#IT’S SOME RANDOM ASS GUY IN PART 3 OF JOJO BUT THAT IS DEFINITELY HIM

[zaddyazula]

HIDENARI UGAKI???

[cm-top-10]

C.M. Top 10: Most Dark & Gore Scenes &/or Characters in Cartoon Series

Warning: The following top ten may contain possible spoilers for those who haven't seen newer series. This post may also contain forms of graphic violence & some gore scenes that maybe too much for you to witness. So for your safety & others do not look unless it's at your own risk.

You've been warned...

We all discover at some point in time that not everything you know is allover the rainbow. Most times we see things we can't unsee or learn dark secrets of someone you thought you knew your whole life. & sometimes we learn things the hard way. Or the messed up dark way...

So for this 1st dark Top 10 features the most characters with a dark histories, secrets or just straight up dark/gore scenes. Which character did you not expect to have a dark side? Sadly you be the judge...

1. Invincible - Omni Man beating his son to a pulp.

After learning the dark truth that was revealed to Mark about his father's true intentions. Nolan tells his son the truth about why he was sent to Earth & why he killed the Guardians.

Telling him the reasons why he's here was so he could eliminate any potential threat to the Viltrum Empire. & that he was raising his son not out of responsibility or heroics, but to have him as a bred soldier of the Empire to kill anyone who stood in their way.

& he wanted Mark to join their cause with him.

After Mark angrily refused to help him conquer the planet. Nolan nearly beats the life out of his own son & yells to the top of his lungs saying how pointless it is to protect his home world. While killing millions of innocent people in the process of their brutal fight.

However before he could finish him off, Nolan suddenly realized what he did to his own child & fled the Earth in machspeed, shedding a tear.

They say fatherhood is complicated, but not like this...

2. Castlevania Lords of Shadow - Gabriel's dark fate

While on his journey to slay all three of the Lords of Shadow. Gabriel slowly learned they were the founders of the Order & told him the truth of his order's true intention from each Shadow Lord who too were being used by the Brotherhood of Light. Then when he finally reached the final Lord of Shadow, he learned about his wife's death & fell into dark despair.

Over time his heart grew darkened. & knew nothing but bitterness & sorrow...

But after defeating the three Lords, Laura appears to tell Gabriel that he awakened another ancient evil known as the Forgotten One. Who had plans to destroy all creation & they had to venture to the Brotherhood's fortress to find the entrance to where he was imprisoned.

However only dark begins can enter the realm. & the only way he can bypass it's effects & to defeat this ancient evil, was to become one himself...

So Laura asked him to drink her blood & free her of her torment. Hesitant at first he did what was asked of her & dranked every last drop of her blood, until she died.

He then defeated the Forgotten One & saved mankind. But at a cost of his soul & happiness.

Thus becoming a vampire.

A vampire the world would soon know & fear as Dracul the Dragon.

But that is another story...

3. Baki the Grappler - Yujiro Hanma

As most know Yujiro is the world's most unstoppable & cruelest warrior in the history of fighters. Not even the U.S. Military dares to go near him. Yes Yujiro the Orge has struck fear into many people, even military personnel of different countries. & he did it with no weapons & has turned the U.S. into his personal playground for death & battles.

But the most cruelest thing he's done was ripping the face of one of China's most respected Kaioh masters while facing him in battle, testing his worthiness. The reason Yujiro did this challenge was not to prove his worth but to show all of China & their leaders that they are worthless to him. & showed them all that he doesn't care about their hatred towards Japan noir their worthiness.

& he struck that fear into all who witnessed Ryu Kaioh getting defaced & brutally defeated. Yes this is one man who's definitely going to hell & is going to smile about it.

Because Satan himself would be pissing his buttflap in his sights in fear. While Yujiro fucks his succubus wife in front of his face knowing how little fucks he gives about his "sins."

4. Primal - Sauropod Massacre

After being infected by the Zombie Virus. The infected sauropod becomes a mad rouge & slaughters it's own herd in a bloody rage & massacre.

It left no survivors, ripped them apart & destroyed many of the herds' eggs leaving nothing remaining...

Truly whatever zombie virus this was it drove this poor creature mad & didn't stop until everything wasn't breathing.

Luckily Spear & Fang were able to run it into a dormant volcano. Where the infected dinosaur burnt to ash.

Hopefully now the poor beast is at peace...

5. Star Wars Rebels - Master Luminara's remains

In the search for Luminara to replace Kanan to be Ezra's new master. They soon learned too late that her remains were being used to lure any surviving Jedi out of hiding. So that any Sith Hunters like the Grand Inquisitor would slay them on the spot.

Sadly no one knows whatever happened to her corpse after they escaped. Or if the Empire even still has her.

Rest in peace Luminara wherever you are...

6. Legend of Tarzan - Death of Clayton

While battling in the trees, Tarzan defeated Clayton by tangling him into the jungle vines. But during his blind rage he angrily swiped vine after vine, until one wrapped his neck. Tarzan tried his best to warn him, but in his rage Claton cuts the vine that he was holding on to.

