#the same thing happened to me with fugo from jjba. i liked him a lot when he was introduced (courtesy of being voiced by enoki junya)

[emulation-0]

lrb way back when, when i was but a gakki, i used to be a big shera fan! i liked it a lot and i was very excited when the final season came out. but halfway through watching the final season all of a sudden i was so weary of it that i was hoping beyond hope that it would just end already. and i finished that show a hardcore hater

[forgotten-daydreamer]

MY TWO CENTS ON FUGO FROM "VENTO AUREO"

Some don't understand that the anime objectively did the best thing by changing Fugo's backstory and that him leaving was actually perfect, and it makes me wonder if these people understand anything at all when it comes to JJBA and human experiences. Let me elaborate.

First of all, for those who don't know, in the manga Fugo's backstory is different: his professor never harassed him there. Other changes were made, but let me focus on this one.

This change was made by Araki himself, as you can see here:

Araki had a lot of trouble with the character of Fugo, not only with his backstory, but generally when it came to handling him:

No, this doesn't mean I think Araki hated Fugo. I actually think he loved him so much that he wanted everything about him to be perfect. And perfection is hard to achieve.

Araki changed Fugo's backstory in the anime so that he could have more justice and so that his stand could make even more sense [I'll talk about that in a moment], and he spared him from becoming an evil traitor because it would've been both pointless and cruel towards Fugo himself.

Now, the main reason why I'm writing this, is because online many say that the change makes no sense, that the manga's backstory is better. I, just like Araki, don't think so.

Let's focus on the implications of his stand for a second: Purple Haze is a close-range stand, which is important to prove my point. On its hands, we can see little spheres that, when broken due to Purple Haze throwing punches, release a deadly virus with the ability to kill every being within five meters, in only thirty seconds. Pretty badass, but also, so, so meaningful.

A reminder before I go on: stands are the personifications of someone's spiritual energy. So the stand is the manifestation of the user's inner self.

In the anime, Fugo, as a teen, was raped by his professor, and beat the man to pieces when he tried to sexually harass him: it'd already happened at least once, from what we know from their brief exchange. Also, it's unclear whether the professor had raped Fugo or had "simply" sexually harassed him the first time, but he can be seen taking his belt off in the flashback shortly before being attacked, so I believe that yes, indeed, the professor was aiming to rape Fugo again in that scene.

The professor, by doing so, violates Fugo's personal space. So do his parents by constantly being on their son's back.

Fugo's often described as "violent", but he really isn't, not unless he is openly provoked and/or threatened. He's never attacked the innocent, after all. Not only that, but he's also self-conscious about his stand, he's aware that its power is dangerous.

Let's not forget, Purple Haze doesn't harm what's not in its proximity. Purple Haze only attacks what's in its space, which means, what's in its user's space. Same goes for his user who - were he a violent man like some say - would attack anyone on sight.

And that's it. Fugo's inner self longs for space and quiet, as easy as that. He's not violent when his personal space isn't invaded - both physically and mentally speaking. Fugo never attacks unless he's openly threatened and sees no other way out. Purple Haze symbolises Fugo's desperate need to be left alone, out of trouble, unbothered. Purple Haze makes the threats go silent and still by killing them, and silence and stillness are all Fugo strives for. That's also why he doesn't want to "go against the rules" to defeat the Boss.

For someone with such trauma, with such a complex psyche and possibly BPD [I have it and I believe he does too, but that's not canon, it's just a theory] sticking to the status quo is comforting, it makes him feel safe, grounded. BPD often causes a rapid shift in the perception of both oneself and others, so his sudden change of heart towards Giorno's plan is absolutely justified and has a logic explanation, unlike most people think. BPD, sadly, undermines most humans relationships.

Purple Haze, much like Fugo, isn't evil nor inherently violent. Sure, the man didn't have to stick a fork into Narancia's face for a silly joke, but again, Fugo didn't even perceive it as such - which makes me believe that my BPD theory is right - just like Narancia didn't think that a wrong math problem would've elicited such an explosive reaction.

A traumatized man, whose stand embodies his fear of emotional and physical contact, sees the few people he trusts making what he believes to be the scariest, most irrational decision, determined to go against the status quo. The life of emotional stability that Fugo had slowly started to rebuild after joining the gang is quite literally shattered before his eyes, and yet, he never betrays his friends.

Fugo's behaviour makes much more sense with the changes introduced in the anime, and him leaving was the perfect epilogue for him, in my honest opinion.

[davyjoneslockr]

okay i need to know. what would your take on modern au/high school fugio be. OBVIOUSLY naramis too

Yes yes okay so. If you don’t mind me derailing this slightly, I do have a modern college AU that’s been living in my brain for years but I haven’t written anything for. I have little storylines for like all the JJBA characters but obviously Fugio and Naramis are there.

So all the Joestars are like. Extended family. Cousins mostly and some of them are siblings. They’re also distantly related to Giorno, and nobody knows how, but Jolyne and Josuke think he’s cool so they figure he must be alright, even if he’s also a Brando somehow. The Joestar and Brando family trees are very complicated.

Giorno goes to college to study like. Biology. Probably with minors in entomology and zoology. And besides his distant relatives (who he’s not that close to yet), he doesn’t know anyone because he doesn’t exactly have any friends. Then, at orientation, he meets Bucciarati, who’s his RA. He says he knows Giorno’s roommate, Mista, an upperclassman he was randomly placed with, and once the school year starts, he meets him and the rest of the World’s Worst Friend Group.

Fugo is a sophomore who skipped a grade back in K-12 and went to college a year early, so he’s in the same year as Narancia and Mista. He’s also an honors student, pre-law, math minor, and absolutely at his fucking limit. He was originally going to go to this super prestigious university, but when he was there for orientation/some research he’d already started, backstory stuff happens. Only difference is that his grandma is still alive, and she takes him in after his family disowns him. His admission is rescinded from that school, so he goes to The School All The Main Characters Are At instead. Narancia’s his roommate and is pulling the Best Strat Ever by majoring in aerodynamics/aerospace engineering while being dogshit at math (but not really – he’s actually quite good at it, but finds traditional teaching methods/curriculum hard to follow, so Fugo has to help translate certain things into Narancia Language). I haven’t really decided on Mista’s major lol, but he and Giorno quickly become besties and get along well as roommates – except for the fact that like. There’s an almost definite line between Giorno’s side of the room, which is pristine and orderly, and Mista’s, which is a disaster and could definitely use some air freshener.

Naramis Fugio timeline is like: Torture Trio’s freshman year, before Giorno (and Trish) join the group, Fugonara happens. They break up and quickly learn why people say not to date your roommate. Drama ensues. Mista’s sort of stuck in between it. Being vague bc I might write a fic about this someday. They reconcile eventually and all is well.

Mista and Narancia have always been close, but towards the end of freshman year and into that summer, they start getting really close. Like, having a whole encyclopedia of inside jokes and cuddling during movie nights close. But they’re not dating, and they’re very insistent about the “no homo” thing. This is a charade. They have massive crushes on each other.

Giorno develops a crush on Fugo pretty quickly. Only Mista knows about it. He thinks it’s hilarious. The gang goes out to parties a lot, so I’m thinking of some Man in the Mirror fight parallel that’s like. Stereotypical Rowdy College Party Gets Broken Up By The Cops thing, and Giorno and Fugo get into some wacky hijinks to escape without getting caught, and once they’re safe and the adrenaline dies down and they’re just laughing over how ridiculous it was, Fugo has a moment where he’s like. Holy shit. He’s cool. Oh shit I think I like him.

