#The rest of the fanbase would be in hell but I would be in heaven | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shoechoe · 3 years

Text

why pucci is an underrated villain

so basically, i love pucci and this is why

(warning: spoilers for jojo’s bizarre adventure, stone ocean. also, this is a sort of continuation of my other post “why jolyne is an underrated jojo”, and while you don’t have to read that post to understand this one, you can check that out as well if you haven’t and want to.)

Enrico Pucci is a jojo villain who i think gets looked over as a character way too much. I don’t see much hate directed his way (in fact, i often see him being praised as an exception to the rest of part 6 by people who dislike the part- “I hate everyone in Stone Ocean except for Pucci” is basically a classification of Stone Ocean Dislikers™ to me). But, i feel like he does often get forgotten. I see him mentioned easily the least out of every jojo villain, and when he is, he’s always just there to be a simp; a DIO simp. His entire characterization in the fandom is just “I love Jesus and want to fuck DIO”, which gets on my nerves sometimes. (The Diopucci aspect is actually even sort of problematic, but I’ll get to that later). I think there’s a lot more to Pucci’s character than just “Christian who is also a loyal DIO follower”. Additionally, to my knowledge, not very many people have gone into depth about Pucci’s character and explained why they do like him.

So, here are some reasons why i think pucci is pretty great

first: his stand(s)

Pucci’s first stand, Whitesnake, has the ability to create illusions and take aspects of a person in the form of discs (usually he just takes stand and memory discs, but he can take other aspects of people as well, as we saw when he removed his eyesight).

Now, honestly, I love Whitesnake just from the concept alone. It can forcibly rip aspects from people in the form of discs? That’s cool as hell.

rip jotaro

Whitesnake’s illusions are its second ability, albeit used less than the discs. It can put people into a dreamlike state while their bodies are slowly eaten away with acid, and can also be used to disguise Whitesnake, as demonstrated when Pucci disguised it as Weather Report to get close to Jolyne and the rest of the group.

People have criticized the fact that Whitesnake doesn’t use the acid attack again after the first time he does it, and that it was an “araki forgot” moment that the ability was only used once. However, I think it makes sense that Pucci wouldn’t use this on Jolyne again. The acid is very slow, and easy to get out of if you’re aware of what’s going on, which Jolyne would be since she’s gone through it once before. The attack is kind of a one-time ability, and if it fails, it can’t really be used again with the same effectiveness.

I also really like Whitesnake’s design, and how you can infer more about Pucci’s character by paying attention to it.

For example, Pucci is a priest and a supposedly devout Christian, but Whitesnake evokes much more of a “devil” feeling in its black, spiked outfit, constantly angry expression, and broken eyes that appear as though they’re melting, which is contradictory to what Pucci thinks of himself as- a kind, benevolent Christian who wants to redeem sinners and “achieve heaven” for the rest of the world.

A lot of people also like to assign stereotypes or generalizations related to very strong-believing Christians to Pucci, like:

“Pucci is homophobic because he is a Christian.”

“Pucci doesn’t believe in science because he is a Christian.”

“Pucci is heavily conservative because he is a Christian.”

But, if we’d take a look at Whitesnake, would those stereotypes be necessarily true? The patterns covering its body read “GΔCT”, or the letter symbols for DNA. Something like DNA symbols covering Pucci’s stand would imply that he does believe in science, which would also mean that he believes in things like evolution. This conflicts with the common view on Pucci in the fanbase, which makes me think not a lot of people have realized this.

It’s something that you wouldn’t catch if you hadn’t paid close attention to Whitesnake and understood what the symbols meant. So, I think that’s pretty cool.

There’s also what Whitesnake is named after, which is the English rock band formed in 1978 of the same name. I think Araki chose the band “Whitesnake” in particular because it fits with the stand’s aesthetic and abilities:

-White is a color associated with purity and goodness, but snakes are animals associated with death, poison, untrustworthiness, and evil. This effectively makes the name “Whitesnake” an oxymoron.

-Whitesnake’s acid attack could be considered like a snake’s venom. Additionally, it being able to create illusions fits with the “untrustworthy” feeling a snake evokes.

Whitesnake is probably in my top ten favorite stands in the entire series. It has a very cool ability, symbolizes its user well, has a good design, and was used in an interesting way.

Now onto Pucci’s second stand, C-Moon.

C-Moon is what Pucci’s stand became after he fused with the Green Baby, a creature made out of DIO’s bone.

I won’t discuss much about its appearance, because I think it’s pretty straightforward- since it’s a fusion of Whitesnake and the Green Baby, it appears as a fusion of the two. What I do want to talk about is its ability, which is to:

a. shift gravity in a 3-kilometer (1.86 mile) radius around Pucci

and b. Turn everything it hits inside-out.

C-Moon’s ability is just cool as hell. I know that’s not a very intricate reason, but it counts. I loved the fight with C-Moon, and the things Jolyne had to come up with just to keep herself from dying in one hit.

I also thought it was interesting that C-Moon was a remote-control stand, unlike Pucci’s other stands. I like to think that the fact that it’s a remote-control stand that follows simple orders is related to the fact that it is partially made of the Green Baby, which is an entity separate from Pucci. Perhaps the Green Baby is C-Moon, in a way? It is a living being, after all. Maybe the Green Baby’s consciousness is in C-Moon, and it follows Pucci’s orders. After all, it and Pucci fused, but all Pucci himself seemed to gain from that was a change in hairstyle and weird eyelashes. Its consciousness should’ve logically went somewhere.

There’s also the song that C-Moon is named after, which is the Paul McCartney song of (you guessed it) the same name. I think the relation to the lyrics of the song and the stand is pretty straightforward.

“C moon, C moon, C moon is she C moon, C moon, C moon to me How come no one older than me Ever seems to understand The things I wanna do? It will be L7 And I'd never get to heaven If I filled my head with glue What's it all to you?”

The lyrics “I’d never get to heaven” is clearly relating to Pucci’s goal of achieving Heaven, and the fact that the next stand is named Made in Heaven. C-Moon is the transition stand in-between Whitesnake and MiH, so it probably represents the fact that Pucci is facing his greatest struggle yet to achieve heaven with Jolyne and the others trying to stop him, and that it would be “L7″ (which means lame) if he never got to heaven when he’s already gotten so far.

I really like C-Moon. It’s not my favorite stand, but it’s got a neat ability and the fight against it was one of the better fights in part 6, in my opinion. I just wish it was around for a little longer? It doesn’t exist for very long, but it definitely leaves an impression.

Then, there’s Pucci’s third and final stand: Made in Heaven.

Made in Heaven is probably one of my favorite stands in JoJo. It is the culmination of all of Pucci and DIO’s work up until that point, and is just generally epic as fuck, honestly. Even if you don’t like part 6′s ending, you kinda have to admit that the concept of Made in Heaven as a stand is very cool.

Made in Heaven is a stand with the ability to accelerate time. This makes it the last of the series of stands with time-focused abilities held by villains- DIO with the ability to stop time, Kira with the ability to turn back time, Diavolo with the ability to erase time, and finally, Pucci with the ability to accelerate time.

It also comes with a few additional variables that Pucci can control. He can control what Made in Heaven accelerates specifically- this is how he accidentally ended up aging the baby we saw in the scene where he was taxed by his stand and was unable to fully control his powers, but in the final fight, he only accelerated inanimate objects, like the Earth and the sun, but kept living things such as humans unaffected.

Made in Heaven’s acceleration also slowly grows faster and faster as it goes on- days went from being an hour long to two minutes long to three seconds long, and then to the point where the Earth span so fast around the Sun that it appeared as a strip of light instead of a sphere.

Finally, it stops when the Universe hits the “singularity point”, and resets into a new one.

To be honest, when I was reading this, I was mostly thinking of how cool this will look when it gets animated. I’ve seen several fan animations online of the Made in Heaven arc, and if the anime looks even half as good as those, I’ll be happy.

There’s also Made in Heaven’s design, which is probably the most unique-looking out of all of the main villains’ stands. It appears with a humanoid look from its head to its waist, with it being intercepted by the front end of a horse. This evokes a centaur-ish feeling, with the main difference being it has the front end of a horse instead of the back end. There are also ropes attached to the horse’s head that the humanoid part holds on to, which evokes the feeling of someone riding a horse (Pucci horse girl confirmed?) It also glows and sparkles, and has the color palette of being white and gold with a couple other light colors for the accessories. This gives strong “heavenly” vibes, and makes it appear as though it really could have come from heaven itself. (It even sort of gives me “biblically accurate angel” vibes, in a way- specifically, maybe a cherubim. Although, that may be a stretch.)

There’s also Made in Heaven, the Queen song that the stand is named after. Ignoring the fact that Made in Heaven is a banger and a perfectly fitting song for a stand like this, the lyrics are also significant and connect to Pucci.

“I'm taking my ride with destiny Willing to play my part Living with painful memories Loving with all my heart”

This, when read with the context of JoJo’s, is clearly talking about Pucci. He’s playing his part in the Heaven Plan, and taking a ride with destiny (he believes that he is being helped by fate to achieve “heaven”). He also has many painful memories of his past- the tragedy with Weather Report and Perla, and the death of the person he worshipped and was friends with, DIO.

“When stormy weather comes around It was made in heaven When sunny skies break through behind the clouds I wish it could last forever, yeah Wish it could last forever, forever”

I think this could possibly be related to Weather Report’s ability. Pucci was killed by Emporio with Weather Report (the stand), and part six ended out with stormy weather.

“Made in heaven I'm playing my role in history Looking to find my goal Taking in all this misery But giving it all my soul”

This seems like Pucci believing that his goal in life was to complete DIO’s original plan of attaining heaven. He’s gone through loads of misery in his life, but he pushes through and finally achieves his goal (before being killed, and having all of his work reversed and being erased from reality... but let’s not talk about that just yet.)

So... Made in Heaven is an absolutely terrifying stand. I love it.

Second: Pucci’s personality and relationships

When it comes to Pucci’s personality, people mostly just characterize him as being a heavily religious Christian who worships DIO (like I stated in the beginning). But, I feel like there’s a lot more to him than that.

Like, for example, can we acknowledge the fact that Pucci can be genuinely hilarious?

pucci gets mad at a prisoner for stealing his cross so he abruptly cuts from his casual conversation and slams her head on the table

Pucci doesn’t have a record player on him so he uses a random guy’s head to play Hallelujah

Pucci is just... climbing the NASA poster on the wall... because he wants to, I guess. Thanks for the visualization, Pucci.

He’s mostly pretty calm and composed, but he has so many ridiculous, out of the blue moments where he just becomes chaotic as hell. I love it.

He also has some little character quirks that I found to be fun and charming. We can see that he’s conversational, and likes having innocent small talk with the prisoners (in his first scene, he has a serious discussion with a prisoner about heaven, but ends up derailing the conversation and talking about cherries instead and almost forgets his original point.)

His method of calming himself down is, interestingly enough, counting prime numbers. We know he’s been doing it for a while, too, because he’s memorized them up to the thousands.

I found it strange and random at first that counting prime numbers was something that Pucci did to calm himself down, but the more I thought about it, it actually ties into his philosophy. Pucci is a person who gets anxious and scared about all of the disorder in the world, so universal constants like prime numbers help him by reminding him that there is still order in the universe.

I also really like how, unlike villains like DIO and Diavolo, he doesn’t really start off as very overpowered. He’s strong, but not invincible, which makes him an attainable threat that Jolyne and company could take care of at first. However, as they failed to prevent him from progressing through his heaven plan, he slowly grows stronger and stronger, gaining more powerful stands and abilities until he becomes practically invincible with the stand Made in Heaven. (Can I mention that I just find it really cool how Pucci’s stand evolves over time? It makes for an interesting plot progression.)

There’s also a very important aspect of his character that I’ve been neglecting to talk about until now, and that’s his relationship with DIO.

