#jjba meta

[passionesolja]

Who serves the most cunt

Dio Brando (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure)

Astarion (Baldur’s Gate 3)

Voting ended onJul 1, 2025

[capitainesunny]

Oh I need to geek a bit about sbr. Bc as a past horse girl, I can't tell you how much I love Araki's way of portraying horses, horse riding and riders.

First, the fact that horses do play a non-negligeable role in the story, such as basically having names (yes it's quite rare to put a name, which implies an individuality, to a horse) or being consistent throughout the part (with the race's rules forbidding the change of horses). It's important because I may remind you that animals are not soulless being, they breath and are alive like us, some of them can play between each other, have complex societies, laugh, etc (studies on the comportment of animals are so interesting but that's another topic), and for example, horses are very empathetic animals, which make them very good therapy partners (linking to Johnny's disability storyline in a way), they feel very well our emotions. Basically, if you're scared of a horse, they will feel it (plus they have a very expressive language !). It's also magical in the way I'm so excited when I see Slow Dancer or Walkyrie mentioned in fics, and I love the effort from Araki to name all the horses, even npcs, and with references as he would do with stands AND giving them specific races, it's really refreshing bc you won't race the same way with an Arabian and with a Percheron.

ALSO. The way he draws his characters riding !!! Most people wouldn't really bother, but you can see in Diego's stance, outfits and riding style that he's a professional jockey, unlike Gyro who is more in freestyle, or Mountain Tim riding in a very cowboy way. Same for Johnny. Even adapting the way he rides, he still keeps a jockey position. And he's very accurate : his saddle is adapted (as much as possible) to maintain his legs and stop him from falling (it's completely accurate and not that hard to ride a horse without using your legs), almost squatting on Slow Dancer's back, reins kept short and straight... (I should check again Dot Han's riding bc Mongolian horse riding and saddles are quite different from European/north-american)

Even the way riders are drawn : Mountain Tim is tall and massive → not made for speed and race but forged by long distances and harsh conditions. Oppositely, Diego is smaller and has less visible muscle (even though I think he's a bit too tall for a jockey but that's ok). And the fact that Johnny, even when not considering his wheelchair, is still smaller than the norm, unlike the other Joestars, is a chara design I thank Araki for bc that's a jockey right there : small yet still has muscles (+ the very developed back and arms bc of his disability (the details !))

And another interesting thing is that Araki makes sure we don't forget Johnny is a past jockey and knows a hell lot about horses and riders. Usually, Gyro's the character in the position of teacher (with the Spin), but we're often reminded that he has no real experience with horses, unlike Johnny. Think again of the end of the 3rd (?) part of the race, when Johnny explained to Gyro why he couldn't win : Johnny knows what a race looks like, how this or that person rides, he's good at reading the situations, establishing strategies and keeping an eye on his horse.

[lotsofdreamb0ats]

hai ive thought of transfem buccellati a lot actually. often hand in hand with transfem giogio for me because i like the idea of giogio rejecting everything her birth "meant" for her to become including being a boy. & thematically giogio basically does everything buccellati feels too sad and defeated and trapped in a miserable society to have...... so therefore..... like what if she ever got the chance to live free of the extreme responsibility thats been placed on her since she was a child and just got to be herself what would that be like. + also people must never forget araki gave buccellati an "erotic feminine silhouette" please god do not forGET. ♀️🏳️‍⚧️♀️

YOURE SOOO UNBELIEVABLY BASED + TRUE FOR THIS GIORNO AND BRUNO ARE MY BELOVED HAG4HAG BESTIES/DUMB BITCHES SAYING EXACTLYYY. giorno fulfills the dream her and bruno shared between them and only them... giorno the first person to take bruno outside of her own body and make her see it... uaaah. girls stand users really are drawn to eachother.

okay gonna put this under a cut but tldr: i talk about transfem bruno bucciarati while throwing a few humble pebbles at t/masc bruno for being the majority vote on bruno trans hcs when it doesn't really read to me at all + plays into some larger issues ive noticed when fanon tries to analyze bucciarati. bit of neg for some other fanon stuff but please understand it is all for the sake of bruno positivity. [ft. a little bit of brumis propaganda here and there because well i know who i am]

