#jojo part 9 chapter 2

[thefencebeetle]

[chloesimaginationthings]

Who’s ready for JoJolands chapter 2?

[magical-girl-slugger]

ARAKI YOU CANT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS YOU BASTARD

JOJOLANDS CHAPTER 2 IS OUT BTW

[possiblylando]

Oh boy Jojolands Chapter 2 and Hotdog Guy has a name

Usagi Alohaoe and he is just as much of a dweeb as I was hoping he is great.

The odds of him being gay are not 0 I'm just gonna say that.

His brain is so deep fried he's so awesome....

They hate to see a silly guy having fun and being so whimsical </3...

Okay the fucking design on his suit IS A PAIR OF LEGS I thought so last time but this is like.. What??? It's clearly some kind of brand logo but what the hell kinda company's logo is a pain of legs?? Are the legs female? I assume they're meant to be because they have high heels. But they could also belong to a real long legged guy- They could be non-binary who knows. Araki I need an explanation about these fucking legs why the hell- where the fuck did he get an outfit like this??

He's so silly... Criminally insilly...

ACTUAL fuckboy.

I really can't get a read on what he is aside from silly. does he have some fucked up backstory? He has to right it's Jojo. Is he, Ya know?

Man this heist boring as hell -Watches family guy clips on youtube shorts-

Maybe it's a fucked up crab? The Logo I mean. I don't know it could be like a fucked up mr krabs if you- Hang on

Yeah??? Probably legs.

Dog begging for food from the stove not knowing it's just boiling water coded.

His ass is THINKING

This world is so cruel on silly guys who can look cool some times but are mostly silly..

He looks like he's about to climb the swiss alps brooo :skull emoji:

Why is everyone so mean to me </3 Mini-analyses time. So Usagi calls Dragona "Pink-Chan" which I assume is just an artifact from the Japanese translation. He calls himself blue. Pretty basic male and female colors. The way he speaks kinda makes me think he has a crush on Dragona. That or he's, You know. GAY

Go go gadget hand tumor

We get Usagi's stand and it's FUCKING IT HAS THE LEGS ON IT WHAT THE SHIT MAN I DIDN'T NOTICE UNTIL JUST NOW WHYT OES IT SHOWA WHY THE FUCK DOES THE STAND OVER THE LEGS AOIFHAIWUFHOAFHAIAFSOJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

It's neat that we're getting a bunch of utility stands this part instead of the beatdown bandits of part 8. It's a more part 7 approach where the stands are used to aid in combat instead of being the primary focus.

Yeah go white boy do your silly little dance I am clapping woo yeah

Hot Dog Man Vs. Hot Dog Guy

This, Absolutely not intentional. I assure you. But the way the Speedline are drawn around Usagi makes it look like he has a Holy Halo.

Jesus Jumpscare. I highly doubt it means anything but- I felt the need to point it out. The marks the end of chapter 2. Uhhhh I like this funny little silly guy he's so oooo so silly he's gonna die a horrible horrible fucking death he is not surviving this part man is gonna DIE... Uhhh Araki always tryina add in his self insert like why the hell is Rohan the Bus Driver? I think they should give Usagi a gun that would be cool...

[incorrect-jojolands-quotes]

it finally happened

I've never edited something, let alone, got involved in something so major before. We worked really hard on this so it would be great if you can support our channel! We also have a discord server if you want to see behind the scenes content, chat with our crew, or get involved.

[we-love-morioh-cho]

Random speculation on the possible climax of The Jojolands -

The boat out at sea was one of the first visuals we got of Part 9 and, in the intro to Chapter 1, we see it again being ridden by Jodio and Dragona alone. We also get this imagery of Jodio ascending a volcano when he talks about the Mechanism - and while I think it's possible these are just metaphorical, I think it's also possible that they're hinting at the climax of the story.

I say this because Jojo loves its ocean and/or boat endings. Just off the top of my head and without going into spoilers - the endings of Parts 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7 all feature the sea or characters on a boat in some way. It's not always the literal last page, but it's definitely a motif.

The volcano erupting clearly ties into the lava rock and the lava tubes. A volcano erupting would also resemble the end of Part 2 and maybe the natural disasters / calamities of 7 and 8's endings. And with the set-up that is hasn't erupted in a long time, I feel like this is a safe assumption.

It's way too early to theorize any more, but I have some random loose thoughts. With the endings we've had from recent parts, I'm guessing Part 9 will be tragic or at least bittersweet. While the story so far resembles Golden Wind a lot, I wouldn't be surprised if it incorporates some ideas from Stone Ocean's ending. We also only see Jodio and Dragona on the boat and none of the other protagonists which probably means something 😢

The Jojo Wiki claims that in an interview with Noriko Narumi, the woman who designed the Part 9 logo, she listed some proposed titles for the part. The most interesting was "MADE IN JOJOLANDS". This title was scrapped and it's possibly just a reference to the term "Made in America / the USA" - but obviously it's reminiscent of Made In Heaven. It could've just been a throwback, but if Part 9 is the conclusion to the series / the alt. universe trilogy, then I really think it's possible we might get something similar to the Part 6 ending.

A tragic ending involving two siblings out at sea? Phantom Blood and Stone Ocean both have similar conclusions and, if we are to believe that The Jojolands is the last part, I at least think it would make sense for it to follow this trend and reincorporate these ideas. I can't say if Araki would actually do something like this, but I just noticed these little connections and wanted to put them somewhere.

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

DRAGONA JOESTAR (JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: THE JOJOLANDS) (CW: Transphobia)

1.) While JoJolands has only barely started, Dragona already is not being treated too well. In her first appearance, a police officer sexually assaults her, and in addition makes comments about how her being transgender makes the situation more exciting for him.

