Brainstorming mundane ways to die...

[Deranged Rhino]

This is very OT, apologies, but figured the minds on here would have some good ideas since the room I'm trapped in have given up. And no, this isn't a cry for help or a "how-to" request...

 

I'm working on something new and without boring everyone with the details of the story, I need some funny ideas for really mundane ways to die that otherwise should be avoidable. There's a character who's a daredevil, think Tom Cruise with his stunt obsession - this is a character who's taken stupid risks over and over again without flinching for their entire career. The concept of "you could die doing that" doesn't register. Then, when the story needs it, they have a brush with death that absolutely rocks them to their core - only I want this "brush with death" to be so everyday, so boring and mundane, most people wouldn't think twice after surviving it - but it destroys this character's confidence. 

 

The list of ideas we've come up with so far (that aren't great): 

Being run over by: a fat guy on a Lime scooter (those rental scooters in cities)

Drowning in your own bath

Bee sting (allergies)

Choking on something

Falling through an open manhole

Falling coconut

 

The more boring and mundane, the better.  

 

 

[Taro T]

18 minutes ago, Deranged Rhino said:

This is very OT, apologies, but figured the minds on here would have some good ideas since the room I'm trapped in have given up. And no, this isn't a cry for help or a "how-to" request...

 

I'm working on something new and without boring everyone with the details of the story, I need some funny ideas for really mundane ways to die that otherwise should be avoidable. There's a character who's a daredevil, think Tom Cruise with his stunt obsession - this is a character who's taken stupid risks over and over again without flinching for their entire career. The concept of "you could die doing that" doesn't register. Then, when the story needs it, they have a brush with death that absolutely rocks them to their core - only I want this "brush with death" to be so everyday, so boring and mundane, most people wouldn't think twice after surviving it - but it destroys this character's confidence. 

 

The list of ideas we've come up with so far (that aren't great): 

Being run over by: a fat guy on a Lime scooter (those rental scooters in cities)

Drowning in your own bath

Bee sting (allergies)

Choking on something

Falling through an open manhole

Falling coconut

 

The more boring and mundane, the better.  

 

 

 

How about having a head cold so bad that the protagonist decides to take a bath & loosen up his/her/its sinuses and getting a huge wad of mucus loosen up and get stuck in their throat so they suffocate.  (Kind of a combo of a couple of your ideas.)

 

The walking into traffic while looking at a cellphone is probably too obvious and seems like it's already been thought of.

 

How about sitting on a deck railing, sneezing and falling over the deckrail? 

 

How about not paying attention at a baseball/hockey game and catching a line drive or slapshot off the old melon?  (The reason there's netting at hockey games is because a young girl (11-ish) caught a slapshot in her face which caused her neck to snap back putting a very small tear in one of her carotids & she bled to death the next day or 2.

 

How about carrying a package on one's shoulder and having it press against their neck causing a blood clot which then causes a stroke.  (Actually happened to someone in real life though the stroke wasn't fatal.)

 

How about an infected papercut?  Or maybe an infected zit?  Wouldn't dying of acne be seriously sad?

[Deranged Rhino]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

 

How about having a head cold so bad that the protagonist decides to take a bath & loosen up his/her/its sinuses and getting a huge wad of mucus loosen up and get stuck in their throat so they suffocate.  (Kind of a combo of a couple of your ideas.)

 

The walking into traffic while looking at a cellphone is probably too obvious and seems like it's already been thought of.

 

How about sitting on a deck railing, sneezing and falling over the deckrail? 

 

How about not paying attention at a baseball/hockey game and catching a line drive or slapstick off the old melon?  (The reason there's netting at hockey games is because a young girl (11-ish) caught a snapshot in her face which caused her neck to snap back putting a very small tear in one of her carotids & she bled to death the next day or 2.

 

How about carrying a package on one's shoulder and having it press against their neck causing a blood clot which then causes a stroke.  (Actually happened to someone in real life though the stroke wasn't fatal.)

 

How about an infected papercut?  Or maybe an infected zit?  Wouldn't dying of acne be seriously sad?

 

Good stuff, thank you!  

[Taro T]

A couple last ones:

 

How about the dog, or significant other, who may in fact be the dog, no judgments, is so happy to see them when they come home that they jump in their arms knocking them backwards down the stairs?  (Could kill them both.)

 

Or maybe having a REALLY fat chick on top & literally getting motorboated to death after the protagonist couldn't breathe.  (Or if the protagonist is a chick, something similar w/ a really fat guy on top.

[devnull]

Character is en route to a multi story building.  Not necessarily a skyscraper, but a building with multiple floors.

 

It's a hot summer day and the occupants of one the upper floors is having problems opening their window, which is directly above the entrance to the building.

 

Character enters the building.  Door closes and within a second hears a tremendous crash.

 

Pan to outside the door to the remnants of a shattered plate glass window across the ground.  Occupants of upper floor are looking down thru empty window with an ooops look on their face

 

Or

 

Character is driving on the Interstate and sees traffic is starting to back up.  Character changes lane to get into off ramp.

All of a sudden driver hears screeching tires and the car that he was behind in the other lane is rear ended into a terrible crash.

The next day character reads online about the fatal accident on the Interstate

 

Both true stories

[Taro T]

12 minutes ago, devnull said:

Character is en route to a multi story building.  Not necessarily a skyscraper, but a building with multiple floors.

