Interviews With The Dead

lord-of-coins:

A fic about Mrs. Shelley’s life after the whole “teaching” thing. Long story short, she writes a best-seller novel about life as an undead, and becomes a notorious undead-rights activist. The story is told through a series of interviews with her.
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On the topic of School Psychiatry:
“Yes, I did enjoy my time spent as a school psychiatrist. It exposed me to a number of views and experiences I may not have had otherwise… Really, I feel like I was taught much more than I ever taught others, but then, I was a member of the psychiatric staff, I wasn’t exactly teaching mathematics.” *laughter*

“…yes, I learned a lot in my years. The many different, uh, kinds of thought that permeate an academic environment. I feel like I was one of the people that most students were willing to open up to. A former colleague of mine, a Mr… Azrael, if I recall correctly, may have had a knack for people, but he still served as a sort of authority figure to the students, and I suppose to some small degree, they may have been afraid of him. The fact is, children and adolescents have difficulty opening up to figures they see as, uh, figures of ‘authority’, and one of the most important parts is cultivating the image that you don’t judge, that you aren’t judging, that you are only listening and sympathizing, and that you understand the issues at hand.”

“It was amazing what I ran into in my 5 years of school psychiatry. I’m not really allowed to disclose specifics, but the fact is it’s not just people who deal with mental issues, with the fear that they’re not good enough, with the idea that maybe they’re just not making the right choices, and those five years are by far the largest indicator of that fact.”

On the topic of Undead Rights:
“Ah, yes, now we get down to the brass tacks, huh?” *laughter* “In all seriousness, though, I suppose all my work so far has lead to where I am now. As an undead myself, I’ve obviously run into my share of troubles. The distrustful looks, the fear and hatred of those around me… It’s just a natural part of human reaction, I suppose, but then, humanity and, really, the supernatural as a whole has done so much to change what’s seen as natural. We’ve done so much, and I suppose I wonder ‘Wouldn’t getting rid of a “No Shamblers” sign be so much easier than inventing electricity?“

"Of course, in my time as a psychiatrist, I dealt with a lot of undead students. A particular recurring patient of mine met me every few days for work on some of his mental trauma caused by an incident far back in his life. Of course, as a Wraith, this made things a bit more difficult.”

“Another undead I knew outside of my job who I saw often was a Lich, who had a bit of a problem controlling his necromantic energies. Non-sentient undead tended to mass around him. They weren’t harmful, but the psychological effect on others was very distracting, to say the least. He never quite solved that particular problem, but from what I hear he’s doing very well for himself now. I believe he’s started a musical group, and he uses the undead for choreography.”

“Obviously, we’ve made leaps and bounds since the early days of the Transcendence, where any average undead was liable to be shot on sight. Of course, the simple fact is, we still have work to do. The slurs, for one. ‘Shambler’, ‘Brainmunchers’, all very rude. Though, uh, one I’ve seen that’s going through a sort of "Reclamation” is the term ‘Romeros’, which I must say, I’ particularly happy about. Romero’s films, while blatantly lifeist in modern circumstances, serve as important bits of cinema and human history, and I feel that it’s important to keep in mind the prejudices of the times, so that we don’t repeat them again.“

"Of course, the book was just my way of attempting to reach out to the world, perhaps show the living the way that we saw things, and maybe, in some way, indicate that we deserve a right to live as much as any living, breathing individual. As long as the book convinced one person to re-evaluate their stance on the undead, then I suppose I’ve done my job.”

“Really, the way I see it, Undeath is really just another state of Life. A second chance, really, to try and live the way you’ve really wanted to live. And the fact is, aside from perhaps a different appearance or a new dietary restriction or two, most undead truly are similar to your average living human. Our hearts may not beat, but we still have them. Our lungs may not pump air, but they sit in our chests just the same. We’re just like you, really, and all we want is to work together, hand in hand, for a brighter future.”

“I know that what I have now won’t last forever. The mysterious forces animating me will eventually leave, or I may wind up just getting hit by a bus and that’ll be that… But for now, I’m working towards this. I may not be around forever, but the fact is, just like people die every day, people un-die every day too. And if I can help those future Undead, then that’s all that matters.”

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This is probably godawful, I’m sorry.