Naramis gets together partway through first semester. Nobody is surprised. Fugo keeps getting kicked out of his room so Narancia and Mista can make out and/or watch Sharkboy and Lavagirl for the 100th time without listening to him complain. He always ends up hanging out with Giorno, whether that’s in the library, the local coffee shop, the campus flower gardens, or his room. Silly dramatic slowburn romance ensues. Stupid college shenanigans with the gang also ensue. Really this AU is just a set of scenes in my head that are all just dumb hijinks and stuff. Maybe when I’m done with the Mista fic, I’ll put it on my to-do list and write a oneshot or two.

[stuckinakillingjar]

31 and 46 for the jjba ask game >:)

OJJHHSHSHDV OK I WAITED FOR THOS ONEBSBJSJSB

31. RANK YOUR ORDER JOJO PARTSSSS

1. LOOK LOOK LOOK. STARDUST CRUSADERS IS THE BEST PART IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. the team dynamic, the characters, the relationships, the VILLAINS, the fights, FUCKINF DIOOO it's literally so good. dude i literally rushed through the anime in like 4 days it was sooo exciting. i know many people criticise part 3 for its repetitiveness but to be honest, i didn't feel like it was repetitive at all, i found it really entertaining and wasn't bored for a single episode. the last fight is inarguably the most iconic jojo fight ever and IT DESERVES THAT PLACE. sc is so fucking good i could talk about it all day long but i don't wanna pick apart every single thing rn 💀 all i wanna say is that we're never going to get another part that feels like stardust crusaders. i watched it in like the middle of march and it's already nostalgic to me 😭 there's just this immediate connection that i formed with the characters that made their deaths even sadder for me

2. golden wind. the team dynamic is really good too in this part. tbh for golden wind i'll talk about anime only because i didn't like the manga as much as the anime, and the main reason for that is that the anime adds a lot more to the characters backstories and relationships imo. do you fucking know how shocked i was when i found out that fugo's backstory and that scene of bucciarati and abbacchio meeting isn't manga canon. like wtf?? also the relationship between trish and bucciarati which literally makes me want to violently throw up and cry myself to sleep is shown way better in the anime. giorno as a jojo isn't exactly my favorite tbh, but the side cast balances it out, they're all very interesting characters. also this part really established the fucking ass pull stands that araki made up they're so funny. cioccolata's stand for example, or melone's like how the fuck do you come up with that. oh since we're talking about the villians, i liked la squadra, they were cool but a bit underused (is that even a word??). it would've been sick as fuck if la squadra and team bucciarati would have collaborated, they basically had the same goal of finding out diavolo's real identity. diavolo is bad villain imo, i already explained why in the last ask. changing the topic real quick i also find it cool how you can see how in this part araki made like, a bigger deal out of the whole fashion thing, i love the character design in gw. also fighting gold is the best jojo op

3. dude i'm slowly losing motivation i'm just gonna punch out the rest. third place goes to battle tendency because caesar is my poor little meow meow and joseph is my favorite dumbass bitch

4. diamond is unbreakable because kira

5. phantom blood mainly because dio is literally the funniest motherfucker in this part and erina and jonathan make my heart bleed

i won't rate part 6, 7 and 8 because i didn't really pay much attention during the stone ocean anime and i'm reading the manga for it right now, and i haven't read 7 and 8 yet

46. moment you wish never happened

tbh narancia's death was lowkey useless to the plot like what was the reason 😭

also the thing with yukako kidnapping koichi? like i still lowkey ship them because of the stuff that happens later in the cinderella arc but like,,, thinking about how crazy yukako really is makes it lowkey weird.

i'm trying to think of more stuff wait. ig kakyoin getting wounded so often in part 3 is kinda sad because he got less screentime because of it and also ABDUL DYING?? TWICE?? omg and the stardust crusaders hiding the fact that abdul was still alive after hol horse shot him from polnareff, it just made me so upset WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT 😭

bruh another part 5 thing; why in god's name is giorno 15 years old PLSSS. this dude deadass became a mafia boss at almost 16 years old. also, why did they make the golden wind timeline so fucking short? the entire plot went on for like what? 4 days?? they could've given them some damn time when you consider that they had to fight like 3 villains a day while mista shot himself like 60 times and everyone had to be healed by giorno over and over again like CHILL

ok this lowkey doesn't have anything to do with the original question anymore so let's just stop at this point 😭

thank you so much for the ask anon!

[theladysexpistol]

Can i get Bucci gangs reaction to finding a small but extremely intelligent dragon that can be trained to fight along side them please ? Also the dragon acts like a mix between a dog and a housecat btw.

OKAY THIS IS SO WEIRD BUT HEAR ME OUT.

So my friend and I have been talking about trying a JJBA tabletop rpg module we found on the internet but only if our current dnd game ends. And he was like “hey Bree what kind of Stand would you want if we play?” So I like thought over it for a few days and I just couldn’t get this one out of my head and suddenly an entire character came to me, long story short I wish we could play both the dnd game and the jojo game bcuz I’m very excited

