starmark | IC Inbox | rubycity_rp

...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.

...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?

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?

I'm still stuck on how you know they're counterparts. You're saying it's just someone who looks the same? Like an evil twin or something?

Let me try to put it this way--sorry, I'm having trouble really comprehending the idea myself.

[HOW IS DIO NOT MURDERING EVERYONE RIGHT NOW tended to be a confusing thought.]

Picture someone who looks like you and has a name similar to yours, but the only other similarities you have are a few personality traits. Like...your alternate universe self might still be interested in the ocean and have a short-range Stand, but act completely different otherwise. He might even be a complete jerk for all we know.

...This is going to shape up into one of those nature versus nurture questions, I think.

I mean, I'm not just trying to be difficult, or something. But doesn't that just raise the question of what makes you...you? Like, is it sharing the same name? Is it liking the same things? How many of the same things do you still have to like to still be you? I mean...how do you know that someone is who you think they are, what defines what makes a person that person?

Is a guy named Jotaro Kujo still me, if the only things we have in common are that we both like the ocean and have the same name?

No, I think that you're right. I...don't know, I guess I'm kind of trying to get a better handle on this right now. If we're looking at it that way, then you're right. Despite anything to the contrary, that supposed counterpart wouldn't be you in any strict sense. They'd just be someone vaguely, remotely similar to you.

So I guess...this is what I really want to ask. If someone looks, sounds, and has a vaguely similar personality to someone else, are they remotely the same person?

I don't know. I...like I said, I don't really sit around thinking about parallel universes. Or didn't, before now.

[...]

You met someone like that. That's why you're asking, right?

Yeah, I did. I was a little worried at first, but...as weird as it is to say, I don't think it's going to be a problem.

[That time, he really hoped he was right.]

He's arrogant, kind of obnoxious--but we had a pretty decent conversation, and so far a case of an inflated ego seems like the worst he's got. His Stand is apparently called Scary Monsters--I didn't see it and I don't know what it does, but all I needed was to know what it was called.

[Right now, he was much less worried about Diego and much more concerned about Jotaro's reaction to hearing about him. Kakyoin put his glasses back on, bracing for impact.]

His name, on the other hand, is Diego. Diego Brando.

Edited 2016-02-14 23:01 (UTC)

...You didn't see it and you don't know what it does, but having a different name makes it not a problem?

[Oh, boy.]

That's what you're getting at. That this guy you met is Dio Brando from a different universe, with a different name, but just because he calls his Stand something different you're willing to just assume it's fine?

Did I say that?

[boys, calm down.]

I'm not going to just trust him or assume that his Stand isn't something horrendous. Don't insult my intelligence like that. But it's sure as hell a start, at least. I won't doubt for a second that he's dangerous, but he just...doesn't seem the same. I can't really place it yet, but something's different.

What else is "all I needed was to know" supposed to mean?

[He turns onto his side, moving to face Kakyoin more fully.]

"Star Platinum" and "The World" are different names, but that doesn't mean they aren't the same in other ways that matter a lot more.

All I needed to know at the time, Jojo. I wasn't going to interrogate him about what his Stand could do the instant we met.

[Patience is a virtue, Jotaro.]

...I know that. But there's no ironclad guarantee that they'll be similar, either.

[...Kakyoin that's literally the first thing you ask everybody, you ginormous Stand nerd.]

...So. Where does that leave us? You're not worried, you don't think it's going to be a problem, so what does that mean?

[look even he's not dumb enough to interrogate not-Dio.]

It leaves us at 'we should keep an eye on things in case I'm wrong'. Don't panic, but wait and see how things unfold, right?

[...]

Jotaro, I wouldn't take any course of action if I had even the slightest reasonable suspicion that it would get one of you hurt. You know that. I don't trust Diego and I have no idea what to make of him, but I'm confident he isn't an immediate threat.

I only thought it was better for you to hear about him from me instead of finding out for yourself.

...One of us. If it'd get one of us hurt.

[He goes quiet a minute, just kind of looking at Kakyoin.]

You...meant one of us. Yourself included. Right?

I-- [From the startled look on his face, Kakyoin hadn't even realized he'd said anything wrong until it was pointed out.]

Y...yes. Of course that's what I meant.

...Yeah.

[He sighs, shucking off his hat in favor of running his hand through his hair.]

That's the thing that scares me most. Second-most is the thought that if someone's got The World here, I'm the last line of defense against it. But first-most...it's that.

...

[Looking away, he curled red hair around his finger restlessly. What could he really say? 'I won't let that happen'? Kakyoin couldn't promise that--not because it was inevitable, but because he knew it wasn't possible. If things ever got that bad, he knew he'd drop everything and risk his life to protect this family. No matter how much he very much did not want to die, part of him still demanded the lives of his friends and family take precedence over his own. He'd still be letting it happen to himself, if no one else.]

[He couldn't lie and say they would all be fine, knowing he'd do something very stupid that he very much didn't want to do if it became necessary. There was no reassurance he could think of that wasn't a lie along those same lines.]

...I just don't want anyone else to get hurt.

[It had to be me, echoed that troublesome and unfortunately correct thought.]

Edited (html is my eternal nemesis) 2016-02-15 00:25 (UTC)

...Come here.

[He motions slightly, sliding to make room for Kakyoin to come and lean on him if he wants.]

There's no version of "right" that involves you getting hurt. You know that...right?

I know.

[But it didn't change anything, did it? Even if it was wrong, wouldn't it still be less of a catastrophe if it was him instead of someone like Jotaro or god forbid, Holly? If someone was going to die or otherwise end up seriously injured, Kakyoin would still have preferred it to be him regardless of the fact that it wasn't right.]

...I'm sorry.

[He leaned against Jotaro's shoulder, not clear about which part the apology was even meant for.]

...We'll figure it out.

[He slips an arm around Kakyoin's waist, adding that security of holding him.]

I mean it, we'll...I don't know. But there's a lot more than just us. It's not just us against everything. Not anymore.

We can manage it somehow. [Automatically, he mirrored the gesture and put his arm around Jotaro's waist as well. That was how they functioned best; a pair working in tandem.]

...I'll be careful. That's all that I can promise, Jojo.

IC Inbox | rubycity_rp | I

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject