Fanfic: Poker
Sunday, December 1st, 2013 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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mindcracklove*_*_*
Bdubs blinks and finds himself in darkness.
Just darkness. No moon, no stars, nothing, not even a torch. He can see himself, just barely, like bedrock fog is floating out of his very skin. He squats to pat around his feet, just to reassure himself that there’s still a ground. There is no ground. “Hells!”
“Well, not quite. Welcome back, Bdubbles.” Nothing heralds the arrival of this voice. The darkness is total, absolute in a way that seems like it shouldn't even allow sound to part it, let alone the speaker.
“What, what? Who's there? Where’s the ground!?” Bdubs awkwardly trips backwards, landing (on what??) heavily on his back, feet in the air and arms flailing.
Soft laughter draws his attention to the luminescent, male face that appears in his field of view. It’s familiar, that face. He should know it.
“Funny how you ask that almost every time. I guess that’s what the Veil does to you, though. Here." He gestures carelessly. "I like it when you all remember me. Makes me feel loved.” Mystery man is suddenly no longer a mystery.
“Nebris!”
Nebris’ eyes crinkle around the corners, purple gleaming brighter. It’s weird, Nebris is glowing, but he’s not actually emitting any light. Bdubs reaches out curiously from his supine position, brushing his fingers against Nebris’ pants leg. Yeah, that’s not making his own hand any more visible.
Setting himself on a piece of darkness, Nebris crosses his legs and says, “See? Much better.” He waves a hand lazily. “Have a seat.”
Bdubs levers himself upwards, pointedly casting his eyes around the endless expanse of darkness. “On what? Dunno if it’s escaped your notice, but there isn’t much to this place.”
“What’re you standing on, Bdubs? Actually, don’t think on that too hard, please. It’s hard to find people when they’re falling through this place. Just… Sit. I’m sure you’ll find something,” Nebris says, lounging in his spot like a pleased cat.
Uncertainly, Bdubs slowly lowers himself into a sitting position across from Nebris. His legs tremble as they try to support him while his center of mass shifts very inconveniently. He can’t help but relax them, letting out a squeak as he begins to fall backwards-
Only to land, upright and seated, on nothingness with his characteristic floppy ungainliness. He doesn’t notice his body brighten for a brief flash, too busy wondering what just happened.
“Knew you could do it,” Nebris says. “Just takes a little optimism, and you’ve got plenty of that.”
Wow. Wow. This place is kind of cool! He has a chair… Hm. Bdubs forms a sphere with his hand, because there is obviously a ball there, in that piece of darkness, about the size of his closed fist. He lightly tosses his ball in the air, reveling in the weird knowledge of exactly where the ball is, but completely unable to feel it.
Sounding delighted, Nebris says. “You’re always so creative! Give you the ability to build and you just start bursting with ideas.”
Bdubs frowns at the hand that’s tossing the ball up. Is it just him, or does it look a little brighter? On a whim, he pitches the ball to Nebris, who snatches it lazily out of the dark. “Why are you here, Nebs? …And where is here?”
“Well, you might have died up there,” Nebris waves a hand vaguely upwards. “Welcome to Limbo, aka, the Void.”
“I… I’m dead?” Bdubs asks, shock etching his tone. The memory comes back in a rush. That’s right there’d been a zombie horde, and he’d tried to save that village. Then that child had been turned, he can still hear the sound of visceral ripping as the zombie… Don’t think about it.
And, well, it’s not like he hasn’t been dead before. “Again? I don’t remember this from last time.” Bdubs makes a cube instead of a ball this time, and second one, stacking them and creating more, enough to construct a small building. He thinks he’s definitely looking a little brighter. This is fun, creating stuff from nothing. His creation might be physically invisible, but in his mind it shines in full form and color.
Nebris shakes his head in what looks like genuine sadness. “None of you ever do. That’s part of the Veil I’m not allowed to bypass.”
“If I’m dead, why’re you here?” Bdubs asks.
“Er. I’m Death. It’s my job to be here,” Nebris says, shrugging.
…
Okay, did not expect that one, taking a few moments to compute. “WHAT?”
