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bakerstreet2014-12-09 12:09 pm
rumplestiltskin) wrote in bakerstreet2014-12-09 12:09 pm
The Death Meme
the death meme
This is it. The final curtain. You're at the end of your life, and there's someone here you really, really need to say something to before you die
.
CAUSE OF DEATH
1 - Accidental. Nobody meant for this to happen, but it doesn't matter now. Due to negligence, arrogance or just plain bad luck, you've become gravely ill or injured and are now in your last moments. This covers all kinds of accidental deaths--strangulation, drowning, car accidents, unintentional beheadings, whatever you can think of.
2 - Murder. Somebody really didn't like you. Enough to kill you, it seems. You're now dead by someone else's hand. (Maybe even the person replying to you?) As with accidental death, this covers all types of intentional, malicious murder, regardless of method--so poisoning, stabbing, shooting, etc., all work here. Same with all the below options: any possible variation you can think of on it will work!
3 - Suicide. There is no hope for you, and no way out. You've reached the absolute bottom pits of despair, and the only recourse you have is to take your own life. Someone shows up to stop you... but they're too late to help you now.
4 - Terminal illness. You have cancer, or tuberculosis, or cholera back when people got cholera. The doctors have done everything they could and it wasn't enough. The only thing to do now is give your loved ones the bad news.
5 - Starvation. So thirsty. So hungry. Maybe you've been traveling in the desert for hours, or maybe you're just really poor. Whatever the reason, it doesn't matter, because you're slowly wasting away until you're nothing but skin and bones.
6 - Death in battle. You've died a hero's death, and gone out in a blaze of glory. Or maybe you were a coward who got shot for deserting? Either way, you're now a casualty of war. Will you be honored with a parade or scorned as a traitor to your country?
7 - Natural causes. You've lived a long, happy life, and now your story is at an end. In a warm bed, surrounded by your family and friends, you peacefully drift off. Just make sure that you've made a will somewhere, or at least use your deathbed to set the record straight. Otherwise, who knows what kind of squabbles might errupt after you leave this world?
TIME LEFT
1 - A few minutes. You're fading fast and you don't have much, well, any time left. Better tell the person with you that you love -- or despise -- them with your last breath, because you'll never have the chance otherwise.
2 - A few hours. You haven't got much time left. Is there someone you still need to kill? To kiss? Better do it quick. (Note: last kisses not recommended for people dying of highly contagious illnesses.)
3 - A few days. The doctors have given you the news, and it's not very good. You've only got a couple days left to live. You should start trying to make peace with people and saying your final goodbyes with the days you have left.
4 - A few weeks. Take that vacation you've always wanted to go on but never had the chance to. Go do that thing you've never thought you'd be any good at. You've got only weeks left to live. Don't waste them.
5 - A few months. While you aren't quite on death's doorstep yet, your lifespan has still dwindled considerably from what you probably thought it would be. How are you going to spend your last few months on Earth? Making the world a better place and telling your family you love them? Or raising as much hell as possible?
RELATIONSHIP
1 - Lovers. This is your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, mistress, whatever you call them they were the person you wanted to spend your life with. Too bad you don't have much of a life to spend with them anymore.
2 - Siblings. Your beloved little or older sibling is just standing there, watching you slowly waste away before their eyes. Can you say anything to comfort them? Note that it doesn't necessarily have to be interpreted literally; adopted siblings and friends so close they might as well be siblings work too.
3 - Parent and child. Nothing is worse than a parent having to bury their child... except, maybe, a young child now alone in the world after losing their parent. As with the sibling prompt, this can be expanded to include parental figures and people who are LIKE a father/mother to you as well as actual biological parents.
4 - Co-workers, teammates or classmates. You were fighting for the same side. Or you worked together in the same office for years. Or they sat behind you in biology all semester. However you met, how do your react when you find out someone who used to be a fixture in your life is going to die?
5 - Friends. You're the best of friends! You go everywhere together, know all each other's secrets, and are never seen apart. At least, you didn't use to be. Now one of you is dying and the other one is left alone in the world. Or maybe you're dying together. Wait, is that better or worse?
6 - Bitter enemies. You hate, hate, HATE this person. In fact, maybe you killed them. Or they killed you. Or maybe nobody killed anybody and they're just bitter that Mother Nature got to you before they did. Regardless, they want to confront you one last time before you bite it, if only to rub your nose in your imminent demise and their ability to outlive you.
