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theminecraftbee · 5 months

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i'm still thinking about the fae zedaph prompt so much that i have. an entire au in my head now. that i am now sharing, in case others are interested.

so the setting of the au is an intentionally kind of anachronistic blend of sci-fi and fantasy, and those things often come into conflict, with a lot of magic interacting badly with technology and technology interacting badly with magic. a vaguely earth-like setting from the near future, where there are robots and space travel and cybernetics, but ALSO a vaguely earth-like setting where there are portals you can slip through that will drop you into the feywild and there are magcial creatures lurking beneath the surface. the idea is like, if an urban fantasy had the 'urban' part set in a sci-fi world.

anyway, so zedaph is an ancient fey creature. a wild fey no longer really associated with either court, but at one point having belonged to the seelie court, zedaph mainly just courts chaos. he's PROBABLY some kind of archfey, but it's worth noting that even other fey aren't fully certain what zedaph is supposed to be at this point. see, in a move that makes almost no sense to a human, zedaph has started to get bored of the games of fair folk. he finds them too... predictable! and sure, to HUMANS the fair folk can seem chaotic and without rules, but to zedaph? he wants something NEW AND EXCITING.

too bad that these days, even if he IS invited into the human realm, it is a bit dangerous to navigate for a fey such as himself. his own deep connection to nature and the natural world makes it so he has some trouble when he's in the tall metal cities of the human realm.

enter: tango.

tango is an android built for... some purpose. he's not really sure what his purpose is, or if he still has one, which is kind of distressing, because his creator either died or abandoned him before tango was turned on. he likes building zany contraptions, sure, but he also sort of wants to search for SOME kind of meaning in his life, since androids aren't really built to be purposeless and that lack of purpose is starting to wear at him. and in another setting, this is a great start to a cyberpunk story about what it means to be human, but in THIS setting, tango accidentally proves he must be developing a soul when he stumbles through a portal to the feywild by accident and fails to find his own way out.

the good news for tango is also the bad news: he's not built for a natural place like the feywild. see, his creator had made him largely out of cold iron, and that, even more than any specific technology, repels fair folk magic. so the good news is that he is largely immune to fey shenanigans! the bad news is that the feywild itself is rejecting him, putting him in immense danger.

enter: zedaph, who is FASCINATED to discover that these days the humans are making machines with souls. zedaph, eager to discover something new, makes a bargain with tango: tango guides him in the human world so zedaph doesn't die of metal poisoning, and in return, zedaph guides tango whenever he stumbles into a dangerous supernatural hotspot. look, zedaph's even making a fair deal and everything, since he can't just like, steal tango's name and force him to, on account of not even tango knowing what his true name would be! the two of them shake on it, and as such, a bargain is struck between both android and archfey.

they both find each other surreal and baffling but are ALSO each other's best friends in an equally baffling and surreal world.

impulse comes into this story later--after whatever the first few adventures tango and zedaph have are, exploring both realms together to try to find something new and exciting for zedaph and something to give tango purpose, the amount of magic tango's being exposed to finally takes its toll, and tango starts to malfunction. zedaph panics as he realizes all at once that he has a friend (thing he didn't know he even could get?) and that friend is in danger. also, uh, more importantly that deal. right. that.

naturally, he then kidnaps the first software engineer he can find. this is a proportionate response, right?

luckily the first software engineer he finds is impulse, and impulse is hardly like, normal, either. like, yes, he's a fully mundane human with only the world's most minor cybernetics, he's normal that way, the way he's not normal is that he gets kidnapped by a terrifying and awesome fey to fix a paradoxical android and goes "this is so cool. hi my name is impulse it's nice to meet you! aw, geez," and acts like everything is normal. neither tango nor zedaph are quite good enough at the idea of 'normal human' to dispute this, and a friendship is then born.

impulse serves as the fixer for a lot of their problems that neither tango nor zedaph are equipped to handle, but he's also like, he'd theoretically be the everyman if he wasn't busy going "every man gets whisked away by the plot of a philosophy major's dream every once and a while right" and going with the flow on things NO SANE PERSON SHOULD GO WITH THE FLOW WITH. he's just chilling in the world's least "just chilling" scenario.

so... there you go there's the ENTIRE TEAM ZIT AU that my brain spawned from the prompt "fey zedaph" i hope you enjoy,

#hermitcraft #zedaph #impulsesv #tangotek #team zit #like i have this whole vision in my head #MAYBE ONE DAY I WRITE MORE OF THIS BUT FOR NOW HERE TAKE THIS VISION #YOU MAY USE IT YOURSELF IF YOU'D LIKE TOO I DON'T MIND.

