Like You Were Dying: Difference between revisions

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''I went sky divin',

''I went Rocky Mountain climbin',

''I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Fu Manchu]].''~~|'''[[Tim McGraw]]''', "Live [[Trope Namer|Like You Were Dying]]"}}~~

''I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Fu Manchu]].''

|'''[[Tim McGraw]]''', "Live [[Trope Namer|Like You Were Dying]]"}}

A character knows that [[Your Days Are Numbered|the end is nigh]]. They're usually sick but sometimes doomed in another way. The character understandably angsts about it. They angst so much, that they can't make use of their remaining time. But then, they meet someone: A character who's equally doomed, a [[Love Interest]] or a [[Cheerful Child|happy]] [[Children Are Innocent|innocent]] child. This person's attitude can be summed up with: "Yep, dying sucks, [[The World Is Just Awesome|but life is fun anyway.]]" The two become friends and have a lot of fun. The good, healthy, swimming-naked-in-the-sea-at-night sort of fun, not the waste-time-surfing-the-net sort naturally.

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Compare with [[The Last Dance]] and [[You Don't Want to Die a Virgin, Do You?]]. Not to be confused with [[Like You Would Really Do It]].

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]!'' lives off this trope ''as if it were to die!!''

** I.e., the [[This Loser Is You|main character]] is given superpowers fueled by his 'dying will;' initially by shooting him in the head with special bullets that induce this level of sudden [[Heroic Willpower]] (and [[Clothing Damage|Shirt Disease]]), then steadily less violently and more intentionally, until he's able to switch into this mode at will, and it's more or less just a super mode which is ''on fire''.

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== Film ==

* ''[[The Bucket List]]''

* ''[[Stranger Than Fiction]]'' has a similar idea with a truly creative kind of doom.

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== Literature ==

* Early in ''[[Remnants]]'', when Mo'Steel rides The Pipe.

* The entire premise of ''Deadline'', in which the narrator knows he's dying but keeps it a secret from everyone, decides to not go through treatment and live the last year of his life as best he can. While all he seems to care about is getting a street named after Malcolm X, the book has a feel of "life is AWESOME!!" to it.

* Valancy Stirling of [[Anne of Green Gables|Lucy Maud Montgomery]]'s ''[[The Blue Castle]]'' (1926), making this one [[Older Than Television]]. Valancy gets a diagnosis of terminal heart disease, then uses her new-found remaining time on earth to live like a free spirit, talk back to her rude relatives, and fall in love. {{spoiler|After a great shock doesn't kill her, she goes back to the doctor and finds out her letter of diagnosis was mistakenly exchanged with that of an old woman with the last name Sterling.}}

== Live Action TV ==

== Live-Action TV ==

* The premise of the ''very'' short-lived [[Sitcom]] ''Twenty Good Years'' starring John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor.

* In one episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Quark gets diagnosed with an incurable and frequently fatal syndrome by a doctor on Ferenginar. He auctions off his vacuum-~~dessicated~~ remains in traditional Ferengi fashion before he dies, but then it is revealed that the diagnosis was incorrect.

* In one episode of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', Quark gets diagnosed with an incurable and frequently fatal syndrome by a doctor on Ferenginar. He auctions off his vacuum-desiccated remains in traditional Ferengi fashion before he dies, but then it is revealed that the diagnosis was incorrect.

** His initial response? "It means I get to sue Dr. (whoever) for malpractice!"

* Subverted in an episode of ''House''. Wilson finds out that he had earlier misdiagnosed a patient with terminal cancer. When telling the man that he is in fact perfectly healthy, he is surprised to find the man is outraged: knowing that he was going to die within six months had given the man real happiness for the first time in his life. He then promises to sue Wilson for malpractice.

* Subverted in an episode of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]''. Wilson finds out that he had earlier misdiagnosed a patient with terminal cancer. When telling the man that he is in fact perfectly healthy, he is surprised to find the man is outraged: knowing that he was going to die within six months had given the man real happiness for the first time in his life. He then promises to sue Wilson for malpractice.

** Made funny when House gives the man the name of a good lawyer. Because he's House.

** Played straight in a different episode. A young girl with terminal cancer who has an astonishing bravery and dedication to enjoying the little time she has left. Despite his best efforts as misanthropy, the girl's zest for life rubs of on House and he ends up buying a motorcycle.

* In an episode of [[Scrubs]] made to parody sitcom cliches, one patient was found to only have 24 hours to live, and was taken out by the doctors to go through a list of adventures before he died. Then, at the end of the day they found out his chart had been switched with another patient, so he was not going to die, and the patient who was was antisemitic so no one cared about him.

* In an episode of ''[[Scrubs]]'' made to parody sitcom cliches, one patient was found to only have 24 hours to live, and was taken out by the doctors to go through a list of adventures before he died. Then, at the end of the day they found out his chart had been switched with another patient, so he was not going to die, and the patient who was about to die was antisemitic so no one cared about him.

** Subverted in that {{spoiler|this turned out to be [[All Just a Dream|a dream sequence in JD's head]], none of the above adventures actually happened, and the patient dies. The moral of the episode ends up being "sometimes [[Crapsack World|bad things happen to good people]], which is why it's a good thing we have sitcoms to cheer us up."}}

** They had a separate episode with a subplot almost exactly identical to the ''House'' example above.

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== Music ==

* Pretty much the plot of the [[Tim McGraw]] song ''Live Like You Were Dying'' from the quote.

