Jimmy Two-Shoes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
awesmazings) wrote2014-08-28 05:42 pm
awesmazings) wrote2014-08-28 05:42 pm
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[Anyone who knows Jimmy at all might have noticed that he's been unusually absent from the Network lately. Ignoring new arrivals, and only talking to people sparingly- and it's always, always via text. In fact, Jimmy hasn't made a video post to the Network himself in several months, and it seems like that hasn't changed.
It's jarringly unusual behavior, but the sudden message that pops up on the Network this afternoon might be the most surprising thing of all, even moreso than the radio silence. No attempts at filtering, either.]
What do you think 'Hell' is?
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it's
[...]
its designed to be miserable
the people living there are supposed to be unhappy
our leader's job is to make everyone's lives terrible
and sometimes he does a good job.
...but I
I never feel that way
no matter what happens or what he does
im always
.....happy with the way things are
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Right. The place where this person is from is like Hell. He'd considered the possibility that maybe it just had the fire and creepy ambiance in common with his world's version of Hell and that maybe it was fine otherwise, given that they do, after all, come from different worlds, but it sounds like it has the suffering in common as well. Yusuke isn't sure how to feel about that. Nor is he sure how to feel about the revelation that the person he's talking to is apparently fine with it... or was until recently, anyway.
Ultimately, it's the way Jimmy seems so obviously messed up about it right now that keeps Yusuke from immediately reacting with anger like he might've done otherwise - that, and the fact that he isn't sure whether or not he fully understands how Jimmy's world works in the first place. After all, it's one thing if the people there are there because they did something fucked up; it's another thing if they just happen to live in a place ruled by an asshole.]
Why does your leader want people to be miserable so much? Is it supposed to be punishment of some sort, or is he just some kind of screwed up sadist who likes to abuse his power?
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his dad did it and his dad's dad did it before him
so its this long line of rulers who did pretty much the same sort of thing
and he really likes it
i dunno if its a punishment but it doesnt feel like it is
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That's fucked up.
[No use in not calling it how he sees it. At any rate, it doesn't sound like this place is full of jerks who deserve to burn for eternity so much as it is full of people who really ought to look into moving, so Yusuke moves on.]
Didn't it ever bug you, seeing people get pushed around like that? I know you said you weren't really affected by what the Head Asshole In Charge did, but still. If I were you, I'd at least be pissed off that all the people around me were depressed as hell 'cause of some guy profiting from their suffering. I'd probably kick his ass.
[Such is the Ragefurious Shounen Hero way of solving problems.]
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i do whatever i can to try to make people happy, yaknow?
sometimes it works
sometimes it doesnt
even if nothing is happening im still trying cause i
i just want to see people smiling and enjoying themselves
even if its hot or theyre being worked to the bone or something like that
and Lucy is Beezy's dad, for one thing, so theres nothing i can do
and the other thing is he's really
[...]
hes important to me
i care about him, and Beezy, and Heloise, and everybody else in Miseryville a lot
so to use your words im not going to kick his ass
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Geez, no wonder it's ruled by a guy who wants everybody to be depressed. It's like right there on the tin.
[WHY WOULD YOU LIVE IN A PLACE WITH A NAME LIKE THAT... Yusuke does not understand. Then again, he also doesn't understand a lot of things about his own world, so uh... he's just gonna do what he does when he's confronted with weird shit back home and refuse to think about it too much.]
... anyway, I get it. I know a guy whose favorite activities usually involve stabbing the shit out of people. Kinda creeps other people out, for obvious reasons, but that doesn't change the fact that he's one of my closest friends. If anybody messed with him, I'd make 'em wish they'd never been born.
[Granted, he still thinks this "Lucy" guy sounds like a total tool, but objectively speaking, it'd be a little hypocritical for him to judge Jimmy for giving a damn about somebody who likes to watch people suffer when he himself is good friends with a small murderous fire demon who enjoys the smell of rotting flesh. Of course, he'd probably put his foot up Hiei's ass if he started torturing people on a mass scale or something, but...
... look, the point is, it sounds like this person's relationship with the leader of his home is complicated. And while Yusuke personally doesn't like the sound of him at all, he's friends with enough deeply flawed people to know that you can't just stop caring about somebody just because you know they're a little, ah... strange. It's not that easy. Besides, does it really matter what he thinks about Jimmy giving a shit about Lucy? He knows he isn't particularly interested in what people think about his friendship with Hiei, so he's leaning towards "not really".