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periwinkla · 19 days

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Maya Fey's character is written in such a charmingly, heart wrenchingly subtle way. She has to face all manners of tragedy, but she always has that smile on her face and presses on, feigning happiness and lightheartedness. It's honestly somewhat disturbing. How can someone smile so seemingly easily after such tragedy? Can you imagine going to your sister’s workplace, expecting to spend a quiet evening together, and instead... you see a slumped silhouette against the wall of the window? She spawns the most crazy things out of her mouth just to fill the silence sometimes. Why? Sure, it may be for the game's comic relief… but sometimes it appears a tad forced? Like it’s because she wants to build a relationship with Phoenix - like her sister asked her - and doesn't quite know how to. He’s the only person that can understand what she’s going through. She’s suffering. He’s suffering. So she needs to fill the silence somehow. And she drags him along most times, she is the one that decides they should take Power’s case, after all. After Edgeworth's trial she feels useless (even though she clearly was the reason Phoenix could save him... can you believe she just charged in against Von Karma? that's insane) and goes back home to resume her training so she can help Phoenix again. After Edgeworth's ‘death’, Phoenix didn't keep in touch. Although she didn’t know about Edgeworth, she knew that the whole year had been hard on them both in the first place... so she grew worried, and basically bargained with her client to go and get him and drag him to Kurain. Phoenix can get back into taking cases just because she's there to cheer him up. So she needs to be strong! Even though she's suffering tremendously as well. Mia isn't there anymore and now she also needs to take care of her cousin because apparently she can’t even have her aunt to rely on, because for some reason the universe decided to give her the most complicated family drama imaginable. When they face Franziska? She's awfully perceptive. She's only 18, and instead of being angry at Franziska's behavior, she wonders how she can be so strong? And she seems to admire her? Would a 18 year old accused of murder think that of the accuser? That's frankly baffling. It shows maturity far beyond her age, to think of the true feelings behind people’s behavior despite what it means for her situation. And then she gets kidnapped. And still, she feigns being fine… Then then Hazakura happens. All that and she's still thinking about other people! She tries to protect Godot, even though it's a moot point. She tries to be strong for Pearl - as Edgeworth points out - and she tries so hard to not make everything affect her. She takes everything in stride but also suppresses her feelings. And she's very very good at it, even. She seems fine. Franziska is baffled at her nonchalance, and somehow Edgeworth is the one who needs to explain it, perhaps because they had similar experiences and their tragedy is linked to the same root. Edgeworth tried to repress his feelings as well (although he is, by contrast, very very bad at hiding them) so he knows what he's talking about. I quite like that scene at the end of AA3 because that makes it deliberate on Takumi’'s part that he wanted to write her that way from the start. (it also adds to the development of 3 characters at once: Maya, Miles and Franziska) Her misfortunes don’t end here, either. SOJ happens. Kidnapped again, accused of murder again. People she trusted betray her and she finds it in her heart to forgive them? And now she also has a ton of responsibilities. And she needs to appear even stronger now in front of other people, because they depend on her. She’s still cheerful though. Because she needs to be. She first needs to be strong for Phoenix, then Pearl, then for the whole village of Kurain. And she manages to be, somehow. I love when characters are written this way. Once you have all the pieces together, if you go back and analyze their behavior, it makes the experience so much richer and so much more meaningful.

#had to summarize this a lot because tumblr apparently has a word limit?#oh well #hope I got the point across regardless #ace attorney #maya fey #aa musings #musings #soj spoilers

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antebunny · 4 months

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a cuckoo in the nest

(Aka the Fae!Tim fic that I decided not to finish and thus am dumping on Tumblr)

The creature that the Unseelie Queen forces on Bruce is disguised as a human child. Worse, it resembles Bruce’s two current children. Skin on the lighter side, lighter than either of his kids, black hair, blue eyes, and a light sweater and sweatpants combination that either Dick or Jason might wear. It is quite the contrast to the wild fey flashing too-bright teeth at Bruce.

“You will welcome it into your home,” the Unseelie Queen commands. “You will treat it as you would your own son. You will do nothing to indicate that it is anything but a human boy.”

One gnarled claw curls around the creature’s shoulder. The creature’s expression remains eerily blank. Another point in favor of its otherworldliness. A normal human child would show some reaction to the Unseelie Queen’s possessive presence. This creature stays perfectly still.

“In return…” the Unseelie Queen crooks one finger of her free hand in a come here motion and a figure stumbles out of the dark trees surrounding their little clearing.

It is Jason. Injured beyond belief, blue eyes red and weeping. Bruce’s knee jerks, but he forces himself to remain within the small summoning circle. A thin line of salt and iron protecting him from the Unseelie Queen’s unfathomable powers.

“You get your son back.” She presents Jason to Bruce like she’s selling a prize horse at an auction. One hand on the back of his neck. “Alive and well. As he was before his death. The memory of his death will remain, but dulled. That is my bargain, Batman.”

Bruce is not fool enough to give the Unseelie Queen his real name, nor is he stupid enough to lie to her. Using his nighttime alter ego presents the perfect compromise. Batman is not his real name, nor is it a lie. So it is Batman’s black gauntlets that curl into fists as Bruce considers the Unseelie Queen’s deal.

It is the height of stupidity to take a creature he does not know the abilities of into Wayne Manor, and pretend it is his son. Given what he knows of the Unseelie Queen, such a creature could cause unfathomable damage to his family, to Gotham. This is a bet of Bruce’s own intelligence against a fey hundreds of times older than Bruce. He could very well end up losing both of his sons this time.

“B,” Jason sobs. “Wha’s goin’ on?”

But the alternative is to walk away from a chance to have Jason back. This is not the universe where Bruce is capable of such an act. At least with the Unseelie Queen’s bargain, Bruce has a chance to limit any potential harm. Perhaps he can even outsmart the creature and prevent all damage whatsoever. If she had asked him to kill someone, or something more direct, Bruce wouldn’t stand a chance.

Bruce uncurls his fists slowly. “I accept.”

With those two words, both the creature and Jason are invited into the circle. The creature steps forward calmly, Nike sneakers passing over the salt and iron easily. Its arms are flat by its sides, and its head comes up to Bruce’s chest. If it were human, it would be around the same age that Jason was when Bruce caught him stealing the Batmobile’s tires. A blatant attempt at emotional manipulation on the Unseelie Queen’s part.

Jason is shoved forwards by the Unseelie Queen. He trips over his own feet, but Bruce is there to catch him this time, to gently fold him in his arms and check him over for injuries.

“I’m getting you home,” Bruce promises.

And if he has to bring home the Unseelie Queen’s little spy as well to make it happen, then that is a price Bruce is more than willing to pay to have his family whole again.

Tim finally has the chance to be part of a family again, and it is the best family he could have imagined. He can scarcely believe his luck as Mr. Wayne–Batman, for now–leads Tim and Jason (who doesn’t look so good) into the Batcave. Tim is so caught up trying not to gape in awe at everything that he misses the hushed conversation that Mr. Wayne has with his butler, and the slightly louder, much longer conversation he has with his eldest son. The original Robin is standing all of five meters away from Tim! He’s going to be Tim’s older brother!

A lifetime ago, when Tim was still fully human, with parents and the last name Drake, he’d been obsessed with Batman and Robin. Had followed them around pitch black rooftops, through the streets buzzing with neon lights and vices, just to get a glimpse of his heroes. Discovered Robin’s true identity shortly before Bruce Wayne adopted Jason Todd, and a new Robin came to roost in Gotham’s skyscrapers.

Then Janet and Jack Drake gave their only child to the Unseelie Queen in exchange for money and power, and Tim lost his name, and his home, and his entire world.