✗✗✗
HOW IT WORKS:
1. Feel free to choose how you are going to die, just be sure to list the closest matching categories in your subject bar, along with your character and their series. If you are having trouble coming up with a prompt or situation, feel free to use the random number generator. Or if you rather just take a risk feel free.
2. Responding characters then roll for the relationship between the two of you. Optionally responding characters can also share your cause of death/time left to live or roll for their own, but that's not required. A living character caring for (or horribly mutilating) a dying one is fine, too.
However, considering this is in our RP feel free to have your characters keep their CR, just make sure to inform the person which ever way you're going with it before responding!
3. Tell the person what you need to tell them before you bite it.
4. Have fun!
Levi | Attack on Titan
i hate you
All Erwin had requested from the crown in exchange for his service was a small cottage several kilometers beyond the broken shell of the former Wall Maria, near a small village that had cropped up around a Survey Corps outpost.
Immediately after the ultimate end of the Titan era, there had been too much to do for Erwin to have even considered retiring. The general populous was angry as much as it was elated, confused as much as it was relieved. Quelling that anger and keeping them informed was the first step in ensuring that Queen Historia would be a successful monarch. After that, it had been preparations for further expeditions with the Corps. For the first time, the Survey Corps had fulfilled what Erwin had always hoped would be its true purpose: riding far beyond the walls and learning more about their world, mapping terrain and recording information and bringing that new knowledge back to share with the rest of humanity.
He remembers marking the furthest point he had ever previously reached beyond Wall Maria, and riding past it, the Corps at his back and Levi at his side, Hange whooping gleefully as she rode ahead, the first in truly uncharted land. He remembers seeing the wings on her cape billowing in the wind and thinking for the first time with absolute certainty that they were finally free. They had been away for a full seven months on that first expedition, living on the land and the rations they had stocked in the many carts and wagons they were able to bring with them. They had seen things Erwin had dreamed of as a child, things that had seemed like mere fairy tales until he saw them with his own eyes: distant mountains, flat arid plateaus, the ocean.
It was there that, as soldiers ripped off their boots and rolled up their pants to wade into the cold salty water, Erwin had finally looked down at Levi standing beside him on the shore and reached out to take his hand. Levi had looked back at him with surprise, and it was so endearing and the world was so wonderful that Erwin had kissed him outright.
When they returned from that expedition Hange had firmly urged that he and Levi both leave the Corps in her care. As much as she loved them, she'd said, everything would be just fine, and they deserved to spend time living free in the world they'd helped to create. When it had been pointed out that she deserved the same, she'd laughed and replied that she couldn't possibly settle down when there was so much to be discovered. Erwin had stepped down with Hange's promise that she would continue to keep him in the loop.
The Survey Corps has flourished under Commander Hange Zoe over the last year, humanity has expanded well beyond its former confines, and Erwin has made that small cottage a quiet home with Levi, as ever, beside him.
It's a life Erwin had hardly dared to imagine for himself, and yet somehow he is living it. He and Levi keep a fair sized garden, a few animals, and Erwin has more recently expressed a long-suppressed desire to raise children. 'There must be some brat out there who wouldn't mind living here,' Levi had said, or something very much like it, and Erwin had laughed. He laughs frequently these days, and smiles even more.
Or he had, until about two weeks ago, when Levi told him that he was dying.
Every doctor Levi has consulted says the same, even the ones Erwin made him see after he was already certain. Levi coughs frequently and it often seems as though he can't breathe, and sometimes Erwin catches blood on his lips, though Levi tries to hide it from him. He's deteriorated a great deal over a short time, becoming thinner and weaker than Erwin has ever seen him. It's difficult for him to keep food down these days, though he continues to enjoy tea, at least; says it helps soothe his throat.
They're enjoying tea together this morning, standing on the steps just outside their front door with mugs in their hands while they watch the sun rise. Erwin has been doing what he can to make these weeks comfortable and enjoyable for Levi, all while still struggling to come to terms with the idea of him dying. He had always been prepared for the eventuality of Levi's death--but he had always imagined that it would be his own orders that killed him, not some disease. He'd become complacent. He'd allowed himself happiness when he knows--he remembers now--that he doesn't deserve it. But that Levi must pay the price for him to be reminded--
He turns briefly to set his mug down on the step behind him so that when he stands he can curl his arm around Levi, squeezing his opposite shoulder lightly. Now isn't the time to worry about himself. He'll have plenty of time to do that when Levi is...when Levi is gone. For now, he should be present in the moment for Levi's sake. It's a beautiful sunrise, though red. ]
It seems as though it may rain today. What would you like to do?
no you love me
Levi leans back against the broad strength of Erwin's chest, eyes falling closed. His lungs feel heavy as they usually do these days, his breath short and sometimes too faint. In truth, it feels as though he's just slowly suffocating.