Her brother misgenders her, referring to her as “"big bro”“ despite knowing she takes ”“cosmetic injections”“ that caused her to grow breasts, but this could be just a nickname Dragona doesn’t mind, ignorance from her brother, or from lack of clarity due to all translations this far being unofficial. Otherwise, Dragona isn’t usually referred to with any gendered pronouns, which could be due to the source material being in Japanese, which doesn’t really use third person pronouns, substituting them with names.

While I hope Part 9 starts treating her better, the very beginning of the story has been rough on Dragona.

2.) The JoJolands went from 0 to sexual assault in 10 pages. Yes, Dragona is sexually assaulted by a police officer less than 10 pages into the manga. The pigs then get their asses kicked by her little brother Jodio, because so far in this story, Dragona has very little ability to stand up for herself. Then there’s the fact that she isn’t even explicitly a woman in the story. She was amab, and is described as wearing feminine clothing, and having injections so she has breasts. Still, Dragona is referred to as Jodio’s big brother, and primarily uses masculine pronouns in the fan translation despite some fluidity in that department from the original Japanese. It is unclear what the author’s intent is here, and I’m not one to try and guess what’s going on in that man’s mind. There’s a chance she gets a lot of development and ends up being a well-written character. I’m not terribly optimistic with what we’ve seen so far.

3.) After 35 years of misogyny and transmisogyny, the author decided to be bold and make one of the main characters of the new part a trans woman! … who gets SAed in the first chapter and who gets the "just a tr*p” label slapped on by the narrative despite her transition being fucking discussed. You can always count on Jojo for misogyny!

GWEN STACY (MARVEL COMICS)

1.) One of the most famous examples of fridging of all time. Marvel reintroduced physics for five seconds to kill her off, then forgot about them again.

2.) Got killed off because a (male) writer thought she was a boring love interest.

3.) Got fridged

[beesmygod]

JJBA PART 5, VENTO AUREO IS THE UNDERBAKED MESS I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT FIXING...PART 2

FIX 1: MORE KOICHI FOR THE MASSES

koichi! we love koichi, don't we folks? i know i do.

who's koichi? oh shit, that might be hard to explain.

pictured: koichi, in his dormant, yet most powerful, form.

if you DON'T recognize this little gremlin above, his appeal might be totally lost on you, and his appeal is necessary to understand if i'm going to convince you of what a fucking missed opportunity his narrative purpose could have been.

that's koichi hirose, the short king of morioh. i didnt think i would like him at all after realizing he was being set up as the deuteragonist and companion to the titular jojo of part 4, josuke. like, who the fuck was this little dork? get outta here! im here to see the joestars kidnap children and have homoerotic adventures. i am not here to be subjected to the trials and tribulations of a friendless, spineless, standless dipshit. i assumed he was going to be the designated joestar hypeman for the chapter, a role usually carved out for precocious children.

wrong! koichi gets hit with the stand arrow (the arrow the gives you stands, remember this) early on and gets dragged into a frightening battle of good versus evil right in his own backyard. the arrow and the responsibility that comes with it acts as the main catalyst for his transformation from nottie to hottie. in contrast to the bastardly joestars and their ilk, koichi is a genuinely kind, empathetic, and honest person; he's intended as a foil to the mischievous josuke. he brings to the table the platonic ideal of an every-man who rises gallantly to the challenges thrown at him because its the right thing to do. the series folds koichi as a main cast member to the point where he is one of the very few people on planet earth to draw a smile and praise out of jotaro kujo.

who's jotaro kujo? uhhh.

hmm. i'm getting to my point. but it might require a chart:

POINT: jotaro kujo, the man who probably has with the strongest stand in universe, who appears in 4 chapters out of a total of 9, and who is probably one of the most recognizable and beloved characters in manga history, trusts literally one person on the entire planet: koichi hirose.

SO:

when koichi shows up in part 5 right from the jump to act as the part 4 connective tissue, there is absolutely no reason why he can't stick around for longer than he does canonically so that he can satisfyingly fulfill his role as official vibe checker. let him be important!

---

oh my god, i can hear jojo fans groaning as they scroll through all that shit. so what?! did you make me read all that just to say "there should have been more koichi?!"

look, i need to make sure "we're" all on the same page and understand the perspective i'm coming from. "we", in this case, being the audience of both jojo fans this is primarily aimed at and fandom rubberneckers (greetings friends) who shouldn't have to comb a wiki exhaustively to decode my unhinged ramblings. it's essential background info that koichi is a fan favorite both in canon and in fandom. we gotta understand the role he wound up playing in the overarching struggle of good versus evil in his hometown to understand his narrative role in part 5.

YES. there SHOULD have been more koichi! but not just because we like to see him! he provides an established, trusted moral backbone for the audience. his reputation as a reliable guy is such that jotaro sends him on his own to investigate a young man who may be related to the dreaded bisexual nemesis of the joestar bloodline, dio brando. this is a big fucking deal. if dio has a kid that's really bad. how many backup plans did this guy have (answer: dude you have no idea).

