IC Inbox | rubycity_rp | I

[starmark]

. . . Yare yare. What is it? Hurry up and say something already.



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[OOC: Contact through any format is fine, including action as you see fit!]

Comments

[lapidarius]

It was, yeah.

He'd mentioned a Stand with the power to cross dimensions, kind of like how this city works in general. Given everything else he said about himself, I ended up suspecting he was some parallel counterpart to Jonathan.

Which sounds completely insane now that it's written out, but it makes about as much sense as anything else I could think of to explain it. I never mentioned anything until now--that was probably a mistake, but it was never quite relevant until right now.

[starmark]

...Hold on.

If there's a Stand with the power to do that, then that means there definitely are parallel dimensions, right?

[lapidarius]

That's exactly what I'm saying, weird as it sounds.

[starmark]

But not just different universes like completely different places, like our world versus Izabel's world or something.

Parallel ones, like somewhere out there, there's a different me. And a different you.

[lapidarius]

That's what I'm trying to tell you. If he was a parallel counterpart to Jonathan as I'm theorizing, it stands to reason that we must have similar alternate selves somewhere along that world's timeline.

[Hold on to your hat and try to keep up, Jotaro.]

Maybe this would be easier to talk about in person before I end up writing an essay on the full implications of this.

[...he probably could.]

[starmark]

YOU CAN'T JUST DROP PARALLEL UNIVERSES ON ME LIKE IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL NORI

[lapidarius]

YOU ARE IN A CITY THAT PLAYS AROUND WITH THAT KIND OF THING ON A DAILY BASIS

WE HAVE LEGITIMATELY FOUGHT THE SUN AND A SENTIENT SHIP CONTROLLED BY AN ORANGUTAN

IS THIS REALLY THE LIMIT OF WEIRD SHIT YOU ARE WILLING TO PUT UP WITH?

[starmark]

AT LEAST WE FOUGHT THE SUN IN OUR OWN UNIVERSE

APPARENTLY THERE MIGHT BE MILLIONS OF SUNS OUT THERE IN A BUNCH OF OTHER UNIVERSES

[lapidarius]

Look, just take a deep breath before you pass out and meet me back in our room.

We can talk about the wide range of completely surreal things this all implies once I've actually gotten to the point I wanted to tell you about.

[starmark]

YOU SAID IT WOULDN'T RUIN MY WEEK

NOW I'M GONNA WONDER IF PARALLEL UNIVERSE ME IS WONDERING ABOUT WHAT I'M WONDERING ABOUT IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE

I'LL THINK OF HOW CUTE YOU LOOK AND HAVE TO WONDER HOW MANY OTHER MES JUST THOUGHT THAT ABOUT YOUS ACROSS THE ENTIRE PARALLEL MULTIVERSE

[lapidarius]

[...Jotaro. Really. Kakyoin was not quite hit with the full range of this existential dread--in fact, the idea didn't bother him too much.]

[Probably because a) it was too goddamn weird to even think about and b) he was busy focusing on please shut up and let me explain Diego goddamn Brando.]

WE HAVE BEEN OVER THIS, SHOUTING AT ME OVER TEXT ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING

I WILL BE THERE IN FIVE MINUTES DO NOT START LOSING IT

[starmark]

we'll never know how many mes just thought you were cute just now

[lapidarius]

Somewhere there is an iteration of me that would probably be kicking your ass right now.

Be grateful that I'm the Kakyoin that will put up with this instead.

[GOD DAMMIT JOTARO now he has to run back and make sure you're not having a conniption fit at home]

[starmark]

STOP KICKING MY ASS IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE

[lapidarius]

STOP BEING STUPID IN ALL OF THEM

[...No, you know what. He's not even going to dignify that with a response and just go find his idiot of a tall boyfriend.]

[starmark]

[Well, as promised he's up in the room, holding his pocketwatch and probably continuing to send multiversal updates every so often.]

[lapidarius]

I really don't see why this is such a big deal.

[IT'S JUST KIND OF EXISTENTIAL HORROR, WHATEVER.]

[THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A WORLD IN A MIRROR. KAKYOIN LOGIC IS INFALLIBLE.]

It isn't as though any hypothetical counterparts affect us.

[starmark]

I can hardly get my own life together, much less having to worry about whether or not parallel universe me's making any progress with his possibly-identical shit.

[...]

Hi. You look cute today.

[lapidarius]

Hello. [SIIIIIGH.] You look nice, for someone clearly having a massive identity crisis.

[Kakyoin, be nice.]

If parallel universe versions of us show up, then you're welcome to say I was wrong and lose your damn mind about it. Until then, make some effort not to worry about the whole concept.

[starmark]

Honestly I'm kind of more worried about someone else. Like parallel you, or parallel my mom, or something.

[lapidarius]

...Before I tell you the entire reason we're having this conversation, let's address that first.

[Because holy shit if he just tells you Dio's a mildly annoying kid you're going to drop dead on the spot.]

What's bothering you about that in particular?

[starmark]

...Well. I guess...think about it this way.

[He leans back against the headboard, shrugging a little.]

Instead of coming here, you went to someplace else. A parallel universe. And there I was, but when you went over to me, I didn't know you. Maybe that other me had never done any of the things you remember me doing. Maybe he never woke Star up, so he couldn't see your Hierophant Green. Maybe he just looked at you and said, "you can't possibly be Noriaki Kakyoin, because he's right over there", and then you were just left there while that other me ignored you for that other him.

It's bad enough, people coming here from all different times, like Jiji being young like us instead of old like we remember. My mom has to live with a dad who doesn't remember a thing about her. Her own dad is half her age. I mean, shit, for all I know I could have a kid show up here someday and end up in the same situation, fucked up by me being a kid instead of an adult — Josuke and Okuyasu sure were, and I think it bothers Rohan, too.

The timeline shit is bad enough. At least we can all agree on what happened, and it's just the when that's different.

Don't you think it'd be so much worse, if it were someone who didn't remember anything the way we remember it?

[lapidarius]

...I don't really know if that's how it works. I mean...you're right to be worried, and you're also right about mismatched timelines being enough chaos to handle.

[Kakyoin sat down and took his glasses off, trying to put his thoughts in order without giving himself a massive headache. The parallel universes didn't bother him too much, but the timelines sure as hell did.]

Whoever uses that dimension-crossing Stand and whatever its name might be, that power and this city are two separate things entirely. In the case of Johnny's alternate world in particular, it's not a matter of 'a Jotaro Kujo without Star Platinum' or anything as straightforward.

What I'm beginning to theorize is that our counterparts could potentially be completely different; name, circumstances, even appearance and personality. Johnny was nothing like Jonathan, and my only basis for assuming their connection was a similar name and the fact that not a single thing matched up with what I know of your family--in other words, 'Johnny Joestar' himself didn't fit anywhere on the timeline as we know it. It was a wild and largely baseless theory at the time, but now I'm certain I was correct.

[Kakyoin paused, making every attempt to phrase what he needed to say without sounding insane.]

Consider it like this. I'll use your example and say that you went to a parallel universe, but that looking for someone named Nori-...no, 'Tenmei Kakyoin' led you to meet a person you didn't recognize with a Stand you had never seen before. Maybe they still had parents with the same names as mine, or even fought alongside people similar to you and all of the others, but that's all.

What I need to tell you is that I met someone just recently that was visually like someone I knew, but with a different name and apparently even a different Stand. That's how it seems to translate between worlds; subtle similarities, not carbon copies with minor varying circumstances.

[starmark]

...If they're not even the same person, how can you be sure they're our parallel universe counterpart?

I mean, at what point do you start calling them the same person in a different universe, or whatever?

[lapidarius]

I'm not really sure where that particular line is yet. I'm trying to figure that out.

[Sometimes he really, really hated being even a little right about things.]

Listen, because this is the point I need to make--one's counterpart isn't necessarily the same kind of person. They might have an altered personality, goals, anything like that. The fact that they could have a different Stand is probably evidence enough that two individuals could be similar without being the same. You understand what I'm trying to say here?