So he lets it go, and steers the conversation towards a slightly different topic.]
So it sounds to me like you and everyone else in Miseryville make the best with what you've got. So why're you so worried about people thinking it sounds like Hell? What, you think they're judging you or something?
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[Maybe he'd think about moving, if Miseryville didn't constitute the entire planet.]
but...no, thats not it
even if everyone thought my home was the worst place in the world, that wouldnt change how i feel about it
and people can think what they want. i dont care. but i just
ive been worried about...me
not anybody else
like if Miseryville is supposed to be such a bad place, why do I like it so much? why doesn't it bother me? why don't i want to leave?
i mean i have my friends and i wouldnt leave them for anything, but that doesnt really count...
i have friends here in Johto i dont want to leave, but i wanna go back home someday
home to the place full of fire and demons that everyone says is reserved for the most terrible people around
...
so
people like me, then
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Anyway. The mention of demons catches Yusuke's attention right away, but he doesn't comment on it. Instead, he says (or types):]
So... all right. Lemme see if I've got this straight: you're thinking that because people're telling you that Miseryville sounds really similar to a place where bad people get sent, that means you might be a bad person.
Right?
[Just clarifying...]
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pretty much
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Were you born there? In Miseryville, I mean. I'm not saying that has anything to do with whether you're a bad person or not, 'cause I mean, shit, it's not like you can help where you grew up, but...
... the thing about Hell is you kinda have to die to get there. So.
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i dont ever remember being, like
younger than 15 really
ever
its like i just woke up here one day and thats how my life started
if that makes any sense
[...so technically he's an orphan too even though he has a house some....how.....
But now it's sounding a lot like he's....died.]
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Yeah. Yeah, it does. Kind of.
[It's hard for him to imagine not even remembering what his childhood was like, but...
... well, anyway. Yusuke's not exactly what you'd call the most sensitive guy on the planet, but he's got enough experience with death and being dead that he doesn't particularly want to upset a potentially dead person. So he takes a moment or two to mull over his next response, and then eventually texts back:]
Y'know, the whole reason I asked that question was 'cause I was thinking that if you were born there, then it doesn't make sense for you or anybody else to think you might be evil just 'cause you live there. Now that I think about it, though...
I don't think it makes a difference one way or another. I don't know you, but you seem pretty all right to me. Besides, just because you live in a place that sounds bad to everybody else doesn't mean that you or any of the demons or monsters or whatever that live there are bad.
[Except for maybe that Lucy guy. He can go fuck himself, in Yusuke's humble opinion.]
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...thanks. im glad you think so.
maybe we aren't so bad...now
but i just wish i could figure out what i was like before, maybe
if there even was a before
i wouldnt be so worried then if i at least had some sort of idea, you know?
not knowing is just
i dunno its driving me crazy and i havent been able to sleep ive been thinking about it so much
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[...]
Does it really matter what you were like before you ended up in Miseryville, though? I mean, think about it. You're a good person now, right? So why the hell should you let the possibility that you might've been an asshole in the past mess you up? You can't sit around obsessing over shit you've done wrong in the past. Especially when you don't even know if you've done anything wrong in the first place. All you can do is keep moving forward and try to do the right thing in the future.
And as far as why nothing in Miseryville bugs you...
... I dunno. Maybe there isn't anything wrong with you. Maybe you just got balls. It's easy to let a shitty situation get you down. It takes guts to just let it roll over your shoulder and focus on using your strength to help out other people. If you ask me, the fact that you try to make things suck less for people in a place that's supposed to suck more than makes up for any screw-ups you might've made once upon a time.
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so...
me being in Miseryville might be....like
a second chance for me? whether or not i ever really did anything wrong
i like to think im a good person, yeah
i try to do everything i can to do right by people no matter what
and i know i mess stuff up sometimes and im clumsy and im not the smartest guy around
but i dont go around trying to make peoples' lives miserable either
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my names Jimmy by the way
i dumped all that on you and i dont think i even know your name
...thanks for talking to me though
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[You punch those feelings of uncertainty right in the face, Jimmy. RIGHT IN THE FACE.]
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Don't worry Yusuke. i will.