#afterlife guides

[calumthetraveler]

The Guide counts her tourgroup as they reboard the station. 'Six seven eight nine ten- eleve-' She stopped cold, seeing what she was seeing. "S-Sir... You're, um..."

"yes?" a creaky voice echos from the shambling spacesuit with a massive tear in the front's middle, and a piece of metal jutting through the fissure between... surely it should come out the back from the amount of metal but there's no exit wound.

It's an old suit too, ten generations out of use from the present day.

The Guide swallows, looking into the visor of the helmet and seeing nothing but black and stars drifting around a skull where there should be a face.

"Your suit is-" The guide points at the chest.

The helmet slowly tilts downwards- the skull seems to animate it all on its own, empty eyes gazing down at the impossible wound.

"oh." it's a tiny voice. Surprised. As if they hadn't noticed their own state of existence before now.

The rest of the tour group is somehow ignoring all of this, carrying on as if there wasn't an eleventh member of their group who shouldn't be here.

It's then the Guide remembers what's happening. What her family specializes in. She never thought she had the Gift for it before. That ancient curse of a job fell to the men of the family without exception, as per the binding contract Great^7 Grand Granpa George signed with the Spirit World. Detectives through and through for countless generations, all his male descendants through blood...

...That's an identity revelation to sort through later, the Guide supposes...

The Guide swallows their fear, and says, confidently, "Sir, your suit is torn open."

"so it is..." the spirit says.

"Do you remember your name?" The Guide asks.

"...frank..." the spirit hesitates, a flicker of the stars within the helmet shift. "...will... wilkins?..."

"Alright, Frank, do you know what the date is?" The Guide finds it comes confidently to them now that they know what's happening. The family legacy has always trained everyone in what to do, so that they could pass along the secrets to the next generation, regardless of if they had the power to speak to the dead or not.

"...2109..." The spirit- Frank- replies. "...Sep...tember... 5th..."

"Frank, it's 2178," The Guide says. "January 17th."

"Oh!" Frank gasps, suddenly a bit more aware. The Skull and helmet look up sharply, a faint outline of a face is around the skull. "I've traveled through time... haven't I?"

Ah... Right...

"Of a sort," The Guide says, putting his hand on his hip and shaking his head. "Listen, Frank Wilkins, this might come as a surprise to you, but you're dead."

"....Ah...." The Ghost's face flickers fully into existence. A terrified young man, barely any older than twenty-five. Such a waste.

"And if I remember my history right, they recovered your body," The Guide continues, putting on his best, reassuring customer service smile. "Do you think you'll need me to guide you to your resting place?"

"...No, I think I remember now..." Frank says. "...We have a family plot in... Manchester? I think..." He pauses. "Yes, Manchester. I remember it now. We buried Grandmother there."

And then like that, he's gone. A woosh of stars fading out of existence like a cloud blowing between the earth and the moon.

The Guide exhales slowly, taking stock of her-their-his existence for a moment, then takes out his phone and tabs a call button.

"Hey, Uncle Gus? It's me, Francesca," the Guide says. "I, uh... I have the family talent."

There's a pause, then the man on the other end chuckles. "Well, that's one way to find out, I suppose. Welcome to the club, kiddo."

"Thanks," the Guide pauses. "And, uh, I think I know what I wanna change my name to, too."

"Oh?" Uncle Gus asked, eyebrow raised clear as day in his voice.

"My first spirit... his name was Frank," The Guide smiled. "...Kinda funny coincidence, isn't it?"

“Space tourism is finally common and you are returning from your first spacewalk. Your guide looks at you in disbelief as she realizes your suit was torn open the whole time”

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 167

Honestly, Danny is having such a good time right now. He gets to travel with Ellie, explore space, just have fun. Plus his secondary protector-instincts are having soothed despite him not technically doing any hero-ing anymore. Really his sister had the right idea when she decided she wanted to become a doctor, this is honestly a blast.

And if someone does end up passing away, well, Ellie is always happy to help soothe their spirit and guide them to the Realms where they can reach their respective afterlife. Or become a ghost. 

They are completely oblivious to the fact that there are now legends and entire temples dedicated to them now. Apparently accidental ascension is in fact a thing, as Dan later laughs at them about. 

