madimpossibledreamer

If you happen to have experienced Wednesday, please write a detailed report of everything that had occurred. Yesterday we discovered that no one within the library actually remembers anything about the day, so if we can find anyone who does happen to remember the day, we can determine if this is a Stand attack and try to implement countermeasures. Thank you.

Writing’s on the Wall

Stand User: Wesley Wyndam-Price (Deceased)

Writing’s on the Wall has two different appearances. One is a ‘blood-ink’ in puddle form or ‘moving’ form in which it seeps like a liquid over a surface, although it will move in non-realistic ways, like flowing up a wall or moving faster than a slope would warrant. The second, when a target is selected, is when the Stand sets in on a wall or other surface the victim can see, and it will either have the note ‘Come play my game I’ll test you’ (in which case it will lead the target to a location in the first appearance type) or form two lines describing a manner of death (usually an unpleasant death). In this form it will appear like it is drying or it has dried.

Everybody in Place-The Stand can follow very simple orders, and will then prioritize targets based on the first one to speak. Note that the Stand has trouble ‘perceiving’ a target if the target enters a less well-lit area. It is unclear whose perception matters here. The deceased Speedwagon Foundation Agent Galanis suspected a Tulpa situation, in which case, it might not even be that the Stand can ‘see’ its target. What might matter if this theory is correct is whether the victim targeted can see, or rather, perceive the Stand (and thus, if a blind Agent or one with limited vision would have an advantage in such a circumstance). While this is no longer a necessary consideration for this particular Stand, what we are coming to learn from cataloging all these Stands is that it’s likely this will not be the only Stand whose powers rely on it being perceived. Similarly, if leading its target through a darkened location, it may lose track of the target, allowing them to escape, but in well-lit areas as long as the Stand can be seen in the periphery of vision it retains its control. Using this power (usually triggered by Come play my game I’ll test you, though if a group sees the same message, another exposure is apparently not necessary) it can ‘puppeteer’ lead its targets to a particular location, though this appears to be chosen at random by the Stand and not its User. The distance and time involved can vary, but it does apparently need to lead its victim at least a few steps (the exact minimum length has not been measured). From the images left behind in Transmissions from a Lonely Room (see Stone Temple Pilot), it is clear that not every Agent looked at the writing (specifically, Marchant did not), but possibly, since Vasquez read it out loud, that was enough to ‘perceive’ it and thus grant it the ability to target victims.

What Evil Lurks-Depicted above is What Evil Lurks, when the two-line message of death appears. The circumstances for the death do not have to be present—Writing’s on the Wall was able to manifest demons which disappeared after killing the victim and drown another with no liquid. It’s possible that the victim themselves manifests the manner of death based on the threat and feeling of impending doom/inescapability of the Stand, depending on whether or not the ‘Tulpa’ explanation, above, is the accurate one.

Voodoo People-A victim being targeted by Writing’s on the Wall in either capacity seems incapable of fighting their fate. They are capable of using their own Stand, should they have one, although the only likely method of actually interrupting the power is by attacking the User. Writing’s on the Wall has, as far as anyone can tell, disappeared since the death of its User, so theoretically if a victim being attacked could have managed to kill Wyndam-Price using a Stand before their own demise, they might have survived. (Tragically, it appears that this may have been the case for Agent Dunstan.) Other than preventing himself from being targeted by his own Stand, this also appears to be the reason why Wyndam-Price used his Stand far away from him, when he had the choice—to prevent himself from being possibly neutralized before Writing’s on the Wall could deliver the killing blow. It is, however, possible for another person to intervene—if the victim has the ‘appearance’ or ‘should have’ died, the Stand will move on to its next victim based on the order of who spoke and follows the simple conditions previously set.

For the moment, I am sure while the delay might be unfortunate, the circumstances are understandable. While not truly regretful of her actions, young Pixie has shown no inclinations to continue her serial killing, and I have had a hand in keeping an eye on the young lady from several of my visiting colleagues, though, of course, they cannot be away from their own duties forever.

If this were usual circumstances, I would turn her over to the police and speak on her behalf at the trial. Not, of course, that murder is a sin that should be ignored, nor that it does not leave a stain on her heart. But she is still a child, however prolific her killing. I am told your Foundation has dealt with similar cases in the past, and would like to be of assistance, because while I do not believe she regrets her actions or possibly ever will, I do believe she could have a change of heart, or at least, that she could be convinced not to believe her Stand quite so much.