Nebris nods, suddenly shuffling a deck of cards. “That too, every time. Normally we play a game.” He flourishes the cards, sending them into a high arc of a shuffle. “I win, you go back, you win, you actually die.”
“I. Hang on. How does that work? Isn’t it the other way around? Also, wow. Wow! Death, huh? I guess that explains why you mutual-kill so much.”
Shrugging negligently, Nebris says, “I don’t like the paperwork. People always assume wrong and I get a good game out of it because they’re still trying to win.”
“‘Normally’?”
“Most of the time, people lose hope down here. Limbo’s like that. It sucks the life from people, preparing them for the descent. Remember how dark you were at the beginning? They get lost, think there’s no way out, give in to the sucking, draining despair. The game is a… catalyst, of sorts. Even though they lose, they begin to believe again. There's nothing like desperation to keep you going. I can’t… I can’t just play a game without a wager, though. If there’s nothing on the line, I’m not allowed. Nothing for free, ever. Even if I want nothing more than to send someone back, if they win then the deal’s been made.
“But I didn’t do anything this time. Just this once, I didn’t have to play. You and your optimism, Bdubs. Rise, like the phoenix you keep proving yourself to be.” Nebris grins, stark in the light that suddenly floods out from Bdubs’ form.
Bdubs can feel himself fizzing and dissipating, and he doesn’t want to, not yet, not without Nebris. “What about you?” He can’t leave Nebris behind!
“Oh, I’ll always be there, preparing to steal all of your glowstone. I swear, you people are so weird to be worried about the well-being of Death, of all things…”
*_*_*
The darkness of this place… Is this the Farlands? Kurt doesn’t think it is. In tales, the Farlands is always a twisted land, full of chaos, impossibility, and Eldritch design. This place is just dark. He shivers, feeling nothing but emptiness around him. Not even Wolfie’s comforting presence. The loss of his constant companion hits him hard.
What’s he going to do? He can’t just keep walking, what he’s always done, because he doesn’t know which way is west.
“Hey Kurt. Don’t see you here often. I’d ask how you’re doing, but you’re kind of dead.”
Who is this person, and why does he know Kurt’s name? Also why is Kurt dead? Why is he here? Where is here?
“I get so tired of answering the same questions every damn time, you know. Please just trust me when I say everything’s fine? Although, trusting me, really… Kind of a stretch there, I admit.” OH! That’s Nebris?
“Nebris? What’s going on?” Kurt asks, confused.
“Sorry, you’re dead. It happens sometimes. If it helps, you’ll probably get better?” Nebris offers, looking hopeful. His sits on some invisible chair, props his legs up on something else. “We need to have a game for that to happen, though. Sit?”
Kurt warily sits backwards, willing for something, anything, to catch him, finds himself falling into a seat made of darkness. How fortuitous. He folds his hands, leaning against what he can only assume is a table. “A game?”
“How do you feel about Poker?”
*_*
“I’m playing for my soul, aren’t I?” Kurt’s read enough books to know how games with Death go.
“Pretty much,” Nebris says, shrugging. “Call.” He tosses down a full house, threes and eights. Kurt sighs, revealing a pair of sixes. He nudges a small pile of chips over to his smirking opponent. Poker isn’t Kurt’s game. Too much subterfuge for his tastes. Perfect for Nebris in that respect, Kurt can see why he chose it.
“I hope Wolfie will be alright without me,” Kurt says, worried for his dog. Maybe Zisteau or BdoubleO can take care of him.
Looking up sharply as he deals them new hands, Nebris says, “don’t give up, Kurt. You’re stronger than you think you are.”
It’s a nice sentiment, isn’t it? Kurt glances at his cards, noting four spades. He drops the lone clubs, motioning for Nebris to deal him another card. But that’s all it is, sentiment.
“Who’s strong enough to defeat Death at his own game? I’ve heard the legends. Only demi-gods and heroes can come close,” Kurt snorts, realizing how bitter he’s being. Well, he’s dead. Let him have this moment?