The Stand? It’s called Imagine Dragons. Obvious reference. But the Stand is TWO DRAGONS. Idk it kinda freaked me out when I read your ask but also this request is really cool so here u go 🐉

~~~

Giorno

- Was probably the one who found and befriended the dragon first. He likes snakes, thought it was a snake, went to check it out... oops sorry Bruno, a dragon followed me home, can we keep him?

- Honestly it also probably likes Giorno best and follows him around everywhere

- Constantly screams at him until Gold Experience gives it a plant or a critter to eat

- Giorno takes it for walks a lot, with it just chilling around his shoulders usually.

- Dragon knows his secret dream is to overthrow the Boss. Pets are the best at keeping secrets

Bruno

- Besides Giorno and Fugo, he is probably the main one who recognizes this is a PET and you have to take care of it

- Has yelled at Mista and Narancia on multiple occasions for trying to feed the dragon cake and pizza

- Turns a blind eye to Abbacchio spoiling the thing

- The dragon recognizes Bruno is the leader, but sometimes elects to ignore that fact

- Has a great move with Bruno where Sticky Fingers puts it in a zipper space, opens a zipper somewhere else, and surprises their enemies with a goddamn motherfucking tiny dragon

- The dragon will sometimes curl up on Bruno’s desk while he’s doing work exactly like a cat, will roll on top of the paperwork if it wants attention

Abbacchio

- Abbacchio is absolutely the type of person to be like “I don’t care about that stinky pet” to everyone, but gives it all the treats and belly scratches when no one is looking

- Bruno found the dragon asleep in Abbacchio’s room one night and snuck a picture because it was so cute

- a little salty the dragon loves Giorno so much

- Dragon will protect Abbacchio at all costs. For the treats

Mista

- Tries to teach the dragon dumb shit. Unfortunately for Mista, it is smarter than him.

- However, it loves fighting alongside the Sex Pistols since they’re about the same size. The dragon and the Sex Pistols come up with cool maneuvers to use in battle (idk I’ve decided this dragon has a Stand or can just see Stands idk the fucking turtle had a Stand). Mista is only filled in on about half of them

- However Mista is the one who naps all the time. The dragon will curl up on top of him and nap with him.

Narancia

- “CAN WE KEEP HIM?” with Giorno, but louder and with puppy eyes.

- Has the dragon race Aerosmith. Swears he will win one day. It’s never gonna happen Narancia.

- Narancia is dumb like Mista but the dragon likes him better. Narancia will never let Mista live it down.

- Ropes the dragon into stupid stuff like messing with Fugo or getting snacks that Abbacchio and Mista hid from him on the top shelf.

Fugo

- Hes the one guy in the group that doesn’t really get along with the dragon

- Like he absolutely sees the tactical advantage it gives them! He and the dragon respect one another. They just aren’t pals

- Dragon saved him from getting hurt in a fight once. Fugo still doesn’t understand why it did that

- it was to get a treat from Abbacchio, but Fugo doesn’t need to know that

[duhragonball]

Vento Aureo Reread, JJBA Ch. 478-485

Time for the Man in the Mirror.   But first, an update on Trish Una’s hair.

I call this look “The Faux-suke”.   At least it looks more like hair now. 

After Narancia returns from his disastrous shopping trip, the team is worried about sticking around in case more of Formaggio’s teammates drop by.   At the same time, traveling would also be very risky.   Luckily, the Boss contacts them with new orders to deal with this problem.   He left a key in Pompeii, which Bruno must retrieve in order to use a special “ride” that will help keep them safe.   Pompeii isn’t far away, so Bruno sends three of his team to fetch the key: Fugo, Giorno, and Abbacchio.

The only problem is that one of the Execution Squad is waiting  for them when they arrive.   Illuso’s Stand, Man in the Mirror, uses mirrors as a gateway into another dimension.   I suppose his biggest weakness is that he has to set up a bunch of mirrors to make his play, and I doubt there were a whole lot of them lying around Pompeii, so he probably had to bring his own.  That’s not such a big deal, except I don’t understand how he got to Pompeii and laid his traps before Giorno and the others arrived.   Maybe one of Illuso’s teammates spotted them on the road and called Illuso to let him know where they were headed. 

Anyway, Man in the Mirror makes for some confusing visuals, because the “mirror world” looks almost exactly like the real one.   Yeah, everything’s reversed, but that doesn’t mean much in Pompeii, where everything is mostly ruins.   Fugo’s watch is backwards, and a label on a trash can is backwards, and that’s about it.   What’s important about the “mirror world” isn’t that it looks like a reflection of the normal world.    What’s important is that Illuso can decide what goes in and what stays out of the mirror world.   For openers, he pulls Fugo into the mirror world, but leaves Fugo’s Stand outside, so Fugo can’t defend himself.

On the flipside, this leaves Fugo’s Stand unattended in the real world.  Purple Haze mostly just punches things, but it also has bulbs on its hands that release a deadly virus once they burst.   The virus kills everything in a matter of minutes.  The only saving grace is that it has a limited range, and the virus can be sterilized upon exposure to any kind of light.   It’s not entirely clear if Fugo can fully control his Stand, since we only see it in this situation, where Fugo can’t tell what it’s doing.   It sort of raves around, which Giorno thinks is because Fugo is trying to fight inside the mirror world, but it’s hard to tell.  

Personally, I’m sorry that Purple Haze only got this one arc, because I think it’s a pretty awesome Stand.   You can’t jack around with Purple Haze.   Fugo doesn’t like to use it because the virus doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe, and once it’s released, he can’t control what it does.    But if he was surrounded by enemies, look out.   If Formaggio had tried to shrink Fugo instead of Narancia, he would have gotten killed immediately, because Purple Haze would be deadly at any size.  

As it is, Fugo kind of sucks, because this is the only fight he gets to be in for the whole Part, and he has to share it with two teammates, and he gets benched pretty early on.   Giorno wants to figure out a way to save him, but Abbacchio insists that the mission should come first.   He retrieves the key, and Illuso tries to pull him into the mirror world, but Abbacchio is ready for him.  Unlike Fugo, Abbacchio can make his Stand look like himself, so he tricks Illuso into pulling Moody Blues into the Mirror World.

At first, this seems to be an ideal solution, since Moody Blues can now tee off on Illuso while Abbacchio is safely outside of the Mirror World.   It helps that Man in the Mirror kind of sucks in a fair fight against another Stand.   But Abbacchio has to look into a mirror to see what’s going on, and Illuso uses this to grab hold of him. 

Illuso uses his control over the mirror world to allow only part of Abbacchio and part of Moody Blues to enter, thereby immobilizing both of them.   But Abbacchio refuses to give up, and he cuts off his own hand, allowing Moody Blues’ severed hand to float away with the key they were after.  

I’m pretty sure this was an application of Moody Blues’ power to recreate past events, since it’s forehead showed a timer counting down.    In this case, Abbacchio must have rewound to the time when he found the key and picked it up, so that Moody Blues would imitate those movements in reverse to put the key back.   Well, just the hand of Moody Blues, but you get the idea.   This way Giorno can find the key in the same spot Abbacchio did, and as long as he doesn’t look at any mirrors, he can leave Fugo and Abbacchio behind to complete the mission.  

But Giorno doesn’t do that.   Instead, he picks up the key and sits there like a dumbass, allowing Illuso to pull him into the mirror.   But Giorno’s a dumbass like a fox, because he got his hand infected with Purple Haze’s virus right before he got pulled into the mirror.

The virus is as contagious as it is deadly, so Giorno quickly infects Illuso as well.  So it looks like Illuso will die along with Giorno, allowing Fugo and Abbacchio to escape the mirror world when Man in the Mirror deactivates.  

But three can play at this mutilated hand game!  Illuso can use Man in the Mirror to remove himself from the mirror world, leaving the virus behind.   This isn’t exactly a clean break, and it shreds most of Illuso’s arm, but I guess it beats being dead.   

However, this plays right into Giorno’s hands, since Illuso is back in the real world, where Purple Haze can finish him off.   The mirror world can’t save Illuso now, because if he goes back, Giorno will just expose him to the virus again.   But Fugo can’t track Illuso’s movements to find him with Purple Haze.

