#person of reference: gyro zeppeli

[thus-wrote-mrs-zeppeli]

I love your work, especially when you write for Gyro because you catch his essence really well (*ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)♡ ... May I request how much children Gyro, Abbacchio, Prosciutto, and Straizo, would want? Would they specifically want girls or boys, or they don't care? 0:

Oooh so sweet of you, thank you!!!! It means a lot to me to hear that! Gyro is one of my FAVES (though my blog name probably gives that away, haha…)

I will try my best~

(It’s Technically x reader?? Reader is there lol. Mostly about the character’s personal thoughts though.)

Various jjba: How many children do they want to have?

Straizo: Maybe at one point when he was a younger man he would’ve had an interest in more children beyond Elizabeth, but as she grew up, he found himself feeling older too. Even with the decelerated aging effects from his mastery over hamon, being referred to as “dad” or “father” reminds him of his fear of the inevitable march of time. So he’s not much interested in raising anymore children with you beyond his adopted daughter. But if he had another one when Elizabeth was still very young, he wouldn’t be opposed. Girl or boy doesn’t matter to him, he would train them in hamon the same as he did Elizabeth.

Prosciutto: He’s not against the idea, even while he’s still an assassin in the Italian mafia. He honestly thinks he’d be a good dad, a little strict, but good. You’re not so sure. What Prosciutto thinks is “tough love” tends to lean into “unnecessary cruelty” in your opinion. And the opinions of his squad mates. Thankfully even a stubborn guy like him won’t push the subject too much if you point out that having a kid while your financial situation is so unstable and his lifestyle is so dangerous might not be the best idea right now. Can’t really argue with that.

He won’t forget about it though. Whether your financial situation changes or he switches to something even slightly less dangerous in the mafia he’ll be bringing it up again.

He thinks he wants a boy. Just one. Maybe another one after his first is a bit older.

Abbacchio: No, he can’t imagine him having kids anytime soon. He’s no role model, he lacks patience with himself and other people, and with his disposition…he doesn’t think he’d be a father his future kid would be proud of. He can’t handle that kind of shame.

So please, don’t bring it up to him. At least not right now. Not while he’s living this dangerous lifestyle and always moving from place to place. And not mentally prepared for something like that. Maybe when he’s a bit older and things have calmed down (even then, probably not) but right now he knows he’s not ready for something like that.

Gyro Zeppeli: Given he’s the eldest, and from a rather large family, he’s always been used to being around kids, even though he hasn’t really given raising some of his own much thought. Just kinda felt like something he’d worry about when it was time. He imagined if he did have kids though, it’d be a few, at least three, but probably more. And he’d want all boys. Despite his seemingly wild nature, he had been a dutiful son back in the day, even if he may have goofed around behind his father’s back on occasion. As much as he respected his father, he wouldn’t want to raise his kids in that exact way, wishing instead to be a bit more empathetic, and with less of a black and white worldview.

-

Ah I realize I didn’t really have anyone on this list I saw as a girl dad. I think Caesar would be one!

[sikyurame]

OOO time for me to ramble about Willow under the cut

—

1) She’d be pressured by friends to name it something like “FBI Surveillance Van” otherwise it would remain untitled lol

2) Diurnal, she tries to stay up late at night especially when Gyro’s working on orders, but she can never stay up past 9pm.

3) She’ll answer from 1 to 10

4) Any joke or insult that refers to her deafness, those sting the most and it ruins her self esteem.

5) Why, with Gyro’s nifty “ham grabber” machine that can reach any nook and cranny. It’s one of the advantages to having him as a parent.

6) No, she wouldn’t.

7) WHAT KIND OF FRIENDS DOES THIS 8 YEAR OLD HAVE?? That would be a mental scar for her, she’d tell Donald about it and after the person is behind bars, Willow would be wary of making any more friends afterwards.

8) Oh god even more existential dread. When she wakes up death, Willow would give Gyro and Donald a big hug.

9) Who gave this 8 year old a pass to drive?? That is just a disaster ffddf

10) Willow loves collecting bugs much to both her parent’s displeasure (Gyro’s a little more accepting of it though)

11) She’d be uncomfortable about it.

12) I imagine in this situation, Gyro has to step out for a minute and tells Willow to watch the workshop with Helper while he goes out. There’s only so much Willow can do especially if the customers aren’t patient enough for her to write down her sentences. She’d probably break down, poor kid (and Helper would just takeover until Gyro comes back to take care of the mess)

13) Willow thinks of herself as a 5, but she’s probably a 2. She’s the least menacing person you could ever meet.

14) Willow would just stare, probably in disgust. If she’s with Gyro or Donald, she’d point the person out and sign, “Is that even healthy?”

15) She’d either shuffle away to make them fall from their own weight, or try to bite their arm. The only person who Willow would ever allow to do this is either Gyro or Donald.

17) So, the friend is definitely Zepp (sorry Ned), and Willow signs through the screen of her inter-dimensional phone, “You’re on your own.”

18) This is a terrible friend group the HECK. But chucking a rock at them, feels like an option she’d do.

19) Music. She figures it sounds nice since she’ll catch her dads dancing in the living room, but she doesn’t get the point of it. Though, thanks to Gyro and Donald, she’s been able to imagine what it sounds like based on a color system (sad = blue, happy = yellow, etc.)

20) Yeaaah lol There are times where she’ll be signing, but suddenly stops because she either forgot how to sign a specific word or is having a hard time remembering a word to describe whatever it is she’s talking about lol

21) Okay putting aside the whole deaf situation, Willow reminds me of those chippy, light hearted first world videogame music. Usually in a good mood, happy-go-lucky vibe, etc.

22) Never.

23) As of now no she hasn’t had a phase. Though, I would imagine her having a bit of a rebel phase in her teenage years especially against her parents with how overbearing they can be.

24) Yes, her apologies are always sincere, and most of the time it’s her apologizing for not writing down her sentences fast enough on her notepad for those trying to talk to her.

25) At her age, very likely. It’s the reason why Gyro doesn’t like her around the workshop as much, he just doesn’t want any of his tools or inventions falling on Willow.

26) She doesn’t mind it as long as she’s aware that the other person is going to do it (surprise hugs are a no go).

27) No, she prefers not to sing.

28) Yeah definitely, she’s usually well behaved and rarely leaves her parents’ side at a public location.

29) No, she’d be to scared.

30) When it comes to school projects, she’d rather work by herself. On the few times that she’s unable to (mandatory group projects yay), Willow has to adapt and try to write down her sentences as fast as she can to talk with her classmates, and (depending on the group) it either works or not.

31) She’ll smile but rarely laughs, and even then she holds it back. Not for any real reason, it’s just what she prefers.

31 QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR BLORBOS/OCS YOU ARE LEGALLY OBLIGATED TO ANSWER

you can make it an ask game or just pick and choose questions you want to do or just do everything or just ignore it i dont care QUESTIONS

Yeah nobody's gonna see this. Not gonna stop me from posting.

(important note: the bonus points arent mandatory but you can do them if you want)

i want. to. hear. it. all. i dont care who you are take your ocs or your blorbos and PUT THEM IN 

(but do credit me as the original question asker. probably just reblog)

If your character made a wifi hotspot, what would they name it?

Diurnal or nocturnal?

Do they normally answer “On a scale of 1/10…” questions by actually staying within the 1-10 boundary or by exaggerating everything like “36/10”?

What kind of joke or insult would be too far/too close to home for your character?

Your character must retrieve a slice of ham on a ceiling fan (the ceiling fan is too high for them to reach just standing on their own, and it is spinning). The ham has to be semi intact. Your character cannot use telekinesis. How do they get the ham?

Your character is tasked with consuming half a bottle of toothpaste for 50$. Will they do it?

Whoops, a friend of your character has committed murder! What does the character do? (Bonus points: the victim is another one of the character’s lesser friends.)

Your character abruptly dies during the night and death itself, admiring the character’s hardship, offers the character to go back into their body and have a second chance at life—no strings attached. What do they do?

Your character just drove into a ditch. What now? (Bonus points: they are an Uber Driver, and were transporting a stranger ((or multiple strangers)))

Does your character have a hidden talent/hobby? What is it?

Someone makes rude, passive aggressive/backhanded comments on your character’s friends and shuns them the entire night they all hang out—…but is visibly kinder to your character, trying to impress them. What happens?

Your character works one (1) day of retail. The customers are extra bad on that day. How does it go?

On a scale of 1/10, how menacing does your character think they look? On that same scale, how menacing do they actually look?

Your character watches someone, in public, crouch down and eat a cigarette butt off of the ground. How do they react? (Bonus points: the person notices, picks up another, and offers it to them.)

IF YOUR CHARACTER IS SHORT OR MEDIUM SIZED: Someone taller than them uses them as an armrest. How do they react or feel? (Whether this tall person is a stranger or friend is up to you)

IF YOUR CHARACTER IS TALL: Does your character use smaller characters as armrests? Jokingly or seriously? Only with friends, or with just anyone?

Your character is woken up by a friend at 3AM. The friend says they want to go on this ridiculously long and exhausting hiking trip, “like, right now.” What does your character react with?

Your character gets insulted by someone, and nobody in the group they’re with at that time stands up for them. What do they do?

What is one thing your character will never truly understand? Why?

How often does your character forget words? Do they actually try and find the word, or just make up a whole new word and move on? 

Is there a genre of music that reminds you of your character?

Has your character ruined the way you view anything? What is it? Was it worth it? (You know it was.)

Has your character ever gone through a phase? What was it? (Bonus points: “Its not a phase, guys!”)

When your character apologizes, is it normally sincere? What are they normally apologizing for?

How likely is your character to accidentally hurt themselves when working with a potentially dangerous tool?

How does your character react to platonic physical touch? Handholding, headpats, playing with hair, playful hit on the shoulder, etc.

Is your character a good singer? Do they sing for others?

Can you trust your character to not misbehave if you go with them to a public place like a restaurant, or a store?

Would your character have the guts to bungee jump?

Does your character like to work with others, or work solo? How does the character feel if they have to work in the social setting they don’t like? 

Does your character often smile and laugh, or is that harder to get out of them? Do they laugh when they get nervous or scared or uncomfortable? 