Then after it broke they both plummet to the ground. Tarzan landed safely, Clayton however was hung from above by one of the vines wrapped around his neck after it snapped it straight out from the fall.

There truly are things worse than fate...

7. RWBY - the Death of Adam Taurus

After weeks of stalking Blake & her group. Blake had no choice but to confront Adam for the last time with the help of Yang. The battle was harsh, but in the end they managed to out-think him by stabbing him from different sides. One in his chest & one in the back.

He then fell to his death over a huge waterfall after hitting his head over a ledge before plummeting into the water. Hopefully they've finally seen the last of Adam Taurus.

But let's also hope he doesn't pull a Cinder...

8. TFP Beast Hunters - Predaking beats the scrap out of Ratchet

After using Ratchet to wipe out mankind. The Decepticons threw him into the frails of a vengeful Predaking. Predaking then beats & claws Ratchet, throwing him around like a rag-doll. Until he was ready to finish him off, luckily Ratchet convinced him to hear him out. & told Predaking the truth about what had happened to his Predacon army.

After he told Predaking that it was Megatron who ordered his race's extermination. He asks why he did so & Ratchet replys--

Ratchet: Being on the receiving end of your might. One theory springs to mind, Megatron fears you & any like you.

In his blind rage Predaking stormed his way to Megatron, wiping out anyone who stood in his way.

Which led to his own demise, but that is a story for another time...

9. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - Stealy Joe gets his ass beat by Jotaro

Now this slimy bastard got what he deserves. Not only did he try to humiliate & blackmail Jotaro into doing his bidding. This cocky motherfucker goes & threatens a random little girl out of the blue. If Jotaro didn't face him like a man & does what he says.

With him up to here with the man's assholeness, our boi Jotaro decided enough is enough & beats the ever loving shit out of this guy. & after punching him multiple times, he literally sends him flying into a wall & throws him his receipt.

Rest in Hell, Joe you worthless bastard!

10. The Falcon Captain America & The Winter Soldier - Captain America U.S. Agent gets his arm broken.

John Walker the former Captain America was given a mantle he wasn't worthy of. Don't get me wrong as much as I had my doubts of him, I was willing to give him a benefit of a doubt. That is until he soiled Steve's good name by using his shield to kill a man in cold blood.

During his blind rage of vengeance, he chased down one of the Flag Smashers & constantly beats him over-&-over with the shield. & then kills him with a fatal blow to the chest area in front of tons of people.

After he murdered one of the perps, Falcon & Bucky tried to ask him to hand over the shield peacefully...

You can take a wild guess what Walker's answer was. He then attacked them with rage & ego, losing his shit. However that ego died as soon as Falcon & Buck breaks his arm to get the shield back. He was then discharged by the U.S. government & was relieved of his duties as Captain America.

Not only that but he then found his way into a dark path he may not be able to uncross.

But that part is another story for another time.

Either way he got dealt some shitty karma.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Hol Horse

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

So last year I thought it was a good idea to try and review all of the enemy Stand users in Stardust Crusaders in a totally random order. The results were… mixed. Some of them I think came out okay, but others? Not so much. One of them was just an entire backhanded attack against some guy who decided to say “No one likes your analyses” because I think ProJared was a creep. It was, quite frankly, a mess, and I never bothered to revisit it and never thought I would, even though I still hadn’t covered the glorious, wonderful human being who is Hol Horse.

Well, now, after playing Heritage for the Future and All-Star Battle as well as just becoming a bit more knowledgeable on JJBA, I’ve decided to not only give Hol Horse his dues, but also at least briefly go back over or cover the other Stand users and give them a rating or an updated rating, as the case may be. So buckle in, this is gonna be a long one, and it’s all gonna start with everyone’s favorite incompetent henchman.

Hol Horse is probably one of the most amazing characters Araki has ever created. Hol Horse is in possession of a powerful Stand, The Emperor, which is literally a magical gun that fires bullets he can control the trajectory of. By all accounts, Hol Horse should be the single most dangerous foe that the Crusaders face, more than even Vanilla Ice. This guy should be able to shoot them all dead without a second thought! There’s just one tiny little caveat:

Hol Horse is a fucking moron.

This man is cowardly, incompetent, and just the punching bag of cruel misfortune as all his plans constantly go awry and he is constantly knocked on his ass. And yet, Hol Horse is still the most beloved enemy Stand User of Stardust Crusaders, and it’s not hard to see why. Because despite all of his bumbling, Hol Horse just oozes a sort of cool you just don’t see every day.

(For best results, listen to this the whole time while reading the following).

Motivation/Goals: Hol Horse is one of the few henchmen of DIO who is motivated purely by his own greed… at least, at first. Eventually he has his ass handed to him one too many times, and he decides to try and assassinate DIO. This goes about as well as you’d expect, and Hol Horse – not just part of it, the ENTIRE Horse – is so scared out of his mind that he decides, yep, loyalty to DIO is the way to go! It doesn’t work out, but hey, he tried, right?

