First off, thank you so much to everyone for reading my story! I was really on the fence between making a horror story from the POV of Krillin about Kakarot landing on Earth and never forgetting his memories that would retell OG Dragonball and a Fallout 4 story split between Nate, Nora, and their son. I couldn't really decide on which one I wanted and ended up with what felt like the compromise between the two, thought it would be a couple chapters long, and 130k~ words later on Part 1 of 4*, here we are!

It only took me a month to write and edit down these last 2* chapters, which has made me have an epiphany that made me feel very silly for not having it earlier, but I guess that's how epiphanies are supposed to work.

I usually outline and edit between my physical notebooks and the word doc I'm writing on (shout out to LibreOffice), but it always feels a little jarring. Like, I'll start writing the first rough draft completely raw with no outline based only on the things I want the chapter to explore, reach a dead end, outline the story to see what I'm missing and what those additions/reductions would address, complete the rough draft, research actual lore and then PHYSICALLY REREAD ALMOST EVERY CHAPTER TO SEE THAT IT MAKES SENSE, Edit it so that it makes at least sense to me, wait a few days, edit again so that it makes enough sense to other human beings, Final edit where I cut out typos, filler words, darlings that need to be executed, etc. etc.

Now call me crazy, but I don't think rereading all of Part 1 every time I get stuck on another part is going to make much sense. A few times in the authors notes I've made the metaphor of my process feeling something like I'm walking around in the woods in the middle of the night with a torch, but I think it'd make my life significantly easier if it was like walking through the woods in the morning? Like, even making that small of a change would be nice, just starting myself off on a foot where I can open my eyes and see things easily.

Then it hit me, I do have a tool for that, that I have been using for almost the entirety of the time I've been writing this story, and I even mentioned the context for it in a chapter. In my Pathfinder 2E campaign I've been running, I use this app called Obsidian on my computer that is a god send for organization, just S-tier in terms of graphing out character relationships, locations, you name it. So maybe, instead of using it just to track which Innocent NPCs my players have killed over failing a charisma roll, I can use it for the longfic I'm writing instead of acting like I've never heard of … basic organizing structure? Ease of access? Self love? Definitely at least one of those things.

Anyway, you may be asking when I came to that conclusion, and it was exactly the same time that "last 2* chapters" earned its asterisks mark.

Originally the final chapter of this story was going to be a Quinny POV, and when I say originally, I mean like, since chapter 5. I was so excited to have an ending that would never fly if I tried to get a traditional publisher to put it out, but when I finished doing my whole process, I didn't even like it as an ending. It felt extremely out of place, didn't match the tone of the entire story up until that point, was repetitive of the events of the chapters prior to it, and felt like extremely needless cliff-hanger bait that would somehow both excite and confuse the reader, but also had a strong risk of being frustrating.

So, after spending 3 weeks righting chapter 30, that pain in the butt got throw into being the prologue for Part 4.

Oh, but wait. There was an asterisk with "Part 1 of 4*" too, so let's break that down.

We've now completed Part 1 of the "Wandering Saiyans". Part 2 and 3 were originally going to be one single part with the idea to write it like Kiese Laymon's Long Division (A book told across two separate time periods that's split perfectly down the middle, so you read the first half, then you have to physically flip the book backwards and upside down to read the second half of the story, and then using all of the clues you have from both halves of the story makes it all come together. I really liked it.) where each week we would swap POVs between Kakarot on Earth and Vegeta, Broly, and Raditz on Yearth, but I am not that guy. Writing in that way would actually drive me insane, I can say with near 100% certainty I would give up on the story before finishing it.

So now we have (in very rough draft plot previews):

Part 2: Fools' Planet – Kakarot arrives on Earth two years after the end of the original Dragonball and must choose what to do with a world that never had Goku, This one will be readable as a standalone and probably the most popular one of this series. Not saying it will be better or worse, just saying there will be ships in it, and people like ships.