[jojolymes]

𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐎; fifteen

࿔*:･ﾟ  xv.

next: ࿔*:･ﾟ xvi. |  table of contents

IN THE SHORT time of knowing you, Gyro decided that he hated you. Yes, he— Julius Caesar 'Gyro' Zeppeli— hated you with every impalpable fiber of his being. He hated how you would act all tough and mighty around him and Johnny and then grow wimpy in the presence of danger like it wasn't an annoyance. How you would say such idiotic things and Johnny would agree with you instead of him when he was clearly in the right. How you hid your face under a hat twice as large as your head and a ratty old bandana. Simply put, Gyro had come to despise you in the week you had spent together in the desert.

Especially when the next stand user appeared.

"I'm gonna die here!" you screeched while throwing your head into Thunder's mane as Gyro's steel ball spun back into his palm. There you went again, crying and whining when you barely even did anything. Of course, you'd die at this rate— you barely ever used your stand! You cried out once more as (what the enemy stand user referred to as) a "jet" flew straight at you, about to explode right by your face. With a furrowed brow, Gyro shot his steel ball at the jet, making it explode midair. He huffed when you coughed away a ton of smoke, pulling up next to Thunder.

"Good job, idiota! Do you want to get killed?!" Gyro yelled as you wiped the soot off the brim of your hat. "You know that's the last thing I want right now!" you yelled back, looking back over your shoulder at Bennie, a woman you had run into in your trek through the desert. Gyro knew that had he not been so persistent with his flirting that you all probably wouldn't be in this mess but he had no problem blaming it on you. You had been the one that was too stupid to flirt with the cute "tomboy" in front of you. Gyro just had to take the opportunity to get you riled up and flirt with the girl to make you all jealous.

(It wasn't like he was jealous when you started talking to her, no way! If anything he was jealous of you! Who did you think you were talking all cool with that girl? Seriously! He'd think that by now you'd stop wasting his time with your obvious flirting! It was the same back when you stopped in town and flirted with that waitress. You could deny it all you wanted but he knew that you had done it on purpose. And look where that got you! You got beat up and he, Gyro, had to deal with your incompetence. Yeah, sure maybe he was a tad concerned when he say all that bruising on your ribs. Maybe he was angry that he didn't do anything. But that didn't matter anyway because he hated you.)

"Stop fighting! Now's not the time!" shouted Johnny from in front of you and Gyro. Gyro grit his teeth, pointing at you offhandedly as his steel ball spun its way back into its holster. "We're going to die if I need to keep defending him!" Gyro began, as Bennie spat curses at you three from a distance away, "it's always like this! You get all scared and then me and Johnny have to save your ass until you decide you want to use your stand! Why don't you just use it instead of causing all this trouble?!"

Gyro knew he was overreacting, he acknowledged that wholeheartedly along with the fact that he was being aggressive. But in his defense, you did act like that too often and for the sake of this three-person team you all had going, he needed to call it out. What he didn't know (or rather expect) was the way you glared long and hard at him until your stand appeared, its armor shining under the harsh desert sun. "Well, look who decided to join us," Gyro said sarcastically as Johnny shot him a look of warning. That warning, however, was a tad too late when Bennie sent a barrage of jets toward them.

Gyro grimaced but when he went to move, his arms were glued to the reins. "What the-" When he looked up, he could tell you were smirking through that bandana, not caring for the way Johnny was yelling at you to let Gyro use his hands. Not even Johnny was immune to your sudden endangering plans. The jets kept getting closer now, closing in on Gyro only. "Speedwagon! Stop!" Gyro barked as you smiled haphazardly. This was exactly why Gyro couldn't stand you! He couldn't even use spin on any other part of his body to use his steel ball. Gyro, for once in a long time was powerless. Against you.

"Lo giuro su Dio- Speedwagon!"

"Tsk, tsk, Gyro...didn't your mommy ever teach you manners?" you smirked while the little jets grew closer and closer. "Let me go, you prick!" You gave him a look that made Gyro scream internally. God, he was going to make you regret this later! "Please! Let me go, please!" You leaned back in your saddle and tipped your hat coolly. Gyro let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding in, only to take it back when he found you picking at your nails. "Eh, don't feel like it." "What?!" Gyro went wide-eyed as the jets stopped all around him, their little motors buzzing loud in his ears.

"Just kidding," you sighed, waving your hand as Iron Maiden made the jets turn a full 180 degrees back at Bennie. Not even a mere second later, the jets had sped off directly toward Bennie, leaving her out of commission for whenever the medical carts would pass by. You grimaced and then looked back at Gyro who glared at you before trying to move his arms again. "Okay, you proved your point, shithead, now let me go!" He just knew you were smiling under that bandana when your eyes crinkled and you waved your hand to let his hands come free. He might have continued hating you had you not cried when he tackled you off your horse.

The next time he found more reasons to hate you was when you and Johnny had another one of your stupid horse riding lessons.

"Remember, sit up straight and keep your shoulders back," called Johnny from his spot in the middle of the impromptu paddock ring that had been marked by a ragged circle in the dirt. Gyro watched through narrowed eyes as you followed Johnny's instructions without missing a beat, making Johnny give you a half-smile. "This good?" you called, Johnny replying with a nod, "you're doin' great." Gyro scoffed and sipped some coffee he had made moments earlier which was bitter.

"Use your body to tell Thunderstruck what to do," added Johnny while you once again followed every instruction. Gyro was well aware of just how close you and Johnny had become throughout your stay. In fact, it was constantly in his face. Did you get all scared and wimpy? Johnny was over at your side in seconds. Did Johnny feel like shit about himself? You were there to hear every word that poured out of his mouth. Quite frankly, Gyro felt underappreciated. By a lot. Considering Johnny was the one who (quite literally) came crawling for Gyro's help, he felt his new best friend might have been more friend-like and come to him instead of you.

Gyro took another sip of his coffee and swallowed hard, almost throwing up in his mouth. The coffee was so bad that he was too preoccupied with trying to get the foul flavor out of his mouth that he didn't see you hop off Thunderstruck and head for some coffee yourself. "Johnny, don't drink that shit, it's disgusting," Gyro called out while shutting his eyes tight and stomping his foot, the nauseatingly sharp-lemony taste of stale coffee almost impossible to get rid of. "Uh, I'm not Johnny and I don't drink that, but I'll keep it in mind," you began, shuffling towards some nearby shrubbery and picking out a few yellow flowers.

"...are you picking...flowers?" asked Gyro incredulously as you continued picking the flowers by the handfuls, roots and all, not caring when he stood over you and watched. "Yeah, dandelions," you replied simply, walking back over to the small little camp you had set up the night before— you still had some time before you were all set to leave and you seemed to have decided to put it to good work. He followed close behind as you separated the roots from the rest of the flowers, rinsing them in a bit of the water in the waterhole a few feet away. Next, you began to chop them up into small pieces with the pocketknife you had bought back in one of the towns you had all passed through.

"Oh man, he's making it again," Johnny said with a smile, rolling up next to Gyro and shocking him just slightly. "Making what?" Johnny looked up at Gyro with a certain look, nudging his thigh, "you'll see." While Johnny went off to set up for the day ahead, you continued your work, roasting the roots over the remains of the fire. You fanned the fire intermittently until it had started up into a flame once more, letting you turn the roots into charred little versions of themselves. "Hey, Gyro, mind if I use the rest of that water?" you asked, snapping Gyro out of watching you. "Er- no, go ahead," he replied, not caring for the confused glance you spared him.

As you set the water to reheat, you poured the charred roots onto a flat stone, taking out your knife. Gyro was almost entranced as you ground the roots into powder with the flat part of your knife and the handle. Once done, you reached for your back pocket, pulling out a piece of thin fabric. You moved the ground-up roots into the fabric and then shuffled over to the water, letting the powder fall into the water. You then grabbed some salt, oddly enough, and put a pinch of it into the water as well.

It was five minutes that Gyro stood there over your shoulder, waiting and waiting. He didn't notice, or at least didn't point out, the constant looks you were giving him. Sure, it may have been weird of him to be so intrigued with what you were making, but he wouldn't admit that out loud. He already had a list of retorts in the back of his mind had it come down to it. Five minutes couldn't have gone by fast enough and you pulled the pot of water off the fire and onto the sand beside it.

"Johnny, it's done!" you called, making Gyro grimace. He had almost forgotten as to why he had hated you so much. You and your irritating attachment to poor Johnny. "Oh, great," Johnny sighed, holding out his metal mug, "I wasn't sure how much longer I could go without your coffee." C...Coffee? "Huh?! Coffee?! That stuff?! No way!" cried Gyro, making you huff as you poured some of the coffee into Johnny's mug and some into your own. "If you don't want to drink it you don't have to," you murmured after you placed the coffee to the side and took a tentative sip from your mug.

"Wha- No- I want some!" Gyro didn't even hesitate before pulling the cup from your hands and taking a long slurp of his own. You watched with wide eyes and a flushed disposition as Gyro's eyes lit up. Now, he knew he had been dissing you for the longest time but this coffee was so strong and bold that he almost forgot how much he hated you. Maybe he, Julius Caesar 'Gyro' Zeppeli, could put off his hate for you for just the smallest moment. "Gyro...I just drank...from that cup..." you muttered as Gyro stared at the sunrise with a peaceful sigh.

"...that was an indirect kiss."

GYRO TOOK BACK WHAT HE THOUGHT BEFORE.

[la-principessa-della-squadra]

Hi there!! It's so nice to meet another person who's really into linguistics (I studied mostly French and Ancient Greek for my degree, but I love learning about it whenever I can). I've really enjoyed your la squadra where they're from series! I'm in the process of writing for jjba, and I'm wondering if there's any linguistic/cultural specifics to Napoli that you know about? I want to make the Zeppelis as true to life as possible lol

Neapolitan is one of the richest language I've ever heard

Hi there anon! Unfortunately, I'm not an expert on the historical evolution of Neapolitan. I was lucky enough to ask some Neapolitan speakers for a quality check on everything I wrote in my old posts.

However, since Steel Ball Run is set in 1890, I should look out for that specific diatopic and diachronic variation.

I'm going to ask my Sociolinguistic professor if there's some specific online corpus about Naepolitan in 1890, but to be honest I don't think there's such a thing.

