Well, now that you're dead...

[toastysocks]

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

emma cullen ▎the magnificent seven (2016)

[agitater]

[theangelofdeath]

[ Goodnight's first thought is that he must be dreaming. Sometimes he has dreams that are vivid enough that they seem real. Course, those are usually nightmares more often than not. The war might have been many, many years ago, but it never stopped haunting him. Billy had found that out the hard way, having the misfortune to witness his friend's 'episodes.' But his companion had never left his side, going wherever he went, no matter what the job. Opposites though they might have seemed to the world, they were kindred spirits. 'Brothers in this lifetime and the next,' Goodnight had said one night after a few drinks, when his philosophizing tended to get a little out of hand.

It was why when he realized where he was, he figured his knife-flinging friend would be there at his side, too. It's unnerving at first, being without the other man who was almost always nearby. Had Billy survived somehow? The thought actually cheers him up a little, though it's brief. Fortunately... seeing that familiar head of red hair in front of him chases those bittersweet thoughts away. ]

Why, I do believe I am beholdin' an angel. [ That Southern charm returns even if the moment should be sad, and he instinctively reaches up a hand to remove his hat... only to find it's not there. Damn. He hates that she's here too, but... he gives her a crooked smile all the same. ]

Reckon death can't be all bad, if you're gonna escort me there.

[agitater]

[ when the end finally does come, as they had all known that it might, it's over too quickly. no time to react, or attempt to save herself. perched above the saloon and firing indiscriminately at all those invading the town she's given so much to protect, emma and her companions never see the wagon bogue's men wheel onto the hill overlooking the town. not until it opens fire.

bullets rain down over rose creek and bring hell with them. they can defend against men with black souls and pistols in their hands, but the devil's breath is another matter entirely.

everything seems to speed up and blur after that. someone is trying to shepherd her back inside the saloon, where there is at least a little more cover to be had. she supposes, now, that they never made it. can't remember feeling anything more than a rough shove in her back, a sweeping kind of cold, and then nothing.

nothing save waking up here and somehow, already knowing where she is. the darkness outside the windows is too complete and overwhelming to be much else. a faint sort of guilt thrums in her chest at leaving rose creek just when they need her the most. at not getting to see through the battle that she began. all of which is overshadowed by the realization that she will not be alone for much longer. soon, she and matthew will be reunited. the only good thing to come from all this.

perhaps she should have expected more familiar faces, having seen the carnage in the streets before everything around her disappeared, but she isn't prepared for the voice just over her shoulder. eyes go wide, and the barest hint of a smile (worn since thoughts of a reunion first arose) disappears as she turns to find him, wearing that very same smile he'd donned on their first meeting. ]

Mr. Robicheaux. I didn't...- [ he came back, she remembers now. came back only to end up here, and suddenly that guilt coils tighter in her chest. squeezing around her lungs and whispering in her ear that this is all her fault. ] I'm sorry. This wasn't what I wanted for you. For anyone.

[theangelofdeath]

[ Death isn't all that surprising for robicheaux. After all, that owl had warned him about what would happen if he returned to violence. The threat had been more than enough to get him back on his horse, riding out of that lonely little town, full of desperate people who would probably die come morning. His demons had chased him out, following at his heels even as he put the town behind him. The arguments of billy and sam, the two people in this world who had known him best, hadn't been enough to get make him stay.

In the end, maybe he was because he was too scared to go it alone. Too cowardly to face the nightmares without a friend nearby, Without the calming smoke or drink. Or maybe he couldn't just leave his friends behind like that, nor leave behind a town that could benefit from his shootin' skills.

Again, he hopes to see Billy around here soon. He just feels better when his best friend is nearby.

Seeing Emma here takes a toll on him, though. It causes something to clench deep in his chest, which doesn't exactly make sense to him, seeing as how he'd been shot dead. Maybe it's the memory of pain and heartache, of deep regret and the sense of failure.

She shouldn't have been here. his smile isn't strong enough to remain on his lips for long. At her words, he shakes his head insistently, stepping closer. ]

Now, don't you say that, Miss Emma. This wasn't your fault. [ He looks down, planting his hands on his hips. ] It was my fault, for not doing my job. Our fault for not protecting you.

[ Of course he was aware of her shooting, knew she had the skills to take care of herself, but... they were both here, all the same. He tried to look for the silver lining, though. The little bit of light amid the dark storm clouds. ]

I think we took some of them down with us. Maybe Faraday got to that gatling gun. Weren't all for nothing.

[ Still, a thought not quite so heavy came to him. ]

I haven't seen Sam here yet. I reckon if he made it... well, your town is probably safe. Bogue must surely be dead. [ He tried for another smile, but it was bittersweet. ] Imagine you'll be seeing your Mr. Cullen very soon.