YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS yesyesyesyesyesyes

GOD this is all so delicious I barely know where to start

I didn't even think about just how much the mystery of Jotaro's "past" is going to tie into all this. Part 4 really is just a mass of mysteries and uncovering so many decade old secrets, and now some of the secrets have become personal

(Also uh. Before we get into things, clarifying nicknames are likely in order <3 let's just keep it simple and easy, Jojo is the teen and Jotaro is the adult)

but just. Gods can you imagine the pure chaos when Jotaro and Jojo meet for the first time. Jojo of course realized what was going on first, after all Jotaro's style.... really hasn't changed much. Not to mention the subtle shift in the air when the other man used his Stand

and of course, when Jotaro realizes he gets thrown for a loop. He came here to check up on his father's illegitimate child and do some poking around for the arrows. Now he's suddenly being nailed in the face with the past that's eluded him for years

it's going to be a MASSIVE relief for Jojo to hear, even if he doesn't express it fully. That mom is safe, that everything turns out okay.

He is however, equally as frustrated by Jotaro's lack of clarity in his memories and starts planning out a very aggressive note to leave behind when they finally switch back

and YESSSSSSSSSS with the clicking noise and rat thing, that's absolutely perfect. Especially with the rat thing since well. They move :)

and the worst part of it all, the electricity and explosions and clicks and rats, is Jotaro doesn't know why. All he knows is that this is a danger to him, that it is life threatening and pain causing and he needs to get away

(and speaking of Bug Eaten, Tonio is going to be getting a L O T more visits than in canon on account of the whole..... Being The Only Healer In This Entire Stand Ridden Town)

I LOVE the concept of Jotaro getting vague feelings of events to come. Because his memories aren't fully gone per say, they exist and are present but they're hazy and muddled and unclear. And yet, with every day he spends in Morioh, every adventure he hears the kids have gone through and every adventure he gets roped into as well, they become clear

But rarely do the warning systems help. At least, not in any way that truly helps. After all, Fate and the Future has already been decided. every action has already been taken, every fate known, every thing unavoidable. This is not a second chance at the life Jotaro had lived, it was Jojo's first chance

that's the most taunting part of these feelings. How vague and muddled and fuzzy they are. A feeling of deja vu can mean a new ally or a hated enemy and he can't differentiate the two

when he eventually realises this, Jotaro shifts his energy to something he can do, and that's training the kids. He came back to his own time a competent fighter and with the ability to stop time, so dammit he knows he can at least try

...........wait a moment I had

a FUN idea to play with regarding the time stop

so. Given the fact Jotaro learned it essentially via a slight paradox, there would be no relation to Dio at all. There wouldn't be any baggage or trauma attached to it at all

at least...... not with Jotaro that is :)

the other Crusaders? Who fought and nearly died against such an ability? That's an entirely different ball park :)))

plus, it could also lead to some fun angst in terms of "Theories Of Where Jotaro Was" now including captured and possibly trained by Dio which wasn't a fun thought for anybody involved

you're correct, Parts 3 and 4 have been criminally neglected amongst all this chaos, so this is p e r f e c t

to clarify the universe shenanigans of everything: I've always been thinking that each "set" exists in its own universe. 1 and 6, 2 and 5, and then 3 and 4 all exist in their own sort of "pocket universe" just so we don't need to keep track of of all the inevitable changes and how they influence each other

that being said, funnily enough what you've brought up with Jotaro is REALLY close to what I've been imagining too!

Jotaro is So Fucking Lost when he wakes up back home. He feels like complete and utter shit and is covered in more bandages than he's ever had before. The last thing he remembers is his mom leaving after visiting him in the prison cell after he tried to shoot himself with Star Platinum

only...... when did Star Platinum have a name? When had it stopped being an evil spirit?

when had he stopped being scared of it?

Kakyoin and Joseph are of course INCREDIBLY worried by Jotaro's apparent and very sudden shift in personality. And of course, this panic only multiplies when they find they think Jotaro's stand has been changed as well. They immediately think it's a Stand attack......

but then Holly steps forward and denies this. That this is how Jotaro normally acts and more importantly, that she remembers seeing Star in the jail

now, technically this might be bending the rules a little bit, but I think it would be interesting to give Holly some..... memory weirdness. Maybe we can tie it into her Stand somehow, or maybe it's just For The Plot, but Holly has two distinct sets of memories before she collapsed from her illness

One where Jotaro comes home with her, quiet and awkward and open in a way he hadn't been since he was a child. And another where he refused to leave and shot himself in an attempt to goad a spirit hovering over his shoulder

this then raises the incredibly uncomfortable idea that the Jotaro they'd gone to Egypt with was the imposter. That there had been a fake in their midst the entire time and they never knew. Was he working with Dio? Another group? What was his goal? Why had he done it? And of course, the biggest question of all, where was Jotaro the entire time and why doesn't he remember?