(as a warning, i use he/him to talk about canon bruno, but i exclusively use she/her for tfem hc bruno as u can see literally anywhere else i have spoken abt bruno LMAO)

i am always desperate for people to actually attempt thematic or narrative throughlines in their golden wind fanworks. my main issue with fanon is that, for a part that is incredibly thorough but subtle with what the existing throughlines are, i feel like people boil pt5 down to aesthetics and tropes the most. bruno is 110% the biggest victim of this.

to talk about my dear mafia princess bucciarati: obligatory everyone is allowed their own headcanons but the inability to read between the lines in a lot of part 5 fanon is why t/ransmasc bruno doesn't work for me; it actively goes against what i feel his narrative is trying to say about the life bruno leads and what he's sacrificed for the sake of it. many people see bruno bucciarati's torment nexus and go "wow! it's so inspiring how much he loves and dedicates himself to the torment nexus! i wish someone like bucciarati would save me from myself + my bad circumstances :)" without actually considering what BRUNO's circumstances imply about bruno as a person/character.

to put it bluntly: bruno is miserable the entire part and spends half of it in a dead body only piloted by his desperate need to see his goals through (namely the protection of others, trish and his crew and children targetted by passione's drug dealing) then dies hopelessly and terribly alone TWO SEPARATE TIMES with his only company in both of those moments being trish + giorno. and he has felt a horrible debt and responsibility to prioritize others above himself and his wants/needs since he was [checks timeline] 7 years old. in araki's own words, he is particularly feminine and girlish in appearance and on top of that he has also looked the exact same (and acted the same, and felt the same, and prioritized others over and over the same) since he was an incredibly young child.

this is an incredibly fraught take and i don't want anyone to take it as a personal offense or whatever since i get a lot of this was projection/wish fulfillment, but the fact that at the height of golden wind fandom, bruno bucciarati was simultaneously saddled with many assertions typically reserved for female characters ie perceiving his repressed kindness as a suppressed maternal instinct (see: mama bruno), a weird saintly savior narrative/nuclear marriage with abbacchio, the insistence that him and abbacchio [and sometimes mista] just SEEM older and that meaning they SHOULD be older (i'm guilty of this one too!!! fanon poisoned me too 4 a time!!) and a refusal to discuss bruno as a character outside of those he serves...

i'm very drawn to transfem bruno for a lot of reasons in text [read above paragraphs] but i'm gonna be honest: i can't help but feel that in a lot of ways, fandom has 'prescribed' bucciarati womanhood (and a dash of the fandom misogyny that accompanies that, though obviously not to the same extreme as trish or any other canon fem character] without actually letting him* BE a woman, going so far as to 'subvert a subversion' and overly hc him as transmasc instead.

as a baseline, tmasc bruno is fine! i don't think that's bad in and of itself or comes from a bad place for most people, even if i personally feel it somewhat goes against the grain of what joining passione did to bruno (enforced his urge to repress parts of himself to take responsibility for/for the sake of others, the instinct to self-isolate, etc.) my issue is, as it usually is w tfem hcs, that there has simply not been the serious thought or deep conception in anyones minds that well. maybe the highly repressed feminine man is actually a highly repressed trans woman.

(except there is with abbacchio, which is a whole other by-itself-this-is-fine-but-dear-lord-the-implications issue to me; i feel like tmasc bruno/tfem abbacchio specifically plays into a lot of unpacked misogyny and a continued refusal to see either character as their own person who made their own choices but shh shhh not the time or place.)

maybe bruno "looks like a little girl" when he's a kid, the single time we see bruno happy or fulfilled and without worry, is because he simply was a little girl to whatever degree he perceived himself. i know this again comes from the fact most of vocal fandom is tme (not an exception here) but i honestly don't think enough people consider the fact many repressed trans girls ALSO experience and internalize misogynistic expectations. without his mother around, who is going to take care of bruno's father?

