entrancelogs | + THIS is the Bad Place!

Entry tags:

+ THIS is the Bad Place! - MINGLE LOG +

Who: EVERYONE
Where: The Neighborhood!
When: 4/26 - 4/30
Rating: PG-13, warn if going higher - no swearing by event law!
Summary: Catch-all log for The Good Place event!
The Story:

Welcome to the Good Place! Your character, tragically, has died in their world. They might not remember how (or maybe they do!) but it’s okay either way because conveniently they have earned enough points to go to the Good Place when they die! They’ve earned a house that they have been told is perfectly suited to them (it is probably not, but who are they to question the universe?!) in an absolutely delightful and quaint little Neighborhood with a frozen yogurt shop on every block. It’s almost irritatingly perfect!

Most importantly though, someone will be living with your character. Someone very, very special - their soulmate, hand-picked from the billions on Earth! Sure, it may not be who (or even what) they expected, but this is what they’ve earned from the good life they’ve lived in your world. They deserve this! They really, truly do.

Everyone is welcome to add details to what exactly is in the Neighborhood - everyone has different standards for what constitutes an "objectively good but still mediocre" neighborhood experience, after all!

Need more information, or maybe a soulmate? Head on over to the plot post! Prose or [Action Brackets] are both welcome!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A. Hello, Soulmate!

[This is all very overwhelming for Tohru. She doesn't remember passing away, but it's such a sad thought that she can hardly bear it. However, she's been trying to stay positive even though...none of this is really what she imagined death to be like. She still can't believe that there's a soulmate for her! And that they're also here in the Good Place waiting.

It takes her a little bit to find the right home, but she's absolutely buzzing with excitement, wondering what kind of person her soulmate is. She can't even imagine it, especially since she tries to get along with everyone as best as she can. What sort of person would be best? And is she really the best kind of person for someone else?

Eventually she does find the place though, and knocks on the door. When it opens, she smiles and bows deeply in greeting.]

Hello! Are you Lapis Lazuli? It's very nice to meet you! My name is Tohru Honda and I'm, well...I'm your soulmate!

[She's all smiles, pleasant as she can possibly be.]

B. Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

[Everything feels like a mess. It seems like her soulmate doesn't actually like her very much, but on top of that she feels a lot lonelier than she would have ever imagined feeling. She hopes her mother didn't feel like this...but, that's another problem too.

Tohru tries to spend a lot of time in the Neighborhood, greeting people and meeting everyone she possibly can. It's a big place and there are a lot of people, but...not everyone in the world who's ever died. Still, she can't give up!]

Um, excuse me - I was wondering if you've met a woman named Kyoko here?

C. In and around the Dreamhouse

[By the third or fourth day, Tohru is restless. She has absolutely no idea how to relax in a place where she not only doesn't need to work, but can't really work due to the fact that everything is supplied to them. Restaurants serve them without any cooks and there's no need to hire someone to clean, and it leaves her with no ability to get her mind off of everything she's been thinking.

So she cooks. She cooks, and she cleans, and she starts a couple of small craft projects and cleans them up again and cooks some more food. She does everything in her power to make sure she's never doing nothing - and she does it all with a cheerful smile on her face.

Even though there's no need for it, she can easily be spotted outside of her new home hanging laundry to dry in the sun. There shouldn't even be very much laundry yet, but the truth is that she's been using the ability to ask the Neighborhood for anything to get more laundry to do.

Anything, anything to keep herself busy.]

[Very little of this makes any kind of sense, so Lapis is a different flavor of overwhelmed. She's been spending her morning just struggling to get a grasp of the situation. And in truth she has barely started to look around the house herself, having taken longer than anyone would like to get going -- the info boards did have to explain the entire concept of an afterlife down to a very basic level. Among everything else she somewhat glossed over the part about soulmates, and is now taken a bit offguard when Tohru comes knocking. (Why even bother knocking, isn't this house supposedly hers too? It's not like Lapis particularly wants or needs it.)

She opens the door, waits through the introduction, and then just stares at Tohru, blank and silent.

Just stares.

For a long, long moment.

It's very awkward.

And then, already slightly exasperated --]

Do you seriously not have a problem with this?

[That...isn't really the reaction she was expecting at all. She pulls up out of her bow and seems a little startled by the question.]

I...I'm sorry? I'm not sure what you mean. I was told, um. That my soulmate is Lapis Lazuli, and that this is where we're supposed to be living together...

[She has assumed she would be welcomed right away, but maybe that was her mistake to go into this assuming anything. Being soulmates doesn't automatically entitle her to anything after all, and she can't expect or demand that from someone who's never met her before.]

Is this the right house? If this isn't where I'm supposed to be, I'm really sorry for disturbing you! I've been looking for the right house for a little while now, but maybe I got it wrong again...