“And that’s the problem with stories: they’re always about other people. No one stops to think that maybe they’re the hero in that story,” Nebris slides Kurt’s new card across the table to him. Not daring to breath, Kurt tips the corner up. Spades!
“Raise,” Kurt says, new determination in his voice. He’ll call on the next turn. Nebris nods approvingly, nudging a few of his own chips to the pile.
*_*
“You know,” Nebris says, as Kurt’s forced to ante up his last two chips. “I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important.”
What’s his point? Kurt can’t win this. A high three of a kind won’t win him this. “Well, evidently I wasn’t too important. Seeing as I’m dead.”
Looking him dead in the eyes, Nebris repeats, “I’ve never meant anyone who wasn’t important.” The violet lasers through Kurt’s glasses, full of serious purpose. “You are no exception, Man-Who-Walks. Everyone’s the hero of their own tale. It takes someone special to give so much to others, to help them though their own stories. Call.” He shows a straight, then continues his speech, doesn’t let Kurt get a word in.
“You do so much good, and yet still you can't…" He stabs his index finger authoritatively at Kurt. "Don’t forget, just as you help others, they can help you. ...Though, I realize that might have had more impact if I hadn’t just beaten you at Poker,” Nebris drops his hand and leans back, intensity gone just as quickly as it appeared. He looks satisfied. “And… I never said you had to win.”
Kurt lets out a breath of exclamation as he feels himself begin to float, light bursting to life in his chest and flowing to the tips of his fingers, bringing with it a fresh buzz of feeling. He can faintly hear excited yipping as the world whites out.
*_*_*
Whatwhatwhat? Where? MC glances around, eyes straining as he tries to see anything but endless nothing. How’d he get here? The last thing he remembers… He knocks his head a few times. Kinda fuzzy. His name his MC, he likes blue stuff. Lapis, that’s it, that’s the blue stuff. He’s got a bunch of friends, what are their names? Mmmmmmiiiiiii-
“Millbee?” says a voice.
Yeah! Millbee is one of his friends, as are Pause and Pyro and
Is that Nebris? “Nebris?”
Nebris waves. “Hey, MC.”
MC grins, bouncing over to his friend. “Nebris! Haven’t seen you in a while! How are you?” He hugs the man, giggling as Nebris squirms to get away.
“I’m doing alright,” Nebris gives into the hug (they all do, eventually, MC does excellent hugs, or so he’s been told), ruffling MC’s hair with resigned amusement. “How’re you doing, squid?”
“I’m good!” MC says. “What have you been up to?”
“Oh, this and that. Adlingtont’s been keeping me busy. I’ve been playing a lot of Poker. Oooh. Next time I get a bunch of you down here at once we should play strip poker. I don’t know why I’ve never thought of this before,” Nebris says, and his eyes glint a touch manically over his scheming smirk.
‘Down here’? That’s some odd phrasing. Has MC a little worried. “Down here? Where’s here?”
“Ah, nowhere important, really. You’re… dreaming.” Nebris hefts MC up, disentangling himself from MC’s grabby arms, and plops him into a seat lost somewhere in the darkness. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll wake up soon.”
Sitting back in his own chair, Nebris pulls out a deck of cards and proceeds to shuffle them in complicated motions. The flipping of the cards has MC utterly entranced. He almost wants to bat at them, but realizes just how cat-like the action is before he can lift his hand. He sits on his hands instead. Nebris' sternum twitches, and though nothing shows on his face, MC knows he's totally laughing at him, the jerk.
“Did you play poker in a past life, or something? Those are some smooth moves with those cards there,” MC says, refusing to give Nebris any more ammo.
“I’ve just played quite a few games in my life. Had a lot of practice,” He doesn’t catch the flash of sadness in Nebris’ face, back to its normal expression in the span of a blink. “Besides, these are special cards, Cards of JUSTICE! Wanna play some Poker before you wake up? I promise it won't be strip poker.”
MC squeaks and covers his reddening face with his hands, peeking out between his fingers. “Thanks, I think.”
Nebris smirks at him. “You’re so innocent. I’ll deal.”
