The Golden Experience
Hmm, since no one's guessed the reference behind the previous post's title yet, and I am now making another post, then I will be holding 2 contests now then. So, I'm gonna shoot.
This post is about Stands.
Editted from Wikipedia:
The concept of "Stand" (a contraction of the phrase "one who stands by me") was introduced in part 3 of the
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga series. According to Joseph Joestar, it is the manifestation of an individual's innate power and represents, to an extent, the individual's psyche. In fact, Joseph once referred to it in the manga as the "ghost ripple" (quite apt, as most of them take on humanoid forms and hover around the wielders like wraiths). Stands are usually sustained by breathing, and typically hover behind and above the user while active. Most Stands are invisible to those who do not have Stands; the exceptions are Stands that are bound to physical objects. Most Stand Users can access the "senses" of their Stands, seeing and hearing whatever their Stands can.
To people without the power of the Stand, who normally cannot see them (except for Stands with physical appearances), these have properties and behaviors similar to that of ghosts, poltergeists and ESP. This
behavior is evidently seen in the JoJo OVA; Jotaro imprisons himself, takes a gun from the guard, aims it to his head, and pulls the trigger of the gun. His Stand's hands caught the bullet before it reaches his head. For the normal people around him, it would appear that the bullet is suspended in midair. The other prisoners near his cell and even the guards could not explain the incident, and they grew to fear Jotaro.
In general, only those with unusually strong spiritual power and determination (but not limited to human beings) can develop stands, as they are typically a reflection of the wielder's spirit. Stands can be developed hereditarily or artificially (through the Bow and Arrow). An interesting trend regarding Stands is that in their earlier appearances in arcs 3 and 4 had a more humanoid appearance and mostly elemental powers, but later appearances in arcs 5 and 6 had Stands taking on a more mechanical look and have more physical and intricate abilities (like controlling gravity, for example).
Although stands manifests from the wielder's psyche, some abilities cannot be controlled and may even restrict the wielder. Though most stands acts at the wielder's will, some stands are "automatic" and the wielders cannot keep track of their actions.
It is interesting to note that the stands began to take on names of distinguished bands and album titles starting from arc 4 of the series. Most of them are progressive rock bands, as Araki himself is a fan of this music genre. In arc 3 some Stands are named after tarot cards, and later after Egyptian gods. In the subsequent series, some are even named after fashion labels.
Despite their powers, Stands hold one drawback; any damage the Stand receives is transmitted to its user (i.e. if a Stand's leg were to be ripped off, the Stand's user will have his or her leg severed as well). This has served as a way for defeating most of the encountered opponents throughout the series, though some Stands are immune to this factor.
So I kept imagining this imaginary adventure in my mind these days. There are 8 protagonists, namely Sharon, Susan, Dawson, Willie, Elaine, William, QQ and me. I can't help but make up their Stands! And no, Sharon, this version is not what you've read so it's worth reading as the abilities are now upgraded.
Name: Wilson Liew
Stand: Aqua Timez (Japanese pop band)
Abilities: Can shoot high-pressure water projectiles; manipulate all 3 states of water and change the state of its own body’s matter. Just like Iggy’s The Fool, AT can also make replicas of objects or humans; except AT’s do
not utilize sand as the production material but instead water. The water pressure will make the replica created
to be turgid, thus making it seem more real. Later on, Wilson also practiced making blades of ice or rapid dynamic water, plus manipulating his Stand’s water-absorbent property. Besides that, Wilson can also convert any liquid into pure water and produce explosive bubbles. When Susan is not around he sometimes use AT to disinfect wounds as temporary treatment. Another known ability of AT is to envelop body parts with water to increase both strength and resilience due to the turgor pressure. For supportive purposes, AT can freely move from a body of water to another’s within a mile’s radius from the first body. AT’s catchphrase is repeating “Izu Izu Izu Izu Izu Izu Izu” when pummeling enemies.
Strength: A
Speed: C
Range: A
Staying: B
Precision: A
Learning: B
Name: Sharon Wong
Stand: My Chemical Romance (American rock band)
Abilities: Stores all forms of acids and alkalis. Its cloak can withstand corrosive attacks. Able to shoot selected chemical at will. It is able to provide healing support through neutralization of wounds caused by substances that are either acidic or alkaline. On the supportive side, MCR can identify any chemicals at first sight with ease.
Strength: A
Speed: A
Range: C
Staying: B
Precision: C
Learning: C
Name: Susan Sim
Stand: The Scientist (A song by Coldplay)
Abilities: Bears a syringe to inject a restorative liquid into any organism that greatly enhances regeneration. It has multiple cartridges around its waist filled with different forms of medicines to load into its syringe should the patient suffer from symptoms other than physical injuries like poison, fever, influenza et cetera. Upon injection, no pain will be felt as all of its medicines come with anesthetic. Some of the cartridges instead bear dangerous substances like snake venom. This can be coupled together with the rapier-like syringe-arm to enable Susan to stand her own.
