Heaven is a Place on Earth

[sanjunipero]

San Junipero is a lively, bustling seaside town. It's both a popular vacation destination and a lovely permanent residence. The days are always long, the weather is often perfect, there's always your favorite song playing on the radio.

During the day, the sun shines and the carefree residents spend their days lounging on the beach, perusing the strip or spending private time in their homes. At night, San Junipero transforms into a party town. Booming bass fills the clubs and echoes out into the streets, the once carefree residents become boisterous and jovial, dancing and drinking long into the night.

And everything set to the backdrop of a beachy paradise.

What San Junipero really is, however, is a simulated reality in which the minds of the dead, or dying, can be uploaded to the TCKR Systems Cloud Server as alternative versions of their younger selves forever; and which the living can visit for up to five hours per week.

While there is no real concept of time in San Junipero (the days on the calendar may change, but residents and visitors do not age.), the program itself rotates through the decades.

how to play:
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Comments

Rogue | xmcu

[gloves]

Oh my god, I loved this episode so much.

All decades are good.

hear me out

[feellikeshowingoff]

[1980's. John died decades before Rogue, but he's there to ease her in while she decides. ]

Re: hear me out

[gloves]

omfg write this with me. I love this. Also, because this is a simulation, side note, I'm thinking either she can touch people OR she can't touch people at first because mentally she's leery about this whole thing but with more acceptance comes more power control.

Also, the 1980s = hair crimpers

[feellikeshowingoff]

Even if she could touch people, it would mean no death because that's a program restriction.

[gloves]

Don't logic at me. :D

[pafyou]

They can put their pain meters at 0 too... I just remembered that. lol Rogue will love this place.

I'm too lazy to switch journals. I don't know if that's acceptable on DW. I'm using my ignorance as a defense.

I bring you this

[gloves]

This was supposed to be an introduction to what she could expect if she decided to digitize her consciousness after death. Logan hadn't been particularly thrilled with the idea of her even considering it, had said something about it not being real. But Rogue wasn't so sure that someone who seemed to be capable of living practically forever had a say in the whole thing. After all, even though she'd met Logan decades (upon decades) earlier, he still looked the same.

She, on the other hand...

Well, her hair had mostly turned white like her streaks. She could see the passage of time on her hands, on her face. Bones and joints creaked. She didn't really have to worry about some disease killing her. Logan would have let her absorb his healing factor if she'd been sick.

No, this was just old age. And she could feel it settling it, whether she liked it or not.

The transition from the real world to San Junipero felt seamless and, though she found herself outside what looked like some kind of nightclub, the first thing Rogue sought out was a reflective surface. She remembered this face: youthful, vibrant. Nothing ached anymore. The white streaks in her hair stood out against the rest of it. Her clothes didn't match those of the people passing by her. In fact, those people looked a lot like what she remembered Jubilee dressing in. Neon colors, zig-zaggy patterns, ankle boots, hair-sprayed hair, huge hoop jewelry.

She knew San Junipero rotated through the decades and she was going to guess she'd arrived in time to see a bit of the 80s. It was a decade she didn't really remember, having been born into the last handful of years of it but, of course, pop culture had always seemed to have a soft spot for that wild time. It actually made her lips twitch, though couldn't force a real smile out of her. She hadn't managed that in awhile.

All the same, she was here to explore. To see if she even liked it here... or if she wanted to let nature take its course and simply hope that there was something better on the other side of death.

Packed or not, it was surprisingly -- almost oddly -- easy to make her way through the crowd to get into the club. The music was loud, the buzz of people talking was almost louder since they were screaming to be heard. The flashing lights would have made her older self's head ache. But, here, there was almost a soothing rhythm to it even if it had been what felt like forever since she'd been in this sort of environment.

Weaving around people, Rogue headed to the bar. They said you could taste things even though this was a type of virtual reality. And, of course, she wanted to see if that was true.

[feellikeshowingoff]

John’s sneakers were quiet on the cobble stone street. All around him, the fading sunlight was giving way to party lights and crowds. The beach setting of San Junipero was cloaking itself in the 80’s, complete with big-haired wild girls, bright colors, and rampant partying. John wasn’t giving in to the fad. He kept his preferred style regardless of the era in play. The slicked back hair was giving away into shaggy tendrils around his head, but the leather jacket, the t-shirt, the jeans, they carried him from the 50’s through the 20-teens.

He wandered his way to the club. It was a way to pass the night, at least. This had all the perks of being alive – alcohol worked, food tasted like food, sex felt like sex – with none of the downside. He ducked past some buff beach body before the guy even realized he was there, and jogged down the steps to the bar. The strobing colored lights and light up floors were not his thing, but the mixed drinks could be worse.

