#AUNT LUP!

[anistarrose]

[ID: watercolor art of Angus and Lup from The Adventure Zone. Lup's holding Angus, giving him a kiss on the forehead as he smiles. Angus has dark brown skin and curly black hair, wearing a sweater vest and bow tie. Lup has light brown skin and wavy blond hair, wearing Angus's detective cap along with her tank top and jorts. End ID.]

A smooch request: can u pls draw ango getting a smooch from someone? He deserves it!!!!

Aunt lup! Aunt lup! Aunt lup!!

[soadscrawl]

thinking very hard abt angus mcdonald boy detective on this fine thursday

[liltaz-asatreat]

5, 6, and 29 for the ao3 asks :O?? thank u -ise

ao3 wrapped questions here!! <- send some in? :D

(tagging you so you'll get the notification lol @barry-j-blupjeans )

5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

Honestly, both Broken Trust and The Screams Came Back

Broken Trust I literally wrote in the span of like, 2 or 3 hours after taking a really late night shower where the idea grabbed me by the throat, and I had to bang it out even though I could barely keep my eyes open lol And then when I finally remembered it existed and to go over it again to clean it up a bit and post it, it didn't take very long, and I was honestly kind of worried it would be a little out of character because the whole idea of fixing yourself for something that isn't necessarily your fault and blaming yourself for other people's decisions is a very me thing to do, and I didn't know whether or not I was over projecting in a moment of needing to vent in the moment for some reason? or if it was something Taako really would think and feel, and we'd share that in common. Also, most of the last few fics I had published before then I spent more time on, some of them a lot more time on, and wrote more carefully, and most of them got a fair amount of feed back, but it wasn't really as much as I was expecting for how much I worked on them. So I kind of thought it was going to be one of those that wasn't necessarily going to bomb because again, it's not like I spent a whole lot of time actively working on it so it can't really bomb lol but like, it wasn't going to reach a lot of people, and I was okay with that

And then it became one of my most popular fics on tumblr with the ratio of people reblogging it leaving comments being one of the highest its ever been, and it's done decently on ao3 too in regards to my average amount of kudos, and a lot more people left comments on there too than people usually do on any one of my fics lol Pretty much all of them expressing pain in some way, and I still cackle like an evil scientist every time I read them or get a new comment lol

And as for The Screams Came Back... well. That was the most vent fic to ever vent fic that I've written, and I posted it on tumblr at midnight and didn't bother to reblog it to promote it or really say anything about it because it's kind of a fucked up fic and I was feeling really fucked up but like, needed to have someone read it and know that everything I was experiencing, even though I wrote it in the context of taz and applied a thin layer of fiction to obfuscate reality, was not just trapped in my head like it has been for years and year and years.

Of course, only one person saw it on tumblr, and they checked in on me because... yeah.

But I also posted it on ao3, and granted, I only got one comment on it that honestly, I didn't understand what they meant? But I thanked them for reading anyway because that's what I always do, and by the time that happened and I had the mortifying realization that I had posted something really vulnerable, multiple people had left kudos on it? And like, I also did feel a huge sense of relief that it wasn't just me anymore? I tagged it with everything that could possibly be triggering and put a warning at the top saying it was going to be fucked up, so like, the people who read it and left kudos knew what they were getting into and liked it enough to click the button, so it kind of felt weird to take it down?

It's honestly one of the fics with the least amount of feedback, but I was also expecting no feedback, so yeah lol

6. Favorite title you used

It's gotta be A Witness of Corruption lol It just sounds really cool and was really easy to come up with and works on like, multiple levels lol Magnus witnessing the effects of the Hunger while inside it? Corruption. The seven them having a really hard time getting along because of the struggles they're going through and snapping at each other a lot more than usual? Bonds getting corrupted and strained. Magnus hacking up black ooze while Merle tries to heal him and bring him back from the brink of permanent death after the Hunger got him and tried to overtake him directly? That's corruption baby lol

I'm sorry I said baby, that's not me, Griffin McElroy (I think? I honestly don't remember where I got that from) took me over and I couldn't fight it and don't feel like changing it lol

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

Oooohhhh that's a tough one. Um... I gotta skim what I wrote this year because there's a lot of good ones lol

Ugh, okay, I couldn't narrow it down, so it's all going under a cut lol

There's this bit from A Witness of Corruption (Though I really like how that whole conversation went down, and I think that's the best I've ever done balancing a conversation between more than two people, especially as many as seven people.):

Davenport puts both of his hands on the table and leans forward angrily, raising his voice slightly as he does so. “Magnus, as your friend and as your captain I cannot allow you to risk your neck to do this insane thing! I'm not going to let you get eaten by the Hunger, you can't!”