DIO and Pucci have a very interesting relationship with each other. They appear to be much closer with each other than any other DIO follower we see- they have several scenes where they have very personal interactions with each other, and it’s clear that Pucci cares about DIO very much.

We’ve seen before that DIO has a very different temperament towards his followers than he does his enemies. He appears very relaxed, calm, and polite towards most of his worshippers. It’s somewhat apparent that this is mostly a front to appeal to them, and he unleashes a much more chaotic, almost manic attitude in the final fight against Jotaro. But with Pucci, it seems like his down-to-earth attitude is much more genuine, and it seems as if he does really respect and like Pucci as a person and a friend.

Pucci is the only one who knew about DIO’s heaven plan, and helped to form it with him. He also knows a lot more about DIO than most of his other followers do- he knows where he sleeps, and is often invited to DIO’s home to have friendly chats and discuss casual topics with each other. They even have some banter with each other that normal friends would have.

I love Pucci’s smirk at that line, lmao

They even have an honest conversation about how Pucci’s stand could easily take out DIO’s The World, and leave him standless. Pucci could betray DIO and get away with it very easily- DIO even demonstrates this by grabbing his hand and forcibly pulling it towards his face, revealing The World’s stand disc in his forehead. However, Pucci reassures DIO that betraying him is something that’s never even crossed his mind before, and DIO says this:

The reason DIO brought up the thought of Pucci betraying him was because he was genuinely afraid of losing him. He says that Pucci is someone that he really likes not just because he’s a powerful stand user, but because he really just likes to hang out with him. This is probably the most vulnerable we see of DIO, and it’s incredibly interesting. It’s something that he doesn’t show very often, but Pucci brings out of him.

This has also led to a lot of people that ship Pucci and DIO with each other. It’s a big meme in the fanbase, and it’s easily the biggest jojo villain ship. And when you first look at it, it makes a lot of sense- they’re very close with each other, and there’s even a scene where they share a bed together. DIO is canonically bisexual and seduced many of his followers with the gender being irrelevant, and Pucci’s sexuality is ambiguous at best, since we don’t see him date or show attraction to anybody in the series.

But... here’s the thing. Pucci was actually a minor when DIO was around. He was fifteen years old when he and DIO first interacted.

Yeah... you see the problem here? I don’t really want to ship a hundred year old vampire and a teenager together. Although, I don’t really blame people who do ship them; there’s nothing to suggest that Pucci was a kid in this flashback, and I think most Diopucci shippers just genuinely aren’t aware of that. (also, i think it’s fine to headcanon that maybe pucci could’ve had a crush on DIO still or something like that, as long as it’s unrequited on DIO’s part).

So, I think I’m just going to stick to friendship between DIO and Pucci. I genuinely do like their friendship with each other, too. It’s very interesting, and I think it makes DIO a better villain in retrospect with the knowledge of his full plans for the world, and the fact that he did really care about someone despite how evil he is towards everyone else.

There’s also another character that Pucci has an important relationship with, and that’s his fraternal twin brother, Weather Report.

Weather Report (his real name Domenico Pucci), while not getting very much screen time by himself, plays a very important role in Pucci’s life and the story. He starts off as someone hiding out in prison with no memories of who he is- not even his name. That’s how he got the nickname “Weather Report”, because everybody simply called him by his stand name. He was extremely quiet and mellow, and most people in the prison weren’t aware of his existence.

Then, he finally recovers his memory disc at the end of the Underworld fight, and has a... reaction to it.

Suddenly, Weather’s personality changes drastically. He becomes a violent, impulsive person who constantly flaunts his abilities and attacks innocent people simply for annoying him. This freaks out even Anasui (who is creepy as hell in his own right).

Rainbows appear in the sky- a subconscious effect caused by Weather’s powerful stand abilities being unlocked for the first time in years. This extension of his abilities is called Heavy Weather.

Also, uh... snails. Lots of snails.

Now, this is important to Pucci, because he is the only one who understands Weather’s ability properly- he’s the one who removed Weather’s memory disc in the first place.

I’m going to discuss more about Pucci’s backstory in the next section, but him and Weather Report do serve as parallels to each other, and understanding Weather is important to understanding Pucci.

A thing that struck out to me about Weather’s stand is that it appears as a fluffy mass of clouds forming a humanoid.

I want to point out the parallel between Weather Report (the stand) and Whitesnake. While Whitesnake appears as a devil, Weather Report appears almost like an angel as a white, cloud-like being.

Weather (the user) and Pucci’s designs are also sort of hypocritical to their actual characters. Looking at Weather Report, you would probably guess that he’s the evil one and Pucci is the good one.

He literally appears with horns on his head, like a stereotypical demon. Meanwhile, Pucci is a priest- a person who claims to be a man of God.

He has priest robes, and even a star on his forehead after fusing with the Green Baby. His design would tell you that he presents as a good, virtuous person, but his actual character is nothing like that. Meanwhile, Weather appears almost devil-like, but again- his actual character is nothing like that.

Weather is also the first one to call out Pucci’s hypocrisy and the evil that he’s doing without realizing.

Weather even almost kills Pucci himself, before being interrupted by Jolyne and Hermes.

Weather’s stand is also the one to eventually defeat Pucci, after he accidentally inserts the stand disc into Emporio, which makes for a fitting stand to be the one to kill Pucci. I used to think it was kind of stupid that Emporio (an eleven year old child) was the one to eventually defeat the main villain, in the end. But then, I realized that it really wasn’t him doing it- he even states himself that the stand was acting on its own. It was really Weather doing the killing; Emporio was just the vector for it to be able to function.

There’s also the song Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai, which most people just recognize as the song that Weather Report’s hat is referencing. however, I believe that this is also vaguely referencing Weather and Pucci’s relationship, as well.

“It's a wonder men can eat at all When things are big that should be small Who can tell what magic spells we'll be doing for us And I'm giving all my love to this world”

I think this is referring to Heavy Weather’s ability, and that humans are being turned into giant snails- things that are big, but should be small.

“And now that things are changing for the worse See, its a crazy world we're living in And I just can't see that half of us immersed in sin Is all we have to give these”

I think that the lyric “Half of us immersed in sin” is referring to Pucci. He and Weather are twins, and Pucci is the one “immersed in sin”. The word “sin” also has religious connotations, which would make the fact that the priest is the one immersed in sin extra hypocritical.

“And I'm thinking what a mess we're in Hard to know where to begin If I could slip the sickly ties that earthly man has made And now every mother, can choose the colour Of her child That's not nature's way”

I think that this is referring to Pucci and Weather’s backstory. The mother that experienced a stillbirth stole Weather Report instead, which isn’t “nature’s way”.

Now, here’s the thing. I get that Weather called Pucci “the worst kind of evil there is”, but honestly? I think Pucci is easily the least evil jojo villain, by far.

Most of the arguments I’ve seen against this is based off of misconceptions surrounding how Made in Heaven works, so I also want to talk about that in the next section. But first, I want to discuss Pucci’s backstory.

Third: Pucci’s backstory (and why he’s such a tragic character)

Pucci’s backstory does a very good job of explaining how he got his current beliefs about morality and the world today. Unfortunately, it has also sparked a lot of debate in the jojo fandom regarding a pretty sensitive topic- I want to touch on that in this section as well (It’s not really related to why Pucci is underrated, per se, but I still want to talk about it, as it’s been on my mind for a while.)

So, Pucci’s backstory begins with him and Weather report being born as fraternal twins. However, a mother who experienced a stillbirth stole Weather and replaced him with her dead baby, so she could still raise a child of her own.

It skips to the time when Pucci is fifteen years old, and has his first encounter with DIO in church after it has closed. DIO explains how he has been searching for encounters to recruit people, and gives Pucci a Stand arrow before leaving.

A little while later, we see Pucci cleaning the church, and the mother who stole Weather Report comes up to him. She is crying, and confesses to Pucci that she stole the baby from a random family- without realizing that Pucci is a member of said family.

Pucci keeps this a secret for two months, up until his sister, Perla, and Weather Report start dating- without them realizing that they are brother and sister. Pucci, who is horrified at this, wants to tell them the truth, but if he did, he would be excommunicated from the church, as he would be revealing the confessions of a sinner. Trying to avoid hurting his sister, he tries to hire a shady man to force Perla and Weather Report to break up with each other.

The man, after doing some research on Weather, discovers that the woman who stole him (which he assumes to be Weather’s biological mother) married a black man in 1972. He, as an extremely racist person that is associated with lots of members of the KKK (something that Pucci didn’t know about), hates interracial couples and calls the KKK to murder Weather. This causes Perla to kill herself out of grief, without realizing that Weather was still alive.

After discovering Perla’s dead body, Pucci ends up being pierced with the stand arrow he’d kept in his pocket ever since it was given to him by DIO, and he unlocks his stand, consequentially also activating Weather’s stand.

Weather and Pucci eventually confront each other, which ends up with Pucci stealing Weather’s memory disc.

This ends Pucci and Weather’s backstory.

Now, while a lot of the things that occur in it make me deeply uncomfortable, I do think this is a good backstory that perfectly explains Pucci and how he came to worship DIO and develop his belief system.

DIO appeared to Pucci as a strange, anomalous encounter. He stated that he was “allergic to sunlight”, gave him a seemingly random object, talked about some weird shit related to gravity, healed his twisted foot, and then left. I think ever since this encounter, Pucci’s subconscious then viewed DIO as his interpretation of God. When he was at the lowest point of his life, a vision of DIO came to him in his mind, and he felt the urge to meet him again. This is what caused Pucci and DIO’s bond to form, and how he became such a trusted confidant in DIO’s army.

It also explains Pucci’s motivations. The world in his ideal view of “heaven” is one where everybody is subconsciously aware of their fate at all times, as seen in the Pucciverse.

It makes perfect sense that he would view this as “heaven”. Fate has completely screwed him over, in more ways than one, and it was all completely unexpected to him. Everything about the tragedy of his backstory fell into place so meticulously, it’s only natural that Pucci would believe in destiny and think that it was up to fate for his sister to be killed that way. So, he came to believe that the best way to live life would be to be aware of your future at all times, and be completely prepared for everything that is to come your way.

However... this backstory also did something else- bring the subject of Pucci’s actual race into question. a lot of people have argued about it, and it’s become a very sensitive topic to discuss. (To be honest, even I’m kind of nervous to be talking about it, but here goes nothing.)

~~~~~ (this is sort of a tangent, so you can skip it if you like. I added tildes to where the tangent starts and then where it ends.)

So, in the vast majority of media such as the colored manga, all of Pucci’s figures, and in video games he’s featured in such as Eyes of Heaven and All Star Battle, Pucci is obviously being portrayed as dark-skinned. However, many people have pointed out that if Pucci was black, his backstory would be... very strange. There are two main things here:

1. If Pucci is black, then why would the rest of his family appear to be white? 2. If Pucci is black, why didn’t the KKK target him?

Now, a lot of people have come to the conclusion that Pucci isn’t black, with the reasoning for his obviously dark skin being that “he’s just tan”. However, I really do not think that is a valid explanation. You really can’t argue “just a tan” with Pucci; it’s very clear to me that he’s being portrayed as black here.

I don’t think it’s possible for a 100% white person to be as dark as Pucci is. Besides, we see Pucci as a newborn and a small child, and he still has the same skin color, which wouldn’t make sense if he was simply “tan”.

You could also argue that since the colored manga, figures, video games, etc. weren’t made by Araki, you can’t use them as an example- but at the same time, don’t you think Araki would’ve said something by now if he had a problem with his character being universally portrayed this way? And, even in most of his own drawings and the black and white manga, Pucci is still clearly shaded darker than the other characters.

So instead, here’s an explanation for how Pucci can still be black and have his backstory make sense.

First off, he can be visibly dark, but have the rest of his family be white passing while not actually being fully white. Weather and Perla appearing lighter than Pucci can make sense when you consider there have been documents of children from interracial couples being different skin tones. His parents can also be nonwhite, but white passing, and Pucci is just the only one we see in his family who isn’t white passing due to genetics passed down from his grandparents or other family members. (Either that, or the dad could just not be the biological father. I mean, we have no evidence that isn’t the case.)

Second off, the reason why the KKK didn’t target Pucci- I think it’s important to note that it isn’t the entire KKK who knew about Pucci, it was just the one man he hired to break up Perla and Weather. It was never stated that the man was a member of the KKK, just that he was “friends” with a lot of them, so his racism could be different than simply hating everyone who isn’t white; he seemed much more concerned about the potential “race mixing” between Weather and Perla. Remember, he didn’t bother looking into Pucci’s family, so he could’ve just assumed that Perla is white, as she is white-passing (and was unaware that she is related to Pucci) and Weather isn’t. He could’ve ignored Pucci for this reason, as Pucci is not only single, he is a Christian and is actively paying him to break up what he perceived to be a mixed race couple. I’ve known people who are *incredibly* racist, but have a certain level of tolerance towards nonwhite people, as long as they don’t try to date someone of a different race than them. This is an absolutely disgusting belief regardless, but it would explain why the man ignored Pucci but went after Weather for dating Perla.

