{ruby city | application}

[risorto]

PLAYER
Name: Crystal
Age: 24
Personal Journal: nerdangel
E-mail: octoberrain08 @ gmail
AIM/MSN/etc: thesubrosa

CHARACTER
Name: Bruno Buccellati
Canon: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Vento Aureo
Age: 20
Timeline: Vol. 63 Ch. 585 King of Kings (post-death)
If playing another character from the same canon, how will you deal with this?: n/a

Personality:

If there were one word out of the whole of the English language that Bruno Buccellati engenders, it's kindness. It's true that Bruno is a gangster and it's true that he may err on the side of morally questionable when compared to the letter of the law, but he is not someone who has become who and what he is out of a drive for power or out of malice. Bruno is the sort of person who would readily push aside his own needs for the sake of others, making his kindness both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. To understand Bruno best, one must look at his role/position and attitudes both within the microcosm of his gang and the macrocosm of Passione as well as beyond those contexts.

Within his own gang, Bruno is the indisputable leader. However, his designation as leader is not simply a given because of the specific role he's earned within Passione or that his gang tends to be incredibly successful. Bruno is perceptive and attentive to the strengths and weaknesses of each of his subordinates. Oftentimes he's more aware of the strengths they possess more than they are. He uses this information not just to strategize, but identify ways in which he can push and empower them. Bruno expects loyalty. He expects that each member is prepared to give their lives for the sake of the others, for the sake of the task at hand. That is simply part of being in a gang. But he doesn't want co-dependence. Bruno wants each of them to be able to reach their potentials as individuals as well as members of the gang. The best example of this is when Bruno is making his decision to betray the boss explicitly. He could have easily ordered the gang to follow him. Nearly every member would have followed him because he ordered it. But Bruno allowed for each member to make up their own mind about whether to follow him in this war and did not begrudge Fugo for staying behind.

Although it's the most evident within this context, Bruno also takes this approach outside of his gang as well. Bruno has been a caretaker since a very young age, starting with taking care of his father. He was only seven years old when his parents divorced and although his mother used incredibly manipulative language in her attempt to persuade him to leave with her, Bruno refused to leave his father's side. He understood, even at that age, that his father would not have anything else if he were to leave with his mother. Likewise, average citizens within Bruno's community have no problem coming to him with everyday problems, knowing that he will do what he can. Because of his loyalty and concern for the average person within the community, his allegiance to Passione becomes strained and eventually broken as Passione begins dealing drugs.

Drug trafficking is something that Bruno is against not just out of concern for his community, but also because of his father. Bruno's father had been gunned down by two drug dealing gangsters. Although his father managed to survive the shooting, the gangsters attempted to return and finish the job. Bruno, at the age of twelve, killed both of these men and sought protection within Passione. He has been able to look the other way and think nothing of the gang's criminal activities and engaged in plenty of it himself, including theft and murder (where justified). But drug trafficking strikes far too close a personal wound for Bruno and he is willing to risk everything to put a stop to it.

Which leads into a discussion of his relationship with Passione as a whole. Although the gang does engage in criminal activity, Bruno believes it should hold a symbiotic relationship with the community. The community is protected and the gang's shadier business dealings are overlooked. By engaging in drug trafficking, the boss is not just breaking but violating that relationship and placing his own personal gains above that of the community as well as the rest of Passione. Thus, Diavolo needs to be removed. Permanently. This drive only deepens after the boss attempts to kill Trish, his only daughter, in order to protect his own identity. Family--whether blood or found--is of the utmost importance to Bruno. The attempt on Trish's life is something he finds reprehensible.

Although Diavolo was correct and Bruno was attempting to use Trish to uncover his identity, long before they even reached Venice, Bruno's investment in Trish had become personal. His interest in protecting her life was not purely because he had been ordered to do so. He extends that same interest in her own growth, safety, and happiness that he affords the other members of his gang. Ultimately, Bruno gives his life to protect her from her father.

