Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ All That I Am ❯ Chapter Zero: Comments and Errata ( Prologue )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

All That I Am
A Dragonball story by Derr
Dedicated to *Angelus and mi m'o of the Hentai Institute
First posted December 25, 2002

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the franchise of Dragonball Z, but consider this a work of fan fiction, for the pleasure of myself and other fans. I do not plan or expect to make a profit from this work. Suing me would be pointless.

This "chapter" is actually a log I am keeping as I write out the story. It will contain commentary, corrections (before they are corrected in the main text), and miscellaneous notes. This is not meant to be an ego trip. I expect All That I Am, and the other two stories in the trilogy, to be rather large, and I want to keep a diary of sorts of the writing process, both for myself, and for interested readers.

All entries are dated, with the most recent entry at the top, in blue text.

29 December, 2002

Second part of Chapter One posted. My intent was to finish off the rest of the chapter in one swoop, but that's not going to happen. The prose is taking longer to write out than expected, and is also coming out longer. The chapter is already longer than I thought it would be when complete; I estimate that it's about 2/3rds done, now.

The first hints are given here of the cosmology I want to use in the trilogy. In my conception of DBZ, the "afterlife" and things outside the normal physical realm work differently than they do in the canonical story. In this sense, then, we're dealing with an alternative universe. The upshot here: the "death" and "afterlife" some of the characters have experienced in the past are actually something else entirely. It also takes care of one of the principal problems in a story where wishes can be made: you can't wish for just anything. DB/Z/GT fans already know that the Dragonballs and the Dragons have their limits, as far as what can or cannot be wished for. I'm sure Toriyama did this for plot reasons, so characters couldn't potentially wish for just anything deus ex machina, but I was always curious as to *why* the Dragons had limits to their powers. I've come up with my own explanation, and it will be divulged as the story progresses. I hope readers find it as interesting to read about as I did thinking it up! :)

My apologies for the formatting problems you may see in the text. I'm writing with Microsoft Word, and while everything looks fine in that program, the conversion to HTML on MM sometimes messes things up. I'm especially annoyed with how the poem at the very beginning looks. I'll do what I can to patch things up, but I admit I'm not an HTML expert. Strange; I can program in a dozen languages, but I never really warmed up to HTML... :/

Many thanks to Moonshine and Endless Reverie for their comments, and I hope both of you find what's coming to be fun. To everyone else: don't be shy; write in and say hello!

25 December, 2002

First part of Chapter One posted. I wrote it in essentially one sitting, and eventually became too burned out to continue. I decided to post what I had written now, since it's Christmas.

For those who are familiar with the Dragonball universe and timeline, All That I Am takes place in the year 800, about sixteen years after the events in Dragonball Z (i.e., sixteen years after the episodes where Goku meets Uub at the Tenkaichi Budokai). Dragonball GT is completely disregarded; in other words, it never happened.

Japanese is used as the Saiyan language in this series of stories, following the convention of some fanfic writers. (This won't mean much now, but Saiyan will be used frequently in the third story.)

I somewhat gloss over the idea of the various levels of Super Saiyan. For the purposes of this trilogy, there is no such thing as SSJ1, SSJ2, SSJ3, etc., per se. There is a reason for this, but for now, just trust me.

I have tried to be as true to the DB universe as possible, as depicted in the manga and anime, but once in a while (as with the Super Saiyan issue), I may have to break a few things. If some random fact in the story seems out of place, consider it an alternate universe issue, but if something is really out of whack, let me know! I'll decide if it's something that can be changed. If not, just roll with the punches.

I take pride in my spelling and grammar, and try very hard to ensure that there are no errors in my writing. If you spot any, please let me know ASAP, and they will be corrected.

There will be twelve chapters in this story, along with a brief epilogue. Each chapter is given a one-word title, based on an arguable human need. The first chapter, "Existence," refers to both the general setting up of the story, its premise and very existence, and to the specific threat that Vegeta faces to his life: his own existence. The chapters have the following names at present, and each has some bearing on the events in that chapter:

1) Existence
2) Food
3) Compassion
4) Family
5) Healing
6) Ritual
7) Communication
8) Knowledge
9) Faith
10) Light
11) Purpose
12) Hope
Epilogue) Mystery

As to what each of these words actually means in terms of the story, I'll leave for readers to decide for now.

I've been thinking about this story for the better part of a year now, and am pleased to finally be writing it out. I cannot say how quickly I can write; it must take a back seat to my real-life responsibilities. I will say, however, that I do not plan to stop writing, and will eventually complete it, however long it takes. My muse is patient, but persistent. In any case, I sincerely hope you enjoy the story, which has been a labor of love, and until now completely in my head. Comments and reviews are most welcome!