Ah, but this brings us to Phase Three of Giorno’s increasingly convoluted plan to beat Illuso.  Before he got pulled into the mirror world, Giorno used Gold Experience to turn a brick into a snake.   That snake will pursue Illuso wherever he goes.   Meanwhile, objects in the mirror world move in accordance to their real world counterparts, so all they have to do is follow the moving brick in the mirror world that correlates to the snake.  So at this point I think it’s safe to say Giorno can now control his creations completely.  Well, he may not have direct control over the snake he made, but he can assign it a task for it to carry out in his absence, almost like an automated Stand.

So Fugo gets his big Hero Moment where he uses Purple Haze to kill the bad guy, although he got a huge assist from Giorno and Abbacchio to do it.  Illuso is upset that he lost even after sacrificing his own arm and coming up with a last-ditch plan of his own to trap Purple Haze in the mirror world, but all his efforts were for nothing.   I feel like that’s one of the themes of Vento Aureo.   It’s not just the determination of the heroes, its how the villains also have a relentless drive to win no matter what, and yet the villains always come up short because their cause just isn’t worth fighting for.   Giorno and Abbacchio sacrificed their bodies and risked their lives to save their teammates, and ultimately to protect Trish.  It works because they’re willing to die for their cause.   Illuso isn’t willing or able to go that far, because he’s only in it for power and money, and he has to be alive to get it. 

Once Man in the Mirror wears off, Giorno is reunited with the snake he created, and he reveals Part Four of his ridiculous plan.   Since he created the snake in the presence of the Purple Haze virus, it’s naturally immune to the disease, and so Giorno can remove antibodies from its blood and put them in his own body to cure himself of the infection.  I have several problems with this.  

First, Giorno hasn’t even used his Stand on living targets until a few days ago.   That says to me that he’s never even attempted something like this, so he has no way of knowing if it’ll work.   To be sure, he didn’t actually need it to work, since by this point he’d already accomplished his immediate goal of eliminating Illuso and saving his teammates.   But it’s still kind of nuts that he even came up with this idea at all.  

Second, what happened to the thing where attacks on Giorno’s creations would be reflected back upon the attacker?   Is Giorno immune to that rule?   Because it sure looks like he’s attacking that snake.   

Third, I don’t think you can just put snake blood in your own blood and you’re instantly cured of whatever diseases a snake is immune to.   One thing I do like about this wilder side of Gold Experience’s powers is that it hearkens back to Dio’s twisted experiments grafting zombies onto other zombies.   Maybe it works on some level that not even Giorno understands, but again, it seems strange that he would even come up with this plan if it involves things he never considered trying before. 

Finally, the Purple Haze virus isn’t a virus at all.   It’s part of Fugo’s Stand, so why would antibodies have any effect on it?   To be sure, those antibodies were created by a Stand, but they’re real antibodies, even if they were artificially produced.  I just don’t see how they would have any effect on a Stand. 

In all fairness, I’ve seen faster and looser interpretations of super powers in other comic books, but it feels like Araki cheated this time around.   Instead of coming up with a genuine solution to Man in the Mirror, he just invented new powers for Giorno to beat him with.   I guess what I’m trying to say is that I liked Abbacchio’s approach better.

Fugo is still duly impressed with Giorno’s resourcefulness, though, and he pays respect to him while he recovers from the virus.    But Giorno says it was nothing, since he predicted every step of his plan, so the risk was minimal at best.   He praises Abbacchio instead, since he went so far as to cut off his own hand to get the job done, taking greater risks with no way to know if they’d pay off.   That seems like kind of a left-handed compliment to me.    “No, Abbacchio is braver than I am, because he had a stupider plan than me.”

[startouchreflection]

[ So I woke up this morning and the first thing my brain did is- You know what a good crossover au would be? JJBA’s Vento Aureo crew in TDP universe... and I’m actually designing my gangster babies for this AU.]

BUT LIKE OKAY HEAR ME OUT I’ve... I’ve given it a lot of thought these past two hours... Like it would be part 5 of Jojo but if Girono and Mista became friends first and they met up with Bruno after he decided to protect Trish... Also Fugo is still around and didn’t decide to leave because it’s a bad idea betray the gang... Fugo I loved you wtf.

DIO Brando would be some old ass human Dark mage that discovered the secret to eternal youth and life through some really fucked up way (Haven’t decided how but probably elf blood. He’s always a vampire I swear.)

His son Giorno Giovanna would be a half elf, half human half earthblood elf with a talent for gardening and once he studies some magic involving nature. He’d have been made by accident and when Dio realized the elf he was using for blood is pregnant he would let her have the child only out of curiosity. when Giorno looks a lot like him he’d keep him and raise him, probably keep his horns sanded down so humans would have less of a chance to notice him or to use in spells. 

Guido Mista is an elf servant to Dio Brando, he was snatched up by the mage at a young age and forced to work for him in return he slept in a shed outside the mage’s home and was fed. It wasn’t the happy easy life he wanted but it was food and he wasn’t bleeding out like the other elves he saw... And the Elf  he kept seeing in the garden was really cute... He grew bold one day while doing chores and approached Giorno only to learn Dio was his father. After talking and learnign how sheltered Giorno was being forced to live Mista made a bold call. Dio would eventually bleed him out, he knew this because the man was insane and not trustworthy... This elf boy could also be in danger. He was an elf and Dio didn’t seem too strong on familial bonds... So he offered to run away with him. Giorno agreed and the two left while Dio was out gathering supplies for a ritual. They eventually meet up with Bruno and his little mismatch family.

Bruno Bucciallati would be a sunfire elf, though rather than living his life close to the border he lived near the coast with his father. His father was a skywing elf and he had a passion for fishing while his mother was a sunfire elf and she... didn’t. They argued and fought for a long time before she finally left his father.  They made him choose and it wasn’t a hard choice for Bruno... His father would never move on to find someone else but his mother was strong and beautiful... She would be fine alone. And so he stayed with his father. He helped where he could when his father went out to fish at sea and would keep the house ready for him when he returned... Though one night there was a bad storm and his father’s ship sank. He barely made it to shore and there was little bruno could have done for his father. He took him closer to the border in search of a healer and here he stayed, settling into a small home while his father stayed in an infirmary until he finally passed away. It broke his heart and when he went to drink and mourn he met an albino sunfire elf and the two mourned together... they spoke to each other easily despite how sad they were and quickly became friends.

Not long after Bruno decided to stay here with Leone and not long after this decision was made he met fugo and happily took in the outcast. He did have a temper on him but that didn’t matter... this was his family now.

Leone Abbacchio is an albino Sunfire Elf. He was in a group to patrol the border a young trained guard eager to protect Xadia and keep the peace between elves and humans... his leader however was far from the same justice seeking elf, he had a grudge against humans and would strike them down for just being too close and looking at the border.... Abbacchio didn’t like this and one day tried to stop his leader claiming the human kid passing by was innocent. the kid was but the group of bandits that spotted rare armor and weapons While abbacchio was scolded were not. He was injured and barely made it out to Xadia while his entire group was cut down and looted. He blamed himself and began drinking, happy to just waste away off in a tavern.

