A few people have brought this up as a signature writing trait so yup! I'm absolutely obsessed with ki-sense in Dragon Ball and I include it in pretty much every fic, utilising it as a sixth sense.
If you've grown up with another sense it naturally would be well integrated, as is likely the case with the next gen kids (the fighty Saiyan kids especially). The flow of ki and ki signatures would form part of your experience of the world and form your perception of people's identity, just like their face or voice, and changes are something you'd notice. In writing that means calling attention to a character's perception of that change, and adding it to the checklist of potential ways to describe a scene.
The way I write it follows my own experience. I have grapheme-colour synaesthesia (projector type) which means when I read letters and numbers I see them coloured in in a kind of ghostly way. So whilst not a seperate sense it's innate to me so it's always present. I notice when someone's name is very heavy in one colour or phone numbers have colour patterns, or I spot a typo that way. My internal difference engine attends to the difference, just like when I notice movement. I don't switch it on or off, though I can attend to it.
It's such a strong part of Dragon Ball's world building I honestly wish more people used it as a sense and not a technique - for characters with 'fluency', at least (but of course it's creator's choice :) )
Anyway ki is cool I'm gonna go back to staring at the wall and thinking about it
Dragon Ball was there for me and my sister, we'd watch with our Nan after school every day. It provided some much needed solace from the tension of home, and unlike other superpower shows at the time, said anyone could be strong if they worked hard enough - a message we needed.
I wrote about Toriyama's work and influence for GCSE art, his world building got me into writing and I'd be scribbling away in class. I came back to this crucible of creativity in 2016 and made so many friends, who are still here today.
In 2017 my grandmothers and mother died very close together, and again engaging in familiar creativity helped me get through.
All this to say -
When someone so influentual passes we grieve not the person - how could we, we didn't know them - but the parts of our lives they touched. And because the grief is expressed wider, shared, understood, we can unlock losses we're not quite finished with yet and grieve them in safe company, too.
So RIP Akira Toriyama, but I also hope whatever's been unlocked for y'all leaves you more at peace by the end.
I got a week off next week to write. Help me prioritise! What should I be drafting next?
(Reasons, however tenuous, in reply/reblog/tags get an extra vote) (Links to current longfics in reblog)
Next chapter for Gohan's textbook on ki about "Guarding", you slacker!
Drafting a new chapter for "From The Shadows" - Bra's POV next!
Redrafting the next Chapter of "One Degree of Seperation", the MarTen fic
Draft longer one/some shot centred on Goten
Draft short one shot between Gohan and Vegeta convo
Not quite sure how Trunks is a dumbass for having valid feelings about the way Vegeta outwardly shows his affection for Bra, but isn’t so open with Trunks. It’s only natural for the boy to have questions and opinions about the things Vegeta never bothered telling him, especially considering how Vegeta initially wrote him off upon his birth ((((: (but that’s just my 2 cents)
Yoo hey Nonnie thank you for reading the fic and sending thoughts because it genuinely means a lot to hear them:
First let me take your 2 cents and donate them to a charitable cause of your choice (or however you're supposed to extend the metaphor) because I hard agree - your list of reasons you read in the fic to struggle with an emotional relationship with a parental figure, no matter the age of the child, really doesn't make someone a dumbass. I know because I struggle with the same thing, and much of that confusing mix of longing (pang), spite, unknowingly repeating trauma (wanting him to snap at Bra), picking at wounds (assuming the worst still even though they had some resolution at aged eight), appeasement (tiptoeing) and also happiness for the new child is very visceral to me. Someone who's been through that is not daft for having difficult feelings on the matter, whether they be Trunks himself or a reader.
What makes Trunks a dumbass here is the simple fact that he'd been brooding for years on the matter but hadn't quite clocked his name would be [X] if he had one ("of course it would be...laugh"). Also exam procrastination... I have a habit (4 fics now) of writing Trunks making assumptions (triggered by trauma-related anxiety or not) which lead to his predicaments when a step back or asking for support earlier could provide other solutions. This is very much on brand for my own self-dug holes.
My comment was said with great affection, although I see that tone across the internet doesn't convey well, so I will think on my flippancy in future.
So in summary, I agree, and when you analyse it, I meant that ultimately I am the dumbass - and maybe I should be kinder to myself in the language used. Genuinely thank you for the two cents and reading!