What I can do for now is suggesting you a historical and very popular expression that originated in the 1800s and that Gyro would probably know:

"Mannaggia a Bubbà" (also known in the variations 'Mannaggia Bubbà' and 'Mannaggia beabà') is an historical Neapolitan exclamation.

Today this expression is no longer in use.

The literal translation of "Mannaggia a Bubbà" is "Damn you Bubbà" and refers to Bubbà, an infamous man who lived in the Neapolitan slums during the 19th century and was known to be involved in every shady business or situation. If something went wrong back then, people would confidently blame 'Bubbà', certain that he was somehow involved. In popular culture, 'Bubbà' worked as a 'scapegoat' and was cited on every unfavorable occasion.

Another thing I can do is translating one of the most iconic Gyro's line in current Neapolitan:

Gyro:"Rinc 'e ì a fancul, Johnny."

(Tell them to go eat shit, Johnny.)

Johnny: "Tell them yourself."

Gyro: "Ma vafancul strunz! Car ro cavall e spiezzt 'o cul!"

(Eat shit asshole! Fall off your horse and break your neck! )

Here are some books you can check:

"Dialetto Napoletano. Manuale di scrittura e di dizione" by Vitale Giovanni, Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 2009.

"Ortografia della lingua napoletana" by Carro Enzo, Youcanprint, 2017.

[maxwell-grant]

Gyro Zeppeli and Johnny Joestar!

Johnny Joestar:

Johnny is kind of on the lower-end of the scale of my favorite JoJos only really because I find the others more fun and/or actively entertaining and dynamic as protagonists (it takes a bit for Johnny to grow into the role), but Johnny's journey stands very much above the rest in some ways. A uniquely interesting thing about Johnny to me (although Gappy seems to follow suit, haven't finished JJL yet to tell more) is that his is maybe the most introspective journey out of all JoJos. His goals are almost questionably selfish (and his methods unquestionably so sometimes), for the most part he's not actively interested in saving the world or helping others till his ass is on the line, he has no higher dream to change the world for the better unlike Giorno, he wasn't dragged into this like Jotaro or Jolyne (if anything he quite literally dragged himself into this), and he really has nothing and no one for the most part besides Gyro, who is also lonely and for the most part equally selfish.

But, he starts his journey from a fundamentally different place compared to every JoJo before him, not just physically, not just emotionally, not even just in terms of his backstory being significantly darker and more traumatic than the others, but in the sense that he is a complete stranger to us in an even stranger world. Unlike the other JoJos, who were members of a great lineage that stopped evil again and again and who would consistently show themselves to be heroes even at their lowest, we have no frame of reference for what Johnny is like. He doesn't follow a standard set by Jonathan Joestar, he IS Jonathan Joestar. He is the one who’s setting the standard whether he likes it or not.

Rich son of a strict and demanding noble named George Joestar, with a successful brother who overshadows him, a pet named Danny, a beef with an asshole named Dio, a mentor named Zeppeli, and he’s The First JoJo. And everything goes wrong for him. His rich and spoiled tendencies don't get corrected until it's too late, he doesn't grow up to be a physical powerhouse, his father hurts him in ways that actually stick (while not even being that different from the OG George), he doesn't win against Dio not even once, he doesn't power through life's difficulties with unwielding heroic spirit, he practically gets the evil version of that via his "Dark Will". He's physically crippled and plagued by self-loathing and doubt, and his journey is, to the end, about him finding his self-worth.

My favorite thing about Johnny is that his entire journey culminates in him finding a purpose after so much time without one, and this is the real victory he has. He forms a meaningful connection with someone, he finds strength he didn't know he had to save himself and then others, he comes to term with his guilt and has his sins almost literally washed away, and grows up as a person, and the story goes through lengths to emphasize this as what mattered most in the end, and that everything else he obsessed over was secondary or meaningless. This, to me, is the point of High Voltage: following the defeat of Valentine, it's Johnny getting the chance to achieve everything he once thought he wanted, and realizing how futile it all was. He rejoins the race and has a chance of winning it, he has a chance to settle the score with Diego, and his father even comes back with the boots to apologize to him in front of everyone. And none of it matters.

He barely reacts to his father's tearful apology and doesn't spare him a single thought later (and I really, really love that reconciling with his shitty old man was given the attention it deserved). He doesn't beat Dio, not physically nor ideologically (that victory goes to Lucy, the only selfless main character), but he succeeds in doing what the OG Jonathan couldn't: he survives Dio. He doesn't win the race, the race's outcome is so meaningless at this point that it's punctuated by a joke character being the winner. He regains the physical and symbolic use of his legs in highly limited fashion, but the story treats this as an afterthought and something that doesn't weight on his mind at the end, even though it was the whole reason he followed Gyro into the race to begin with. Gyro's dead, he loses both the race and the battle with Dio, he escapes alive by the skin of his teeth, and yet he ends the story almost content, remembering his journey and Gyro's sacrifice, more ready to take on whatever the world may throw at him next. It's very poignant and I find myself thinking back to this a bit.

Gyro Zeppeli:

And that makes the first bingo!

I love Gyro. I love his ridiculous yet cool design and fighting style and stupid grill teeth and dumb songs, I love that he was the protagonist at first and retained just as much claim to it as Johnny for the most part. I love everything about his dynamic with Johnny and between the two, Gyro's the more fun to watch. His last name telegraphs his death a mile away but the path he takes to get there is fascinating.

I do think he's selfish in a similar way to Johnny is, they're both cowboys after all and commenting on that kind of Western cowboy morality is part of what Araki's doing with SBR. I never felt like Gyro’s quest to save Marco was really that much about the kid, so much as being a test against his fundamental decency (even limited as it may be) and the kick he needed to finally prove his father wrong. His and Johnny's path cross and balance each other, as Johnny starts to build up confidence and power as Gyro keeps losing stage after stage plagued by self-doubt and guilt and needs wake-up calls like Ringo Roadagain to give him focus. It's why I think Marco dying, as pointless and cruel as a kick to the teeth it may be, still kinda works, because much like Johnny, Gyro fails at everything he nominally set out to achieve, but he wins the victory that matters: he finds himself and proves himself better than his father. He leads Johnny by example and meets his fate with bravery. Gyro's terrific, definitely one of the most entertaining protagonists to watch I've ever seen.

Also holy shit does Araki find ways to draw him pretty in the covers, he's such a complete clown of a dude sometimes and you'd hardly know it going just by how he's depicted in the covers, it's a really really excellent contrast.

[ladykailolu]

How would you describe Gyro Zeppeli’s eyes? Personally, I think they are droopy and downturned, in that they consistently appear to be slanted. Here’s a little diagram showing the basic shape of “droopy downturned” eyes:

I was also seriously considering that he has hooded eyes too, so altogether he would have “droopy, downturned, hooded” eyes. It appears to me that his eyes are drawn a little narrower than Johnny’s. Here’s a few references that I’ve been looking at:

Do you see in this one that the shape of his visible eyeballs is a triangle placed on its side?? And how his brow seemingly takes a slightly curved shape. I’ll find another reference:

You can *kind* see it here too--look at how his eyelid curves underneath the end of his eyebrow. It’s that curve shape that makes me think his eyes are downturned and a little droopy. The curviness of his brow at this point also makes me think of hooded eyes, in which part of the brow extends a bit and covers the appearance of the eye. I have some more reference pictures:

You may also see it in the panel to the right, but tbh, it’s not a very big and clear picture.

I think this is the best picture, hands-down. You see the shape of his visible eye? It’s loosely like a triangle on its side, in my opinion. Also, the eyes appear to be slanted, as if they’re like /_\ but just slightly. And here you have see how his brow kind curves at the farthest point of his right eye! So....it makes me think that his eyes could be hooded a little and slightly downturned. Have some more reference pictures:

Then I looked at real-world images of people with either hooded or downward droopy eyes. Here are hooded eyes:

And here are downward droopy eyes:

Or maybe I’m just completely wrong and hallucinating lmao

Yes, I just spent time googling over Gyro’s eyes and realizing the very true fact that he is a wonderfully beautiful man instead of doing my homework lmao

[duhragonball]

Battle Tendency Liveblog JJBA Ch.48-52

This is the “Joseph vs. Straizo” arc, so I’ll just lead off with one of my favorite moments from the entire JoJo franchise, when Joseph furiously declares war on Straizo with tears in his eyes.   In the anime, voice actor Tomokazu Sugita delivered this with such intensity that it actually overshadowed the machine gun.

None of the dubs or translations can do it justice, including this panel from the JoJo’s Colored Adventure scanlation project.   This is a faithful translation of Joseph’s line, as far as I can tell, except they always leave off the last part: “宣戦布告だぜ!!”  In romanji, that’s: “Sensen fukokuda ze!!”    And it means  “This is war!!”  

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Last time, we saw the Joestars treating their new friend Smokey Brown, to dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant.   Some mafia jerk caused trouble, Joseph whooped his ass, and then a second mafia guy apologized and shared a rumor he recently heard: Robert Speedwagon was found dead in a Mexican riverbed, apparently killed by a Tibetan monk.  

From there, we see that Joseph immediately realizes that this must have been Straizo, and Erina suspects that it must have something to do with the Stone Masks and the battle with Dio fifty years ago.   Smokey warns Joseph to consider the source, but Joseph is pretty sure it’s credible information, since mafia guys are all about money.   I’m not sure what that has to do with whether he’s telling the truth, though.   Either way, Joseph slugs the guy for just blurting out such terrible news in front of Granny Erina.  

Now, at this point, Joseph and Erina are making all these Phantom Blood references, and Smokey has no idea what they’re talking about.   And I think seeing this panel helped me understand Smokey’s role as a viewpoint character.  When the Part began, it seemed like Smokey was sort of the narrator for the thing, which works because he’s a good viewpoint character, and he seemed to be settling in as a sidekick like Speedwagon and Poco in Part 1.   But shortly after this he just vanishes from Battle Tendency altogether, and then he shows up at the end like it’s no big deal.   I never quite understood that, and I think this is the sort of thing that fuels the “Araki forgot” memes, but it actually makes a lot of sense.  