Magnus abruptly stands up from the table, knocking his chair backward as he slams a fist on the table. “And as someone who is sick and tired of fucking running, I'm not asking for your permission! Davenport.”

John experiencing eternity in The Man Who Became the Hunger:

“Show me,” John demands, getting angry now. “I need you to show me what you mean.”

As you insist.

His vision goes black for moment before it comes alive again as images fill his head.

First he sees an empty white space, but he has the feeling that he's not alone. There's people somewhere with him, but they seem to be in a direction he hasn't heard of yet. He doesn't have the time to think on that too long, however, because a white light, brighter than the surrounding blankness, flashes intensely in front of him, and he gets sucked into it.

Now he's floating in a vast sea of black filled with circles of different colors zipping around him and expanding outward very quickly. Eventually the circles begin to group themselves together, and as they do, white threads of light sprout from them and connect them with each other rapidly until there are so many threads between them, it makes it hard to see anything else. The circles in these groups begin to orbit each other faster and faster, and the groups become encased in balls of translucent silvery light. Then even more white threads sprout from these spheres and connect with other spheres all across the sea of black.

He zooms in again into one of these spheres and then into the middle circle that the other eleven circles are orbiting and then into a large cluster of galaxies, then into a smaller cluster of galaxies, then a single galaxy, part of the galaxy, then into a single nebula. He watches baby stars form and grow and die over and over again before he's whisked away to a baby solar system where rocks and gas collide as they orbit a baby star. Eventually everything settles to a few planets and asteroid belts, and he's brought onto the surface of one planet where he watches life begin to form and evolve and die over and over and over again until the star expands and consumes the planet entirely.

He's brought back out again to watch the star die before he's brought to another solar system where the cycle repeats itself. And then another and another and another. At one point, he flies out of the Material Plane and that reality entirely before he dives back into another reality to experience the same things over and over again. Then he's brought back out to witness the ever expanding existence as realities drift even further to fill up more space, and they seem to multiply as they do.

And the vision repeats with no end in sight. This is eternity. And as a part of it, John will have to exist, alive or dead, through the fullness of time, and it never stops. It never ends. And even if when he dies, his soul ceases to be, that would mean the end of him completely for forever and ever and ever, and he can't take that.

“Stop! Please, that's enough!”

The vision slows to a stop before slowly fading away, and John is back in his office again, his whole body shaking with fear and anger as he fights off tears. He breathes heavily and wipes at his eyes before he looks back over at the Light.

“Why would someone do this? Why would someone make this miracle without there being an end point? Why would they drag other people into it who don't want to get caught up in the entanglement of infinity?” he asks it with a trembling voice.

Because it is a miracle worth inventing. The Light says. Someone made my creator's existence, and they loved life and existence so much that they wanted to extend that joy of creation to others.

“They had no right,” John says, voice low and deadly. He grabs onto the armrests of his chair and grips them so tightly his knuckles turn white. “I want to meet them. I want to destroy them. Once everyone knows what they have done to us, they will all want that too.” He takes a breath to try and steady his voice. “How do we leave existence to confront this creator?”

The Light of Creation remains silent for a moment. I am built to be used for whatever my master's will is, so if you want to take me home to meet my creator and the creator of your existence, all you need is to say the word. We'll get the word out to everyone in this plane, and with my help, you will be able to lead a revolution that will lead to the destruction of existence itself.

“That is my plan,” John says, eyes narrowed and his heart pounding in his chest. “And I will destroy anything that gets in my way.”

John's final speech before turning into the Hunger:

“Thank you all for coming to meet me on this very important day,” John begins. “Last fall and throughout all of winter, I told you about the cruelty of the creators of existence and the laws and limitations they forced upon us without us knowing it. I told you about the weight and burden of eternity that we all must bear without having chosen to take on the burden ourselves. And I told you about my plan to find something bigger than those limitations and eternity can box us into. To break free from these bonds and chains that hold us down and force us to be compliant to these creators' will and not the wills of our own. To find these creators and overtake them and show them what it means to be oppressed by the laws and decisions that they had no say in creating. I come to you now on this day to tell you that today is that day. Today, we will begin our revolution and take our power back!”