Performance: Imami Williams gives Hol Horse that raspy, American charm he needs in the anime adaptation. With his voice and the animation combined, we get to see our favorite smarmy sharpshooter who can’t shoot for shit shoot his shot and miss every time, and it is simply glorious.

Final Fate: Hol Horse kidnaps Boingo and forces him to work with him to finally get his revenge! With the prophetic skills of Thoth and the raw damage that can be done with Emperor, there’s no way they could lose! And yet, as is always the case with Thoth, things go horrendously awry and Hol Horse, despite having the ability to control the trajectory of his bullets, ends up shooting himself and knocking him out of part 3 for good.

Best Scene: Really, just the entirety of the episodes where he teams up with Boingo, especially when he tries holding up Polnareff. Considering what comes after and what came before it, it’s just the dose of lighthearted fun needed before you watch all of your favorite characters get brutally murdered by DIO and Vanilla Ice,. 

Best Quote: There is only one line it could be, and it’s Hol Horse’s response to Thoth’s suggestion he kick a woman in the neck: “Listen, Boingo... I am the nicest man in the world. I have girlfriends everywhere. I might lie to a woman, but I'll never hit them! It doesn't matter how ugly they are! Because I respect women!”

That’s right, everyone. Hol Horse drinks Respect Women Juice.

Final Thoughts & Score: Hol Horse is simply astounding. The character is such a colossal screwup that he shouldn’t be as good as he is… yet he is. The dude is gifted with the most incredible power imaginable, and yet somehow he is never able to do a goddamn thing with that power! You control where the bullets go, dude! How can you not hit anything?! It’s interesting how his cowardice and lack of motivation makes him a perfect representation of the inverted Emperor tarot card, but hey, tarot motifs are par for the course with the Stand users.

But there’s something charming to how pathetic Hol Horse is. He’s always plying second banana, he’s a dirty coward who turns tail and runs when things aren’t looking good for him, he never wins a single battle, he didn’t even kill the one guy it seemed like he killed… but throughout it all he still has this sort of smarmy charisma to him that makes him impossible to hate. It’s no wonder this guy has girls all over the world, because he is a world-class charmer. There’s also how Hol Horse is just a character who really, really lives by his own personal philosophy – that is to say, he always likes to be #2, never going into a fight without backup. It’s kind of refreshing to see him always stick by this, even to his own detriment; it’s hard to hate a man who’s principled to that degree. And, of course, this man respects women. Good on him.

It helps that Hol Horse’s inexplicable popularity has led to him getting his time to shine in outside media. Heritage for the Future has two versions of him, his regular form and one that partners him with Boingo, and in skilled hands his Emperor finally gets to live up to its deadly potential. And he’s no slouch in his return appearance in All-Star Battle, and what’s more impressive is in that game he is part of the base roster while Joseph and Iggy, two of the main heroes, are relegated to DLC! You heard me right: the bumbling cowboy who did not win a single fight or even come close to it and spent a lot of time shooting himself managed to beat out out two iconic heroes from the same part onto the roster! Horsey Man must be doing something right.

As this video shows, Hol Horse is one of the most influential characters in the JJBA franchise, having helped to shape the franchise going forward and helped to inspire the traits that made beloved characters like Guido Mista, Gyro Zeppeli, and Yoshikage Kira as legendary as they are. Hell, Hol Horse is just so awesome he almost got to be a protagonist, but Araki decided that Horsey was too similar to my favorite big-titty Frenchman, Polnareff. This means Hol Horse never got his time to shine as a hero, and so stayed a villain til the end… but hey, can he really be that sad if he gets a 10/10 on Psycho Analysis?

Actually, maybe he wouldn’t like that. He likes to play second fiddle to others, after all. But I guess that’s just the curse with these JoJo villains who want to not stand out; they always end up being the best and most memorable characters.

Anyway, now that we’ve got the best of the best out of the way, it’s time for...

Psycho Analysis: DIO’s Other Henchmen

I’m just gonna give my brief thoughts on these guys. Most of them are pretty one-note oneshots, but there are a few who rise above that and manage to be something else entirely. These guys were a learning experience for Araki, and his enemy Stand users of the week definitely improved with later parts, with Vento Aureo really cranking it up to 11. 

But for now, we’re stuck with these guys.

Gray Fly: I actually stand by my opinion from my original review of him; he’s nothing incredibly memorable, but he’s a solid start to the adventure and he is directly responsible for diverting the journey onto the course it ended up going on. Without him, things would have likely played out far differently. A 5/10 is still a good score for him.

Fake Captain Tenille: He actually gets bumped down to a 2/10, due to my changes in how things are scored. He’s not amusing enough to be in the “So bad it’s good” category of the other 3s, he’s just really lame and forgettable, and he still somehow manages to lose when he has the advantage. What a dweeb.

Forever: If you think the monkey boat fight is dropping in score, you’re mistaken. Forever remains at an 8/10 for being such a delightfully weird curveball that helps set the tone for the franchise to follow.

Devo: One of the weirder playable character choices from Heritage for the Future, and certainly not one I like too much; he’s also a random event that is pretty useful in All-Star Battle’s online campaign, so that’s a good mark for him. If nothing else, he gave a good showing of Polnareff’s skills when under pressure, so… yeah. I think a 5/10 is good enough.

