#tw afterlife

[moremysteriesthantragedies]

Afterlife Villain & Hero Thoughts

Had some thoughts on this concept that's been wiggling around in my head, so.

Heroes and villains are constructs or ideas come to life, so I don't really think they can be killed, at least in a traditional sense. When you kill a thought that doesn't mean it's gone, that just means it's been moved to the back of your mind until it becomes relevant to you again. Within that space, I also imagine ideas can change and grow just like they do when we rattle them in our brains for a while. In this context, I imagine it can be because of that idea's perception of themselves or their creator's (either mother light or mother dark's) perception of them.

Therefore, dying is kind of a big deal, and even though they can technically respawn, lots of heroes and villains don't really want to risk it on account of many come out of these temporary afterlives as changed people. However, this fear is mostly unwarranted as mother light and mother dark usually step in to stop, say, someone with low confidence thinking themselves into being a bad person, and often bring out the good in their creations rather than the bad (and without overriding who that creation truly is deep down).

Though it's an entire discussion for potentially a later post how the villains mother light accepts into her light are essentially overwritten, in the rare chance she doesn't outright tear their entire existence to pieces upon becoming aware of them in her domain.

Typically, heroes and villains only stay in these afterlives for as long as they desire or until the danger has passed. They typically respawn wherever they last were, only now completely healed. There are only a few rare cases where they outright stay within these afterlives. Either because they themselves choose to (as the construct they're based on is changed during their stay, I imagine this could lead to them later being reborn if that construct is commonly on the mind of the normal civilians) or because mother dark or light refuses to let them leave, usually because they've committed some crime that makes either believe the villain or hero should be kept within their darkness/light rather than roaming freely.

I think (especially from a hero's perspective) it's easy to assume that the hero afterlife is like Heaven and the villain afterlife is like Hell, especially since outsiders often see mother dark as colder than she actually is, but this is far from the case. They're simply both comforting in their own ways. Within the hero afterlife, basking directly within Luma's light, heroes basically find themselves in a field of light where they feel light on their feet and energized by everything they see or touch. Within the villain afterlife, basking directly in Obscura's dark, villains basically find themselves in a field of black where they feel heavy on their feet and soothed into restfulness by everything they see or touch.

Tag list: @verba-writing, @perasperaadastrawriting, @profoundlyhauntedclaws

[silverknight338]

Saw a post about not wanting an afterlife and it occurs to me that i’ve never really wanted an afterlife so much as i have just wanted unrestricted freedom. The afterlife i imagine is just me going to places i want to be in and take time to explore and be there. To create and enjoy. To be able to be with friends at the snap of a finger if we want. (but haven’t thought much of family because i’ve only ever associated family with repression so why would they be in heaven (ok actually maybe to occasionally talk to family, but more from a historical context, to understand experiences and personalities rather than commune with)). To experience or find out the truth of history. To go back in time and see for myself korean swordsmiths before japan imperialism. To see dinosaurs! Woolly mamoths!

[ohgreat-moretapes]

Not sure if this would help you, but something that helps with my visual hallucinations is using my phone camera to check if something is real or not!

...

What does it mean when it makes them worse...?

-Tim

[sasakisniko]

-Hector Xtravaganza

@deadboyween Day 5: Family

[eldritchbean-shapeshifter]

My alterhumanity is a bit..... Confusing.... It's hard to explain.

I'm not otherkin or therian. Neither feels right to me.

My soul is..... my soul. It just kinda....is....?

My body feels too rigid. Too constricting. I often feel like I should be able to physically shift and change, but there's something blocking me. Preventing me from doing so. That's why I identify as physically nonhuman. I feel like I just got trapped in one form when I was born and I can't change for some reason.

Human is still part of my identity. But that's not all there is to me. No matter what form I take, there is always something more to me. I am always more than what I appear to be.

I feel like I'm supposed to be able to do anything that I can imagine. Sometimes I feel like I'm on the verge of finally unlocking them. But my abilities are always just barely out of reach.

I am an Eldritch Shapeshifter. I am just a silly bean. I am a smol creechur and I am a Cosmic Horror. I can be anything I want to be. But no matter how hard I try it's just not possible right now, and that makes me really frustrated.

I don't believe in reincarnation or past lives (I will always love and respect those who do!). I do believe in an afterlife (and a spiritual life before this one). I really hope that I can be free to truly Be Me in the afterlife. I'm in no rush to get there though 😅. This world may be rough but there's still so much I wanna do.

I really hope I can make some IRL alterhuman/nonhuman/therian/otherkin/etc. friends. In the meantime, I have some really cool & supportive family members and friends I can hang out with :)

Thanks for being patient with my rambling. There's just so much I wanna say, and as many know, any ADHD story comes with bonus content/commentary 😆

hey, question for non-humans/alterhumans/therians etc.!

i would be curious to hear what y'all's experience/view on your own alterhumanity is: I'll explain mine to clarify

personally I'm nonhuman, because my soul isn't human. my soul shifts its shape constantly but never takes a human form. my soul is the reason why I'm alterhuman. because my soul is not human

this is only my own personal experience of course! I'm really curious to hear about everyone elses experiences! ^^

[taiistired]

i need you more than anything

[howlidae]

a comic i meant to clean up but never did for my Wright Afterlife Agency AU!! more info below the cut!!

basically, everyone who has died in ace attorney and is connected to phoenix feel a strange pull towards the WAA. spirits linger there and come and go as they please, with mia and gregory being the main spirits who greet and get new ghosts accustomed to their afterlife.

everyone in the WAA embrace the fact that there are ghosts and the ghosts can do minor poltergeist things in the office itself, such as shaking charley, opening books, and turning on the tv!!!

i have more rambly ideas on my twitter @ howlidae if u would like to see more though i also plan to make more content and post it here!!

ur free to ask or comment if u have any questions about it :3

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

The Petelia Tablet, Greek, c.300-200 BCE: this totenpass (a "passport for the dead") was meant to be buried in a human grave; it bears an inscription that tells the dead person exactly where to go and what to say after crossing into the Greek Underworld

Made from a sheet of gold foil, this tablet measures just 4.5cm (a little over 1.5 inches) in length, and although it was found inside a pendant case in Petelia, Italy, it's believed to have originated in ancient Greece. It was meant to aid the dead in their journey through the Underworld -- providing them with specific instructions, conferring special privileges, and granting them access to the most coveted realms within the afterlife.