The crowd erupts into uproarious applause, shouting, and cheering. A chant starts up from somewhere deep within the sea of people and spreads until everyone is shouting it together as loud as they can.

“TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK!”

John puts up a hand to quiet them again, and eventually the noise dies down.

“Today, the Light of Creation has told me that the bonds that make up this reality have weakened severely. This gives us an opportunity in which, with its help, the Light will transform our plane of existence into something new. Something with enough power to escape this reality and consume enough worlds to one day escape this existence and destroy the masters pulling the strings behind our suffering.”

As he talks, the sky begins to darken, and the grass and trees begin to wilt and turn gray. The colors in everyone's clothes and faces begin to drain away, and little strands of light of different colors appear in the spaces between people, showing their connections and bonds before they get pulled up and ripped away as they are sucked toward the platform.

John's heart hammers in his chest and his blood rushes in his ears as he holds up the Light above him for all to see. The Light grows brighter as the bonds get sucked into it, and it begins to emit ribbons of bright red, blue, green, and golden light that travel through the air, weaving around each other and spreading outward to reach through the entire plane.

“On this day, February 26th, 3074 AW, we begin our march across existence.”

The world rapidly begins to turn inky black as more bonds are sucked into the Light, and the people, including John, turn as dark as the darkest shadows too.

“On this day, we begin the end of existence itself!”

And for wip quotes:

The last exchange between Kravitz and one of his bounties:

“Alright,” she says, rolling her eyes as he laughs. She laughs too, and it takes them a few moments to calm down. When they do though, the smile slips off her face, and she looks at him seriously. “Kravitz, before I die– or, leave this vessel I guess, I need you to do me a favor.”

He raises an eyebrow. “I mean, I probably already broke like a hundred different rules by gambling with my job and getting this information, but sure, I guess.”

She smiles a little. “It's nothing too big.” She pauses for a second, and her gaze gets kind of far away. “When you hunt your other bounties in the future, please show them the same kindness you gave me. I would have been a lot more at peace with my death, I think, had I had someone to play one last game of baccarat with me or just showed me I didn't have to do this alone. That I wasn't just another soul to be herded like cattle into the sea of sheep.”

Kravitz's expression goes soft, and her eyes focus back in on him as she smiles a little sadly again. “I promise I will, Annamarie.”

She nods and stands up from the couch. “I guess it's time for me to go to bed one last time. Will you be there with me while I go?”

Kravitz nods. “Of course.”

She leads him into Luna's bedroom and lays down in her bed. Kravitz helps pull the blankets over her and tucks her in, and Annamarie smiles up at him one last time before she closes her eyes.

A small white light floats out of Luna's chest, and she gasps before her breathing settles down back to a steady, slow rhythm. Kravitz catches Annamarie's light and gently places her in his soul bag. Then, as Luna starts to wake up again, he brings out his scythe, tears open a new rift, and steps through it back to the Astral Plane.

The end of the conversation between Kravitz and the Raven Queen before he leaves to hunt down his lich mother alone:

“Using multiple spheres is a waste of resources, but I'll keep the idea of extending the time the field would be up in mind,” the Raven Queen says. “However, that does not change the fact that I will not allow you to go after her.”

“What if I offered you a deal?” Kravitz tries desperately. “I'll stake my job on this. If I bring her in, I bring her in, but if not, you can fire me or put me back in the Stockade. That's how sure I am that I can do this. Please, I'd do anything.”

The Raven Queen stands up to her full height, and she adopts a much sterner voice. “Kravitz, I'm not going to say this again. I don't need you to stake your job on anything, and I'm not going to throw you in the Stockade. I also, will not, let you go after her, and my decision is final.”

Kravitz blinks back angry tears and clenches his fists at his sides. Fine.

“Now, tell me where I can find Jaclyn, and I'll send a team of Reapers there immediately.”

He hesitates. “She's in a small town by the Sword Mountains. The new mining village that popped up called Phandalin.”

The Raven Queen stares him down, and he stares at her right back. Then she sighs and sits back down in her chair. “Thank you for your honesty.”

That one simple sentence jams a knife of guilt in his constructed heart that he largely tries to ignore. “Can I have the rest of the day off? I... don't think I'll be able to concentrate on any new missions while I'm still upset.”

She looks at him for a long time. “I suppose you can.”

He does a short bow. “Thank you, my queen.”

He makes it halfway across the room before she stops him one more time. “Kravitz?”

He turns to look at her questioningly.

“If you find yourself in need of... company, I'll make sure Thune and Nokal are free for the rest of the night.”