Part 3: Cowards' Kingdom – After escaping from Throhbaq, Vegeta Squadron finds themselves assigned on a kaiju hunting roadtrip style adventure across a fantasy world while a space opera civil war looms above them. This one is the much more direct sequel to Part 1

Part 4: You think I would spoil Part 4? Whoa whoa whoa buddy, slow your roll!

And then the end! There will be 2 (hopefully) small parts that flesh out the story and characters a bit more. One is the Nappa Prequel which I think will be all the way at the very end and serve kinda the same purpose of C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew. The other one will be after Part 3 and that's all I'm gonna say about it.

Instead of saying more about the parts, I'll do what we've always done with this story, and leave you with some music. These songs are just about the characters we've met, any new characters will get their song(s) in the future.

DISCLAIMER: 1) NSFW tag for all song recommendations. 2) All music I recommend is just my POV as the author, y'all are allowed to have your own songs and interpretations for the characters and whatnot, this is just your peek over the shoulder for my head space :p.

Part 2:

I got extremely lucky with guessing that Jean Dawson would be Kakarot's theme. Jean's newest album CHAOS NOW* came out and I instantly went "yeah, no, that's it. That's the Kakarot soundtrack." so Going into part 2 his theme is a toss up between THREE HEADS* and POSITIVE ONE NEGATIVE ONE*.

Part 3:

Raditz and the gang are leaving on a not high note, so my song for it was Survival Horror from Jakey's ROMCOM. The song starts at 9:38 but I think each song really works better flowing one into another, so do with that info what you will. Albums I'm really feeling for Part 3 in general right now in an overall sense are Tyler the Creator's Flower Boy and Mac Miller's Swimming

Songs that didn't make the cut, I forgot, or are just general vibes for characters/story . I'm writing this entire author's note in one sitting at 10PM the night before posting it so time to have fun.

Background:

One of my favorite writing exercises is obviously attaching songs to characters to get in their headspace better. Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morales and the Big Steppers was getting a lot of repeat play when I was brainstorming this part, so here's where some of the songs ended up.

United in Grief – Nappa

N95 – A montage of Vegeta Squadron wreaking destruction across multiple planets until our story begins

Die Hard – Kakarot & Raditz relationship song.

Father Time- Vegeta

We Cry Together & Purple Hearts – Very specifically, these songs come on when Broly is given the aux. In the silence after they play, Nappa goes, "Well … I liked 'em! What else ya got?"

Count Me Out – Kakarot

Crown – Fate upon Vegeta

Auntie Diaries – This is the next song Broly plays

Mr. Morale – Raditz's stress increases

Mirror – The p ods fly away.

The Heart Part 5 – Nappa and Mireau laying down, reminiscing.

Kakarot:

Before I found out about Jean Dawson, Danny Brown was actually who I thought would be the soundtrack of Kakarot. The challenge of writing Kakarot for me was that he should feel familiar, he should still feel like Goku, but it should be very obvious what the absence of Grandpa Gohan, Master Roshi, and his friends on Earth did to him. He still wants to be strong, but it couldn't be for a purehearted love of fighting, Frieza would've taken that from him. He can still have a goofy sense of humor, but Frieza and growing up in Vegeta Squadron would've made it come off as much more sadistic. So when picking the music for Kakarot my first thought was to go to Danny Brown because they're both similarly off putting. I have never once played Danny Brown for someone and they went "Oh, I like this!" It's an acquired taste, something that's enjoyable, but you have to accept that it is very much going to its own tempo. I felt like Dawson just clicked better though for the character, so Danny didn't make it to the intermission.

XXX – Die Like a Rockstar & 30 are still some of my favorite just like, general Kakarot writing headspace songs.

(Song I could not find while doing the intermission and have since added on there)Artillery Strike – Marching Beast by Children of Prophet

Vegeta:

B3astCutt3r said in Chapter 26 that Vegeta was delusional and like. Y'all don't even know. You all can never know the strength it took me to not just drop a Kanye Greatest hits in the intermission and go, "Yeah that's Vegeta in this part of the story. Aight, I'll be here all week."

