my favorite memetian

[miasmajesty]

 

 

The Last Words 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. 


(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.)



HOW IT WORKS:
Getting your numbers from RNG (or pick your own), 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.) 

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.

Tell the person what you need to tell them before you bite it. 

As usual, all meme's are open to interpretation. If you want to play an AU immortal, yay. If you want to be sucked into another dimension or shoved into a tiny glass box, also fine. YOUR PLAY, NOT MINE.



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?

Comments

[uncertainty]

[ She loves it. She loves it because it's clean and she can mess it up. ]

[turntables]

[ cutie messy baby look at you you little destructive shit come here napkin monsters gonna get you rrrrrrrrrr ]

[uncertainty]

[ NOOOOOO :'(

but okay fine. mommy takes her away for a bath. ]

[turntables]

[ Cleaning up the high chair and basically every other solid surface that's now coated in baby food. Ah the joys of parenthood. ]

[uncertainty]

[ Tucking her into bed afterwards. Tavros is starting to develop a cough. ]

[turntables]

[ Dave started with a cough, too. Bro doesn't automatically assume anything, but he notices, flicking a cough drop his way. ]

[uncertainty]

[ He takes it and sucks on it for the rest of the night.

It happens pretty slow. Tavros starts to wear down over time, less energy to tend to his daughter, less energy to help bro with the house-hold chores. He just dozes on the couch when he can and fights to stay awake. ]

[turntables]

[ Bro takes care of him as he can. Medicine doesn't really fix an old troll, especially not a sad, tired one. He gets ahold of anything he can find that will help and brings Daevyd around as much as possible to cheer him up or just to cuddle and have naptime with her mama. It's not going to be too much longer and even he doesn't have that many more years in him, surely. Someone will have to be there, he's just not sure who.

In the meantime he focuses on the moment because that's all there is. ]

[uncertainty]

[ Daevyd's a little over four when her mama starts getting real slow, and real sad. He thanks her for the little presents she brings and kisses her forehead and sings her Alternian lullabyes when she comes in to nap with him. He hurts a lot, but worse than that he's lonely and it's no job for a little girl to try to keep her mother company while he gets ready to pass. ]

[turntables]

[ Bro wouldn't have her be anywhere else. Not getting to say goodbye is the worst part, although he essentially fails to comprehend that she doesn't know that she has to. He's explained it to her in his delicate way, Mama's gonna die soon and her lack of a comprehensive reaction just read as being able to handle it and not that she didn't know what it meant. Of course she asked and of course he explained, how Tavros is going away because he's getting old, kind of like how daddy has always been gone because he was sick, but both of her parents will be right there with her all along so she doesn't need to get bummed about it.

She takes that literally and doesn't think too much of it, expressing understanding where there really is none and curling up with Tavros as content as can be. ]

[uncertainty]

[ He's cold now. Daevyd comments on it one day and he only smiles and brushes her hair behind her ear and tells her she's going to be a real pretty girl.

He's struggling to breathe, laying on his side and breathing heavily. Vyd's curled up at the foot of the bed, none the wiser, dreaming of beautiful things. ]

[turntables]

[ He passes through that night to check on him and worries his lip with his teeth the same way he did when he saw Dave, wanting to do something more but knowing he can't. The best he's managed is to call Karkat and tell him what's up, that Tavros won't be too much longer and he could use some help with the protocol and whatnot. He'd rather not see the body get taken and tossed out.

Dave's got a plot at Arlington cemetery even though there's nothing in it and he'd like Tavros in the one next to it, as a matter of fact.

Being careful not to wake the baby, he leans over and brushes Tavros' hair back as gently and carefully as possible. ]

[uncertainty]

[ He doesn't rouse immediately. That dopey mohawk had grown out a while back, shaggy and poorly kept now. His sight has been going for a while now, his decline had been slow but steady and all he sees of Bro is pale hair and shades. ]

... Dave?

