un: eudaimonikos; video

[eudaimonikos]

[Well, this is Michael's username, for sure. He seems to be looking rather different, though. Still dressed the same despite it!]

Hey, this is Michael. Just curious - is this a thing that's happening now? Are we all doing this?

Don't get me wrong, it's not a huge deal. I honestly never liked all the weird dangly bits. Not sure about the hair... [He runs a hand through it, holding it briefly up against his head; does he want it short again, or is this good?] ...but I can cut that. Guess now I have to get used to everyone calling me "she", too...

[That one, he sounds mildly irritated by. It's not the word itself, necessarily, it just took him long enough to get used to answering to the first one. Why do humans have to change their language rules every two seconds? But, he's using their language and that's how it works. His usual body was the only reason he ended up being "he", so...well, he'll just have to manage.]

Except the locals, maybe. Why do they call everyone "they", anyway? What is that? [Seems rhetorical, though; he flaps his hands dismissively.] Well, anyway. If anyone else is suddenly changing size or shape, and your wardrobe isn't working anymore, let me know and I'll just run off some new clothes for you for free. Might as well make these things a little bit easier, right?

Comments

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah? I haven't had any since that first day - I was really stressed out. Just been too busy since then.

[eudaimonikos]

I've literally never heard of him.

[Which doesn't signify much, since they're from different universes. Just, like, this name means nothing to him.]

Well, we definitely don't have ghosts. Our afterlife's...well, inescapable isn't exactly the word. [He's done that.] But everybody ends up there initially, at least. We're sort of in a period of flux right now, lots of social reform happening. I've taken over management of Heaven, and we've formed an inter-Place panel to review how everything functions.

[unphase]

Her. The Mistress is a her and doesn't take kindly to be referred to as as anything but a her.

[that's her growing conviction. worship of the Mistress on Bgztl is one of the few religions to stand the test of time, but most others she's heard about were father gods and on their way out by the 29th century, Terran time]

How peculiar! Granted, mine didn't turn ghosts until I brought myself into being. [she listens carefully to the discussion of the afterlife] Even those from other planets? Like Durla or Vryga? But social reform...generally tends towards to the liberal, that's a disputed fact of morality even after Terran standards. But, by Place, what do you mean....?

[onerthes]

Well, admittedly she isn't with us this time around. [Her smile had a sad twinge to it.] But the news would still be welcome to her. Or at least, I think Chloe'd laugh.

[eudaimonikos]

Not her, the Lar guy. I mean, I've never heard of her either...

[But eh, one afterlife deity mostly seems like the next.]

We just get people from Earth. I'm not sure what would happen if sapient life evolved anywhere else. Other than a hell of a lot of paperwork! [He says, like a joke, even though it definitely is true.] There's the Good Place, and the Bad Place. Basically what it sounds like. The initial idea was to send humans who reached a certain "goodness" threshold to the Good Place, to be happy or whatever, and everyone else to the Bad Place for eternal torture.

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, Chloe.

[Michael's lips quirk in a bit of a sad smile, too. But it's been a long, long time for him.]

Yeah, she would. We actually smoked some weed together one time.

[unphase]

Ohhhh. Well. Both are common enough in variations of my world, but there are only so many variants to find. In most, they aren't even legends, they simply don't exist. Which is a little unnerving, but I'd like to think I've gotten used to that.

[maybe. but she'd far prefer eternal sleep in the Void over what Terrans have told her about Hell]

I suppose that makes sense. Every world is unique, every world has its own stories and gods and mythologies. And paperwork is the worst. [and she nods] That maps to what I've heard from Terrans. That good people go to someplace nice and bad people go someplace terrible. And that a person is capable of changing where they go, depending upon how they act.

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah. None of their religions really got it completely right, on our world, but they've got the general gist of that.

Anyway, it was ridiculous. The entry requirements were so high for the Good Place that essentially no one made it in - no one at all, for the past half-millennium. So I've been working on adjusting those, and reviewing all the past cases to figure out who can just come over right now, and we've outlawed the torture in favor of something more rehabilitative, which is also still in development. It's been pretty busy.

[unphase]

That's Terrans for you. Of course the rest of us screw things up in our own unique ways.

Wait. You're joking. No one at all? For half of a millenium? That's...sweet Mistress, that's insane. I'm glad that you were tasked with adjusting things, though. And torture doesn't work, except to get the answer someone else was already looking for. Though, I can only imagine! The United Galaxies only needed the Legion on occasion and it still felt like we had no time to ourselves. You were likely needed all of the time.

