When Alex and Emily were still together, there was an unspoken rule between them: unless they absolutely had to go out, they didn't. And whenever they were home - whether at his place or hers - the concept of "clothes" quickly became optional. Entire days slipped by like that, drifting between lazy laughter, pointless arguments, half-finished movies, and an intimacy so natural it needed no explanation.
Years later, Emily would joke that her "physical evolution" had nothing mysterious about it. Alex, for his part, always replied with complete seriousness that it was the result of relentless effort, daily dedication, and… persistence. Shameless, perhaps - but perfectly in character.
That night, even though they were no longer officially together, things weren't all that different.
On the living room floor, tossed aside without care, lay a Chun Li costume torn in more than one place. Fabric ripped, seams defeated, buttons that would never be recovered. The concept of cosplay didn't even exist yet in that world, but Alex already had clear plans for the future. He imagined conventions, gatherings, events devoted to pop culture and what would one day be called the "otaku world." If it were up to him, that universe wouldn't stay trapped behind a screen.
But those thoughts were distant.
Right now, all attention was on the television.
"Dead…?" Emily whispered, her eyes locked on the final image of the episode.
On-screen, Jonathan slowly sank into the ocean, cradling Dio's head against his chest. The sea swallowed everything in silence. There was no triumphant music, no promise of an immediate return - just an ending far too heavy for someone who had been the protagonist only moments before.
To be honest, Dio's return hadn't shocked her that much. After Sosuke Aizen, audiences had learned to distrust "final" deaths. Villains coming back from the dead was no longer unusual. But the hero dying like that?
That was different.
"But… wasn't this only the fifth episode?" Emily said, still trying to process it. "The protagonist just… ends?"
Alex stood up, picked up the remote, and smiled faintly, like someone holding a card too important to reveal all at once.
"Relax. You forgot there's still another episode this week."
He navigated the platform menu, and beside Phantom Blood a new title appeared. The cover image had completely changed. Where Jonathan and Dio once stood, there was now Jonathan in a borderline-embarrassing pose next to a young man with an irreverent expression - far too confident for his own good.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency.
Emily lingered on the screen for a few seconds longer than necessary. Not on the title, but on the new protagonist's physique.
"…He's actually really handsome," she thought - only realizing she'd said it out loud a moment later.
The first episode began, and just as expected, the on-screen comments exploded with confusion. After all, the hero had just died, and now there was another JoJo, completely different.
But the series didn't take long to answer.
The moment the new protagonist called out "Grandma Erina," understanding spread almost instantly.
It was Jonathan's grandson.
The story continued - just from a new angle.
"Switching protagonists halfway through…" Emily said, uneasy. "Isn't that way too risky?"
Alex shrugged.
"Repeating the same thing until it's hollow is riskier."
She thought of how many series had collapsed precisely because they didn't know when to change. Iconic characters often carried entire narratives on their backs, and once they were gone, the audience followed. Alex himself was proof of that - whenever he stepped away from a central role, popularity dropped almost immediately.
Still, this felt different.
"Trust me," he said, pulling her back against him. "Trust your… ex."
"You're not my man anymore," Emily replied, rolling her eyes.
"Oh. Right. Sorry."
Alex loosened his hold automatically - only to receive a sharp slap on the arm the very next second. Emily nestled back against him, finding a comfortable position as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Deep down, neither of them knew exactly what they were to each other at that moment. And maybe it was better that way.
On-screen, Joseph Joestar appeared in all his irreverent glory. No rigid posture, no restrained nobility. He talked too much, provoked too much, thought too fast. When he hinted at a possible relationship between Speedwagon and the elderly Erina - only to get beaten seconds later - laughter was inevitable.
The audience burst out laughing.
This wasn't a perfect hero. Far from it. He was sly, opportunistic, almost a con artist.
And maybe that was exactly why he was so easy to like.
Affinity grew with every scene. Unlike Jonathan, who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, Joseph seemed to move through chaos laughing, improvising, breaking expectations at every turn.
Then the story darkened again.
Straizo - once an ally - revealed his choice. Decades earlier, he had fought alongside Jonathan, yet secretly admired Dio. His strength. His beauty. His transcendence. Unable to accept aging, he chose the forbidden path and became a vampire.
And he came for Joseph.
"JoJo! I'll take your life before your talent fully awakens!"
Joseph just smiled.
"Oh? Is that so?"
In the next instant, he pulled out the hand he'd kept hidden all along.
The dry rattle of a submachine gun echoed.
Bullets tore through the hall. Straizo was blasted backward like a weightless doll.
For several seconds, the comments froze completely.
Then they exploded.
No one had expected this.
Not after an entire season built on hand-to-hand combat, mystical techniques, and almost ritualistic confrontations.
"Wait… does that even count?" someone typed.
"Thompson Ripple Overdrive!" another replied.
Chaos erupted.
And in that moment, both Alex and the audience understood something clearly: JoJo didn't follow rules. It broke them, laughed at them, and kept moving as if nothing had happened.
The story wasn't just continuing.
It was reinventing itself.
And once again, everything had changed.
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