[text]

[unpocoloco]

Hola, Haven. I'm Héctor. Adding myself to the list of those asking strangers some even stranger questions, but after talking with some people, I'm wondering how many here are familiar with their world's afterlives. Who's been there and can you tell me what it was like for you?

With no connection to the other thing, I've also heard that the gods here sometimes give people powers. Whoever's willing to share that, what did you end up getting? Do you have any guesses why?

Comments

[whenyouneedme]

Ain't sure bout that first one.

[His world just had folks that sometimes just... didn't die?]

I got electric powers while I was here tho. Not super sure why, but they're handy for keepin my bike charged.

[unpocoloco]

[It be like that sometimes...]

Mina mentioned you when I talked to her. It certainly sounds convenient. Do you know when you got it?

[whenyouneedme]

geez uh... over a year ago, I think. Maybe it's just cuz she already has a quirk, but Mina's seems to have gone way easier for her. Mine was pretty wild at first, kept blowin lightbulbs up on accident

[voidbug]

i have seen ghosts. but i am not sure where they go after they are gone

[unpocoloco]

I'd imagine it's common, to not know where they go. Do people in your world normally see the dead?

[voidbug]

i don't think so

[Really doesn't seem likely, but, hard to know for certain.]

[menaretrash]

I haven't really 'died' necessarily but I was forced to disappear when everyone forgot I existed. When that happened, I woke up in a prison filled with despair. In the end everything worked out but, that's really the only experience I've got to draw on.

[unpocoloco]

[Wow, that's... stunningly familiar in a very, very painful way. It's actually breathtaking how much so.]

I think that counts enough. We have something like that, in my afterlife. When no one in the living world remembers you, you fade away. The final death. I'm sorry that you know what that's like.

If it's not too painful, what was this prison of despair?

[menaretrash]

It's what happens when you get pulled into an unfair game with a God that makes sure you can't win. Even still, I'm sorry that's the sort of thing you have to deal with, too. I hope you DIDN'T have to deal with that, at least.

[ Because she and her friends had gotten lucky, after all. They hadn't remained 'dead' for long, and in the end they'd come out on top and flipped that shitty 'game' to their advantage. ]

It was really strange. I hadn't been there before, and my other friends were there too, in different cells. We were just all really sad that all of our efforts at the time hadn't been worth anything, but one of our other friends showed up and reminded us that wasn't true. He helped us get the will to stand up and fight again.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

I do not have personal experience with that which occurs after death where I am from - the timing of my arrival was such that I was spared that, at least. But I am capable of seeing the souls of living beings, and through that have some familiarity with what transpires after death.

[unpocoloco]

[He'd like to say that things after death aren't so bad... but that only applies to a portion of his afterlife experiences, and not knowing other afterlives well is why he's asked people now.]

You're not the first I've met to see souls. It always sounds like an interesting power.

So what is your afterlife situation, that you're aware of?

[unnecessaryflourishes]

It is a rare gift, even on the worlds I am familiar with.

When a person dies, the aether that comprises their soul returns to the flow of aether - of energy, you might say - that surrounds the planet. In time, that selfsame soul will dissipate, becoming naught more than the raw aether from which it was first created, thence to give rise to new life and - perhaps - a new soul.

[astralera]

Hello, Héctor. I'm Era.

My boyfriend has already responded, so I suppose I can simply reiterate that the life energy that makes up a person's body, soul, and memories returns to the Aetherial Sea upon death. Souls drift there as aether until they are reborn again.

If you are asking more broadly what happens after death rather than where one might go, I know of two other possibilities:

1. A person loses their corporeal aether (traditional death) but their incorporeal aether (the soul/spirit) lingers in the form of a ghost.

2. A person loses their incorporeal aether but the corporeal remains. This is would be what many would know as a 'zombie'. I'm not sure if the soul returns to the Aetherial Sea in this circumstance, or if it lingers until the body is killed.

[unpocoloco]

Mucho gusto, Era. It's nice to see so many people here have managed to find or hang onto those they love.

[Not often he sees people who were from the same world originally.]

I would feel very sorry for these zombies if their spirits stayed trapped in bodies they couldn't even control. Is there a reason why these certain kinds of dead don't or can't pass on properly in your world?

[astralera]

The spirits aren't within their bodies so far as I understand it. I imagine their souls would be with Mother in the Aetherial Sea.

I know zombification happened during a past era due to aetherochemical warfare. Ghosts have myriad causes, though the most commonplace is due to traumatic deaths.

threadjacking super late and off topic because why not!!

[awooligan]

HOLD UP

boyfriend? you're married though
is this about the capey dude
what the fuck?

[astralera]

Yes, and?

[wakemelater]

Should I take the blame for some of this?

[If he knew what emojis were, he would have added a smiley face. But he doesn't, so no smile for you.]

I've never died, but I've visited the afterlives in my father's realm.

[All of them. The heavens and the hells.]

I know someone who got wind powers. But I don't know why or how. My guess is they did something the gods, or one of the gods, liked and were rewarded.

[unpocoloco]

Yes.

[If he was at all used to emojis he'd put one back, but really, it's a miracle that he learned how to use a phone and network at all.]

I don't think you described what it actually looks like before. Persephone and Red- the Cerebus- both described different worlds to me.

That's my theory too, regarding the gods, but I was still kind of hoping I'd be able to put together what sort of thing that might be, based off of the answers here. That was probably wishful thinking. Was this Mina? Or another person.

[the4united]

I've never been there, but I communicate with some who currently reside in the afterlife for mages on a semi-regular basis.

[unpocoloco]

A lot of mediums here. You have me wishing I could've reached one of you back home. Have those mages ever described that afterlife to you?

mercifully, this is private

[awooligan]

[Well, he's done poking his nose in one piece of business it didn't belong in, time to sniff out another one!

...

...

...]

Rivera-Adomaitis

The smallest of Mercies

[unpocoloco]

[In all truth, he hadn't been hiding it. He hadn't realized it wasn't obvious either. It wasn't as though he'd been sneaking around, keeping it a secret. In retrospect, he should have realized Cliff hadn't known because exactly this hadn't happened yet. Well, it's happening now.]

Yes. That's correct.
I'm guessing you have questions.

[iustaegis]

Honestly, Héctor, this is such a wonderful question. I don't have much to offer in terms of afterlife, but I'm happily reading others' answers, too. It's amazing how many worlds process what happens after death. I hope some of these answers comfort those who may be worried about such things.

[unpocoloco]

You were one of those who'd partly inspired me to ask. It's rare that someone knows of their world's afterlife ahead of time, but it's still common enough that you can find out things like all this. There's much more out there still. I've heard of different greek afterlives, high schools for the young dead, and my partner's world has a place called Nu, a waiting room for souls preparing to reincarnate. I can understand the worry people might have, but I don't think most people here have to worry.

[No one here deserves that place. Not that Nekane had either, but he's got to hang on to some hope.]