It took me a while to read through the various files of unsolved murder cases I suspect to be her doing, and will provide as useful a summary as I can.

Miss Murder

Stand User: Pixie “Cooper”

(While I am capable of hacking the records to find the names of her adoptive parents, who are surely among her victims, she insists on being known by the same last name as her older ‘sister’.)

Miss Murder, or Murr, as Pixie likes to call her, looks almost perfectly like a friendly rabbit. The Stand has three red eyes, though, though it can keep one eye closed to blend in, and acts nothing like the prey animal a regular rabbit would be, practically taunting others to take action against it. It is unclear whether it is taunting others to do something ‘bad’ and thus become a target or simply finds doing so amusing. Its fur is normal, however, and touching or petting it has no ill effects.

The Great Disappointment-This is mere speculation on my part, since young Pixie refuses to tell me and I suspect she might not even know, but Miss Murder seems to be able to read a person’s past. Unlike Pixie, I do not believe that the Stand is an impartial judge in its ability to discern ‘good’ from ‘evil’, as those are very complex and messy concepts to read, and likewise suspect that the Stand might be searching for excuses to kill, but cannot be certain.

File 13-Likewise, it does not appear that past tragedies in a location are chosen at random, since the bloodier or well-known are usually but not always selected. I have encountered valid claims of location psychometry and suspect that the Stand is able to see the past history of a location and discern which tragedy it wishes to use.

I Hope You Suffer-Both of the two known active uses of Miss Murder’s power have the ability to be destructive, though as could be guessed by the name of the power, I Hope You Suffer focuses more strongly on destroying the individual, while Now The World affords more possibility of escape. Both bring out the past tragedy of a place (Pixie calls them ‘sins’). I Hope You Suffer tends to focus on more single person crimes that happened in a particular location, such as recreating a murder, focused on a single person that Miss Murder has deemed ‘bad’.

Now The World-Now The World recreates larger-scale tragedies of a location, such as accidents and natural disasters. They still can do horrible damage, though interestingly repairing the damage to a location is much easier than saving people affected by the power.

In addition, I suspect that she hasn’t spent much time investigating her powers, believing that to be Miss Murder’s choice, not her own, since she believes every single person targeted by her Stand deserves that cruelty. She claims that Miss Murder brought her sister to her (and is devastated by her loss), a fact that by anyone else might be dismissed as the ramblings of a distraught little girl. Stands and powers exist. She might be able to bring ghosts back and tie them to a location or object, or be able to manifest good as well as evil. I have not, however, spoken to her about these musings, as I gathered it would be better for this to be done in a setting with a professional at dealing with Stands should something go awry.

So I was trying to figure out what to do with Stone Temple Pilot's appearance back in that first chapter and was watching a bunch of music videos.  Pretty much as soon as I saw this from the Stone Temple Pilots music video Vasoline the image became one of the choices, and Beta-senpai made the final choice.  This is basically a line-tracing + slight image manipulation of the original image.

A note to the field agents: I realize that you’re getting antsy, but we’ve already lost far more than our usual numbers due to the hunt Wolfram & Hart seems to have declared on our agents.  This is unacceptable, so we have instituted a policy of only letting the field agents with Stands in the field.

I’m not sure why a law firm is acting so outside the purview of a law firm, even if it is evil, because such things draw attention when it’s better to not have that, but then, I’m not giving the orders to a bunch of murdering lunatics, I’m giving the orders to a bunch of great people I love to work with and have alive.

I know you’re all bored and trying to deal with it as best you can, and I’m the last person to tell you that food is an invalid choice.  But as much as I love cheese, I have to ask: why all the cheese?