---

ugh! part 5 koichi! if you really want to scream look up how he looks in the rohan spin off series.

in ep 1 of the "golden wind", koichi arrives in italy looking for our new jojo, giorno giovanna (who sucks, but that's a whole kettle of fish we can only barely touch on now). koichi, who has the street sense of one of those dogs that gets carried around in a luxury purse, instantly gets robbed by petty street criminal giorno in a rare burst of personality never seen again after this initial story-line.

okay whatever. after skipping a few eps, giorno and koichi team up to defeat the first stand together after drawing its ire during giorno's weird mafia test. the stand, black sabbath, stabs its victims with a stand arrow (the arrow that gives stands), causing them to either die or gain powers. this might be controversial, but its my personal opinion that its probably not good for a mafia to have a factory that creates jerks with super powers and its right to try to shut that down. after the fight, giorno reveals his dream to koichi of joining the mafia with the explicit purpose of reforming it from within. koichi promises not to report to jotaro about the fact that there's ANOTHER STAND ARROW until after giorno is initiated into the gang. god. jesus christ.

first of all, this GANG-STAR thing is the silliest shit anyone has ever heard. this is literally his for real goal throughout the entire story-line. which could have been great! but people within the fiction should react to this like hes telling them he's going to invent the first bicycle for fish instead of looking at him with the kind of wonder and glory you reserve for jesus christ himself. this train of thought leads to too many thoughts about giorno's lack of personality, so let's set it aside for now. i think giorno should maintain this insane goal, but he should actively have to convince people that he is capable of doing something that fucking nuts.

second, no way would koichi agrees to this absolutely braindead truce lol. koichi doesn't know giorno from adam; the sense we're supposed to get is that koichi innately senses that he's a good guy from his little speech and we, the audience, are supposed to take his word for it. but there is nothing convincing or authentic in how the situation plays out. there's a level of naivety/stupidity applied to the characters involved for this situation to work at all: i dont know why telling jotaro in florida that there's a stand arrow in italy would impact giorno's mafia standing at all. especially considering the arrow breaks and no longer functions shortly after giorno's initiation. koichi should find giorno's dreams and desires spurious and continue his investigation for jotaro, both to impress him and because its the right thing to do. he should also be like "heh, i took care of a stand arrow for you mister kujo". let him have another win. fuck it. why not.

third, koichi doesn't know that the stand arrow is destroyed and i have a hard time believing that he, a victim of said arrow, would do anything other than raise serious alarms over the proliferation of objectively evil stand users in italy where dio's son coincidentally happens to live. the following arc in which giorno and his new team mates go on a hunt for a hidden treasure should have been a series of demonstrations to koichi that italy was being cleaned up by a joestar (as opposed to the danger of being exploited by a brando) and was ultimately in good hands. this would require giorno to get some wins in during this time so he would actually have to do something for a change.

keeping koichi around long past where he does in canon could and should have given giorno a chance to demonstrate a different form of heroism to contrast the pure-hearted pursuit of justice championed by koichi. in eventually winning over a familiar and trustworthy character, giorno would have proved himself to be more than just "dio's son", a fact which should have hung over this part like a dark cloud.

but that's. that's next time.

[italeteller]

Do you know if Undead Unluck is worth getting into? I've been thinking of reading the manga before the anime drops, but I'm not sure

Yes, absolutely. Undead Unluck is right now one of the best titles in shonen jump (and if you have the app you can read the whole thing for free (but only once)) and even before getting to chapter 132 A.K.A. The Best Part, you have some really great, always different arcs with Jojo-style battles where each fighter has their own set powers and fighting style and they need to adapt to exploit their enemies' weaknesses. It's a lot of action combined with mindgames and a healthy dose of anime bullshit

Granted, the first two chapters are. Look I'm not gonna pussyfoot around the issue, the male lead gets Very handsy with the female lead against her will. He stops after chapter 2, and the more ecchi shit gets phased out from around chapter 9 onwards, but there's some people who're rightfully gonna get grossed out by that and leave

So. If you can look past that (and also if you don't mind blood, body horror, existential horror, because the series has a lot of those), I'd say absolutely go for it because it's a really great, hype, tragic and fun read, and if it sticks the landing with the same quality it's had the last year, it could easily go down in history as one of the greatest shonens

[giggly-squiggily]

☁Puffs☁ (Sentence Starters) Are Open!

Heyo! I'm feeling a little bold, a little brash (I belong in the trash) And decided for the weekend to open up sentence starters! Since they're small little dabbles (300 words max, give or take) I'm gonna call them Puffs! What do we think of the name? (work in progress I know)

Rules:

Send me a sentence starter and a pairing and I'll write a short dabble for it!

Reader insert is allowed!

The event will go from Today (Saturday, Nov. 11) to Monday (Nov. 13) 8pm EST. I'll let you know when the event is closed.

I have new fandoms! Please read my pinned post for restrictions and limitations and all that! (Fandoms below the cut!)

SFW, I will write both tickles and non tickles!

I think that's it? I'll update y'all if anything changes! Have at it everyone! :D

~Fandoms~

Black Clover

- Blue Lock (Anime)

-Big Windup

- Bungo Stray Dogs (Up to Season 3)

- Buddy Daddies

-Code Realize

-Collar x Malice

-Chainsaw Man (Anime + Around Chapter 72 I think?)

-Danganronpa THH, SDR2 , V3

-Dr. Stone

-Demon Slayer

-Fire Force

-Free! Iwatobi Swim Club

-Fruits Basket

-Given

-Haikyuu!!

-Heartstopper

-Hell’s Paradise

-Hunter x Hunter (Up To Greed Island Arc)

-Jojo’s Bizzare Adventure: Battle Tendencies (Part 2) Stardust Crusaders (Part 3), Diamond Is Unbreakable (Part 4), Golden Wind (Part 5)

-Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime + Movie Only!)

Komi Can’t Communicate

-Mob Psycho 100

-Moriarty The Patriot

-My Hero Academia

-Pokemon (Limited Requests: Legend Arceus, Gens 1-7, 9, ScarVio DLC included) **No longer taking requests for Sword and Shield**

-SK8 the infinity

-Spy x Family

-Toliet Bound Hanako-Kun

-Tokyo Revengers

-Rain Code (Up to chapter 4)

-Vinland Saga (Mainly Season 2)

-Yu Yu Hakusho (Veeeery limited)

[thefencebeetle]

[ilovejosukehigashikata]

The JOJOLands Chapter 2, by WNMY

We Need More Yankiis is proud to present the second chapter of its translation of The JOJOLands! Please enjoy it!