See, Smokey’s primary function is to be the viewpoint character, specifically for the readers who missed out on Phantom Blood.    BT is a direct continuation of the previous part, in a way that none of the other JoJo parts are.   Most of the main BT cast was deeply affected by what happened in Part 1.   A few of them lived through it, and the ones that didn’t have personal connections to it.    So they constantly talk about Stone Masks and Dio without really stopping to explain any of it.   Well, if you don’t know what they’re talking about, you can take heart in the fact that Smokey doesn’t know either.   So as long as he can keep up with the story, so can the uninitiated readers.  For now, all that matters is that he’s impressed by the Joestars’ great kindness, and he’s intrigued and disturbed by these hints of a tragic past in their family.  

And eventually, Smokey learns just what happened to the Joestar Family, or at least everything that the reader needs to know to follow Part 2.   But that doesn’t happen until near the end, which is why he shows up to hear the secrets revealed.   But for most of the story, he steps aside, because that’s mostly about Joseph dealing with events in the here and now, so Joseph can act as his own viewpoint character.  

But is Speedwagon truly dead?   The story flashes back to the previous night, after Straizo killed his own disciples and clobbered Speedwagon.   They’re in this temple where Speedwagon discovered more Stone Masks, like the one Dio used, but Speedwagon also discovered an immortal man petrified in a stone column.    Straizo was enlisted to destroy this “Pillar Man” with his Hamon power, but instead he wants to use one of the Stone Masks to turn himself into a vampire.  

Before he does this, he reads Speedy’s translations of the writing on the walls of the temple.    The ancient Aztec cultists who built it said that the Pillar Man was immortal and had many powers, but he was vulnerable to the sun, just like the vampires from Part 1.   But the writings warn that the Pillar Man created the Stone Masks because of this weakness, and one day, “when he befriends the sun, the world will be his.”  That doesn’t seem to follow, since the only thing the Stone Masks seem to be able to do is make new vampires, who are just as vulnerable to sunlight as the Pillar Man.   

Anyway, Straizo doesn’t seem to care.   He just doesn’t want to die of old age, and he’s become disillusioned with the Hamon power he has, so he’s turning heel and going full goth on us.   To avoid Dio’s mistakes, he plans to eliminate any witnesses, including Joseph and Erina.  Then he’ll go into hiding and figure out a long term plan, with the rest of the world unaware of his existence. 

You know, now that I write that out, I’m amazed by how similar that plan is to what Dio ends up doing in Part 3.   In Part 1, he set about turning a whole town into zombies, and planning to unleash them on the world without any real agenda.    But in Part 3 he eventually holed up in a swank mansion in Cairo and took great pains to stay hidden while he acquired more power.   Parts 5 and 8 carry that same idea even further, with villains who go to great lengths to cover up their very existence.   

At any rate, we only see Speedwagon pass out in this scene, so it’s unclear whether he actually dies or not.   Really, using Speedwagon in this way is a pretty smart play.   He’s an old man, and he was never going to survive another 50-year time-skip into the next part, so it’s safe to assume that Part 2 is his swan song.   But how will he die, and when?   It could be at the very start, or maybe somewhere in the middle.  

Anyway, Straizo just walks up to a cafe in New York to confront Joseph, and Joseph whips out a machine gun and shoots his ass.   This whole time, Straizo had assumed that the untrained grandson of Jonathan Joestar would be easy pickings, but Joseph’s a lot more skilled with Hamon than he expected, and he’s tricky too. 

As Joseph fires on Straizo, he recalls how worried Erina was about all this.   The story kind of glosses over it, but Joseph seems to have worked out Straizo’s entire plan.   I guess that’s not much of a stretch.   He and Speedwagon were together with a temple full of Stone Masks, and then Straizo turned on Speedwagon.    Why else would he do that, unless he used the Stone Mask to turn into a vampire like Dio did?   And once you arrive at that conclusion, it isn’t hard to figure out what Straizo’s next move would be.    And that’s how Joseph was so prepared for this.    After the shooting stops, Smokey freaks out about Joseph murdering a dude, but Joseph was expecting a vampire the whole time. 

I also like Joseph’s line in the flashback.   Erina isn’t worried for herself, but for Joseph, because it looks like he’s being pulled into this same tragic fate as the rest of the family.   But Joseph resolves to face this head on.    “If this is my fate, then I accept it.”  Pretty sure Will Zeppeli said the same thing when he discovered that he would die saving Jonathan.  

There’s similar “call-to-adventure” moments in the other parts.   Jonathan has his when he accepts Zeppeli’s offer to train him to battle Dio again.  Jotaro has his when he defeats and saves Kakyoin, then learns what’ll happen to his mother if he doesn’t go.   Josuke has his when Angelo shows up and he has to avenge his grandfather.   Giorno kind of always had a hankering to take on Passione, but I think things got serious once he had a choice between killing or sparing Bruno.  There could be no turning back from that point.  For Jolyne, it was the moment she had a clear path to escape the prison but decided to go back in because that was where her enemy was.    For Johnny, it was that one battle where he chose to crawl towards the danger to save Gyro instead of withdrawing to safety.   For Gappy... I’d have to study that a bit.   

But for Joseph Joestar, it’s this moment.  Erina never sent Joseph to learn the Ripple from the Hamon monastary, and she seems to have taken great pains to keep him out of trouble, but now trouble has come to them, and Joseph isn’t about to back down.   

So yeah, bullets don’t actually kill vampires, but Joseph was hoping to destroy his head with some of those shots, or at least slow Straizo down long enough to finish him off.   Instead Straizo reveals that he has the power to shoot high pressure fluid from his eyes, the same move Dio used to kill Jonathan at the end of Part 1.   He calls this “Space Ripper Stingy Eyes” which is either stupid or brilliant depending on your mood, I guess.   He used it to protect his head from the machine gun fire, and then he uses it again to shoot Joseph... except he hits Joseph’s reflection in a nearby mirror, and I guess he didn’t notice the real thing standing behind him.

What makes this fight so awesome is that these two are determined to kill each other, and they each have extremely simple moves to defeat one another, but they have all these tricks and schemes to protect themselves.   Joseph manages to hit Straizo with Hamon, but it does nothing... because Straizo was a Hamon master before turning into a vampire.   He can’t use the Ripple without destroying himself now, but he still knows how to defend against it.   For instance, he’s got this scarf woven from dead bugs, because it conducts Hamon energy far more effectively than his own body.    So it just absorbs Joseph’s attacks and disperses the energy harmlessly away.   

Does it really have to be made of dead bugs?   I feel like Tonpetti just told him that as a prank.   “No, really (snort!) the only thing that works is dead bugs.  (tee-hee!)   It smells awful but you have to wear it (ha!).”

But Joseph has his own tricks, like... putting a dozen grenades on his opponent’s back when he isn’t looking!  Seriously, there was zero opportunity for him to do this.    One moment he steps over Straizo’s body to see if he’s still alive, and the next moment he supposedly planted all these things on his scarf.   I get that he could pull a string connected to the pin without being noticed, but that’s the only part that makes sense about this.   It’s still awesome, though.   If Jonathan had access to explosives, Part 1 would have been a lot shorter.  

I really think this was the battle that set the tone for Stand Battles in later Parts.   Araki loves these off-panel tricks in combat, and they’re a lot easier to explain when all of your characters have magic super powers.   If Joseph had Hermit Purple in this fight, there’d be no problem at all.   He could just use Hermit Purple to snake through the ventilation shafts and hook up all the grenades.   In fact, it’s tempting to suggest that Joseph was unconsciously using Hermit Purple throughout Part 2, but I don’t want to get into that right now.

Anyway, explosions don’t stop vampires any more than machine gun fire.   Straizo’s body is in pieces, but the pieces just slither back together and regenerate.   Wait, wouldn’t his head have been vaporized in that blast?   Also, Straizo spends the rest of this battle in the nude, so we know that stupid scarf is out of the equation.   Why didn’t Joseph just go back in the cafe and finish Straizo off while he was still in pieces?

Again, it’s easy to say “lol Araki forgot”, but I think it’s a lot more sensible to suggest that Joseph forgot.   As clever as he is, he went in with the Ripple, a machine gun, and a dozen grenades, and Straizo had an answer to all three.   He doesn’t want to press the attack because he’s out of tricks.   All he’s got left is another Hamon attack, which means Straizo will see it coming.   Or he’s still worried about the scarf, and hasn’t realized that it’s gone now.    In any event, he’s running away, creating some distance before Straizo can make his next move.

Also, there’s a lot of bystanders gathering around, so it makes sense to take the fight elsewhere.   Some guy named “Bruty” tries to stop Joseph to impress his girlfriend, but that backfires spectacularly.  Was Bruty in the anime?  I feel like he wasn’t, but I don’t want to check. 

The one I do remember is this girl photographer.   Spider-Man hadn’t been invented yet, so in those days photographers just sort of wandered around with their camera, waiting for Spidey to debut.   This exploding vampire diner is the best she could do in 1938.  

I just really like this lady.   There’s a spark in her eye and I just assumed she would end up being Joseph’s love interest by the end of the story.    Well, we’ll get to that.  

Instead, she’s a hostage.  Joseph and Smokey run to the Brooklyn Bridge?   I guess?   It’s a bridge, I’m sure of that much.   Anyway, Straizo catches this lady and takes her with him to intercept them.   He threatens to kill her unless Joseph faces him again.   But Straizo offers to spare Joseph and never trouble him again if Joseph runs away.   This is because Straizo figures that if Joseph chickens out now, then he’ll never be a threat to Straizo in the future, no matter how powerful his Hamon abilities become. 

Joseph tries to call his bluff, but then Straizo rips out one of the girl’s teeth to prove he means business, and Joseph gets furious all over again.  I don’t think he was ever planning to abandon this fight, but he was probably hoping to get Straizo to give up his hostage at least.   Now he’s just pissed, and Straizo is impressed.  Joseph tries to act cool, but he just can’t hide his passionate feelings.    This is in stark contrast to Jotaro, who wagered his own soul in a poker game and bluffed his way to victory. 