Kravitz swallows the sudden lump in his throat. “Thank you.”

The Raven Queen nods.

And Kravitz briskly makes his way to the supply room.

And this scene from Double Troubles alskghsldgkhsdgldkhs:

The four of them make it into the train station and walk up to the ticket counter where a human man is sitting reading a newspaper. He lowers the paper as they approach, and Meadow does a double take when he sees who it is.

“Hello! Are you here to pick up tickets or to buy–”

“Tom Bodett?” Meadow asks incredulously.

“Yeah,” Tom says slowly as he sits up a little straighter. “How did you know my name?”

“We were just with you at your house doing a sprinkler party!” Merle says. “How the hell did you make it here before we did?”

“At my– Oh! I see what's going on here. You must have met Tom Bodett the Narratively Convenient.” Tom says with a smile. “He really likes materializing in the vicinity of people who need him. I'm not him though. My full name and title is Tom Bodett the Booking Clerk! Despite my title, I also give people their reserved tickets too if they bought train tickets in advance.”

The four of them stare at him for a second before Taako covers his mouth with his hand as he snorts, Merle does a mixture of a snort and clearing his throat, and Magnus and Meadow look at each other before they quickly look away as they cough.

“So you two have titles huh?” Taako asks with a strained voice. “Couldn't separate the two of you without having that kind of distinction?”

“Well, yeah!” Tom the Booking Clerk says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. “This whole town is full of clones of Tom Bodett the Original, so we all needed titles to be able to tell each other apart.”

Meadow coughs again and bites down on their lip hard. They cannot laugh. That would be extremely rude.

“Anyway, are you four here to buy tickets, or do you already have some reserved?” Tom asks.

“Uh, yes! I'm here to pick up my ticket!” Merle says. “It should be under Leeman Kessler.”

“Oh, yes, Leeman Kessler! I believe we're also holding some cargo for you, give me just a second.”

Tom ducks his head under his desk and pulls out a shimmering, platinum-esque ticket. He slides it under the teller window for Merle to grab. “Here you are, Leeman, and are these three going with you?” he asks as he gestures to Meadow, Magnus, and Taako.

“Uh, yes! These are my retainers, Bo,” Merle points at Taako, “Diddly,” he points at Magnus, “and–”

Taako steps on Merle's foot. “I'm Leon Kessler!”

Merle winces and glares up at him as Tom blinks at him slowly. “You're Leon Kessler?”

“Yes! He's– he spells his name with two– with an O! 'Cause he's Leon, and he's my twin brother–” Merle babbles, but Tom interrupts him.

“You're twins? But... you're a dwarf, and he's... an elf.”

“Twin brother-in-law,” Meadow quickly corrects. “Leeman married Leon's twin, so they're in laws.”

Tom looks at him in confusion. “So... are you his twin?”

Meadow lets out a disbelieving nervous laugh. “What? No! I mean, I know I look more like an elf than other half-elves do, but I'm not an– yeah, I'm not related to any of–”

“He's adopted!” Merle says quickly.

“Yes, I'm adopted,” Meadow agrees.

“By... Leeman and his... spouse?” Tom asks, looking between all of them.

Is Merle old enough to be Meadow's dad? Meadow is 34, but he doesn't know how old Merle is.

“Cousins,” Meadow says in a panicked, strained voice.

“Yes, they were adopted into the family as a cousin!” Magnus says. “And so was I! I'm Diddly Kessler!”

“Okay,” Tom says slowly. “So, you're cousins with– wait, what's your name?” he asks Meadow.

Meadow freezes. “Uhhh...”

“Tom, I'm so sorry, but I lied,” Taako says as he attempts to hide a snicker.

“You lied about being his brother-in-law? Or–”

“Oh no! I'm his brother-in-law for sure, but I lied about my name! My real name is Flan Bodett!”

“Alright,” Tom says as he folds his arms across his chest. “I really hope this isn't a ruse you're all trying to pull on me–”

“No...” Magnus cuts in, but Tom continues over him.

“Because that would be extremely bad, and you're all not even doing a very good job at it, so we're going to try this again.”

He points at Merle. “You're obviously Leeman Kessler.”

Merle nods. “Yes, that's me!”

Tom points to Magnus. “You... You're name is...”

“Yes?” Magnus asks with a smirk.

Merle elbows him slightly. “Come on, Leroy! Tell–”

“No no no! I'm Diddly Kessler!” Magnus says, trying not to laugh. “I was brought into the family with Leeman's wife whose name is...”