Cubari link for those who can't use Mangadex

Note: Due to technical limitations, the Cubari version will not have extra corrections uploaded to the Mangadex version.

[possiblylando]

Jojo Part 9 Stand Ability Analyses and Predictions

In the time between Chapters 1 and 2 of Jojolands I wanna put down some of my own predictions for what the stands of the Jojolands Protags are gonna be able to do in the future as well as what their abilities are. Obviously this will contain spoilers for chapter 1 of Jojolands and possible future chapters if I'm correct.

November Rain, Purely from what we've seen of November Rain so far it's ability is to create a localized area of Heavy Rain. This Rain hits with a force comparable to a non-piercing bullet or a miniature bowling ball. It's likely that the stand itself needs to stand above the target to hit it with it's abilities due to the size of it and how we see it used within the chapter itself. November Rain stands right around twice Jodio's height. Assuming Jodio is the average 15 year old height of 5'5'' that would make November Rain around 8-12 feet in height. As for what I think November Rain's actual ability is, What would be localized gravitational manipulation. Meaning it's able to control the gravity of objects under itself. The Rain is likely a secondary supplemental ability which is used to help it's primary ability shine. Additionally in it's reveal panel it almost looks as if Jodio is floating underneath it. Evoking similar imagery to a flying saucer which are known for their tractor beams. As for what it's abilities in the future will be assuming I'm incorrect and it really is just Heavy Rain, We'll probably see a long ranged application where the rain droplets are fired off like bullets. Possibly a rain shield aswell.

Smooth Operators, The stand of Dragona Joestar allows them to move objects. Smooth Operators appears to function differently based on what kind of object it's being used on. Flat objects such as a license plate or an ID can have flat objects just slide around and be morphed. Even when the item in question is molded into the thing they're moving. When using it on a human it allows them to stretch and mold them like clay or playdoh. However we see that Dragona has a habit of scratching objects. This may be a requirement to activate their stand on objects. Or it might require physical touch to activate. Since in all 4 situations we see it used in Dragona is physically touching the object. Smooth Operators is a stand with an insane amount of potential as depending on it's scale it has the potential to negate all defense. The stand is very reminiscent of Vitamin C from part 8. Which I doubt I need to explain the strength of. I do believe it's ability is rather face value however.

The Hustle, is a stand I believe is much more than what we see at face value. The Hustle is what appears to be a phenomenon type stand which allows Paco to control his muscles. The only applications we've seen of this so far allow him to grab objects using his muscles. As shown in the chapter itself it seems to be an underwhelming stand. However The Hustle is likely a much more basic stand than people give it credit for. I mean this in a good way. The Hustle's true ability more than likely allows Paco the ability to control his muscles in more way than just grabbing objects. This could result in him being able to strengthen his own muscles for combat or being able to pull some sunlight zoom fist stuff. In which he dislocates his bones and uses his muscles purely to move through tight spaces or extend his reach. Both of these applications would fit with his thief persona.

Hot Dog Guy His stand will probably be themed around water and/or diving. It could end up being comparable to Diver Down in some fashion. I hope his stand is named after a Joji or Filthy Frank song purely for the meme but I know there's no chance that'll happen. Ultimately there's no way to predict something like this due to how unpredictable Araki is.

[incorrect-jojolands-quotes]

Just in time for the 1 year anniversary!

[bratshaws]

goodness gracious 72. brb x oc

a/n: hi I really love Bianca, she's one of my favorites im ngl

check out the fic's playlist made by the sweet @wiipes !!

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: Fluff, Bea facing demons, HONESTLY IM JUST PREPARING YOU GUYS BECAUSE THINGS WILL GET INTERESTING SOO ENOUGH AAAAAAAAA

chapters:

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41/42/43/44

45/46/47/48/49/50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64

65/66/67/68/69/70/71

(pls let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!!)

taglist: @mirandastuckinthe80s @roosterschanelslut @wiipes @lcahwriter @shrimping-for-all @gretagerwigsmuse @frenchtoastix

@lizzie-rdj @fanboyluvr @atarmychick007 @comebacktoearthpls

@peachiicherries @mak-32 @lizziespidiepridie @roosterswifey @ollyoxenfrees @piceous21 @sqrlgrl22 @hofficoffi @lexhalstead3 

@lorilane33 @legendarydreamersharkparty @luckyladycreator2 @emilybradshaw @j-6o @louisahale @leobabbyyy @kulicny @winter-run @ktjmac @graciereads

-

It wasn’t as good as they thought it’d be. Bianca was not having a good time by the second they stepped on the dog park, the little girl - who’d usually run with Jolene - just sat on the grass with her arms hugging her knees and her face against them. Beatrice’s worried eyes returned, looking back at Rooster “It’s worse than I thought.” she whispered so her niece wouldn’t hear, “When Leo mentioned she was angry I didn’t think it’d be this much.”

Bradley, while confused by the little girl’s reaction, wasn’t as worried as Beatrice, “She just needs to distract herself.” he says, leaning down to kiss Beatrice’s little nervous wrinkle between her brows, “She won’t even remember why she was mad in the first place.”

The brunette wasn’t convinced, but she nodded, looking around to locate Jolene - who was zooming all over the park as she usually did - before she approached Bianca. She crouches to her level, rubbing her niece’s forearm, “Bibi.” she tries to gently pry them open, but the little girl just hugs her knees even tighter, with a little angry whine coming from her throat, “Bibi, come on, we’re in the dog park, don’t you want to play with Jojo?”