Pannacotta Fugo is a moonshadow elf, he is a scholar born to a well off family and has proven to be smart and talented in the skills of magic. He studied and trained to become a mage for years at the age of 13 he was already far more skilled that those nearly twenty years older than him... One older Elf didn’t take kindly to this and began to torment and harass Fugo. His illusions and moon magic did little to help him escape this man and in his desperation he turned to something darker. Fugo was a scholar and had studied all forms of magic including things he really shouldn’t have... and once he used dark magic to force this elf away nearly killing him he was shunned. His family used their power to lighten the blow of what would happen to their son before casting him out to fend for himself... Fugo didn’t mind, he was finally free to do whatever he wanted. (fugos was really triggery so I cut some of it out here because his backstory makes me uncomfortable to write as much as I love him. If you know fugo the older elf is his teacher... that he nearly beat to death. also anime back story not manga.)

Narancia Ghirga. Narancia is a skywing elf. His mother died of a rare disease when he was young and his father quickly began to shut the child out barely doing more than feeding the boy if he even remembered to do that. Rather than stay home and live with this man he left and began living off the land... something he was horrible at. He was starving, struggling to survive when he didn’t trust any of the older elves he met even if they tried to help him and was quickly getting sick, his eye swelling up only showing he had the same disease his mother had... He was found by Fugo and forcefully taken to the moonshadow elf’s home. Once Bruno took a look at the boy he had him fed and cleaned before getting him to a healer to have his eye healed and anything possibly wrong with him cured. It was the kindest anyone had been to him since his mother died and the skywing found himself wanting to stay with this man.

Bruno however wanted him to return home and scolded him, telling him how important family was and to give his father another chance... And so he did as he was told. he went home and he tried. he tried to connect with his father to do anything but the man only pushed him away. it took nearly a year but the skywing returned to Bruno’s home and this time he was welcomed with open arms. Their little family had grown.

Trish Una is a moonshadow elf like her mother but she looks human. No one can explain why this is when her father was a sunfire elf who left the mother after a one night stand. Trish is shunned in their community and after her mother dies and she lets out a name for her father finally after all these years a target is put on the girls back. She is Diavolo’s daughter and he wants her brought to him. Lucky for Trish the elf that takes up the job is Bruno... And when he discovers the motives behind this escort job he takes his family and runs from Xadia with the girl. She looks human and could easily hide among them. His plan is to help her settle into a nice human life from the shadows and keep her hidden from Diavolo.

[okay so like... if you are watching Jojo and don’t want part 5 spoilers stop reading my AU idea here and now because this next bit is REALLY spoilery.] 

Diavolo is a corrupt sunfire elf running a black market of rare Xadian artifacts and parts to  human mages who need things. He would get you anything from living creatures (elves included) to berries and weapons. Diavolo is also a paranoid man. he keeps himself hidden during deals so no one can trace anything back to him. He has a criminal network everywhere through Xadia and the human kingdoms... So when he learns he has a daughter Trish, a loose end that could lead someone back to him... He wants her dead.

Doppio is an assistant to Diavolo, he is the human making the deals for him and his most trusted ally. He makes the deliveries and brings the pay back to Diavolo but in reality the two are one and the same. Doppio is a human soul trapped in an Diavolo’s body forced to share it and trade places when the dominant soul, Diavolo, wants the change to happen.

[ylla]

Friday Night Gurus - Chapter 2

Series: JJBA Ships: josuyasu, koichi/yukako (others will eventually happen too, but im tagging as i go) Tags: au where theyre famous, modern au, pining, recreational drug use (smoking that wacky tabaccy) Rating: M (eventually there will be sex, so that rating will keep climbing)

AO3 link

haha! i’m dying! (actually i’m starting to feel better) but at least i have these dorks to carry me on through this trying time.

remember to kudos the fic, comment on the fic, and bookmark the fic if you wanna see more of the same content

The second time they meet, it’s at some hoity-toity Hollywood party a few weeks later. Josuke had been invited with no intention on going, but when Koichi not-so-subtly dropped hints that the members of Arrowhead would be there, Josuke personally called the party planner and let them know that he had changed his mind and would DEFINITELY be attending. And since the party in question was at famed producer Bruno Bucciarati's house, Josuke knew it was bound to be mostly chill. Which was good, because the last thing he needed was to make drunken fool of himself. Josuke was in the middle of the monumental task of getting ready when his phone rang. "Hey mom," he answered in greeting, "I gotcha on speaker phone" Tomoko Higashikata came in loud and clear, "Hi honey, what are you doing tonight?" His hair was taking a lot of concentration, "Oh you know, got some party Koichi conned me into going to. I'm in the middle of getting ready." Tomoko tsked, "It won't hurt you to go out, you're in that house by yourself too much." She wasn't wrong. When Tomoko first returned to New York City, Josuke partied for a couple of years like the world was ending, but eventually he got bored of that, and became more or less a homebody (or hermit, as she put it). He guessed turning 24 did that to you. "Yeah, yeah, don't nag me." "I just worry about you, dear. Anyways," he heard her shuffling around, "Is that boy going to be there?" It was probably a mistake that he mentioned his harmless crush to her, but another side effect of being so far away from her was that he just spilled his guts to her every time he opened his mouth. Josuke groaned, not really wanting to talk about it, "He's supposed to be." "Is that how Koichi got you to go?" "Maybe?" Tomoko snorted, "Well, have fun. And don't forget to get his number this time." "Thanks for reminding me of my failures, mom." She chuckled, "I'm just teasing--" she was cut off by someone talking to her, "I'm talking to Josuke, do you wanna say hi? Josuke," her attention returned to their call, "your grandpa wants to say hi." The phone fumbled for a minute before Ryohei spoke, "Hey kiddo." Josuke smiled as he finished his hair. Looking good. "Hey gramps, how you feelin'?" "I'm feeling just fine. Doctor cleared me to run that marathon, so I’ve been preparing all week.”

“Don’t overdo it,” Josuke warned, struggling to get his pants on, “Don’t need you keeling over on me, old man.” He sounded flippant to downplay his anxiety over his grandfather’s health.

The bark-like laugh Ryohei made Josuke feel a little better, “You don’t have to worry about me, Josuke. Your mom keeps me in check.”

“Yeah, well, someone has to.”

Ryohei laughed again, “I won’t keep you. Just wanted to say hi and wish you luck in your hunt tonight.”

Josuke could hear the sparkles in his grandfather’s eyes. He hated it. “Yeah, yeah. Go to bed, old man.”

He got an exaggerated sigh for his trouble, “I’m going, I’m going. You nag me as much as your mother does. I love you, don’t get arrested.”

“Thanks gramps, love you too. Give the phone back to mom.”

A few seconds later, Tomoko came back, “I’m going let you go, you have fun at your party—“

“I will—“

“Don’t total Koichi’s car again—“

Josuke scowled, “I won’t—“

“And remember to practice safe sex—“

“MOTHER—“

Tomoko was snickering, “Just making sure!”

“I’m hanging up. Love you.”

“Love you too! Call me later!”

Josuke ended the call, sat his iPhone carefully on his sink counter, put his face in his hands and screamed. Those two will be the death of him.

Koichi arrived at 8 o’clock sharp, looking like a man who was about to walk to the gallows, “Let’s get this over with.”

Once in the car, Josuke took one look at his friend’s sullen face. “Okay, so if you didn’t wanna go, why did you keep saying, ‘Oh hey Josuke, you should go to this party at Bruno’s with me because there might be some people there you wanna see and possible get their number from’???”

“Because Josuke, I’m a good friend,” Koichi responded, eyes forward as they cruised to Bruno’s house, “That Okuyasu guy is supposed to be there, and you’ve been sulking over not getting his number long enough—”

 “I HAVE NOT—“

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Josuke was genuinely touched. Koichi was such a good person, so willing to sacrifice his own comfort for someone he called a friend. He—

“Wait a minute…” Josuke narrowed his eyes, “How do you know he’s gonna be there?”

“…A little bird told me?”

“It was that Yukako chick wasn’t it?” Josuke rolled his eyes so hard, he was surprised they didn’t pop out of his skull, “Dude, you don’t need me to wingman, she’s obviously into you.”

“Yeah, I know! A little too into me!” Koichi shivered, “She invited me and I hedged on going, tried to make up some excuse using you, and then she mentioned that her bandmate would be there, and I…thought you would wanna go, so I said I would be there…” he finished sheepishly.