Three Days Grace

Stand User: Antonia Ellis

            Three Days Grace is a humanoid figure with no facial features other than the goggles it wears.  Gears are visible through the skin of the Stand, constantly turning, and a spookily loudly ticking brass clock hangs next to a pouch at its side.  When not in action, Three Days Grace is as still as a statue.  When moving, Three Days Grace is unnaturally quick.  It does not use the giant brass shears to attack directly, but instead uses them to cut paper retrieved from the pouch at its side.  Antonia has barely used her Stand, however, so she is only aware of a few of the traps Three Days Grace is capable of making.  Three Days Grace has yet to directly act in combat, moving quickly enough to stay out of the way of attackers.  It has not used its shears on any attackers, either.  Three Days Grace’s main form of attack is traps symbolized by the paper cut-outs that once placed adhere to any surface.  These can be set off by anyone, even allies, while set.  Allies must take care to avoid the traps when set, indicated by when the Stand sets down the cut piece of paper.  However, if the attacker can avoid all the set traps, there’s not much Three Days Grace or Antonia can do about it.  All traps once sprung appear to be only made of paper, but they cut as sharp as any blade and work as well as the “real thing”.  Three Days Grace, like any Stand, matches the personality of its User, because Antonia prefers to do the dirty work of beating up the enemy User with her own hands or the weapons they hold, so traps are a perfect compliment.

Break—Bear traps.  A circular design with a smooth circle inside and a bunch of triangles cut on the outside.

Pain—Buzzsaw.  A paper chain with a bunch of jagged edges.

Riot—A fear trap.  The targets smell what they believe to be the sulfurous smell of mustard gas and uncontrollably run away.  However, this particular trap does not in fact affect the lungs, just the mind.  Paper footprint chain.

Drown—A water trap, akin to the one found in the Mummy Returns.  This one must be placed on a vertical surface.  Paper rocks form and crumble away to reveal a horde of paper streamers that appear and sweep you away.  They are just as powerful as a flood and can easily sweep you away and even drown you. Drown consists of a single sheet of paper connected only by a thin part at the left side that is not cut—the rest are cut in wavy lines. 

Outsider—Trapdoor.  The actual “doors” are formed by the ground beneath the trap, which fold away (and one can see the paper rimming the edges of the “doors”).  Looks vaguely like a card with rectangular cutouts.

Note to all agents in the field: The Cheese Man has only appeared in dreams.  While he has yet to declare his purpose and role (so far, he is only guilty of talking about cheese and throwing cheese slices in people’s faces), we haven’t been the Speedwagon Foundation this long without learning that the absurd is not necessarily safe.  And the fact that he has only appeared in dreams of import suggests that his role is potentially more important than that of a simple dream archetype.

…We’re not actually even certain that he has a Stand, but for classification purposes, we’re saying that he has one.  Our archives on demons and other such creatures of the Slayer’s and Watcher’s Council is still incomplete, though the newest Jojo’s role in that organization means that there is a greater exchange of information on the subject.  All our agents have to be ready, and if that means we decrease our death counts, so much the better!

Rogue Cheddar

Stand User: The Cheese Man

Powers: Unknown.  Can potentially summon cheese (we’re going to call this potential power Picking Nothing) and it’s probably what allows the Cheese Man to enter important dreams (we’re going to call this potential power Into Blind).

Appearance: Unknown.

A Note to the Librarian: After the last fire/scuffle, one of the interns died.  There goes our record.  Please go through the various documents and see that nothing is missing and/or amiss.  Also, Giles has instructed us to not let the youngest Jojo speak any sort of ancient language in front of the books, especially now that he speaks several languages thanks to his Stand.

Lotus Juice

Stand User: Carter “Fitz” Speedwagon

Lotus Juice is a support-type Stand, and as such isn’t the strongest fighter.  Thus, it likes to hide within its protective shell as well as within phantasmal ‘water’ that always accompanies its appearance.  Despite this, if dragged out, its plant-like tentacles are razor-sharp.  Lotus Juice is unusual in that it can tailor the exact strength and extent of its powers as desired except for the power Reverse the Destiny.

Have a Nice Dream – Lotus Juice can either use its own spectral ‘water’ or actual water (which is stronger) as a kind of sleeping draught.  It’s very effective and can only be fought off by the strongest of wills.  The amount of time it takes for Have a Nice Dream to wear off is variable, based on the amount of time taken to activate the power as well as the willpower of the victim.

Reverse the Destiny – Using its own spectral ‘water’ or actual water (which is stronger), Lotus Juice is capable of healing even mortal wounds, but only by inflicting the wound on the User of Lotus Juice.

Soul Drive – Less powerful than Reverse the Destiny, Lotus Juice can, (again, using either type of water) heal, but at a much smaller extent.  This is how Fitz was healing Xander’s wounded hands in Volume III.

Psychadelic Souljam – Lotus Juice can turn its own spectral ‘water’ or actual water into something very much like a poison.  Its full effects have not been seen in story.