So Straizo tries again with the Space Ripper Stingy Eyes, but this time Joseph blocks it with two shot glasses charged with Hamon power, and then he lands the decisive blow.   But before Straizo dies, Joseph demands to know why Straizo dumped Speedwagon and the others in the river.   Not only does Joseph want to give him a proper burial, but he doesn’t understand why Straizo would have dumped them in the river, since that was how Joseph knew to expect him.  

Wait, I thought Straizo wanted Joseph to know he was coming.   Oh well.

Anyway, Straizo explains that he had to do it, because the Pillar Man was absorbing the blood from his victims.   Straizo was worried that the Pillar Man might awaken, so he put them in the river instead to be safe.    Nevertheless, he suspects that the Pillar Man will reawaken eventually anyway, and Straizo now realizes that it will be Joseph’s destiny to face him some day.    Then Straizo just uses the Ripple one last time, and self-destructs. 

It always seemed strange to me that Straizo saw the danger of the Pillar Man and just left things the way they were.   Maybe he planned to deal with him later, or maybe he just didn’t know or care about it until Joseph defeated him, and he felt a moral obligation to warn someone. 

I guess he could have destroyed the Pillar Man like Speedwagon wanted him to do in the first place, but it seems like Straizo didn’t realize that blood would wake him up until after he was already a vampire, and unable to use the Ripple.  For that matter, it remains to be seen if Hamon will work on Pillar Men.   

Anyway, what else is going on?   Oh, yeah, Europe is getting closer and closer to World War II.   The official start of the war is usually considered to be September 1, 1939, but Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935, and Japan invaded China in 1937, and Germany annexed Austria and conquered Czechoslovakia in 1938, the year Battle Tendency is set.  So we’re in this weird time period where there’s Nazis in the story, and the British-American protagonist doesn’t care for them, but isn’t trying to kill them on sight.   I’ll be coming back to this topic later on. 

I think the main reason for including Nazi Germany in this story was to draw parallels between their goals and those of the fictional villains.    The Nazis believed themselves to be the “Master Race”, the most “evolved” people, and this made them worthy to rule the world.   Araki notes that they turned to all sorts of sci-fi/occult/fantasy stuff in their war.   Similarly, you have villains like Dio and Straizo turning to mysterious Stone Masks for spooky powers, and then you have the Pillar Man himself, who apparently sought the means to “befriend the sun” and rule over the world.    So the Nazis fit into this theme of trying to claim some sort of supremacy over other beings.  

But what’s their role in this story?   Well, the Germans have an “information base” in Mexico, run by a guy named Stroheim.   He makes pretty ladies shave him with a straight razor, and if he gets a nick he makes them lick the blood off, and then he threatens to cut off their tongues.   Also, he trained his dog to not eat treats until given permission. He’s a sick fuck, is my point. 

Wait, no, my point was that his staff discovered the bodies that Straizo dumped in the river, including Speedwagon, who’s still alive, somehow.      I guess Straizo was going to finish him off but he got in a hurry when he saw the Pillar Man absorbing the blood from the others.  Not sure how Speedwagon survived that ordeal, but Stroheim’s men have been taking care of him this whole time, and he was unconscious until recently, so it might have been touch-and-go for a while. 

            Back in New York, Joseph doesn’t know what this is all about, but he decides to go to Mexico himself to get to the bottom of it...

[noaltbruh]

I posted 55 times in 2021

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#jojo's bizzare adventure vento aureo

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

What your favorite Jojo character says about you! (Part 1-2-3)

PART 1

Jonathan: You take part skipping even more seriously than the average fan

Dio Brando: You secretly wish everyone didn't s**t on the "Kono Dio da!" memes

Will. Antonio Zeppeli: While you also like Caesar and Gyro, you wish he didn't get outshined by them all the time

Erina: Your respect for her increased A LOT after what she did when Dio kissed her

Speedwagon: You came and are still staying in this fandom for the memes

PART 2

Joseph: you constantly flex on whoever disagrees with you how he lived longer than pretty much anyone else in the show

Caesar: you thought his death scene was bad, until you understood the lyrics of "Il mare eterno nella mia anima", and then felt even worse

Stroheim: You constantly try to explain how liking his character DOESN'T make you a bad person

Santana: You're sick of people letting him out of every Pillar men fanart

Esidisi: You think that the scene where he cried was simply hilarious

Wamuu: You genuinely felt sadder when he died than when an actual hero did

Kars: You wish we got to see more of his special form, instead of getting thrown into space 15 minutes after achieving perfection

Lisa Lisa: You wish she was the one to fight against Kars

Susie Q: you respect her for dealing with Joseph's s**t for more than 60 years

PART 3

Jotaro: You either love him for his development in the other parts...Or you just like the "Ora ora" and "Yare yare" catchphrases

Kakyoin: You're tired of the donuts jokes

Avdul: You got exited af when he came back...And then you almost threw everything out of the window when he died again

Polnareff: You wish people actually focused on what an horrible life he had, instead of giving all the attention to Jotaro and Kakyoin

Iggy: You knew from the beginning he was going to die, but you still got attached to him

DIO: You don't care if everyone thinks you're lame

160 notes • Posted 2021-03-13 23:04:36 GMT

#4

197 notes • Posted 2021-07-18 20:11:35 GMT

#3

"I'm listening"

"I'm not"

231 notes • Posted 2021-08-03 21:15:22 GMT

#2

Bucci gang and their ideal types!

I know this has been done plenty of times before, but I want to give my own interpretation, enjoy ✨

Giorno 🐞

Giorno isn't that sort of person that considers romance one of his top priorities, let alone an idealistic partner. If he really had to give an opinion on the matter, this boy would like someone quite feminine and well mannered

When I say 'feminine', I'm not referring to a person like Trish, who loves going shopping and wearing fancy dresses and jewelry. Rather the old fashioned type of femininity

Being part of the mafia, he often feels in conflict with his 'Jonathan side'; he lives in fear of becoming like the very one person he swore to destroy: Diavolo. This means that nothing would make him happier than having a sweet partner who loves and constantly looks after him, that accepts him for who he is and that is always ready to put his mind at ease with soft words and genuine gestures of affection

He'd want someone that isn't afraid of showing how much they love him. As he's quite close-up with his feeling, he'd rather if his darling could make up for that part of affection he'd hesitate to show at first

Don't get the wrong idea, he still has a facade to maintain, so he doesn't want someone who constantly clings to him, even in relatively serious circumstances.

They don't have to be an overly energetic bundle of sunshine, but someone sensitive, that also knows when it's not the time to joke around. However, he'd be okay with small demonstrations of romance in public, like holding hands.

Speaking of which, Giorno would also like a partner that values the little things in life, like going for a long walk or enjoying a nice treat. He's the Don and all, but he isn't much into luxury per se; having a very materialistic partner wouldn't exactly be his cup of tea.

I know that it sounds kind of...Wrong, but because of his Dio side, I feel like he'd really like a submissive partner. When he's done with work, he's already mentally destroyed, if his darling were to second pretty much anything he said...Well, that would surely be a weight off his shoulders

He doesn't want someone that seems to have no motivation in what they do, but that burns with passion for what they love. It could be anything, really...An hobby, a career, a small task...He would completely fall for a person that gives everything they have for something they care about.

Since he has serious problems acknowledging his feelings and emotions, an empathetic S/O would be perfect for him. He needs his partner to be able to understand him without him saying anything, which is no easy job, since he's not very...Expressive either. Even if they can't make out what's causing him to be down, or if they're not good with words, just knowing that they would try their best to cheer him up would be enough for him.

Needless to say, a S/O that hates nature would never work in a relationship with Giorno. It's ok if they're not super into it, just having a pet they're attached to, or loving a specific type of flower would be enough for him. Also, if they're willing to learn more about it, that's ok for him too! Heck, it could even be better this way: when nature is involved, he just can't contain his excitement. It'd be one of the very few times where he would let you see his soft side.

The best way for his lover to strike his heart, is to listen carefully when he finally opens up to you. Doing that would first take a lot of reflection from his side, so if you've already managed to arrive at the point where he would CONSIDER it... You're one lucky person.

However, that would be the final proof. If that special somebody still remains by his side after hearing his past, his doubts, and insecurities (which are way more than you could guess at first), then the golden boy will finally be sure that he's found the right one.

Bruno 🤐

While he tends to put love aside to focus on his job, Bruno deeply wishes to find a person he can connect and create a strong bond with.

He's a natural born parent, and he wants someone who shares his desire to form a family together. If you despise, or even just don't care about children, well... That's surely not a point in your favor.

Similar to Giorno, Bruno doesn't want an overactive partner, rather somebody calm and collected, responsible and mature. He already takes care of enough kids, he can't make sure that his darling doesn't do anything reckless as well.

He wouldn't mind having a reserved boyfriend/girlfriend. Bucciarati is very good with people, and I headcanon him as a super curious person, so he would love to take his time to get to know his partner.

Bruno would like a S/O that is good with words. Since he often questions his own morals and decisions, he needs someone to motivate and remind him that, despite everything, he's still a wonderful person that wants to do anything he can to help others.

Speaking of which, he would never tolerate a selfish partner. The latter has to show respect and kindness towards the 'commoners', especially old people. Putting themselves before anyone else would make him despise you

This one is a bit quirky...But he would adore if his partner shared his love for the sea. The two of you could go sailing with his boat, admire the sunset and just relax together on the beach. Plus, he's particularly attached to that place because it reminds him of his parents, it would feel like continuing a family tradition.

He'd rather if his girlfriend/boyfriend wasn't part of Passione. He wants to drag as few people as possible in that business, and he knows that it would put darling's life constantly at risk

He wouldn't mind if they decided to be an housewife full time. He already makes enough money with his job to support the entire family, and since he would be very busy, it'd be perfect if his partner could take care of the housework. Don't get the wrong idea though: he would NEVER leave everything to you, and he'd try to help you as much as he can. Plus, if you want to pursue a career, he wouldn't even think about stopping you.

Mista 🔫

You wanna become Mista's partner? Just be hot Imao.

Ok ok, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but I think that you got the point. The fastest way to get his attention is to... Well...Be physically attractive. What can I say? He's a simple guy, we all have our own priorities in life.

Unlike Giorno and Bruno, Mista often thinks about being in a relationship, but remember that this dude is still just 18. He wants to have fun and chill with his partner, not something super serious and deep (at least...Not for now).

