jinlinli:

y’know i lowkey headcanon that killmonger didnt really believe wakanda existed until the night his dad was killed. just hear me out.

erik’s a smart kid, and he’s around the age when kids start doubting the stories their parents tell them. things like santa claus and the easter bunny, they start realizing that’s stuff their parents say to make the world feel more wonderful and magical. 

so imagine little erik listening to his dad telling him about a secret african nation where eating a glowing flower gives you superpowers, people can fly around in invisible planes, and the king dresses up like a cat to fight bad guys. it’s a country where erik’s a prince and his uncle is a king. a country that every encyclopedia says is third world, pretty much only exports sheep, and has problems with poachers sneaking in to hunt rhino. so a kid like erik might start thinking, okay so this is probably another story my dad made up.

and then one day he looks up from a pick up game of basketball and sees a plane turn invisible and fly away. little erik just beginning to believe that maybe his dad had been telling the truth the whole time. maybe this fairytale country really does exist. so he runs up the stairs to ask his dad about it, maybe hoping to see someone wearing clothes made out of magical meteorite metal. 

but instead, he finds his dad alone and dying in the middle of their living room. and he’s got claw marks in his stomach like an animal had attacked him. or someone with claws like one. and that’s the moment he believed without a doubt that wakanda was real.