Rubber Soul: This review I regret because I was backhandedly responding to that guy who weirdly decided to bring up my distaste for ProJared in a review of Arabia Fats and Kenny G. I do mostly stand by what I said; Rubber Soul is one of the more amusing minor foes, if only because of his ridiculous performance as Kakyoin. Still, it really sucks he was just a clone character in Heritage for the Future… put he gets points for  having the iconic cherry-licking as a taunt. 6/10 is where he remains.

J. Geil: Again, my opinion hasn’t changed: J. Geil is a mountain of wasted potential, but at the very least he makes for a good antagonist for his brief appearance and hey, he’s the one who helped bring us the beautiful hunk of man that is Hol Horse, so I’d feel bad giving him less than a 7/10.

Nena: I honestly think Nena is one of the most boring Stand users of the part, which is sad because her episode gives Joseph the spotlight. She’s just really gross and uninteresting, and you’ll likely forget her after her episode is over. 2/10.

ZZ: ZZ is not particularly great, and his design is just there to be a joke, but it’s hard to totally hate a guy who manages to roll references to Christine, Duel, and the album cover for Eliminator by his namesake into one. I think he’s more of a 4/10, but probably on the higher end there. He’s not great, but he has enough going for him to keep me from hating him.

Enya: So if I thought that J. Geil was a waste of potential, I feel this even more so for his mother Enya. Despite being hyped up as this big, intimidating right-hand woman to DIO early on, she gets one appearance where her Stand is defeated by Star Platinum pulling a power out his ass and then is unceremoniously killed by Steely Dan of all people. I will give her this: her interactions with Polnareff are absolutely hilarious. But when all you have going for is some jokes, don’t be surprised when you end up with a 6/10, which you’re pretty much only getting because even despite the mountains of wasted potential you’re really not that bad.

She do be looking hot in the OVA tho.

Steely Dan: My opinion is unchanged; he’s a solid 7/10 oneshot douchebag. Nothing more, nothing less. His level in the PS1 game seriously blows, though.

Arabia Fats: I was too hard on this guy. While I meant everything I said, and his episode is boring filler, does it really make him a bottom of the barrel all-time worst villain? No. It just makes him a crappy joke character. 2/10.

Mannish Boy: I regret not getting to this guy last time, because aside from Forever he’s probably one of the most insane Stand user of the part, seeing as he is an infant. Like, he’s just an evil baby who can kill people in their dreams. And he gets defeated by being force fed his own crap. Much like Forever, it’s fun to speculate where exactly DIO found this guy; did he just go to a nursery and start jabbing babies with the Stand arrow? Did he meet this guy at a Cairo night club? What exactly is Mannish Boy’s origin? He’s just so utterly and hilariously inexplicable. He’s definitely a 7/10; he doesn’t quite have the shock factor that Forever did before him, but let’s not pretend an evil talking baby Stand user isn’t one hell of a weird twist.

Cameo: This guy really lives up to his name; his Stand is the one that gets the most screentime, with the actual Stand user being relegated to a – you guessed it – cameo appearance at the end of the fight. Thankfully, his Stand is an enjoyable take on jerkass genies and gives a pretty sad and disturbing episode that not only features my man Polnareff, but also marks the point where Avdol returns and brings “Hell 2 U!” I think he deserves at least a 7/10, even if this is mainly for Judgment. Still, a Stand is a representation of the user’s soul, so I think it works out.

Here’s the Stand:

And here’s the man behind it:

Midler: Midler is one of the single most interesting characters from the pre-Egypt half of Stardust Crusaders, and is the point where Stand users really started to get interesting. Her Stand, High Priestess, has a really funky and unique design, and her battle serves as the final roadblock before the Crusaders arrive in Egypt. Despite never appearing onscreen, with only her unconscious body being shown at the end of the fight in a way that obscures her, she got to appear in Heritage for the Future with an awesome sexy belly dancer design and a badass moveset that makes her a really fun character to play as. Taking everything into account, I think she just barely scrapes into the bottom of the 8/10 pool, though really this is mainly for her playable appearance.

N’Doul: My opinions really haven’t changed on him. He’s still an 8/10.

Oingo & Boingo: These guys are, in a word, hilarious. In between the grueling, brutal fight with N’Doul and the later fights in the part, these guys bring some much needed levity to the proceedings. Oingo gets an entire episode where he just completely bumbles about as he attempts to impersonate Jotaro to assassinate the Crusaders, failing at every turn and only managing to blow himself up in the end. Boingo fares a little better, eventually getting roped in to Hol Horse’s scheme to get some revenge, which leads to one of the funniest episodes of the entire series as Hol Horse and Oingo hold up Polnareff. I think they collectively get an 8/10 for being two of the funniest Stand users in the part. They even get their own unique end credits in the anime (with Hol Horse joining in on the fun when he teams up with Boingo)!

