im really curious, but would you mind going into a little more depth about the dynamics of the houses or who the heads of some of the houses are? because you have some like just house joestar or zeppeli which is a little vague, does the head of those houses just vary depending on what is being written, or is there perhaps a line of succession you have in mind? im just a horny goblin who is a sucker for lore and this au fascinates me lmao
OOF I FEEL YOU ANON!! Hmmm I’ll try to make this somewhat short but I’ll go over the Houses themselves
Succession for the Circles is difficult to decide and there are usually tests associated with the decision if there are multiple heirs that could run the Circle pretty well. The choice in a new High Lord is a very selective process, which is why some Circles have ‘Alliances’ (read, marriages/matings that produce offspring) with other High Lords in order to create strong blood bonds and ensure that no Circle will be left leaderless in the event of an unlikely death or deposition or something. The most obvious of this is the blood link Joseph has with both the Second Circle and the Tenth Circle - he’s less likely to be named the true heir of the Second Circle because he already has a right to the position of High Lord in the Tenth Circle.
Okay, so, the thing you have to realise about the demons of the first circle is that they are big, like, really fuckin BIG. Kars is the tallest/biggest of them all, which was exacerbated slightly when he was placed as the High Lord of this Circle. The First Circle is small, with only a handful of demons actually permitted into their lands because Kars is very picky when it comes to choosing his underlings. It’s not that he’s paranoid, he just doesn’t think a lot of the non-circle demons are strong enough to really catch his attention. The First Circle is also sometimes known as the Guards of Hell because of their strength and prowess in battle.
The ‘Realm’ of Hell that the first Circle inhabits is the darkest: when Hell was first formed, it was one large circular indent, where the concept of Evil was born/fell to earth - the First Circle’s Realm is the closest to the crater left by said birth, which is farthest from the Sun/the light of the Earth/Heaven. This makes them more sensitive to sunlight, but not in the same way a vampire is - they can survive direct exposure but it drains their energy pretty quickly.
The Second Circle Is one of the most tightknit circles and really only has 1 bloodline that fills up it’s hallowed Realm. They’re in the Realm that’s closest to the sun and thus have developed a fighting technique that takes advantage of the power they harness from continuous exposure to the harsh rays. It’s slightly larger and more rambunctious than the First Circle, but they also don’t usually take in unaffiliated Demons simply because there aren’t many who want to be in the Second Circle. The whole point of getting a place in a Circle is to get further away from the Sun because most demons can’t handle it. It’s not like House Joestar minds much, either way. They’re more friendly and open and hospitable to other Circle Lords and Demons, but that shouldn’t be mistaken for weakness - because that hospitality they display is often just a mask to ensure that people underestimate them.
The Second Circle also has the biggest issue with picking a suitable heir. There’s a lot of drama surrounding that issue at the moment.
The third circle is the most bloodthirsty and paranoid of them all. Diavolo and Doppio are a two-headed demon that could easily live in separate bodies, but they find that they’re at their strongest when they share just the one. Diavolo is the most paranoid and tends to stay hidden as much as possible, while Doppio is considered soft-hearted and kind - until you get on the wrong side of him and he becomes a feral, bloodthirsty beast that has no qualms with ripping people to shreds. They currently have one heir who they keep carefully guarded and locked away from the rest of the Circles until they come of age, so no one really knows much about them.
The Realm they encompass is the one right beside Kars’ Realm - second furthest from the sun. It gives them the chance to keep an eye on the First Circle, as the Third Circle is known for having the quietest and sneakiest Court, almost like they’re the ‘spies’ of Hell. Diavolo and Doppio can manipulate their size - but only between when they separate and when they share a body. This Circle is also small, but they have some real big powerhouses in their Court.
Risotto and La Squadra embody the Court of the Fourth Circle. They are the closest match to the strength and power of the Third Circle and are known for meddling with mortals and causing their deaths for added power/favour from the embodiment of Evil. While Risotto is the High Lord, his circle is far more diplomatic in their approach when it comes to creating and maintaining order - it’s almost as if they’re a democracy (at least, his closest and most trusted). Many unaffiliated Demons want to join this Circle because it’s considered one of the easiest to get in to, besides the Eleventh Circle - however, you’re also the most likely to die if you fail the upper echelons of the Court in some way.
The Fourth and Third Circles used to have an ongoing alliance and good relations until a couple of centuries back when an argument broke out between them and nearly started a war between their factions. Since then, Risotto and his Circle always target the third circle, trying to one-up them and take over their coveted spot.
The fifth circle is ruled by Dio, and later on, Giorno (who’s past and familial ties are complicated, so we’re not going to go into that right now). It used to be one of the biggest Courts out of all because Dio had the ability to turn humans into walking talking corpses that would follow his each and every whim. He’s a narcissistic leader, and often indulges in the pleasures of the flesh. He was an Unaffiliated demon that somehow managed to worm his way into the good graces of the Second Circle back when George was the High Lord and grew up with (tormenting) Jonathan. During one of the games, he betrayed the Joestars and killed the previous High Lord of the fifth circle in an unfairly skewed game of chess, which ended up gravely injuring George as well.
Jonathan has never really forgiven Dio. Dio’s Realm is actually smack dab in the centermost Realm from the Crater, though he’s working to try and usurp both the Second and First Circles in order to increase his power and social standing amongst Hell’s residents.