Edited 2019-05-18 23:50 (UTC)

No, you have the right place. I'm Lapis. And you're dead.

[There are almost scare quotes on that last word, as if it's not a familiar one, or as if she's not quite convinced it's true. Maybe it's an accusation. Lapis certainly doesn't pull any punches, one way or another.]

[Tohru's immediate impression is that Lapis is very, very intense. Is she angry at her? It's hard not to be taken aback by such strong wording, but she still tries her best.]

I-I know. Everyone here must be. It's a lot to take in, but it's still nice to meet you just the same, Lapis.

Edited 2019-05-27 05:04 (UTC)

[Lapis doesn't voice her thoughts on that sentiment. Instead she takes her time to silently eye Tohru some more, tight-mouthed, studying.

But ultimately she's just not forming much of an opinion yet; she has no expectations from this girl, no idea what to do with her. Tohru is one more weird component of an overall baffling situation, not even a particularly major one, and there's a lot to sort out. Lapis steps back.]

You can come in if you want. It is yours.

[Tohru hesitates, unsure how to read Lapis' mood exactly. Ultimately though, she accepts it as an invitation, smiling with immense gratitude.]

Um, thank you very much!

[She steps inside the house and looks around at the decorations, trying to take in everything that is supposed to be their shared afterlife.]

This is a cute house! It's kind of funny - I didn't expect death to be like this at all. It's really nice of the afterlife to give us a home to live in, and a way to obtain things we might need...

[There's something very big missing though, but she doesn't want to trouble anyone about it. Certainly not her soulmate that she just met ten seconds ago.]

[Having already looked around, Lapis is content to observe unmoving.]

I don't need any of it. You were expecting something else?

Oh! I-I didn't mean in a rude way or anything. It's very nice, and I shouldn't ask for more than this.

[The idea of seeming at all ungrateful seems to make Tohru deeply uncomfortable. She can barely handle the though of it. She would just be asking for it if she looked a gift horse in the mouth like this.]

I was just, um. I was a little surprised that I haven't seen anyone I know in the afterlife yet, that's all. I never imagined it would be an entire neighborhood of brand new people...which isn't a bad thing! Not at all!

[But it's not the reunion with her mother that she had imagined it would be. She hasn't seen any sign of her in this neighborhood at all so far, and it isn't very heavily populated. There's a very good chance that she might be somewhere else.]

I guess there have to be a lot more dead humans than this. There are supposed to be other groups, right?

[Lapis hadn't really been thinking about the scale of this tiny little neighborhood, and for a whole variety of reasons, she isn't expecting to see anyone familiar herself. It's all so very human.]

I think so. I'm not sure where they are though...oh! But maybe if there are others, we could visit them in their neighborhoods!

[That way, even if she doesn't live with her mother, she can see see her sometimes. It sounds a lot better than an afterlife without her.]

[But Lapis, ultimately, doesn't care anywhere near so much about that. It's just a diversion from the real issue she doesn't know how to handle, and there's something subtly frustrating about it.]

And does that make everything all better?

Well...no, but it might help?

[That doesn't seem to be what's most important here though - she would have to really not be paying attention to miss that Lapis is frustrated. So she gently shifts gears.]

Are you okay? ...I've been talking too much about myself and I'm sorry for that, but if there's something I can do to help, I'd really like to.

I'm -- of course I'm not okay! That's why we're both here, isn't it?

[Tohru winces.]

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to strike a nerve. I know we're not alive anymore. I just meant...well, if there's anything I can do to help make this a little more bearable, I'd like to do that for you.

[She's on a roll and she makes a fist, suddenly determined!]

We're soulmates, so we're in this together! Even if things are difficult, I want to be the best possible soulmate I can be for you!

[Lapis is still hovering by the door out of sheer inertia. Now that the spotlight has been turned on her, she seems to have gained some momentum of her own; fierce tension simmers in her voice and posture, even beyond her usual baseline.]

I don't need a soulmate. This whole thing isn't right, how do you not see that? This isn't supposed to happen!

I...I'm sorry.

[She's not sure what else to say, or what would be the most appropriate thing to do here. She's clearly upset Lapis, and she didn't want to do that, but she doesn't know what would make it better.

(Maybe Lapis is just going to hate her. Maybe she just has a soulmate who doesn't like her.)]

I know this isn't what we thought it would be. It-- It isn't what I wanted it to be either. If I really had to die, I thought I would see my mom again. I-I thought she might be waiting for me, but she's not here.

[She's nowhere to be found. Tohru is alone in this afterlife.]

But...if it can't be what we thought it would be, then maybe we can make the best of it? Maybe we can find things about it we enjoy, and it won't be so terrible. It might be a little less lonely to do that together?

[That speech does get a reaction. Lapis kind of sags, suddenly looking much sadder and very, very tired. Now staring at the floor, she's silent a long moment.