[andoutofharm]

another thing i really liked was the differences between when they would play tbp in full back when it released and how it was played this weekend. back then it was always mcr as The Black Parade, a fictional band, playing the album, and they killed them off in the black parade is dead. i liked that they didn’t revive that concept or that fictional band but instead were themselves, but a slightly darker/more solemn version of themselves.

[kissmypoets-hp]

Fanfic Classics Series ⏳🪐🌌 This batch of fanfiction deals with the multiverse!!! Time travel!!! Imminent thoughts about life and death!! Past lives and dreams of a future together — get ready to witness a love for the ages.

the earth from a distance by spqr

A Beginner’s Guide to the Afterlife by mcsyndrome

Us, infinite (unfortunately) by @thecouchsofa

"An Emerald In The Sky" by @corvuscrowned

In Every Universe by @skeptiquewrites

Our Little Life by @tackytigerfic

Dwelling by aideomai

there will be time, there will be time by @amywaterwings

Harry Potter and the Future He Doesn't Really Want, Thanks. by orphan_account

Everything is Relative to You by @thehoneybeet

The Star Splitter by @oflights

art credits + some cover commentary under the cut :)

I had a lot of fun finding/using artworks with circles, lines, and shapes to symbolize different worlds/universes and/or the passage of time...

Artworks used, in order:

"Several Circles" by Wassily Kandinsky (1926)

"To all appearances, it was a hand of flesh and blood just like my own" by Odilon Redon (1896) — A ghostly hand that fits the plot. The artwork's title goes with the fic so well too...

"(#2) (from series, Quantum)" by Garo Antreasian (1966)

"The story of the sun, moon, and stars (1898)" by Agnes Giberne — inspired by the summary "Somewhere along the way, Draco realizes he's been thinking in lines, when he should have been thinking in circles." The original artwork comes with a caption 'Stars whose distances are well-known'... I really feel that it fits since Draco was named after a constellation... Also, the star-circles have numbers on them, which could be interpreted as H/D through different ages...

Max Brückner’s Collection of Polyhedral Models (1900) — Exploring different parallel universe versions of yourself... the more things change, the more they stay the same.

"Construction (SM lg71)" by László Moholy-Nagy (1924) — some mild spoilers for the fic! inspired by the phrases "...plot a path through the many universes such that he would never die." / "flickering through timelines? Just getting glimpses, really" .

"Fish Magic" by Paul Klee (1925)

"The Terrace at Saint-Germain, Spring" by Alfred Sisley (1875)

"Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare" by Claude Monet (1877)

"Charing Cross Bridge: Fog on the Thames" by Claude Monet (1903) — referenced in the fic. i try to pay attention!

"Boy with Kite" by Candido Portinari (1947) — Harry is a precious little lamb. more elaboration here

i’ve been making penguin classics-style covers for fics i have saved on my kindle, as inspired by zeziliazink and bubu0h’s works!

[actualori]

a guide to all the gods/divine deities affiliated with mythicalsausage to whoever needs it

1. bubbles: (almost every smp) sausages puppy. follows him to every reincarnation and universe. is in charge of keeping balance throughout every timeline and multiverse. based off his irl dog

2. xornoth: (empires smp s1) the champion/reincarnation of the god exor. was sausages mentor and apparent boyfriend (toxic yaoi). taught sausage magic and corrupted him. was very evil

3. the blood sheep: (empires smp s1) used for magical sacrifices and came from a world unknown. unrelated to exor and xornoth but have evil capabilities. all hail blood sheep

4. joel: (empires smp s2) was sausages baby daddy. the god of thunder and lore

5. hermes: (empires smp s2) joel and sausages child and a demigod. able to manipulate time and weather. no specific age, somewhere from toddler to preteen. has no set gender (he/they pronouns mainly used)

6: pearl/santa perla: (empires smp s1 and 2, afterlife smp) s1 sausages best friend who died in his arms. became a saint represented by sunflowers. sausage was one of her angels in afterlife. s2 sausage devoted his life to her and created a religion worshipping her. they follow each other through every life protecting each other

7: the watchers: (bcg smp) sausage found a watcher sword and the fandom ran with it. he is not officially canon to evo/life series watchers (yet)

8: the fates: (sos smp/minecraft sos) controlled that specific universe and blocked out any lore related to other smps. specifically hated sausage because he constantly broke the rules of that world. frequently targeted him