The recruits on planetary defense duty have Piccolo facts: “Piccolo isn’t called, he appears.” “Piccolo doesn’t fight, he wins.” “Piccolo’s cape doesn’t wave on the wind, wind is caused by Piccolo’s cape waving.” Pan laughs for a day when she sees it.
“Piccolo doesn’t sleep - he waits.”Omfg nonnie ahaha this is canon 1 0 0 %
Ever read “Who wants to be a superhero” by michsi? It’s on Deviantart and super funny.
I went to have a looksee and YES YES I HAVE!! The first time I saw it it was an imgur album so I’m glad you pointed me to the original artist! Premise: Gohan needs to revise for his exams so he enlists help to cover his Great Saiyaman role. Piccolo and Vegeta heavily feature.
It’s absolutely hilarious, very true to the spirit of DB (in my opinion) and that hat and tash had me rolling!Start reading [here] and click “prev” at the top of the page to go to the next page. Please read it, you won’t regret it!
Thank you so much for looking up the sources! Many great artists on Pixiv get their art reposted/stolen constantly and the fact that you actually take your time to look them up truly is admirable.
Thank you for letting me know you appreciate it! I like a little puzzle every now and again and getting to slam down the source is a nice buzz.
Unfortunately, Tumblr somewhat encourages reposting (to clarify, reblogging - pressing that green arrow button - good, reposting is coping and pasting to make a new post - bad) as only new posts show up in tag searches. This means if your aim is to become the “go-to blog for a particular type of fandom content” and get loads of followers quickly (in graph theory speak, become a ‘hub’), scraping art websites and making tonnes of posts sounds like a “great” idea, particularly without posting comments as an isolated image fits most blogs in terms of aesthetics. I get why new peeps innocently do it and I ain’t blanket mad at people!
But credit-less reposting sucks. Ever been in a group of people and you’re feeling particularly quiet? Finally, there’s a pause and you say a damn good joke. Barely anyone hears, but then the prat next to you repeats it and gets a huge laugh. Saying “hey, that was my joke” sounds petty and bitter but having your opportunity to make friends taken away hurts. When someone turns round and says “that was [your] joke! Good one!” you feel supported. Infinitely better would be if the prat was not a prat and gave you the platform to speak for yourself if you wanted!
For those wanting to be a fandom hub, let the content creators speak for themselves! Find posts made by the artists/writers/video editors, and then share their posts, including their commentary. You will get a million times more respect in the community from content creators for doing that. This drives your followers to the content creators where they might be running commissions or a patreon or a ko-fi, and them getting more followers means they get a buzz and produce more content for you to reblog to your hub. Nice!
What if they’re not on tumblr? For fanfics you can share the summary and link, for videos you can embed rather than reuploading (make sure their name is there!). Pics are harder. Not everyone has the time to manage a million websites, especially if the website is in another language, and that’s where we get this scraping from. If you want to share someone’s work from another platform please ask to repost it first. Sometimes artists put in their profile that it’s okay to share with correct credit. If nothing is written there, assume you’ll need permission. Sourcing without permission, even correctly, particularly when the artist has in their profile “don’t repost” is still naughty. Sometimes you might even need to use google translate to ask. Hard work? Yeah, but you’re trying to curate a fandom hub, a little effort goes a long way!
If you still really want to share it but they said no to reposting, just share the link to the work without the image so people have to click through - that way the artist gets the traffic. If that upsets you, double-check your motivation - is it to share a picture you absolutely adore, or is it to maximise your reblogs and follows?
I don’t want to get overly sanctimonious about it particularly as it’s easy enough to find posts I’ve reblogged that haven’t stuck by this, and other content creators might have other preferences (check these notes I guess) but my sourcing very best practice would be to include:- The name of the piece and a link to the original piece itself, also putting that as the post’s source (not your blog, your blog is not the source, just the OP).- The (user)name of the artist including a link to their profile.- A link to the project it’s part of if relevant (like the comic or themed collection).- Give the artist the tumblr post link so they can see if it’s doing well, it might encourage them to make a tumblr and make your life easier.If you want to do extra:- Add a link to the creator’s commissions page or ko-fi etc- Add a link to a few other pieces they’ve done you like so people have to click through (e.g. if it’s to a tweet, your followers with twitter might click through your post and retweet the other work as well!)- Let the creator know if they got nice comments (same when sharing fanfics/vids) that they may not have seen. Everyone loves nice comments and tags!I’m sure other people have other ideas :).