~~~~~

Okay, phew... I got that out of my system. But yeah, that’s why I think that Pucci can still logically be black in-universe. (well, mixed is more correct. Pucci is actually mixed, so he’s both black and white.)

Now, onto why Pucci is the least evil JoJo villain and how his character is so tragic to me.

Pucci, I think, is the only Jojo villain who genuinely wanted the best for humanity. His goal was to recreate the Universe into his ideal version of “Heaven”, where everybody is aware of their fate so they won’t have to suffer or try to resist as much. This being “heaven” makes a lot of sense to a person like Pucci. After all, it would’ve saved his family a lot of trouble. He wanted everyone in humanity to know their fate, so they wouldn’t have to suffer like he did. That’s a goal with inherently good intentions- the problem comes with that the heaven plan is a terrible idea born from one of the most evil people in Jojo, that Pucci has become misguided and corrupted by.

If Pucci had never met DIO, I believe that he could’ve been a genuinely good person. He started off as an innocent future priest who just wanted to serve God and help the rest of humanity. But, ever since he met DIO, he became a fanatic dedicated to serving him. Since then, his morals became twisted without him even realizing- he became willing to murder for DIO’s cause.

His stand started off as something that could take away painful memories and destructive powers, as he first uses it to weaken Weather’s dangerous ability and take away his memories, to prevent him from hurting himself and Pucci (Weather became extremely vengeful and suicidal after the events of his backstory- you could argue that Pucci believed that he was doing Weather a service by removing his memories. He even put Weather in the prison with the hopes of potentially being able to “save” his brother later). But eventually, Whitesnake became something more twisted, as Pucci began using it to control people and deceive them.

So, what did Pucci end up doing, in the end? He killed/attempted to kill anyone who got in his way, manipulated several people, supported DIO (albeit due to heavy manipulation on DIO’s part since Pucci was a gullible kid), and reset the Universe.

Now, a lot of people have taken Pucci resetting the universe to meaning that he killed every organism and recreated them, but this is untrue. The Made in Heaven universal reset doesn’t directly harm any living beings- only the ones that Pucci directly killed weren’t able to move on to the new world. If the reset killed everyone, then Emporio wouldn’t have been able to move on from the old Universe, as he would’ve been reborn as a counterpart to himself with no memories of Pucci. it is also directly stated that “only the living can move on to the new world”. So... No, Pucci did not commit mass genocide.

Pucci still isn’t a good person by any means. However, when you compare his actions and motivations to the other villains, his crimes are honestly significantly less bad by comparison.

Dio: murdered countless people, was stated to be literally born evil, has committed rape and sexual assault several times, and wanted to rule the world for his own selfish gain.

Kars: Genocided his entire race over a disagreement.

Kira: murdered over 48 innocent women for sexual desire. So, his crimes double as murder and rape.

Diavolo: sold drugs to children, tried to murder his own daughter and burned down his entire hometown. He also killed his mother and the priest that adopted him.

I can’t really call Pucci “evil”. He’s not a good person by any means, but he’s not pure evil, really. He’s an individual who wanted the best for humanity, and thought he was doing the right thing. However, he was willing to lie, manipulate, and kill to achieve his goal, and became corrupted by other people much worse than him.

And that’s why I think Pucci is such a tragic character- his life was full of almost nothing but misery, and he ended up taking a very dark path towards evil. Then, he dies a brutal, horrible, painful death at the hands of his twin brother’s stand, and gets erased from reality entirely.

Jesus Christ, you can see his eyes pop out of his face

You see my point, here? Wouldn’t it be miserable as hell to live a life like Pucci’s? It almost plays out like a Shakespearian tragedy (well, a very jojo-ified Shakespearian tragedy, but you get my point.)

Pucci is a person who I think really deserved better. Maybe he could’ve turned out a much different person than he ended up being. He had the potential to be a genuinely good person, but thanks to DIO and other circumstances that couldn’t have blame pinned onto anyone, he wasn’t.

That’s a big reason why I like him as a character, and why I find the portrayal of him in the fanbase to be so inaccurate. I feel like a lot of people hate him because of all of the people he killed, which I find to be a shame, because they ignore everything else about him. (All of the people he killed came back to life, too, anyways.) I’ve seen people who genuinely believe that Pucci deserved infinite death alongside Diavolo, which I really do not understand.

So, to sum it up: I really like Pucci. I love his personality, how he recontextualizes the events of Stardust Crusaders, his relationships with the other characters, his backstory, his stands, and the tragedy of his character. I really hope people begin to appreciate him more eventually.

people who say that david productions should skip animating part 6 are being stupid

#jojo #jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo villains #pucci jojo #enrico pucci #pucci jjba #pucci jojo's bizarre adventure #analysis #very long post #this took me a long time to write so i hope you guys like it #i didn't expect this to be so long tbh #like it started off as just a few paragraphs and then i found more and more to talk about and then it just #became this behemoth of a post #i just. i like pucci i guess #shoe talks a lot

162 notes · View notes

i-growl-growl-growl · 4 years

Note

Scenario for yandere oikawa?

Clarification: Oikawa and you are in your second year.

Bloodied Blazer - Oikawa Tooru

When Oikawa made the decision to enroll into Aoba Johsai rather than pursuing his high school sports career at the prestigious Shiratorizawa Academy, there was only one thing running through his mind; volleyball.

It was the only thing consistently in his head. As he spaced out during science classes or furiously scribbled over his notes for math, all he could think about was his and Iwaizumi’s newest freak attack, one that would rival the other powerhouse schools. When he was on the toilet doing his business, Oikawa thought about the new jersey design and how cool it would look in comparison to the former. Hell, when he was dreaming, it was about Coach yelling at them to do more passing drills around in the gym.

Needless to say, volleyball was what consumed Oikawa entirely. But despite being a first-year, there were already some major distractions. Of course, he was garnering a small fanbase of female classmates who set their eye on the handsome setter. There were his grades, but it could be solved pretty easily with a little more effort. And of course, there was you.

Frankly, Oikawa didn’t even know you and not once have the two of you ever exchanged a word. You had your own friends and dreams that consumed you, only you were obsessed with the arts. Photography, musicals, painting, all sorts of creative talents were what made you...you. People joked that you were the resident flirt, only you were oblivious to actual romantic advances, the one trait that Oikawa was slightly uneasy about.

But he was drawn to you. Perhaps not in a creepy way, he assured himself. It was just that you both happened to live in the same direction and walked home at the same time, so he was simply walking a good twenty feet behind you to make sure you were safe. After all, Miyagi may be the countryside, but that didn’t mean there weren’t discreet gang members, specifically Yakuza.

You were always wrapped up in your own little world and Oikawa adored your passion. It reminded him of his own love, volleyball, and he became enamored by you as he approached his second year. It wasn’t creepy, he swore. It’s just a friendly, subtle way that he would be right behind you if something were to happen.

Quite honestly you never even noticed Oikawa walking behind you until the streetlights went out. You heard a crunch and a thud and you shrieked. As you frantically turned on your cellphone flashlight, there laid Oikawa with a bloody nose and you nearly jumped from shock.

“Are you alright? That must’ve been a nasty fall.”

Oikawa simply nodded but the blood kept gushing out and a rosy tint glazed his cheeks. He could feel his face getting warmer from embarrassment that he had to see you when he looked so filthy. Covered in small scratches from the pavement and his blood staining your blazer as you hurriedly pulled out some napkins, Oikawa didn’t look like the rising second-year king Seijoh was so fond of.

But this was when he realized just how precious you were. So pure and so kind, you probably didn’t even notice his presence and even if you did, you never cared for him. Yet you weren’t at all hesitant to help him out despite the fact that you would have to throw out your blazer judging from how much blood was gushing out. And besides, it was humiliating enough that he just fell on his face and had to inconvenience you so suddenly like this.

If a bystander were to spot the two of you, they could probably see the surprising chemistry that you had. You were crouching down and dabbing at his face, blotting the blood away while giving him a warm smile whereas Oikawa was blushing furiously.

Once you got the blood under control, you gave him the cutest grin and giggled. Oikawa swore this was the true sound of heaven.

“I forgot to introduce myself; I am L/N. But you can call me by my first name, Y/N. Would you like me to walk you home?”

Your words were nothing more than just a friendly gesture despite the sudden proposal, but Oikawa could feel his heart racing. He couldn’t even spit the words out due to how nervous he was, but he nodded furiously, not about to pass up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with his crush.

As your fingers gently wrapped around his calloused, rough hands, Oikawa never felt so excited in his life. It was thrilling for him, even beating Ushiwaka wouldn’t be able to compare to his joy. You didn’t pay much mind to him, simply swaying your arms back and forth and humming a song. But Oikawa took in everything that he saw with a carefree heart. This was a memory to treasure and he couldn’t help but stammer out...

“Could we take a picture together?”

When he realized how strange that sounded, he blushed even harder, if that were even possible. But you, bless your sweet soul, you simply nodded and shook it off a way to make a new friend and you laughed before taking a selfie together.

“I’ll send this to you, could you give me your number?”

No wonder the entirety of Aoba Johsai called you their resident flirt. Yet it didn’t seem to be laced with any further intentions. Just you being friendly to him and trying to make another pal at school.

He didn’t know how to feel about this particular thought, but eagerly nodded as you typed in your number into his phone. As the picture of the two of you smiling sent through, you gave him another one of your award-winning smiles before waving goodbye to him.

“Alright, Oikawa! My home is really close to here, so I hope you can walk the rest on your own! If you need anything, feel free to ask. I’ll see you around,” you laughed out.

Oikawa couldn’t help but break into the fattest grin before waving to you. “Oh, Y/N, you can call me Tooru! Since we’re friends now, right?”

“Of course!”

And as he happily skipped down the street once you were out of sight, Oikawa made a silent vow. You were too sweet to him. But the two of you fit perfectly, just like how he always thought. He had to protect you from people who may extinguish your beautiful laugh and smile.

As he pulled up the photo that you took just a few minutes earlier, Oikawa beamed with pride.

His next goal was going to be trying to get more photos of you. Preferably in skimpier clothing.

This idea came out of nowhere and I actually like how this turned out, although it wasn’t as yandere as I hoped for. Then again, I think Oikawa gets more and more severe once he enters his third year as this scenario is when he is still a second year hehe.

Hope you liked this!

With love,

Celeste <3

#yandere oikawa #yandere haikyuu #yandere oikawa tooru #yandere haikyuu x reader #yandere haikyuu scenarios #yandere oikawa imagines #yandere haikyuu imagines #yandere oikawa scenarios #admin celeste

231 notes · View notes

iam93percentstardust · 4 years

Text

AU-gust Day 13: Rock Band

Requested by @justsomeoneunordinary for a Winterironhawk AU!