9: nat and dem: (border smp) two gods fighting over the devotion of sausage. nat had a specific connection to spruce trees. dem attempted to kill nat (was unsuccessful). both speak to him through notes and give him gifts. each claim the other is evil. nat is short for nature, dem is short for something unspecified (probably demon)

10: sun god bdubs: (empires smp s2) god of the sun that sausage and gem worshipped. had a silly rivalry with santa perla since she was associated with the moon. the main worshipping was just making sure to always sleep at night

each description will be updated as more information is said. if i’m missing anyone or anything please let me know and i will add it

[idontwikeit]

A spark in the dark.

But my rage…My rage had risen. Followed closely behind by my madness. They moved from shadow to shadow, towards the cemetery in Montmartre.

[bitethedustfools]

TWST Story Idea (16)

It happened in an instant.

Yuu woke up in a coffin, gasping in desperation and fear. The darkness swallowed him whole, rendering him unable to see.

Escaping that coffin when it was set ablaze by a cat-like monster marked the first adventure for Yuu.

Yuu's first reaction to this new world was like a child setting his gaze upon a brightly lit Christmas tree, eyes sparkling with bright lights and stars.

It was wonderful, colorful, and out of this world. It was like a dream.

His limbs trembled when he stepped into the new world, hands lifted before his eyes as though to question if everything was real.

And it was real. What Yuu felt and experienced was enough to tell that it's all real, and that was enough for him for wanting to stay even though it was just an abandoned ramshackle dorm, far from the luxury he had ever known.

He felt alive as magic burst like fireworks and danced to a rhythm his new friends orchestrated. Even if Yuu was magicless, he was happy all the same.

While it's true that his new life was sometimes faced with foes, obstacles, and antics caused by his friends, he didn't mind it at all. This is what he thought normal life should be like.

The pain that was inflicted on him, he cherished those as well. Perhaps it's strange to keep them as a reminder for most people, but for Yuu, it's not.

Maybe it's borderline crazy or just some weird coping mechanism.

Even if at some points he was asked by his friends about it, Yuu, whose being had been exposed as an anomaly for being magicless and from another world, could only smile.

Let it be his only secret.

Call him a weirdo, call him any other unusual names so hurtful and all Yuu could do is laugh like it was the funniest thing in the world.

And Grim, beloved Grim. Naughty and spoiled, he truly cherished his furry companion. The warmth he emitted and the annoying yet endearing personality.

It can be said that he made Yuu's life even better than before.

What Yuu experienced here was something that he yearned for but could never say out loud. It's not that he didn't have the freedom to do so. It was just the weight of his words was so burdensome.

He let his same wish go out with a puff to every birthday candle snuffed, watched as his hope grew and perished and began anew. The small piece of cake in his mouth tasted bland every year he forced himself to eat.

It was only now that his wish had been heard and granted and he wanted to stay here for eternity where he could live without being scared and weak.

He wanted to have fun every day. He wanted to laugh and eat food that had never been so delicious in his whole life before. He wanted to wake up in his home with Grim snuggling by his side and greet his friends with smiles without worry.

He wanted to do what he couldn't do, to try everything even if he failed miserably, to run and to dance, to explore and feel and wear the most luxurious clothes without the Swords of Damocles dropping over his head at any moment.

He wanted to cry but he had already cried enough, he wanted to smile twice as much without faking it.

He stayed and stayed… . . . …and stayed.

Until what happened during Idia's overblot and Malleus's shook his peaceful life. The seed that was left behind without any water and light burst open from its coat. The plants branched out at the tragedies unfolding before his eyes, poking deep inside his head and heart where he kept the darkness sealed.

It touched the parts Yuu wanted to hide. The dream he lived in wavered and the truth bared its fangs, glinting threateningly.

Yuu began to miss home.

He missed his family who was always by his side, through sorrow and pain, without fail. Even if he knew that they were also a bit unwilling to see him some days.

But Yuu understood. He had no choice but to do so.

Yuu knew his wish was very selfish. Maybe that's why the Blue Fairy didn't grant it at all because Yuu was hesitant in his heart. Because granting that wish meant he had to let go, never to see them again.

It's true that he wished to be happy, never to worry about a thing.