Bianca just shakes her head still pressed against her knees, almost folding in herself with how much she’s curled up. Beatrice looks back at Rooster again, which makes the pilot get closer and crouch next to his girlfriend, “Hey,” he gently pokes the part of her cheek that wasn’t covered by her arms, the little girl once again noising her complaint so “Bibi you are missing Jolene almost toppling the other dogs over.” which was true, Jolene would either leap over other dogs or just play-wrestle with them so hard they’d fall to the ground - and they’d always be bigger than she was.

But that also got no reaction, Bianca just remained hugging her knees. Beatrice sighs, dropping from her crouch to rest on her knees, placing her hands on her thighs, “Bibi, Bianca,” the full name finally made her peek one eye up - she wasn’t crying, good - to look at her aunt, “Doing that isn’t going to help anyone, especially you. You need to let everything out.”

Bianca looked from Beatrice to Rooster, then she slowly dropped her knees to straighten her legs on the grass, crossing her arms instead, “I don’t wanna have a little sibling.” she mutters, kicking the grass under her bright colored sneaker, “I don’t want it!”

Beatrice inhales deeply, trying to think how she could explain it to her without worsening her temperament. Rooster took that as a cue to excuse himself and get them all some water, kissing Bea on the cheek for encouragement before he finally stepped away. Beatrice gently tucks a strand of blonde hair behind Bianca’s ear, making the little girl’s green eyes snap to her aunt’s matching ones, “Bibi, listen,” she begins, “Sometimes…we can’t really prevent things from happening.” she says softly, “It won’t be so bad.”

“Daddy is going to get out of the house more and mommy is going to sleep at her job!” that wasn’t true, obviously it was an example that Cynthia used but Bianca was too young to understand it, “And I’ll be alone!”

“You won’t be alone.” Bianca grunted, about to pull her knees back but Beatrice held her legs down, “Hey, no more hiding. We are going to talk.” no response, “Bianca Marie, look at me.” her niece does, still no tears in her eyes just an anger that only a five years old could have. Beatrice shuffles closer, ignoring the grass stains on her jeans and trying her best to stay on Bianca’s level without straining the tendons on her legs.

“Why do I have to have a little sibling?” the five years old asks, genuinely confused, “I don’t want it.”

“Things like that you don’t always have power over.” Beatrice says, which only makes her niece huff angrily and kick the ground beneath her feet, chunks of earth and grass sticking to the sole of her shoe, “And, it’s not so bad to have a little sibling. You know I was the youngest sibling.” and Leonardo hated her before she was born, she hasn’t forgotten about that yet, “And your dad is my best friend. You know that.”

“But you are my auntie.” Bianca says quietly, plucking blades of grass by the fistful, just so her hands are stained green and there was now an empty brown patch where the grass once was, “And that doesn’t work.” of course for a five year old it wouldn’t make sense, there was no connection between her aunt and her little sibling for her yet. 

Beatrice chews her lower lip, seeing Rooster was busy playing with Jolene not too far away. She was thankful he gave the two of them space to talk, knowing that this would have to be resolved by the brunette alone. “But it was pretty much the same situation.” Bianca just plucked more grass, watching it float down her hand when she patted it, about to wipe the green on her Strawberry Shortcake shirt but Beatrice stopped her, “Bibi,I know it’ll be strange and even a bit scary, but you can’t get mad at your parents like that.”

“Yes I can.”

“No you can’t.” Beatrice cuts her off, “We get mad when people do things we know are wrong. Neither of your parents had any idea they’d have another baby.” Bianca huffed through her nose, looking like a little bull with her eyes narrowed and lips pouted, “And honestly, it’s going to be scary for them too. It’ll be new and the same all over again.” Not to mention Leonardo feared this one would be premature just like Bianca was, especially since Cynthia was ‘past the birthing age’ according to her doctors so the risks were a bit high.

Bianca's pout remained, her arms going back to the crossed position as her aunt tried to make her understand the whole situation, “If it’s scary, then why is it happening?”

“Like I said, they didn’t know.” or planned, “Sometimes things like that happen when you don’t expect it, so you have to wing it however you can.” Bianca’s eyes moved from her aunt to the side as she took in her words, her lower lip slowly receding back to normal, “Do you remember that time we were going to visit uncle Mikey and uncle Gui but we couldn’t because the plane didn’t work?” Bianca nods, “And we had to stay at the airport until we got a new one?”

Beatrice was happy to see her niece’s smile returning as she recalled the many games they played at the airport until it was time for the next flight, “Yeah! Nonno and I played hide and seek! I won!” 

“Of course you did.” Bea grinned, “See, it’s a bit like that. It was a scary situation wasn’t it?” Bianca nods, “But we had fun in the end didn’t we?”

“Yeah…”

“I won’t lie to you and say it will be easy, Bibi. It’ll take you some time to get used to having someone else at the house.” she explains, gently combing some of the blonde hair that slipped from her ponytail back, preventing it from falling over her niece’s eyes, “But being mad at your mom and dad because of that is not good. They didn’t do that to hurt you.”

Bianca lowered her gaze, guiltily, “Do mommy and daddy still love me?” 

Beatrice gasps softly, giving her niece a sweet smile before she scoops the little girl in her arms, kissing her cheek with a smile and pulling back just enough to stt her face “Baby, of course they do.” she says, letting Bianca place her head on the crook of her neck again,” You know they do, they love you so much.”

“Okay…”

Beatrice rubs her niece’s cheek with a thumb,wiping a piece of grass that got stuck on her skin away, “Plus, think about it, how cool will it be to be a big sister? Did you think about that?” Bianca shook her head and Beatrice had to figure out how to explain it because, well, she wasn’t anyone’s big sister. “You can…uh…” Bianca watched her aunt with interest, waiting for the reason why it’d be a good idea, “You…you can…tell people about it! Maybe even, defend your little sibling…like Batman does!”

Bianca’s eyes finally shone with excitement, “Batman?” Of course her favorite superhero was enough for the little girl to pay more attention to “I can be Batman??” 

