournament consisted of 32 people in two sets of brackets. Which makes for a total of 16 qualifying fights. The first fight was between a small bald headed man, and a large bear of a human that was nearly three times his size. He performed many back flips to show off his amazing agility. Then the small one leaped at the large one, and hit him with a roundhouse kick, sending the large one into the wall. Vulcan looked at this with a surprised look on his face.

Vegeta saw this reaction from Vulcan. "Yes, I see that some of these humans are much stronger than they look, especially that little one," Vegeta commented. "Kurilin is his name I believe. He stands to show that some of these human may have some potential. Don't you think so Kakarot?"

Kakarot nodded, "Humans like that one may make for good soldiers that we can exploit."

Vulcan interjected with a demand, "Why do you have to treat every other race as though they are inferior? You make them into slaves for just that reason."

"They are inferior because of their weakness, but I am trying to help them make a reputation by having this tournament. They just have to prove themselves to us," Vegeta assured Vulcan.

"Yeah, and what exactly does the winner of this tournament get?"

"They get a chance to fight an elite of my choice. If they survive, they get made into a ranked soldier."

"Humph, sounds like a death wish to me." Vulcan just crossed his arms, and leaned back against the wall, looking out towards the arena, just in time to see Kurilin snap the neck of the fat man. The crowd roared and cheered, and called for the next fight.

The next fight turned out to have another big man, although not as big as the last. His opponent was a bulk man, with an average height. The big one yelled out his name in show of quick victory, Spopovitch. The average man fell into a defensive crouch, as Spopovitch charged at him. He attempted a sweep, which didn't stop or slow Spopovitch. Spopovitch then grabbed him by both of his arms, and gave him a crushing hug.

"Die, Stiener, be a quick death, and you will not regret it," Spopovitch said. Stiener passed out from the pain, and Spopovitch let him fall to the ground. He then picked him up by his head, and smashed his head between his hands.

"Now that was interesting," Kakarot said.

"Yes, he would make an excellent soldier. He reminds me of Nappa, so large, and well built," Vegeta remarked. "All he would need is to train in my newly constructed gravity chambers." He then looked to Vulcan. "Don't you find this entertaining Vulcan? This is the reason that I asked you to come here."

"Not all that much. I only find true joy in personal fighting," Vulcan replied.

"Well, that's odd. I thought that this would be entertaining. What exactly do you want to do?"

"I want to go back to Planet Vegeta, that's what I want."

"I can't let you do that, that wouldn't be very host like me. You're my guest, what would make your stay more enjoyable, hmm?"

"I'd like a challenging fight, that would help." Vulcan looked down to the small section of elite watching the fights. "So which of your elite are you going to have me fight? Will it be the hulking Nappa? Or the sick sadistic bastard Raditz? Or even Kakarot here? Any others I'm forgetting?"

Vegeta thought for a few seconds. He didn't think Raditz would give Vulcan much of a challenge, though it would be fun to see Raditz's tactics put up against Vulcan's legendary fighting skills. Nappa fought Vulcan years ago, before Frieza put distance between the Saiyans and the Ice-jinns, and Vulcan easily took Nappa down. He wasn't sure if Nappa was now stonger than Vulcan or not. And Kakarot had been getting a lot stronger and had tactics that Vegeta thought even compared to his own. But he needed someone to kill Vulcan, after all, that was the real reason he had summoned Vulcan here.

"No, it will not be any of my elite," Vegeta decided, "as a matter of fact, I think I'll fight you." Vegeta smirked as he pondered over how he was going to kill Vulcan. He needed to take him out before he reached something that Vegeta was on the edge of himself. That and he planned on taking his father's place as leader of the Saiyans. Vulcan could complicate things. Of course, Vegeta would have to have a couple of training bouts, to judge how strong Vulcan really was.

Vulcan was surprised as he responded, "You're gonna fight me?"

Vegeta killed his smirk, "If it keeps you happy and on Earth for a week or two, then yes. Your sparring partner will be me." He kept his emotions of elation to himself.

"OK, but I need to get prepared first, where is my room?"

"I'll have one of my guards show you to your room," Vegeta raised a hand to signal for his guards to come forward. They led him out of the room, as Vegeta and Kakarot discussed Vulcan's desire for a fight.

"So Vulcan is actually becoming part of your plan for the throne?" Kakarot asked quizzically.

"Yes, sooner than I had expected." Vegeta smirked again, and watched the next fight.

Outside of Vulcan's room, Vulcan turned to the guard before he left his sight. "Excuse me, but before you leave, find the guard known as Lenora, and bring her here. We have a meeting that needs to be held ASAP."

"Hai sama, I'll be right back." The guard continued down the hall as he checked his hand held scanner. Vulcan just looked around the room, and decided to rest. He'd wait for Lenora to show.

[knightofbalance-13]

Boss Battle: Vs. Sokumotaka 2

https://sokumotanaka.tumblr.com/post/161038682374/it-becomes-clear-just-how-far-the-white-fang-have

Oh god look it’s clear to me you people who keep sending these either can’t read or lack the ability to understand the situation going on in this show and how fucked up it is from a writing and social perspective.

Actually as we go on, we’ll see this is more of a case of you being incapable of understanding that one’s crimes does not justify another’s actions.

The whole “We’re not working with the evil side of the white fang would have been good cause RT is trying to emulate freedom fighting organizations and spitting on them. Literally did the underground railroad (Yeah remember how many innocent black people died to even get to that place to free themselves?) But ignore that miles and kerry can spit all over harriet tubman’s legacy. okay maybe I’m a bit annoyed about that but making the entire minority organization that originally wanted equality evil? Is a bad idea! http://glyndathegoodwitchofbeacon.tumblr.com/post/138657005354/the-white-fang

Mind showing us the connection between using a system of connections to lead freed slaves to freedom to a group that goes around killing innocent people and breaking up peaceful protests to attack humans for being humans? Because all I see is you trying to drag the writer’s through the mud and instead doing that to yourself.