Anubis: Again, my opinion is unchanged, though I must say him having technically three playable appearances in Heritage for the Future does make me have at least a little more fondness for him. Black Polnareff, Chaka, and Khan are all amusing characters to play as and all have some awesome theme music. Introducing the concept of Stands being able to exist independently of their Original user is pretty neat, as well as the idea of a Stand that can switch users like it does. 7/10 is still what I’d give it, but I think that it’s pretty telling that this is probably the “weakest” character in the Egypt arcs in terms of being a villain, and yet he’s still pretty cool.

Mariah: Completely unchanged. She still deserves an 8/10, because her episode is hilarious, her playable appearance in Heritage for the Future is a blast, and she’s just really frikkin’ hot. I’m not gonna lie, she’s probably my second favorite enemy Stand user out of the Egyptian ones. I may or may not want her to step on me.

Alessi: I’m going to be honest here: Alessi is my favorite of the Egyptian Stand users. He’s an ax crazy coward with pedophile undertones who is just an utterly demented and sick individual with a seriously intriguing Stand that de-ages its victims. It’s a damn shame he never crossed paths with Joseph and de-aged him, but when he’s just such a hilarious and hateable lunatic with an incredibly fun playable appearance in Heritage for the Future (complete with awesomely creepy theme music!) it’s hard for me to give Alessi anything less than a 9/10. Attaboy!

Daniel J. D’Arby: My opinion is honestly unchanged, but I think I’d bump him down to an 8/10.

Pet Shop: Again, unchanged really. It’s hard to give a character as busted as he is in Heritage for the Future anything less than a 9/10 any way you slice it.

Telence T. D’Arby: Opinion unchanged, 8/10. I don’t have much else to say here, besides Xander Mobus rocks.

Kenny G: See Arabia Fats above. I got irrationally mad over a dumb joke character. He’s not going above a 2/10, but he’s not worth really getting mad about.

Vanilla Ice: I still think he’s the only enemy Stand user besides Hol Horse who deserves his 10/10. My opinion of him remains unchanged, but I would like to say he’s easily one of my favorite characters to play as in All-Star Battle.

Nukesaku: Ok, he’s not an enemy Stand user, he’s just some weird vampire… zombie… thing. Still, I feel he’s at least worth briefly mentioning, if only because he’s probably the only easily-defeated joke villain Araki did from the first three parts who is particularly memorable. Wired Beck and Doobie are really not all that memorable, but Nukesaku at least elicits a few chuckles – he even gets cameos in Heritage for the Future as well as getting to be a stage hazard in All-Star Battle. For what he is, I think he deserves a 5/10.

And with all these enemies taken care of, that just leaves one more Stand user to talk about.. one whose Psycho Analysis has been sitting in my drafts for a year now...

[stylesbicon]

What was that in the tags? Something along the lines of "I will totally do a part 3 with Crutchie, don't tempt me?" Also, because Race apparently has panic attacks alone in his room and I cannot stand for that, maybe some Sprace + comfort?

[PART 1] [PART 2]

This ended up going a completely different direction than I intended, and I couldn’t fit in the Sprace, but I tried with the comfort part and at least got half of that ship in here (send me other Sprace prompts if you want ill totally do them)

Race used to love being up alone at night. Laying in the boardinghouse, listening to the breathing and snores of all the other newsies in the large bedroom, it was relaxing. And something about knowing you were the only one in what could even be a full city block of hundreds of people who was awake, it felt satisfying. It wouldn’t happen often, but the times he would find himself randomly stirred awake by some bump in the night had never been anything he was bothered by– it had been a special treat, a rare delight.

Now, it was normal to jerk awake every night in a cold sweat, forcing himself to remember where he was, who he was, that he was safe, praying nobody had heard him. Every now and then in the next inevitably sleepless hours he would hear familiar noises from the others: Buttons passing gas from across the room (an unfortunate but at-this-point-expected habit), Albert mumbling in his sleep from the bunk below his, the occassional noise from Henry and Romeo as they dealt with their own nightmares– Race didn’t know what they were about, but he wouldn’t dream of ever asking. Sometimes he could even hear Specs snore from the other bedroom downstairs.

Tonight though, Race heard a new sound. It came from downstairs too, the sounds of panic and distress he’d come to associate with the nightmares he’d occassionally hear. It wasn’t loud enough to wake any of the others, but it was loud enough to catch Race’s attention. He was already out of bed and pulling on his pants, brimming with curiosity and concern. Newsies in the room downstairs didn’t usually have nightmares- none that sounded this bad, at least. Sure, a lot had been going on in the past few weeks with the strike and all, and maybe this was to be expected, but Race had a feeling, like something about this wasn’t normal.

Feeling his way to the stairs, he crept down them, careful to keep his feet on the outside close to the wall to keep them from creaking and waking any of the lighter sleepers– it was a work day tomorrow, after all. After a couple minutes of extra-cautious tiptoeing, Race found himself in the second of the two bedrooms that the other half of the newsies slept in. Following the noise of the mystery Nightmare-Haver– were they crying now?– he made his way across the room to a bunk he recognized.