“What is your name?” Mr. Wayne interrupts Tim’s memories. He looms in front of Tim in an empty Batcave. Mr. Pennyworth and both Robins are long gone. It is only Tim, in his ill-fitting human clothes, and Batman.

Tim knew this question was coming. Mr. Wayne must think that Tim is a human child, and that asking for his name is a simple exchange of pleasantries. He cannot know that Tim is no longer fully human, and his name is no longer free to give or take, nor his own anymore. Luckily, Tim prepared a response. He does not want to lie to Batman, after all, but as much as he wishes he could trust Mr. Wayne with his name, he knows better.

“What do you want to be called?” Mr. Wayne amends, when Tim fails to answer fast enough.

Carefully, Tim purses his lips and whistles. Hoo-ooh. A sharp ho followed by a lower, longer oo sound. The call of a common cuckoo. Hoo-ooh. Hoo-ooh.

Mr. Wayne frowns in response. Tim panics briefly–did he not get the call right? He practiced so much!–and tries again, a little faster. Hoo-ooh, hoo-ooh, hoo-ooh. Please accept me. I know I’m an unwanted interloper, an imposter. Please accept me anyway.

“Do you have a name in English?” Mr. Wayne asks. He repeats the question in a few more languages. Tim recognizes the Spanish and Russian, but he’s not sure what the others are. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Tim nods frantically. He swallows with difficulty, and then whispers: “Tim.”

It is not a lie, and it is common enough that hopefully Tim can remain anonymous. He is a common cuckoo bird, after all, not even remarkable in his imposition.

“Well, Tim,” Mr. Wayne says, voice dropping to an ominous growl, “I will uphold my end of the bargain. But do not think for a second that I can be tricked into trusting you. And if you give me even the slightest indication that you intend to hurt a member of my family in any way, I will not hesitate to take you down. Do you understand?”

Tim has not cried in years, not since his parents gave him away. But tonight a peculiar wetness pricks at the corners of his eyes as he nods. “Yes, Mr. Wayne, sir,” he says quickly. “I understand.”

It isn’t as though Mr. Wayne is wrong. Tim is an interloper, here to trick Mr. Wayne and his family into caring about Tim. All Mr. Wayne did was make it clear that he will continue to pretend that Tim is part of his family and that he will not be tricked. There’s no reason for Tim to get emotional about it.

It’s just that Tim hoped, if just for a moment, that it wouldn’t be pretend.

The Wayne family, aside from Mr. Wayne himself, is very easily tricked. Mr. Pennyworth (“call me Alfred, Master Tim”) lets Tim follow him around even though he won’t let Tim help with chores no matter how much he insists that he can do it. Tim is fine with that, really. For now it is better to be tolerated, if not liked, than not to be tolerated at all. He has noticed that even Mr. Wayne defers to Alfred in household matters, so it is good to have the real head of household somewhat in his corner.

Most days, Tim sits on the kitchen counter while Alfred cooks, and awkwardly attempts to answer questions about his previous life. It is mixed, as far as conversations go. The questions are very stressful for Tim, who is never sure how much he should say, but smelling and eating human food after so long without it still brings tears to his eyes.

Simmering tomato floats through the air as Alfred adds a pinch of rosemary to his soup. Tim’s mouth waters, and he swallows before talking.

“I had a really long argument with a rosemary plant, once,” Tim recalls ruefully. “It was dumb. But I was so desperate for human food that I’d’ve said just about anything.”

The rosemary plant refused, in the end. Everyone was too scared of the Unseelie Queen to help Tim.

Alfred stirs his pot carefully. “You had an argument…with the rosemary plant?” He clarifies neutrally.

“Yep.” Tim’s legs swing back and forth a bit faster. “I told you, it was really dumb. I would’ve tried with the mushrooms, but they’re mean and scary, really scary. And old.”

Some of the mushrooms are even older than the Unseelie Queen, which makes them even scarier. Except that the Unseelie Queen has Tim’s name, and the mushrooms do not.

Tim blushes all of a sudden, mindful of his audience. “I didn’t mean being old makes them scary,” he mumbles, furious at himself. He is supposed to be trying to get Alfred to like him, and instead he insults him! What is wrong with him?

“It is quite alright, dear boy,” Alfred says. “I assure you no offense was taken. Now, what is it you were saying about being desperate for human food?”

Mr. Grayson (“call me Dick, everyone else does!”) is the easiest to trick into caring about Tim. He is actually not sure what he did to pull it off. Dick stays at Wayne Manor most weekends, and the first time he comes over, before Tim has a chance to enact any of his thirty-four “Trick Robin Into Liking Me” plans, Dick asks if he wants to get ice cream. Tim accepts eagerly, and Dick smiles so brightly that Tim nearly forgets about Mr. Wayne scowling in the background. After that, Dick always makes a point to seek him out. Tim is pretty sure he makes a bumbling mess of himself every conversation, but somehow Dick keeps laughing it off and taking Tim out for another slightly reckless and exceedingly enjoyable excursion.

Jason is a bit harder to trick. He is still healing mentally and emotionally from his death, so he’s off-duty as Robin. Since school is out for the summer, this means he spends most of his time curled up in the library. Tim once hovered behind him for hours, trying to work up the courage to start a conversation, when Jason turned and snapped what so aggressively that Tim immediately ran away.

In general, he is surly, defensive, angry, and reluctant to accept affection from his real family, much less Tim. Eight plans to trick Jason into caring about him are complete failures that end in Tim further earning Jason’s ire. Another fourteen plans are thrown out before Tim can enact them, after the humiliation of the eight failures.

Eventually, Tim turns to Dick for help. Dick has alluded to a rough start with Jason, which sounds fake to Tim. Dick was Robin, how could anyone not like him? But maybe he can give Tim advice.

It is a sweltering Saturday in late July when Dick pulls away from Wayne Manor in some type of fancy car with Tim in the co-pilot seat.

“I need advice,” Tim says nervously as Bristol’s mansions flash by. Tim did his best not to look at the Drakes’ manor. He succeeded in not looking, but he wondered whether his parents started staying in Gotham more often once Tim was gone, and the question won’t leave him alone.

