Fic rec - Five Conversations Between A Pervert and a Prude

[sakura_no_miko]

Title: Five Conversations Between a Pervert and a Prude

Author: PutItBriefly

Fandom: Dragonball Z

Rating: R

Pairing: Vegeta/Bulma

Warnings: sex (het), discussion of sex, pornography, and rape

Other notes: cultural differences, relationship study, five times fic

Length: 7k

Summary: Bulma notices Vegeta avoids talking about sex. So she spends their lives asking him uncomfortable questions.

 

You know, I don’t think I ever really got Vegeta and Bulma’s relationship. I watched DBZ when I was a kid, for the most part. And to be fair, the actual show skipped over it initially — it was pretty much a joke when Trunks revealed who his parents were, and then there was a time skip. We never actually see them get together — just the aftermath.

Of course, by the time of Dragonball Super, we’re getting regular check-ins with the couple, and, man, I think they’ve jumped up to being my OTP. They’re certainly better portrayed than Goku and Chi-Chi. Like, someone thought this was a funny joke. (Apparently Goku has no idea what a kiss is. Despite being married with children. Hmmm.) I do wonder how much of that is from the anime, and how much was from Toriyama. I think Toriyama has actually said in interviews that he doesn’t know how to write romance? Or was it that he’s not good with female characters? Probably both.

Luckily fandom is here to shower us with excellent Vegeta and Bulma fics.

Holy heck, I don’t know where to start. The character development is excellent, and it pretty much all comes through from the dialog. Bulma keeps asking questions, keeps looking for answers, setting her brilliant mind to the task of unraveling Vegeta.

She’s not blind to the fact that they have a very similar turn of mind.  Bulma has had whatever passes for his respect from the start and it is probably owing to her constant affirmation of her own strengths and refusal to back down from a challenge.  Vegeta does not find the idea of conceding to her will utterly repugnant or disrespectful to his own status as a prince.  Her mind is enough like his own that he sees the value in her requests.  Likewise, she sees the value in his.  Vegeta, as a general rule, hates giving up control, but he loosens his grip just a little when it comes to her.

Which is really nice to see — a female character who wins over her man by being strong and uncompromising and angry and challenging him. And consider: we see this from male characters all the time. Every single rivalry ship is built on this dynamic. People will ship guys because of how much they antagonize each other. Women, though. With female characters, you often fall into that trap where the female lead is hyper-competent, but ultimately, the male lead ends up being the chosen one. Women can be fierce up to a point, you know?

Here — tell me, do you really think Vegeta is the dominant one? Or that he even wants to be? He gets angry. Frustrated. But you never get the idea he’s, like, ever going to leave Bulma. Or that he’d be happier if she just, I dunno, stayed home and did nothing.

Oh, and also it’s really great to see a sexually active and open couple, and they’re so playful. Like, really, how often do you see that? An older couple, with children, still provoking each other and loving each other and regularly jumping each other’s bones? I can only think of The Addams Family.

Anyway, this is a really fun read.

 

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Originally posted on pillowfort on 01/13/19