And let’s take a look at that link shall we? The justification given for the White Fang’s actions is that they are treated like dirt by every human in Remnant. Not only is that not  a reason to kill people in the first lace (I should know, having gone through a  personal version of that before), not every human treats them that way. In fact, judging by how disdainfully Cardin is regarded, racism in current day Remnant is much like how racism is treated today: Prevalent but looked down upon. So that doesn’t excuse the White Fang’s actions against humans, let alone their actions of breaking up peaceful Fanaus protests like they did in Episode 1 of Volume 1 which cannot be excused by that. SO they have plenty of crimes that cannot be excused by what you give them.

So let’s talk about renegades: Adam torchwich a man who falsified a faunus white fang rally one where looking at it the faunus there weren’t bloodthirsty at all, in fact during his speech he talked about equality and overthrowing the government (remember the government that’s oppressing them.) and possibly replacing them with people who would actually give a damn about faunus rights and he tricked them into thinking a train/bomb was going to do it , not that it was below an inhabited city. So you wanna talk about lies then let’s bring him up too humans did their fair share. (Let’s not forget how he talked trash on the faunus race not the white fang but the *FAUNUS* during him and ruby’s last encounter. But I’m sure you’ll brush that off too.

... Who? IS it Adam or Roman? Because if it’s Roman than I can saw about how does this connect seeing as Adam was willing to blow up a train full of innocent humans in the first lace and agreed to work with Cinder when it benefited him. And if it’s Roman, the white Fang had to know what they were gonna do seeing as they had a train of explosives, a bunch of Grimm and tracks leading to Vale. And even then, I can point out that Roman never demanded the genocide of Fanaus, unlike Adam AKA a leader of the White Fang. And then there’s the fact that Roman is a villain and is supposed to represent the worst of humanity, not the majority so it’s not even justified that way.

Okay so we’re gonna base the entire white fang past present and future on a dumb “twirl my mustache oooh so evil.” scene? That’s asinine! Let us not forget again the white fang held peaceful protest (again which I support but you heathens only hear “Blah blah Racist.” again which I also stated the first time I brought up the white fang and even linked to post like this but ha who’s counting?) for “Despite being promised keyword PROMISED equality, the faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate.” -Blake belladonna

No one here is saying that. In fact, the very quote you have at the top talks about how the White Fang has fallen, showing that they were good once before. You’re the only person saying that they were bad past, present and future. We just acknowledged they have soured. And the White Fang ONCE held peaceful protest, they now actively BREAK up peaceful protest, meaning they now longer do that so the point is moot.

And yes, they were promised equality and they didn't get it. So the fuck what? You think that justifies the deaths of innocent people, numbering possibly in the hundreds if not thousands? A single innocent death is inexcusable and the White Fang has caused so much more than that with the attempted Train bombing and the fall of Beacon. Blake (that person you’re quoting) outright left them BECAUSE they were so murder happy. One of the most devoute members jumped ship because they got too radical. Says a lot.

And despite this (usually violating the terms of a treaty was to the writers justified to start all out wars and there has been wars on this that were *ahem* justified.) The faunus met this injustice with peaceful protesting for many many years so they reacted to this injustice for several years (double digits from what the show tells us) before retaliation.

Doesn’t matter how long they’ve suffered. The jewish people were enslaved by the egyphtans for centuries, the Christians were hunted and killed for centuries as well, the African Americans were enslaved for decades and discriminated against for decades more. It doesn’t matter how long your people has suffered: The killing of innocent life is never justified. And if I hear they deserved to die because they were human: That’s racist you asshole.

Way less than real life peaceful protesting last.

I can feel Martin Luther King Jr. rolling in his grave.

Think about this the white fang had justification for reigniting a full scale war for 20+ years but held back in favor of peaceful protesting, not to mention the literal murder of them because as the WOR stated “they looked different or threatening” so humans would hunt them down with NO again retaliation from the faunus until they stated “No we had enough.” and in the end what? got a small cramped island that’s mostly desert and lacking in resources? Yes what a gift for the murder of our loved one’s in which none of these people pay any consequences.

War is never justified because inevitably, innocent blood is spilled. Terrorism is never justified. Especially against a race of people which is what you are demanding. You are demanding that the human race pay for what they did to the Fanaus, even if said humans never did such a thing and even disagree with such a disgusting action. Those people who are all but on your side must pay because of their race correct? Sounds pretty racist to me.

So I mean if you want to say the white fang’s actions aren’t justified because they’re sadistic murderers, causing genocide well so we’re humans in that regard and no one reined them in when they shed so much blood so I think you sound like a hypocrite.  The humans aren’t justified for their actions either.

No one ever said that they were. Ever heard of the concept of “Black and Black morality?” Where neither side is right and it ends u as two assholes punching each other? That’s what this is you idiot. The world isn’t some squeaky clean Black and white place.

In the end I just think making a splinter group that wasn’t 100% twirl my mustache evil would have been realistic, smart and a good call especially since so many people can relate to the white fang’s want of peace and equality, it makes them more sympathetic than the humans who lied to them about equality, oh did you gloss over that too?

But there IS members of the Fanaus race fighting for peace and equality instead of genocide and oppression. Blake, Sun, Ghira and Kali: They want TRUE equality and REAL peace but you ignore that and think that the White Fang should have been this handsome group of freedom fighters right? Well, time for a life lesson: Fight an enemy long enough and you BECOME that enemy. You adapt their style, their attitude and their ways. It happens in real life: Deal with it.

Lastly let’s squash the idea right now that you can’t like villains (Let’s just call them that in case your thick skull doesn’t register that.) I’m sorry but after several of this same message from the same person? I think you’re kinda pigheaded. Anyway let’s squash the idea that you can’t like villainous characters, people like frieza from dbz who’s racist, people like S.U villains who view humans as trash and you jerks like cinder who attacked and is now using the white fanus for murder and stuff because before she took over there wasn’t a single murder only dust stealing but hey let’s not give cinder any blame she’s too sexy.