Strength: B
Speed: C
Range: D
Staying: A
Precision: A
Learning: A
Name: Dawson Goh
Stand: Garnet Crow (Japanese pop band)
Abilities: Capable of flight. It is able to rain down shards of sharp garnet via flapping of wings. It is also capable of absorbing other minerals in the area to gain the properties of it. Instead of raining down shards of garnet, it can also opt to spread the powder of pounded garnet, which could prove fatal if inhaled as it can injure internal organs; leading to bleeding. As the garnets produced are quite reflective, manipulation of light to produce illusions can also be done. Another one of its abilities is being able to mentally control other avians in a radius of 30 m from Garnet Crow.
Strength: C
Speed: A
Range: A
Staying: B
Precision: B
Learning: C
Name: Willie Liew
Stand: Freeze Frame (Song by Jump 5)
Abilities: Its eyes are actually built-in cameras. Willie is the only one who can order it to snap pictures, and when Freeze Frame’s Snapping Mode is on, Willie’s eyes are synchronized with FF’s eyes (the camera) for better view of the out coming picture and to allow better adjustments to be made. After taking the picture, FF will develop it within 3 seconds. The photo is a Dynamic Photo, which acts like a CCTV, which shows the place snapped live. If someone moves at that place, it will also be seen in the photo. Willie can have the photo frozen if he wants, and that will make the place where the photo is taken to stop its flow of time; hence ‘freezing’ it and changing it into a Static Photo. Everything that happens to the photo will also happen in the real world. For example, if Willie rips the photo to shreds, the scene within the photo will also be damaged, along with who/whatever’s in there. This is recommended to be used on Static Photos, as the target wouldn’t be able to escape then. FF bears several weaknesses actually, despite its abilities being apparently godlike. If it is attacked while developing a photo, its photo taking ability will be rendered unusable for 24 hours straight, leading it to rely on brute force for self-defense. Other weaknesses are mostly linked to photography errors. For example, if Willie doesn’t get FF to use suitable lens to take a certain picture, the picture may get blurry, and anything that happens to it will have its efficiency halved.
Strength: C
Speed: C
Range: A
Staying: A
Precision: B
Learning: A
Name: Elaine Chung
Stand: Hot Stuff (Song by The Pussycat Dolls)
Abilities: HS can manipulate fire and heat. It can also produce fires or lava on its own. Whatever it touches will become a ‘Hotspot’, attracting heat to it and cooling down surrounding temperature since the heat will be focused there. Elaine can use it to accelerate the speed of heat flow or dampen it. HS’s body is also able of absorbing heat and fire which will make it stronger. Elaine can also choose to make it conduct or insulate heat at will.
Strength: B
Speed: B
Range: C
Staying: A
Precision: B
Learning: A
Name: William Tan
Stand: Sanctuary (Song by Utada Hikaru)
Abilities: Sanctuary can create walls which only enable access to others via William’s approval. Otherwise, anything that tries to force itself in will be gradually vaporized. For one to break open the barrier, one must use a projectile-type attack to attack continuously at a set spot since any damage made to the barrier will be restored within seconds. The walls are in 2D, so if William manages to link together many walls, a 3D shape will be formed, usually to either provide better protection for allies or to imprison foes. Walls are made by mentally drawing the outline of a shape in the air, so if William wants to create shapes with many sides like a nonagon, he’s pretty vulnerable to attacks since he needs to concentrate on drawing. Walls that are made can be positioned as William sees fit, and since the walls have quite sharp edges (even circular walls), he can make use of it as blades to be more offensive.
Strength: A
Speed: B
Range: B
Staying: A
Precision: C
Learning: C
Name: QQ
Stand: Under The Radar (Music album by Grade)
Abilities: It can project a holographic radar on any surface which scans its surroundings within a 1 kilometer radius. Upon any given instruction, it will scan as QQ likes. If QQ wants it to scan the terrain, it can easily map
out the area on the radar. If QQ is searching for someone, she just needs to specify his/her characteristics, and UTR will track down people who match those traits. UTR is also able to teleport to whichever location on its radar. UTR can also ‘broadcast’ images or sounds to any point in its radar. Given its excellent range, UTR makes a good Stand for communication, tracking, trailing, stalking or spying purposes. For self-defense, UTR can project highly intensified radioactive soundwaves and fight with a unique style drew from ballet. UTR is also known to be able to interfere with radio/satellite signals, and wiretap both telephone and cellphone conversations. Given its body structure, UTR can easily break the most fatal of falls as well.
Strength: C
Speed: B
Range: A
Staying: A
Precision: A
Learning: B
Yeah, I tried avoiding the cliched superpowers. Not bad, eh? FYI, William is noneother than Wei Huang, while
QQ is ... a girl, yeah. Ask Sharon. Or Agnes. She is the only one who can call me SS,
and I am the only one who calls her QQ.
Now I really need to go off.