in choosing to stay with his father, bruno outright denies himself the better care and objectively 'better' life he could get from his mother while considering himself his father's keeper, not the other way around. i'm sure this will have zero impact on how bruno views responsibility over others, even those who technically have superiority over him in age or experience, whatsofuckingever.

it is also not above me or my mental illness that in the anime adaptation, when bruno is happy and with both his parents, he is wearing a yellow 'tunic' the same shade as his mother's dress, something that disappears from his design when he decides (against his own self-interest) to stay behind and help his father.

and we literally see bruno take so many pounds of flesh off of himself so often for so many people that the entire second half of golden wind is dedicated to how that utterly destroys him, mind and body. in the collosseum arc bruno is blind and deaf and nearly collapsing in the street, and still, STILL offering [who he believes to be] trish a place to stay and feel safe when all of it is over. this fucking panel set makes me want to bullets in my own dome i swear

(please don't ask me how i feel about the fact golden wind constantly dangles mista in front of the viewer anytime bruno is suffering [#6 yelling at him for chopping his own heart in two and trying to push it back together, doppio panicking over mista potentially seeing bruno and illuminating the ruse, All Of Sleeping Slaves] i will start to sob and cry about it i fucking mean it. brief image compilation since this also fits my overall take of bruno suffering and not letting anyone know about it except giorno.)

i can't find the exact manga page right now but god it makes me feel wretched how little bruno can even conceive of prioritizing himself, or how obviously and thoroughly he's breaking apart, because his life's mission is and has always been to serve and protect others.

it's admirable to a degree but god i can't stomach prioritizing that when it's so clear how unwell and bruno is from the moment he first appears to the very moment he gives his own life to fulfill his and giorno's mission.

CONCLUSION: estrogen WOULD save her bc if bruno bucciarati managed to get on estrogen it would mean she, for even just a moment, put herself as a person above herself as a figure and symbol of authority and duty to others. fuck my stupid baka life. lets get you some zipper vagino princess

i got a bit carried away talking about bucciarati [many such cases] but i love your read for tfem giorno i am honestly obsessed... generally speaking i don't elaborate on whether my giorno is transmasc or transfem, i just use he/him for simplicity + refer to him as an agender femme and refuse to elaborate on that further :) many things to think about....

[unofficialjotaro]

Professor-simple on reddit created a comprehensive and hypothetical timeline of the journey of the Stardust Crusaders from Tokyo to Egypt

Link to google drive here

Great for fic reference!

[pocchi-poket]

I just finished the first half of stardust crusaders. I liked it enough (some moments straight out blew my mind lol), even if a bit less than Battle Tendency, as I feel like Araki hasn't quite nailed the "monster of the week" structure and the rhythm isn't quite the best. But more than that I'm sill a little bit unsure of Jotaro's character.

Of course, there are still 24 episodes left in this part, so plenty of time to give him an actual development now that his character has been established, but until now he was pretty... static.

I mean, bot Jonathan and Joseph faced a conflict and had to learn something in their parts. Jonathan's story was centered on his relationship-conflict with Dio (which ultimately mirrored the good ol' good vs evil, even more than with the other jojos since Jonathan and Dio are literally goodness and evil incarnate) and he had to learn how to be stronger in order to face him (without getting corrupted in the process! Even if this is maybe a bit more subtle). Joseph's was instead centered on his need to understand and uphold his family's legacy (a theme that was nicely mirrored in Caesar), and he had to learn just what the consequences of his (often self-centered or somewhat superficial) behavior were... And what was his own, personal, way to deal with both of these things. Forge his own path, if you will.

But with Jotaro... Just what is his main conflict? Yes, he has to save his mom, he has to bring an end (?) to the Joestar curse by defeating DIO, but more than a development of his character there was only a "discovering" (from the viewer pov) of it until now, showing that he's not just a tugh but more of a edgy kid who really wants to protect his loved ones even if he doesn't always show it. Which is a nice character set up, but I still don't understand where is character arc is meant to go, or if there is one to begin with. He's easily solved every challenged they faced until now, mostly with his fists, and while it would've been really cool if his arc had been about learning how to rely on others and show vulnerability, there was very little of that until now (a little bit in the Lovers episodes especially, but I feel like even that went a bjt nowhere). Even the refusal of the call he had at first was very quickly resolved. Just... What is the point of his character, you know?