 

It's a hot summer day and the occupants of one the upper floors is having problems opening their window, which is directly above the entrance to the building.

 

Character enters the building.  Door closes and within a second hears a tremendous crash.

 

Pan to outside the door to the remnants of a shattered plate glass window across the ground.  Occupants of upper floor are looking down thru empty window with an ooops look on their face

 

Or

 

Character is driving on the Interstate and sees traffic is starting to back up.  Character changes lane to get into off ramp.

All of a sudden driver hears screeching tires and the car that he was behind in the other lane is rear ended into a terrible crash.

The next day character reads online about the fatal accident on the Interstate

 

Both true stories

 

Slight variants on those:

 

1.  Instead of a plate of glass, it's a poodle that fell out of the window.  (Might need to give royalties to Dennis Leary for that one.)  Or, instead of a poodle, it's a cat.  A falling cat will reach a terminal velocity (no longer accelerating after enough of a drop) which leaves the deceleration from the fall small enough that it isn't fatal to the cat.  If it isn't fatal to the cat, it likely wouldn't be to your hero if the cat hit him/her/it.  Walking away from having a cat bounce off your shoulder from 50 stories up would be very harrowing.  The terminal velocity of a falling cat IS a real thing because the loose skin around its legs make it act like a parachute for itself effectively.  (Science bitches!)

 

2.  Have a stalled car on a major bridge (say over the river between Joisey & Filly) just on the downside so approaching motorists won't see it until they're on it.  Narrowly avoided such a crash & could easily see there being multiple fatalities because people could not do anything to avoid the 1st stalled car.

[Taro T]

Further on the cat; you could have it leap out the window trying to catch some sort of hard toy or coin that was accidentally thrown out the window.  Have that miss your hero but leave a hole/dent in the sidewalk below.

[Koko]

1.) Helicopter chase.

 

2.) Choking on a pretzel while watching baseball (Think G.W. Bush).

 

3.) Slipping on a wet rubber mat during training camp.

 

4.) Helicopter chase.

 

5.) Being hit by a bus after buying a hot dog.

 

6.) Helicopter chase with massive explosions.

[Uncle Joe]

Stopping for highway work on a desert highway. Character thinks about getting out to stretch his legs. Opens door, reaches for food on the passenger seat. Car traveling 100mph in left lane approaches from behind and takes off driver's door. Said vehicle then takes a left into the desert. Police cars in pursuit follow car into desert. 

(Happened to me except I  never opened the door to get out and stretch. I did check the sideview mirror 1st. I was a little rattled thinking what could have been. )

You could add a helicopter...

Edited August 2, 2022 by Uncle Joe

[Ann]

Slipping on a banana peel

 

walking the dog, falling backwards when rolling on a pine cone, and hitting your head on the curb (I had beautiful bruises over my whole right side from that one). Best part was having the dog come over to look at me when his retractable leash ran out with a “WTF, get up already” look (sympathetic he was not).

 

undertow rip tide while swimming in the ocean, carried out to sea and rescued by a….?? Surfer, kayaker…

 

[devnull]

20 minutes ago, Koko said:

1.) Helicopter chase.

 

4.) Helicopter chase.

 

5.) Being hit by a bus after buying a hot dog.

 

6.) Helicopter chase with massive explosions.

 

Mundane if you live in a Michael Bay Movie

[KD in CA]

Drowning in grain silo (apparently it's like quicksand).  Or a vat of beer/cheese/etc.

 

[SackMan518]

Taking a giant shit like this guy:

 

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

Stepping on a Lego, and falling down the stairs, and breaking your neck.

 

I can't think of anything more mundane than that.

Edited August 2, 2022 by Crap Throwing Clavin

[snafu]

You said a brush with death, yes?

At the risk of being called a liar by some jackass Packer fan:

 

A friend of mine (maybe about 40-45 years old at the time) got up in the middle of the night to take a whizz.  He apparently was dehydrated and because of that got light-headed as he was standing in his bathroom relieving himself.  He passed out and cracked his head on the sink, breaking an orbital bone in his face.  He wound up in the hospital for a day or two.  Apparently this happens to people a lot.  So I'd consider it fairly mundane.  This story is the sole reason why I drink a glass of water before bed every night.

 

I saw someone choke on a wonton in a Chinatown restaurant once.  Hit the floor.  We thought she was a complete goner, but her tablemate whacked her on the back pretty good and the problem was solved.  The wonton went skittering across the floor.  This is how I know what she was choking on.  She got back up and finished her meal.  An idea for you -- maybe your protagonist could be the back-whacker who's completely messed up by the experience and his choking friend could be the one who's completely unaffected by her experience.

 

 

[IDBillzFan]

Have the character walk through downtown LA.

[Deranged Rhino]

You all are the best.  

 

(better than 7 overpaid writers trapped in a room together, that's for sure) 

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

2 hours ago, IDBillzFan said:

Have the character walk through downtown LA.

 

He said "to die."  Not "already dead and living in hell."

[Koko]

3 hours ago, Deranged Rhino said:

You all are the best.  

 

(better than 7 overpaid writers trapped in a room together, that's for sure) 

 

Let us know what the winner is.

[KD in CA]

4 hours ago, Deranged Rhino said:

You all are the best.  

 

(better than 7 overpaid writers trapped in a room together, that's for sure) 

 

And we probably smell better.

 

 

p.s.   Going ziplining and forgetting to clip yourself to the line.