“God. Okay.” Josuke pinched the bridge of his nose as they pulled into a substantial driveway, “I appreciate you looking out for me. You’re a good, sweet boy, Koichi.”

Koichi crinkled his nose, “I think that’s the exact same thing my mom says to me. Besides, you’ll have fun. Trust me.” Every time Koichi has said any variation of ‘Trust me’ before Josuke was about to do something he didn’t wanna do, it never ended well. He must have seen the look of trepidation on Josuke’s face, because he followed up with, “Keep an open mind. And if anything, you’ll have something new to tease me about.”

“I do love teasing you…” Josuke sighed, “Alright, let’s get this shit show on the road.”

Just like how Josuke was expecting the party to be like, the house was crowded with people, but the atmosphere was incredibly chill, save for some godawful piano playing and wailing going on in the next room.

“—YOU GOOOOT WHAT I NEEEEEEEED! BUT YOU SAY I’M JUST A FRIEND, YOU SAY I’M JUST A FRIEND—“

The host Bruno, and his cohort(? Boyfriend? Husband? Josuke wasn’t sure and never asked) Leone Abbachio were found in the foyer, with Bruno looking remarkably calm about the caterwauling in the next room and Abbachio drinking deeply from a half-empty wine bottle.

“Heeey guys, uh—“ Josuke rubbed the back of his head, “Nice party?”

“Good to see you Josuke,” Bruno shook his hand, then Koichi’s, not even flinching at the sound of a horribly off-key chorus.

“Uhm, who is playing—“ Koichi kind of gestured to the living room.

“You get one guess.” Abbachio replied, looking grim.

Josuke and Koichi both cocked their heads to the side to listen to the yowling.

“—OH BABY YOUUUU—“

They looked at each other before answering simultaneously, “Narancia.”

Abbachio nodded, “Un-fucking-fortunately.” He took a swig from his wine bottle to punctuate his statement.

“Is he drunk…?” asked Koichi, eyeing the entryway into the living room.

Bruno sipped his champagne, “Sober as a judge.”

Josuke left the trio when their conversation turned towards some boring ass label bullshit. He wandered into the next room, greeted by the sight of a woman lying on top of a baby grand piano with three completely sober dudes banging away on the keys while singing off-key. The other guests either ignored them completely, or stared at the group like they were a car set on fire.

“Josuke!” Trish Una hopped off the piano and rushed over to give him a hug. She had been discovered by Bruno, but didn’t get a lot of attention until her and Josuke did a duet. Sudden fame had come as a shock to her, and Josuke more or less took her under his wing.

He returned the hug, “Hey girl, I see that you guys are doing…something…here.”

“IT’S CALLED ART, HIGASHIKATA,” Narancia hollered, “MAYBE YOU’VE HEARD OF IT.” If you took a good look at Narancia Ghirga, you’d never expect the guy to be a rapper, but perhaps because it seemed so out of left field, that Josuke couldn’t help but think that’s why he was so popular.

“I think it’s called a mess, but you do you.”

Narancia made a face at Josuke as the two guys flanking him got up. “Sup,” greeted Mista, while Fugo waved. Mista Guido was the bassist of Passione, but that all went pear-shaped when he left the band due to, quote, ‘unrepentant dickery’, end quote. Pannacotta Fugo was one of the best choreographers Josuke had ever had the privilege of working with, and they collaborated often. They all used to go clubbing together, and it’s been a minute since Josuke has seen all of them in person.

Trish let go of Josuke to go wrap an arm around Mista’s shoulders, while he snaked an arm around her waist (Josuke had no idea what was going on there either, and honestly he didn’t want to). “Surprised to see you here! I’m glad though, I feel like it’s been forever since we were at a party together.”

“Yeah,” Fugo snorted, leaning against the piano, “Thought you’d decide to hang it all up to become the local hermit.”

“Fuck off, Fugo,” Josuke scowled.

“You wouldn’t like it, I’d just lay there and ask if it’s in yet.”

Before Josuke could retort or smack him, Narancia climbed up on the piano, mashing keys down with his feet as he struggled up, “If Josuke’s here, that means something special is happening tonight!” Narancia laid on his stomach, face propped up in his hands. He would be angelic and innocent if he didn’t have an impish look on his face, “You’re here for some hot piece of ass, ain’tcha?” That question was somehow made even worse by Narancia waggling his eyebrows.

Josuke was very aware of the amount of eyes on them, “Oh my god. Why can’t I just come hangout with it having some ulterior motive??”

Mista pointed at Josuke, “Do not lie to me in this house, Higashikata. We know better.”

“I’m not!”

“That sounds like something a liar would say.”

Josuke huffed, “You know what? I’m going outside—“

The four of them started howling with laughter, telling him not to go; Narancia’s quickly turning into whines as Abbachio stalked into the room, demanding he get his gremlin ass off of his piano, or so help him.

Taking that as his cue, Josuke escaped into the backyard. Thank god, no one else was out there. Josuke sat down on a patch of grass near the edge of Bruno’s backyard that overlooked the city. Damn bastard lucked out with the view. He lit a cigarette, then fired off a quick text to Koichi:

Josuke: I’m knocking Trish’s, Mista’s, Fugo’s, and Narancia’s heads together until they stop

Koi Boi: Stop what?

Josuke: Everything

Josuke: Also I’m out back in case inquiring minds want to know

Koi Boi: They aren’t here yet, but I’ll pass along the message.

So there he sat, looking like the aloof, cool guy he always wanted to be as a kid, but in reality, felt like a fucking imbecile. Sitting out there by himself with nothing, but dumb youtube videos to keep him company. After about an hour and two cigarettes later, Josuke realized that Okuyasu was never showing up and that he was moron for even assuming he would. He rubbed his right eye, this is what he gets for listening to Koichi. Josuke lit up one last cigarette; after he finished this, he was gonna tell Koichi that he was headed home for the night to go watch tv and be a lonely, miserable fuck.

“Uhm, is this seat taken?”

Josuke’s heart stopped and he inhaled too much cigarette smoke, causing him to cough. He whipped around to see who scared the ever-loving shit out of him, and was greeted to a contrite looking Okuyasu. He had his glasses on, hair pulled back into a ponytail, held two water bottles and also Josuke’s heart. I’m gonna die, he’s so hot.

“S-sorry dude, didn’t mean to surprise you you—“

“No, it’s okay,” Josuke struggled to get his coughing under control, “Sit down, ain’t no one out here but me.”

Okuyasu did as instructed, handing Josuke one of the water bottles he was holding, “You’ve been out here for a while, figured you might be thirsty.”

Grateful, Josuke took a sip of water, “You been here awhile?”

“Maybe 20 minutes at the most,” he scratched the back of his neck, looking mildly embarrassed, “I would’ve said hi sooner, but you looked like you were on the phone, or wanted to be alone—Which if that’s the case, I can go back inside—“

“No dude, it’s cool.” Josuke snubbed out the rest of his cigarette, “I don’t really do parties that much anymore, so I needed a break from all those people,” that statement wasn’t untrue, “You’re cool though, don’t sweat it.”

Okuyasu looked relieved, “Okay, cool.” They sat in comfortable silence for a little bit, looking out over Los Angeles.

“So,” Josuke had to get him talking, “How do you know Bruno?”

“Him and Eggplant produced our last album.”

Josuke had made the mistake of taking another sip of water when Okuyasu called Abbachio ‘Eggplant’, spewing water everywhere, “Eggplant??” he asked incredulously.

“Yeah, that thing he wears on his head makes him look like an eggplant. S’what me and Yuuya got to calling him.”

Unable to help himself, Josuke threw his head back and laughed, “Oh man, I’ll have to remember to call him that.”

They made small talk for a while, before Okuyasu made to get up, “Hey uhm,” he rubbed the back of his neck again, “Do you wanna like, get out of here and go smoke a joint. I know Bruno is super straightlaced about that kinda thing—“

Josuke was up before he could even finish his sentence, speaking quickly, “Yes please, let’s fuck off. We can go back to my place if you want.”

Okuyasu’s lips curled up into this sunny smile; Josuke’s heart stuttered painfully, “Yeah dude, should I ride with you or—“

Not wanting to talk about his driving record, Josuke cut him off, “Koichi was my ride, I’ll just navigate.”

When they got back inside, Okuyasu went off to let Tonio know what he was doing (His reasoning for this was ‘He worries, plus I came with him and Yukako, so it’d be kinda fucked if I didn’t let one of ‘em know what was up.’) Josuke was too giddy to even realize that sharks out for blood had surrounded him. He was pulled down by arms around his shoulders, finding himself head to head with Trish and Narancia.