*_*
Wow, Nebris is just owning him! MC looks at his hand. Kings high? Really? “‘Been playing a lot of Poker’? More like been playing poker 24/7! This is why you haven’t shown your face for months! I don't think I've won more than three hands!”
Nebris winces, “sorry. You’re not the most convincing at bluffing. Trust me, I’ve played Etho, the man might not have his damn mask down here, but he’s a sight harder to figure out than anyone I’ve ever known. Raise.”
As MC has just figured out, Nebris is absolutely vicious at poker. Nebris usually has a couple tells, they’ve hung out enough that MC can sometimes spot them, but there’s absolutely nothing right now. Also, he’s pretty sure Nebris is cheating. He’s sure there aren’t enough eights in the deck for him to get pairs of eights that many times. Also, this is Nebris. Why wouldn’t he have a few cards up his sleeve in a game legendary for it? And MC even let him deal… Wow, where did his brain go?
“You’re so cheating. I fold.”
“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not,” Nebris shrugs, gathering the cards into the deck and scooping his newly-acquired chips over to his side of the darkness. He raises an eyebrow pointedly, “But I'm me. Draw your own conclusions.”
Grumblegrumblegrumble…
*_*
Welp, that’s that. And MC had a really good hand, too! Full house, jacks and sevens! So, of course, Nebris gets four eights, right?
“Oh, don’t make pouty faces at me,” Nebris scolds. “I win, puppy eyes won’t change reality. Er, won’t change a given value of reality, at least. I don’t think this place belongs in the mortal plane.”
MC stares at him grumpily.
Stepping back a pace, Nebris waves a few bits of blue stone around, lifting them out of MC’s reach as he grabs for them. “Nope. I’ll give you these when you go back. I’m not sure they’ll transfer too well.”
The darkness seems like it’s lifting, luminance radiating from MC in resplendent waves. “Whoa, whoa! Where’m I going?” he squeaks as he rises into the air, legs scrabbling for purchase.
“Breathing, living, all that jazz. You did good, MC, have a nice life. Don’t come back anytime soon!”
*_*_*
Where’s his mask?
That’s all he can think, where’s his mask? He runs a hand across his face, confused as to why it doesn’t catch on the piece of fabric that usually obscures his mouth. That’s not… The mask is more of a crutch than anything. With nothing to conceal his emotions but his own self-control, Etho feels unusually, uncomfortably vulnerable.
“Every time,” comes a voice from behind him. Etho whirls, catching dark hair, a stocky frame, and violet eyes. “It always knocks you off your game.”
He blinks to disguise his flinch, settling himself into a ready stance. Whoever this man is, he’s dangerous. A child could tell him that.
“And every time I tell you masks aren’t allowed in Limbo, not physical ones, anyway. I can never tell whether you’re more dangerous with or without memories. Ah, whatever. In America, we believe in equality!” Nebris spreads his arms in a dramatic gesture. “Miss me?”
Etho cants his head, relaxing his block ever so slightly. “Nebris?” Nebris probably won’t hurt with without provocation. Probably. All the same, his danger meter is still pinging deafeningly.
“Always, always with the name. Look,” Nebris shakes a fist in Etho’s direction, raising a finger with every point. “A, you’re dead, again. Thanks for that, by the way, I’m busy. Leading into that, B, I’m Death. C, this is Limbo, hope you enjoy your stay. D, we’re going to play some Poker. E, no questions this time.”
Dead again, hm? Well, he supposes there’s some way to get out of this, he’s apparently done it before. Going by the fourth point, poker. Of course it’s poker.
It’s against his most basic nature to comply with Nebris. “Death? How old are you?” Etho asks, smiling cheekily.
Nebris levels a dirty glare at him, pulling out a deck of cards to shuffle. “Doesn’t affect my age in reality at all.”
“Lie.” Etho can see it, plain as day. Well, day would be stretching it, he supposes. Credit where credit’s due, it’s about as plain as heavy fog at twilight. But Nebris can’t hide something like age from him. The line’s delivery is too practiced, and Etho can see it in his eyes. Windows to the soul indeed, and Etho sees an ancient contentment, buried behind layers of sarcasm and boisterous glee.
