DEATH // LESS

orpheus roth. eighteen. 

[mvrtemisms]

They laid back on the grass, looking up without focusing on much above them. “Would you donate your body to science?” They rolled onto their stomach, propping up their elbows and resting their head in their hands. “I’ve thought about it but I think i would rather someone use my body in a ritual. It just sounds fun.”

[mvrtemisms]

parabcllums‌:

“uhm…” lottie didn’t think that she was the only one who could POSSIBLY be witnessing this ; but she did seem to be the only one who was thoroughly…- confused was NOT a good enough word, but ‘disgusted’ went a little far. with an expression that was almost comically twisted, she had not only taken a few steps backwards from the creature that orpheus now cradled - she’d also stood RIGHT up onto the nearest chair, with not even the mildest of chances to now style that out. “this is fine. this is…- this is normal. you’ve got a dead cat. cool! that’s so- cool.” one hand rested on her neck, very ‘victorian lady fighting fainting dramatically’, “just- just to be clear, you didn’t, uhm- you didn’t… do this to it, right? you didn’t prefer it… furless?” 

Orpheus furrowed their brow and looked up at Lottie, concerned. “Are you okay?” They asked. There had been similar reactions in the past but mostly when they had used bones of another variety for what they needed to do. And yet they never quite got used to the reactions people had, to the perplexion and disgust about something they had never questioned a day in their life. “They’re harmless I promise. Wouldn’t even think to harm a hair on your head.” They offered a large smile. As they spoke the cat left their arms, instead stepping up onto their shoulders. “What?” As they asked the question they raised an eyebrow. “No. Of course not. I wouldn’t hurt a living thing. Not only that be wrong but it would be so messy. How gross.”

[mvrtemisms]

parabcllums‌:

“fascinating.” she meant it. victoria couldn’t get her hands on the offered pen fast enough - careful, at orpheus’ heed, to be GENTLE in her handling of it. twisting the pen this way and that to properly take in each of the carvings upon it, she cannot hope to hide the fact that she’s impressed. “you made this? it’s beautiful.” 

“Thank you!” Orpheus beamed. Controlling and shaping bone was something they prided themself on even if the ability came from a mutation in their genetic code. It was still a skill nonetheless and the control it took for them to craft something so intricate. “I did! It wasn’t that hard given my mutation but! Thank you!”

[mvrtemisms]

thevalorous‌:

“hm,” benjamin mused, his eyebrows furrowing together as he turned his head to look at orpheus, “that’s a pretty deep question to have over your morning cereal,” he laughed, but he wasn’t ready to dismiss the subject quite yet. “i would say that unless you actually remember them yourself, that then they really aren’t your memories?” he responded with relative uncertainty. “at least i think.”

“I think that maybe you just have boring conversations over your morning cereal.” Orpheus shrugged. “I can remember some memories but it’s more bits and pieces than anything else. And sometimes they feel more dreams.” They said. “Ugh this is all so confusing.”

[mvrtemisms]

parabcllums‌:

“if i die-” if you ASKED kena whether she thought she’d live forever, she’d lift her shoulders upwards with an air of not caring either way, and put it to you simply : she didn’t know. no one did. she had as much insight into her own possible immortality as the rest of the world had into their own, but she wouldn’t have been being facetious with such wording of an answer, just like she wasn’t being so right now. the only thing hard to know was whether her ( unique ) views came from growing up around the x-men ( who seemed to treat death as a temporary condition, like the FLU ), or being the grandchild of jean grey and scott summers ; two family lines that had skewed things permanently all on their OWN. “my funeral has to be something like this. cut the memorial shit. i want gangnam style playing while people do tequila shots off my hot pink coffin, and…- i don’t fuckin’ know. people in a corner teaching my kid how to roll her first joint to remember me by, instead of telling her stupid stories that won’t even matter by then. henry knew what was what.”

“I’m pretty sure all my funerals were boring.” Orpheus said matter of factly. They never cared much for the practice of them, for the people who saw death more of an end than a beginning. Death was both a distant thing and a thing they knew all too well. They would die one day. That was something they had accepted before the memories came back, accepted back when they first learned to control bone constructs. And yet they knew still death and their life continued, beating on ceaselessly, and would like do so for countless more decades. “I mean it’s not like I remember them or anything but if I summoned the ghosts of anyone who went to them I’m sure they would tell me how much of a snooze fest they were.” They imagined they had been treated to the typical funeral style, to the black clothing, to the dreary rooms, to the mournful speeches about the futures they could’ve led. “I don’t really see the appeal of something like this, either. Please just make my bones in jewelry and let the rest of me rot in the woods.”