Pain is the easiest thing to hide from Erwin. They're both used to pain and aches and fatigue, although since retiring Erwin's energy has seemed almost boundless. Before becoming ill, they had explored the area around their new home every day, going in a different direction and discovering something new each time. Erwin had started to map out every detail of the landscape, even providing the new and flourishing town with copies and teaching others cartography.
Levi finally felt as close to peace as he could ever remember. For a little while, anyway. Then the coughing began, and what he assumed was an irritatingly persistent cold turned out to be something much worse.
Coughing is impossible to hide, particularly when it comes stained with blood. Lately it's been a precursor to vomiting, and since then he's felt his strength rapidly leaving his body.
He opens his eyes and takes in the sunrise once more, and wonders if he'll live long enough to see another winter.
At this rate, he won't. ]
...let's stay here, if it rains.
Tomorrow I want to go back to the sea.
not anymore
The sea?
[ Raised brows. That's more than a few days' ride. Unfortunately, it is difficult to imagine Levi making it that far in his current condition. But Erwin isn't here to judge his wishes, but to fulfill them, and if Levi wants to attempt it, Erwin will not stop him. That would be selfish. ]
All right. If that's what you want.
[ It's easy to lean down just enough to brush dry lips against Levi's temple, and Erwin watches him now rather than the sunrise. It's Levi he wants to remember, after all--bathed in rosy morning light, steaming cup of tea in hand, determined to see the ocean again despite the odds stacked against him. Erwin wants nothing more than to help him do it. One last journey together.
His left arm tenses unconsciously, and he wants to reach for Levi with his right, to hold him with both arms. He'd been too afraid, back then, to do that. But some things simply aren't possible. His arm has been gone for years, and soon Levi will be gone too. ]
such lies
His body sharply rejects the assault of cool air, forcing a violent series coughs from his lungs. Levi contracts in on himself, somehow managing to get a hand up in time to cover his mouth to prevent blood from getting on Erwin's clothes, at least. It's a small miracle that no retching follows the fit, but as usual it leaves him barely breathing, chest and throat aching.
The mug shakes slightly as he lifts it to his lips. In reality the tea does little for his throat, but at least the sensation is different than the rawness he usually feels.
Flecks of blood and thicker things coat his hand, and he makes a face before starting to pull away from Erwin's embrace.]
Need t'wash my hands.
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The sky is blue, and the clouds are blurry things above her. There are a thousand things racing through her mind, from the menial thoughts of how her harness would need to be cleaned after this expedition to a memory of her father holding her on his shoulders on a bright sunny day like this, but most often, she thinks about Eren.
Eren.
Captain had trusted them, and they had failed. Where was Eren? Had Captain come back in time? She wants to call out, but her voice is failing her. Her fingers clench spasmodically, trying to grasp at the blanket underneath her. At least, she thinks it's a blanket. She can't turn her head far enough to see, but she can only guess.
Damn it. Was she really going to just sputter out like this?]
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Miraculously, Petra had been barely breathing, and Levi had carried her himself to the cart, carefully arranging her and letting the medics examine and triage her as well as they could.
They haven't quite made it back to the rendezvous point with the main column where Erwin is waiting. It's a slow and dangerous process, retrieving the dead, but this time around the titans are surprisingly scarce, given what had happened not an hour ago.
Between watching out for titans at their perimeter, Levi keeps watch over her, making sure she's still breathing. It's shallow and faint, but there. He's just not sure for how long.
The next time he glances away, it's to give the order to move out, but her movement catches his eye. He hands his horse off to another rider and gives the command before hoisting himself into the cart. Pain shoots up from his ankle, making him clench his teeth briefly. Luckily he has a distraction, however bittersweet it may be.
He lays a hand carefully on her shoulder, holding himself back from squeezing too hard.]
Petra. Can you hear me?
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Captain, Eren--
[It's hard to speak. Her mouth tastes like blood and a little bit of bile. She wants to start coughing to try and clear her throat, but she knows that at least one of her ribs is broken and that wouldn't do anything but hurt.]