“What’s up?” Dick asks easily. He lazes in the driver’s seat, two fingers on the steering wheel. It is this nonchalance which convinces Tim to go through with his question.

Tim’s hands tap out some pattern on his forearms and elbows. “How do I get Jason to like me?”

Dick curls his right hand around the wheel and glances at Tim quickly. Tim still struggles reading expressions, so he has absolutely no idea what’s going through Dick’s mind. Maybe he’s thinking that there’s no way that Jason will ever like him. Maybe Dick doesn’t like Tim. Maybe he’s only acting like he cares about Tim because he’s so nice.

“Jason doesn’t…” Dick sighs. “Not like you. He’s just going through a lot right now. On top of the stuff with his birth mother, he also, well, you know.”

“Died,” Tim supplies.

Dick’s shoulders inch towards his ears. Veins in his forearm pop as the hand on the wheel tightens. “Yeah. So, just, give him some time, yeah?”

But Tim doesn’t have time. He has until the end of the summer, approximately two more months. To the fae the end of summer is not a specific day, but rather a sensation. Decay on the doorsteps, rot in the wind. Hot breezes melting into simmering afternoons. The crisp crackle of a leaf underfoot.

If he cannot trick every member of the Wayne family into loving him by the end of summer, he must return to the Unseelie Queen, this time forever. That was her bargain. This is Tim’s one chance to escape her.

Tim looks out his window at the cold, unfeeling mansions and nods miserably. “Okay.”

Jason does not like the new kid. Everything about him is just slightly off. He walks like he’s surprised that his feet come back down. He talks like he’s describing a dream and expects everyone else to understand. He’s constantly watching Jason silently with those eerie, unblinking eyes of his. Despite living in the same house as Batman, Tim is quieter still, always popping up unannounced and thrusting a trinket or a book at Jason.

This isn’t even getting into the part where Jason knows he died but doesn’t quite remember it and keeps having nightmares he doesn’t understand. He vaguely recalls a forest that wasn’t a forest and a hand that wasn’t a hand, curling around his shoulder. Bruce won’t stop treating Jason like glass and Dick still looks weepy sometimes, but neither will let Jason out as Robin. All three are letting Jason get away with everything except the things he actually wants to do. It’s infuriating.

In other words, the summer is off to a great start.

“Bets on the new kid,” Jason says. He’s in the middle of making himself peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, because he is the only one that Alfred allows in the kitchen.

Dick is draped dramatically across the counter, because according to him it’s so tragic how Jason never wants to do anything fun. Jason hit him over the head with a spatula in response. Dick whined about that, so Jason hit him even harder.

“What are we betting on?” Dick asks.

Jason half-shrugs. “Like…he’s clearly not human. What is he?”

Dick sits up on the counter. “Yeah, he keeps talking about talking to plants.”

“And plants are always a little bigger and shinier after he leaves the room,” Jason adds.

“Maybe he’s got some relation to Ivy,” Dick suggests.

This entire conversation would not be necessary if Bruce would just cough up the answer. But he responds to every question about Tim with some variation of “hmmm” or “I cannot say.” Jason even sucked up his pride and asked Barbara, but she doesn’t know what’s up with the new kid either. Jason suspects that Bruce promised Tim he wouldn’t tell, because–

“Have you seen his reaction to food though?” Jason asks rhetorically. “It’s like he’s so shocked he’s being fed.”

And he lets that hang, because maybe it’s true, and not a joke.

Dick scratches his chin. “And he says ‘human’ like he’s not one.”

“Okay.” Jason sets his mixing bowl down on the counter Dick claimed as his seat. “My theory: he’s a metahuman whose parents–or guardians–or whoever was in charge of him–treated as less than human, and he made B promise not to say ‘cause he doesn’t know we ain’t shit like his parents yet.”

“I mean.” Dick scoots off the counter when Jason comes swinging with the baking tray. He attempts to help Jason spread the parchment paper until Jason glares at him. “He thinks you hate him.”

Jason freezes in the middle of scooping a handful of cookie batter into the tray. Guilt curdles, expired milk and broken egg shells, in his stomach. “I don’t.”

“I know.”

Dick doesn’t mention the part about Jason dying, because he’s ultra sensitive to that sort of thing. Jason has debated making extra jokes about his death just to force Dick to get used to it, but he hasn’t gone through with it. He’s never seen Dick cry like he did when Jason came back. They haven’t talked about it, because Jason is allergic to big emotions and Dick is nothing but an oversized bundle of big emotions. But it lingers in the back of Jason’s mind, everytime Dick pretends that everything is fine. You mourned me. It’s so obvious, said like that. Of course he mourned Jason. But it’s not an experience Jason ever expected to live through.

Not even Jason knows how he came back to life. He suspects Bruce had something to do with it, but Bruce won’t say. The continuous silence from him is driving Jason to insanity where the Joker and dying failed.

“Fair tidings.” Tim’s head pops up by Jason’s shoulder and he forcibly suppresses a surprised reaction. Another weird-ism of Tim’s: what sort of American kid says fair tidings? “Can I help?”

“No,” Jason snaps immediately, curling one arm around the batter bowl.

Dick makes a noise, and Jason winces. He didn’t mean to snap at the kid. It’s just that everything about Tim sets off sirens in Jason’s head. And usually by the time Jason is ready to invite the kid in, he’s run off.

“Fine,” Jason grunts. He shoves the bowl at Tim. “We’re making cookies.”

Tim stares at the bowl with owlish eyes, and Jason clamps down on the urge to yell at the kid again.

“Hey, Timmy,” Dick says faux-casually. “I never asked. You got a last name?”

Tim’s head snaps up. “Why do you want to know?”

Jesus, he sounds one wrong word from breaking into tears. Jason exchanges a glance with Dick, who is taken aback by the uncharacteristic bout of aggression from the weird kid, and reluctantly decides to intervene.

“It’s ‘cause we wanna get to know the baby bro better,” Jason says gruffly. “Ya know. Bondin’ and shhhh, uh, stuff.”

Tim’s blue eyes widen into twin moons. “You want to be my big brother?”

The naked hope in his voice is really not helping with Jason’s guilt.

“Yeah.” Jason throws down a few more lumps of cookie dough a bit more forcefully than required. “Ain’t no way B is returning you to the kid store.”