I just want to make it clear that I am not making this post to hate on his character, on the contrary I like him a lot: a detective nerd who tries to look cool and has difficulties in social interaction... That basically me when I was his age lol. But I feel like there is something about him I haven't quite managed to grasp. I can easily imagine there is more to it, but I wondered what was other people's impression of his character up to this point.

(If anybody wants to answer please try to not make any spoilers about the second half of part 3, I've already accidentally gotten enough of them, lol)

[loststolenorstrayed]

DIO-sama's not an ambush predator, he stalks out in the open. Arrogantly. It's awesome.

Metapost incoming

You wouldn't expect it, but if you analyze, DIO-sama is very truthful when he has the choice. He's seen as a liar for his actions in the Joestar house, which is true, but once he rejected his humanity, he had no more reason to lie and it shows. Rather than constructing webs as he did faking friendship and familial ties, he's in your face, screaming about his right to rule over you. He only constructs webs of lies when he feels he has no better option; he prefers to lie through omission or be truthful and get people to do what he wants despite having all the information.

Let's go part by part.

Dio-sama, after rejecting his humanity, tells Jojo his feelings and his plans to kill him honestly, every time they meet. He doesn't even omit information that may compromise him; he doesn't need to [see all the stuff about not wanting to kill him himself, respecting his will, telling Jojo straight out his plan to steal his body.] Even with lesser people, he only lies through omission, if at all. He gives Jack the Ripper a clear picture of the deal he's making, in fancy language. He tells the lady he manipulates into eating her baby specifically what a dangerous choice she's making, despite having engineered the entire situation for entertainment. He doesn't lie to Zepelli, to the Tibetan Hamon masters, to Speedwagon, and especially not to Jojo! He has no more need to lie. I feel he glories in it.

Fast forward 100 years to part 3, and see how DIO-sama interacts with his followers and potential followers. To some, he's promised rewards; to most, he simply seems to have offered peace of mind that they do get in his service. We don't see anyone outside the rescued Crusaders reject or question his message. This doesn't necessarily mean truth by itself, but given his meetings with the Crusaders, we can expand upon that. The closest he reaches to direct lying is to Polnareff, which is done through omission. He says that he knows who killed Sherry and can help Polnareff find him; and that if Polnareff sticks by his side, he'll have no more worries about it. He never said that he actually *would* help. He prefers to have people lie to themselves rather than to put in the effort himself; it's also more effective. To Kakyoin, he simply says "Calm down. Let's be friends." His entire offer is respite from the fear he himself inspired, and companionship. An offer easily and readily fulfilled. To Avdol, he doesn't even make an offer. He just asks him to show him his powers, in an extremely seductive way. I doubt the implicit offer there was a lie; DIO-sama is insatiable after all.

The mechanics of flesh buds mimic this tendency to omit information or to dazzle or convince truthfully rather than just lie. Instead of direct puppetry, distortion of sensory information, or distortion of personality, they simply bring up hidden impulses and change perspective. A brain parasite could be much more invasive; but it doesn't have to be, because DIO-sama doesn't have to be.

Now on to part 6; DIO-sama is extremely and vulnerably honest with Pucci, especially emotionally. Even the camera angles underscore this; in Pucci's memories are the only times we see DIO-sama look up to the viewer. The way he tests him with the opportunity to take The World is a crowning moment of emotional honesty; he shows him his fear and doubt and they get through it together. As equals who are dear to eachother. It's insane. Now, Pucci didn't know about the Joestars at the time, or about DIO-sama's violence and slaughter and whatnot, but we have no indication Pucci ever asked. They were caught up in philosophy, in one another's souls, in talking about Stands, in planning for Heaven.

Overall I think the freedom to be honest and still win is something DIO-sama gained from rejecting humanity and treasured. I would be tired of faking affection and gratitude for 7 or so years too. That's one of the things DIO-sama gets from his quest for power; freedom. He was going to be free even from the terror of fate, if the Joestars hadn't gotten in the way.