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[They had done everything he'd asked of them, and it cost them their lives. It's a risk they all take on every mission, one that Levi had known was an inevitability. He'd lose them, eventually, or they would lose him. They all go into a mission with that knowledge.
And yet had they become arrogant after all? Had they, the ones with the highest survival rate, somehow gotten to the point where they assumed they would come back alive rather than dead? Had he become arrogant again, thinking that he wouldn't possibly lose them all at once?
Levi knows he can't save her. He's not even sure she'll make it back to the wall. He adjusts her cloak, stained with blood, covers her more securely with it, but never looks away from her face.]
We're going home now.
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Good.
[She knows her voice is weak, sounding muffled in her head.] Oluo?
[Petra has the sinking feeling she knows what happened. Oluo was skilled, but even so, he was alone against that thing. Or maybe Levi had come in time to help him? There was always some hope, but Petra's too weary to let that bolster her.]
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Gone. They all are.
[Somehow saying it seems more final than anything else up to this point. Even after helping to load their bodies into the cart, documenting their names for the list he'll hand over to Erwin, the weight of their deaths doesn't really begin to settle on him until that moment.
His grip becomes a little tighter. Petra will be gone soon too, but he can't say that out loud. He's going to hold onto her as much as he can while she's still alive.]
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She lets her eyes slide shut, feeling a little weak. Weaker. It's funny, she thinks, how she knows that she's not going to make it much further. If she was going to be okay, Captain wouldn't stay so long by her side. After a few seconds, she opens her eyes again, immediately searching for him.]
Captain, be nice to my dad, okay?
[They were going back through the Karanese district, Petra's hometown. He was going to be waiting for her return with the rest of the crowds.]
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What are you talking about. I'm always nice.
[There's no humor in his voice usually, although now it felt even more hollow. It's a weak attempt to set her at ease, but in truth it's turned his mind to something he usually tries not to think about: informing the families of the soldiers who won't return. Petra's father is sure to look for her.]
Don't worry.
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Captain had never touched her like this in the past.
She really was going to die, wasn't she?] Captain, didn't teach Eren how to make your tea--be nice--
[Her throat is dry, and she wants a drink of water. But that wasn't going to do anything for her, and she's starting to panic. There were so many things they had left undone. Her hand clenches at his spasmodically, unable to truly grip his for more than a half second.]
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He's been at the side of many soldiers just as they're about to die, and while it's not something that even he has ever become accustomed to, it's more difficult than usual to keep himself in check for her sake.]
I will.
[The softness of the voice is the only thing, he hopes, that betrays him. Her tears run onto his hand, and it's more than just a rote response to brush them away with the pad of his thumb. The movement smears some of the blood on her face, and it aches dully in his chest that he doesn't have the means to wash it away for her.]
I'll teach him for you. I promise.
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yay, more death and misery
All the same, he finds himself thinking, just a few more minutes, like a kid who's not ready to go to bed. Just a little longer, being not-dead.
It's absurd. He should want to die. He's in terrible pain. He doesn't want to look down at himself, but his gaze flickers that way briefly. The blood's both dark and bright and somehow doesn't look real.
But he never did want to die, not even when things were at their worst. He'd only wanted to get out, to escape. Well, it looks like he's escaping, if not in the way he wanted to. But still, he'd get back on his horse and ride back to the walls, if he could. He'd fight in the stupid Survey Corps or go back to the slums, because any of that would be better than this.]
I should have known..
[Speaking's painful, too. His chest aches. It's hard to catch his breath. But he still has more complaining left in him.]
It really was... the worst.
[He'd been terrified of traveling outside the walls, afraid that this would happen, that he'd die like this. He never should have stolen those stupid 3DMG.]
it's not snk until it's all death and misery
[The landing jars his knees painfully as he hits the ground and half runs, half stumbles through mud and blood. Rain streams into his eyes, blurring his vision, but he knows what he saw, even if he's still hanging onto one shred of hope that maybe, somehow, it isn't as bad as he's thinking--
Levi collapses to his knees, dropping both swords at his sides and pressing his palms in against the gaping wound. It's pointless, and he knows it's pointless, but he can't help trying anyway.
It's his fault, after all. ]
Hang on. Don't you dare die on me. You can't die until I've killed that bastard.
it's true, why must we suffer so
He'd known it would be a bad idea. Nobody listens to Farlan. He'd die as he lived, with nobody listening to him. Except Levi's here now. Telling him not to die. That's an order he can't follow, even if Levi is his leader.]