Actually, he’s only seen Bruce interact with Tim once, and it was super awkward. But he’s pretty confident that Bruce wouldn’t take in a kid if he didn’t want that kid to be his kid.

Dick is smiling dopily, so Jason is pretty sure he said enough right words in the right order. “So?” Dick prompts. “Got a last name, baby bird?”

Tim’s hands float to his elbows and start tapping out an unknown pattern. “It’s, uh. Drake.”

“Tim Drake,” Jason tests out, and neither he nor Dick miss the way that Tim does his best impression of a wooden plank at the sound of his name. “Why does that sound familiar?”

“Dunno.” Dick snaps his fingers and points at Tim. “Wait! You’re our neighbor!”

Tim gives Dick his weird blank stare, so Dick points at Jason instead. “The Drakes are our neighbors,” he explains. “The parents were always out of the country for vacation or something, but I remember they had a little kid tag along with them once or twice. What happened?”

“Bruh.” Jason shoves the tray in the oven with his bare hands, because he isn’t a wuss and he’s also not stupid enough to touch the burning hot metal with bare hands. “They supervillains or something?”

Tim shakes his head. His hands press flat against his legs. “They sold me.”

He says it so flatly that Jason exchanges another look with Dick just to make sure he heard right. But Dick’s jaw drops in outrage, so clearly they heard the same thing.

“How? When? To who?” Dick’s eyes narrow. He’s dropping into protective big brother mode. Jason has had the dubious pleasure of experiencing it first-hand a few times. “Does B know about this?”

But Tim shakes his head again. “I can’t say.”

“Are they threatening you?” Jason jumps in, pretending his tone isn’t leaning in the same big brother direction as Dick’s is. “You know B has Supes on speed-dial, right? Ain’t no one in the world who can get away with threatening you now that B’s got you.”

Tim shakes his head a third time, and Jason really has no idea if Tim actually means no or if he’s just moving his head.

Dick and Jason exchange another worried look, but this time Jason isn’t sure what Dick is thinking. Mostly because Tim just gave them about a thousand more questions in the process of answering one.

#batfam #batman #tim drake #my fanfiction #my writing #dick grayson #jason todd #bruce wayne

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xenodile · 7 months

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Really though, FFXIV was both very smart and also shot itself in the foot when Shadowbringers introduced a character that exists to solidify the Warrior of Light's connection to the First. Like Feo Ul signing an almost literal fey bargain with the Crystal Exarch and WoL where in order to enable WoL's ability to travel between the two worlds seamlessly, Feo Ul gets unlimited access to another world and to watch the WoL literally every second of the day. It's a great way to explain otherwise jarring or tone-deaf game mechanics and make them work, while also allowing for new narrative possibilities, which are then worked into Il Mheg, Feo Ul becoming Titania, and all that entails.

But it creates a new set of issues where Feo Ul is now present in literally every single moment of the MSQ because They are bound by their contract to the WoL. Feo Ul can show up and start talking at absolutely any time in any context after Shadowbringers, and after a while, it becomes strange that They don't. Like when wild fuck shit starts happening to the WoL's soul in Endwalker, THEIR sapling's soul, Feo Ul really isn't gonna say anything? After how possessive They were of the WoL in Shadowbringers?

I just want Feo Ul to be relevant again, they're a fun character and it's a shame their actual omnipresence in the Warrior of Light's life doesn't get used more often.

#Abby plays FFXIV #Feo Ul

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jacktheeldergod · 6 months

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dailyadventureprompts · 8 months

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Monster Hunt: Nanny Knockthrice

A series of chilling disappearances has brought your party to the edge of the mist-haunted Greyspear Forest, as well as face to face with an enemy as ancient and enduring as the stones beneath your feet

Spoken of only in hushed voices, those who live on the edge of the wood tell of a terrible figure, cruel as the harshest winter, bent with age and the weight of the bulging sack she carries. They know no name for her besides the one handed down from elders, and that she appears at the door to each homestead once a year on the same moonless night to knock three times. Terrible fates are said to befall those who answer, so the locals keep to a tradition known as Opfernoct: laying out gifts for their unwelcome guest, keeping their homes dark and quiet until dawn.

Adventure Hooks:

The party venture into the village only to see one of the nearby houses with its roof partially torn off. Asking questions results in flimsy excuses and reproachful looks from strangers, until the truth comes out: A bookish boy named Verner was apparently snatched out of his home on the recent Opfernoct having snuck a candle to read in bed. His parents, who got the boy the book for his birthday have been shamed for not keeping a better leash on their child and kept from talking to the meddlesome party for fear their actions would bring even further reprocussions.

After impressing the local nobles with their adventurous antics, the party are invited to the marquess’s hunting lodge, an event sure to be filled with revelry and rife with opportunities to court both patronage and attractive strangers. Flouting local customs, the marquis has decided to keep her estate lit through …. Ensuring the party will go on without interruption. What a surprise then when a thunderous knock sounds at the door, only for a giant arm to shove through the entryway and snatch up a gaggle of guests (some the party despise, some they were quite getting on with) and drag them off into the night.

Recommended Reading: Check out my write up connecting giants & the feywild, which this draws heavily from.

Background: The legend of Nanny Knockthrice begins when the first woodsman sought to make a home within the boundaries of the primeval forest. The moment his axe had sunk into the trunk of a tree, an old woman stepped from the woods and demanded that a price be paid, for these were her lands and her trees, and the woodsman . The woodsman replied that he had nothing to pay the old woman with save the tools of his trade and the clothes on his back, and he would surely die without either. If she could defer payment for a year, until his labour had built his house and filled his larder, he'd gladly let her take her pick of rewards then. The old woman assented, vanishing into the forest just as soon as she'd appeared. Like any deal with the fey the weight of the bargain could not be understood until the woman returned a year later to take her pick of what the woodsman had filled his home with over the past year... snapping his new wife off the threshhold when she came to answer the door.