“Crutchie?” he whispered, trying to control the shocked volume of his voice. Crutchie didn’t have nightmares, and he never cried. He was… always happy. The biggest optimist of the group.

But that was Crutchie’s voice responding to his in the dark, as different as it sounded.

“R-racetrack?” it whispered, shaky and weak. It almost sounded like Crutchie didn’t believe Race was even there.

Race reached out for Crutchie’s shoulder, finding it and giving it a squeeze. He felt the flinch under his hand.

Oh, that made sense though, if he thought about it.

Still careful not to wake the others, Race led Crutchie over to the window and helped him out onto the fire escape, where the two of them would be able to talk. Sitting down, Race gestured for Crutchie to sit beside him. In the moonlight he could see now that Crutchie must have been crying– he looked awful, and like a part of him still wasn’t all the way there.

Race sighed internally. He knew that look, knew in his gut what Crutchie had been dreaming about, and knew how this conversation was going to go. It was NOT something he wanted to be talking about, especially not at this hour but… who else was going to help Crutchie? Maybe Jack at some point, if the time was right, but Race knew from his own experience that getting Jack to open up was an almost-impossible task. (Still, Race also knew Jack would do anything for Crutchie, so maybe he would let Jack know what was going on in the morning….)

“It was the Refuge, wasn’t it?” Race had waited long enough to talk and cut right to the chase. Crutchie responded by looking away embarrassed.

“I didn’t mean ta wake ya…” He mumbled.

“Lucky for you I was already awake. I gets my own sweet dreams from that place…” Race reached into his pocket for the cigar he knew was there, pulling out his matches with it- he needed to light it tonight.

Crutchie shifted uncomfortably, aware that neither of them wanted to have this conversation but both of them needed it. It was not lost on him that Racetrack Higgins never talked about his time in the Refuge with another soul save Jack, and they each only ever talked about it to each other on rare occasions.

“I wasn’t there long, I feels like I ain’t got no rights ta be feelin’ this way…” Crutchie trailed off but Race waited for him to finish, taking the time to light his cigar. “You and Jack, youse were in there for such a long time, an’ Jack always in n’ out, I ain’t seen nothin’ in there compared to-”

“Crutchie, shut up.” Race had to cut him off, suddenly angry. He had no idea what happened to Crutchie in the Refuge, but no matter the time he spent there, he looked bad enough when he got out that Race could only imagine, “Ain’t matter how long you was in there, alright? I knows the kinda stuff they do to boys like us in places like that and it don’t matter if it’s a year or a night, ya can’t come outta there the same. Ain’t no shame in that.” At least that’s what Jack always told him. Race was starting to slowly believe it, but he sure hadn’t said it convincingly enough for Crutchie to buy it.

“This stuff ain’t s'posed ta happen to me, though! The nightmares, gettin’ lost in my memories in the middle'a the day, my leg hasn’t felt right since! Race, I gotta be the guy everyone looks up to! The guy to balance off Jack’s crazy ideas, to cheer Mike up when he gets in his moods, to make sure Elmer eats his breakfast. I can’t do that when I gotta relive all those moments! I’m s'posed ta be better than this!”

Race took the cigar out of his mouth and pointed it into Crutchie’s chest, aiming to make himself perfectly clear.

“Hey! Ain’t no one too good to suffer reality! Yeah, you’s right, you’s our sunshine boy, and so what? You make it through this and keep bein’ our sunshine boy if that’s what ya wants. Ya think Jack’s head’s okay all the time he’s tryin’ to be in charge? We both know it ain’t but he’s still here for us because he believes in us and he makes it through to fight another day, right? And if he can do it, I– we– can do it.”

Race looked away, embarrassed by his outburst and the tears he realized had formed around his eyes. Both boys sat in silence for a while until Crutchie finally spoke, still looking away. (Ain’t no way he ain’t cryin’ too, Race thought, feeling slightly better)

“How bad is it for you?” Crutchie asked quietly.

Race waited another long while before deciding to answer, taking a couple more puffs of his cigar instead.

“I���ll kill ya if ya tell Jack any o’ this, but I’m tryin’ this new thing called being supportive and I cares about ya and don’t like seein’ ya sad like this, okay? So I’ll tell ya and not give ya some wise ass answer…” He sighed. Why the hell was he having this conversation? “I ain’t slept a solid night’s sleep in the two years since I got outta that place, that what ya wanna hear? Sometimes I’ll be sellin’ on some random corner and I thinks I see Snyder and can’t breathe for a solid ten minutes and someone asks me what’s wrong and I gotta make up some excuse after so’s nobody finds out because what’s the point in worryin’ anyone? But Crutchie, I still gets up every morning and sells my papes and makes everyone laugh and they all thinks I’m normal Racetrack Higgins and that’s what counts. We all got our shit, yeah? Me and you and Jack and all the boys and Jojo and Romeo and Mush. And some of that shit’s the same as other people’s shit and some of it’s different, but we all gets through it. We just gotta…. learn how to deal with it. And yeah, maybe most of us don’t deal with it in a way that’s good, but we’s still here for each other at the end of the day, yeah? And if there’s a day when you can’t balance Jack’s ideas or make Elmer eat breakfast, that’s okay because we all has those days, right? But ya just let us help you. And ‘sides me and Jack, nobody else has ta know if you don’t want, but ya gotta talk to someone about this stuff, okay? But Crutchie, listen, ain’t nothin’ wrong with ya that ain’t wrong with all of us, ya hear me?”