* On a similar note, "One Day Left to Live" by Sammy Kershaw. The singer barely avoids a fatal accident, and decides that from then on, he will live like he's got one day left to live.

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* Also ''DC-10'' by Audio Adrenaline. Although the cause of death is a bit more sudden and humorous than illness.

== ~~Theater~~ ==

== Theatre ==

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* A "couples" example from ''[[Rent]]'': Angel and Collins are the "live like you're dying" couple who get Roger to open up a little. Mimi, who is Roger's love interest, finishes the job despite a considerably rocky start with him.

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* A "couples" example from ''~~RENT~~'': Angel and Collins are the "live like you're dying" couple who get Roger to open up a little. Mimi, who is Roger's love interest, finishes the job despite a considerably rocky start with him.

** "No Day But Today"?

== Video Games ==

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* [[Final Fantasy IX]]: Played straight by Vivi, whose race has a very short lifespan. Averted by Kuja, [[Earthshattering Kaboom|who doesn't take the news of his pending demise very well...]] {{spoiler|Until the very end, where he finally regrets his actions and attempts to make peace with his arch-nemesis.}}

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* In the Visual Novel ''Heart De Roommate'' {{spoiler|the main heroine Asumi and her [[Dead Little Sister|older sister]] both possess an incurable heart disease which will kill them before they hit their twentieth birthday, something that both girls understandably found depressing. The older sister finally realized the truth of this trope on her death bed, [[My Sibling Will Live Through Me|charging Asumi with living it]]. This is all revealed in an unlockable scene taking place after the events of the main plot. In it Asumi and the [[Player Character|PC]] are [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|reunited after nearly two years apart]]. Of course, said disease [[Bittersweet Ending|finally catches up with her; confining her to a hospital bed]] [[Your Days Are Numbered|for what seem to be the few remaining days in her already short life]], all in front of the [[Player Character|PC's]] eyes. This finally explains the main reason for her [[Jerkass]] "''Beauty of Youth''" obsessed [[Genki Girl]] attempts to get all the people she met to live their lives rather than mourn the things wrong with it.}}

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* [[Final Fantasy IX]]: Played straight by Vivi, whose race has a very short lifespan. Averted by Kuja, [[Earthshattering Kaboom|who doesn't take the news of his pending demise very well...]] {{spoiler|Until the very end, where he finally regrets his actions and attempts to make peace with his arch-nemesis.}}

⚫

* In the Visual Novel ''Heart De Roommate'' {{spoiler|the main heroine Asumi and her [[Dead Little Sister|older sister]] both possess an incurable heart disease which will kill them before they hit their twentieth birthday, something that both girls understandably found depressing. The older sister finally realized the truth of this trope on her death bed, [[My Sibling Will Live Through Me|charging Asumi with living it]]. This is all revealed in an unlockable scene taking place after the events of the main plot. In it Asumi and the [[Player Character|PC]], are [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|reunited after nearly two years apart]]. Of course, said disease [[Bittersweet Ending|finally catches up with her; confining her to a hospital bed]] [[Your Days Are Numbered|for what seem to be the few remaining days in her already short life]], all in front of the [[Player Character|PC's]] eyes. This finally explains the main reason for her [[Jerkass]] "''Beauty of Youth''" obsessed [[Genki Girl]] attempts to get all the people she met to live their lives rather than mourn the things wrong with it.}}

** {{spoiler|The [[Player Character|PC]] asking her to [[Please Don't Leave Me|live for him]] and her renewed determination [[Power of Love|to do so for as long as she can]] moves it from firm [[Downer Ending]] territory into a more [[Bolivian Army Ending|open yet still tragic conclusion]].}}

* This happens to several characters in ''Tales of the Abyss,'' but some take it better than others...

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* Subverted in [[Jak and Daxter|Jak II]]. The audience is made more aware of this than the characters, given that they're regularly bombarded by creepy voice overs from Baron Praxis's City-radios, which often serve as "Wanted Dead or Alive" adverts or handy little reminders to Jak that the Dark Eco in his body will eventually kill him and he's just delaying an inevitable and highly painful end when Praxis could make it so much faster and painless... It doesn't stop Jak, however, who doesn't so much plan to end his days happy as he does plan to gun the living bejeezus out of the Krimzon guard and seek his revenge against Praxis.

== ~~Webcomics~~ ==

== Web Comics ==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130517211825/http://www.bugcomic.com/comics/even-steven/ Examined] by [[Bug Martini|Bug]], who shows that you need to plan your spending wisely while doing this.

* Alisin from ''[[Fans]]!'' in early strips. Finding a cure was the first step of her [[Character Development]] from the hedonistic "Alisin" of the first two books to the "Ally" of the fifth and onward.

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== Web Original ==

* Kirk in ''[[The Gungan Council]]'' lives vicariously all the time due to having just a few more years to live.

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[The Simpsons]]'', of course, has mocked this a few times, most notably with Homer believing that he would die after eating an improperly prepared poisonous fish.

** In another episode Homer reads a self-help book that advises him to "Live each day like it was your last". [[Gilligan Cut|Cut]] to Homer sitting on the curb sobbing "I don't want to die!"