4th Dimension – by Kid Cudi & Kanye West came so close to being this man's theme song, specifically Kanye's verse, but it was just too silly for me to put in the intermission. This shit is squarely in Easter Egg territory because I just find it really funny. Anytime I got really stuck or tired of writing, I would just remember Kanye saying, "She said I'm in the wrong hole, I said I'm lost (Uh, uh) " and the mental image of Vegeta going into the subway and ya know what? That shit gave me strength. This ridiculous song + mental combo did a lot for me finishing this story.

Bliss – by Flatbush Zombies is much closer to the song I was seriously looking for to be Vegeta's theme. It was actually hardest to pick songs for him because I was aiming for songs with extreme confidence, but also the hunger of not having proved oneself yet. Funny story behind this album, this shit was my soundtrack for Sophmore year of college, me and my roommate would quote bars off this almost everyday. It's only a mixtape that as of publication date, is not on any streaming services, I only found it because I've been putting the mp3 files on every phone I've had since 2014. I highly recommend the entire album, and quoting "Tiptoein like a ballarina, you can't see me, JOHN CENA!" and other perfect lines whenever life calls for it.

Raditz:

The thin line between Raditz having a more alternative/backpacker rap style and having the cheesiest songs on Earth is a challenge I would not wish upon my worst enemies. Raditz is the only person in this entire story who I got my friends on a discord group call for and was like "If this was a character's theme song, how would you feel?" and responses ranged from "I would steal his lunch money" to "This guy sounds like he would be named Chester and like, quote dubbed anime loudly in public"

Trying to Find a Balance – by Atmosphere was Raditz's original theme and gave my friend group the quote of "Now I'm too fucked up to dance So I'ma sit with my hand down the front of my pants" Anytime we got killed in whatever game we were playing for a night or two. We were actually trying to remember why this song sounded so familiar and it turns out it was in Tony Hawk Underground 2, which I guess would make Kakarot the Bam Margera of his story, which feels oddly right.

God Loves Ugly – by Atmosphere was the song I remembered after writing Raditz's chapter in the Turles fight and I went, "Oh yeah. Now they're gonna see. Now they're gonna see that this song goes so hard (:" and then I listened to it a few more times and I had to admit that maybe this song isn't a shonen banger, but I watched this music video on my ipod nano in the back of a school bus in highschool while wearing flannel, and that's just as good.

Glass – by Eyedea and Abilities is, if my memory serves me correctly, Raditz's theme for eating the fruit from the Tree of Might. Do I want to talk about why almost every Raditz song is something I listened to in high school and had almost completely forgot about until I started writing this character? No, but am I gonna keep thinking these are the best songs ever at 12AM and am 3 songs away from putting on some Brother Ali? You're god damn right.

Beird – by Jack Stauber is Raditz's "I'm learning how to do something new, like circuitry, and I'm having a really fun time learning :)" music.

Easter Eggs

These are just the ones I remember off the top of my head, I'll update this section if I find any while I'm doing the Obsidian logging.

Chapter 14 – The line "Turles screamed in pain as Kakarot put him in headlocked, jumped off the ground with his legs swinging out, and then blast a pink jet of ki from his feet. The momentum came with the force of a million cannons as Kakarot spiked Turles's head into the ground, " Has always played in my head like a Mickie James style DDT.

- Arcanum the Collecting is a mash up of Magic the Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh.

- Chapter 11 – The conversation "Halt!" Captain Ginyu said as he held his hand out. "I've swapped my body with hundreds of people. Picked up their mannerisms, little snippets of their memories come and go. I basically have a theoretical degree in Psychology."

"Ooh," Recoome said, "Isn't a theoretical higher than a master's?"