[eudaimonikos]

Oh! It would've been great if someone had tasked me to do it!

[Is it time for Michael to be a HUGE BITCH? Sounds like it is!]

No, I had to sue them so that they'd even consider adjusting things. I had to run a year-long proof of concept to show that humans could change - like they hadn't already - and then win a court case, and then when I did, the Judge was just like "oooh, our system does suck, guess we better just destroy humanity and start over with the next species of mortals." And of course the other demons were sabotaging everything the entire time...

[onerthes]

I never truly had her tolerance. Couldn't keep up with that girl.

[She smiled fondly. For her, it was more of a recent thing, but even still the time was beginning to slowly pass them by.]

She would definitely love knowing that. Might even try to 'fly right' for a bit, just to get the good stuff.

[eudaimonikos]

You wouldn'tve seen me keeping her out.

[But it's another world, and chances are that whatever might await Chloe on the other side, there's no other Michael.]

Back in the afterlife, I can just decide...not to be intoxicated anymore, if I don't want to be. So it did take me a while to figure out what my tolerance actually was.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ And Orpheus lived his entire life in the midst of an ecological crisis, so for better or worse they may be on sort of even footing here. ]

Right, or at least the one I've been to was? I thought maybe it's because sand absorbs heat and then gives it off really well, because the desert's hot too, at least when it's not winter. You think the water being there makes it cooler, though?

[eudaimonikos]

The wind from that way's always pretty cool.

[But like, that could mean anything? Michael considers, then shrugs.]

To be honest, I don't have that much experience with weather I didn't create myself.

[phaseflex]

anyone with half a brain who can stare at the sun for five seconds can tell the time themselves
show me something better!

[eudaimonikos]

It rains a lot around here, you know!

[Michael's not actually that great at creating complex devices anymore? He sort of played himself here!]

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus just nods. Weather is strange! He's never really put that much thought into it. ]

I guess we'll find out what summer is like here when it comes. [ he concludes. ] It still feels a little strange, to think we might be here that long, or probably even longer. The dream always kind of felt like it could end at any time? And I guess here we could be called back to the sea, but. It feels more permanent, this place.

[hellbond]

Jeez. I guess I can consider myself lucky nothing quite like that happened to me while I was in Deerington.

[ huh. ]

What, was it like a doppelganger? A totem, maybe?

[eudaimonikos]

I don't really know what a totem is, so I'm gonna go with doppelganger? It was like...you know in movies, where people will see a vision of themselves, as they'll be if they just make shitty choices their whole life?

[eudaimonikos]

Feels more long-term, anyway. It's weird...

[Old as he is, Michael has trouble considering most things to be truly permanent.]

The calling back to the sea thing is weird too, don't get me wrong. I really don't care for that.

[unphase]

[it's cool, she's more horrified to learn the details of what he was required to do than anything. at least the Mistress isn't quite so...regimented.

as far as she knows, at least]

They were going to destroy humanity? In which reality does that make it a suitable first option as opposed to the absolute worst case scenario? Even with demons trying to sabotage things?

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, that wasn't even them, that was all the Judge. Easier to wipe the board than fix all your mistakes, I guess.

[The rant has burned itself out, but Michael's still visibly irritated.]

Most immortals don't think all that much of mortals.

[unphase]

[she can see that, so she's going to try to steer the conversation in another direction.

like it or not (and she doesn't), but she is her mother's daughter]

I suppose that's not much of a surprise. [after all, all the women did was live a couple hundred more years than Terrans and the Mistress knew that most Bgztlians had attitudes about that]

But, perhaps back to the previous topic? Interviewing to work at your store? I have...all the free time in the world, at present.

[eudaimonikos]

Yes! [Michael claps his hands together, pretty easily distracted.] Yes, let's do...tomorrow? Maybe around one?

[That'll give him plenty of time to prepare. He's not quite sure what he's going to prepare, but it seems like he ought to!]

[themuseabandonsyou]

I don't like it either. The way I understand people talk about it? It's not going back, like waking up from the dream could be. You're just... out there. Waiting to either come back to shore or not.

[ And he worries a lot about what could happen, if either he or Eurydice were called without the other. What would they do? There's no way to stop it, from what he's found. If you feel the pull, you have to go. ]