“Oooh, who’s that??”

“I KNEW YOU WERE HERE TO GET LAID, YOU FILTHY LYIN’ FUCK.”

“I didn’t! I just wanted to hang out!” Josuke tried to straighten up in vain; both of them were surprisingly strong and kept him bent over.

“Mhm,” Trish rolled her eyes before leaning in close, whispering conspiratorially, “That guy came in and asked me if I had seen you. I told him you were outside pouting like a big baby, and he stood at the door and watched you for like 15 minutes! Narancia convinced him to go out there, so you owe him one.”

Narancia puffed out his chest, “Damn straight he does, you can pay me back by giving me the nitty-gritty details tomorrow,” he finished with an obnoxious wink.

“Yeah, you’ll text us in the morning right??”

Josuke didn’t dignify either of them with a response, peeling them off of him before heading over to Koichi. Poor, sweet Koichi was sitting on a couch with an overly affectionate Yukako draped over his lap; he was looking uncomfortable, and she glared at Josuke as he approached. “I’m heading out with Okuyasu, I’ll catch ya later.”

Koichi looked mildly terrified, “Are you su—“

Yukako cut him off, cold as ice, “Good. Now leave us,” She waved him off. Josuke sneered, but the desperate look on Koichi’s face caused him to bite off his retort.

“Yo,” Okuyasu reappeared beside him, “Ready to go?”

Josuke ignored the smirk on Yukako’s face, “Yep, let’s roll.”

Thankful to be free from the party, Josuke followed Okuyasu outside to a midnight blue Dodge Challenger, “Nice.” Josuke clucked appreciatively.

“Thanks,” Okuyasu unlocked the car, with a grin reminiscent of a kid in a candy store, “First thing I bought when we started making that cash money.”

When Okuyasu turned his car on, Josuke was surprised his ear drums didn’t immediately burst from how loud his music was. “Jesus dude, you’ll get tinnitus if you ain’t careful.”

“Haha, oops? Sorry.” Okuyasu turned down the volume to a more acceptable level, ears red from embarrassment. Josuke thought it was so endearing. “You can have control over the music, as long as ya keep your comments about my music taste to yourself,” Okuyasu handed Josuke a beat up iPod, “Password is 6492.”

One of the more surprising things about Okuyasu was that he was an incredibly cautious driver. Despite driving a nice sports car, he refused to pull out of the driveway until he saw that Josuke was wearing his seatbelt, and insisted on doing the speed limit as they drove to Josuke’s house. Josuke scrolled through his music, pretending to be super interested in it, but stole glances when he could. Okuyasu drove with his right hand, resting his left elbow on the door and leaning against his hand. Oh god, he looked so cool and casual. Josuke knew he looked like a love-sick school girl, but he didn’t care.

Before he could get caught staring, he turned his attention to the iPod in earnest. Another surprising thing about Okuyasu was his very broad taste in tunes: some rap, r&b, pop, electronica, and a lot of rock bands Josuke didn’t recognize, even some classical music. A little bit of everything. “I dunno why you think I’d make fun of your taste in music, you got a lot of good shit on this.”

Okuyasu’s face broke out into a quietly pleased smile, “You can make a playlist if you want. Everyone who rides with me does.”

Josuke took a look at his playlists: a few were clearly named Keicho, Yukako, Yuuya, and Tonio, with one named Hazamada, whoever that was; there were some with names like ‘hot damn this is my jam’, ‘get buff motherfucker’, ‘chill out dumbass’, and ‘go the fuck to sleep’. It seemed like he had a playlist for everything, except getting laid. Or at least, there wasn’t anything obviously defined as a sex playlist. Not for long, Josuke thought to himself.

Firmly turning away from that thought process, Josuke started a new playlist he dubbed “Jojo’s Bizarre Mix”. He scrolled through the songs, adding as he went. When he saw his and Trish’s duet pop up, his curiosity got the better of him. He typed his name into the search bar, and let out a small, strangled noise when he discovered his entire discography.

“Woah dude, you okay?” Okuyasu took his eyes off the road to get a good look at him.

Josuke didn’t respond, only pressing play on one of his albums at random, staring right back at him. The expression on Okuyasu’s face went from confused to flustered when Josuke’s voice filtered through the speakers.

Okuyasu seemed deeply embarrassed, turning his attention back to the road, “Uhm. I can explain.”

A grin slowly spread across Josuke’s face, “You like my music?”

“Do I need to turn right or left up here?” Okuyasu asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

“Left, also you didn’t answer my question.”

They stopped at a traffic light, Okuyasu looking anywhere that wasn’t Josuke, “Yeah, I do.”

Josuke was pleased as punch, “Really?? I’m super touched—“

“Don’t make fun of me, dude,” Okuyasu sounded wounded.

“I’m not, I’m just surprised! But in a good way, I think that’s so cool that you like my shit.” Okuyasu gave him a pained look; Josuke reached over and squeezed his arm in a way he hoped came across as comforting, “I’m really not trying to sound like I’m mocking you. I think it’s great you like my stuff, because you’re awesome and have good taste.” When Okuyasu relaxed and continued on their way down the road, Josuke couldn’t help but ask, “So, how long you been a fan??”

A few beats of silence passed before Okuyasu sighed, defeated, “Since your first album—“

“You’re shitting me, for that long??”

Okuyasu pinched the bridge of his nose, “Yeah, that long. Keicho used to get pissed whenever your songs came on the radio because I wore those CDs out, so he had to hear it all the time.”

That explains why he looks at me like I killed his dog in front of him, Jouske sighed inwardly. “Why though?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you like my music that much?”

Okuyasu looked offended, “That’s dumb ass question, Josuke. You need to leave the stupid questions to me, a professional idiot.”

Josuke pointed a finger at him, “Okay, first of all, you’re not an idiot so don’t say that about yourself, and secondly, that didn’t answer my question. Also, go straight and keep going until you hit the top of the hill, that’ll be my house.”

They reached Josuke’s gate; Okuyasu rolled up to a keypad, “What’s the code.”

“4206969”

Okuyasu threw his head back and started braying like a donkey, “What the fuck, dude?”

“I didn’t choose it!”

“Then who did?? That’s not some randomly generated number, that’s on purpose.”

Josuke sighed through his nose, “Koichi’s bitch boy, Tamami. He’s an assistant, and takes care of shit I need done on top of whatever he does for Koichi. When I had this installed, he oversaw everything and picked that code to fuck with me.”

Okuyasu was still wheezing when he punched in the code and drove up to the garage. Josuke rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, keep laughing you windy asshole.” Being called a windy asshole just made Okuyasu laugh even harder.

When they got inside, Okuyasu whistled, “This is the nicest house I’ve ever been in.” He was looking around like he didn’t know what to do with himself.

Josuke was turning on lights as he walked towards the kitchen, “Thanks, you want anything to drink? I got—“ he waltzed into the kitchen and opened the fridge, “beer, pepsi, water, what I think is cherry kool-aid—“

“Pepsi’s good. Where’s your toilet dude, I gotta piss like you wouldn’t believe.”

“There’s one upstairs, second door on the right. Come outside when you’re done.” Okuyasu trudged upstairs while Josuke threw his keys, wallet, and cell phone on the counter, grabbed two pepsis, and headed outside.

Josuke’s backyard had a privacy fence around it, so no amazing view, but he did have a massive, lit pool with an in-ground hot tub. He pulled off his socks, rolled up his jeans, and sat down to dangle his legs over the edge of the pool.

“DUDE,” Okuyasu gasped as he walked outside, “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU HAD A POOL.” He enthusiastically followed suit and sat beside Josuke with a huge grin on his face.

“Not like it ever came up. You got the stuff?”

“Yeah yeah.” Okuyasu fished a cigarette case and lighter out of his zip-up hoodie, “You should feel special, these are rolled by yours truly.” He cracked open the case and pulled a joint out; he passed over it and a lighter over, “You get green.”

“And they say chivalry is dead.” Josuke lit it, inhaled, and passed it. On the exhale, he coughed a little, “You never did answer my question.”

“What question?”

“Why you liked my music so much.”

Clearly, this wasn’t something he wanted to talk about, but Okuyasu answered anyways, “I just like your voice. S’pretty.” He knocked a bit of ash off the end of the joint and handed it back, pink cheeked.

Josuke’s heart did a weird, fluttery thing, “You mean that?”

“Yeah dude, I wouldn’t lie about anything like that.” Okuyasu turned to look at him, face sincere.