Also on ao3 here

Bucky checks his phone as he staggers down the hallway, Clint’s arm wrapped around his waist. Performing always takes a lot out of him and tonight’s show in New York was particularly hard since he and Steve are homeboys and Clint always likes to play that up.

“You doing okay?” Clint asks and then nearly walks right into a trashcan.

Bucky rolls his eyes. For all of Clint’s grace on the stage, he’s far more clumsy off of it. “Maybe I should be asking you that.”

“Hey, that trashcan jumped right out in front of me,” Clint snarks.

“Oh sure and I’ll bet a big green monster even pushed it, right?”

“Boys, boys, settle down,” Nat says idly, twirling her drumsticks like she’s going to hit one of them with it. Bucky wouldn’t put it past her; she’s done so before.

Clint maturely sticks his tongue out at her, eliciting a sigh from Steve, walking a few steps behind them, and a laugh from Sam. Nat just whacks Clint over the head with one of the drumsticks.

Bucky rolls his eyes again and goes back to his phone. Children, he works with children. He’s got one notification, a text from Tony. He grins, unable to resist smiling at the notification. Tony always sends them something during the show. He calls it his good luck selfie. Bucky calls it incentive to hurry back to the hotel room. He opens the text, expecting to see Tony in whatever god-awful city-themed lingerie he’s picked up for this leg of the tour, and instead sees a brief reminder that he and Clint have that interview with Everhart before they’re done for the night.

“Did Tony text us?” Clint asks, hooking his chin over Bucky’s shoulder. Bucky tilts his phone so he can read the message and Clint frowns. “That’s not his usual message.”

“More of those lingerie photos?” Sam asks. Bucky scowls at him. It’s bad enough that Sam accidentally saw one of Tony’s pictures but now he teases them about it after every show like Tony isn’t still the hottest thing they ever saw even when he’s wearing Big Ben panties.

“No,” Clint pouts. “Just some dumb message about that interview we’ve got.”

Sam catches up to them and glances over the message. “Hmm maybe he’s finally wised up and dumped your sorry asses so he can go out with me instead.”

Bucky growls, thrusts his phone into Clint’s chest, and takes off after a cackling Sam all the way down the hall to the room the venue set aside for the interview where he finally catches up to him. He’s giving Sam a noogie when the rest of the band joins them.

“Buck, let Sam go,” Steve orders. The bassist shouldn’t be allowed to give him directions, he laments in his mind but everyone knows that you don’t disobey a Steve order so he drops his arms, holding his hands up in surrender. Sam scrambles away from him to duck behind Nat, who takes one step to the side so she’s no longer hiding him.

“So we’ll see you back at the green room?” Nat asks him and Clint.

“Sure you don’t want to do this interview with us?” Clint asks.

She laughs. “Not on your life.” Fair enough. Everhart always gives them hardball questions so most of the band doesn’t do interviews with her if she doesn’t specifically ask for them and this time she’d only asked for him and Clint.

He passes his guitar off to Steve and then shoulders through the door, Clint right on his heels. Everhart is waiting for them just inside, looking as perfectly polished as ever for someone who just came from a rock concert.

“Ma’am,” he says politely because his ma raised a nice boy and also because it irritates the hell out of Everhart to be referred to like an old lady.

Sure enough she purses her lips and he bites back a grin. He sits down in the seat she waves him into, Clint sitting beside him so he can throw his legs over Bucky’s lap, and asks, “So what did you want to ask us?”

As they expected, Everhart starts them out with small questions and twenty minutes later, they’ve covered just about everything under the sun, from their upcoming album to this tour to their fanbase on Twitter and Bucky’s starting to think that maybe they’re going to get out of this easily when she asks, “So rumors are building again that your relationship is in trouble. What do you have to say to those allegations?”

Bucky scowls and Clint tenses beside him. The problem is, after an entire childhood spent in the spotlight, Tony denounced his claim to his father’s empire, disappeared into the shadows, and declared to his friends that he never wanted to be famous again. Bucky and Clint had never had a problem with it but that had been before the band took off. Afterwards, things had gotten a little more tricky. They still didn’t really have a problem with it and they certainly weren’t going to push Tony to do something he didn’t want to do but it was difficult having to pretend to the world that Bucky and Clint were the couple and Tony was just a friend who tagged along on tour sometimes but otherwise spent most of his time at a Montessori school in Manhattan teaching small children how to read.

They don’t want to push—they don’t—but the distance means that it’s hard sometimes to keep their hands off their other boyfriend in public.

And sometimes they forget that they’re not nobodies anymore and somebody takes a picture of Bucky’s hand lingering on the small of Tony’s back and posts it to Twitter because heaven forbid celebrities have any sort of private life.

“They’re just rumors,” Clint says easily. “We’re touchy feely kind of people.”

“Maybe you’re touchy feely,” Bucky says with a laugh that he doesn’t feel. “I’ve been told I exude fuck off vibes.”

Everhart smiles thinly. “So that’s all it is. Just three friends having a good time?”

“Ma’am, you’ve seen the way Clint and I interact on stage. You really think we could hide another relationship for so long?” Bucky deadpans, challenging her to say something.

She frowns again but doesn’t dispute his claim. Instead she packs up and says, “As always, a pleasure getting to interview you.” As she’s leaving, she pauses in the door to tell them, “You’re not nearly as slick as you think you are. One of you is going to mess up and then your whole faked-for-the-cameras relationship will be over.”

Bucky snarls and lunges at the door, stopped only by Clint grabbing onto him. He hates it when people insinuate that somehow, because he and Clint are happy, they’re faking their relationship for publicity. He and Clint spent enough of their childhoods unhappy because of Bucky’s dad and Clint’s brother; why would they want to spent their adulthood just as miserable?

“It doesn’t matter,” Clint soothes though he has to be irritated as Bucky is. “Come on, we’re going to go back to the rest of the band. We’re going to get drunk on whatever shitty vodka Nat’s brought this time and then we’re going to go back to the hotel and fuck Tony through the mattress.”

It startles a laugh out of Bucky but he’s still not in a great mood by the time they reach the green room. “I just don’t see why she has to say things like that,” he complains as he pushes open the door. “It’s—”

He stops as his gaze falls on the person draped over Nat’s lap. Clint runs into him with an “Oof” and a “Bucky, what the fuck?”

“Tony, doll?” Bucky asks.

Clint exclaims, “Tony?”

Tony launches himself out of Nat’s chair and at Bucky, who immediately catches him up in a kiss. “Hey, my turn, my turn,” Clint protests, pawing at the two of them. “I haven’t seen Tony in six hours either.”

He thinks he hears Nat say, “Disgustingly cute,” but he’s too busy watching Clint and Tony kiss to really care.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, pressing another kiss to Tony’s earlobe. Tony doesn’t usually come to their shows. He tried once not long after their first album came out but he’d been kidnapped one (or twenty) too many times at a big event to really feel comfortable. He had left less than half an hour in and when Bucky and Clint had come back to the hotel that night, they’d found Tony in one of the worst anxiety attacks they’d ever seen him in. They never asked him to come to another show.

“Wanted to support you two since I know how much you hate Everhart,” Tony replies.

“He got here only a few minutes before the show ended,” Steve says. “Sharon drove him.”

Bucky gives a quick nod to Steve’s girlfriend, silently thanking her. “You didn’t have to do that, doll,” he murmurs.

“Hmm missed you too much,” Tony replies. “This tour is too long.”

“Alright, come on, we’re blocking the door,” Clint tells the two of them, walking them backward to one of the couches. He trips over his own feet and practically falls onto the couch, catching Tony before he can fall too. Bucky lands next to them, curling up into Clint’s side.

He catches Nat taking a picture of the three of them and frowns at her. She should know better than to post it. A moment later, his phone chimes with a text from her. Don’t worry, I’m not that stupid, her text reads and he flashes her an apologetic grin. Maybe he’s just little on edge from Everhart.

It chimes again, this time with the picture she’d taken of them. He smiles down at it and makes it his phone’s home screen. It’s a cute picture of them and no one can get into his phone anyway so he’s not worried about someone seeing that.

“You should be paying attention to me,” Tony pouts. “What are you doing?”

He leans over and shows him the picture, brushing a kiss over Tony’s cheek as he does. Tony takes the phone and stares at it before saying, “We’re cute in that. Send it to me.”

“Okay, doll,” he agrees, relaxing into the couch and letting Tony’s warmth bleed into him, relaxing him from the stress of the show and interview.

#winterironhawk #alle writes #august2020 #if you like please consider reblogging

50 notes · View notes

theateared · 4 years

Text

Short drabble detailing a fucked-up scenario I got suddenly inspired to explore while out walking, we love flash horror fiction up in this bitch. All dialogue is in Hural.

_____ . ( 🞮 ) . _____

“How could you do this…? You were always such a dream boy.”

In retrospect, holding an axe high above his head felt right, though only to a small piece of him. The sky was red, thick muddy clouds hanging low over him as he stared into the reprehensible eyes of the person, besides himself, that he hated the most.

Kneeling in front of him, looking frightfully small as he gazed up at his supposed ‘’dream boy’’, his uncle lay in wait. His face had gone pale, hands raised as if to protect his face, body trembling as he gazed at the gleam produced by the abnormally large weapon. One fell swoop and he’d be sliced into ribbons, this he knew, yet he couldn’t find it in him to move. Frozen with fear perhaps, or just regrettably resigned, he just couldn’t convince himself to run away. He was both bewildered and awestruck by this version of Aléjandro Murphy.

“I never promised you that,” Murr hissed through clenched teeth. Despite the raw emotion in his voice, his face betrayed none of it, blank slate bared to the world as if waiting for it to leave its mark on him. “My parents never promised you that either.”

“They failed you, Alé…”

“They didn’t fail me. I failed them.”

The Murphys were a generation of good people. Life lottery winners, always acquiring fortune as predecessors, but unmistakably humble and hard-working. Not without flaws, all with independent vices, but always good deep down, despite it all. He was convinced that he was the odd link; the devil thinly disguised as its shiny brethren, makeshift halo comprised of bleeding thorns and mangled fingers alight only because of the red rage that sat inside of him like an open flame. Like a neon sign, his faux virtue flickered and buzzed, attracting only the loneliest of insects before zapping them to dust.

“You won’t do this… you can’t…” Though he was trembling, Lonnie’s voice came out smooth. In an almost victorious fashion, he craned his neck further, exposing his throat, eyes flitting from the sharp edge of the axe to the angular curve of Aléjandro’s jaw. His gaze kept crawling further upwards until it could meet Murr’s own, red and gold seeming to lock as if connected via electricity. “You wouldn’t do this to your mother. You were her angel.”

There was a moment of hesitation. He was wrong… he was the furthest thing from an angel, but it didn’t mean that his mother hadn’t thought he was one. All the time they’d spent together, she’d treated him as if he was a light source, as if he was capable of exuding the same sweetness that she was-- as if he was good. He’d tried to tell her repeatedly that it was misplaced, that he ruined everything, that he made her cry, but she would never have any of it. She believed in him wholly. That was what made this turn of events so incredibly painful for him.

“You wouldn’t do this to your father. You were his good boy.”

There was a harsh sting in his chest, heart constricting as if seized by a fist; as if somebody had jammed an arm down his throat and dug around in search of the emptiest cavity, filling it only with searching spindles and shadows. His father had always been doing that… looking for the good in him. Even when he’d been faced with the terrible things that his son had done, he’d turned a blind eye, told him that everybody made mistakes, that he was still learning-- was he always going to be fucking learning?

“And you wouldn’t do this to Kuro.”