Challenges & Complications:

More than just her size, impossible strength, or her ability to fade in and out of the mist, the greatest threat Nanny Knockthrice presents is that she takes hostages and is not above using them as bargaining chips against meddling heroes. She will break the limbs of her victims in full view of the party to warn them against interfering, or lob them into freezing water to slow down her pursuers. When threats fail, it's time to open her bag of tricks, which can contain anything from a raging storm, captured feywild beasts, or even the animated bones of her previous tributes. She's liable to use these surprises in between uprooting entire pine trees to use as clubs, or throwing heroes like walnuts into the next valley over.

Stalking Knockthrice may prove the better option of rescuing her victims, but will require the party to venture into the feywild, passing through a veil of mist to a wilderness even more wild and foreboding than they left behind. Getting back might likewise prove an issue, and may require them to strike their own deal with a powerful fey to get home

Nanny's lair is a tumbledown stone cottage the size of a fortress known as the keening keep. Built into the top and side of a clearcut hillstead, it surveys the surrounding woodland like an owl looking for prey. The keep originally belonged to a tribe of batlike fey known as the gloamwing courterie, who now reluctantly act as the giant's servants after their forebearer swore an inverse deal to the woodsman: letting her store her tribute in their keep for a year save for the one night she must heap it on her back and wander the mortal world. While some gloamwings are loyal to Nanny, others resent being banished to the rafters of their ancesteral home, or having to share the darkened corners with all the morose mortals Knockthrice keeps like maltreated pets. The party may be able to strike a deal, keeping in mind the bats are all as sinister as any unseelie fae and might betray them at any point just to keep things interesting.

If the party pays attention when stories are shared around the fire, they might notice a loophole in the deal struck by the woodsman: namely that Knockthrice was not allowed to take either his tools, or his clothes. In the way of fairytales, tricking the giant into accepting either of these will break the cure, though the party might need to be clever about it. The woodsman's clothes are buried with him out back of the ruins of the cabin the party will keep stumbling across in their feywild wanderings. His axe was handed down to his extended family after he died of heartbreak, and could be anywhere by now... such as hanging over the mantle of a noble's hunting lodge, buried in an innocuous tree, or in the back of a creepy peddler's cart.

Art

#monster hunt #giant #fey #feywild #halloween #rescue mission #forest #feywild dungeon #forest dungeon #forest monster

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reilora-borealis · 10 months

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a shadowgast headcanon

I imagine that a short while after Caleb's death, Essek, who has seen a few members of the Nein die but has never been shattered by grief like this, who has been alone for so much of his life already, realizes how much longer he will have to be alone, and it breaks him.

He will never again set foot in the tower; try as he might to recreate it, it won't be the same. He understands better than anyone that magic can stop time, heal wounds, bring people back from the dead, but it's all just temporary. It's not natural, as Caduceus keeps reminding him over and over as he bargains. It's not what he would have wanted.

Worst of all, Essek knows - in that hopeless, irrational, melodramatic, fundamentally true way that a person knows things when they're grieving - that he will never love anyone in the same way ever again.

So, in a moment of weakness, for the first time in his almost 200 years of life, Essek casts find familiar.

Of course, there were the cats that Caleb kept in their cottage, plus the strays that he fed in the back garden. There were the dogs that Beau and Yasha adopted, the menagerie of critters Jester collected over the years and foisted upon all of their friends. But Essek knows none of them will be around for long. Compared to the lifespan of a drow, most pets are like mayflies. They will all leave too, sooner or later. Everything will.

He doesn't know what to expect, as he's casting the spell. He doesn't really have a shape in mind, he's just looking for something to take the loneliness away, anything, calling blindly into the dark to see what answers back. He thinks this is foolish, this exercise. He thinks he will never heal. He thinks of Caleb.

When he completes the ritual, he opens his eyes and there before him is a cat. A familiar brown Bengal tabby cat.

And Frumpkin climbs into Essek's arms. Because someone needed this fey spirit once, long ago, someone in pain. And even though Caleb set him free, he knows that someone new needs him now.

#something something what is grief if not love perservering #shadowgast #caleb widogast #essek thelyss #critical role #the mighty nein #cr2 #~reiloriginals

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scattergoriesofevil · 1 month

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I really appreciate Aabria’s description of Orym’s current arc as not corruption, but a hardening. He is putting away soft things. The descriptions of him as corrupted have always bothered me, even though I think Liam himself used that term in a past 4SD. I have never seen what Orym is going through as corruption. Even the fey bargain! I get the imagery Liam uses is very dark, but he traded HIMSELF to protect his friends. That’s tragic but not corruption. He’s not becoming a worse version of himself. He isn’t abusing power or being dishonest. It is sad and terrible, but not bad. Orym deserves the softest things, and I hope he can find a way to reconcile the hardened warrior he believes he needs to be right now with his softer aspects eventually. Dorian may be an important part of that.

#critical role #4 sided dive

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sea-buns · 2 months

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So do we have any idea what happens when the Fey doesn't hold up their end of the bargain? It was her responsibility to ensure they all lived, right? Is there a precedent for this? Do we take it Fey court? Is there a Fey Phoenix Wright that can represent us?

#a whole episode of acting out a legal dispute in court would be kinda funny #after everything thats happened #that tone shift would be unhinged and im all for it #critical role #cr spoilers #c3e91 #bells hells #orym of the air ashari #nana mori

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princess-pray-a · 9 months

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warnings : mention of death of komugi oneshot , slightly alteration than real anime , intro of new character y/n , vaginal penetration, 1st time , creampie , breeding kink, unsafe sex, soft mereum, , kissing , breasts fondling m sucking breasts, mereum has 10inch cock , mate au, smut , 18+

Characters : Mereum X reader

minors donot interact

find my works here .

