Zura Grattachecca/Trivia

* Zura came from a redesign of an original character Azzura "Azzy" Grattachecca. Both are heavily inspired by Ashnikko's songs and music videos.
	+ According to the Genius interview on the song "Daisy", Ashnikko's persona for the song is "... a bad bitch who wears... blue diamonds and these glass platforms... and she throat-punches rapists and horrible, horrible people." This description served as a basis for both Zura and Azzura's personalities and character designs.
	+ While Azzura began as a jewelry maker with no direct association to Passione and originally created to be a niece of Ghiaccio, Zura was made to represent Ghiaccio's role in Fate of Zephyr.
	+ Despite the coincidence, Zura and Azzura weren't inspired by American rock singer Diamante Azzura Bovelli.
* Zura identifies herself as Persian and Uyghur, due to her last name being a Persian dessert and both ethnicities being known for their Muslim population. Zura herself is a former practicing Muslim, although there is no correlation to Islam and Ashnikko.
* Zura's appearance is heavily based off Ashnikko's outfit during the 2021 Life is Beautiful Festival. The detached collar is an accessory seen in many of Ashnikko's photos during her promotion of the mixtape and prior.
	+ Ashnikko herself is known for her bright blue hair and BDSM/Camp-inspired appearances. Most notably, her hair is often curled and shaped as horns or tied up in pigtails with bangs.
* Blue diamonds are Zura's personal favorite precious stone, not only to reference "Daisy" but due to its strong properties and close resemblance to ice.
* Zura's backstory is based on The 1994 Cobo Arena Attack, which American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was struck with a baton in an attempt to prevent Kerrigan from taking part in the ongoing 1994 United States Figure Skating Championships, which would allow her to compete in the upcoming 1994 Winter Olympics.
* According to the team's documentation, Zura's code name is Diamante, which is Italian for "diamonds" and a direct reference to her abilities.

## Notes from the Author

First off, it was interesting to create Azzura because the mixtape was not completely out yet when I was creating the original OC. I didn't want to name the Stand just "Daisy", so I kind of had to guess based on that whole song what the Stand abilities and Azzura's own personality should be. Thank God it worked out in the end! I was already in the process of making Azzura her own independent OC, since it was originally made for the Golden Kids AU, so I thought of using her for Fate of Zephyr. I think Fate of Zephyr is where I really started developing Azzura into Zura and to make the character into one that was unique. Similar to how Cassio is made to look like Tim Henson, I wanted Zura to look like Ashnikko. I looked through many of their outfits and then I found their TikTok where they were feeling themselves to a mashup of Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life" with this white corset and ribbon outfit and long curly blue hair. I immediately thought of Zura wearing that. Azzura initially was just wearing a blue bustier and some diamonds since I was making do with what I had in my closet. But Zura in all white contrasting with the sensuality that she took agency for fit her so well.

I was initially concerned on whether I should have Ashnikko be the artist that influences Zura's character for two reasons.

The first is that they didn't really have a clear connection to The Beatles, specifically to *White Album*. I thought about alternatives to Demidevil, something that would reference The Beatles better, even looking at girl groups that might resemble what I wanted for Zura. There was a disconnect between the two artists in terms of style and history, so to have her musical influence be something completely different from Ghiaccio's was something I had to get over. I kept reminding myself that Ashnikko is meant to represent the sort of persona that both Zura and Ghiaccio have that "I-don't-give-a-fuck" confidence and vibe. Ashnikko themselves are unapologetic, confident, and arguably a female version of Ghiaccio. Plus, Ashnikko's hair being so blue and their association with luxury and camp in their music videos really sells this characterization as something unique and worth making a Jojo character. Especially when it is curled up.