“Chalupaa!” Taako says. “My sister's name is Chalupaa Kessler!”

“Right.” It's barely 10am and Tom already looks exhausted. “And your name is...?”

Taako puts his hands on his hips and gives him a shit eating grin. “Justin.”

Tom puts his face in his hands as Meadow brightens up and stands a little straighter.

“And my name is Phoenix!” Meadow says triumphantly.

Nailed it.

Tom looks up at them between his fingers before he sighs and brings his hands down. “I'm sorry, but I'm going to need you all to wait right here–”

As he reaches to the side for a Stone of Farspeech, Taako whips out his umbrastaff and waves it back and forth a little in a zigzag motion as he says an incantation, and then the tip of his staff glows pink at the same time as Tom's eyes glow pink for a second before it fades, leaving him looking dazed.

“So Tom, about those tickets?” Taako asks with a small smirk.

“Oh yeah! Of course! Anything for you, Justin; I'm just... so charmed by you.” he says dreamily.

“Oh, Justin! We have tickets though!” Magnus says as he slaps his hand against his forehead. He takes the tickets out of his bag and shows them to Tom who nods with a smile.

“Alright, well, Leeman and friends, since you have a high security item stowed away in the safe on the train, it's my job to walk you through our security protocols before you board, so please give me a moment to get out of here...”

Tom stands up from his chair and walks out of the booth door before he gestures for them to follow him. “Please step this way, but first–” He looks thoughtful for a moment before he looks back at Taako. “Do you want a kiss?”

[jerreeeeeee]

Balance fic recs

some of my favorite balance fics. various ages, popularities, and lengths. i’ve been wanting to do a rec list for a while!

caramel by nevereverever

The first time Taako is left alone, it isn't pretty. But their lives are stuck in a loop and people come back and die again and again and he wonders if there will ever be a time when he doesn't have to fear being left alone.

2.7k, Taako & Lup Lup dies one cycle and then, years later, she dies again. But she always comes back. Hurt/comfort of the best kind.

Warmth by noxic

"It was a well-known fact among the residents of the Starblaster that Lup, Barry, and Taako slept in the same bed more often than not. It was one of those things that they just did without really talking about it."

2.1k, Barry & Lup & Taako The BLT fic of all time. Quality platonic adult sleepovers.

Taako the Matchmaker by @fantasysamsclub

In which Taako tries to set up his sister. Events take place during Stolen Century.

11.1k, Blupjeans & Taako Taako tries to set up blupjeans. Miscommunication ensues. Very sweet and funny.

red fishing line by @anistarrose

A routine performance of Sizzle it Up goes nightmarishly wrong, and at Lup’s bedside, Taako feels helpless. And when a red-robed guest appears before him, Taako doesn’t know how or what to feel at all.

3k, Barry & Lup & Taako Also the BLT fic of all time. Excellent subtle Taako characterization, and my favorite depiction of the familiarity-but-not of being voidfished. Warning for major character death.

Sunny-Side Up by @barry-j-blupjeans

And the world? The world loved Taako. For once in his gods-damned life, people loved him. They didn’t care about all the flaws, they didn’t care where he came from or who he was before. They loved his food and they loved him. No one would ever quite be at Taako’s level and that was something he thrived on. There would never be anyone who could measure up. Taako deserved this happiness. He worked for it. He wasted his fucking life away for it.

5.7k, Taako A wonderful character study, revolving around the role food plays in Taako's life. Fairly minor but impactful characters like Sazed and Taako's aunt are utilized in a very meaningful way. So well-written and warm. Warning for brief suicidal ideation.

On the Deck of the Starblaster by @papergardener

“What the… what are you all doing? We have work to do!” It’s a justified reaction, Lucretia thinks, to finding your entire crew literally lazing about on deck not an hour into this new cycle. “This one's on me,” Taako says. “It’s a new trend I like to call: taking a fucking break.” Cycle Nintey-Five. Everyone’s maybe not doing so good and could use a little warmth.

6.5k, Lucretia & Taako Near the end of the century, Lucretia is feeling rough. Taako pulls her out of her funk and initiates a much needed rest. Fantastic characterization, of Lucretia as a whole, and the loyal, warm side of Taako. Warning for mentions of a suicide attempt and suicidal ideation.

leaving, as an injustice by @anistarrose

When Mavis is eight, she starts finding her Dad asleep on the couch in the morning. Sometimes, he’s even all the way out on their tiny patio, with his head slumped onto a pillow atop the chess table, and bags beneath his eyes. In one of their following games, he tells her about tactical retreats.