Ah yes but the White Fang were hurting people long before Cinder came around: She just gave them better guns. Before Cinder, Adam tried blowing a train full of innocent humans. Who forced his hand there? It had to be forced since Blake outright asked about the humans. It’s not like Adam wanted to kill every human he could find because he’s a genocidal bastrad who deserves to be put down like a rapid dog. It was never said that the WHite Fang didn’t kill people before Cinder and Adam tried to before Cinder so no excuses there.

But hey, let’s not blame Adam. He’s oppressed uwu

Christ! Do yourself a favor and just do what I do: Just say everyone on remnant is a little bit of an asshole. And again for the last time leave me out of it, I already debunked this same argument like 3 times come up with some new material.

Really? Because from where I am sitting, sick and in the middle of the night, I just tore your debunk apart in a matter of minutes. Kind of shows how shit your argument is at it’s very basis.

Considering the fact that people like Ruby and Jaune exist on Renment, people who have done nothing but try to help others, I refuse to say that. I will not hold them accountable for the actions of people they don’t know or agree with just because they share the same race. That’s stupid and wrong. Just like you.

[softgine]

grandpa bardock and grandson gohan

i’m like imagining this weird situation where kakarot was sent to earth, had a kid, and upon hearing that earth was going to be obliterated, he uses the space pod he was sent in to return gohan to the planet with a note or something. like planet vegeta is still alive and working for frieza & whatnot??

as a hybrid of course, gohan already outclasses the pureblooded saiyans by miles, but this is still gohan so i imagine he’s incredibly timid until, well, someone fucks with him (which is gonna be raditz lbr)

(also in this au, raditz & gine are alive and bardock’s crew is close!! i have a lot of planet v headcanons right here so that’s where i’m kind of basing it off of if that’s cool???)

well anyway, so raditz starts picking on this kid who has the happiest eyes ever and basically gohan swings back and my favorite headcanon is that bardock is a bit of a dick to raditz so he’s just like “you’re really going to let this brat hit you like that” UNTIL they both see the saiyan tail & now theyre confused bc gohan is still dressed in his earthling clothes

gohan then announces who his parents were (which is something kakarot kept repeating to him before the last second ok) and bardock & raditz are taken aback bc LOWKEY kakarot is a disgrace to their race being that he had a mission and decided to play house and all

but like the scouters r still a thing so pissed off gohan is generating all kinds of power just by being angered, which is causing a stir among the third class and instead of turning gohan over to the authorities, bardock insinuates a fight with raditz to pretend that the power is theirs

i’m gonna add a text cut here but this is going to include a lot of backstory and i don’t want to spam anyone’s dash ok

they bring gohan back to gine of course and they lie and say that gohan is their child. it’s like a grandparents adopt a grandchild way but like... illegal lmao. you can’t determine that gohan is not saiyan the tail is evident enough to pass and get him situated in combat training with the rest of the saiyan children and it’s fine.... until gohan is being gohan and unwilling to fight without reason (plus he has a right to feel some type of way considering that his so called people also called his other people?? OH yeah the saiyans destroyed earth after kakarot failed to asdjk)

this is when bardock pulls him out and decides to TRAIN him and mind you, bardock’s a very respected captain not only in the third class, but there’s enough rumors in the first class to know that he’s not to be messed with, so him fighting little gohan lORDT 

basically bardock becomes an even more stricter and rougher piccolo, but *ahem* it’s because in a way, he knew he failed with kakarot. like back at planet v, it’s to the point where you can’t even mention him. (on the other hand, raditz is still respectable since he’s on the prince’s team)

gohan of course then just blurts out how he’s feeling like a normal kid and admits his struggles to side with one half of him when that half betrayed him (which is total role reversal) and bardock understands him better. nonetheless, planet vegeta is still planet vegeta so he has to suck it up. it’s not fair but the culture is incredibly different

NOW LISTEN, i want to credit gohan’s hidden power with chichi’s mother and here’s why: while ox kind is known for his violent tendencies, their castle was basically sitting on a demon portal/a gate way to other world’s hell (i think that’s how annin’s pot was explained??) but nonetheless, in this instance, gohan basically pulled a yusuke urameshi and had demon ancestry that was woken up because he’s so strong (like the saiyan mix has to be accredited for 70% of his power against his earth blood tho)

^^^^ it’s why he becomes inhumanely destructive, practically the biggest psychopath tbh. saiyans like to say they’re emotionless but pride is such a strong state of being that it has to balance with everything else

with that being said, gohan’s not indestructible, but he’s a problem for planet vegeta’s royalty who are only in power bc they’re the strongest. it’s also noted that bardock’s still kicking ass and taking jobs the first class won’t and raditz has elevated himself in his own childhood. meanwhile, of course, the family gets under frieza’s radar

i would like to believe that frieza would be intrigued with bardock because while king vegeta is basically his servant, bardock is more loyal to his people and not to mention, has the respect of both the third and first class. frieza tries to entice him by taking over the planet himself

AGAIN, bardock’s loyalty is with the king not frieza

after he turns frieza down though, frieza makes note to explose gohan as a half-blood saiyan, which is a big deal considering 1) kakarot was already a disgrace and 2) saiyans are incredibly proud of their bloodline. tainting it with another species blood; nonetheless a planet as weak as EARTH, does not sit well with anybody. this basically turns into a witch hunt where bardock’s character is in question for protecting this child

i imagine raditz is also being forced to go after gohan after all his work of joining the prince’s elite force but that’s another side story with gine (also raditz is just a big mama’s boy) who reminds him of the cruelty of their people/her side of the backlash as well as her own ridicule for not being on par with other warriors of the planet. like she reminds him that this situation isn’t as black and white as they want to make it

in the end, they capture gohan because he sacrifices himself because they’re right; he’s not a pure-blooded saiyan by any means. however, we are all aware of what happens when gohan gets pushed. nonetheless, i believe this is where chichi’s blood comes into play because by now, there’s no point of reasoning with gohan. he truly is broken with everything he’s been through + he’s a child who hasn’t been taught better than to lash out. thus, here comes the biggest saiyan massacre where lord frieza intervenes as a “favor”

surviving saiyans are rioting against gine and bardock for not only giving birth to a disgrace but also someone who slaughtered their people + disgrace them in the complete opposite direction. bardock can hold his own but gine gOD. she’s picked up enough to be a good teammate but not as an independent. bardock KNOWS this. however, gine insists that bardock takes back gohan because it’s not his fault that he’s that way, it’s theirs for constantly forcing him to be murderer. she adds on this is a situation they can control unlike kakarot who’s made his own choices