See the full post

300 notes • Posted 2021-07-26 23:36:52 GMT

#1

Bucci gang and PDA! ❤️🙌

Giorno 🐞

At first, even around his partner, Giorno will be very reluctant to show physical affection.

Don't get the wrong idea, it doesn't disgust him or anything like that, he's... Afraid of it.

I'm not talking solely about 'intimate' contact, just being touched by someone he's not very familiar with makes him uncomfortable. It brings back some...Not so happy memories about his father's abuse.

Even though he knows you're not going to hurt him, he can't help but retract himself a little. Or alternatively, his body language will speak for him.

In addiction to this, the facade he has to maintain as the Don doesn't allow either of you to be particularly affectionate in public.

You'll have to be a bit patient with him, but I promise it's worth it.

In fact, once he starts to feel truly comfortable around you, he'll take any opportunity he has to fill you with all the love you could possibly ask for.

This boy is touch-starved. Physical contact that doesn't involve him getting brutally beaten up? He thought it was a fantasy.

You'll have to be the one to make the first move, and he'll pay you back by showing you twice as much affection.

You kiss him, and one second later, your entire face is filled with soft kisses.

He loves to hug you from behind, slowly wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his head on your shoulder, most likely placing another kiss on your neck.

Also, he adores taking care of your hair. Judging from his...Ahem...Quite original haircut, it's safe to say that he spends a lot of time fixing it, he wants to do the same with yours! Since he prefers not to let anyone touch his, the feeling of brushing it your soft H/C locks seems so intimate and personal.

In public, he'll still have to limit himself, but expect small gestures like holding hands, or occasional head pats.

If you're particular tired, he'll princess-carry you to your bed. It doesn't matter if it gets you flustered, he won't put you down, don't try to argue with him.

On the other hand, if he is the tired one (which will definitely be the case from time to time, since he has a tendency to overwork himself), there's an high chance that he will fall asleep on your shoulder without even noticing.

You wouldn't dare to wake up, this poor boy is exhausted, he needs to rest. You will most likely use your stand to wrap the two of you in a blanket, as you slowly fall asleep as well.

Bruno 🤐

Bucciarati will be way more willing than Giorno to show physical intimacy. He's quite the romantic type, and if his partner is a bit more closed up, he'll have no problem taking the initiative, he might actually prefer it this way!

When he gets back from work, he's usually very tired, some comfort from his S/O is just what he needs.

Expect a cuddle session with him pretty much every night before going to bed. He loves to hold you close to him like you were his baby, he just has that natural parent instinct even towards his partner.

If you're busy, however, he'll respect your space, and he'll quietly sit next to you, caressing your back. It's a simple act, but you find it very comforting and it makes your work way more bearable.

Also, forehead kisses are a must for him.

He might get a bit more...Flirty from time to time, so he could take a little more freedom in the way he shows you affection.

Which may or may not include him licking your neck, if he's feeling horny that day.

Dude is 20, guys, cut him some slack.

But remember that most of this takes place ONLY when the two of you are alone, Bucciarati is still a Capo, and he can't afford to look too vulnerable around others.

Similar to Giorno, he will never let go of your hand and he might kiss you in the right circumstances. On rarer occasions, he'll be okay with walking arm in arm with you.

If he's with the gang, however, he won't hesitate to be a bit more tender, especially since some members of the team may flirt with you a little without even noticing.

See the full post

449 notes • Posted 2021-08-14 23:19:51 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[oplishin]

Gyro’s death is STILL kicking me in the teeth but there’s no way I can explain it to anyone without sounding like a crazy person: “Gyro Zeppeli, the Italian cowboy with a funny hat tries to kill the president, Funny Valentine, with one of his steel balls, but it doesn’t work because the ball spun wrong, so Gyro falls off his horse and dies. Then his friend Johnny, the paraplegic cowboy hits his own horse with a spinning steel ball to use as a reference so he can shoot the president with his own nails and make HIM spin and trap him in an infinite death loop.” 

[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...

[nolvini]

i want to get into jojo, but i dont know where to start lol, do you think you could summarize it:?

ok ok so despite what people say, my friend gave me a flash drive with all of part 3 (stardust crusaders) on it, and after that i watched 4 and 5 and then went back to 1 and 2 and god i’m terrible at explaining but I’ll try my best lol

Anyways tbh,,, each part can be watched on their own since they all have a different protagonist and plot/setting. I don’t recommend watching it completly out of order (like 4->2->5->etc) but recurring characters from other parts are present so you may not fully understand their importance at first.

SO it’s very long like not as long as homestuck but maybe a tier or two below so I’m going to go over the main aspects of each parts below with a copied-pasted summary from the wiki in italics and a better understanding underneath:

Warnings: gore heavy, sexual assault, I’ll add more as I think about it (i’m sorry it’s almost 1am here)

Some good ol’ vocab

Hamon/Ripple: a technique used in the early parts of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Through the use of controlled breathing, the user can fill their body and attacks with sunlight energy, making it very effective against Vampires, Zombies, and Pillar Men.

Stands:  a visual manifestation of life energy, unique to the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series. It generally presents itself as a figure hovering over or near the user and possesses abilities beyond that of an ordinary human, which, depending on the Stand User, can be wielded for good or evil.

Part One: Phantom Blood (9 episodes)

In 19th-century England, a youth named Dio Brando is adopted by the wealthy George Joestar to repay Dio's father for seemingly saving his life. Jonathan Joestar, who aspires to become a gentleman, finds himself shunned by his family and friends as part of Dio's plot to take the Joestar fortune for himself.

This is the beginning of JJBA. Each protagonist of each part is nicknamed “JoJo” (i.e. Jonathan Joestar), so like it’s the protag’s bizarre adventure, and they are super weird!!!

Anyways Dio is Jonathan’s adoptive brother, and he’s like just pure evil and is the antithesis of Jonathan and later he becomes a vampire. Jonathan meets a man who teaches him Hamon/Ripple which he tries to use against Dio.

Part Two: Battle Tendency (17 episodes)

Taking place in 1938-39, the story follows the misadventures of Joseph Joestar (a.k.a. JoJo), grandson of Jonathan, as he masters his innate Ripple abilities in order to combat hostile, ancient super-beings named the Pillar Men, creators of the Stone Mask that plot to become the ultimate lifeforms.

Joseph is Jonathan’s grandson, so this shows that this series follows the JoJo bloodline (so like descendants of Jonathan) and their misadventures. But yeah like the summary above states, Joseph also learns Hamon/Ripple (it’s the same thing idk why it has two names).

Part Three: Stardust Crusaders (48 episodes)

Jotaro Kujo and his friends as they journey from Tokyo to Cairo to save his mother's life by defeating his family's resurrected archenemy, DIO.

OK the concept of Hamon/Ripple here is just, completly removed lmao and in my opinion i think it’s better. Hamon is replaced with Stands, which many characters have. Jotaro Kujo is Joseph’s grandson, so again, follows the bloodline. HEY I LOVE THIS PART!!!! The majority of the story takes place in south Asia, the Middle East, and Egypt which is great bc i’m brown and it’s nice to see some rep in anime even if it’s not the main focus lol ANYWAYS sorry for the tangent just if anything I recommend starting with Stardust Crusaders since Jotaro is kind of the mascot of JJBA, but of course up to you

Part Four: Diamond is Unbreakable (39 episodes)

Takes place in the summer of 1999 in Morioh, a midsized japanese town. Jotaro Kujo has come to visit for two reasons. One, to meet Josuke Higashikata, Joseph Joestar's illegitimate son. And two, to find a serial killer, and figure out how he got a stand.

Parts 4-6 explore the Stand concept in depth, where they came from, why certain people get a stand while others don’t, etc. while also havinf their own plots aside from that. Part 4 is more slice of life-ish but of course still has it’s fair share of gore and sadness, but compared to others I personally think it has a more uplifting endings than the other parts which is great bc Josuke deserves the world

Part Five: Vento Aureo aka Golden Wind (39 episodes)

Set in 2001 Italy, the story follows Giorno Giovanna and his dream to rise within the Neapolitan mafia and defeat the boss of Passione, the most powerful and influential gang, in order to become a "Gang-Star". With the aid of a capo and his men, and fueled by his own resolve, Giorno sets out to fulfill his goal of absolving the mafia of its corruption.

This is the season that just ended (summer 2019). Giorno is actually Dio’s son, but is still considered to be part of the JoJo bloodline because of.... spoilers. ANYWAYS this is kind of where jjba becomes more “feminine” in lack of a better word; with its floral/art imagery and Giorno not being as masculine as the other parts’ protagonists. Anyways i cried.

Part Six: Stone Ocean

In 2011, Florida; Jolyne Cujoh, daughter of Jotaro, is wrongfully accused of a crime she didn't commit and sent to a maximum security prison. While imprisoned, she struggles within a longstanding plot agreed between dead villain DIO and ideologue Enrico Pucci.

Here is our very first female jojo (wow gif) but let me tell you all the female characters in this part are so badass and powerful in their own ways it’s just... wrow. This part isn’t animated yet but hopefully will be bc I need to see Jolyne or else I will die.

Part Seven: Steel Ball Run 

Set in the U.S. in 1890, the story follows Johnny Joestar, a paraplegic ex-jockey, and Gyro Zeppeli, master in a mystic art named the Spin, as they compete with a vast number of others in the Steel Ball Run race: a mad-dash across America for a grand prize of 50 million dollars.

Steel Ball Run describes a new continuity apart from that detailed in Part 1-6 of the series. On top of core features to JoJo such as Stands, the story is marked by many references to the original series.

Legit I just finished reading this in the last week and it is a fan favorite. I’m still processing everything that happened honestly kjsdhfsjkdhfj but yes it’s good 9/10 imo. Anyways this is on a different timeline from parts 1-6 because of the events that happened in Stone Ocean.

Part Eight: JoJolion

The story begins in 2011 and follows Josuke Higashikata, a young man afflicted by retrograde amnesia, in his search to uncover his identity in Morioh Town, a coastal Japanese town affected by the Tohoku earthquakeW. However, his digging pulls him and his adoptive family into the unfinished business between his previous life and an impending inhuman threat.