The sixth circle used to be under the control of High Lord Funny Valentine, and during that time was considered one of the darkest Realms of Hell. Funny required perfection from each and every one of his subjects and made no secret that he ruled his Circle with an iron will. He was quick to punish those who lost his favour and wasn’t afraid to remove any he saw as unfit to continue living amongst those he actually liked. Funny eventually returns from his deposition to become High Lord of the tenth circle, which he did through brute force.
With Giorno’s help, Bruno Buccellati and his group of ragtag unaffiliated demons managed to overthrow Funny and banish him into the outskirts of Hell, where he has so far been forced to try and survive with the few loyal members of his Court that followed him. Bruno is a much fairer and kinder leader than Funny was, though he’s still strict and can be quite cruel to those who clearly break any of the rules he has set in place. He’s far more open to accepting ‘new bloods’ - demons that were once human but were cursed to Hell - and is on good terms with the Fifth circle: especially once Giorno takes on Leadership after Dio’s strange disappearance.
The Zeppeli’s of the seventh circle have always prided themselves on their strong, long-standing alliance with the Joestar’s of the Second circle. It’s often speculated that their alliance has lasted so long because the Zeppeli’s are the only other demons who seem to be able to handle living so close to the sun, much like the Joestars. Their circles have shared fighting techniques and always had each others’ backs, even during the inter circle games.
The only time there was ever a strain on the alliance was when Dio was part of the Second circle, and after the games where he proved his disloyalty to the Joestars, the seventh circle was there to help the devastated and recovering second circle after the double loss of their previous High Lord and someone they believed was a trustworthy demon.
Like the seventh circle, the eighth circle has had a longstanding alliance with the second circle, but also an intense rivalry. After Joseph was born between an heir to the Second circle and High Lord LisaLisa, their rivalry seemed to become somewhat tamer, only really flaring up during the inter circle games. Joseph grew up amongst the Court of the second circle, but regularly visits and interacts with the eighth circle because there is a high likelihood that he will one day be named the eighth circle’s heir and High Lord, so LisaLisa puts him to work learning everything he can about leading her court in case she dies or disappears one day.
The eighth circle was actually once the second circle for a while before they were beaten out of that position by the Joestars. They still grumble that the second circle obviously cheated somehow, though there is no proof of such at all.
House Higashkata has loose ties to the second circle (there is speculation that the previous heir Tomoko carried and birthed Joseph’s child, though there was no formal alliance request nor statement released to the validity of these rumours ;3c) and usually keeps to itself. The ninth circle is very small, but powerful, with some of the most volatile demons around. There’s also speculation that a curse was placed on House Higashikata by Kira of the twelfth circle, who makes it no secret that he despises the ninth circle.
Currently, the High Lord is an older demon who spent much of his life defending his current standing as the Ninth Circle. Their powers are mostly related to emotional/empathetic abilities: such as berserker rages and the like.
Funny takes over the tenth circle after assassinating the previous High Lord and completely slaughtering the Court that used to rule it. It’s much closer to the sun than he would like, but he fully intends to target Buccellati during the next inter circle games to increase his Circle’s standing once more.
There is the belief that Funny now has the ability to clone himself metaphysically, though not many Demons have seen this ability in action, and those that have often end up dead. There is some speculation that there is a secret alliance going on between the third and tenth circles, but no one really knows why or what for.
Also known as the Demini Court, most Demons that are a part of the eleventh circle are small, weak little imps and goblins. It’s the largest circle simply because it was run by an absolutely lazy High Lord who didn’t particularly care how strong his subjects were, but how many. They were of the opinion that bigger/more numbers was always better, and liked to put on airs about how ‘powerful’ and ‘strong’ their Court was, when it was painfully obvious they were even weaker than the twelfth circle.
This is the circle that you, as the main protag reader of this AU, somehow come to rule. You are a human that was brought to the eleventh circle out of desperation and helped the Demini Court hatch a scheme in which they’d insist you were somehow related to their previous Lord. It’s not really working so great, but hey, you gotta fake it till you make it, honey!
The twelfth circle is…. for lack of a better word, strange. It’s undoubtedly much stronger than its social standing would have you believe and High Lord Kira could quite easily up his Circle’s standing to at least fifth or fourth Circle, but he seems content on where he is situated. Though his Realm is not the closest to the Sun, it is the closest to the Earth, which makes it much, much easier for him to slip out of Hell to walk among the human populace, where he can do as he pleases and ‘date’ as many people as he wishes.
It’s uncertain what exactly his abilities are, but those who try to attack him are never really heard from again. He isn’t all too interested in creating alliances with the other Circles and his Court mostly keeps to itself.
These are Demons not affiliated with any of the Circles - this can be because they were deposed Lords, they were lower-ranking members who were kicked out from breaking laws/rules that are present in their respective Circles, or halflings/weaker demons that were born outside/after the creation of the Circles. They don’t really have a Realm they inhabit, and are considered parasitic because they live on the outskirts of the farthest Realm - completely lawless and often deranged. Sometimes there are rumours that a band of these unaffiliated demons will get together to try to create another Circle, but those are usually destroyed by the High Lords.
yousharknotpass
dailybridgerton
discoholicmusic
turnnoffyourmind
gracieabrams
tangentwithtanner
areudirty