But Bruno's story doesn't end there. Giorno is able to restore a semblance of life to Bruno's body, but he cannot actually return Bruno to life. Most might have an existential crisis about being trapped in a deteriorating body, rage against the powers that be over their life not yet lived. But for Bruno? He has already given his life once and he is prepared to give it once again. He is only concerned that he will not be able to carry the remaining members the rest of the way to their goal. As his body deteriorates exponentially, he keeps pushing them forward. Of course, in typical Bruno fashion, he pushes himself further and harder than he does the rest. While they have all agreed at this point to make sacrifices of their own free will, Bruno still allows the remaining members a small window of time to mourn Abbacchio. In contrast, Bruno doesn't allow himself any time for mourning to keep the group moving forward. He also does not inform the others at all of what's happened to him, only conveying the truth of his situation to Giorno when Giorno manages to piece it together for himself.

As mentioned in the beginning, Bruno is someone who embodies kindness. This kindness drives Bruno throughout his whole life from his decision to stay with his father to joining Passione to betraying Diavolo to sacrificing his life for his family. It acts as a strength, allowing him to be an effective and empowering leader that seeks the best not just for those close to him but even complete strangers. It also gives Bruno the strength to make sacrifices that he would never ask of others. But this is where it begins to also turn into a weakness as Bruno often neglects his own needs. He refuses to take from the others by worrying them with his impending demise. He doesn't take time for himself to mourn. Instead, he keeps pushing forward with a singleminded goal, only resting once it's absolutely certain that his final sacrifice will give Giorno the advantage he needs to put an end to Diavolo.

Background:

Bruno Buccellati

Vento Aureo

Passione & Buccellati's Gang aka stop bringing home orphans, Bruno

Stands

Sticky Fingers

Abilities:

As the head of his own subset gang within the Passione gang, Bruno has essentially all of the skills you'd expect a gangster of his caliber to come with. Basically, he can lie, cheat, and steal. Sometimes murder if necessary/justified. He can also lead a merry band of orphans and misfits to successfully usurp the previous don. You know. The usual gangster-y things.

Bruno is also a very skilled and experienced Stand user. His Stand Sticky Fingers is able to create zippers on both inanimate objects and living beings with a punch. These zippers can be used to both detach and (re)attach two different things to one another. For example, after Abbacchio lost his hand, Bruno just reattached it with a zipper to let it heal back on. Bruno has also used this ability to swap his arm with another person's arm and attach a guard's hands to his gun as well as remove whole sections from columns. Bruno has also been seen using this ability to extend his punches by unzipping his and/or his Stand's arm.

The zippers also allow for Bruno to create holes. These create handy escape hatches as well as storage spaces. (Think hammerspace.) Examples of the latter include his face for hiding a cell phone and a urinal to hide some expensive riches. Once Bruno seals those zippers back up, he's the only one who can access the space/exit again.

Sticky Fingers has a limited range of approximately 2 meters, can only be seen by other Stand users, affected by other Stands, and has a very nerdy battle cry of "ari ari ari" ending in "arrivederci!" with the finishing blow.

...Bruno can also tell if you're lying to him by licking your sweat. I mean, he can also tell just by watching how much you're sweating, but liars have a specific flavor.

Network/Actionspam Sample: Not just one sample, but two!

Prose Log Sample:

It's strange that it would take an adjustment at being truly alive again. It's not as though Bruno spent a great deal of time as a corpse. Certainly not relative to the rest of his life. But he finds himself getting caught on sensations. It's not really a newfound appreciation for the way things exist in the world by their sight, sound, touch, or even their taste. Bruno is not one to indulge, but he's always appreciated things here and there as life doesn't offer that many opportunities otherwise. They're just subtle reminders that he is, indeed, alive.

He sits with hunger and thirst a little longer than he would have before, taking smaller bites and sipping at drinks slower. Sometimes he runs his fingers over things two or even three more times. When he's alone, he fingers at black lace on his chest to feel the steady beat of his heart just underneath.

And he is alone, frequently, he finds. It's a quiet that he's grown unaccustomed to, but remembers from his childhood. Most of the time, he doesn't mind it. But there are times when he finds himself looking, waiting to hear the sounds of people who aren't here. Who may, in fact, never be here. For some, that feels like a small relief. For others, it's a sinking weight that holds low in his chest. A part of Bruno knows that he will soon surround himself with others and there will be noise again. He's never been all that good on his own and people here, for the most part, are kind and open. He doesn't think he will ever tell them the whole truth of himself, but there's certainly a plethora of chances and new beginnings here. For when he's ready.

Until then, he tries to appreciate and respect the quiet. He tries to both remember and accept that it's his heart beating again.