Nothing made sense in that moment. Despite the harsh glare that shaped his eyes, focus had left them. He became acutely aware of the fact that he didn’t feel in control of himself-- as if he was on strings, simply obeying the whims of his puppeteer. Was this all he was worth? Was his pain just a street corner dime act? A one-hit wonder before his mysterious master vanished in a puff of smoke?

“You won’t kill me because you know that Kuro will never forgive you if you do. You won’t do it because you know that the only thing he’d grace you with ever again, for the rest of your life, is disappointment. And you can’t live with that. Can you, Alé?” He paused a moment, amber eyes gaining light when Murr remained wordless. Even now, even with his most hated enemy at his feet, he was so weak. “You love him, don’t you? That’s the problem. You need him! You can’t live without him! That’s the reason you’re even here, isn’t it? You can’t go off the rails otherwise he’ll know, because he’ll be the one to clean it up! Can you imagine that? Being arrested by your best friend? Ohhh, that’d eat you, wouldn’t it? Admit it, Alé. You want to cry just thinking about it, don’t you? Go ahead, you fuckin’ bitch. Go ahead and c--”

KER-SPLAT.

The only thing he was immediately aware of was the smell of blood. His face was wet, though not with tears, fingers clenched oh-so-tightly around the handle of the now-messy weapon. He was trembling madly, like a tent in a blizzard, but he remained standing, dry-eyed and angry.

Did I do that? Did I really just kill my uncle?

Crimson eyes watched as drops of red began to stain the grass below, Lonnie’s dark hand moving to try and stop it from pouring all over his lap. He was dying, albeit slowly, a look of confused horror gradually settling on his face as his eyes rolled upwards to look at him once more. He was so shocked ( and so injured ) that he was unable to speak, fumbling over his words before he finally decided on a redundant: “You… you actually…”

“Yes… I did…” As if he couldn’t quite believe it himself. The weapon was lowered slightly, the quiver in his body gradually lessening the closer to the ground it got. By the time the muddied tip met the soil, the tremors had left him completely. “And… my heart is empty…”

It hit him like a train. I don’t care. I don’t CARE. I DON’T CARE!

“I feel… nothing.” His stare was unfocused, mouth forming a stunned frown. I don’t care that I failed my mother. I don’t care that I failed my father. I don’t care that I failed Kuro, or Tilly, or my loyal fanbase-- I don’t care about any of that. I just don’t care about anything. “M-My… my heart…” He was overwhelmed with it then: joy. He was choking up, eyes filling with a disconcerting light, madness casting its doomsday shadow over his face as he began to smile, then grin, unable to control himself. “My heart is empty. My heart is EMPTY.” He couldn’t resist, axe pulled back before he swung it forwards once more, screaming with exhilarated laughter as he felt the void spread throughout his chest. Lonnie’s head separated from his body, flung a short distance away. He kept swinging, occasionally hitting the lifeless corpse, mostly cutting through air, blood occasionally reacquainting itself with his skin. It was like heaven-- no, it was like hell, and that was what made it feel like home. It felt as if he was wailing over some blessed news; the birth of his child; the day of his marriage; the minute of his death. Laughing like a maniac: “FUCK HIM! HE CAN COME AND GET ME ‘CAUSE MY HEART IS EMPTY!”

_____ . ( 🞮 ) . _____

Aléjandro awoke with a start, heart beating wildly in his chest, covers thrown off of him as he shot upright in bed. A thin layer of sweat covered his forehead as he panted for air, clammy hands pressed tightly against his chest as if attempting to soothe the raging rhythm inside. Tilly followed shortly after, tender hands meeting his rigid back, soft voice asking what had startled him so-- he told her nothing, even though it was clearly a lie.

She eventually managed to coax him back into bed, her head meeting his chest, arms wrapped around him defensively. He laid there like a subdued demon, staring into the dark, heartbeat transforming from its pounding beat to a gentle thrum. It was just a dream. Of course it was just a dream…

He fell asleep thinking the same comforting thought to himself over and over again: My heart is empty. My heart is empty. My heart is empty.

#☆ — i never promised you your dream boy. ❜ ( main. )#☆ — i'm just here to destroy. ❜ ( ic. )#drabble *#WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWHEEEEEEE #ngl actually kinda fuckin like this?#there's probably some stuff i need beta-ing but i'll do that tomorrow #for now i'll let it sit here for a bit and re-read it when i'm NOT scrabbling to go to work at five am pfft #so yeah-- a full edit will probably come tomorrow if there're typos or whatever

2 notes · View notes

amisbro · 5 years

Text

Vent time

Alright so I kind of went off about this on twitter but I’m going to do it here too because...I spent my supply of craps to give and to be honest I just need to get this out in the open because we might have people that don’t know some fun facts about ME in the UtaPri fandom Shall we? First off I started in the UtaPri fandom back in January of 2014 so for those of us that need to know that is right smack bang between S2 and 3. It was around this time that I had done my research (and by that I mean “Read Wikipedia”) to kind of get some ideas on the characters. Of the ones that might have stuck out it was members of QUARTET NIGHT and specifically Ai Mikaze that grabbed my interest at first. BTW yes I am bolding relevant parts of this story because I feel some of us FORGET these things to spin narratives and I’m not about that so let’s continue. So during 2014 I watched S1 first from the DVD I bought off of Amazon and then Season 2 I watched on Crunchyroll. One thing I remember is that before I watched that (using the old school “fan mail” system that @staff needs to give us back) I had been talking with someone about one of the members of QN and that was THIS GUY

(By the end of this post I might level of Boss Man) ANYWAYS I had been warned (Because I said Ren at the time was my least fave for being “playboyish”) that Myu would be worse...well for some jacked up reason He turned into my favorite character in QN (or at least 1a with Ai). He still remained a favorite even after S3 and the reason...I can’t explain...it was one of those weird things that there was something about HIM that I liked but recently its been figured out that characters whom are “royals” or “meganes” (Hi @kaiser-author-san-iii) are faves of mine and Myu can fit into both categories Now...we need to get to the point of this cos I go around the block so many times its not funny During Season 2 we met “A Trio of Amateurs” whom are later called HEAVENS and I was like many people and wanted to see them get thrashed and they DID lose and we know their history. I had watched that season (and season 1) twice because one was for this blog and the other was more for YT when I did Anime Reviews on there (And I might get back into that soon...stay tuned) and I remember that the first time I was happy that HEAVENS lost and the second time I think I was still “kind of” happy but I wished for somewhat of a different outcome...sadly there are no different endings in this Anime! Season 3 gets interesting because it was a season basically that was going to feature “MY BOYS” (Sorry Reiji K.) in QN so I could get a primer on them. Now at some point (I forget when so don’t ask that) either during this season or after) I had seen post that had ALL OF THE ROUTES FOR ALL OF THE CHARACTERS...I read ONE OF THEM! I wanna say it was...All-Star and Ai specifically but if you ask me to remember ANYTHING about it I don’t...memory is gone about it. The thing is as we know this was the season that people on here THOUGHT would be the end of UtaPri (despite in Episode 2 of said season one of the STARISH boys mentioned HEAVENS) so there was that. This became a thing also when during an ask someone got someone mentioned there had been a visual for a 4th season. Now this was confirmed somehow BEFORE THIS because someone on the wikipedia page stated that Seasons 3 and 4 would be in 2015 and 2016! If you go look on my blog there is a post from 2014 I did where apparently someone mentioned this so...that was a thing! Season 3 ends with them getting ready to announce the winner of the Triple S election between STARISH and QUARTET NIGHT when who shows up? HEAVENS AS A 7 MEMBER GROUP! Now here is where things get interesting for me in the fandom At this point I am not a BIG FAN of HEAVENS like I am now but I was definitely curious. In my head I knew they couldn’t just have them show up for one episode and then be done...that didn’t make sense from a story perspective because even if they are “Antags” them losing in the first episode and then leaving doesn’t make a whole hell of a lot of sense! Maybe in SOMEONE ELSE’S weird “STARISH/QN-centered fanfic” but for the purposes of THIS STORY...nah fam! (BTW I say that and you can argue this whole series was going to be some weird STARISH fan fic with acid trips galore so...eh!) Now here is where the turbulence with me and the fandom really comes in For the course of Season 4 (when we realized it was STARISH/HEAVENS) there was a part of me that wanted to play neutral but there was a BIGGER part of me that wanted to root for HEAVENS and part of that is because all my life I had been an underdog...I’m 37 years old and have had so many health issues its not funny so I root for the underdogs that might have no prayer but I root for them because I WANT them to be happy and to see them get their happy ending. Its boring rooting for the favorites you know? So during the season I would watch the episodes through a website that livestreamed Tokyo MX and I think I only missed two episodes on there...the first one and I forget the other one but I know there was one I had to watch subbed which I HATED! The reason is because for me its better to try and learn a language through hearing it and not reading subtitles...why do you think I now own a copy of the KnB movie unsubbed! With the way Season 4 was going to me there were two possible endings 1. STARISH wins (which they did) 2. HEAVENS wins and something ELSE happens Lemme explain that bit So during the season it was the “Duet Project” and it was the first one that Raging was basically in charge of which was kind of cool because you go through three seasons of Shining and he grates on you something fierce. Well during the season we learned that RAGING has a bit of a problem with putting his hands on people and that some of the members of HEAVENS aren’t exactly in the best of states mentally. Poor Shion had a breakdown during “Visible ELF” (I capped that because I called it “Visible EVIL” when I saw it on Tokyo MX...OOPS) and then of course we found out that The Otori’s father is an abusive piece of crap that needed CPS on his backside! Now that was a fun “3 weeks of hell” to relive because you see EVERYONE got mad at Eiichi for what happened to Otoya and I get it...I really do but what was angering me A LOT was that this was a very jacked up pattern where the rest of the fanbase was ignoring anything “bad” that happened to HEAVENS members just because they didn’t like them. Okay factually if we took this to another series I couldn’t stand TRIGGER at the time (things are changing slowly) so when they lost or had bad things happened...yeah I was happy as a pig in slop. The thing to remember though is that was me watching 1 season of i7 and now we have s2 coming at some point so HEY it might work out but the point is that is gonna take a little time...1 season with them vs. how long with HEAVENS? Yeah you see how this goes right? When HEAVENS lost I was mad not so much because they lost (Okay I WAS mad that they lost but here is the reason) but because it felt like their story deserved a happy ending. We learned that ,for HEAVENS, the time in Raging Entertainment was more like a prison than a workplace so I was hoping AT THE VERY LEAST to have an ending where HEAVENS lost the Triple S but at the same time he would lose HEAVENS because Shining heard about what happened with them at his hands and would reveal that he discussed with Eiichi that HEAVENS would leave that agency after the SSS and go work for him...and I STILL think it could happen but anyways So all of this happens and this is...3 years ago right If you want to call me a “HEAVENS fanboy” 3 years later fine and I’ll take it but here is the thing When you are a fan of a group now since...a little before Season 4 and you want to see them do well and the fandom as a whole be pissed off when HEAVENS don’t start getting the merch like STARISH or QN (even when you yourself are a QN fan) and that doesn’t happen with the excuse in 2019 that “We need more time” I’m sorry...that excuse doesn’t work with me! You got HEAVEN SKY now and the Shuffle Dramas...get to listening and stop being a biased fanboy/girl of the main two and start pushing for HEAVENS a little more! You will not make me change that statement either because here is the thing: I know people have been bullied off of here or even had to change accounts on discord because of the acidity of the fandom at times. I will flat out tell you this too When I saw the trailer for the movie that dropped today that was cool (even if the HEAVENS entrance reminded me of “puppets on a string” more than “Angels”) but when I saw the visual my joy became ANGER because ,when they did it, they shoved HEAVENS all the way in the back but few people in the IN fandom got mad about that on twitter...now we know why because even though on twitter the HEAVENS rep is better than on here (by a lot too which is disgusting) there is still a very vast majority that are STARISH fans and I get it...I really do! HEAVENS as a 7 person has only been around for 4 years and STARISH has been around longer but why in the holy hell don’t STARISH fans internationally start sticking up for HEAVENS fans and be also trying to understand why we love them? I thought the UtaPri FANDOM was supposed to be a FAMILY but I swear talking to people sometimes I’d rather turn to my immediate left and talk to a wall because despite me explaining it once in a YT video I don’t think people get why I am so passionate about HEAVENS getting the support of the fandom. I’m sorry for loving a group that it seems a lot of people just want to see go away but I’m NOT SORRY for running my mouth about this because let’s understand this I NEVER wanted to have arguments in the fandom but all I wanted people to do is FUCKING LISTEN! GO LOOK AT THAT VISUAL AND TELL ME THAT HEAVENS DESERVES TO BE SHOVED IN THE BACK BECAUSE OF WHATEVER REASON YOU WANT TO GIVE! Anyways I’m done and good night

#Amisbro #vent #uta no prince sama #HEAVENS #that MLKingdom visual though #WHY PUT HEAVENS ALL THE WAY IN THE BACK YOU DUMMIES?!