He’d been here too long. Nightly hook ups were fun, but he sometimes found himself wondering about the people left alive, in the real world. He’s thinking about that now, when he sees a toss of brown hair and a telltale stripe. His heart skips a beat – except it can’t, right? He shifts, sliding between the two dancers, to catch a slender wrist.

“Hey, you wanna dance?” he hears himself shout over the music.

[gloves]

When a hand closes around her wrist, she automatically stiffens, ready to yank it away, years of instinct kicking in. Sure, it was explained to her that her skin was perfectly safe here. She can’t hurt anyone. But considering that her mind also put her in familiar clothing, including gloves, it’s obvious that her subconscious hasn’t quite caught up to her subconscious

And when she sees who it is, she tenses up for a completely different reason.

It’s not that she’s surprised he’s in San Junipero; she’d already known that. But she’s surprised to run into him so soon without even looking for him.

Rogue recognizes him immediately, because this is the age that she most often thinks of them as, even if it’s not the age he was when she last saw him. And when the initial shock wears off, she twists her hand in his grip and grasps, so that they’re both holding each other’s wrists.

The bar and testing out the virtual alcohol is all but forgotten as she nods, weaving around bodies and heading to the edges of the dance floor with her hand still locked around his wrist. There’s a thousand things she wants to say and talk about and ask, but right then she just wants to make sure he’s real (as real as anything in San Junipero gets anyway) as the bright lights strobe and flash over his features.

[feellikeshowingoff]

It's surreal - more so than most of this place - to be standing opposite of her when they get on the dance floor. He expects that the music will be something quick and pulsing, but he barely gets squared up before the music turns into something slow and sweet. His hand is still on her wrist - her hand on his - and his heart jumps. With a tug, he drags her back towards him, his other hand curling around her waist.

"How long has it been?" he asks, his lip near her ear.

[gloves]

She doesn't care about the music. It could have been loud and obnoxious and she still would have melted against him, body fitting against his like they were made to piece themselves together this way. Logan had warned her against looking up people she had missed in life while she was in the process of trying to figure this out. And now, now, she knows why. Because she doesn't want to move from this spot, and it has nothing to do with her feelings about San Junipero.

Rogue only lets go of his wrist because the grasp keeps her from getting closer. "A long time." She doesn't want to tell him just how long. Decades passing invites questions. It has the potential to make him think of her as old and broken. And she doesn't want that. "This is only a test run, to see how I feel about it."

[feellikeshowingoff]

"You're gonna stay," he says, cheeky and confident, because her answer cuts straight to his heart. He tries to imagine Rogue, growing old with some beau or another. Someone holding her hand, someone waiting for her on the other side. Without meaning to, he tightens the arm around her waist, keeping her close. "How are you gonna miss out on this? It's everything you could possibly want."

[gloves]

“Don’t do that.” Act like he knew her better than she knew herself. It was the sort of thing he’d always done, and she never knew if he was aware of it: looked at her like she was completely transparent. At least to him.

“It’s been almost 40 years, John.” It’s said softly, without meaning to admit it, even as she’s letting him pull her closer. “What’s it felt like for you?” A day? A week? A month? Had it really even mattered or had he just been living it up here?

[feellikeshowingoff]

40 years feel like the air has been knocked from his lungs. He can't breathe for the space of a too fast heartbeat. It doesn't show on his face. Instead, he steps back, reaching for her wrist again, then sliding down for her hand. "Come on. Let's get out of here. You can't hear yourself think in this mess."

He's got the perfect place in mind, too.

[gloves]

It's not an answer, but then she didn't really expect one. What would be the point? They both know he hasn't spent 40 years in San Junipero moping.

Her fingers instinctive lace through his, muscle memory, she'd figure, if she had muscles in this place and she immediately moves closer to him to follow, even the small amount of distance suddenly seeming too large. Irrationally worried that she'll lose him in the crowd and that will somehow signify losing him permanently.

"Where are we going?" It doesn't matter much; her surroundings seem completely irrelevant at the moment.

Tabby Smith (Meltdown) | Marvel

[boom_queen]

Tabby just wants to party. She doesn't care what year it is.

James Buchanan Barnes | MCU |

[not_without_you]

[40's San Junipero sounds magical. OTA for Gen, m/m for shipping]

Sarah Reese | Chicago Med

[indeterminates]

[ any era is great. m/f for shipping ]

[St.] John Allerdyce | X-Men Movies | OTA

[feellikeshowingoff]

[ here for the bittersweet. ]

Kevin Flynn | Tron | ota

[spaceparanoids]

[ Totally here for the 80's, man. Also probably has Admin-level access on the inside to troubleshoot/fix issues, might as well put his experience to use while he's dead. ]

Bruce Wayne - dceu

[bought_the_bank]

[Wow. For Bruce, this would pretty much be hell.]