“Yes, of course, just…not always, but if your little sibling is in danger, you can rush to their aid, right?” But Beatrice lost Bianca, who repeated ‘I can be Batman’ under her breath in pure wonder, probably thinking she could go to school with her Batman costume when her little sibling was born. Beatrice thought that at least she seemed a lot more excited about it now, at least that she could see.

Rooster got back from where he was playing with Jolene, two water bottles in his hand and his neck and part of his chest glistening with sweat from running after the pitbull so much, “Hey, how’s t-”

“I can be Batman!” Bianca’s high voice cut him off, her little arm shooting up to the air in victory, earning a confused yet clearly entertained look from the pilot, who turned his questioning gaze to Beatrice. His girlfriend gave him an awkward shrug, barely being able to keep the wriggling five years old in her arms since the excitement made her way too eager to bounce all that energy off, “I can be Batman!!” she screams as her aunt lets her go and she runs after Jolene, just like they planned it would happen.

“Don’t wander too far Bibi!” Beatrice calls, cupping her hand around her mouth so her niece could hear it better. Bianca stopped, then turned towards the two before giving them a thumbs up and a barely toothed grin, just before she could run off and disappear after the pitbull in the park.

Beatrice sighs, grabbing one of the water bottles from his hand to bring to her lips, blinking when his eyes haven't moved from her form yet. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion,  the bottle still tilted into her mouth when he leaned closer to kiss her forehead “You are too cute.” he mutters against her skin, pulling back to look at her sweet yet reddening face, lowering the bottle to show her smile, “You did good,she looks better.”

“Yeah, well,” she turns to look over where Jolene and Bianca were, no matter the distance she knew her niece would be safe because Jolene would be close by or glued to her side  “I hope so, I’d hate for her to be upset because of something like that.” Bradley’s arms wrap around her waist, her back to his chest, so they both keep an eye on Bianca from afar.

“You are good with kids.”

Beatrice gives him a weird look, smiling, “Me? You earned the title of Prince on the first meeting and all my other nephews and nieces like you a whole lot…even if…most of them aren’t children–but you know what I mean!” he chuckles behind her, dropping his lips to her temple while he keeps her against him, inhaling her sweet lavender scent. Bianca was back to her old self, laughing and screaming in delight with Jolene and a few other kids in the dog park, making Beatrice let out a sigh of relief.

She pulls out her phone when it vibrates in her back pocket, looking down at the screen and chuckling softly, “Leo.” she answers Rooster’s unasked question, “He’s asking if Bianca is better.”

“Well, she is.” Rooster says, propping his chin on the top of her head so she could reply back in peace and his eyes would remain on Bianca in the meantime. Bianca was now running around with a football that belonged to some older kids - not too old, around seven or eight- and was giving them a run for their money with how fast she was going around them - and their dogs. He feels Bea put her phone back inside her pocket, lowering his face to her ear without taking his eyes from the little girl, “Is he calmer?”

“Yes, he is.” she replies with a grin, leaning back against his chest with her shoulders relaxing, “Another one…God my mom will lose her mind.” she snickers with a shake of her head, one of her hands coming up to rub her temple, “She’ll start crying, then she’ll call all of us and be surprised we knew before she did and then cry more.” she also had a feeling that when her time came to have a child, her mother would definitely faint…which she shouldn’t be thinking about right now, time to avoid the subject entirely.

She feels Bradley’s mustache tickling her neck, biting back her smile the best she could, “Brad…” she scolds softly, her smile widening when he pulls her flush against him, “We are in the middle of a dog park.”

“And there are other couples making out around us, so I don’t think people will care much. Plus the children are all far from here.” she hummed unimpressed, “I’m just kissing you.”

Beatrice’s breathing hitches when he finishes the sentence by kissing right on the curve of her jawline, goosebumps immediately forming on her skin, “We both know there’s more than kissing–”  her eyes still on someone talking to Bianca, a tall woman with dark hair that looked eerily familiar, her niece pointing to where she and Bradley were and making the woman look her way over. 

Bradley felt Beatrice immediately tense up in his grasp, her eyes wide as saucers, “Bea?” he questions when she goes quiet, a shudder darting over her body, “Bea, what’s wrong?”

“...Hannah.”

“Huh?”

“Hannah…Dreyfus…” one of her bullies, probably the worst of her bullies during High School, she always made sure that Beatrice’s day turned into a living hell no matter what. Of all places she’d see her, why here and why now? She was having such a good day and seeing her again triggered a lot of unwanted memories in her brain. “She’s making her way over, fuck. Hide me!”

“Hide-” Beatrice breaks free from his grasp to hide behind him, clenching the back of his Hawaiian shirt and trying to make herself as small as possible, which considering his height wasn’t so hard. But seeing her like that, having such a reaction only meant that whoever this Hannah was, she wasn’t a good person in his book, so he took it upon himself to stand in front of Beatrice as straight as he could.

Hannah, the red haired woman got closer and closer, pulling her sunglasses to her hairline, “Oh, hello, is that–Beatrice? Is it really you?” She tilted her body to see Beatrice’s form partially hidden behind Rooster, giving her a confused smile, “What a surprise!”

Bradley didn’t know how to react, yet, but he kept his eyes on that woman at all times, only looking away when Beatrice slowly stepped out from behind him, immediately holding his hand, “...hello…Hannah…” the woman made it seem like she was going to hug Beatrice, but the brunette made no movements to actually step closer, making this situation even more awkward than before. “Roos, this is Hannah she’s…an old classmate of mine.”

Hannah laughed quietly, “Hi.” she tried to not feel intimidated by his presence there, close to Beatrice, “And you are Beatrice’s new boyfriend?”

“I sure am.” he didn’t know why, but everything in him said to keep Beatrice close by - this woman’s whole energy was giving him terrible vibes.