"Theoretically, it's the highest degree there is,"

is a play on this Fallout New Vegas Scene

- Chapter 29 – The Classic

Final Thoughts

If you've made it this far, thanks for indulging all of my ramblings, both in the story and the notes. It's nice to know that other people have also gotten something out of my story of our five boys struggling against the past and for their future.

If you have any questions or anything, feel free to put 'em in the comment section. Apologies for any comments I've missed in this story already and any I'm super late to reply to in the future, I can be quite bad at responding to messages, but I will get back to ones on this chapter eventually lol.I'm going to be taking a break from working on this story for a few weeks, then start taking notes on this part in Obsidian, and then we'll see where we go from there. All I'm safe in saying is there is no way in hell I am putting out Part 2 in earnest before 2024, but maybe the prologue will come out before SummerSlam.

It is now 1:15AM, I shall see y'all when I post this in the morning.

Thanks again and can't wait to see you next time!

-Faris

P.S. from 6/29/23

I forgot Broly and Nappa's playlists ?. They are actually the most "vibe" based of the two as opposed to looking / thinking of specific moments.

Broly - I really prefer having Broly as an almost silent character. A guy who is very very very much so inside of his head, not anxious, but just extremely selective with his word choice. Is it because he doesn't want to offend, because he doesn't know how to vocalize his actual feelings, or does he do everything in his power to avoid having outbursts of emotions because those have only had highly negative repercussions for him? Some mixture of the three? Who knows! Regardless, it got him tied with Vegeta for hardest to pick songs for.

Check Two by Wojciech Golczewski & Sound Check by Black Milk are both his "holding it in songs". No lyrics, uneasy instrumental, because no matter what Broly thinks of his "true self", the person he would be without the gauntlets, the first thing that he would tie to it is fear, but also an inability to express it. There isn't really any character in the story who he can share the feeling of "Guys, do you ever have so much power that you're actually scared of it?" that he can relate to. Well, in Part 1 at least.

Why Don't You by Cleo Soul & The Krockadile by King Krule are the opposite side of the coin of him actually finding outlets to express himself through. Can be heavy, but puts it all out on the table.

Nappa - Originally Nappa's playlist was almost like, a math puzzle that made all of the other playlist fit together. All of his songs would've been generational gap songs that were sampled from other character's theme songs, so like if Vegeta's theme was My Way Home then Nappa's compliment to it would be Home is Where The Hatred Is. That idea was a little too annoying to stick with, so I just stuck with his own character instead. I even wanted to do a lot of Dad Rap (Jay-Z, Nas, etc) but doing that didn't really feel true to the character either. The vibe I get from a good chunk of Dad Rap falls more into the camp of "Ah, look at all of my accomplishments, a man, who made it ?" but like. Nappa, very much so, did not make it. His entire planet got destroyed and he's working (as far as the people who could kill him are concerned) a foot soldier. He is keenly aware he did not make it, but he has just found other reasons to keep on keeping on.

No Introduction & Queen's Story by Nas get honorable mentions for almost being really close to what I wanted.

Bottom of the Sea by Muddy Waters, Couldn't Get it Right by Fun Lovin' Criminals, and Woke up This Morning by Alabama 3 - Are all simultaneously the Nappa theme/ his reflection on his current state in life.

FIXES

These were made during editing the final chapters.

Chapter 6 - The year was listed as "Age 755" When it was supposed to be "Age 756". This entire story takes place roughly around the time of Volume 14-16 of the original Dragon Ball.

Chapter 13 - Quinny's genetic makeup was made into an actual 100%. Basic math broke my ankles for a second there.

FFN Exclusive

I'm going to mark the story as done on this site, but it still continues on (along with the rest of my stories) if you go follow it on AO3. The view tracker broke like 1 week into me posting on this site and they've given zero updates about it, so I don't quite see the point in posting to a site that refuses to give me my dopamine boost and is held together by cobwebs and gum ?. Everyone who was read this far? You're awesome, I give you a 10/10 review and thank you for reading through this, but the site itself from a straight up website stability side? No bueno, adios.