Because it's familiar. Not the words specifically, not quite the person despite a few recognizable traits, but the idea being laid before her. Make the best of whatever you're left with, find things to like about it, and maybe it'll even be easier if you don't have to be alone. She can't do that again; she can't just forget it all and give up and start over. But, then, she already had given up. What's hard is the thought that it's too late to ever take that back. Lapis never entirely felt like she was making a choice, and couldn't quite believe that going back on it was an option, but -- of course it was. Now it isn't. There's a stark difference. The more that's driven home, the more miserable it feels.

And yet, also, in some weird way -- certainly not the way Tohru intended -- it's grounding. It's only cold hard reality, after all. The more she has to face THAT, the more she has to actually think about what's happening.

Lapis closes the door behind her.]

No. Listen to me. This doesn't make sense.

[Tohru does listen. She stops pushing, stops giving hopeful speeches, and she listens to what Lapis has to say about it. Whatever it is must be really important if she's asking her to listen, and Tohru wants to understand.

"It doesn't makes sense." It doesn't make sense to Tohru either, but somehow she feels like it's different coming from Lapis.]

What do you mean? I know it's not normal and I promise I'm not trying to ignore that, but...why doesn't it make sense for you?

I'm not a human.

[Lapis meets Tohru's eyes again. Like, that's pretty obvious, so it ought to be obvious that things might not work the same way. But fine, humans don't necessarily know any more about her than she does about them. It takes another moment of hesitation to decide exactly what she does or doesn't want to explain to this total rando, but in the end the answer isn't nothing, so she just keeps it simple and detached.]

If a gem is broken into pieces, the pieces aren't... dead. [The word sounds even more out of place now.] If they're big enough, they'll still try to move. To form a body. They won't know who they were or what's going on, but... If a gem is ground into powder, there's still something there.

[By any measure, being brought to paradise, even a flawed paradise, is preferable. It should be an unexpected mercy for a gem who went and got herself shattered. But it's WEIRD.]

I should still be there.

[Tohru doesn't know any gems, and as far as she knows there aren't any in her world, but she listens carefully to everything Lapis has to say. She can't truly understand, not really, but she can try her hardest to.]

The pieces are still alive...

[It's incredible, though also frightening if she's honest. To be alive, but trapped in a piece of yourself.

But, that doesn't seem like it's the most important part. It's unusual by Lapis' standards, but that doesn't seem to be all of it, from what Tohru can tell.]

I'm sorry. I don't know where you're supposed to be, or who you're supposed to be with, but...I'm sorry that you're not there. It sounds really lonely, to have to be by yourself when you never expected to be. When it didn't seem possible at all that things would happen this way.

[The sentiment resonates, for many reasons. An eternal paradise isn't paradise if it isn't what was supposed to happen to you, is it? If you have to be alone there, or at least without the people you care about?]

I'm not a gem so I can't completely understand everything, but...it's a thought that I can really empathize with.

[Once again, that A: unexpectedly hits too close to home, and B: is frustratingly NOT THE POINT SHE WAS TRYING TO MAKE.]

That's your takeaway?!

[Lapis is trying to reject this, not come to terms with it. Too much acceptance is a crock. She's been provisionally willing to talk to Tohru because Tohru should potentially be on her side -- a fellow victim in the same situation. But that's not gonna hold if she can't actually get Tohru to side with her, and the provision is wearing thin.]

This isn't what happens. It doesn't make SENSE.

[Tohru's first impulse when talking to anyone is to try and take care of their emotional needs first, so the rejection stings. She wasn't expecting it...but, that doesn't mean that Lapis is wrong for it. She doesn't know Lapis, and can only guess how she feels.

It doesn't make sense though. By all accounts, what Lapis has said doesn't make sense with how this world works.]

Then...then we should find out what happened.

[She's hesitant, not sure if Lapis will reject her again. She wants to help, but to help she can't focus on what would help her, if she were in Lapis' situation.]

There must be someone here who knows, or some way we can find out. If this isn't what is supposed to happen...then we should find out why it happened, and how we can fix it.

[Even if that means Tohru ends up without a soulmate. She wouldn't want to make someone else unhappy because they weren't supposed to be with her. It's more important to try and set things right.]

[That's better. :T Lapis frowns deeply in thought.]

It's not like there's anyone in charge. Everyone else here is supposed to be like us... right?

[She sounds skeptical even of that, now that she's decided to be skeptical about everything.]

[Tohru looks really happy that that went over better, and she perks up a little bit with determination.]

Most people probably are, but maybe we just haven't met whoever is in charge yet! I can't imagine a neighborhood this big without some sort of mayor to make sure everything is running smoothly. If we can find them, that might be a good start!

+ THIS is the Bad Place! - MINGLE LOG +

Tohru Honda | OTA

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