It was quiet for a long time again as Crutchie seemed to think about everything Race had said. Race wasn’t sure it was helpful and he had no idea where he’d pulled that speech out of, and he was pretty sure he and Crutchie both knew he never took his own advice, but he prayed it helped. At least so Crutchie could get to a point where he could go back to sleep.

Finally Crutchie shifted to look back at Race with a weak smile. Weak as the smile was, it was still a Genuine Crutchie Smile and he looked definitely better than he had when he’d first come out here.

“Thanks, Race,” he said, then yawned.

Race yawned too and stood up, offering a hand to Crutchie.

“Come on, I’ll help you to the roof. Ya can sleep with Jack the rest of the night– and if you ever remind me that I told you any of this, I’ll kill ya.”

[katoptron-katophlegon]

Tag thing

I was tagged by @judal-is-my-spirit-animal (thx fam)                                

RULES: Choose any three fandoms (in random order) and answer the questions. Then tag some friends.

The fandoms I choose are Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures, Touhou Project and Danganronpa.

The first character you loved:

JJBA: I remember that I really really liked Joseph back when I was watching Battle Tendency. He was probably the first one I really liked, and the others came shortly after

Touhou Project: I remember that I first saw a Touhou thing thanks to a youtuber I used to follow that sometimes made Touhou videos. And in his intro he had a picture of Youmu Konpaku. I really liked her design, so it was her (I still like her a lot).

Danganronpa: when I started playing the first game, I immediately liked Leon, Kyoko and Celeste. Kyoko then became my favourite character in the first game and one of my favourite in the series.

The character you never expected to love so much:

JJBA: Probably Polnareff… Like usually I don’t like the arrogant and immature type of characters, but he is one of my favourites. I actually have a sort of love-hate relationship with him, but it’s more love than hate. He’s so cute, and his character developement is wonderful.

Touhou Project: Honestly no one comes to mind right now rip

Danganronpa: Fuyuhiko. Damn I HATED that guy at the start of Dr2, I really wanted to see him dead. But after the second trial, where all the stuff with Peko happened, and his stay at the hospital… Damn, he matured so much. I can’t express how much I loved his character developement. He became one of my favourites in the Whole series. Now he’s a cool badass :^)

The character you relate to most:

JJBA: K A K Y O I N 100% GOD DAMMIT. Seriously, even his background is the exact same as mine (except for the Stand stuff ofc), and we’re very similar. I love him so much.

Touhou Project: Fujiwara no Mokou (AKA “the most relatable character in all of Touhou probably”). Our story is different obviously, but right now I too find myself… Bored with life. I feel like I’m deatching from life too lol

Danganronpa: Probably Kaito Momota… I mean from what I’ve seen of him (that is basically nothing ‘cause I haven’t played the new game yet)… We both love space and put as #1 priority our dreams… I think lmao

The character you’d slap:

JJBA: Dio absolutely, and probably Jotaro (at least part 3 Jotaro)

Touhou Project: Aya Shameimaru (she’s annoying, though I really like her design)

Danganronpa: Nagito Komaeda damn it i hate that guy so much. i mean i really hate him. i hate his character. i dont understand why people like him so much he sucks dfjwag

Three favourite characters:

JJBA: Kakyoin absolutely, Wamuu and Kars… But there are so many other characters I love… I’m gonna break this rule and add Funny Valentine because damn it I love him… And Esidisi…

Touhou Project: Fujiwara no Mokou, Junko and Mima

Danganronpa: Gundham Tanaka (absolute angel, he’s perfect and I’ll protect him forever), Kaito Momota and Koichi Kizakura

A character you liked at first but not so much anymore:

JJBA: Jotaro. I liked him when I was first watching SDC, but then… No. I don’t like him much now.

Touhou Project: Toyosatomimi no Miko. There was a phase where she was like my second favourite but now I don’t like her anymore. I want Byakuren to kick her haughty ass

Danganronpa: I don’t know… Kazuichi Soda probably, but I still kinda like him.

A character you did not like at first, but they’ve grown on you:

JJBA: Polnareff definitely. I only found him annoying at first, but now I really like him (as I’ve said before). And Esidisi (sorry I couldn’t not add him he’s so important to me and beautiful i love him)

Touhou Project: I guess that at first I really didn’t care about Mima, since she was a PC98 character and all… Then I “met” her and now she’s in my top 3 rip

Danganronpa: Taka… I hated him because he was rude and loud, then (also thanks to my friend that explained me many things about him) I realized how tragic he was and how he was actually a sweet boy and now I love him so much

3 OTP’S

JJBA: E S I K A R S  GODDAMIT 

Touhou Project: I’m not really an expert in Touhou ships… But I like Marisa x Alice I think

Danganronpa: I really like Makoto x Kyoko they’re so cute together <3</li>

Whew this took a while, but I love doing these things. I’ll tag @scyide, @dance-dance-rebellion, @mamabirdkars and @reizomahboy! (Ofc you’re not obligated to do this, don’t worry)

[hoxitdragon]

Alright you guys we're gonna take a break from the comic for just a bit because I've come up with a fun art challenge based on one of my favorite manga and anime JoJo's bizarre adventure.