[mvrtemisms]

closed starter for @thevalorous​

“Do memories from a past life count as my memories? Or are they entirely the past version’s?” Orpheus mused. “The philosophical questions that come with reincarnation are such a headache.”

[mvrtemisms]

closed starter for @parabcllums​

“That pen is made out of human bone.” Orpheus gestured at the pen, an ornate thing with seemingly carved decorations. “It was actually a lot easier to make than I thought it would be but it is pretty fragile so be careful handling it.”

[mvrtemisms]

“Be careful!” Orpheus moved forward. They reached down and picked up the small cat, a skeletal little thing. “This little guy is a lot more fragile than you might think. They don’t have nearly as much calcium as they did when they were living.” A laugh left their lips. “Sorry if they scared you. They snuck off while I was working one another bone construct. Not sure how this construct got a mind of their own but this one seems to have.”

[mvrtemisms]

whatever shall i do with my dead my tombs & mausoleums these potted plants tended by strangers over yr eyes        closed maybe dreaming      dead/ loved so particularly       i dont know what to do with you

— ntozake shange

app

⧼    kaylee bryant, agender, they/them   /   any kind of dead person by ghost quartet  +   three aesthetics    ⧽   ━━   let me tell you a thing or two about ORPHEUS ROTH the EIGHTEEN year old child of DAKEN (bio/first life) // RAVEN ROTH * KORIAND’R (adopted) is a UNDERGRAD student at paragon academy , and has sometimes been referred to as THE PARADOX. they’ve always seemed very IMAGINATIVE & ROMANTIC , though i’ve heard that they can be pretty FATALISTIC & LONELY, too. it’s common knowledge that they have the power of REINCARNATION, MEDIUMSHIP, & REANIMATION (skeletons/bones only)   ; guess we shouldn’t get on their bad side, huh?   [ chris ]

stats

name: Orpheus Roth

age: 18

gender + pronouns: agender, they/them

height: 5′5

notable features: lilac eyes (physical mutation)

family: Roslyn Ellis, biological mother; Daken, biological father; Koriand’r, adoptive mother; Raven Roth, adoptive mother

powers

reincarnation // At the time of their death, Orpheus’s soul goes to a sort of nebulous void while, on earth, their body is rebuilt as an infant, though the latter doesn’t always begin right away. How long this process takes depends on how they die and their physical age at the time. Once they are reborn, appearing in a spot near to either where they die or where they were laid to rest, they do not recall anything from their past lives. As they grow older, they gain memories from their past lives in a sporadic matter triggered by a variety of things.

reanimation // They can manipulate dead skeletal tissue. The reanimated creatures have no sentience, thus limiting how many they can control at one time and keep their focus. However, they have to be careful when they use this ability as their powers are at their strongest when they are at their weakest. So after long bouts of using it, they tend to be weak if not outright ill for a while while they recover, and they are generally... a bit shaky... when using it at all but they don’t feel it. 

mediumship // They can talk to ghosts, wild right?

lifetimes

one. A child was born nearly 51 years ago. As they grew up, for much of their life, there wasn’t anything special about them at first glance. But while their mother worked the night shift to pay the bills without the aid of a father who only vaguely knew they existed, they snuck out and spent their nights at the local cemetery. The dead had always called to them, be it in the whispers of spirits that clung around the small town or the power they felt when they sat in the cemetery. They learned their powers quickly after this started. They learned to work the bones of the dead and summon more clearly the spirits that stayed around. When they reanimated bones, they felt their strongest and they craved that feeling even if they were left with nosebleeds while they used their powers and a general weakness after that grew as time went on. This life ended quietly and far too soon only a few weeks after their twelfth birthday

two. A child, ten at the time and cast out of the foster home when it was revealed they were a mutant, was found and taken in by a small group of mutants. No one cared to parent them but took the time to teach them how to control their powers, show them the warning signs of them going too far. It would be another decade spent with the group. They were the closest thing they had to a family anyway. When they were twenty, a group of anti mutant extremists attacked the group and after overextending themself in order to protect the others, they died.

three. their current life. just skip to the next section lmao

tldr

Orpheus is the biological child of Daken, born first almost 51 years ago. They have the powers of reanimation but only via bones, reincarnation, and mediumship. And they are currently living their third life.

Currently, they do not have too many memories about their past lives, It’s mostly brief flashes of memories that don’t back much sense to them but they can pass off as dreams they have mostly forgotten. 

As an infant, they were adopted by Kori and Raven. There childhood was average by any stretch of the word but there was never anything too exciting happened.