I don't know if there's a demand for this but people in another thread were talking about Machine of Death (and This is How You Die) and now I'm rereading it and maybe people want to talk about it more? Also post your MoD AUs if you have them! I see there's a MoD game now, too. Has anyone played it? Is it any fun?
Sorry -- Machine of Death is a series of short stories inspired by this Dinosaur Comic, the central theme of which is that there is a machine that will tell you how you die. The machine is never wrong, but seems to delight in being ironic or vague, so one is never sure what the method of death printed on one's slip really means. It's available for free on their website, or for purchase also on their website. This is How You Die is a sequel to Machine of Death, which I believe is more short stories by more people following the same theme -- I haven't read that one yet, myself.
My favorite of the stories is either the one that totally gives away the entire plot in the title, so I won't spoil it here, or Heat Death of the Universe. Spoiler I love the exploration of the reaction to someone getting NUCLEAR BOMB, both on the personal level and on the government's level of public safety measures.
holy crap I didn't know there was a board game I gotta get my hands on that that is the game people meant, right? also Spoiler I loved Heat Death of the Universe. like, first the whole 'HEAT DEATH OF THE UNIVERSE' as that kid's death, was really fascinating. like, what does it mean? will the kid be run over by a tour bus containing a band called Heat Death of the Universe? will the kid really live to be hundreds of thousands years old? who knows?? and then the reaction to a bunch of people drawing NUCLEAR BOMB, and how many were kids, and then the government started constructing camps in the desert, but like...the two plan to run away, so you gotta wonder, how's that gonna play out? do they get caught and she gets sent out there anyway? does the nuclear bomb effect somehow reach out to where they go and she dies anyway? who knows!?
I don't have the book, and now I want to get it. It seems awesome. But my favorite already is Spoiler HIV Infection from Machine of Death Needle. As I said on the other thread, I'm also having some fun with imagining how the MoD would react to one of my OCs, who has resurrective immortality.
I'm having a fun time making up ironic deaths for my OCs. like Adara? death by fall. and at first she laughs and scoffs because she's got wings, how can she die by fall?? the stupid machine's wrong, that's the only answer. but then one of her wings gets hurt while she's flying pretty high up. the fall kills her.
I just discovered these books existed? I got This Is How You Die from my library but they didn't have Machine of Death.
my character Alania, who's immortal because god--she tries the machine, assuming it will be blank, because she can't die. it prints out SOUL. this doesn't make sense to her, and she tries to puzzle it out. how can a soul kill you? then she gets her actual, literal soul ripped from her body. she survives this, only to have the attempt to reintegrate her soul into her body kill her. Kadey gets ALANIA as her death card. she's horrified, because how can her best friend and queerplatonic partner kill her? she starts to avoid Alania like the plague, and when she finally tells Alania what's up, Alania proceeds to leave Kadey, and separate the two of them forever, figuring she can't kill Kadey if they're not together. Kadey ends up dying trying to stop Alania from attempting to reintegrate her soul into her body--the magic that Alania calls on is so powerful it disintegrates Kadey. if you want I can link the Machine of Death PDF!
Okay, so my MoD AU ideas: Spoiler: homestuck aus SolAra Humanstuck where Aradia gets "LOVED ONE," Sollux tries to break up with her because he's convinced it's gonna be him and he doesn't want to hurt her, and Aradia is all "it's p broad and i love you anyway so i mean you breaking up with me won't make me magically never die" and he accepts this...and is then, in some way, unintentionally responsible for her death years down the line. AU where the Machine becomes mandatory on Alternia, with drones and everything, and Karkat realizes that this means his blood color will have to become known at some point. Spoiler: steven universe aus Human AU where Pearl gets "DEATH," and is baffled by it. Years later, Rose's death completely breaks her, which leads to Pearl's own death (whether by suicide or simple self-neglect). AU where the Machine comes to Beach City, and whereas the Gems can't get tested due to not having actual blood, Steven can--and the Gems (and Greg) do everything in their power to prevent him from getting the test. Alternately, Steven was tested shortly after birth...and whatever his death prediction is, they've all been trying extremely hard to keep it a secret from him, for whatever reason.
Don't worry, I'm probably gonna write the SolAra one at least. And I actually have a lot of ideas for the first SU one and the other HS one, too.
