the train to the afterlife meme.

[bottecellie]

The Train to the Afterlife Meme

Congratulations: You are dead.

 

Maybe you know how, maybe you don't. Perhaps the memory is fuzzy, or perhaps it's crystal clear down to the look in your comrades' eyes. Maybe it was your time; you've done all you wanted to. Or maybe you weren't at all ready to go, maybe you went out kicking and screaming - but none of it matters. You know you're dead, and the train is taking you to an afterlife. Perhaps an afterlife of your choice; you might've earned that heaven. Or perhaps you've earned something else entirely.

 

It'll be a bit of a journey, though, so you might as well take your time and talk to the other people in your coach. Death knows no place: most of them are strangers, even from faraway worlds. But death knows no time either, so who knows, some of them may be people you know, even if last you knew, they were alive - or long gone.

 

Oh look, here comes the snack cart.

 

All the usual:

 

• Post with your character's name and canon in the subject line.

• Said character is now dead for whatever reason - canon, AU, what have you. They are on a train with other dead people from many other times, places and worlds.

• Characters don't know for a fact where they're headed - just a general awareness that they're going to some kind of afterlife. Whatever they think it is is up to the player.

• This meme is built especially for cross-canon interaction, and potentially for threadjacking and group threading - if you're interested, may be a good idea to state as much in your subject line.

• Tag around and play nice!

• TRIGGER WARNING: Meme obviously deals with death and may deal with other unpleasant themes as a result. Please be cautious.

Comments

[orphism]

[It's totally okay your video game-y sword thing is taking up the seat next to you. Because all Minato has to do is ask politely. He didn't know what to expect after the end, but he must say a train doesn't seem so bad. He pauses his music player and removes the earphones he's wearing.]

Is there room next to you?

[Never mind all the other empty seats in this train car. It's boring sitting by yourself.]

[monadont]

[Shut up man it's the best sword!! And a train is better than an elevator, at least--

Shulk starts when he realises someone's talking to him, looking up at the stranger. He nods, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.]

Sorry.

[Moving his sword out of the way, Shulk rests it against his shoulder. His eyes linger on the metal discs connected by wires, before his attention goes back to the stranger.]

If you don't mind my asking, what are those?

[And he gestures to Minato's headphones.]

[orphism]

[Yeah he's kind of sick of elevators at this point, to be honest.]

These?

[He carefully unwinds the wires from his neck as he sits down.]

You put them on your ears and this, [he taps the player] plays music through them.

[monadont]

[Music? He's heard of music boxes, but these look a lot more portable than that...

Shulk holds out a hand.]

Can I have a look?

[orphism]

Of course.

[He removes the lanyard from his neck and wraps the wire of the earphones neatly before handing them over.

Knock yourself out, Shulk.]

[monadont]

[And by have a look, Shulk totally meant, "play with this shiny new toy." Because that's what he's doing right now, giving the headphones and player his full attention. At least Shulk's careful when he handles them; he takes far more care with machinery than many of the people he knows.

It doesn't take him long to work out how the headphones clip onto ears, and he puts just one on. Shulk has no idea what the symbols on the buttons of the player means, but he goes methodically from left to right. Eventually he hits play.

...This is unlike anything he's ever heard before. His attention goes back to the stranger, eyes bright.]

What powers this? Ether batteries?

[orphism]

[Ether...batteries...? What are those? Even if he doesn't know, Minato is having fun watching him fiddle with it like it's the most fascinating thing in the world.]

Electric batteries.

[monadont]

Electricity?

[That visibly surprises him. Electricity hadn't been used in... a really long time. Producing electricity was just so much less efficient than ether cartridges and cylinders, from what he knows.]

It's amazing that you've managed to condense it into something as small as this.

[Realising he's probably boring this stranger, he cuts himself off before he continues further. Unfastening the headphone from his ear, Shulk returns the headphones and player the way he got them.]

Sorry, forgot to introduce myself. I'm Shulk.

[orphism]

[Aww man, you're not that boring at all, Shulk! There's a lot you can learn about a person just from listening to them talk.

Well, okay, you're boring to most people, but not to weirdos like Minato.]

Minato Arisato.

[He takes his little doodads back.]

This is a nice train.

[monadont]

[WOW RUDE!! He's certainly not boring to most people!! Just... when he starts talking about geeky stuff....................

Shulk tilts his head.]

Is that what this is called?

[orphism]

This thing we're riding on, yes.

[Just in case Shulk thought he was referring to the player.]

We just call this thing a music player and the things you put on your ears earphones.

[monadont]

[Ah, okay. Shulk scratches his head.]

I can't say I'm used to all this.

[Being dead. Travelling horizontally for such a lengthy period of time. Hearing music from a machine. He leans back against his seat, arm loosely curled around the handle of the Monado.]

This ride sure is taking a long time.

[orphism]

[This was very strange indeed. Where exactly is this train headed? Is it taking them to paradise or purgatory? Or perhaps, as other cultures from his world believed, to their next lives. Shulk is right though, this ride is taking quite a long time. But when you're dead you have significantly more time to spare.]

They should offer us snacks.

[Sure, he's a soul or a ghost or whatever, but that doesn't mean he still can't enjoy good food!]

[monadont]

[Pffffffffft. It's hard to contain his amusement at that statement, and Shulk's attempt to hide it behind a hand is rather poor.]

Are you hungry?

[He's not hungry himself, and he's a bit surprised someone would be hungry when they're... you know... dead...]

We could go look for some together.

[orphism]

[He's not particularly hungry. He just likes to eat.]

That takes effort though.

[COME ON, Afterlife Train, he went through a lot. The least you could do is bring him something.]

[monadont]

[Ha ha ha, this is a Collection Quest, isn't it? Or would this be a Materials Quest? Shulk gives a short laugh before standing up. He straps the Monado back onto his back, more out of habit than anything else.]

Alright, alright. What kind of snacks do you want?

[orphism]

Anything edible.

[He isn't picky at all, so if you find anything at all, you've automatically completed the quest!]

[monadont]

[Oh okay. This sounds like an easy quest to complete!]

Okay. Leave it to me!

[And with that, Shulk leaves! Well, you'd think finding some snacks would be an easy thing to do, but it turns out he needed money for them. And the snack lady wouldn't accept his money, so Shulk had to find someone who was willing to trade. But he wouldn't trade with Shulk until his pocket watch was fixed, but to fix the pocket watch Shulk needed...

Needless to say, it's quite a while before Shulk finally returns with packaged snacks in tow. There's chocolate, some kind of meat jerky, candy, and... banana chips? He puts them all on the table.]

It took a while to find, but here you go.

[orphism]

Thank you.

[He appreciates it! He really does. Minato didn't actually expect Shulk to get up and go find him something. Jerky, candy, and chips aren't much, but he starts dividing the food up into two portions.]

Do you want some too?

[monadont]

[What sort of lame quest reward is the items he brought?!

Well, Shulk isn't going to turn down the offer, so he nods before he takes back his old seat, unstrapping his sword first.]

I'm a little hungry myself, after all that.

[Who knew dead people got hungry? He certainly didn't.]

[orphism]

[He only gives Jack Frost dolls to girls, sorry. Then one half of the food gets slid over. Minato starts with a piece of jerky.]

Enjoy.

[monadont]

[Oh come on. You could give him a Pyro Jack or something instead, you know!!]

I will.

[To be honest, the jerky is the only thing Shulk actually wants to eat from the pile, but he... isn't about to refuse what's offered. He starts with the jerky, too, so at least he could pretend he's not hungry and let Minato eat the rest of his share.]