: Re: Can you frame ritual suicide in a "positive" light? Eons ago, there was a war among gods that came close to destroying humanity and the mortal realm. Gods depend on humanity, and their destruction

@Kaufman555

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In my view, the way to do this is to find a real-world example that we accept. Then weave in that example (better yet, multiple examples) through metaphor, direct reference, in dialog, in action, through scenes observing these actions, and so on.

I'd recommend research into any group of animals that seem to kill themselves. Groups of whales that beach themselves for unknown reasons, lemmings, pea aphids, birds that down themselves in large numbers, tarsiers, and so on.

You can branch out to include plants, or fungi. Work it into your world.

There will be problems with any individual example, but if you research every example you can find of non-humans committing some form of altruistic death, you can use what you learn to work the ritual--and the reader will buy in, if done well.

Perhaps the priests burn myxobacterial fruiting bodies in preparation for the ritual. Perhaps your heroes see a group of beached dolphins early on. Tuck it everywhere, any example that 'this is normal in the natural world.'

I'd also think about creating a proscription to cults in your world, and have a character explain directly why this ritual is not cultish. Call it out. this sort of acknowledgment can work well.

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