It was Josuke’s turn to get red and flustered, “Thanks.” He took a drag, “If it makes you feel any less awkward, I’ve listened to all your albums.”

“Didn’t peg you as the type to like anything like Arrowhead.”

Josuke passed the joint back, “I’m not.”

”Then why listen to it?”

“Got curious after we met, ended up digging how you sing. You’re talented.”

Okuyasu took a puff and looked at him, dead serious, “I don’t believe that.”

Josuke shrugged, “You don’t gotta, I guess. It’s the truth though.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes while they finished smoking. After snubbing out the cinders, Okuyasu spoke, his voice soft, “Thanks dude, that means a lot to me.”

Josuke patted Okuyasu’s shoulder, and laid down on his back, “Don’t mention it.” He was feeling incredibly comfortable and hazy, “Is it just me, or do the stars look even prettier tonight?”

Once again, Okuyasu followed suit and laid on the ground beside him, “S’probably the weed.”

“Probably.”

They laid there in comfortable silence; the only thing breaking it was the water churning around Okuyasu’s legs as he kicked his feet.

Josuke closed his eyes, he was so relaxed. He could’ve fallen asleep if Okuyasu didn’t suddenly speak, “Do you live here by yourself?” His voice sounded raspier than normal, and it gave Josuke goosebumps.

“Yeah. My mom used to live with me, but after my grandpa had a heart attack a few years ago, she moved back home to look after him.”

“Shit, I’m sorry dude.”

Josuke waved his hand, “Don’t be. He’s fine now, he just refuses to move out here like a stubborn asshole.”

“Still though, that sucks,” Okuyasu turned his head to look at Josuke, “’specially you livin’ in this big ass house by yourself. It’s gotta be lonely.”

Josuke was never one to reveal deep, inner feelings, but he opened his mouth anyways, “It is, but I’m more or less used to it now.”

That seemed to really bother Okuyasu, “Well, now that we’re friends and I know where you live, I’ll come over and bug you all the time, so you won’t be lonely anymore.”

It took a lot of effort, but Josuke managed to swallow around the lump in his throat, “I’d like that.”

The rest of the conversation continued along the vein of revealing deep, personal shit.

Josuke learned that Okuyasu grew up dirt poor in Oakland. Lost his mom at the age of 10 (he lifted up his shirt and showed Josuke a tattoo of a ribcage covered in flowering vines on his right side, ‘this is for her’); had an asshole dad, got into a car wreck at the age of 15 that caused his scars when he went through the windshield, his dad suffered a stroke and had to be put into a nursing home, having lost his ability to speak, move, or take care of himself. Him and Keicho lived on the floor of Yuuya’s apartment until they started making enough money to get their own place.

“Oh yeah, and our old lead singer/guitarist tried to stab me when he learned that Tonio wanted me to replace him on the mic. Keicho pushed me out of the way, and got a knife in his side for his trouble.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. After he got all stitched up, he told me I owed him shots for life.”

Okuyasu lived by himself in an apartment that was bigger than the house he grew up in combined with the apartment he shared with Keicho, Yuuya, Akira the asshole that tried to stab him, Hazamada the roadie/merchandise guy/bitch boy, and a few rotating girlfriends of Keicho or Yuuya. He visited his dad often (‘Gave him this stray cat I found off the street to give ‘em some company when I ain’t there, it’s helped a lot’), ate at the same diner he used to work at, and still felt like being famous was some kind of fever dream he would eventually awaken from.

Josuke talked about how the three years had been incredibly lonely after his mom moved away, how fucking anxiety ridden he gets about his grandpa who helped raise him, and the fact that the only people who really knew him were on the other side of the country and Koichi.

“Weren’t you pretty friendly with those people at the party?”

“Trish and all them? Yeah, but we aren’t like super close. I’ve never talked to them about any of this.”

He also mentioned his father. “You ever heard of Joseph Joestar?”

“Ain’t that the real estate guy who’s got them really annoying commercials about his reality show?”

“Yep.”

“What about him?”

“He had a fling with my mom, and I’m the product of it. He didn’t know I existed until I was like, 12.”

Okuyasu rolled onto his side to look at him, “Damn dude, that’s rough.”

Josuke shrugged, “It sucks, and it’s awkward when I visit. I don’t even call him dad, because he’s never been much of a father. The rest of my family is really cool though and makes up for it. Like my sister? She’s really nice, and I have a nephew that’s like, 35 years old with a husband and kid. I also got a cousin that streams videogames and I try to catch them when I can.”

“It’s good they’re nice to you. What about his wife?”

“She passed away from cancer a few years ago. We got along, surprisingly enough. She never blamed me for what happened, since it wasn’t my fault. I sang at her funeral and everything.”

Josuke sat up, “Damn, I don’t think I’ve ever actually talked about this to anyone before.”

“Same here dude.”

When Okuyasu sat up, Josuke gave him a little punch in the shoulder, “Guess that makes us best bros.”

Okuyasu gave him a grin that was brighter than the stars, “Hell yeah we are.” He got up and padded over to the pile of his shoes, socks, and various other items, “What time is it?” Okuyasu clicked his phone’s screen on, light bouncing off of his glasses, “Damn! It’s like 3 o’clock in the morning. How fuckin’ long have we been out here??”

“At least four hours.” Josuke got up and stretched, “Do you wanna stay the night?” Josuke turned around to look at the house, not wanting to look Okuyasu in the face in case his offer was rejected, “It’s pretty late, we could watch a movie in my room until—”

His statement gets cut off when Okuyasu spears him into the pool.

When he emerges, he’s met with Okuyasu’s hysterical laughter, “I’m sorry,” he choked out, holding his gut, “I couldn’t help myself. I’m down to stay, but I’m gonna need a change of—REEEEE.”

Josuke flailed over to him and dunked Okuyasu underwater, “You absolute motherFUCKER.”

Okuyasu reemerged with a gasp, and started splashing Josuke in an attempt to get away. They wrestled around in the pool, insulting each other until they were out of breath. “Okay,” Josuke breathed, chest heaving from a mix of laughter and exertion, “I’m wore out. Let’s go watch a movie or something.”

Being a gracious host, Josuke let Okuyasu use his shower first while he set out an extra toothbrush, basketball shorts, and a tank top that was emblazoned with ‘I want ABSolutely all the pasta and breadsticks’ on the sink for him. Josuke turned on his PS4, scrolling through movies while he waited for his turn. He was debating between two terrible comedies when Okuyasu came out of the bathroom, tank top in hand.

“Dude, this tank top is amazing, who got this for you?”

Josuke couldn’t answer him, because he was too busy staring at his chest; Okuyasu was fucking jacked. It was taking all of his willpower to not reach out and try to touch his abs.

Okuyasu whistled, waving his hand in front of his face, “Hello, Earth to Josuke. You still on the planet?”

“Oh shit—Sorry, zoned out there for a minute. Uh, my personal trainer got me that for Christmas last year. He’s got a knack for finding wacky shit like that.”

“He’s got some good taste,” Okuyasu chuckled while pulling the tank top on.

Josuke got up to head to the shower to mask both his disappointment and boner, throwing the controller to Okuyasu, “Pick something out, I can’t decide.”

One quick, cold shower and vigorous toothbrushing later, Josuke crawled under the covers with Okuyasu, watching some awful movie.

“Hey, Josuke.”

“Mh?”

Okuyasu hesitated, “You’re not gonna care if I like, fall asleep in your bed right?”

“Nah dude, it’s cool. You can sleep in here with me.”

A small, shy smile spread across Okuyasu’s face, and every part of Josuke screamed KISS HIM, KISS HIM RIGHT NOW.

He didn’t. He was too much of a bitch boy. Instead, when Okuyasu fell asleep halfway through the movie, Josuke opted to watch him. When the movie ended, he put Oku’s lopsided glasses on the nightstand, turned off the tv, and settled down beside him.

Josuke didn’t expect to fall asleep so fast when the object of his affections was literally laying right beside him, but the sound of Okuysau snoring gently lulled him to sleep.

When Josuke woke up the next morning, he was pleased to find a snoozing Okuyasu beside him. Last night had been wonderful, and the first time he had fun in ages. He wondered if Koichi’s night went just as well—

Oh shit, Koichi! He forgot!

Josuke scrambled for his phone and shot off a text:

Josuke: making sure you ain’t dead. text me back when you get this

A few minutes later, he got a snap from Koichi.

The picture was of him shirtless, half of his face was deadpan while a mass of black hair covered the other half. The caption read, “I’m sore. She rides hard.”

Josuke hollered so loudly he woke Okuyasu up.