bakerstreet | Heaven is a place on earth~

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Heaven is a place on earth~

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:
☆ Comment with your character, your prefs, etc.
☆ Clarify if you are aiming for a specific decade. This meme is shipping and gen friendly!
☆ Reply to others!

[ Just a small side note, I'm thinking about re-opening the San Junipero themed sandbox. If you're interested head over to sanjunipero. ]

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[ooc: would you be up for a peter quill who still has all the guilt about what happened on titan? i'm also endgame compliant if you want to include that in the thread as well.]

[Absolutely! I am not Endgame compliant, but I wouldn't mind if you wanted to include it anyway :) Do you want to start us off?]

[I don't want to spoil it for you though! I don't mind sticking to just IW. Let me know if you want me to change anything.]

A nightmare. He's sure that's what it was. Mantis literally turning to dust next to him? It's such a crazy dream, he thinks as he sits up in bed.

Although this isn't his bed. This isn't his sleeping quarters actually. None of the exposed metal and mechanics of the Milano show. Just these light gray walls and this fairly plush bed. It's so jarring that he wonders if maybe that wasn't a dream.

It takes wandering out of the small house, very reminiscent of his childhood home on Earth, to find out where he is exactly. San Junipero, a city for the dead and dying. His eyes widen as the community board shows a few boards of names, their newest residents to the town. While he spots Mantis, Drax, and Groot on the board, there's two issues. One, apparently there's a chance that none of them are in the same area as him and he may never see them. And two, Gamora's name is not on this list. He's alone, again. Stuck in some unknown place. He feels like he's 8 again and he has to retreat to his new home to process all of this. Or not. His fridge is full of his favorite booze and getting wasted to numb all of the pain seems like a good idea.

It wasn't a bad dream. And it was all his fault too. Maybe this is good punishment, ripped from his family, the love of his life, and thrown into a new place all alone with zero chance of escape. Yeah, sounds like a good version of hell for him. Maybe Tony, the spider kid, and that wizard guy can rest easy knowing Peter is suffering due to his stupidity.

Peter does this routine of drinking himself to sleep for a few days before accepting that this is his new reality. This is his new life and he needs to try and make the most of it. He does some hook ups at the bar at night. During the day, he goes back to his old habits of scavenging, trying to find stuff to sell even though money isn't even a thing here. He at least finds people to trade with. He gets a new walkman, fills his new home with posters, toys, and little knick knacks that remind him of his childhood. All of his favorite TV shows play all day and only the commercials he remembers fondly play. Huh, maybe this isn't hell.

At least until one particular night where he decides to hit up his favorite drinking place after some time. He sees most of his usual hook ups, a few new faces, and some guy at the bar who looks familiar. Could be someone he met before he came here. Peter's never been above flirting with casual acquaintances and heads up to the bar.

"Hey, mind if I buy you a drink?" He asks all cool and smoothly. Peter's really stepped up his game since coming here, but then the guy turns towards him and everything hits him at once. Jaw goes slack in shock and somewhat in fear. He thought he forgot about everything, but seeing his face brings everything back like a speeding train. "T-Tony? What... Are you-? I mean, did something-? Why are you here?!"

Tony is fairly certain he's dead.

Not that he's been given an explanation, or anything. Oh, no. He just gets to wake up with no concrete memories of how he got where he is, and he's expected to go with the flow.

Just go with the flow, handsome!

Those are the words that greet him after he wakes up in a workshop that isn't his (but holy hell is it a good one) and stumbles out into streets he recognizes in an instant. They're spoken by a girl who's obviously drunk, possibly high, and looks like she's never had more fun in her life.

And he knows. He knows...

He's in San Junipero.

He worked on San Junipero, once upon a time. He knows that means he's either in a coma or dead. He knows he's probably here to stay, all things considered. He remembers watching the spidertot dissolve away, replays it in his mind until the nausea it causes is normal, evened out. He wonders if Pepper turned into nothing too.

