#lisalu

Ok first thing is first, this story was phenomenal! Each chapter could have been a story in itself, and the amount of plot and character development in even the most “inconsequential” of characters was astounding. Lisalu’s vision of Vegeta-sei was incredibly well rounded. It is obvious that this is something that 1. She does/did full time (a writer, teacher, English major something) and 2. this was a labor of love. I will not say that each chapter had a different writing style/feel to it, but definitely the third chapter forward had several writing styles in them, mostly because of the narration changes occurring. I loved the fact that you get the story from Vegeta and Bulma’s POV, and that the writing style changed between the two to show differences between narrators. It is nice to see how clouded Vegeta’s judgement is in the beginning of the story throughout the literary use of Vegeta as an unreliable narrator. I think it is safe to say that Bulma’s POV is damaged by her hate dungeon dragon, but it is nice to see the flip side of the coin. Lisalu was ingenious in how she slipped in seemingly fluffy  adjectives that were later explained through the differing POV’s. The first two chapters almost read like an epic poem, think Illiad/Oddesy, and I would like to imagine this was intentional because of the narrator being Vegeta. At this point in his life he still believes himself to be the savior of worlds, a hero to be worshiped and pleased. Untouchable and Godlike. After his first defeat with Jeice (BTW so glad this was not another Frieza story) the writing softens, showing how Vegeta is beginning to crack. Then again after Vegeta is tortured and brought back to Vegeta-sei, the writing style is changed yet again. The words that are picked give the feeling of timidity and unease. After Vegeta regains his memories the style is a nice blend between the two, symbolizing Vegeta’s broken self melding with his former arrogant self. I loved Vegeta’s POV because of the subtle changes Lisalu made to signify the narrator’s journey. Quite impressive writing on her part. As for Bulma’s POV, I thought it was a nice addition to show her views, and it was nice to her “in her own words” her feelings and motivations. I loved that nod to the fact that Bulma would 100 percent want her story and part of her to live on for the memory of her peoples and for her kids. However, I had some issues with the diary. First, I find it hard to believe that Bulma would want to give an account of her time at Vegeta-sei and not detail the cultural and political histories of her home world. During the story it was so important to her that the children were told legends and sang Madrani songs, so I can imagine that she would want to put some of that in her diary. Although, for plot device of getting her story to Vegeta I can completely let that slide. One other big issue I have with it is, if I am writing a diary, I would not write (or speak) the way Bulma chose to tell her story. I am not going to give the types of details that Bulma gave. I would probably use the damn this to let my feelings out into the void. So some of the believability was dampened for me in this aspect. I will argue with myself again and say that this narration issue begins when Bulma starts to break. At the beginning of the diary (when she is still with Raditz) the story telling is way more believable, and as the diary continues it becomes more detailed and almost like she is trying too hard to tell each aspect of her story. Perhaps this is a side effect of her own madness that is taking hold? I don't know, honestly, but this particular it was not as successful as it was with Vegeta for myself. 

Even the antagonists have incredibly plausible reasons for being bad. Shit Bulma creates weapons of mass destruction and you can’t blame her for her reasoning. This story is ultimately about shades of grey, not everything is black and white. No one in this story is a good person. No one is a bad person. They are like Bulma states several times just people. People with their own thoughts, feelings, agendas and lives. Jeice is a horrible monster for this story, he nukes whole planets, deploys what is a killer virus onto a whole galaxy (pretty much), takes survivors of the attacks and places them in torture chamber designed for the entertainment of others, yet I can’t say that what he did was inherently evil. Ok so he was a total ass and went way overboard, but he went completely mad with his wife being raped to death and his kid being killed in an equally terrible way. He went overboard and let the “hate dragon” take hold. He is not really evil, mentally unstable is more like it. His ACTIONS are pure unadulterated evil, but he is not. We see this throughout the story of how the narrator will paint people or races of people as total monsters, only to have them redeem themselves. Zarbon, befriends Bulma and pays with his life trying to protect her. His love for Scopa really drove him to the edge of madness when Scopa was killed, but his redeeming moments were all done out of love for his fallen lover. Horda, who is a “Red Demon”, the same race of people as Jeice, shows his distaste for the treatment of the Sayians, even though they are responsible for the brutal death of his daughter (Jeice’s mate). He even teaches Vegeta how to overcome the block of his Ki sickness (the side effect of the Virus). Granted he did not know Vegeta was Sayian, but this is yet another insight to how people are only good or bad through the eyes of whichever narrator is speaking. If I stretch a bit here, maybe LisaLu is trying to tell us something about our own prejudice's? I can say a lot about this fic, it can be taken at face value, it can be a tale of heroism and its faults, it can be a tale of rebirth and redemption and it can be a warning about racism and the effects of hate and prejudice. 

This is another tale I almost wish would have ended sadly. A huge part of me wanted the story to be over when Vegeta died in the Circus. It is plausible for Dende to have created and used the dragon balls to raise Vegeta, and ultimately these characters really fucking needed a break, so I can let it slide. This story is described as dark in its authors notes, and kami-dammit is it ever fucking dark. There are graphic descriptions of rape, mental illness (although you may not realize the illness as what it is), suicide, torture, war, violence, illness. This is not a story for the faint of heart. Although I do think this story says something about culture and society. I really think that while Lisalu wanted to write a story about a “What-if” Bulma was taken to Vegeta-sei, what he actually wrote was a story about hate. What hate does to your heart and soul. In the end of the story, Bulma has transformed into an angel who delivers the universe from hatred. She is the Jesus figure of this story. She had several moments when she was being broken down, and ultimately she “died” when her mind broke in MedCenter. She was resurrected through love of her Children. She became the savior by designing true protective gear for the galaxy and entrapping “evil” on Shakaji. Those who could not look past their own “hate dragons” were dammed, and judgement rang down on them from Bulma. She rescued those who were good hearted (notice, not pure hearted) and dammed those who let hate fester. 

This fucking story was amazing. The more I think about it, the more I see in it. I liked it while I was reading it, but it wasn't until I sat down and began thinking about what all I wanted to say that I realized just how fantastic this story truly was. I can honestly say I have not read another story quite up to the level of this in the world of fan fiction (and I have been reading fan fiction on and off since the late 1990′s). I am new to DB fandom, but I have to say that I am so impressed with the artists/creators in this fandom. It seems as though every day I am introduced to another stellar artist. 

With that being said shout out to @brinker-hadley for suggesting one of LisaLu’s fics. I found a website with a few more of hers that I will peruse a bit. But if there is a fic out there that any of you wonderful people think I need to read - let me know!