[turntables]

[ Hesitating. He can't say yes, obviously, but he doesn't want to say no, either. He opts for not saying anything, stroking that messy mop back and trying not to think how this is basically like the other kid he never had. It's harder to watch him go than he thought it would be. ]

[uncertainty]

[ His smile is a grimace, but he leans into the hand and shuts his eyes again. Missed you comes out, quiet and rasping. ]

[turntables]

[ Thumbing his cheek and then just leaving his hand there. Dave's face was cold, too. He swallows and keeps his voice low, low and if Tavros notices the difference then that's that, otherwise he doesn't care. ]

'sokay. I'm here.

[uncertainty]

[ He doesn't. Just leans into Bro's hand and clicks low in his throat, contented. ]

[turntables]

[ Good. He's fully prepared to sit there all night with honorary son #3, keeping him comfortable and content. Could never fill the kind of shoes Dave wore and would never pretend to try, but he missed his chance with Dave so he guesses he's making up for it now. ]

[uncertainty]

[ That touch is all Tavros wants. He falls back to sleep like that, completely at ease.

A little under an hour later he stops breathing. ]

[turntables]

[ He feels a sharp pang when he realizes it's happened, turning to look down at him and fussing his lip until he tastes a little blood. There's no sense in trying to resuscitate him. The baby's still asleep and he doesn't want to wake her up or alarm her so he just sits calmly and strokes Tavros' still face for awhile and then turns to pick the girl up and carry her out to her own bed. She's still so sleepy that she doesn't do much more than whine a little and then drift back off.

He calls Karkat to give him the news, somber, and oversees the proceedings thereafter, keeping the kid as shielded from it as possible. It turns out to be a pain in the fucking ass to have done with Tavros' body exactly what he wants but he gets his way, price tag be damned. He gets a nice burial, which is a ritual Vyd also doesn't understand but the concept that her mama is asleep under the ground and not coming back up where she can see him is where she goes from being 0k about it to not so much.

Things don't really get much better as she starts school for the first time, seeing as most places won't take a halfbreed, and the ones that do are sketchy and full of ignorant kids that pick on her, troll and human alike. After one of the dirtier lowbloods tries to cull her himself he makes damn well and sure that it won't ever happen again. He's there to be her guardian every day for a good long while.

Except until about 2nd grade, when he's 68 and getting a bit worn out. Then he's mostly more like her poky old grandpa that forgets stuff a lot. ]

[miasmajesty]

[ Dirk had been meaning to visit much sooner. He had. He'd missed Dave's last moments, he'd missed Tavros'... He had to make it up to them somehow, and he was't sure Bro could deal with the little girl all on his own. He'd Taken the time off work, excused himself from all responsibilities - until one ended up on his doorstep.

Irving is two and Dirk hasn't told his brother yet. He means to, but the topic never comes up and he continues to raise his son best as he can without adding to the burden and concern. Eventually, though, it becomes undeniable. Bro can't care for the girl anymore - or he won't be able to soon.

He books the tickets. Packs his shit up, gets all his baby boy's cute clothes and flies out there on a sunny Friday. Doesn't say a word, just turns up at the doorstep and knocks. ]

[turntables]

[ Daevyd's at school and Bro's snoring like a lawnmower on the couch, the DVD menu for Jackass Number 2 playing itself over and over because he fell asleep halfway through the cheap laughs. They don't get people knocking on their door so much these days, unless it's a reporter but there hasn't been much to report in a couple of years. Vyd can't take two steps without eyes on her, whether because of her dad or because she's a freak of nature.

He snorts a little and sits up, rubbing his face and going over to pull open the door. He still moves pretty quick for an old fart. ]

Whatever you're sellin', we don't want any.

[ unfortunately the same can not be said for his mind. Or his eyesight, for that matter. ]

[miasmajesty]

[ Ah. ]

S'great because we don't have any product on hand. [ It's hard reconciling this Bro with the one of his childhood. He adjusts Irving in his arms. ] Hi, Bro. Can we come in or do I have to start pitching how great Florida is this time of year?

[turntables]

[ ... squint. Da—wait. no.

!!!!! ]

Jesus Christ, kid. Hardly recognized you. Get in here already.

[ Stepping back from the door. ]

[miasmajesty]

[ Well. He does have enough metal in his face to greatly upset the air port staff. It's understandable.

He tugs his suitcase in with his free hand, shifting the quiet toddler in his arms as he starts to wake. ]

Would've called but it would have ruined the surprise.