But he also wished that they could be happy too. Together or without…

For the first time in his new life, nothing felt the same anymore. Every adventure had Yuu thinking of his family.

It was not fun anymore.

And Yuu, who wished for things to stay like this forever, finally grew up. A person who used to fit with his peers like puzzles or like a Mad Hatter to Wonderland became Alice who wanted to go home.

He was out of place and out of time.

His heart kept yearning for unreachable things but the first wish was granted so what's wrong with keeping hope that another will be granted as well?

That's what Yuu did and he was back to square one.

Truly, he was a very pitiable person from the beginning.

He kept wishing and wished and wished–

–until Yuu woke up with a gasp, eyes blown wide open only to shut tightly when bright lights penetrated his vision.

A familiar scent of sterilization invaded his nose followed by a numb sensation in all limbs.

People in white coats surrounded his bed while holding certain devices that must have aided in bringing him back to life if the heart monitor that began to stabilize was any indication.

Although muddle-headed, his gaze managed to spot Grim, his beloved doll that was sewn terribly and barely resembled a cat. He was slumped next to the books filled with fairytales set on the desk next to his hospital bed.

Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, and so on…

Yuu knew long ago what it meant to wake up in that coffin.

He was well aware that Twisted Wonderland is just another name for Neverland and Neverland is just another word for the afterlife, where the lost boys go and never grow up until the end of time.

He was ready to accept it but in the end…

He had made another wish and whispered it to the wishing star for the Blue Fairy to hear. A wish similar to Geppetto's yearning for a child, and in respond, Pinocchio, who was made of wood, was brought to life.

And he was indeed back to life. Back to the reality that he was reluctant to face every morning. Back to being a burden, stuck in the bed with white walls and limbs that couldn't move and senses that dulled over time as he festered in that place.

And it's all because Yuu didn't want to see his family cry over his coffin.

Yuu wanted to live even if it was painful. At least, until he's the only one left.

It was closest to a Happy Ending that Yuu could think of for a story like his, one that was truly fitting for a very selfish person.

[toast753]

Kanade and Flitwick

[drconstellation]

Lifting the Veil on the Bentley

Because I’ve been talking about the Bentley being Crowley’s black horse of late, I’ve had a nudge to talk about the number plate. I know it’s explained as an easter egg in relation to Monty Python, but I think we can explore it a bit further than that.

It’s worth having a quick look at this older post from @fuckyeahgoodomens where they explain the inspiration was from an animated scene from Monty Python's Meaning of Life .

The following is from the linked article.

As a nod to Terry Gilliam, who once tried to do a movie version of Good Omens, Gaiman and Mackinnon threw in a little reference to Gilliam’s origins doing animation for Monty Python. “The license plate of Crowley’s Bentley is ‘Curtain’ backwards,” Gaiman said, because of the writing on the mausoleum in the suicidal leaves section of Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. “Curtain backwards, like it’s the final curtain,” Mackinnon explained.

Before I get into all the connotations of “curtains,” there should be two things you notice about the “CURTIN” written on the mausoleum. The first is the spelling itself. It’s shortened to look like the Irish surname Curtin, so the mausoleum appears to belong to a real person. Curtin is an anglicized version of Mac Curtain, which means Son of the Crooked, or Son of the Harp, as the ‘crooked’ refers the hunchback shape of the Irish harp. I wouldn’t read too much into that, its probably more just a way of getting an actual curtain reference into that scene.

The other thing is that is not just backwards, it is mirror-image, as if you are looking at it from the other side of the mirror. So we should ask ourselves – which side are we looking from? And why does this matter?

While director Mackinnon mentions it referring to the “final curtain,” we need to start even further back than that to understand what the final curtain is, because even that has two meanings, even if only in a general sense. But because this is the GOmens AU, you can guarantee we’re going to find out there is more to it than that.

We need to go beyond the veil.

To go “beyond the veil” has become a euphemism for passing into death, or that unknowable place people go once they die. It was originally a figurative reference to the area in a Jewish Temple that was separated from the main body of the Temple by decorative curtains, called veils. The veils were specially woven, often with the image of a Cherubim woven in by a skilled worker; it was not allowed to be sewed on or added later. Each panel of the veil would display a different face of the Cherubim, such as the lion on one side, an eagle on the other, and so on. Only the priests could go past the veil into the most holiest of places. The veil was symbolic of separating men and their sins from the glory of God.  