10 notes · View notes

curestardust · 5 years

Text

if you want: you enjoyed the original season and wouldn’t be annoyed by some more unusual elements / love Teko and Pikari’s relationship / wanted some more insight into the side-characters

This is Amanchu’s second season, I’d suggest reading my review of the first one (x) cause I’ll be addressing most issues I brought up there.

So, based on reviews you will see that fans of the original series were dissappointed in this one but ironically that was the thing that made me hopeful. So what was different?

Diving truly takes a backburner in this season and we mostly only get to see it when it has to do with Teko’s advancement in diving. Which I was fine with now, I learnt to lower my expectations regarding this aspect from S1.

The biggest change in Advance was something I don’t think I’ve ever seen a purely slice-of-life anime do which is the introducing of supernatural elements. These scenes are almost always shown through dream sequences. The very first time they used it, it felt a bit quirky and interesting and didn’t really feel like it was that out of the norm as it could’ve been explained away in a way to fit the universe. However, a bit later they went all out on it with group dreaming, an actual ghost and some sort of weird time travel/paradox thing. This was also an entire arc and took up multiple episodes.

My opinion of this direction seems vastly different from normal fans’ of the series as I actually liked these scenes. As I mentioned before, I didn’t think that the side characters were interesting enough to carry whole episodes on their backs and this change of rather putting them into situations and learning about them through their actions was much more fun for me and I’ve grown to like the rest of the cast more.

To wrap up: the artstyle and animation was great as usual and the dream sequences gave great opportunities to show us unique and interesting visuals. The music was more or less the same as season 1 with a bit more variety instead of purely instrumental tracks. The new characters managed to spice up the show just enough to keep things interesting. They also used the quirky “emoji faces” and “personal ticks” much less here which was a breathe of fresh air for me. ( and Teko and Pikari were literally so fucking gay and I fucking love these girlfriends uwu.) One negative for me would be that almost every time charcaters talk they need to say something “deep” and ”philosophical” which just made conversations very unnatural and stilted.

However, if you were in LOVE with the original season of Amanchu! you may not enjoy this. The experience of this season is vastly different from the original. [7/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

if you want: RANDOM/meta/violent humour / cute girls???

I do not wish to talk about this much as Jashin-chan is a quite unremarkable anime.

Our setting is that Yurine (who’s a witch but not?) summons Jashin, a demon from hell, but can’t send her back. The only way for her now to go back to where she came from would be to kill Yurine.

Err...yeah, that’s it. We also have the recurring cast Medusa and Minos, Jashin’s friends from Hell who come to hang out, and Pekola, an angel who has lost her halo and can’t go back to heaven.

This is supposed to be a dark comedy I guess. Each episode consists of 2-3 short stories. Almost all of the anime consists of the same things: Jashin trying to kill Yurine, failing and then getting horribly punished for it (with cartoonish gore and all), Jashin spending all her money that she gets from Medusa and/or hurting Medusa’s feelings and Pekola being hungry...

This anime has apparently garnered quite a fanbase and even got renewed for season 2 (which I’ll have to watch cause of my perfectionism sigh) but really I’m pretty sure you could find much better stuff similiar to this out there. The animation is ok, the music is ok, the characters are ok, the humour is ok...just O K. Nothing that’d warrant the average viewer to spend time watching it.

(Oh, and I was bored out of my mind throughout the whole thing...the only saving grace is that characters are cute and that there was no fanservice) [5/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

if you want: close-knit main female cast / beautiful visual presentation where it counts / somewhat complex and interwoven story / really good (musical) numbers

This anime is very, very difficult to put into words but I’ll try.

Our main cast consist of 8 (then 9) girls who all study at a quite well-known art school where they teach actors for theater (Class A) and all the background work needed for putting up a show (Class B). Our focus will be on the aforementioned girls from Class A who, based on the how things play out, are the best in their class.

And I know, I know. 9 main characters for 12 episodes! Well, that’s where the anime first shines as by episode 3 or 4 you can more or less recognize everyone and by the end you can also name them all and know something about them! From watching quite a number of 1 cour anime with huge casts I know how hard this is to achieve so I can only applaud SKRV.

So a bit about the story. Our first main character is Karen who’s one of the more lacking in this group. Suddenly after long, long years of studying abroad her childhood friend Hikari shows up at her school which gives us some flashback and one of the driving forces of the anime. The 2 made a promise that they’ll become stars together after seeing a play of Starlight (more on that later). However, it turns out they have something standing in their way.

This is where SKRV turns from a faux slice-of-life to a...not sure what to call it. Karen accidentally stumbles upon a lift in school which takes her down to a hidden stage where she sees 2 of her classmates fighting with weapons. These are the auditions. The winner will become the “star” what all stage girls desire.

And this is where I’d like to talk about the play enveloping the story, Starlight. This play is put on each year by the students. Each year, to show how much they improved through the same play. However, you’ll notice that the play and its story gets mentioned a LOT. And that is for a reason. I refuse to go into it much cause it’s best to experience it yourself. The play appears in 3 places: the stage, life and the auditions.

Each audition is special and woven into the story in a very intriguing way. An episode usually starts with 1 or 2 characters inner struggles and problems. The anime goes about in a normal slice-of-life way about these until we get to the audition process. These are the climax of the story and the episode. Each audition is a revue, an act from a play. While the girls are fighting with weapons, the outcome isn’t dependant on their physical strength. The revue acts as a conclusion to the girls’ inner troubles.

Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight is a somewhat abstract anime. It gives you pieces of information in small doses and lets you connect most of the puzzle pieces so there’s quite a bit of “what’s going on???” in the beginning.However, the music usage, the visuals, the story and the end result is what I’d call “artistic” and it’s rare to find stuff like this nowadays. (Plus, there’re numerous ships skksks) [9/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

#dusty reviews #Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight #Amanchu #Amanchu!#Amanchu! Advance #Amanchu Advance #Jashin chan Dropkick #Dropkick On My Devil!

2 notes · View notes

happymetalgirl · 5 years

Text

Bring Me the Horizon - amo

For better and for worse, this one has been a long time coming. If Sempiternal was the irritated throat fans brushed off as nothing, then That's the Spirit was their first terrifying handful of blood coughed up after ignoring diagnostics, and amo is the progression of the untreated pop infection in Bring Me the Horizon's lungs that has progressed beyond treatment. For fans uneasy about the band's trajectory in 2015, this album is no easy pill to swallow.

I've been rather critical of a lot of bands aping Bring Me the Horizon's more try-hard anthemic metalcore style since the success of 2013's Sempiternal, but for Bring Me the Horizon themselves, I've actually had at least a little bit of appreciation for the boldness and ambition with which they have seemed to try to push their brand of metalcore since their 2010 album There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret. But with that appreciation of what they are trying to do to bolster their sound has also come with a lot of frustration when it comes to the execution, whether it be the repetitive formula on Sempiternal yielding some seriously irritating tunes whose energy only magnified their obnoxiousness, or the horrendous watering down that neutered any idea of ambition on That's the Spirit.

It has been about four years since the band's aggravating previous album, and for myself, the metal community outside the band's fanbase, and even within, those four years have been spent nervously gritting teeth in anticipation of what the band would progress toward next. And now it's here. Given the sour turn the band took with That's the Spirit, my hopes for amo were not high at all. In fact after a series of lackluster maimstream-ish releases so far this year, I was ready for the cherry to top the shit sundae with this album. That being said, amo is definitely bolder and a much more thoughtful continuation of Bring Me the Horizon's quest for pop glory, and one that is at least more determined and more comprehensive than That's the Spirit. The band finally commit to the sound they clearly wanted to make their way to, and in some ways it's good that they're not trying to cover their bases as thinly as possible like they were with their previous album. Indeed, there are a few tracks on here I enjoy quite a lot.

The band fully commit to the sounds and writing styles of Top 40 pop these days, and this album would definitely blend right in with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes. I feel like I have to address my distaste for Top 40 music in general and clarify that it's not based in a simplistic, tribalistic feud I see lots of metalheads take part in, where it's the principle of pop vs. rock or mainstream music vs. outsider music that's being fought over. No, I definitely enjoy me some thoughtfully done pop music and even some indulgently tasty pop as well. What I don't like is the sterility of the music from the likes of Halsey, Macklemore, Camila Cabello, or whoever made that shit song "The Middle" selected to be the goal for pop artists to strive for to reach radio/playlist success. And then there's the despised Imagine Dragons, the only pop rock band in existence apparently, based on how much time they suck up on the radio. I know this is a sidetrack and I know that radio is not the prime outlet it used to be, but it still represents a lot of what pop trends towards these days, and it continues to set a precedent for vapid, lazy songwriting, and corporately calculated pandering. That being said, there's the occasional song I'm surprised, not so much by my enjoyment of, but of the presence of something enjoyable coming from a mainstream pop outlet, and that's what amo seems to be going for.

I gave this album quite a few listens, both to really get to know it as per usual, and because this kind of pop isn't my usual forte, and it was interesting to see how the album transformed in my eyes with each successive listen. My first time hearing it, I knew I was going into a straight-up pop album, and with the ilk of Top 40 stations as my barometer, I was actually pretty relieved and pleasantly surprised to not be slamming my head against the nearest wall for the 51 minutes it lasts. But then I remembered, "wait a minute, this is a pop album, it loves to ride a good first impression, see how it is after 4, 5, 6 listens." And sure enough, it waned on me the more I listened.

The parts that I really enjoy did rise to the top as the rest sank, but with a better understanding of this album's content and what it's trying to achieve, I end up with a lot of the same frustrations I had with the band on Sempiternal and its predecessor, just in a less heavy format/context this time. Like the band's first metalcore-departing albums, amo has some good stylistic ideas and it works well with them, but the band's inconsistent results with the repetitive formulas they emply continues to be the limiting factor for them. On the vocal front, Oli Sykes clearly channels Minutes to Midnight-era Chester Bennington all over the project, from the raspy borderline shouted melodies and overwhelmingly polished cleans, while also making a very pop-influenced use of his falsettos as well, and as much as it often teems over with blatant imitation, at least I can't complain about his execution; he's on point pretty much the entire time, which could be thanks to some production crutches, but Sykes' performances sound watertight nonetheless. The rest of the band are much more present than I thought they would be, not as drowned out in gaudy pop production (which does still become a bit too much at some points, but for the most part it's pretty tasteful and balanced throughout the album).

Songs like "nihilist blues" do well to set futuristically melancholic moods through modern electro pop instrumentals, while on songs like "MANTRA" and "sugar honey ice & tea" (a cheesy roundabout way to title the song "shit"), the band try to keep the guitar-driven energy high while blending more pop-oriented elements and performance/production techniques, and the blend is at least a refreshingly alive spin on the egg-shell-treading stlyes of this era of pop music. But the band still don't really manage to make what sounds good on paper actually sound as good as it should through speakers, churning out some annoying melodies through the overly repetitive structures that take bad pop songs from displeasing to disgusting. And these songs have some potential and some parts of them that I wish weren't wrecked by overproduction or cheesy choruses, "sugar honey ice & tea" especially has some invigorating building rock instrumentation in its verses, but the band don't really follow through on the hollow, high-pitched electro vocal-laden chorus. But then there are the songs that (I think) don't really have any redeeming qualities.