AH MY HEART (because in my head this looks all bloody and incredibly tragic) where bardock literally has to watch his main companion being slaughtered more brutally done than any of his assignment. it’s a cruel way for the universe to balance itself

back to raditz tho, OH BOY he’s being forced to kill his dick of a father. on one hand, a part of him could do it like raditz never wanted to be in bardock’s shadow, hence why he never claimed the third class. on the other, gine’s speech is in his head and bardock is still his blood. it begs the question of who’s loyalty really matters bc his peers respect him but there’s a line if he doesn’t do what they want; bardock on the other hand is literally out to save a saiyan murderer (and bardock’s the most proud/incredibly lawful person he’s known, even against the king). basically his respect he’s earned vs. this unconditional care

OOH, i don’t know how the raditz/bardock story goes but aNYWAY, bardock is definitely saving gohan and i didn’t want this to be an everyone dies thing but shit

bardock reaches gohan who’s just so out of it and dead inside like this kid has lived the tragedy of 3 lifetimes and he’s not even an eighth done living his. bardock fights his way through and learns frieza has him

gohan does definitely take the alternate vegeta’s life of being frieza trophy, except he finds use with gohan being efficent and cold blooded enough to murder his own people. frieza brings up a point that gohan may try to fight it, but he’s no better than the baffoons who kills his parents and planet and its just TRAGIC

*insert scene where bardock beats the fuck out of dodoria and zarbon*

bardock enters but is definitely not match for frieza. this is when bardock does something incredibly out of the norm and forgives gohan. none of this is what his parents wanted for him and earth may have been weak, but it was out of choice. any time people of chichi’s side could’ve murdered and won but they didn’t. his people did and that’s their weakness unfortunately

now gohan’s just weeping because he’s been incredibly self-aware of what he’s felt but none of it has processed completely because again, he’s a CHILD.... this is sick but after bardock’s torturous death, i imagine them accidently passing by a moon and that alone is enough to activate gohan’s oozaru form which he hasn’t mastered yet. i’m not saying he eats frieza but frieza does not survive those teeth

plagued by guilt, oozaru!gohan destroys the whole ship and everyone on it, including himself when there’s a hole that’s sucking them any survivors anyway and slowly, gohan gets to return to his real parents

back in planet vegeta, word on the scouters is that frieza is dead which is cause for the king & prince to plan their own takeover. however, raditz seeing the pieces of his dead mother does not sit well and he snaps himself. it’s a completely lose-lose situation for everyone involved

including ME bc this all sounds so sadistic rip

[solarweek]

Day 6: Birthday

Sol took a deep breath and prepped himself for what he was about to do; school had let out about a month ago but not a day later, he got an invitation to his archenemy’s/friend’s/crush’s birthday party. He was now standing right outside her house and Sol was so nervous he couldn’t stop shaking.

 “It’s going to be okay Sol.” His mom said as she patted him on the head. “I’m sure your girlfriend will love the present you got her.”

 “She’s not my girlfriend mom.” Sol replied.

 “Oh really?” Sol’s mom replied as she eyed the present in Sol’s hands. “After she sees what you got her I’m not so sure that will be the case anymore.”

 “MOM!” Sol exclaimed. The present in question was a long box that usually meant it was some piece of clothing but Sol had put so much time effort and energy into picking it out that there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Sol’s feelings towards Star were anything but hostel.

 This would no doubt earn Sol his second strike but avoiding a second strike at her birthday party would entail not actually having a crush on her. It didn’t mind Sol that much though, it was only his second out of three and it wasn’t like he was going to keep it a secret forever, he just needed to play it safe until he got the right moment to confess his true feelings to her.

 All that was for another day though, Sol had to collect his feelings and get ready for Star’s birthday party. “Okay.” He said weakly. “I’m ready, let’s go in.”

 They both walked up to the door and Sol slowly began to knock. Before long, the door slowly opened and none other than Star herself came to answer. “Sol!” She exclaimed as she pulled him into a hug. “I’m so glad you could make it!”

 The feeling of being hugged by Star, although very welcome, was a tad strange, not even a full year ago, had he showed up to her door, she would have accused him of trying to assassinate her or cause trouble and now they are almost the best of friends. “You know I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He said as he handed her the present he got her.

 She looked at the box wide eyed before looking back to Sol. “You know this is probably going to earn you you’re second strike, right?”

 “I honestly don’t think there is a way I could possibly avoid that today.” Sol replied.

 Star smiled and took the present from him before motioning for them to come inside. “Please come in, everyone else is in the backyard so I’ll meet you there.”

 Sol began to make his way inside as his mother placed a hand on his shoulder. “You know I would love to stay but-“

 “I know, you and dad are busy.” Sol replied almost a little too eager to get him mom to go. “I will be fine, you don’t have to worry.”

 “I know.” She replied as she rubbed Sol’s head. “Your father should be here in a few hours to pick you up and could you tell Mrs. Butterfly that I want a picture of the kiss?”

 “Wait, what-“ Sol’s eyes went wide as he realized what his mother was talking about. “Mom!” He exclaimed. “Look … for argument sake, let’s forget that it’s not going to happen, you are going to have to ask her for that yourself because I’m going to be too embarrassed.”

