Fic rec - Roads Converged, As Did the Stars

[sakura_no_miko]

Title: Roads Converged, As Did the Stars

Author: conceptofzero

Fandom: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (Part 5 / Part 6)

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: past Dio/Pucci, Giorno/Pucci, Giorno/Mista, Giorno/Mista/Pucci

Warnings: explicit sex (gay), threesome, vaguely incestuous undertones

Other notes: polyamory/open relationship, character study, ensemble, part crossover, bad end

Length: 60k

Summary: "I have included a photo of your father, taken in September of 1988. I suspect it is unlike any you have ever seen of him. There are more photographs that I have brought with me, as well as stories about the man your father was, both the grand and the terrible. My only price for sharing this information is the pleasure of your company. I would treasure a chance to see how alike your father you are and how different as well. From the swiftness of your rise and the heights of your ambition, I suspect I will find the spark that this world has lacked since January of 1989."

A letter arrives for Giorno Giovanna from one of his father's old friends, and a request to meet. He accepts both.

My thoughts:

 

This fic makes me want to swear uncontrollably. It’s giving me feelings.

But, I must do my duty and write at least one sentence of why I recommend this fic without spoilers. I find this version of Giorno to be brilliant and brittle in all the right ways, and this imagining of what it might be like for Pucci and Giorno to meet is unlike any other fic I’ve read. This isn’t a pairing I ever gave much thought to, but I wanted to see more fic with Giorno and Pucci interacting, and the relationship here is fascinating. Sadly, almost every other thing I wanna talk about involves the ending. Suffice to say, I found this fic to be pretty tense and I was torn between wanting to race to the end and being really worried about what was going to happen.

 

Now, back to my original thoughts:

Motherfucker.

I swear to…gah!

Sorry, lol, this fic gave me feelings. Part of me is thinking, why did I tempt fate by saying I really, truly wanted to see a fic where Giorno and Pucci interacted? Why did I ask for more incredibly tense fics? Why am I so attracted to horrifically tragic endings that are true to canon? FFFFFF.

My brain is too scrambled to sort this into spoilers and non-spoilers this time, sorry. I’m going full spoilers from the get-go.

On the one hand, it has been a while since I read a really tense fic where I both really wanted to finish but also didn’t want to go on. I mean, I was suspicious of Pucci from line 1. That guy is fanatically loyal to Dio, so I was sitting there, thinking, he’s doing this for Dio. No matter how sincere he seems, ultimately he is loyal to Dio.

And…fuck. He’s loyal to Dio, but also being genuine to Giorno, as it turns out, and…

Just so much fuck.

This is another fic where everyone is just a hair’s breadth away from being happy, but fundamentally, their characters are going to lead them down the road of tragedy.

Giorno is still brilliant, and lives by his own moral code, and he’s lonely in a way few other people can understand.

Though he’s tried his best not to fall into the same trap as Diavolo, he finds it difficult to invest himself emotionally in anyone new. His relationships beyond Mista have rarely lasted longer than a few months, all inevitably tapering off when their feelings grow and Giorno’s never do. He can give a person anything but his heart, and in the end, that’s what they always want. Even with Mista, he finds himself unable to devote himself fully the way Mista can.

Mista has no fear. He throws himself into relationships the way he throws himself into combat. And he suffers the same in both. One or the other is going to prove deadly one of these days. It’s just a matter of time. Then Giorno’s circle of confidants will grow smaller still, until the day when he has no one but himself.

He doesn’t need to ask how lonely Shepard is. Giorno sees his future written across this man and knows exactly how it must feel.

Which — off, my heart aches, because I’m pretty introverted myself. Don’t take to people very easily. But on that rare occasion I’m drawn to someone, it’s so strong it can be terrifying.

One of the worst things you can witness is someone who falls into an abusive relationship. You can see all the red flags, but for that person, sometimes, their need for love and acceptance blinds them to everything.