Then—hurry up.
[He doesn't think Levi's going to die, because if anyone could survive, it would be him. Levi shouldn't worry about him at this point. He should accept the inevitable and cut his losses, but part of Farlan admits that it's nice for Levi to worry about him, nice that someone cares that he's dying. He just... doesn't like to see him so upset. Farlan's never seen Levi so frantic.]
You don't have long...
[He can taste blood on his lips. The rain's washing the blood away, but it keeps coming. Even if his injuries weren't so severe, transporting him back to the wall would be difficult and would probably kill him.]
...Levi.
because isayama, or something.
[It wasn't supposed to turn out like this. Sure there had of course been the risk - being accepted into the Survey Corps, going out into titan territory. But Levi had assumed that if their ability with the gear had really been so impressive to even veterans of several expeditions, that they'd be able to handle anything. He hadn't come along to fight titans, none of them had. All they'd needed to do was get those documents and assassinate Erwin Smith and disappear and that would be the end of it.
They would steal away and find some village or a corner of one of the cities to live out their lives above ground in the sun. Dying before they got to that wasn't part of the plan.
But Isabel is dead, that's for certain, and Farlan will be too, soon.
If he hadn't left them, they'd be alive. The three of them together would have pulled through, but he'd been too late.]
You have to live - we were going to live up here free and in the light-
thanks, isayama
[He knows it and Levi knows it. Anyone could see it by now, even someone without any experience with death and dying—and both of them have no shortage of experience with that. He's never hurt so much before, and he's been dealt a lot of pain. Life didn't get easier at any point.]
Few flaws in my plan...
[He tries to smile, but his mouth twists, and he knows that whatever he manages probably doesn't resemble a smile in the least, more a grimace of pain.]
Sun's not even shining... I can't see the sky...
[Kind of unfair, isn't it? In his last moments. Just his luck. A lot of clouds and rain. Isabel's dead, and he's all but dead, and Levi's the only one who has a chance to live free.]
You do that. The light, and everything.
thanks obama
It's his fault. Levi knows it and can't deny it, even to himself, and that's what makes him angry.
He grabs Farlan's hand, and already it feels cold and nearly lifeless as it's covered in bloodied mud. Levi squeezes it until his own hands hurt, hoping that Farlan can feel it.]
I won't let you die for nothing. I promise you.
someone needs to make it up to us
[It's not like he had some big dream. He just wanted to live somewhere less shitty, not to have to worry about food, not to live in the dark. He'd wanted to be free. He wasn't going to save the world or something like that. Maybe he was selfish, but he doesn't care. People are selfish. There's no point denying that.
It seems like it was all for nothing, dying in a twisted wreck out here, where he never wanted to go.]
Hey, Levi, I'm glad... I got to be in your gang.
[He couldn't have asked for anyone better to follow, even if Levi often didn't listen to him and gave him nothing but trouble.]
seriously
[It's the people who keep them down underground and dirty and depraved who are really to blame for this. The ones who make it impossible for anyone to get out of the slums, who demand more and more money from people who don't have it, who prey on the weak when they're already stronger than most of them could ever be. They wouldn't be here, desperate for freedom and a way out. They wouldn't be here in this hell beyond the walls. This in't how it was supposed to end.]
Don't fucking talk like that.
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[It doesn't matter to him now. He's already dead, more or less. He should have known better than to think he could go up against people who could basically crush him like an insect. Kind of like the titans. To people in the underground, it almost doesn't make a difference what the titans do.
He hadn't expected to live a long life, but he'd wanted one. He'd tried to get one, but he'd failed. Well, every thief fucks up eventually. That's the way the odds work. Every con artist knows as much. But Levi's different. He's not like everyone else.]
If anyone can do it, you can.
[Though it's a little hard to believe. Farlan doesn't think on that grand a scale. But he wants to believe in Levi, even now.]
It wasn't all shitty, right...? No one else... thought I could be more than a thug... so thanks.
[He's not really good at talking about how he feels. Well, unless he's annoyed. Weird to think that he'll never complain about Levi flying off the handle again, or Isabel being a pest. All that's over with.]
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You're actually a good person. Nothing will change that-
[there's too much rain streaming into his eyes, and he drags his damp sleeve across his face to wipe away the excess water. A distant roar makes him snap his head around, looking for any titans at the edge of what little visibility he has. He'll be damned if one of them gets him too--]
Shit-
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