 “That is true.” She smiled at him before walking away. “Fair enough, but if I ask for the picture then I get to show everyone at work.”

 Sol blushed as his mom walked away and he walked into the house, making sure to close the door behind him. He slowly began making his way to the backyard where he saw a giant bouncy castle along with the Butterfly’s small playground. Of the other kids invited, most were the girls from their class with a few of the boys here and there.

 “Come on Sol!” Star shouted as she grabbed his hand. “Let’s have some fun!”

 She pulled him towards the bouncy castle and continued to hold onto his hand as they enjoyed bouncing up and down along with the other kids. As time passed, Star had forgotten that she was holding onto Sol’s hand but for Sol, her grip never left his mind. She was a lot stronger than he initially expected which was one of the reason’s Sol couldn’t actually not notice it, but it was nice and made him feel like the whole archenemy thing was always just for show.

 After some time, Star parents called out that a movie of some kind was about to begin and Star rushed off the bouncy castle dragging Sol along with her. The movie was set up in the living room where there was a giant television screen and a number of snacks set up on the coffee table. Star practically hopped onto the big chair leaving Sol in an awkward position of squeezing into the space right next to her or asking for his hand back. “Uh …” Sol began awkwardly.

 “Huh?”  Star looked at where she was sitting then realized that she was still holding onto Sol’s hand. “Oh, right.” She moved to the side making a little room for Sol to squeeze in but only then figuring out that it might not have been the best solution. “Or … I guess I should probably give you your hand back.”

 “Well unless you want me to squeeze into that chair with you.” Sol half joked.

 There was an awkward silence as both preteens waited for the other to mention it was a bad idea, however, that never came. “I mean if you want to then-“ Star began.

 “I mean if you want to, I mean it is your birthday and all so-“

 There was another awkward pause until Star finally pulled Sol into the chair with her and interlocked her fingers with his. A few of the other kids rushed in, not paying any attention to the two sitting together in the big chair as Star’s parents but the movie in and it started. Sol could feel his heart race as the screen began to flutter to life, he was sitting with his crush and now best friend about to watch a movie that he assumed would involve some form of princess or romance. What Sol didn’t expect however, was that they would be watching none other than the latest Dragon Ball Z movie, resurrection F.

 Sol quickly looked at Star with a mixture of confusion and joy. “Not that I’m complaining but-“

 “I got into it around Christmas, just managed to catch up to the most recent a few days ago.”

 Sol felt a warmth inside of him as he tried to sink deeper into the couch. “Well have you seen the newest dragon ball supper series?”

 “Seen up to the latest dubbed episode.”

 Sol was awestruck by how much of a fan she was but wasn’t able to make a comeback as the movie began causing both their attention to shift to it.

 Sol had seen the movie before with subtitles but never in English, he was actually enjoying it a lot more as was everyone else. When the time finally came where Goku blasts Frieza with his signature Kamehameha, Star couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “Vegeta’s reaction is just too funny.”

 “I know what you mean.” Sol replied as he looked over to Star. “He doesn’t realize that Goku saved his life yet and thinks that he just stole the kill for the fun of it.”

 “Yeah.” Star rested her head on Sol’s shoulder as the movie finished up and the credits started to role.

 Before anyone else could get up though, Star shot to her feet and pulled Sol along with her. “Come with me?” She asked.

 “Like I have a choice?” He replied as he motioned to his hand which was still firmly in her grasp.

 “Good point.” She dragged him into the kitchen and from there, into the dining room out of sight from everyone. “Sol?” She began as she took a deep breath. “I … I wanted to thank you.”

 “Thank me?” Sol asked.

 “Yeah … for … putting up with me.”

 Sol was shocked by her statement. “Putting up with you? That doesn’t … Star, I love spending time with you.”

 “Yeah but … back when we first met … you did actually trip and fall on me, didn’t you?”

 Sol gave a guilty smile and scratched the back of his head with his free hand. “Yeah … I mean there wasn’t much there to trip on so it was a little embarrassing.”

 Star nodded as she tried to avoid eye contact with him. “Yeah but … I called you evil for trying to destroy me but you played along and shared in my little fantasy world.”

 “Yeah well-“ Sol paused as he realized something. “Wait, so … you knew that I wasn’t trying to hurt you?”

 “Well I knew but … I didn’t realize it till recently.” She bit her lower lip and looked down. “When Lars … hurt me … it was like being violently woken up from a fantasy … I mean I knew it wasn’t real, I wasn’t crazy but … it was like I couldn’t really go back, even after you tried to cheer me up.” She tilted her head up to look Sol in the eye. “Is this what growing up feels like?”

 “I have no idea, I don’t even know if I’ve done it yet.” He let out a sigh then looked back at her. “I’m just glad we get to be friends while it happens.”

 “Friends?” Star asked.

 “Well yeah … aren’t we friends?”

 Star nodded happily. “That’s true … we’ve been something like best friends for a while but this is the first time you’re confessing to it.”

 “Oh!” Sol exclaimed. “Well … yeah … I mean you’re the most perfect girl I’ve ever known, you’ve got an amazing imagination, you’re adorable, you’re nice, you’re incredibly strong, very athletic, you’re into the same stuff I’m into-“

 “I have bad grades, people find me annoying sometimes, I’m … honestly terrified of junior high and highschool-“

 “That doesn’t matter to me.” Sol said as he placed his other hand on top of Star’s. “You’re still my best friend and we’ll handle junior high together.”

 “But there aren’t single designated classes!” Star exclaimed. “What if none of our classes match up, or what if we’re put into entirely different sections and don’t even have the same lunch!”

 “Then we’ll still be able to hang out outside of school.” Sol eased. “I’m nervous about it as well, so don’t feel bad.”

 They both stood there for a moment in complete silence until Star glanced up at Sol. “That’s really sweet … but I have to give you strike two now.”

 “I thought I already got my second strike.” Sol replied.