If you want to help encourage sourcing: - Reblog posts that you can trace back to the creator themselves.- If it didn’t start with the creator, only reblog when it’s sourced by the original uploader, preferably if it says “posted with creator’s permission”.- Add sources to unsourced posts you like that are gaining traction - it doesn’t take long to hunt down. Or check the notes to see if someone’s already done that and reblog that post. You don’t want to do that too often as it might encourage the reposter but at the same time I’d want someone to help me out if my work was reposted.
Like people who slowly fade away from conversations when they’re spoken over, people stop creating work when their work is reposted, particularly unsourced. And that sucks for everyone, including your hub blog when it runs out of content. So help people out by sourcing and don’t be a prat!
I came at this guns blazing for the laughs because I do have opinions but I keep them to myself usually - as a disclaimer I hold no negative opinion against people who like the things I don’t or vice versa, I don’t have the energy, I love you all so don’t feel like you have to defend anything.4. Who is your least favorite character?7. Which saga is your least favorite?19. What is your opinion of Super?answers under the cut -
4. Who is your least favorite character?
I could be brave and pick some background character because /I guess/ they would be my least fave, but I’m going to pick from the main cast for max hohoho points. I don’t care for Chiaotzu, to the point I had to double check the spelling of his name.
Now, I 100% agree, this ‘meh’ is born from me seeing first and focussing on Z, and for an early birthday pressie I picked up some more DB manga (nearly finished getting my own full set), so I fully intend on reading it through properly, and I hope to find a greater appreciation for the character from bits and pieces I’ve obviously forgotten. But. BUT. Knowing he has psychic abilities that get put to little or no use later, even the fact he’s based off Chinese vampires/ghosties/zombies (the Jiang Shi)… he has so much potential to be an interesting and useful character in Z and yet it gets ignored. So he’s just… :(
From Super though it’s Jiren, and to a lesser extent Hit. Hit’s interesting but I just see him as an earless Piccolo in design for some reason? I feel bad about not being able to appreciate him because his backstory and powers are cool but I can’t make myself. Jiren I don’t feel bad about. He’s flat and boring and please leave goD. I guess I don’t like “brooding stoicism” as a defining trait!
7. Which saga is your least favorite?
After busting my ass to rewrite Cell Games and the lead up to it as a standalone (shameless advertising what), gotta say my least fave is the Android/Early Cell Sagas (other than Garlic Junior saga). Not so much in the manga, it was fine then as it was punchyish but I have this vague recollection of going urghhhhhhhhhh when watching DBZ through. I like DBZ:A and even there it drags to fook for me. There are important points in it, but when I was trying to distill it down it was very much “and this happens and that happens then this then that” - it feels like… it feels like if they were going to make a movie of it you could rewrite and restage a lot of it and still get to the same point with the same impact in the Cell Games.
19. What is your opinion of Super?
On the whole I like it far more than the rest of the fandom. I’m a generally happy person in fandom, I like things, I let things I dislike go, fandom is for fun, I am literally sitting in the corner scrolling past the fandom wank.
That said, I really, really feel like Super would have benefitted from someone sitting down and writing a story arc and threading things together better. The fluff worked fine, so bit disappointed the big arcs didn’t quite. Toriyama says he was a discovery writer, writing forwards and just seeing what happened, but he could pull things together in the end I feel? Super’s writer’s seem to struggle a little so the dead ends - which stories should have at times! - feel frustrating, rather than a bump in the road for the heroes.
I loved the imagery of the giant spirit sword, and Trunks taking out merged Zamasu. I liked what they were trying to do there, even if it didn’t make much sense taken in the wider context. If someone had given me that to beta read I would have made them change the set-up to make that make sense as I thought it was a grand idea.
I don’t like the other Universes - I could deal with just U6 maaaaaybe. Too many characters too quickly I feel nothing for them.
I love Whis as a character - I absolutely despise him though, I do not trust him or his Dad. If I ever get anywhere with the Grand Epic Story Line this will become painfully obvious.
Like the timelords in Doctor Who, I preferred it when all the Saiyans were dead. Or, at least, if you’re going to give us U6 Saiyans, I want all the world building, I want to know everything!
W H E R E ‘ S M Y F L U F F W I T H T H E K I D S ? ? ?