“I thought you and Eric– well,I guess in the end, it wasn’t meant to be.” he didn’t know why but that sentence sounded very passive aggressive. He flicked his eyes down at Bea to check her reaction and she hasn’t moved her eyes away from Hannah at all. She looked like a prey keeping her predator within view or else she’d be attacked. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other! What are the chances we’d meet here, at this park?”

Beatrice’s jaw clenched, but she forced a small smile “Yeah. What are the chances.” she forgave Hannah for what she did, but she couldn’t help her body from reacting how it was right now. She hasn’t changed much, the red hair was still the same dark blonde as before, long to her mid back, the freckles just as strong as before and her eyes icy blue. 

“I was just, well,” she points to a redhead little boy who’s currently playing with Bianca and Jolene, “My son and I just got here with our dogs and we saw your niece there. I was worried she was alone with a pitbull but then she said she came with her aunt.” neither Bea nor Bradley liked how she said Jolene’s breed, “I’ve never been to this dog park so, we are all trying to get our bearings.”

“Of course.” Beatrice replied in a clipped tone, “But Jolene is a great dog, pitbulls are actually called nanny dogs because they get along great with children.” Hannah’s smile faltered for a bit, her head nodding in response, clearly not expecting Beatrice to reply to it that way.

“Yes, the breed shouldn’t be a stereotype,I know…well, how have you been? I was surprised you didn’t join our graduation back in High School. Or prom.”

Rooster tried to hold his surprise, giving Beatrice a look - she didn’t go to her High School graduation? Nor prom? “I was spending time with my family.” was Beatrice’s reply, this time interlacing her fingers with Rooster’s, her posture stiff but no longer nervous, “So I couldn’t join.”

“You missed a lot.” Hannah smiles, “We had so much fun.”

“Oh, hah, that I don’t doubt.” the brunette’s voice is nearing monotone, not even daring to hide how bothered she was by this conversation. And Rooster was having the same feelings by proxy, standing even closer to Beatrice with a hand on her shoulder.Hannah’s eyes moved from Beatrice to Rooster, then back again to the brunette, dropping her eyes down Beatrice’s body.

“Well,” she begins, “You look good. You haven’t changed much.”

“I disagree,I think I changed a lot.” Beatrice cut her words quickly, “Brad can you please pick Bianca and Jojo so we can go home?”

“Sure, gorgeous.” The nickname appeared to have shocked Hannah,but she just arched both eyebrows and ignored how Rooster glared as he walked past her to where Bianca and Jolene were, leaving the two women alone.

“..I meant physically-”

“I know what you mean, Hannah.” Beatrice snaps, crossing her arms with her eyebrows low, “But I did change, a lot. So much has happened ever since we finished high school.” for the first time ever,Beatrice was facing one of her worst bullies without fear but she wasn’t attacking Hannah like she always dreamed to do when she was younger, “Are you and Grayson still together?” 

The popular bully and the jock who also bullied her, she had to know, “No, we divorced a few months ago.” Hannah says in a cold tone, the same anger Beatrice saw in her eyes whenever Hannah bullied her returned, “I’m sure you must think it’s hilarious.”

Beatrice inhaled, looking at Rooster from a distance, Bianca on his arms and talking nonstop, “I don’t.” she replies, finally meeting Hannah’s eyes, “I am sorry it happened. You two…seemed to like each other a lot.” Who knew that tormenting a girl in high school could bring people together? 

“...I…” Hannah licks her lips, the fury in her eyes turning into confusion, “Thank you…uh…”

“I should go now, Hannah. And, again ,I’m sorry about your divorce.” she didn’t touch her shoulder, she didn’t get closer to the other woman, she just nodded and backed away from her, “I hope you and your son can go through it together.” she turned on her heel, her strong façade dissipating into pure relief, closing her eyes with a sigh as she met Bradley halfway, hearing Bianca talk about what she did with Jolene.

Bradley placed the blond girl on the ground so she could hold her aunt’s hand, bouncing on the spot, “You okay?” he asks, moving his eyes from Beatrice to the woman who was still on the same spot, “Did she say anything else?”

“Nothing of importance.” Beatrice replied in a quiet voice, looking over her shoulder to where Hannah was, then moving her gaze away when she turned around, “We can go.” she assured him, holding his hand so she could tug him away with a small smile. Rooster gave Hannah one last look, one that made the dark blonde woman stop on her tracks for a second, just watching all of them walk out of the dog park.

“Mr.Scoops!” Bianca squealed, jumping up and down while holding Bea’s hand, “I wanna go to Mr.Scoops!!”

“Oh, God.” her aunt groans, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle another trip there, I already had my share of ice cream for the day.”

“We can just get something for Bianca and then take her to Leo,I’m sure he’d appreciate it.” Bradley adds, his eyes remained on Beatrice, trying to read her reactions. When they placed Bianca inside the car, alongside Jolene, he stopped in front of the passenger seat just as Bea was about to open it, “Baby.” Bea drags her eyes up his face, “Are you okay?”

His girlfriend looked back at the dog park, narrowing her eyes, “...yeah.Yeah I am.” her jaw was set tight, the tendon jumping but she sighs one more time, “It’s…I don’t know, I guess I’m no longer…who I was then. I got scared and nervous but…but it’s not worth it. She hasn’t changed, I don’t think, I didn’t give her enough room to ‘maneuver’ but honestly I hope she gets better. She divorced her high school…’sweetheart.’”

The air quotes used twice made Bradley arch one eyebrow, but he didn’t stop her from finishing her sentence, “Was she one of your bullies?”

“Hah, yeah.” she laughs awkwardly, furrowing her eyebrows, “Queen Hannah, that was her. Popular and the reason cheerleaders get a bad rep, it was…yeah, it was pretty bad.” but Beatrice relaxes the more she speaks, tucking her hair behind her ears while looking up at him, “I’m fine.”