The word ‘veil’ can be translated into English as ‘curtain,’ so the two words are almost interchangeable in respect of this discussion. I was interested to see that the word veil comes from the Latin word velum, which also means ‘sail,’ as in “to move, to drive a vessel or vehicle forward.” I have previously commented that the Bentley should probably be a “she,” as traditionally all ships were female, and that’s a tradition we still see carried into the modern day, thousands of years after its origin. I’ve even seen modern day space probes – little ships sailing the solar system – referred to as she! But I’ll not be pedantic about it, don’t worry.

Keep your hands off my bitch, bitch.

So the curtain, or veil, is the boundary between life and death. Only – we are seeing it from the other side. And in the GOmens AU this “other side” is very real, and one Aziraphale and Crowley walk through with both ease and without much thought. They are agents of those on the other side of the veil, yet they walk with Humanity in a solid reality on the surface of the Earth. They know the other side is real. When wee Morag complains about Elspeth’s body-snatching activity that the ones she digs up and sell won’t be able to go to Heaven because they will be cut up, Aziraphale tries to tell her it’s not like that, but she's not listening:

WEE MORAG: Aye. Tell that to the poor souls who will not get into heaven 'cause their bodies are all chopped into wee pieces. AZIRAPHALE: Well, that isn't how it actually… CROWLEY: Heaven isn't all it's cracked up to be, you know. WEE MORAG: It's no right. I'm telling you. CROWLEY: Yeah.

For humans, though, there is supposed to be no return once you cross that threshold.

When we, the viewer, see the two worlds meet, it's usually signaled by the presence of fog, mist or smoke. When Lesley the delivery driver meets Death, the fog arrives, as he is no longer in the living world. When Aziraphale and Crowley leave Tadfield Manor, we have smoke telling us we are seeing two different times and places at once - the past and the present are overlaid on one another.

The Bentley must exist in both the Human and subliminal worlds at the same time - how else can it drive like it does? It doesn't really need Crowley's hands on the wheel to guide it. It couldn't have started out like that - it was made by humans, but we all know the Bentley is more than just a car now.

It chooses the music to play on its radio, it refuses to speed when taking Aziraphale to Edinburgh until Crowley yells at it, it tries to follow the angel after he gets out at the end of the journey. How it got like this we will probably never find out, but we figure its become an extension of Crowley by close association, much like Aziraphale tends to influence the world around him without effort as well.

In terms of it being a black horse - well, now we get into some interesting stuff!

Horses have been companions to humans for longer than cars have been around, so there is lots of lore and symbology associated with them. Previous metas around S2 have focused on "dark horses," as they were specifically mentioned twice in the script. But a dark horse is not necessarily a black horse, and vice versa, so lets look at some of the aspects of black horse symbology in particular that could be relevant to the Bentley and it role in traveling between worlds.

Horses were the original vehicle of the ancient world. While Famine was supposed to ride a black horse (the others were white, red and pale green for pestilence,) the black horses could also be messengers of death, a demon bringing death or a guide to the afterlife. In the Illiad, Achilles sacrifices four horses on the funeral pyre to accompany Patroclus to Hades.

[Edit: I've just put myself through the pain of watching S2E6 again, for reasons, and realised why the ethereal lift is in the entrance to the Dirty Donkey - because a black horse is a guide between worlds! Of course!]

They became associated with the Devil during the Middle Ages as the church tried to break the link to old pagan rites. The broomsticks witches ride are supposed to represent horses. And then there is the sexual connection to horses...which leads in a round-about way to the practice of nailing horseshoes up for luck and protection. Although perhaps the burning horseshoe on Jasmine Cottage is more directly linked to the story of St Dunstan tricking the Devil and making him promise he would never cross the threshold of a house that had a horseshoe nailed to the door.

Our favourite Bentley has been beyond veil and returned. Though it was kept valiantly alive through the sheer will of Crowley to escape the unnatural flames of the Sigil of Odegra, it expired at the Tadfield airbase once Crowley arrived and finally released it. It was only appropriate that Crowley took a moment to acknowledge its service.

Then Adam restored it the next day. Resurrected it, one could say.