 Star shook her head. “I have to give them to you, remember?”

 Sol slowly nodded his head not really understanding what she was getting at. “Uh … give them … how?”

 Star gave a mischievous smile before quickly bringing her face closer and pressing her lips to his. Sol froze as his heart sped out of control, the kiss was gentle and quick but still much better than the previous one they shared.

 When they finally separated, Star smiled at the stunned Sol and gently placed a hand on his cheek. “Now be careful, we still have cake and a second movie and you don’t want to earn your third strike too soon.” She slid her hands out of his and walked out of the room leaving him alone.

 “Whoa.” He said as he looked back at her. “I … whoa.”

[msdoctorwho]

Fire Meet Gasoline, Ch. 4

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13461255/chapters/32828067

The new normal was...nice. There was a new mutual understanding, a gap bridged between them. A slight benefit of the doubt where before misunderstanding would have sparked a raging argument. Even Bulma’s mother commented that they were “getting along so much better these days!”

At first Bulma only spoke in Saiyan after he did, wary of being too familiar with what was clearly still precious to him. Gradually Vegeta sought her out to talk more and more, unable to resist the draw of his own language, until they conversed in it as easily as her own. Moreso, even, as in some darker moods he would respond to Saiyan when she was certain he’d have ignored her, before.

He rarely allowed himself downtime, but she found him reading once or twice, lost in one of the books for a short midday break under a tree, or while he ate alone at night before bed. He even messaged her once, from the tablet, with improved Saiyan translations for a few passages.

He wasn’t as reluctant to be around her as before, but he still held her at arms’ length, refusing to talk about his planet or people beyond answering simple questions for the research she was still pursuing, with his unspoken permission.

He wasn’t her adversary, but he wasn’t her friend yet, either. Bulma was at a loss as to why he resisted her attempts so much, and why she wanted so badly to make it happen. It wasn’t for knowledge, anymore; she’d learned more than she’d dreamed possible, and was still moving forward, though she'd had to split time with her other work obligations.

It was him . He was fascinating, this destroyer of worlds who lived in her home and occasionally asked her to pass the salt. She knew she should fear him. Instead, she wanted to climb inside him, to know every aspect of him and make him hers.

She supposed her attraction wasn’t all that surprising given she’d made no attempt at dating since Yamcha. It wasn’t because of the breakup; she just couldn’t be bothered with trivial men when the end of the world was coming. That was why she’d ended the relationship in the first place -- she’d realized if there might only be a few years left of her life, she didn’t want to spend them with Yamcha . There was nothing wrong with him. He just wasn’t who she wanted at her side to face the end of all things. And he deserved to maybe find that with someone else.

Given that it had been a while , it was not that surprising she’d started thinking about Vegeta that way. Whatever else he might be, he was far from trivial.

She knew he wasn’t un -interested in her. He had eyes, and she occasionally caught them on her with an intensity made all the more obvious by how quickly he looked away. But he was driven, he had plans, and there was no room in his schedule for anything that didn’t get him closer to ascending.

Bulma wasn’t a genius for nothing. The way to his... heart... was going to be through his goals. She’d already built him a facility, she already supplied him with bots. It was time to attack with data .

It’s not like he’d never read before -- one didn’t rise in the military without reading manuals, briefings, training texts, technical specs. He even vaguely remembered reading Saiyan fables and histories as a child. But it was entirely foreign to find himself reading of his own volition, for no reason other than diversion.

Contrary to what Bulma would have guessed, he’d begun with the fiction. It was an unexpected escape, a rare experience for him. It was even pleasant, until he had the unwelcome realization that he identified more with the orcs and Nazgûl than the group of heroes.

A subjugated army forced into war and conquest? Sounded a lot more like him than oblivious immortal elves living in treehouses or hairy little creatures digging houses into hillsides and eating all day. Did the fiction even explain why the orcs fought for this conqueror, or was it just assumed that they loved war? How could that have been enough? Even for a warlike people, what glory is there in service to a tyrant? What glory can be found without freedom?

The inside of his head had never been a pleasant place, not since the day his father bargained him away, but for the first time he began to grasp the the outside edges of the enormity of his sins. He’d done what he’d done to survive, all of it, but that didn’t make his hands any less bloody.

Combat, violence, and the pursuit of victory were in his bones, in whatever was left of his soul. It was how the world made sense. But so much of what they’d done under Frieza’s orders had been outright slaughter. There was no honor in obliterating the weak. How low had he fallen, that he’d allowed himself to enjoy it?

It was either that, or die, he supposed, under the weight of an otherwise joyless existence. The more time he spent away from that life, on this space-ignorant rock with its weak little inhabitants and one exasperating scientist, he wondered how he could ever have thought those years under Frieza held any joy at all.

Bulma lay in wait for him in the kitchen one evening, having already warmed up his dinner, knowing he would be more receptive after finishing his training for the day. In the mornings he had too much pent-up energy and no patience for conversation or anything that delayed him longer than necessary.

He eyed her with suspicion but no animosity as she served them both dinner and sat, saying nothing. She sipped her wine and waited, the imprint of her lips left behind on the glass, a half-moon of color that kept stealing his gaze.

“Out with it, woman.”

She smiled, and he felt as though he’d lost a point in a contest he was unaware of entering. “Well, Vegeta, I’ve been doing some research.”

“That’s a surprise.”

Was that sarcasm? She was delighted.

“You’ve trained every day since the chamber went online, and when it’s down for repairs you go off and blast shit elsewhere. You haven’t taken a single day off, have you?”

He shrugged. “Why would I waste time I could be training?”

She spoke casually, too casually. “That’s the thing -- I don’t think it would be a waste of time.”

“What the fuck do you know about it? You avoid physical activity like it might kill you.”

She huffed, sitting up straight, eyes flashing. “I’ll have you know I do plenty of-- you know what, never mind, this isn’t about me. I’m trying to help you, you ungrateful prick.”