⚜️ THE KINGS MATE ⚜️

Komugis death broke mereum, his humanity that had sprouted out now seemed to eat him. Trying to finally understand his act of killing humans, almost causing genoside makes him step aside from her injured body trembling . The impact from the debris was Enough to rob of her life , and pitou was also unable to rescue no matter what she did . The king finally realized what he had done what loss he caused for the human kind and how his ideals were the cause of suffering . The lifeless body of komugi taught him his extreme ways had caused multiple others to feel the same anguish and torment he faced , what if they had more than one person they cared in the way he did for komugi the pain would have been much much terrible .

was he really the top of all when he couldn’t even understand that sentiment of people he wanted to rule over ? he should better understand their emotion , wouldn’t that be better for even himself !? Seeing Netero risk his life to prevent killing of many humans ,brought to his understanding that power existed to protect the once weaker than them . The human society was definitely warped but what he did was nothing a sort to be celebrated . An emotion bubbled within him , I will come back to rule only when I can truly stand to the the leader of this being . seeing the display of humanity by the king

Netero and Zeno felt compelled to hear him out , he surrendered claiming he was stupid enough to think that he could rule over human without even knowing how they operate , The pride in his words were evident though pouf tried to stop him , he continued “ I need to grasp what this humanity is better understand everyone starting from my guards and those around me before I set a conquest for a world , I don’t mean to rule over the mass full of corpses merely controlled by me , so I believe it will be a worthless fight no matter which party wins “. Nefero went ahead with the negotiations “fine whatever it is what do we get in return for simply going on your wimps !? Can you sure never to lay a hand on human life !? To consume human !?” Mereum was silent he felt conflicted , many emotions , ran through him one that was starving for the rare human and another imagining to witness another loss like komugi , but he made his decision quick ,” fine I won’t devour human , but for the bargain if your kind willingly pick up fight with my royal guard or me you will be devoured that instant.

The king and royal guards of chimera ant make their way out .now that the fight was , taking away the lifeless body of komugi and buried her .This was a path for the king to find and explore his humanity all before you met him . You are a hunter who just learned her nen and had ventured the mountain fei outskirts of pejing for finding a rare herb to make medicine as the medical hunter . You Who have been studying microbiology unknowingly endup infiltrating the base of these royal guards and the king. Your small stature shoulder length brown curly hair side swept and sparkly brown eyes made you look vulnerable yet precious. Luck wasn’t at your side hence you got capture by the royal guards then you were now presented before the king mereum

Many even today when presented front him trembled through pitou s en and aura . But you simply bowed them . Why are you here are you here to challenge me for duel !? . The king asked you who was pure of heart simply replied “ Oh no no sorry for intruding your place I simply came to look for yarshagumba . I am a medical hunter you see ! “The. King sensed a feeling of deja vu your figure reminded him of komugi that komugi who introduced him to humanity and feelings he at that moment he hadn’t realized but now it was clear it was love . “Take her to the guest chamber and treat her with utmost care” . The words from the king made royal guards reply immediately “ as your highness wishes”. The king who was almost dead inside finally showed the signs of life in pitou s eyes , though pouf felt he was returning back to his time with komugi but now as the situation and time had passed he realized a king without emotions would only command an army as a robot . For the spiritual well being of a king they needed her .

you smiled brightly at the king with the kindness and fondness that even komugi couldn’t deliver . She was blind she didn’t see the beastly form he had , but you you saw him yet you could smile soo sweetly at him with no malice in your heart . She was not a beauty but you were far more brighter than her , not in complexion but your light was beautiful, your heartbeat was a melody, your aura the most calming and nurturing, oh how could he forget you were a healer, a medical hunter , “ Thankyou soo much for your kindness I will make sure to repay it somehow,” you said clearly with innocent curiously. “ by the way what is your name he asked !?”. His eyes peered searching for komugi the same name that had left its print on his heart . But alas “ it’s Y/N .. and what about you ?” . The king that had been in a sea of thoughts came back he,, what had he expected , she was gone and you are a different person . You had asked beaming with excitement again . He blinked a few times and a smile to his lips “it’s Mereum, “ he was finally able to answer his name to someone , it gave him a sense of accomplishment. “ your name is mereum the light that rules over all that was what your mother wanted you to know “ the word of Netero. “ ahhh it’s such a beautiful name “. Your smile from ear to ear now thawing his heart , he felt something flutter he never had experience such emotions , what he had with komugi was excitement of game and wish to protect her but with you , he was having these different emotions .

he wanted to know more about you , what is your inner working ,how could you stand there smiling without fear in front of a creature as him , komugi was blind but you , you could see yet there was no hostility or wary ness. He chuckled to himself . “You may leave I will meet you tomorrow to know about yarchagumba or what you said “. “ hehe surely can’t wait” waving to him you are escorted by the royal guards .

Next day mereum couldn’t wait to venture out with you , what in the world had you seen to make you soo carefree , he was curious to step into your view your own ideas . “ good morning mereum shall we go ?” You ask him hopping and full of energy you were somewhat that was an energy ball in his gloomy life he was blinded by your light !” Yes let’s go “ matching steps with you he went to scout the area . “ together you explained him how rare is yarchagumba and how to pick it up , dancing and singing while dwelling in the mountain . You taught him how song heals the soul . The beauty of dance during festivals and falling in love with the nature . In spotting a River you pull him together “ look the water is soo fresh come let’s go and soak the feet into it your feet might hurt you have been walking barefoot “ he was being soo patient with you, not saying no to any request or ideas because all these moments he was in your world was so peaceful and beautiful. He imitates what you do after removing your socks and shoes . The content expression on your face as the cool water wash over your sore feet makes his gaze glued to you , the simple moment making his heart race , and when you hum a tune while enjoying the breeze and cool water , he feels like hearing the most magnificent tune better than the violin of pouf . You both decided to catch some fish way back . When you both arrive at the base l the royal guard they are perplexed seeing you return with fishes. You are beaming so mereum motions his guards to say nothing to you , and they take the hint.

“Can I use the kitchen to cook ? I really am good at it I will also make it for you pitou,Pouf and Yupi sama so we can dine together “. Your demand is met by a laugh “ haha you really don’t fear us do you ! “Pitou says “ well I am ok if his highness is ok with it” pouf added

me too “ youpi simply replied . “ sure but I will want to watch you while you work if it’s given then you can cook” mereum said .

