Remilia Scarlet (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
scarlet_devil) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bakerstreet2011-12-29 10:02 am
scarlet_devil) wrote in bakerstreet2011-12-29 10:02 am
There is no armour against fate; Death lays his icy hands on kings.
(TRIGGER WARNING. This meme deals heavy with death and also possibly with strong violence or with suicide/depression. If you are not comfortable reading about that, please PLEASE do not proceed further.)
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 negligance, 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. Using it random.org or a similar site, the first character to post rolls for their cause of death and how long they have left to live. They then post to the meme with their name, canon and the results of their roll. (For example: "Jane Doe | That One Series | 1 2" would mean Jane Doe from That One Series died of accidental causes and has a few hours left to live.)
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.
3. Tell the person what you need to tell them before you bite it.
4. Have fun!
((Snagged from an earlier post from way back when... Different pic, but it's pretty much the same. Now in DW flavour.))
Olivier Mira Armstrong | Fullmetal Alchemist | you choose!
6 | 1 | their relationship
A spectre, a quiet judge, and yet...
Her name. It's useless to get angry, for that can't be changed. If he avoids her in hope of saving her, then someone else will find her. Going there is all he can do, making it less painful and being around to listen.
He finds her, slowly approaching, not saying anything yet. Just being there as time ticks down, letting her decide if she wants to say anything or not.]
i can't handle aaaaaaahhhhh
Too easy.
She senses something behind her and turns with great haste, her hair flecked with gore.
William? Why? He'd taken an unusual stance when it came to the fight, too silent for her wishes, but now he's here.]
What?
[And then the bullet hits her in the shoulder, and she lurches forward, silently in shock.]
no subject
Except...it is. And for the first time in many years, he feels like faltering.
Pushing that back, he steps forward, close enough that he won't have to raise his voice.
Why is it so hard to speak?]
Today is the day of your death.
no subject
No. It isn't. Is that why you're here?
[Not William. Not him. Anyone else, but not him. This is bullshit. This isn't right. It's graceless, humiliating, disgusting. Her fingers curl into the dirt; the grass stains her nails.]
no subject
What would she have done, had he told her that her name had come up last night? Would fate have been changed, or would the world have shifted to carry it out?
The scythe is in his hand, but he dismisses it for now. Timing cannot be changed, cannot be thrown off. There is always a chance she may be spared, may have her name crossed off the list and saved away for another date, but the chance of that is so remote it stings to think of.
I wish it didn't have to be like this. The words cross his mind, almost are voiced, but he stops them. Wishing does nothing. Besides, there has always been more to what is not said in their relationship than there is to what is said.
Without asking, he kneels, careful not to jostle her, and helps her to a sitting position. Dying on the ground lacks the dignity she deserves, this will be better.]
no subject
As she finally moves, she coughs, and that's when she knows--shooting pain, like a hot knife, unbelievable crushing sensation--that her right lung is completely done for.
The scythe... She's glad when he dismisses it; the sight of it makes her sick. Now she knows he's looking down on her, in his own way, and all the respect she's ever had for him evaporates in an instant.]
Did you know? You son of a bitch.
[Yes, speaking is difficult, near impossible, but admonishing him is worth the effort. The betrayal stings almost as badly as the wound. This is a pathetic, miserable, pointless way to die. She'd rather kill herself.]
no subject
Olivier.
[It's rare, so rare that he'll use her first name, but it is the marker that he's being absolutely serious, even more so than his usual amount. And she deserves an explanation, a full one.]
What would you have rather I done? Left you to go into battle with the fact of your own death hanging over your head? Do not think me that heartless.
[He hesitates, then forces himself to finish the statement.]
I've been hoping seeing your name there was a mistake ever since it showed.
no subject
[He's using her name. This is serious, this isn't a lie, and now she's starting to feel the discomfort of fear. She curses quietly, more mildly than she usually might. She knows, she understands, but she's not ready. There are so many more battles to be fought.]
So... just waiting for you, right? You get to make some kind of--
[A cough, and dignity be damned, she lets him bear some of her weight.]
--call on how this goes, or what?
no subject
He can't. Because when it comes down to it, avoiding death dishonestly is more of an insult than accepting it honestly, if that is to be the case.]
We'll see.
[He has to call the scythe back, it's the only way to be able to unlock the Record and make his judgement.]
It won't hurt.
no subject
[A pause as she wheezes, wincing in pain. Her strength and determination are waning. She'll die fighting, at least. There's no other way to kill an Armstrong.
But not with him. Still, not with him. It's too pathetic. And she doesn't want such stupid things to be all she manages to choke out at the end of her life. She wants to say something profound, useful, something that'll end up in books alongside her portrait.
How useless. What else could she have done, become, learned, wanted?
Her eyes start to lose focus, and she turns her head to try to ground herself in his eyes. She's liked those this whole time.]
It's a favor. Last one I'll ask. And make sure the sword goes with me.
no subject
[He'll take down the assailant himself if they're not already dead.
Not like this. There's still a world of things he wants to ask her, wants to tell her, and yet. Fate in all its cruel beauty lays its hands upon his shoulders and tells him what to do.
There is the incision-deep, but painless as promised because he's concentrating-and then there is the Record, the filmstrips only the two of them will see, glowing brightly and blooming from the cut.
He watches her life, measuring and judging regardless of how unfair it is that he has to do this, has to remember it all. He will remember it all.
And when the results come back, for the first time in what could be centuries he feels like he could cry. It would be so, so easy to deny it, to rewrite history and add time, to reject God's will and enforce his own. But that would be selfish of him, and the selfish are punished. William is rendered helpless by his own duty, and it is not fair, never will be fair.
To himself, he swears, he will never forget her.
And are those that pass truly gone? Death and life are so close, two sides of the same force, that none can say that death is an end. Merely another step.
It doesn't mean it doesn't hurt to have to let it enact its will.
She won't have to ask him what the decision is, it's in his eyes.
Heaven best prepare itself for her, for he has no doubt she'll whip it into shape just like she has her world on Earth.]
no subject
[With the last of her strength, she hauls her good arm back and slaps him.
That what she means to do. Her hand falls short, jostling his glasses.
There, that's it. That's all she has. Her entire life set before her, and all she can see is the dangers she's met, what she hasn't done, the marks she's made and the people she's rebuilt.
But he's the one that's here, and she's going to do what she does best. They're built to work without her, everyone who knows her.
Even him. Her last thought can't be regret. She won't let it be. It has to be joy, pride, honor, strength. She smiles, tight-lipped and relieved.]
You're a hell of a man, Will.
no subject
Men do not cry, he has heard this said many times. But it is a hard value to uphold, when faced with something of this magnitude, and he knows he is forcing tears back, staying strong for this moment.
At least until the light departs from her eyes and he knows that Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong has died. Gently, he reaches out and closes her eyelids, as is proper.
Then he will allow himself to take off his glasses and let the tears fall, let himself fall to pieces just for a few moments before putting the glasses back on. Picking up the sword, he tucks it securely into his own belt, his resolve settling itself as he does so.
There are things still left to do. There is a shooter to track down and kill, there is news to be given, she needs to be brought back to her men. He can and will do them all, without hesitation.
A single thought sums up so much.
I'm glad I met you, Olivier.]