[khevras]

Golden Wind/Vento Aureo Spoilers

Video Transcript

Bruno: I'll be forced to cut ties with you. A traitor stands alone on an island of isolation. Your failure will be yours and yours alone.

So recently I've decided I really wanted to rewatch golden wind after reading the rest of the parts, and since this time I wanted to give more focus to the animation, I decided to watch it in dub. As a result, when I got to this part in ep3, I realised the dub had elected to change what exactly Bruno had said, stating the words above instead.

This struck me as a bit of a wierd change until I then realised how much this moment foreshadows Fugos 'betrayal' at San Giorgio Maggiore; by having the only one not betraying the boss being the one who suffers what Bruno predicted.

I feel like this foreshadowing is honestly amazing, and also hits home at how Fugo feels later on in phf when thinking back to his actions as the pier. I feel like he really does think of his lack of movement as a failure towards Bucciarati, one he has to atone for and I think it's really interesting.

On top of that, I find it really fun how accurate Brunos words are to the situation as a whole, and I find it quite ironic that the one who suffers them isn't even betraying the boss like Bruno is describing, but rather Bruno himself.

Overall, I really like how this singular line foreshadows a moment episodes later, and how I can bring up how Fugo's opinions and feelings on the event are reflected in Bucciarati's words.

[gangstar-paradise]

hi hi hello hi thoughts on jonadio .. i must know

Hello! I don't have STRONG thoughts about them as I kind of glazed over a lot of parts before p4 initially. However, as I've been working with DIO and canon-reviewing to write Use Once, I think the best way I can sum up my opinion at this point is how I had DIO respond to this exact question when Giorno asked: "Without Jonathan, there would be no DIO." I think that it's definitely like, a one-sided thing in that Jonathan, in his purest heart, hoped even to the last for Dio's redemption and must have felt incredibly pained at the CONSTANT betrayal, dad-poisoning, etc. Brotherly love, but not physical love or lust. While Dio projected SO MANY of his personal issues into Jonathan in general and the Joestars in broad, while still finding that he only had respect for Jonathan standing up to him and no one else. Dio became obsessed with Jonathan as the symbol of all that he wanted to attain for himself (power, strength, a strong family, wealth, etc.) Dio respects force and determination; he views "love" as something treacherous and destructive, a toxic and undermining element that prevents the person "in love" from enacting their will on the world. And in a lot of ways he created DIO from himself as a persona in a similar way that Haruno Shiobana created "Giorno Giovanna" - as something that allowed him to go beyond what he thought were his personal failures and limitations. The Stone Mask was both a symbol of that persona-creation and also the thing that enabled it. He had to become a vampire to become what he felt was the truest form of himself, to become DIO.

But that would never have happened if Jonathan hadn't pushed him to try and find a way to get on top, if Jonathan had just sat back and took it more and more, Dio would have kept his sneering contempt for Jonathan, but would not have evolved any further; he might not have felt compelled to try and put on the mask, etc.

Personally I think Dio needs and wants to be challenged constantly - not only to develop himself to overcome that which he opposes, but because he has some unfinished mental work to do about himself - his self-esteem, and his sense of place in the world. He evolves himself through conflict.

Notice that as time goes on throughout JJBA, DIO becomes more contemplative, more passive, and more reflective; a true philosopher-king, enough so that it really feels like his turn against Jotaro is some kind of psychotic breakdown from the calm and steady character we see in most of SDC and Stone Ocean. That's kind of hard to reconcile with the bulk of his characterization and I still don't know how to do that yet myself. Did DIO love Jonathan? I think he did, but in a very unconventional/symbolic manner. He usurped and absorbed Jonathan, he still feels that Jonathan is 'alive' in him, in the body he captured and tamed; he expresses this on several occasions in the text. His immortality is also a 'gift' he believes he granted to Jonathan, without actually having to deal with Jonathan's resistance or his personality. He probably genuinely believes this is the highest form of praise and the ultimate and best form of how their two individual selves could become one being for all time. Thanks for asking! I hope this is useful :)