Rooster stared at her for a long time, almost making sure she was really fine, bringing one of his hands up to her cheek, then down to cup her chin, tilting her head up just enough for him to press their lips together in a sweet kiss, ‘Okay. If you say so.”

“I am.” she smiles, kissing his thumb when he runs it over her lips, her red cheeks turning redder at how his pupils enlarged and he pulled his hand away, “But you seemed really upset seeing her, more than me. Almost if you were ready to throw hands.”

“Please baby,” he opens the passenger door for her, grinning down at Beatrice when she steps inside, “I’m a gentleman. You know that. I’d never hit a woman.”

“I know.”

“But I’d gladly give her a verbal ass whooping if you hadn’t.” he pushes the door closed, walking around the Bronco towards the driver’s side, looking back at Bianca swinging her legs while humming a song, “So, Mr.Scoops?”

“Mr.Scoops!!”

Beatrice smiles back at her niece, “Okay, fine. But I won’t get anything else, we are only going to get stuff for Bibi.” Bradley’s lips form a cute pout that Beatrice couldn’t help but kiss, “And you of course.” Rooster grins against her mouth, turning the car on and driving off. Meanwhile Bea turns her head towards the park, her smile lowering until it is no longer there, leaning back on her seat.

Strange how both times she visited this park, Rooster learned more about her past. First, it was Eric’s surprise meeting at the supermarket and now Hannah…and yet she managed to deal with both things as maturely as she could, mainly because she didn’t want to revive the past anymore. Not when she had someone like Rooster, she had a good relationship.

Her smile returned, just in time for the clouds to part and the sun make itself known once more, yeah, she felt this year would be a good one. And she’d also be an aunt, again.

[yerpenachams]

JJBA Protagonist Abilities

I'm really inspired by 'Jojo's Bizarre Adventure,' because stands are an excellent way to go about avoiding power creep and creating versatile but limited power sets. Probably my favorite plot point in Part 8 is that the Rock Humans have more predatory and devastating, but situational stands, compared to most other antagonists in the series.

However, Araki doesn't go as far as he could with the protagonist's abilities. Giorno's is a little too versatile, while still being strong (although you could say this fits thematically with him being the son of Dio, whose stand is also 'unfair'). Jotaro's stand is obviously very basic, but that's acceptable since it's from the first part with stands. That leaves Crazy Diamond, Stone Free, Tusk, Soft & Wet, and November Rain.

I was super excited about the reveal of November Rain, because it really seemed like a mook stand that just happened to be used by a main character. To me, this fit really well with the themes of Part 9, since Jodio believes that he's a psychopath doomed to struggle with human connection; he doesn't view himself as a hero. Of course, in more recent chapters, November Rain has been established as a pretty versatile stand, although it's still a bit more specific than any of the previous main character stands (in my opinion).

Crazy Diamond has a very neat and clean powerset; healing and repairing objects. This may seem simple, but has a variety of applications in Part 4. Stone Free essentially just allows Jolyne to stretch herself, fit through tight spaces and go "long-range" at the cost of vulnerability; it basically just improves hand-to-hand combat, but it's still a pretty good stand.

Tusk is a stand that really makes a point of "harnessing a force of nature." Gold Experience gives Giorno control over biology, but Tusk gives Johnny control over rotation, including allowing him to create black holes. Objectively, it's probably the best idea for a main character stand so far in a series about the power of fate. However, I've read some convincing fan theories about November Rain, I love the way that Crazy Diamond is used in certain fights in Part 4... and I think that Soft & Wet had a lot of potential.

I actually love Part 8, and it's kind of necessary for Josuke to have a "bullshit stand" when a lot of his opponents use devasting and/or long-range and/or automatic stands (of the Rock Humans, Aisho Dainenjiyama, Dolomite, Poor Tom and Satoru Akefu/Toru all have automatic stands). In addition to Doobie Wah!, Blue Hawaii, Ozone Baby and Wonder of U, Tamaki Damo's Vitamin C and Yotsuyu Yagiyama's I Am a Rock both have features of automatic stands. Once infected, victims of Vitamin C are doomed as long as they're in its range. I Am a Rock attracts objects to people's bodies automatically, although Yotsuyu is at risk since he has to touch people to activate his stand. For Vitamin C, I Am a Rock and Brain Storm, calling them 'automatic' is varying degrees of a stretch, but I definitely think Doctor Wu and the Schott Keys are the only Rock Human stands that have no automatic elements (although Doctor Wu clearly has a different-functioning brain to control all the different parts of his body in the way he does). That's a count of seven automatic stands to three non-automatic, and Brain Storm and Schott Key No. 2 have very small automatic features, since they are diseases. One could argue that, if Green Day functions automatically, then so do Brain Storm and Schott Key No. 2.

Of course, there are non-Rock Human stands that are automatic in Part 8. This in particular includes Kei Nijimura's Born This Way. California King Bed also takes memories automatically, although only when Josuke breaks a rule. That's excluding Yasuho Hirose's Paisley Park and Norisuke Higashikata's King Nothing, which are automatic stands used by allies of Josuke.

I just really enjoy talking about my theory/"observation" that the Rock Human stands are especially predatory, aggressive and unfair because they're a solitary species of humanoid with low to no empathy.

Regardless, Gappy's Soft and Wet is a very interesting stand that's hard to write for. It can "plunder," absorb, steal basically whatever Josuke wants... from physical objects to abstract concepts. He can place himself inside a bubble, mediate air pressure, steal friction from a floor or eyesight from a human being.

I basically came up with this list of Jojo protagonist abilities to make myself feel a bit better while I devise abilities for my own protagonists.