For not the first time, Nebris looks a little hesitant, his certainty shifting the tiniest bit before returning. “Dangerous, always dangerous,” he mutters.
“Anything else you’d like to lie about, Mr. Cheaty?”
“Oh, let’s just play the damn game,” Nebris says, crossly.
*_*
It’s odd, Nebris looks almost scared as Etho places down a winning flush, then a two-pair of kings and queens on the next hand. Etho would expect frustration, maybe, at the possibility of losing a chance to keep Etho’s soul. It’s not like Etho can hurt Death in his own domain, Etho can’t do anything but resurrect if he wins. He’s done that plenty of times, so why should this incur any fright?
“How’s life? Or unlife? Or, how does one classify Death’s state of existence anyway?” Etho pokes, awaiting Nebris’ response curiously.
Rubbing at his temples, Nebris says, “one of these days I’d appreciate if it you actually listened to my request. I’m alive, I think. In a given sense.” He flexes his card-hand pensively, examining its unnatural glow. (Etho’s sure he just used that movement to slip a card out of his sleeve, but he hasn’t caught him yet.)
Interesting juxtaposition, the idea of Death as a living being. Well, Nebris always seemed as alive as every other person. Full of his own quirks and tells and his own personal brand of idiocy that all of Etho’s friends seem to possess in one form or another. Etho shrugs. Okay then.
“You’re alive.” It has to be a lonely existence, knowing that every one of his friends will die and that he never will. Only able to show them his true self when they’ve died and liable to scare them to, excuse his pun, death at the same time.
In deference to Etho’s comment, Nebris doesn’t cheat on the next hand.
*_*
Etho can see the tension melt out of Nebris as the cheaty jerk reveals a royal flush, collecting the last of Etho’s chips. Etho shakes his head. The man is shameless.
Looks like his luck’s run out this time. Nebris gets this one victory, but what an important one it is.
“I didn’t think cheating in a game of this magnitude was condoned,” Etho says, fighting to keep his fear—he’s actually going to die, for good this time—off his face.
“Eh. It’s not a heavily enforced rule. More of a guideline. Up to creative interpretation, if you will,” Nebris grins, wiping a thin sheen of sweat from his brow with a black-clad wrist. “GG, Etho, gg.” He applauds.
Before he can say anything to the effect of ‘thanks for killing me, jerk’ only in slightly harsher words, Etho notices his skin, so shadowed before, begin to burn like a beacon. The light spills out from his core, filling his veins with an electric snap of fire and life. His vision goes fusion blue and he can and can’t feel sparks racing across his rapidly disassociating form. This isn’t death, this is
“Despite ignoring my demands, thanks. As-”
The rest of the sentence is lost to howling noise and the echoes of a carefree chuckle.
*_*_*
End.
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Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 05:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 06:25 am (UTC)I dunno if I can write another one of these, unfortunately. Once I decide I'm done with something, I have a lot of trouble writing more. I can give you a couple thoughts on it, though! The central theme would be something like how the man who creates courses of death has finally died himself, maybe with a touch of how protective Vechs is. Vechs would be without his goggles, as they are a bit of a mask (Kurt's glasses just baaarely passed). The line "Huh. I'll admit, did not know you had green eyes." comes to mind. Also, Vechs would be a curious little bugger, asking tons of questions and generally making Nebris want to cheat a bunch of royal flushes just to get him to respawn so he can go be curious as a kitten around Z like he's supposed to.
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Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 07:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 05:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 06:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 06:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 07:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 07:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 10:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 05:15 pm (UTC)Thanks! <3
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Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 11:03 am (UTC)(I might've said that before but eh)
This is certainly a very interesting prompt... I think MC's reaction was probably my favorite, just because he rolled with the whole thing pretty well.
(also, I agree that the prospect of how others might react is an extremely entertaining thought)
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Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 05:24 pm (UTC)That's because MC didn't know he was dead. (you might've figured that out, sometimes I miss things, sorry :( ) Nebris gave him back every memory except the dying bit. Didn't want him to feel like he was playing a game of life or death, just a fun match between friends.