The songs where Bring Me the Horizon really just lean all the way into this new role as a prospective pop act are the ones where they of course fall into the styles' predictable pitfalls. Straightforward pop numbers like "mother tongue" and "medicine" channel kiddish lyrics about love and embodying vindictiveness respectively through bland, unimaginative instrumentation. Another track, "in the dark", runs in kind of the same vein of unadultered pop with Oli Sykes doing his best Shawn Mendes impersonation, but is at least a little bit more soulful and less robotic.

Back in the gray area is the song "heavy metal", which takes aim at the attitudes of discontented fans being mad at the band for continuing to shift styles. I understand that there are definitely a lot of stubborn people willing to let that be sufficient justification for their reasons for lampooning the band's change in style, but there are plenty of reasons to be apprehensive about this new direction that lots of other people are articulating that the band could have addressed instead of minimizing the criticism surrounding them to the reductive basement-dweller strawman. Instrumentally though, it is one of the heavier songs on the album, ending with the album's only screamed breakdown, as short as it is.

As far as highlights go, the song "why you gotta kick me when i'm down?" is a convincing electronic banger that finds low-register synths mimicking the crunch of the guitar the band usually uses, and doing so well. Lyrically it oozes of the same kind of inability to accept criticism as "heavy metal", but at least this song's fierce potency makes a good case for the band's being above the type of simplistic criticism they lament. The song "wonderful life" is by far the best song on the album with its gritty electro-nu metal guitar groove and its anthemic vocal melody in the chorus raising a defeatist toast to growing old and burning out. The pop influences are still easily palpable, but taking a support role rather than the lead, with the band driving the song with the down-tuned metal riffage they do well that made Suicide Season and the best parts of Sempiternal.

For what could have been the definitive nail in the coffin for a lot of people like me who hated That's the Spirit, amo is definitely a mixed bag in classic Bring Me the Horizon fashion, but that sure is a lot better than the torturous train wreck I was expecting (especially after hearing "mother tongue" and "medicine" as preliminary singles), and it at least shows that this band does indeed have the potential to do well in this metal-flavored pop niche they're trying to carve out, and by all means I would love for them to do well with it. I think it is important for metal to continue to make good entry-level material for the new generations, and entry-level material that immersed fans can bond with new fans over as well and for younger generations to be able to look back at fondly after diving deep into the wonderful world of metal music. I definitely don't think amo is quite that album, but it is a gateway, and it does suggest that somewhere in Bring Me the Horizon's collective creative potential exists that album, which only tenacity and further perfection of this style they've arrived at can uncover.

better than Halsey/10

#bring me the horizon #amo #oli sykes #oliver sykes #new music #new album #album review #metal #heavy metal #pop #electronic rock #electropop #rock

2 notes · View notes

automatismoateo · 3 years

Text

Most religious people don't actually believe; they just like belonging to the club via /r/atheism

Submitted September 28, 2021 at 07:03AM by thenuttyhazlenut (Via reddit https://ift.tt/3D70coj) Most religious people don't actually believe; they just like belonging to the club

I don't believe that they believe. I don't buy it. Many religious people I've come across, Christian or Islam, often have no issues with acting just as vulgar as the rest of us even though their religion condemns such behavior. I was discussing Islam with someone earlier and he was cussing at me half the time and saying my opinion is like the opinion of a cow.

How could they behave that way while believing in their god? If I believed in god, heaven and hell, and that it's possible for me to burn in a terrible place for eternity then I would be on my best behavior every. single. day. You bet I would be a good person.

I think they're full of shit. 95% of them don't really believe. They just like being part of their club. It's like football fans in America. They like belonging to a community, to a fanbase. While also believing that they're profound, and on the days they consider their mortality they take comfort in believing that have a nice afterlife secured for them. It's pure selfishness. Most of them don't act any better than the rest of us. They're fakes who don't mind living in cognitive dissonance.

#reddit

0 notes

sugaminh · 7 years

Text

i don't think i'll ever be able to fully grasp and accept the fact that teen wolf is finally over. the ending was just the right one for the story. they incorporated so many amazing stuff within 50 minutes and the remaining characters got what they deserved. but i dont think that it was the 'perfect' ending. where was kira? she's not dead and if it wasn't for her a lot of their asses wouldn't have probably made it til the end. so why just cut her off like she wasn't a part of the story? they brought back a lot of characters. hell, they even brought back jill argent. kira's character wasn't given justice even til the end which is pretty disappointing. another thing is stydia. im not gonna lie. i've been rooting for this ship ever since i started watching the show. they always used to lure us with some 'you'll have to wait and see' shit every time fans ask about stydia and that happens every season. the two always had a deep connection and were just a match made in heaven. which is why it IS the ship in the show that has the biggest fanbase. jeff FINALLY made stydia 'canon' during season 6. season 6a m in my opinion was really dedicated to stydia although the screen time between the two actors were so limited that we only got to see them together during the first and last episodes. the 6 x 10 kiss somehow made up for it though. it gave fans hope that there will be more scenes with the said ship in the last installment of teen wolf which was 6b. now us fans were informed beforehand about dylan's hectic schedule and that we would probably only see him in a few episodes. and we did. we really did. and it's sorta understandable. but during the finale, when stiles finally came in action with the rest of the character including lydia, when dylan finally had some screen time, did they make it worth it? not really. i mean everybody knew that stydia was finally canon and they didn't even get a cute little reunion of their own? no reunion hugs, no 'i missed you' scenes, no nothing. there wasn't even another kiss. this ship was a slow burn ship and the fans didn't even get to witness its progress. unlike newly bloomed ships which had like 5 kissing scenes every episode (and a fucking shower scene). was the finale perfect? no but i am still thankful to everyone who made it happen. teen wolf has been a part of my life since as long as i can remember and the characters will always be dear to my heart. so thank you, teen wolf. thank you, stydia.

#stydia #teen wolf #dylan o'brien #hollan roden #tyler posey #scott mccall

5 notes · View notes

attract-mode-collective · 5 years

Photo

Review: Metal Gear In Concert

This past weekend, Metal Gear In Concert made its long awaited debut on US soil. And because the performance took place literally in my backyard, that being the Washington Heights portion of upper Manhattan, and also because I'm such a Metal Gear diehard… I was naturally there.

It was held at the United Palace, a non-profit cultural & performing arts center that's also a church (with the best god damn acoustics imaginable). Was my second time at the venue actually; the previous was for, funny enough, Kingdom Hearts Orchestra last summer. Anyhow, impressions of my Saturday night...

Let's start with the biggest positive first: the seventy musicians on stage did an absolutely wonderful job breathing life into various compositions hailing from the seven mainline Metal Gear Solid tiles (assuming you consider Ground Zeroes & Phantom Pain as separate entities). As for the arrangements themselves, I found some creative choices to be rather... curious... but the musicians performed the notes that they were given, and again, they were outstanding.

So onto the biggest negatives; there's two. First, the order in which the source material was presented. Whomever thought it would be best to present the games in chronological order. Meaning the first thing we hear is the opening to Snake Eater, and the last is the final piece from Guns of the Patriot. BTW, alongside the music is footage from the games, cinematics that have been edited to add context to the music.

Adhering to the narrative is something most diehard fans might prefer, but given how any casual members of the audience would have no idea what the hell is going on… which admittedly would have resolved if the aforementioned highlight reels were better produced… I believe an opportunity was lost as it pertains to highlighting the evolution of the series by not presenting the games in the order in which they were produced. Am mostly talking about how the music evolved here, but the same goes with the visuals.

Instead of using the occasion as a conversation starter among aficionados of orchestral music, to not just heighten awareness of Metal Gear but the medium of games as a whole, it was simply for the fans. Which is fair enough, though my second primary gripe is ultimately responsible for the first one and is purely via the lens of a fanboy: there was an overall lack of polish when compared to Kingdom Hearts Orchestra. Broad strokes-wise, it was the same deal; various songs were chosen from various games, accompanied by footage. In fact, both were produced by the same organization La Fée Sauvage, which specializes in producing licensed music concerts. They also do show based around Final Fantasy and… One Piece?

A key difference between the Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear showcases is how the former simply had more to work with; there are simply more KH games than MG games. As the saying goes, less is more, so considering the reduced amount of material to breathe life into, every creative decision ends up taking on greater importance (and lends itself to increased scrutiny). At the same time, the length of time between MG installments is greater than KH's. There's also greater technological leaps, as well as gameplay advances, let alone gameplay variety. Hence why each Kingdom Hearts entry... while certainly unique... is more or less identical.

Not true with Metal Gear, and not to sound like a delusional fanboy, but whereas every entry may appear similar, below the surface they are wholly unique to each other. As well unlike any other game, to such a degree that they've helped to redefine the medium. A large part of the appeal of KH is the characters, and while I’m a fan of MG’s colorful cast, what makes Metal Gear… well, METAL GEAR… is the gameplay, the breaking of the fourth wall, etc. So with all that in mind, perhaps focusing a more tangible aspect like the narrative, was the only real option among the parties involved?

I believe the main reason for such a difference in approach and quality, despite both shows being produced by the same entity, is how other names were involved in the Kingdom Hearts affair. Specifically, Disney Concerts & Square Enix; me thinks that last name is the most important one, because Kingdom Hearts is such a valuable asset for SE. The previous concert took place right when production of KH3 was heading towards the finish line, so it was just another thing to keep the fanbase excited. Basically, Square Enix cared about their concert, because they had a serious investment in it, which was clearly on stage for all to see.

Meanwhile... and no need to state what every diehard fan of the franchise knows already, but... Konami cares very little about Metal Gear. It’s just another IP, just another source of revenue, not even one that’s coveted; Konami’s name being barely visible in any of the press releases I’ve received is yet another sign that they weren’t very invested, or interested, in the performance. And it goes without saying that the series creator was still involved, those sizzle reels would have been vastly superior.

Something else that needs to be pointed out: the turn out for the show was rather disappointing. It definitely was not a sellout. Not sure why… this past Saturday night’s performance was originally schedule for last October, so perhaps the change had an effect? I don’t think so… Perhaps the ever-increasing shittiness of this city’s mass transit had an impact? Again, maybe a little. Perhaps it was the cost of entry? A more likely factor… full disclosure: I attended for free, as a member of the press.

Ultimately, I fear the poor turn out simply speaks of the current state of the Metal Gear fanbase, which has deteriorated in recent years, something that Konami themselves is responsible for.

And… because this report is turning out longer than expected, I’m just going to go down my additional points, in semi-bullet pointed fashion:

- Alas, one couldn’t tell it was a high ticketed affair by looking at the majority of its attendees. Generally speaking, one usually will dress up… or dress nicely…. for an event of this type. But not for Metal Gear in Concert. Lots of t-shirts & jeans.

As for what they wore, I saw far less Metal Gear related attire than at the Kingdom Hearts shindig, which again was a sign of how lively the fanbase is. Translation: I recall lots of KH related merch, fairly recent stuff, whereas hardly anyone was wearing anything of note among the MG camp… saw two instances of shirts from that Uniqlo line about ten years ago, that was it.

- Speaking of merch, what they had for sale at Metal Gear In Concert was downright embarrassing. Attendees were clearly expecting to blow money, and had only two different shirts to choose from, both of which were subpar Redbubble-caliber. At the very least, I was expecting a commemorative design to mark the performance near the George Washington Bridge, but nope.