because it's obvious Jotaro was somewhere. He has skills and knowledge he hadn't before. He's different, he's grown in some ways, but has receded in others

Electricity and loud sounds terrify him in a way that can't be described as simple fear

they do what they can to help and figure things out, but they can never find any leads. It actually during these investigations that Jotaro decides to start working with the Speedwagon Foundation on the side and "rekindles" his friendships with the Crusaders

(he finds himself drawn to Kakyoin at times. Or to be more specific, he's drawn to his Stand. The colors and shapes and eyes all feel so tantalizingly familiar, and sometimes he finds himself talking to the being as if expecting a response)

years go by, and the fog around his memories stays. It bothers him less as more time passes and he makes new memories with people who had a headstart on their relationship, but there's always a quiet niggling in the back of his mind about what could've happened

and then a decade later he finds a boy with a different face but identical Stand and temperament to match

ailing you managed to rummage around my brain and pull out an idea I thought I'd forgotten about

so doing the math, Jotaro would be around 31 in Canon Part 5, and he was 6 in Early Bird Part 3. Giorno was born about 3 years before Canon Part 3, which if we have that be the same here leads to a....... shockingly only 3 year age gap

now, of course there's also room to mess around with when Part 5 happens since if you wanna get really technical, Dio wouldn't have been able to be given the arrows by Enyaba since she wouldn't have been able to buy them off Doppio at this time, but that's a little too gritty for me so let's just shuffle things around instead and just say it all works out by shoving Doppio's trip back a few years

anyways back with Giorno, an old idea I had more or less has Giorno...... with the kiddos as well. I KNOW, THIS IS TECHNICALLY A PRETTY LATE ADDITION TO THE AU BUT HEAR ME OUT:

Dio of course has Jotaro already planned out to be his successor. There's a whole multilayered scheme going on here with loads of irony and revenge and what not, and he doesn't want to give that up. It's just too perfect.

However, Dio has also learned from his mistakes and knows he shouldn't put all his eggs in one basket. After all, given the fact he doesn't have Pucci this time, he is currently without a back up plan

enter: one Haruno Shiobana

this is also where Dio's interactions with the kids get more....... complicated. Because Haruno is the spare so to speak........ but at the same time he's pretty well cared for. Arguably better than the other kids, simply because of the fact he's new. Unlike the other kids, he doesn't need to be convinced of anything. This life and Dio is all he's known, he doesn't need to worry about Haruno trying to escape since....... well, why would he try

not to mention, Haruno's too young to participate in any kind of training, and again he's the spare. He shouldn't have to be trained since if everything goes to plan, he won't be needed as a successor. Maybe he could be a powerful underling one day if his Stand is strong enough, but Jotaro is supposed to be the future leader.

so honestly....... Jotaro's the only one who ever actually interacted with Giorno. He's kept separate from most of the other kids, but of course Dio wanted his heir to meet his possible second. And their interactions were about as interesting as a 3 year old and an ill 6 year old could be.

(who knows, maybe Haruno's mother is here as well? Of course, this does raise the question of whether or not she'd take Haruno with her when she inevitably flees the mansion, but for the sake of the AU let's say she does)

but when they're free.......... this is when things get a bit fun :)

because well....... given their ages, the two honestly don't remember each other super well. Haruno hardly remembers any of his time in the mansion at all, and Jotaro's memories are foggy from time and sickness. Kakyoin might know of Haruno's existence from their talks, but admittedly the toddler's importance wasn't NEARLY as much in his mind as compared to being rescued and getting Jotaro to a hospital

by the time Kakyoin's able to tell Holly and Joseph, Haruno's long gone

Italy I'd imagine isn't too different. Sure there's of course the differing dynamics between Giorno and the team given the fact he's 28 (and now the oldest member of the team by a landslide, Abbacchio being the closest at 21) but plot wise? There's definitely the question of do we play it straight or get creative with it which........ okay let's be real we're most likely gonna go the creative route jrdbvjdrbvs

I'm definitely very interested in how Koichi little quest goes down and how Giorno will deal with his chasing, and ofc how Jotaro will fall into things here

Polnareff definitely will make things interesting, since he's of course very related to Events All Those Years Ago and would likely be aware of the fact that Dio son who went missing that fateful night

there's a lot of room to Get Funky With It :)

also I'm just. Rotating Jotaro and Giorno's childhoods. How the mansion was the best and safest Giorno had ever been, and had he grown up there he honestly probably wouldn't have had that bad of a life, at least in comparison to his mother's neglect and step-father's abuse.

but that being in stark contrast to Jotaro's own experience. How the mansion was literal hell. How he was stolen away from his life and family and very nearly died, scared and alone.

how Dio managed to be Giorno's savior and Jotaro's nightmare

how Holly's rescue was Jotaro's saving grace and the thing that shattered any hope of Giorno's good future

how these two are family, both by blood and by the man who attempted to raise and shape them