Okay. So this challenge centers around stands. In case you're not as familiar with JJBA as I am I'll give a quick definition of what a stand is. It is essentially a manifestation of it's users soul and fighting spirit. They come in all shapes and sizes and can be damn near anything, from a generic punchy humanoid (like Star Platinum) to an entire ocean liner (Strength). Their powers can also be pretty much anything you can imagine from the standard abilities like controlling fire (Magician's Red) to ridiculously overpowered ones like dimension hopping (Dirty deeds done dirt cheap) to utterly useless ones like strait up killing it's user if someone looks at their back and then transferring to the person who looked to continue the cycle (Cheap trick). The majority of stands are also named after songs, bands and albums that the author likes heanse why some of the stand names I listed off look so familiar.

And that is the basis of this challenge. Here's how to play.

Step 1: Create a music playlist of  25 or more songs. (For my part I did a 50 song playlist. Just so long as you have enough to have a good variety of songs)

Step 2: Hit whatever shuffle feature you have on said playlist to pick a random song

Step 3: You now have to design a stand based on the song (you can also do the band or the album it came off of) you landed on as well as come up with powers and abilities for what you've created.

Step 4: Repeat as many times as you feel necessary. (I myself did three because that felt like a good number to me.)

Now I'll tell you about what I came up with so you get a good feel for what to do. The songs I landed on were Gloomy Sunday: by Billie Holiday, Horse Outside: by The Rubberbandits and Chained to the rhythm: by Katy Perry. Let's get into them shall we.

Gloomy Sunday:

Pretty bad luck that I happened to land on this song first eh? Not because this sad boy was hard to come up with a design for or anything but because as those of you well acquainted with urban legends know this song has a reputation for being cursed. It is said that it's sad lyrics about someone who lost their love and is now contemplating suicide to join them have the power to make people commit suicide themselves. I personally don't believe them. I think it's just coincidence.

Either way I decided to use the urban legends as a basis for Gloomy Sunday's powers. It is a medium range stand that can cause sudden and severe depression in whomever the user targets. The depression will worsen and worsen until the target feels they have no other choice but to take they're own lives to escape it.

Design wise I used all cool colors. Black, grey, white and different shades of blue as I felt it would match best with the sad appearance I gave it. The flower pattern in it's hair and the one in it's mouth come from the "Little white flowers can never awaken you" line in the song itself. It's limbs, head and bottom half have pieces missing as a reference to how depression itself feels.(at least this is how mine feels.) It feels like pieces of you are missing and that you'll never ever find them and you'll never ever be whole.

Horse Outside:

Moving on from that little downer. The next song I landed on was this comedic little diddy by the Rubberbandits. It's about a guy trying to impress a girl by bragging that he doesn't need a luxury car because he get's to and fro on horseback and it gets him laid.

As the song is about how a horse is better than any vehicle I actually made a horse that's better than any vehicle. Horse Outside I s a short range transportation type stand. It has the ability to carry it's user across any terrain and I mean ANY. It can trot across sand, tree lines, water, air and even space. It's biggest downside is that it can't protect it's user from the elements of where it's carrying them. So if you wanted to go into space to flip off Kars's frozen ass then you'd have to bring your own spacesuit.

Design wise I just went for a stylized mechanical horse with spindle legs. Nothing too special with the colors either I was mostly thinking of abilities when I came up with this guy.

Chained to the rhythm:

Alright last one. The last song I landed on was Katy Perry's Chained to the rhythm. Normally I think Katy Perry's song range from meh to ughhhhhh, but I actually enjoyed this one a lot. It's about how the entertainment industry keeps us complacent so that we won't bother changing anything for the better and it may or may not be about the Illuminati.

Chained to the rhythm is a long range stand that plays a droning hypnotic melody on it's pipe. Those that fall in range of the music become lethargic, complacent and more vulnerable to suggestion.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do design wise. The very first thing that popped into my head was Pied Piper. I gave it a sack and shackle mask to cover it's face and to incorporate the chain in the song into the design also put a bunch of Illuminati imagery on the sack mask. For it's body I used a repeating checkers pattern to emphasize the theme of repetition present in the original song.

Alright so you guys know what to do now and if your not quite sure you can always ask me to clarify. Participation is 100% optional but I'd really like to see what you guys come up with. Hope you have as much fun as I did.

As always hope you enjoy and tell me what you think.

Gloomy Sunday owned by Billie Holiday Horse Outside owned by The Rubberbandits Chained to the rhythm owned by Katy Perry JoJo's bizarre adventure owned by Hirohiko Araki