Then he represses.

Then he relapses, and who cares? It's not like he can drink himself to death, and it's not like anyone is around to care if he could.

San Junipero is a beach town, populated by the dead and dying, with clubs and bars, booze and drugs. Anything and everything a genius, billionaire, ex-playboy, philanthropist can ask for in a post-death simulation free of consequences. Tony knows there's plenty else to the sim. Museums, coffee shops, libraries. He just isn't interested in any of it. So he drinks constantly, sometimes locked in his lab where he can lose himself in inventing, and sometimes in clubs where he can forget himself in a sea of yelled conversations and easy smiles.

Tonight is an out-and-about kind of night to be intoxicated, but Tony doesn't end up in one of his usual loud and flashy bars. The place he's made it to is a bit off the beaten path, quieter than his usual ear-ruining dives, but still loud enough that he doesn't have to hear himself think. He's standing at the bar, leaning over it while he waits for his scotch, when it happens. Shit, it takes him off guard to hear that voice. He's been under the assumption that he won't be seeing any familiar faces - hearing any familiar voices - for a long time, if ever.

He turns slowly, fixing the man before him with a solid once-over. He leans back against the bar, and his lips quirk up a bit on one side in a smirk. He has a tiny bit of resentment in him over the infinity gauntlet/Thanos situation, and a part of him is glad to see that Star Lord is looking a little shook.

"Pretty sure I died. Not important. What is important: is it really buying me a drink when everything's free?" One of his eyebrows goes up. "I mean, at best, you could get me a drink if I move further from the bar."

His arms cross over his chest; he has to admit that there's something nice about seeing a familiar face. "Didn't expect to see you again after the whole-" he snaps his fingers. "Enjoying your afterlife? Mine might have just gotten more interesting, but I'm withholding judgement for the time being."

Of course Tony would be getting some amusement out of Peter in such a state of shock. He's always been the punching bag, for strangers and friends alike. This was one of the few places that hasn't done that to him yet. Girls and guys both fall for his cheesy, yet endearing pick up lines, his plans and ideas are taken seriously, and people just treat him better in general. But it's always felt a little off.

So maybe Tony pointing out the flaw in his question is comforting, only because it's a familiar sort of jab. "Force of habit. That and sometimes people want to feel like they can afford extravagant things, even if it doesn't require money." Probably a stupid reasoning behind it, but Peter's always had to fight and claw for credits just to survive. To not have to do that and still live a luxurious lifestyle is a high that hasn't quite faded yet. "No need to move though. I got this." He calls over to the bartender for something in some alien language. It probably sounds like a garbled mess to Tony, but it's as clear as English for Peter. Two glasses are set down in front of them with a light blue colored booze. "Found this at one of my favorite space ports while traveling. It gives you the perfect buzz."

Which he'll need after Tony brings up that. He had it mostly blocked out, then the snap of Tony's fingers pulls it out again painfully, roots and all. He even winces at the sound. "Yeah, uh... I never did apologize before I, um-" He takes a larger drink to try and numb the pain. It's not working this time. Peter's not as familiar with the specs of this place as Tony is, so he's struggling with two consciousnesses occupying the same space. "W-Well, I get this chance now, so I'm sorry. I mean, there's so much more to this than just finding out she was dead and..."

He trails off. Tony's already made his judgement about him. Probably made it from the moment they met. How was he supposed to know "Earth" was another name for Terra? That didn't seem to matter to Tony. Nothing about Peter's circumstances seemed to matter. He had 10 seconds to present himself during one of the worst moments in his life and Tony held onto it and over his head when his emotions got the better of him.

And yet, Peter still feels like he needs to make this up to him.

"Whatever. We're dead now, so that's that I guess. Mine's been alright. Not perfect, but- Wait, more interesting?" He almost doesn't hear that last part, but he catches it and yeah, he's a bit concern. He thinks his path to redemption has just begun. "I know it has something to do with me, so spill it. What are you planning?"