I haven’t read this part yet but i will, but know that this part is in the same timeline as Steel Ball Run.

OK THANK U FOR READING i didn’t do any of my hw and I’m going to sleep now but I hope this helps!!! IM SO SORRY IF THIS IS MORE THAN YOU WANTED I’m just extra and hopefully this can be summed up in a better way but yeah: that’s jojo’s bizarre adventure in a nutshell.

[sour-badger]

Art style challenge: reflection

So, during this very challenging months and 3-4 weeks of social distancing I was stuck. Drawing became boring and I was in state of stale purgatory and it was annoying me. However, my sate of monotony came to a halt whenever I watch “Cheer Up!”, a show/DnD campaign created by Wrapped Lamp that was set in the world of JoJo, but in a bleak setting. It's wonderful, and the characters are brilliant. (This a link of the first episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVF6ShkYqU0 )

As I was watching the show I decided to challenge myself, I have never drawn in Hirohiko Araki’s style before. I have never tried to draw like that because it is a simple but complex approach to illustration that is very hard to draw, let alone replicate, but I tried and I proud of the results. So because of this I set myself some rules:

1. The illustrations must be based on the player/character icons in “Cheer Up”

2. They must look like protagonists that could be in the anime but are not copies of existing Jojo characters. (Because that's cheating)

3. Each illustration must be done within 3 days. (A personal thing for me, I get bored of drawing the same illustration for more than 3 days, if you want try this you don't have to follow this rule)

With these rules, Photoshop and google images by my side I was ready. And this is how it went!

 (I am putting each reference of every character in groups of eyes, face, hair and body because I had to to a lot of research for this style, I have put the main influencers down there were more but are not important)

My process 

At the start of all my attempts I create a beginning sketch of original icons. I am going in blind so doing this shows me how they created it without tracing it, sort of like life drawing. I then made a rough line drawing to see what the design looks like without making it official. I sometimes draw a second outline to figure out the details and then I compose the final line work but I also have the original art, the many characters in Jojo Bizarre Adventure and real life examples at all times. Paint the hair, skin, clothes and then create the shading and then they are done.

The first sketch 

rough line work

The final outline with the shading

I also chose to try not to use part 3 as reference material. I personally dislike  the seasons animation and character design. I don't know what happened in that season but they look terrible. It took me 3 tries to finish Stardust Crusaders and the art work was the main reason.

  The Characters  

Isadora 

Played by jay (Stabbyness)

Isadora was the first character I drew. I chose her because the next live “Cheer Up” episode was in 3 days and with that time I decided to give myself a fighting chance by drawing her first (I find women easier to draw than men).

With Isadora I had to also decide what Jojo season they would be in from the start, I wanted consistency because they are the protagonists. I decided to do a mix of part 4 but was mainly based in part 5. For me I liked the colour shading of part 4 but loved the structure and graphic style of part 5. This made shading and highlights easy and consistent.

Because I had never drew anything like Jojo I had to use multiple characters as a frame of reference, (I did not copy the originals, if I did then there would be no point of doing this challenge in the first place). I thought it would be good to show how many characters I referred to to help with this process.  

Isadora was the easiest to draw out of the 4. She has a traditional female design, her only challenge was her eyes. As the first one this one was done in time and and looked good at the time. However now that I have got the hang of drawing in this style I want to redraw her again to show myself how much I have grown during this challenge.

Characters that i used for art style reference

Eyes: Trish Una, Narancia Ghirga and Yukako Yamagish 

Face: Trish, Erina Pendelten, Yukako

Hair: the whole part 5 crew (I had know idea how draw Jojo hair at this point)

Body: Joylne Jostar, Yukako  

 Donna

Played by Will (bigmovingtarget)

Donna was the hardest overall draw. She is a wonderful character but she does not typical female build. She is a MMA fighter, a tattoo, wears a hoodie and jaw that could cut glass. This created some problems, Araki characters rarely wear hoodies and his female characters are not normally drawn with strong features, they don't ever have a massive tribal tattoo. Also Araki’s female cast have a very small range of hair styles so I had to look at the male cast for inspiration and information because donna is an unusual design!! 

Her tattoo was very difficult and I was in a pickle for the whole first day. The original icon has only a few red marks on her face and the thumbnail of “Cheer Up!” (created by Six) depicts Donna with her back to the camera and looking with side of her face without the tattoo! 

This was driving me crazy.

In the end I had to reference real life tribal tattoos and the famous tattoo  from the movie “Dusk till Drawn”. I like the result. 

Her hoodie was also an unusual problem because I couldn't find a single character in the cast sporting a hoodie at the time of drawing her. So I wanted to draw her with a hoodie that the cast would wear. So when I was looking at fashion editorials I found Billie Eilish wearing the perfect hoodie and had to try to replicate it. (Elle 2019 interview, just incase you want to find it. Its the red coat!!) I also referenced part 1 and part 2 for her body because the those characters where drawn to fight, they are not frail and fawn like in appearance and think that is perfect donna. 

Characters that i used for art style reference

Eyes: Josuke Higashikata, Yukako, Lisa Lisa and Gyro Zeppeli 

Face: Gyro, Jolyne and Lisa Lisa 

Hair: Enrico, Yoshka Kira, Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli and Koichi Hirose

Body: Lisa Lisa, Gyro, Leone Abbacchio and Jolyne

Jack 

Played by Christian

Jack was easy to draw because he looked like a Jojo character. Like Isadora, Jack has a typical male design for Jojo. This meant I had a pool of reference material for him and had finished him in 2 days, the only real problems where his hat, stubble and jewellery. Lucky most of Araki’s cast have jewellery and chains and Jotaro Kujo has hair as a hat! Jack was heavily based on Jotaro Kujo but I made sure that he wasn't a copy! 

Stubble...stubble doesn't exist in Jojo.

Jojo’s Bizzarre Adventure has magnificent beards or clean shaven men, and sometimes they have facial hair. This was the main issue with this character because with stubble you don't have Jack.  So I had to take the beard of Joseph JoStar and looking at real life stubble finally got his lovely 9 o'clock shadow that we have now. 

 Characters that i used for art style reference

Eyes: Joseph Jostar (part 2), Jonathan Jostar 

Face: Leone, Jotaro Kujo and Burno Bucciarti 

Hair: Jotaro and Robert E. O. Speedwagon

Body: a mix of the cast of part 5 with a little bit of Johnny Jostar (like Isadora)

This one was the start of really using real life as a reference. Although really started using them in Donna illustration, drawing men has always been a challenge for me so drawing from real life actually made it more like Araki’s style. I realised that Jojo art style is based in realistic body proportions. I honestly think that this looks better than the other 2 because of the life drawing I had to do.

JJ

Played by Arimnaes

This was the last Icon I had to draw. I left this one last because I needed the practice to give this guy any chance of working. 

his face and body were not the issue because most of the main casts (in their respective seasons) have similar features but slightly different body heights and proportions. However, JJ’s hair was a difficult.

 In my research I found a total of 2 characters that could have his ethnic style  or texture for his hair. They were Enrico Pucci and Muhammad Avdol, and no one else. This ended in failure because their hairstyles are wacky and imaginative and JJ’s dreads just flat out don't exist in the Jojo universe. If they have his hairstyle then I must of missed it because I wasted a whole day solely on research!!!  Anyway, after that that I looked at male braiding and box braiding to figure out the hair line. Although I had the hair problem with Enrico I personally loved his design, he was drawn with an attitude and I thought it worked for JJ.  

Characters that i used for art style reference

Eyes: Enrico, Bruno, Joseph, Gyro and Giono Giovanna

Face: Enrico, Muhammed Avdol, Johnny and Bruno

Hair: Giono and Josuke, 

Body: Enrico, Bruno and Caesar 

Reflection 

Although the process was difficult, I had fun drawing these characters and have gained new techniques in drawing that I struggled in the past. I can draw stylised shading, tattoos, clothes and male characters better than I could before. I also learnt that I can draw surprisingly quickly and had finished both Isadora and jack in 2 days. After this challenge i also gains a new appreciation for Araki and the show Cheer Up and the number of literal hours it must of taken them to create an immersive show. 

However now I have to find something else to do whilst being stuck indoors!

[jojo-lity]

Intaglio

another commission complete! again, thank you so much, for commissioning me and for being so kind and helpful through the entire process!

pairing: caesar zeppeli/reader (she/her pronouns) word count: 1650 rating: sfw

ao3 link

The Ristorante Croce was famous for its dinner rushes. The waiters worked endlessly, bringing dishes to tables of ten, or as many as fifteen people enjoying the meal and company. In the midst of that, it was almost a relief to wait a table with a single person.

“Are you expecting anyone, signorina?”

The woman didn’t look up from her menu. She had thought her Italian was quite good, she had been practising, but it seemed she had neglected to learn many names for food items. What on Earth was “formaggio”? She was almost tempted to just give up and order spaghetti, but was that really the cultural experience she had come to Italy for? “No, it’s just me.” She glanced at the wine list. It was even less intelligible. “Can I order a bit later?”

“Certainly. I don’t mind.” The creak of a chair caught her attention, and she looked up to see someone who was definitely not wearing a waiter’s uniform. Not only that, but he was sitting down, as casually as if he had paid for the table himself. “If I might make a recommendation… the salads here are lovely, though most of the plates are for two.”

“Hey, hang on, who are you supposed to be?” Surprise won out over manners, though she did manage to avoid raising her voice. “Do I know you?”

He didn’t seem disappointed. In fact, his eyes gained an interested spark, and his lips curved into a confident smile. “Perhaps not, but it breaks my heart to see a lovely lady all on her own. There ought to be someone hanging on your every word, making you feel like the centre of their existence…” Faced with his intense, clear gaze, it was almost too easy to start feeling that way- that is, if she had missed the quick scan over her face and body that came immediately after.

“I bet you say that to any woman on her own, right? Nice try.” Before he could protest, she slid the menu up in front of her face. She wasn’t going to be taken in by some stranger, no matter how pretty his eyes were.

If he was deterred by her makeshift mask, his airy laugh didn’t display it. “You’re very sensible, bella. But you said it yourself, you don’t know me. Aren’t you judging me a little quickly?”

“Am I wrong?”