“Hehe sure I would love to be with you I can teach you about various stuffs too “ you replied . In the kitchen you show your skills using the vast range of spices telling him about them and their benefits to mereum simply as he gazed you down with aw.. “ after you were done you had meal with all of them together , they definitely didn’t feel different in taste but the way you brought them together gave the whole dining experience a new light even to the royal guards. Hence your days at the kings base was a new experience for them too .you were a light that was shining in their highnesses life .

it had been weeks , you had definitely grown a lot familiar with Mereum and known his story , every moment he shared with you was precious to you , you had fallen in love with the villain but did he feel the same for you !? Or he still loved his first love . That thought stung you . You were clutching a sketch you made of him while he was sitting ,it wasn’t the best sketch but good enough to say it was him . As you peered down into the forest through the balcony you heard footsteps approaching , the love of your life was there standing infront of you , you wanted to take that step a step where you could be closer to him than any other but we’re afraid . “Hello how was your day “ you asked as the last r of sunrays exited the room . “ it was good , what are you doing here alone ?” “Oh it was this picture of your I had made it’s not that good but still ” you showed him your creation and he smiled softly at you “ it isn’t bad after all , I wanted to have some talk with you is it ok ?” He asked cautiously. It wasn’t like him to ask for you for your permission so you went to his room for whatever it is .

“ do you know what a purpose I hold !? My birth is for ?” , you nodded at his question “ isn’t it that you are supposed to mate with other female creature and make them queens ?” The question made you feel heavy weight in your heart lump of throat and you started aching all through your body . What is he gonna say what is he gonna do ? Is he going to find females to reproduce with , would I be able to watch it !?” An array of questions flooded through your mind until it was he is voice that brought you. Back “ what do you think of me !? As a mate !?” “ ah .. huh you are .. perplexed embarrassed confused and spellbound .. does he see you as a potential mate !? Or just one among many ? The first he wants to try with ! Your over thinking brain just couldn’t take it any more ! You were at your limit as you finally confess .” Ahh well , I I really like you , more than like I love you but I know you still love Komugi , I really wished you saw me as lover but if you want to mate me I .. I would really love it if you had feelings for me or atleast I knew what you had in your heart for me !” Well you went ahead and did it and now there was no going back .

thinking that maybe you would be replied with a negative feedback or even death you strengthen yourself but you are embraced in a warm hug . “ how fool are you , you are unaffected during our intense aura but are trembling when expressing your heart how can you be so weak and strong at the same time !” He is warmth giving you a sense of relief but also your heart is pounding madly this is the closest you have been with him. He breaks the embrace and cups your cheeks “ komugi might have been my first crush but , you are different , I love you and only you , you bought light to my life , she gave me humanity but you gave me a world of richer in humanity wonders peace and love . The tension in the air grew heavy as your gaze locked with eachother his eyes spoke volumes of the affection he carried for you , your own eyes watered at the sight slightly sobbing ‘“ ah . *Sniff *I ,, Thankyou thankyou soo much , I have *sniff *never been loved , Thankyou for loving me as me , I love you too “ . He wasted no time capturing your lips kissing it will lust and brimming love for you . You replied back in kind . As the nose brush against eachother you get more and more lost in your kisses seeking eachother out changing angles deepening it as much as possible pouring your love together ,his tongue enters your mouth devouring you completely .

after some time of making you both part for air a string of saliva attaching you together your body goes limp as he guides you to his bed. Your face flushed and needy, his face too had a little of that blush . His hands roamed around your body feeling through your clothes . His each and every strokes sending sparks to your body . “ ahh ngg “ a moan escaped your lips .It’s ok look at me I am here allow me to hear all those naughty sounds of you my love “ he said his voice a soft murmur . He rained kisses from your eyelids to your breasts taking off the shirt, he kissed you deeply again holding your waist allowing you to straddle him . You were feeling lightheaded all consumed your heart raced full speed almost ready to rip out . Your lover claiming you as his queen the thought itself setting your body a blaze . Unclasping your bra he freed your breasts . “ you are soo beautiful and you are mine “ assuring you on the way he sucked breast drawing circles over your nipples . The sensation making your womanhood throb your walls clench around empty already lusting you moaned out calling his name while his hands made a quick work to get rid of your skirt and underwear ,feeling insecure you quickly went to hide but he stopped you mid way . “No let me cherish your every part love, show me each and every part of you I want to love it all . “ on his encouraging words you let him touch the most intimate spot of yours your wetness coating his fingers as he rubbed and scissored your making your ready to take him . He flipped you over laying you down and spreading your legs wide for him you could see his huge cock that was hard and long about 10 inches god would it even fit ,you thought was it a bad decision to back out now ,every thought coursed your brain that you may die but again as supportive he has been with you he said “ it’s ok it will be fine I have modified ones that secret extra lube so you can accommodate me ! I am here with you ! Look into my eyes and give yourself to me” believing what he claimed you allowed him to slowly penetrate ,you god the stretch was painful but ain’t that much as you thought would be however a tear rolled from the corner of your eyes , he kissed it running hands over your hair smoothing it lovingly . “ that’s good girl ngg fuck.. you are soo tight and feel soo good “ he was fully in you and started moving slowly after you adjusted the pain changed to pleasure and now you were asking more, “ ngg an faster mereu.m mhggg ahh yes yes god it feels soo good ahhh.”. He was thrusting into you pounding your pussy with huge speed making sure not to break you , his cock almost kissing your wombs insides as his cock bulge was seen in your lower tummy .” I can’t wait to breed you for the next season love “ we are going to have many’s many breeding seasons together “ he kissed you while fondling your breasts , you soon reached your high as your walls clenched around him you too could feel his cock twitch as you alert him of your coming orgasm “ ngg yes yes I am gonna c..cummm ahhh mer..merum come here … “ you pull him closer for a kiss “yes fuck y/n I am near too your walls are milking me make sure to take the kings seed well I am cumming “ you both reach your high simultaneously and his cock paints your walls white filling your womb while you wash his cock with your juices .and the extra drips out of your pussy He stays inside until every last drop of cum is released in you . Finally bringing a blanket to cover your bodies as you collapse from exhaustion . Smiling to you while kissing your forehead holding you in his embrace “ get rest we will start in an hour again well I won’t tell you for now but i will wake.you up love “

pouf enters to give some report to the king but sensing the lust he retreats mid way with a smile to himself his king has started the mating and now it was clear to not disturb them for two days conveying it to the other royal guards . well finally the king has found his mate but unlike other of his kind he faithfully lives with his queen until death takes them together as they die of old age in eachothers embrace. THE END .

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