The second, and biggest, concern is that Ashnikko themselves write music that celebrates sexuality and feminism while critiquing their commercialization and exploitation, which can be interpreted as being purely sexual and fetishizing for those who aren't familiar with her music. As a result, that would not only diminish the important message Ashnikko themselves is trying to put in their music but also make Zura seem like a mix between Ghiaccio and Melone, or even another Melone, even though we already have a character for the latter and it would also diminish Zura into being a sexual deviant as well. This is especially a concern knowing that Zura identifies as Uyghur and Persian. I try best to avoid stereotyping characters, but it still worries me to see characters that identify as Asian are still fetishized in media today, and the risk of Zura falling into the "sexual" category due to her associating with Ashnikko and being Asian was very high if I let her use Demidevil. It became sort of a balancing act for me; Zura is proud of herself, her body, she identifies as being very feminine, but she herself is not overtly sexual or meant to be a sex icon. But in the end, I decided I should let her use Demidevil as a means to reclaim this sexual empowerment. I think doing so can also open a pretty good discussion on what society views as femininity, sexuality, race, and agency.

And this spreads into her situation as a woman in Fate of Zephyr too. I think that due to her being in a leadership position within the male-dominated criminal world and being non-Italian, she often has to deal society trying to make her balance her femininity, racial identity, and even deal the backlash that entails if she's "too much" or "too little" of one thing. Maybe she did struggle a bit with this in her early years, but I like to think that she got the hang of knowing how to deal with the misogyny and racism when we're first introduced to her; it also helps that Olio and Cassio have encouraged and advocated for her by using their privilege to ensure that she is heard and respected. In a sense, Zura embodies the Daisy persona that Ashnikko describes, as a result of her experiences as the second-in-command. She's brash, she's unapologetic, and she knows how to get shit done.

When creating her, I told myself I don't want to write her like how Captain Marvel was written in her movie: that whole no emotions, always aggressive, angry, tears other women down character instead of actually showing what strong, empowered women are like in reality. Zura is independent, she empowers other women, she's confident, empathetic, etc. She acts more masculine than, say Anita or Clara, but it doesn't mean she lacks femininity or is less a woman because of it. She chooses to be the mean bitch that tells cat-calling men to "smile more" after beating them up and she sometimes flips off traditional feminine expectations with her behavior. But she treats her fellow peers, especially her female contemporaries, with respect and comradery. This was something that helped her gained the respect and trust of everyone on her team, and even gaining the same from her male teammates. None of the women on the team see each other as threats to their femininity or compete with each other for male attention and she made sure the men know and respect that. I think that's what sets these women apart from the women of Team Bucciarati and other teams: Zura knew that women should support other women and went out of her way to establish that.

Also, the relationship she has with Ghiaccio is one of the sweetest I've ever thought of. To reference that comradery right away, I wanted to show that Zura deeply cares for her friends, especially with what she did to make sure that Ghiaccio started a new life without any strings attached at the cost of her legal freedom. This is how I also interpret Ashnikko's "Daisy" persona- not just a woman who will beat people who cause harm but help others to overcome and grow from their trauma. I thought both of them should have this very pure, sweet friendship that ultimately stood the test of time and tribulations; Ghiaccio sees Zura as the only person who genuinely loved him as a friend and still loved him after they had to go their separate ways.

I kept on replaying that scene where, one day after Fate of Zephyr's storyline, Zura would come into Giorno's office, demanding to know why he got rid of her friend's memorial that she set up years ago, even though both of them knew that her friend never died, only to find that Giorno did it to officially legalize Ghiaccio as an actual person and let her meet him safely. Giorno knew Ghiaccio meant just as much to her as she meant to him, so he used his power to have Ghiaccio's name and gender validated to where it was legitimate; Ghiaccio didn't have to go into hiding anymore with false papers or go through a further lengthy process to confirm that he used to be a woman and turned into a man. That led to them seeing each other for the first time in years, reunited as friends, like they promised before they were separated. I leave it up to interpretation as to whether they do have any romantic feelings, but I personally don't think they would ever be in a relationship beyond platonic. You can have such a strong friendship between a man and a woman without thinking it will end up turning romantic or something. They're soulmates in a sense that they are meant to be friends for life, and I'm all for that.

Zura is the woman I want to become if I was brave enough. She's the friend I wish I had to empower me. I don't think I'm that brave or strong to do what Zura does, but I fully respect her for taking no shit and living the life she chose to live.