The insult lacked venom so he ignored it. But still, “I’m not in need of your help.”

She switched tactics. Data, Bulma. “I’ve been studying peak human performers, professional athletes in various sports. How they train, what they eat.”

His grunt of irritation dismissed that as irrelevant. “I care about that, why?”

She waved a hand, “Yeah, I know humans and Saiyans are so different, Saiyans get stronger every time they’re beaten near to death, et cetera, et cetera.”

She leaned forward, uncrossing her legs. “But the mere existence of Gohan proves we’re way more similar than different, so you can’t throw out all of my data that easily.” Her lab coat parted with her movement, revealing the low neckline of the blouse underneath. Entirely unwillingly he was forced to contemplate exactly how compatible their races were whether he wanted to or not.

Seemingly oblivious, she carried on, “Human physiology benefits from a period of rest after a period of strenuous activity, giving the body time to repair and strengthen.” Eyes like a bird of prey watched him from behind her wineglass as she drank.

“Bah.” He began to rise, and she pulled an entire pie out of the fridge, putting it in front of him. He frowned at it but sat back down. It was pie, after all.

She drug a knife through it slowly, insolently, putting a slice on a plate he ignored by sticking his fork in the middle of the rest. “Have you ever wondered if one of the differences between you and Goku might be how you approach your training?”

He growled around a giant mouthful of pie, latent childhood manners still too regal to say what he really thought of her bringing up Kakarot with his mouth full.

She licked the edge of the knife, a quick flash of tongue like a wink. “Goku has always taken time off, now and then. He goes fishing with Gohan, takes Chichi to the city.”

He finished chewing. “Like I care what that third-class--”

“My point is,” she interrupted, daring to swipe a bite of his pie, “You can’t argue that it hasn’t been working for him.”

He looked furious. Bulma was going to lose him if she didn't act fast.

Vegeta felt a stab of betrayal at the implied comparison, and then surprise at the betrayal. When had he started thinking of her as anything other than his adversary's ally?

She broke into his thoughts with a hand on his arm, freezing him with a touch while fire ran over his skin.

Her voice was low, almost primal, challenging. “I’ll make a bet with you. It’s one day -- what do you have to lose?”

In Saiyan the literal phrase was more like “Do you have balls, or not?”  And his were tightening, at the challenge, at the touch. His blood sang under her fingers, as though sparked by her ki, which was impossible, as she had basically none.

He swallowed, jerking his arm away. “What are your terms?”

Her smile had too many teeth, like a well-fed predator. “You take one rest day, following the itinerary I plan, exactly. No training. We track your peak and average power levels the week before the rest day, and then the week after.”

She dug out her mobile to show him a graph, all business again. “Your progress so far has been fairly linear. I bet that during the first 48 hours after a rest day you’ll see a bigger jump than would be projected by the previous week’s data with no rest.”

She looked him dead in the eye, and he'd be damned if he looked away first. “If I’m wrong, I’ll make you a new set of training bots with enhanced AI.”

Neither of them blinked. She went on, “If I’m right, you take one day off at least every 10 days. Or work with me to find the ideal ratio of rest to work days.” Another sip of wine, still locking eyes. "Up to you."

She dropped her gaze, and he exhaled. “What does this rest day entail?”

She brushed invisible crumbs off of her garment with a lazy, ineffective gesture. “Sleeping. Eating. Massage. Maybe some active recovery, like walking or stretching. Diverting yourself mentally with something completely unrelated to training.”

He sighed. The part of him that had kept him alive for so long insisted it was a waste of time he couldn’t afford, but he was beginning to trust in her and her logic , and honestly it sounded rather...pleasant.

“I’ll do it, but you’re going to make me the new bots either way.” He felt smug about that stipulation, somehow coming out ahead after this shipwreck of a conversation.

“Done,” she said with a smooth, tiny smile, and he had the sudden feeling that a squad of new bots already awaited him somewhere, and he hadn’t won anything at all.

[vulcanlsj]

Show of Pride (DBZ Fanfic)

“Hey ‘tender, throw me down a carbonated drink, hold the ice!”  A voice came from a largely built man.  He wore white armor with yellow shoulder pads that stuck out two feet from his shoulders.  He wore a tight dark blue long shirt that shaped his muscles and fit almost perfectly.  He had thigh pads of the same color as his shoulder pads. They reached down to the top of his knee.  On his hands and his feet were armored gloves without fingers and armored boots.  He stood about 6 feet 4 inches.  He had a three bladed sword strapped to his back in a sheath.

“Sure thing Vulcan, comin’ right up,” the bartender laughed heartily as he passed the drink down the bar.  Vulcan caught the drink with his rough and experienced hands.  “Hey Vulcan, why don’t you start drinking alcoholic beverages like the rest of the Saiyans,” the bartender glanced around the barroom seeing lots of men with tails and wild hair drinking and having a good time with women hanging on their arms.

The Saiyans were a brutish race of monkey like humanoids.  They were similar to humans in every way except for their extraordinary power, and that they had tails that allowed them to transform into large ape like creatures during a full moon.  The Saiyans used an energy measuring system referred to as “power levels.”  Most Saiyans had a power level of ten when they were born, and had a power level of 1000 or more when they were older.

Next to Vulcan sat his friends, Shadow, Shade and his twin own brother Golar.  Vulcan’s brother had little armor on, and did not have a sword.  Golar also had a blade of hair that hung into his face. Shade and Shadow were also twin brothers, with the difference between the two being that Shadow didn’t wear armor.

Shade wore similar armor to Vulcan’s without the yellow shoulder pads. He instead wore cloth gloves and boots made out of the same material as the blue uniform.  Shade and Shadow both had shoulder length spiky hair.  They were both about the same build, and were 6 feet 2 inches tall with muscles all over.  Shade also had a sheathed sword on his shoulder, but it was not three bladed.  His and Vulcan’s swords were special swords that increase their power by twice as much when they wielded it.