The Petelia tablet, displayed with the pendant case in which it was discovered

The tablet itself dates back to about 300-200 BCE, while the pendant case/chain that accompanies it was likely made about 400 years later, during the Roman era. It's believed that the tablet was originally buried with the dead, and that an unknown individual later removed it from the burial site and stuffed it into the pendant case. Unfortunately, in order to make it fit, they simply rolled it up and then snipped off the tip of the tablet. The final lines of the inscription were destroyed in the process.

The inverse side of the Petelia tablet

These textual amulets/lamellae are often referred to as totenpässe ("passports for the dead"). They were used as roadmaps to help guide the dead through the Underworld, but they also served as indicators of the elite/divine status of certain individuals, ultimately providing them with the means to obtain an elevated position in the afterlife.

The Petelia tablet is incised with an inscription in ancient Greek, and the translated inscription reads:

You will find a spring on your left in Hades’ halls, and by it the cypress with its luminous sheen.

Do not go near this spring or drink its water. You will find another, cold water flowing from Memory’s lake; its guardians stand before it.

Say: "I am a child of Earth and starry Heaven, but descended from Heaven; you yourselves know this. I am parched with thirst and dying: quickly, give me the cool water flowing from Memory’s lake."

And they will give you water from the sacred spring, and then you will join the heroes at their rites.

This is [the ... of memory]: [on the point of death] ... write this ... the darkness folding [you] within it.

The final section was damaged when the tablet was shoved into the pendant case; sadly, that part of the inscription does not appear on any of the other totenpässe that are known to exist, so the meaning of those lines remains a mystery (no pun intended).

Lamellae that are inscribed with this motif are very rare. They're known as "Orphic lamellae" or simply "Orphic tablets." As the name suggests, these inscriptions are traditionally attributed to an Orphic-Bacchic mystery cult.

The inscriptions vary, but they generally contain similar references to a cypress tree, one spring that must be avoided, another spring known as the "Lake of Memory," the sensation of thirst, and a conversation with a guardian (or another entity within the Underworld, such as the goddess Persephone) in which the dead must present themselves as initiates or divine individuals in order to be granted permission to drink from the Lake of Memory. They are thereby able to obtain privileges that are reserved only for the elite.

Though the specifics of this reward are often vague, it may have been viewed as a way to gain access to the Elysian Fields (the ancient Greek version of paradise) or as a way to participate in sacred rites; some totenpässe suggest that it may have allowed the soul to break free from the eternal cycle of reincarnation. Regardless, the overall objective was likely the same: to obtain a special status and acquire privileges that were inaccessible to most of the souls in the Underworld.

Sources & More Info:

Altlas Obscura: The Ancient Greeks Created Golden Passports to Paradise

The Museum of Cycladic Art: The Bacchic-Orphic Underworld

Bryn Mawr College: Festivals in the Afterlife: a new reading of the Petelia tablet

The Getty Museum: Underworld (imagining the afterlife)

The British Museum: Petelia tablet (with pendant case; chain)

[shooting-starzz]

The gayest Vampire there is..... It's that time of year, y'know what that means! Vampire Scott!

[boar-xam]

[one-time-i-dreamt]

There was an afterlife but you were reincarnated as a space jellyfish (art by @dimensionsfae).

[whereserpentswalk]

Is there a heaven for dragons after they are slain, a place of endless skies to fly through and endless gold to bathe in? Do the goblins have a place of endless caves when they die, with bugs to eat and no humans to hunt them? Do the vampires and ghouls have a place of endless night to go to when their false lives are laid to rest? Are the golems and minitours given a place to guard forever?

When a dragon is slain do the other dragons know? Do they visit its lair to find it empty? Do the trolls take count of the dead when they return from a battle with humanity, do they burry the ashes of those who are burnt by the morning sun? Is there something for orcs to pray to before battle, is there something to give them hope?

What do monsters feel before they die? What is the look in their eyes when we kill them? Is it fear? Could it be anything else?

[ohgreat-moretapes]

So is Brian gone now or is he still here? -🩸

01001001 01001101 00100000 01001100 01010101 01010010 01001011 01001001 01001110 01000111 :)

-⦻⦻⦻

[bonefall]

"Back in my day we loved our abusers or just disregarded them. We would never smash their heads against a wall until they agreed with us"

So... so you're just admitting you tried to Love and Kindness the abuse away?? You did that??? You think it's BAD to fight back against someone who is BEATING YOU?

Or does that mean, "we never demanded better treatment or justice. We just waited for our abusers to realize the error of their ways, like good victims."

I REALLY hope they get paid enough to go to therapy, this is actual factual abuse apologia. I am once again legitimately concerned for the mental health of these writers

[sasakisniko]

"You have to experience Hell before you can see what's really here."

@deadboyween Day 10: Hell