And speaking of the GW, when the opener from Metal Gear Solid 2 was highlighted, it predictably got one of the loudest reactions from the crowd (no joke, that bridge is legit a few blocks away from the United Palace).

- There were a few cosplayers in attendance, and sitting directly behind me was a dude dressed as Naked Snake, with his 5 year old son, dressed the same. Which was cute until it was clear that the kid had zero familiarity with dad's fave game; the kid was clearly bored and uncomfortable.

Once again, nerd parenting is often some of the worst parenting I've encountered, a topic of discussion that I have many strong opinions about, but now is perhaps not the time or place.

- The definitive highlight of the evening for me was witnessing Donna Burke perform Sins of the Father live, which again due to the order of the source material, was a super early into the proceedings crowd pleaser. Snake Eater was the first of two songs performed as the encore.

Hate to say it, but her take on Cynthia Harrell's signature song... while certainly respectable... further validates my previously alternate approach to the concert, meaning Snake Eater could have been an excellent means of warming up the crowd, and both Phantom Pain selections (the other being Heavens Divide) still closing the show.

... So yeah, that was Metal Gear In Concert. If you're a fan of the games and live music, it's definitely recommended. Even if it doesn't hit all the right marks and is ultimately a somewhat sad reflection of the enthusiasm for Big Boss, Solid Snake, and the rest of the game... or lack thereof.

Or maybe the turn out will be better for the next performance, taking place in Los Angeles ion April 6th at Wilshire Ebell Theatre? And if you go... while you don't have to... for God's sake wear a button up shirt at the very least, geeze.

0 notes

amisbro · 6 years

Text

Let’s answer this

If someone asked me RIGHT NOW “Where are you in terms of UtaPri and the fandom?” That is arguably the most complicated question I would ever have to answer...and I took World Culture in High School!

Okay let’s be serious UtaPri is legit one of the few franchises that tests me mentally in the sense of Figuring out Broccoli’s next move with Merch What they could do gamewise What is going to happen with the Anime Information on other projects (Shining Masterpiece/Theater ,DVDs ,Stage shows etc.) What the next step in the universe would be as a whole with the different units and COULD THEY CREATE MORE...I never discussed this one but its something I had been thinking about Its also one of the few that has allowed me to mess with the Canon and treat groups that might not have been treated fairly and write them in ways that I enjoy...matter of fact SPOILER TIME but one of the next fic works coming this month is my yearly Birthday concert but with a twist that you’ll see for the first time when the birthday comes up. It HAS also been one of the more frustrating fandoms lately that I have been in/dealt with and I’m not going to bullshit it anymore. History Lesson So back in 2013 (and more specifically near the end of it I discovered a gif of one of the characters from the series...at the time I had no idea who it was and ,if you remember, Tumblr made an update that hid the tags unless you went in the post on a person’s blog (generally the OP) and found out what it was. In this case it was Ren Jingugji of STARISH whom I found out was voiced by Junichi Suwabe. That name sounded familiar and I discovered he was in BroCon as the brother Kaname whom was a Monk (and also a womanizer...there’s a comho) (Also if I got the occupation for Kaname wrong I apologize. I could have sworn that was his occupation but its been a while since I watched the series so forgive me on the mistake if there was one) Well after this discovery about UtaPri I went and looked it up on my favorite website (okay second...ANN is first anymore) in Wikipedia and I discovered it was a Otome/Visual Novel game and that intrigued me...what intrigued me more was researching some of the characters and at the time legit five intrigued me Natsuki Shinomiya of STARISH and the whole of QN QN was interesting because ,since I was just discovering UtaPri at this point, I knew jack about them...but I wanted to see what I could learn about them from observation/ Legit the ONLY SPOILER I retained at the time was that Ai was programmed with the memory of Aine or something of that effect...again its been a good while. Season 1 I watched through DVD and if you go through this blog you will see that I did two different blogs on that and Season 2. When I did Season 2 that was through the site crunchyroll and I remember at the time I was talking with someone using the “Fan Mail” option (hey tumblr staff bring that back will ya...I actually liked that option) and before I got to Season 2 someone had told me about Camus. The reason for this was because I mentioned (at the time) I despised Ren’s character for being a womanizing playboy that didn’t give a s**t about being an idol. Now yes that was actually wrong but it was the thing I remembered from my first watch through (which was when the conversation with the tumblr user occurred). Before we discuss Season 2 you have to know this. Because I knew at the time info would be readily available on the “initial 6″ (Cecil wasn’t in STARISH yet) legit the only one I remembered reading about was Natsuki and originally I thought I was going to enjoy his character...matter of fact for anyone that wants to know that doesn’t from S1 the “Best Boy” spot was something like this Tokiya (before Cecil has {BEEEEP]) Cecil And once the Season was rewatched it was Ren after realizing the crap he not only went through in Season 1 but then later in Season 2 HOWEVER Once Season 2 came about and QN was introduced anyone that knows me knows that my faves showed up in Ai and Camus (and also Ran)...Reiji I never could really embrace and I have TRIED! Something about him I just can’t get with. (I know I know...I can’t deal with him but I have no issue with Myu right? Yeah I’ve been working on that one for over 4 years and it ain’t easy) So Season 2 was ON FIRE! Legit all of the songs I could kind of embrace (I legit replayed Crystal Time all day for like 3 weeks straight if I remember...might have been shorter but it was a murderous loop trust me) and the story (for the most part) was a very light and funny tone from what I remembered. Yeah there were the “heavy” moments but you didn’t want to have a nervous breakdown after the episodes ended...that was me in Season 4 when Episode 11 happened BUT ANYWAYS Season 2 was ALSO the introduction of the “Renegade Princes” in HEAVENS and around this time they were just a trio (June 6th would be the airdate and the “official” birthday of HEAVENS I guess? I think some use the 27th of June so its funny) and I was like most people. I wanted them to fall on their ass and never be seen again so we could get to the STARISH/QN part of the story (cos I legit watched the SSX OVA like 50 times and can damn near recite that fucker word for word if I remember scenes hard enough...I think it was the first time I saw Myu with glasses too!) Now here was the thing about HEAVENS AT FIRST I was like the fandom like “Look at these jackasses. All they want to do is start shit and cause problems for STARISH so they need their ass beat” and well they did lose and I think I remember the first time being REALLY HAPPY about it but I think around the second time I THINK (and I would have to go back through my notes) I was less harsh on them. I know by the time I got to their debut episode (and I finished it) a THIRD TIME I had no issues with them left...then again this might have been during the space between Season 3 and 4. Actually...yeah the third watch was between Season 3 and 4 cos I wanted to see how the “Original Trio” acted and then I would compare that with the “new boys” later. If I remember right (cos I am trying to NOT rewrite history) when I first saw the “Fully Powered” HEAVENS The one I probably took the most issue with was Van (sorry @baku5ds) but it was because he reminded me of Ren from Season 1 and I wanted to deck his ass...still kind of want to punch him then for acting like a knob but he’s aight now! Season 4 was going to be an interesting time for me See before Season 4 started I remember asking people how they thought the season was going to go and they thought it would go like this HEAVENS would lose (well they were initially DQ’d so kind of right) and then it would be down to STARISH and QN with HEAVENS as background characters (which is what they were in Season 3 cos we didn’t see them again till the new 7 showed up). When we found out it was going to be duets between STARISH and HEAVENS it became interesting for me because remember this: Because I watched legit the initial debut for the Trio (and their subsequent loss) twice a part of me wanted to see what Broc would do FOR THEM because I personally had kind of “been there/done that” with STARISH and I learned as much as I could for three seasons and dealing with their personalities...nothing wrong with that but after a while you need to interject new characters to freshen up a series. One thing I remember being asked was basically this “How can you like HEAVENS when you don’t know about them?” (That’s not the question verbatim but considering this question was on skype legit now over 2 years old I dunno if I can find it again) We have to remember that around the time of Season 2 (when I watched it) I legit only remembered Ai’s part of the wikipedia entry so...why should I have liked QN? I really DIDN’T read the STARISH part of the wikipedia entry so why have liked them? See the way I work as a fan is through observation and I see what I see and then make my judgements based on that. I STILL think that the School staff was borderline antagonistic (all of them and that includes Shining) and when STARISH officially got to debut with Nanami as the composer I smiled cos in the end the “bad guys” (even if they really weren’t) “got theirs” What I got legit curious about was this during Season 4 Even if my opinion and a STARISH fan’s opinion on HEAVENS never matched up could we have that civil discussion to say “okay you don’t like them that’s cool but please respect that I do” We all know about the “3 weeks of hell” and I won’t relive those but those were the WORST 3 weeks of my life. I legit think I damn near had a headache that lasted that entire stretch I was that annoyed cos I could legit see the story in front of me but everyone else was like “Nah fam...that ain’t true” then HEAVENS lost in the Triple S after their perseverance of dealing with “Daddy’s bulls**t” and I don’t know if I was more annoyed about that or the prior weeks with the “EiiOto Mess” and the rest of the duet project cos in my head I knew one part of the fandom would be THRILLED while the other would be annoyed...I think anyone that knows me knows where i was to the point someone made a stalk account on twitter to try and get on me...didn’t work cos I know how to block people! ANYWHO! I’m going to try and keep the rest of this brief af...I say try so we won’t go over 6th stage (and how I thought that was a trainwrck...maybe I was too harsh back then to be honest) but I do want to discuss this Whenever I hear (and others I know) that “HEAVENS’ role is only to make STARISH better” I half ass chuckle because if we are talking about groups to make STARISH BETTER well...there was QN and then STARISH was again kind of like “Nah fam” and we know what happened. I dunno that I am annoyed with the fanbase...matter of fact I can almost tell you flat out I’m not but if I had a gripe with the “Western/International” base it felt more like at times y’all didn’t want there TO BE fans of the “Renegade Princes” because I know a friend of mine made a VERY INNOCENT post when it came to Shining Live and HEAVENS and they asked “What would the HEAVENS fans want in Shining Live for them” and I remember the Anons and how they were kind of rude...not a good way to grow a fanbase kids. Let’s be clear on this and I’m going to try and make this brief I don’t hate STARISH nor their fans I don’t hate QN or their fans (obviously I am one) I’m more frustrated because you see when you are someone like me who IRL dealt with a lot of s**t and was an underdog his whole life I always root for them...I want to see that upset! I think I would have enjoyed STARISH’s story a bit more IF they showed that they could “take it on the chin” one time and then go “Okay we lost that round...let’s give it hell next time!” I know they technically COULDN’T do that with the story they were telling but don’t you think that Suwabe right? He worked on KnB and he could have said “Well look...in this series my school beat the main school (Seirin) and then they came back eventually and beat us...couldn’t we do something like that?” Irony before anyone says anything is he ,SuzuKen ,Kishow ,OnoD ,to a lesser extent Shimono and Tatsun (might have been more...I think Toriumi was on Suwabe’s team) all knew what happened but I think because of certain issues they HAD to write UtaPri where STARISH was basically unstoppable...best guess It gets frustrating sometimes to be a fan of the series (less so for me now that I play on the JP account more full-time now) and you want...really all of the groups to do well but you know you really want your group to do well. It also somewhat gets upsetting when you ask people “Would you watch a season that was just HEAVENS?” and then they tell you they would skip it...never mind that you watched effectively 2 full seasons of the “main group” but EYYY I dunno I think I get agitated and I know there are others that do too. I would NEVER just turn my back on the franchise because I love it but I think I just wish that HEAVENS got repped well on this site and even facebook better than I feel like they do. I think sometimes they will never get this “stigma” of being an “antagonist” off of them and that sucks...but for some people the “first impression is the one that lasts” so I can’t fault that anymore I guess In closing I don’t think I could ever leave UtaPri behind but all I want is what is best for my boys and hopefully their day is coming very soon Au Revoir!

#Amisbro #uta no prince sama #My Thoughts as a UtaPri fan #HEAVENS #uta no prince-sama

4 notes · View notes