Time for the "final curtain" to wrap this meta up.

To "face the final curtain" is another euphemism for facing death, or at least an ending. It's the final curtain of a theatre show, after the encores are done. Its the final fall of the curtain at the end of a run. Sometimes we might say its just "curtains" for something or someone, meaning it will be ending, as a shortened form. But both Aziraphale and Crowley knows death isn't the end; its a beginning as well. Its just matter of perspective to them.

I've seen other writers associate this final curtain with the first Armagedon't, and now we appear to maybe be facing the "big one" in S3 - the Second Coming. I think that is too simplistic an association, especially for GO. The reversed side of the veil could be so many things: the final battle, the ability of our ethereal heroes to move between worlds, it could even be Crowley returning from the "death" of being one of the Fallen. As always, the meaning will be need to be considered within the context of the scene, and which side of the curtain we are looking from.

[art-o-gant]

THE AFTERLIFE IS FULL OF DEATH

[unsubtle-oddities]

when life gives you lemons

+ bonuses under cut

[justarandomlambblog]

(Open in new tab for better quality)

Re-ordered some stuff but here we go

will I color it one day? maybe. For now here we go.

--

In this AU, the Bishops were children who were raised in a temple together, chosen from a young age to bear the crowns.

Shamura the eldest, who loved to read and learn and share this knowledge with everyone around;

Kallamar the second, who loved to entertain his siblings with stories and tales;

Heket the third, who loved to try new things and share them with her siblings;

Narinder himself, who loved too much for the embodiment of death;

and Leshy the youngest, who dreamed of a future beyond the palace walls, where he and his family could simply be.

As they grew older, though, things began to change. Vows were made and stations were created- and everyone settled into their roles, learning and growing and expanding upon their domains... they of war, he of blight, she of famine and he of chaos...

But Narinder, he of Death, could not. And that already widening chasm only grew as he did, anyway.

Azri, eventually, came to view Narinder not as a cruel god, but as a victim of his station- a pathetic personification, a pitiable brother betrayed by those he loved, the very ones who placed those lofty, unreachable, unnatural dreams into him in the first place.

And, well, why become Death when you can simply put Death on a leash?

--

Since the Lamb spares Narinder, Narinder remains god of death but is essentially under Azri's control. The other four Bishops get revived, but since they died they lost their god status and only retain their immortal souls. Azri is a god themself after defeating all 5 Bishops (killing 4 of them) and obtaining their crowns.

All five crowns are now in Azri's possession and they are nigh on unstoppable. Luckily for everyone, they just want a peaceful and happy life. Being worshiped is a nice side effect, and sure, there's a sacrifice here and there, but all in all it's a very peaceful life.

Just... don't step out of line. When you have Death under your thumb, death has no meaning.

you can't die without their permission.

also don't mess with Nari bc the Lamb will have Words™ for you.

[sebille]

"The encore is finished, and I will not suffer myself to live again by Hydaelyn's magick. But more than that, the future you seek is not the past we loved." I've been thinking - does this mean that Emet-Selch is not going to allow himself to be "reborn" into the source, but that he'd rather just hang out in the aetherial sea forever?

[just-an-ordinary-fan]

hey. hey. what if the ressurection magic isn't broken because of the solstice but because vax got orbed. what then.

[loonarmuunar]

HES THE GIANT RAT THAT MAKES ALL OF THE RULES‼️

Ramsey is Big Rat. He makes deals, he swindles people, just like canon. Except his deals tend to end more deadly on the other’s end.

Y’know how in greece they would cover the eyes of the dead with coins for Charon’s ferry. Yea

[karis-online-archives]

INTRO POST YAY!

Hi! I'm Kari! (she/her)

If I happen to get asks they will be tagged with #karianswered🪷

And everything else will be tagged with #karityping🪷

I will also post recipes from time to time, those will be tagged with #karisrecepies🪷

I like a lot of stuff, but there is too much to keep track of.

Anyhow, right now the brain really enjoys:

ghostbusters

A good girl's guide to murder

Dead boy detectives

locke and key

true crime

paranormal investigations

commentary youtube

music

Viruses (specifically viral hemorrhagic fevers)

I also run the @ask-cas-hoppe account if anyone is interested :3

Music is therapy, change my mind.