And, fuck, brilliant, paranoid, standoff-ish Giorno is dragged in hook, line, and sinker in this fic, and I was torn, because, again, everything is telling me, no, this will end badly, this will end in some form of betrayal. Because I can’t see Giorno being on-board with Pucci’s goal of resurrecting Dio. I feel like that particular goal wouldn’t appeal to Giorno, with his experiences. He’s seen someone go mad with power; he’s seen people who desperately cling to an unnatural life. Even if someone were to tell him how wonderful his father was, I can’t see him going along with that sort of world-altering plan.

But, damn, I can see how Pucci is everything Giorno could want.

And also how Pucci could easily make himself into exactly what Giorno wants. Giorno does take so much after his father. I really don’t know how much of this is a farce, in the end. That Pucci could become as loyal to Giorno as he was to Dio is believable. That he could just as easily manipulate him is also believable.

I spent the whole fic waiting for the hammer to drop, and when it did, I just went, oh, oh, of course. I knew something was off, but it turns out I was expecting the wrong things. I thought this was an AU. Of course, it has to be an AU, because, as far as part 6 is concerned, Pucci never contacted Giorno, out of all of Dio’s children.

"Tempting as it might be... no. One year, to finish what I started." He leans his forehead against Giorno's collarbone and speaks into his chest. "A long time ago, I promised myself I would have my revenge. Jotaro Kujo killed the only man who brought me peace. I've sacrificed so much to give him a taste of what I suffered through for decades. Let me finish it. Let me see it through."

Revenge. That's what sustained Enrico these long years. And that's why he's so paranoid about being found by the Speedwagon Foundation. They wouldn't take too kindly to their golden boy receiving any kind of comeuppance. It might be too dangerous for even Giorno to get involved in. They're unlikely to take Enrico's meddling kindly, especially if they realize that Giorno knew anything about it and chose to look the other way. If Enrico returns to Giorno after taking whatever actions necessary for his plan, there's a chance the SPW will be on his heels, ready and willing to destroy him for whatever it is he'll do to Jotaro Kujo.

The obvious answer is to tell Enrico to give up on that fantasy. There's peace here in front of him, a new life free of the agony he's suffered through. Giorno will give Enrico everything he needs. But-

But, this is actually in line with canon. Or it could be. In this version, Pucci goes after Giorno first, behind the scenes. And, just like Until We Move On, Pucci is offered an opportunity for salvation. Giorno offers Pucci a peaceful existence at his side, but Pucci is going right to his canon ending — still going out there to resurrect Dio.

….fuck.

That makes it worse, agh.

If Pucci had just been playing Giorno, like I thought, that would be bad enough. But, no, I get the feeling he actually had some sincere feelings. Again, I am faced with a fic where the villain makes a choice to continue his villainy right on.

The thing of it is, I don’t care much for this pairing. My tendency to not read tags has gotten me again. I mean, it’s a personal thing. I’m a bit squicked by scenarios where someone has a relationship with a parent and a child, even though I swear I used to see that a lot in semi-tragic gay love stories — someone would be in love with their best friend, but the best friend would be straight and get married, only for the first guy to fall in love with the child later. I guess it’s like a step removed from reincarnation fic, and god knows Twilight made that scenario more mainstream than it ever needed to be, but. Again, it’s a personal squick.

But I kept reading this fic anyway. I love Giorno here, I want to see him happy, even though I was sure Pucci was up to something.

That should say something positive, really, that I was fully invested in a fic that had material that squicked me. Or…wait, does it no longer count as a squick if I’m still willing to read it if the fic is interesting enough? I dunno. Does squick necessitate that you are so grossed out you never read it? Hm.

Ah. Actually I do have a bad habit of reading fics that do have squick-y material but the writing is just so good. Someday I will start reading tags properly, but today is not that day. 

Fff, I need some fluff fic now.

 

(Looking for more fic recs?)
Crossposted to pillowfort