Chapter Text
Overall AU Info:
There are two "timelines" in the AU. The main timeline and default unless specified otherwise, is where Jotaro's curse doesn't fully kick in until some time after Jolyne's birth. The secondary timeline, referred to as "Starbat Crusaders AU", takes place during Part 3, the only change being that Jotaro is a fully fledged vampire at least halfway through.
Each vampire has different abilities that they can unlock if they choose to hone their powers. Most don't discover these abilities because they're content with the strength that they have and just want to lay low and not be hunted/killed.
All vampires have fangs, retractable claws, and slightly pointed ears that can swivel slightly. Some may have red or golden eyes that either glow or reflect light like a cat's.
Vampires can sustain themselves completely on animal blood without any craving for human blood. However, human blood tastes much better to them and tends to sustain them for less time.
Vampires drink blood in one of three ways. The most common way is that weird.... finger thing from canon. Some, however, find that method to be downright disgusting, preferring to lap it up from a bitten wound in a similar manner to a real vampire bat. The rarest way, however, can only be achieved via a rare ability. Some vampires in this AU have a proboscis-like tongue that can directly puncture and drain blood from a victim much more effectively and painlessly than any other method.
Bats:
Vampire!Jotaro in particular can turn into a bat. He has two forms, a small bat that resembles a normal vampire bat, and a much larger form that's about the height of his normal appearance.
The larger form, which I've chosen to call a Pyrebeast... is like... "Bat, but Enhanced". It has all the strengths of a real bat and almost none of the weaknesses. The powerful eyes and silent flight like that of an owl, stronger legs that allow it to stand on its hind legs or run, more muscular build so it doesn't break bones as easily as a real bat.
The smaller form is meant more for disguise and quick maneuvering. It's significantly less dexterous and actually takes more energy to transform into, but it's worth it to get away from danger or sneak up on someone.
Bat forms, regardless of size, are a rather rare power for one reason. They don't burn in bat form. The fur's thick enough to keep them shielded from the sunlight. The only weakness is that their eyes are extremely sensitive to light, and their ears are super sensitive to loud noises.
Pyrebeasts can learn to speak with time and practice. However, due to their much larger fangs and more animal-like mouths, their words will always sound slightly slurred and will have a hiss to them. For those unfamiliar with their manner of speaking, the words hardly sound like human speech and more like animalistic clicking and crooning.
If a vampire begins to rely on their alternate forms for long enough, they may instinctively take these forms when overcome with hunger. Those who rely on alternate forms heavily will often distance themselves from humanity even more, to the point of taking on attributes of their bat forms while humanoid.
Due to the, for lack of a better word, "magical" nature of vampires, even clothing items may be altered by Pyrebeast forms. Capes and other flowing clothing may flutter more furiously in the wind like wings, for example.