(it would be, I'm sure they'd each have their own little ways of dealing with it, and Nebris would have different ways to deal with them)
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Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 03:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 05:29 pm (UTC)MC's great! And yeah, Nebris can cheat, but he has to be a least a little subtle about it, which is why he can't constantly pull royal flushes out of his sleeves. So Etho is a challenge because Nebris can't always read him well enough to know when to use the better hands.
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Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 06:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 07:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 07:57 pm (UTC)Wow.
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Date: Monday, December 2nd, 2013 09:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013 08:09 pm (UTC)I loved the bit where he said Adlington was keeping him busy, made me laugh. Plus I was scared for Etho! No Etho would be a very bad thing.
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Date: Wednesday, December 4th, 2013 12:36 am (UTC)The poor guy has died so many times. :D It's a good thing Nebris has leet cheaty skillz.
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Date: Sunday, January 19th, 2014 04:11 pm (UTC)I've missed out on something here XD
I know I was busy in December, but man...This is a great story =D I love the idea and the writing style. And all the characters are spot on too. My compliments, this definately is up there, in the list of the best MindCrack FanFictions.
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Date: Sunday, January 19th, 2014 06:04 pm (UTC)Thank you! <3 'Twas really fun to write. (you flatter me :) )
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Date: Sunday, January 19th, 2014 09:45 pm (UTC)I have to admitt that I don't know much about the work ot Mr. Pratchett other then having played a tiny bit of the Discworld II game a long time ago. So if there are any refferences to that, I am not seeing them ^^'
Which however leaves me free to run my inagination. And this certainly has caught my interest now XD I am wondering why Nebris, as Death, is allowed to be part of the overworld. What the rules of this are, how he became friends with the other Mindcrackers and who his friends in years long gone may have been. I wonder what is happening to the souls that actually die. And I wonder how all the other Mindcrackers would have reacted.
It's been a while since a One Shot has caught my interest that much Xb So again, really well done =D
Honestly, if I had the time, I'd be so tempted to write a FanFictin based on your FanFiction which I've not done in years XD Not even to post it, just to see how things may have worked out XD
I can just see the reactions of some of them...
Pakratt: "Wait. Does that mean I have I died?"
Nebris: "I am afraid so, buddy."
Pakratt: "Aw, crap!"
Pause: "What do you mean, I'm dead? I don't wanna be dead! That sucks!"
Doc: "I can't believe that you are Death. That's kinda cool, man."
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Date: Monday, January 20th, 2014 01:42 am (UTC)I don't think I referenced him overmuch, so you're good!
You are totally free to do whatever you like with this setting! I love it to bits and it's awesome that it's managed to capture you attention. (If you do come up with anything, I'd be honored to read it.) You have their voices perfect, I could see those three react like that. :D Pause in particular.
I think he's allowed to the overworld because most of his powers are restricted to the domain of the dead and Limbo (and in Limbo he's only allowed to do so much so that he doesn't upset the balance of life and death too badly). And, well, he's Death. Aside from things he's forbidden from doing (forbidden without any loopholes, at least), I'm pretty sure he gets to do whatever he likes. :3 I don't really know about the rest of those, although I have some fun theories about the Void that unfortunately I can't apply here because the Void is Limbo rather than the land of the dead in this universe.
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Date: Monday, January 20th, 2014 08:59 pm (UTC)(I still wanna read his stories one day Xb)
If I ever find the time to write something based on this, I'll make sure to show it to you and get smacked on the head for getting it wrong Xb But it'd still be fun to do =)
Makes sense =) Alltough it does provide with other interesting ideas instead. Incluidng the reson why the Bedrock is seperating the void from the overworld and why one dies when falling into it.
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Date: Wednesday, September 10th, 2014 03:58 pm (UTC)No chance of more? :3
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Date: Wednesday, September 10th, 2014 07:22 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, probably not. ): I am toying with the idea of touching up this piece a little, though, so if I ever get around to that there is a possibility inspiration may strike.