He just laughed again, confirming or denying nothing. “That’s your decision, but please, do give yourself a chance to gather the evidence. How about tomorrow?”

She lowered the menu a fraction, her expression guarded. “And what would we be doing tomorrow?”

“Just talking, nothing more than that, if you wish. Maybe I could show you somewhere nice.” He gestured towards the door, on the other side of the restaurant. “I know plenty of places that the tour guides don’t.”

“Huh.” The prospect of not having to navigate through a pushy crowd to see something worthwhile was tempting, even if it meant enduring some attempted womanising. “Well, I don’t have anything better to do.” If he turned out to be a genuine creep, she could just run. “Ten o’clock, same place?” No need to let him know where she was staying.

“Naturally.” The satisfaction in his voice was palpable. “I’ll dream of your face until I’m lucky enough to see it again, bella.”

Who’s Bella? Before she could ask, he was gone, and an actual waiter was asking if she was ready to order. In the end, she had no idea what she ordered and eventually ate, but it had a unique flavour, with hints of a sweeter taste below the surface. She wouldn’t have minded trying it again, if only she could remember its name.

—

The next morning, she waited outside the restaurant, faintly chiding herself for even showing up. The man who had invited her was a complete stranger, who was to say that he wasn’t just trying to rob her? But she was already there, so she couldn’t quite convince herself to leave. Could she? The self-questioning went on and on, until…

“My, is this a statue?” Startled out of her thoughts, she looked up before she realised who was speaking or what he said. She was met with a smile, seeming to express triumph at the achievement of getting her to look at him. “I didn’t think so. Some beauty just can’t be crafted by human hands.”

“Are you going to do this the whole time?” Her sudden, somewhat unintentionally blunt question surprised Caesar enough to silence him, letting her continue speaking. “Come on, I can’t take it seriously. Just… try saying “hello”, and nothing else. Okay?”

His features betrayed no emotion in particular, though maybe his eyes didn’t sparkle quite as much. “Hello.”

“There, I can work with that! I don’t get why you talk like that, it’s weird.”

He shrugged, taking a seat with an elaborate leap. “I’ve never met a girl who didn’t want to hear she was beautiful. Perhaps you’re the odd one out?” Suddenly, he was smirking, and she could only dread what was about to come next. “A precious jewel, rare and elusive, but undeniably worth the struggle…”

“And now you’re just saying it to torture me!” Oh God, was his influence already making her more dramatic? “Precious jewel? Worth the struggle? Am I a person or a necklace?”

“A…” When his body started to gently shake, she worried for a moment that she had angered him, but a closer look at his face revealed the opposite. He was fighting valiantly to suppress his laughter, but catching her eye again was enough to make him lose the battle. Was he making fun of her? No, there was something wild and uncontrolled in the sound he was making. For the first time since they met, he actually seemed human, as opposed to an uncanny seduction machine.

“I’m… I’m so sorry.” He slipped his glove off to wipe the tears from his eyes. “This is… terribly undignified of me. I can’t apologise enough, bella.”

“There you go again! You know my name’s not Bella, right?” Had she ever mentioned her name? She didn’t think that she had.

“It’s not?” Though he had to pause now and then, he seemed more or less in control of his laughter. “But it suits you so well.”

“Suits me? You can’t just make up a name for me because you like it. What if I started calling you, I don’t know, how about Gyro?”

For all that his laughter had done to make him seem more human, it was nothing compared to the small, slightly bewildered frown he gave her. “Does that mean something in your language?”

“Absolutely.” When she stood up, and her bag gently swung at her side, it occurred to her that she hadn’t been keeping an eye on it. For some reason, finding that nothing was missing didn’t surprise her at all. “Roughly translated, it refers to a guy that should hurry up and do what he promised. That’s showing me somewhere nice, if you forgot.”

He quickly stood up too, slipping his glove back on. “I don’t know if that sounds right.” But he was grinning as he led the way.

—

For all his missteps, she could at least say that Caesar made good on his promise. The tiny beach, tucked away behind some particularly quiet streets, was so pristine that it could have been abandoned since the beginning of time. “How’d you find this place?” Even when she spoke, it was in a whisper, as if a regular voice would spoil the atmosphere.

“It actually wasn’t me.” For once, he wasn’t staring at her, instead captivated by the horizon. “My sister tried to run away when she was little, ended up here. Sometimes we would all stay here for a while, if there was nowhere better.”

“All? How many of you are there?”

“Five, counting me. But it’s just been me coming here, for a few years now.” His eyes drifted downwards, following the gentle pull of the waves. “The city interests them more.”

Calling herself “lost for words” seemed overly flowery, but she certainly was having trouble coming up with something to say. “It’s pretty.”

“It is. A long time ago… no, you wouldn’t want to hear that old story.” His own voice had dropped even lower than hers, to the point where she had to lean a bit closer if she wanted to hear.

He looked up when he felt her hand on his shoulder, gentle but encouraging. “Maybe I would.” How was it that he was at his most alluring when he wasn’t even trying? She couldn’t make sense of it. All she could do was keep listening, and hope to uncover more of who he really was: Caesar the conqueror, the self-assured heartbreaker, or Caesar the lonely young man who just wanted to be liked?

She only remembered the outside world when the sun was sinking into the skyline, and a sharp growl from her insides let her know that she had missed a few meals. Almost apologetically, she gathered herself up, expecting to hear some kind of parting remark, or even an arrangement to meet up again. Nothing of the sort came, and when she turned to glance at him, his gaze had returned to the sea. “You know…”

He didn’t move. Her mouth suddenly felt a little dry. “I’m not doing anything tomorrow, either.”

“Is that so?” He still didn’t turn around. She started to wonder if there was a reason. “You must have some sort of plans. How long are you staying here?”

“I can stay as long as I like. Besides…” The smile on her face reflected the odd mixture of show and sincerity that had grown between them so quickly. “It breaks my heart to see a lovely gentleman all on his own.”

[sorayahigashikata]

Chapter 48: "My head hurts."

[ladykailolu]

Ok! So based upon some convos with my uncles, I've got a couple of stories for the Zeppeli cousins lol

Firstly, the Zeppeli family is a big Italian family. Well, as far as Italian standards go, they're a typical size, but non-Italians may say that it's quite large. I mean, Caesar, Gyro, and Mela each have four little siblings, and their parents amd grandparents had several siblings and so on going back generations. Caesar, Gyro, and Mela are all cousins here who hace grown up pretty close as kids, and Mela is the eldest of the three and Caesar is the youngest. For reference, there's 8 years between them, and Gyro is right in the middle with 4 years from each of them.

Anyway, so one summer, they stay over a great-grandparent's house, and one stinking hot night, Gyro goes to sleep on his cot, he pulls back the covers when all of a sudden about 100 black roaches of all sizes scurry out EVERYWHERE! For every night since then, he's slept in his full day clothes, a flashlight that was always lit, and a broom.

Another time in the morning, Caesar fixes himself cereal and milk for breakfast when he notices the cereal start moving. A few seconds later, and a water bug crawls out of the bowl. Without missing a beat, he pushes the bowl aside and says, "I'll take some toast," to an aunt.

The neighborhood was sometimes visited by some rowdy boys of 16-18 years in age, and these boys would always wanna start trouble with the kids, so Gyro, Caesar, and Mela would all grab wooden bats and shovels with a bunch of other neighborhood kids they knew and chase those troublemakers out of the neighborhood. If they caught one, they would beat the shit out of him while the others drove off. And while walking by, Mela, who usually doesn't get into many fights, kicks him while the asshole's down for good measure.

Another time, sometimes Mela would get into an argument with an aunt or grandmother, etc, and as a result, she and the person she argued with wouldn't be at the dinner table for the day. Less work for Gyro and Caesar who have to wash the dishes! "Let's go eat, Caesar," Gyro would say with a grin, "We have to go clean up anyway."

They have this cousin they see sometimes who was notorious for taking drugs and smoking weed and whatnot. Well, he was slowly losing his mind and approached Gyro, insisting, "I can see through walls and saw what you did in the other room!"

"What? Ok."

"Don't turn on the television! They're listening in to us!!!"

"😬"

They knew that this cousin was crazy, but they thought his antics were funny nonetheless.

They also have an uncle who married like 3 times. When he was 38 years old, he came home married to his 21 year old wife, and Gyro and Caesar, who were teens at the time, were left like "😳 Daaaaaaaaamnnnn!!!!" They wpuld then make comments on how hot this uncle's wife was, sparking rebukes from their fathers.

"Don't talk about it like that! Leave it alone!" Gregorio and Mario would say. Still, Gyro and Caesar fondly remember that this uncle would come home with a different young girl, each one hotter than the last, since the passing of his first wife.

[wri0thesley]

Can I request Gyro mercilessly flirting with a tall and chubby s/o? Like she's strong in general but can't help but get shy at the slightest compliment? (Sending twice because I'm on mobile)

- Once Gyro has got an idea into his head, it’s hard for him to drop it. He’s the kind who keeps pulling out the joke until it’s long dead, will remember inside references from years ago and pull them out when you least expect it, and despite the fact he forgets people’s names he never forgets a birthday. - He’s impressed by her resilience and her mastery of her horse, how strong she seems throughout the Steel Ball Run. Gyro wants to win, but he’s already made a friend and he sees no reason why he can’t make another one - and so he does extend his friendship, and by extension, she falls into Gyro Zeppeli’s personality headfirst. - She’s not used to getting so much attention, especially of the romantic kind. Men in general tend to be a little intimidated by her stature, and she’s not the most self-confident in her body - so when Gyro winks and tells her how good she looks today, her face flushes pink and she wants to die where she stands. - Of course, seeing this kind of reaction is only going to spur him on more. He doesn’t get pleasure out of embarrassing people, but he does love knowing he has an effect on them; and here’s a physical one, on somebody he already thinks is so pretty and pleasant to be around-- it just makes him want to make her blush so hard she gives up and kisses him. - So he carries on. He’s all winking and double entendres, looks of passion (at least, he thinks they’re looks of passion, whilst Johnny snorts under his breath) and attempts to crack jokes at lightspeed - and eventually, despite the fact every time he opens his mouth her face goes so red she thinks she’ll catch on fire, she kisses him just to shut him up.