“Even though I’m almost eighteen, and I can drink, I don’t because it impairs my skills as a fighter.”  Vulcan slicked his hair back with his hands.  Compared to everyone else’s, it was very abnormal.  As with Shade, all the other Saiyans had pitch black wild and spiky hair.  Vulcan’s was very dark brown almost black, but not quite. It was very straight and short compared to everyone else.

“Come to think of it, you do nothing but fight,” came a low voice from the door of the bar.  Vulcan turned in the bar stool to see who it was, even though he could already tell.

“Nappa,” Vulcan muttered.  His face was filled with disgust.  “What do you want, to boast about your newest mission?”

Nappa, a huge man, with limbs the size of tree trunks stood at the door of the bar.  He was balding and had a black goatee around his mouth. His hair was still wild, even though there was just a small circular patch left.  “Actually,” Nappa answered, “I came to offer you the job that Frieza gave to my team.”  Nappa’s face had a large grin on it.  “Maybe you can do it just as well as we can.”  Nappa practically had a beard of teeth his smile was so big.

“Which planet is it?”  Vulcan replied as he turned his back on Nappa. “Some planet with people that would rather contaminate their planet before losing it to anybody that will just use it?”  The sarcasm in Vulcan’s voice could be poured into a cup.

Nappa looked dumbfounded at Vulcan’s statement.  He caught himself and put on a smile.  “Well it’s not too far from Planet Vegeta, but I would suggest taking your entire team,”  Nappa snickered with his low voice in a small laugh, “because you couldn’t take this planet with your inferior abilities.  Hell, you couldn’t even take on Bardock’s new kid, and his power level is only five!”  He broke into a huge laughter that the entire bar picked up on.

“You don’t know anything about MY skills as a FIGHTER!”  Vulcan leaped from his barstool.  He swung his fist at Nappa’s face.

The stinging pain came to Nappa’s cheek as Vulcan’s fist connected with it.  Vulcan shook his hand with pain from Nappa’s stiff face. Nappa’s face jerked back and blood flowed out and landed on the stained floor.  It quickly boiled as Nappa’s energy level increased and the heat around the blood in his mouth.  Nappa swung his trunk of an arm at Vulcan, who brought up his right arm to easily block it, and kicked Nappa in the stomach.  Nappa fell onto a table and broke it with his weight.

Vulcan breathed heavily and noticed the smell of boiling blood.  He smiled and powered up himself.  Rage erupted in Nappa’s mind as he realized that Vulcan would be able to beat him.  He reached down and wrapped his fingers around the long bar table, and peeled it off of the floor.  The bartender looked at his bar and shook his head in disbelief of what could happen to his job.  Nappa swung the table at Vulcan as though it were a baseball bat.  Vulcan fired a burst of energy which shredded through the table.

Splinters were flung at the screaming spectators as the table came apart.  Some became ambers and others found their way into the audience’s skin and clothing.  The spectators slowly and cautiously stepped back as Vulcan and Nappa went at it.

Vulcan flew through the burning debris and smashed his knee into Nappa’s stomach.  Nappa countered and grabbed Vulcan’s throat and began to crush it.

“Come on Nappa,” Shade yelled over the crowd as he watched his friend in the fight, “now that isn’t fair.  Fight with real pride and let Vulcan go.”

Nappa just sneered at Shade and closed his grip around Vulcan’s neck. Vulcan used his tail and wrapped it around one of Nappa’s legs. Using as much strength as Vulcan could muster, he pulled out the brute’s leg and Nappa fell to the ground.  He fell with so much force, that the floor buckled and both fighters went falling through the bar floor.

The bartender was the first one to the hole, and he looked down in despair.  His face was filled with horror because of Vulcan and Nappa’s fight.  He noticed the bottles of alcohol and wine lying on the floor, some shattered, but all in a big mess.  The spectators roared in excitement with all of the destruction and watched from the hole.  Shade leaned over to watch his best friend defend himself and his pride.

Sickening thuds and cracking of Vulcan and Nappa’s armor could be heard.  The sound of wood and glass shattering could be heard as Nappa was flung away from Vulcan.

Vulcan spread his legs and stood straight.  He pulled both of his hands to his sides and a glow appeared in each of them.  Vulcan’s middle two fingers spread apart to form a V shape, and he roared in anger.

Nappa took a few steps back, and he opened his mouth.  “You wouldn’t kill an elite Saiyan, would you?”  Nappa whimpered.

“Not unless he shattered my pride,” Vulcan gritted through his clenched teeth.

“Oh, thank Kami,” Nappa sighed with relief, “I’m glad then, so you can put the energy blasts away, okay?”

Vulcan lowered his eyebrows.  “That is EXACTLY what you did, Nappa, you shattered my pride with your belligerent comments.”  Vulcan pulled his arms back and got ready to fire.

Shade landed on the ground between Vulcan and Nappa.  He sprinted next to Vulcan and restrained his arms.  “Listen Vulcan, Nappa’s not worth the excess energy that you would waste,”  Shade looked nervously at his best friend, sweat beading on his forehead, “not worth the trouble it would cause.  You already have caused enough trouble.”

Vulcan’s eyes looked into Shade’s, and he could see the sincerity and reason behind them.  “Yeah, you’re right, he isn’t,” Vulcan’s hands stopped glowing and he rested them on his hips.

Nappa’s mouth curled into and evil grin as he then charged Vulcan and Shade. Shade spun around and pulled his sword out of the sheath and cut Nappa across the chest, shattering the almost unbreakable armor.  The sword scraped cuts into his pectorals, and sent him flying backwards. Nappa’s seemingly fatal wound was deep, but not all that fatal.

“Almost tricked us Nappa,” Shade looked back at Vulcan, and they flew out of the hole.  “Hey ‘tender, here’s ten pounds of gold, clean Nappa’s mess up, and put all of the drinks on his tab.”  Vulcan tossed the bag of gold at the bartender, and walked out of the bar.