4.7k, Mavis & Merle A study of Mavis and her relationship to Merle. Incredibly insightful into criminally underrated characters. Excellent Merle characterization.

Permission by vaguenotion

She’d been doing this on and off for the last hour, as if daring the men to catch up to them. Daring them to fight her. Every time seemed like a final stand. Here is where I will meet them, her shoulders said, hiked up around her ears. Here is where I’ll make them pay for what they’ve done. But then Taako would grab her hand, and she would turn and see the bruising on his throat, the blood drying on his brow, the tear in his shirt. And she would grip his hand in hers and together they would keep running.

12.6k, Taako & Lup My favorite depiction of the twins as children, both in character and realistic. Beautifully atmospheric, with so many small details that make the setting feel so real. Warning for assault and harm to children.

Come Hell or High Water by @nillial

“Taako,” Hurley asks, “where’s your magic umbrella?” Taako looks behind him. He had tossed the Umbrastaff in the path of a neighboring vehicle, which was beginning to catch up to them. He sees them now, far in the distance, and he sees his Umbrastaff, too, lying dangerously close to its wheels. As if on cue, he watches the tires crush it to pieces. “Whoops,” he says. - Lup is trapped. And then she isn’t. --- In which Taako breaks his umbrella during the Petals to the Metal race, unknowingly freeing Lup, who is almost immediately captured by Kravitz. After becoming a member of the Raven Queen's retinue with Kravitz as her trainer, she has two missions: 1) find her family, and 2) ruin Kravitz's afterlife. A story about enemies becoming friends and lost families finding their way back to one another.

197k (currently), Lup & Kravitz Incredible characterization. I love the way Lup is written. Hilarious shenanigans, sweet friendship-building, and terribly sad sometimes, because it dives deep into the reality of Lup existing in a world that's forgotten her.

Very cold water on a very hot day by @keplercryptids

Sometimes a family is a nerd who can't swim and the crunchy-haired watersport inventor who teaches him how. Surfer lingo required.

3.1k, Barry & Taako Deep dive into the beach year. Excellently in character, well-written dialogue, and a beautiful depiction of their growing friendship.

Children of Atlas by @papergardener

They’ve survived the apocalypse and now as far as they know, they’re the only ones left. Perhaps it was inevitable that they’d consider… repopulation. Lucretia writes up a weekly schedule to try and address that. Absolutely no one is happy with this.

76k (currently), IPRE crew The premise for this one is incredibly offputting, but I'm so glad I gave it a chance. The characterization and quality of writing is absolutely wonderful. I also love the attention to detail of the realistic difficulty of just surviving. Fantastically atmospheric, this fic dives deep into the uncertainty and fear of the first cycle, when the crew are all strangers, and the love that turns them into a family. Warning for extensive discussion of sexual assault.

Emissary Davenport by DragonWrites

A series of stories where Captain Davenport is secretly an emissary of Garl Glittergold, Gnomish god of pranks. And when you're a serious-minded captain on a mission to save all of reality, having a cheerful trickster god as your unexpected patron can get a little strange...

300k, Davenport A series of four works set in an AU where Davenport is an emissary to the leader of the gnomish pantheon. My absolute favorite depiction of Davenport, ever. The first three works are explorations of Davenport as a character and the relationships between people and gods in a DnD world. The last, Lost Gods, is the best fanfiction I've ever read. I can't express how good it is. The attention to detail among myriad plot threads, the building of themes, the characterization across just about every single character in Balance, all come together to create 223k words of a genuine masterpiece.

[melonkittii]

taagnus baby fever gets to us all................ except i can still only draw lup LOL

here's most of the doodles from taagnus-baby-fever night. :) just their firstborn. her name is casey. did they mean to kinda-sorta continue the taako-lup naming convention? i don't think so. maybe. you better ask them.

[diabeticriddler]

my taako has glasses and theyre always crusty as hell bc he never wipes them off bc lup would always be like "eww taako gimmie ur glasses theyre fucking nasty" and he just never felt the need to do it himself even after the memory wipe and just has the vague memory that someone used to clean them off for him. he probably assumes it was his aunt or smthn

[barry-j-blupjeans]

Day Two - Bet

Barry was eleven years old when he first met Lup. He and his moma moved from the great empty plains of Georgia into the bustling city of San Diego in California. It was a pretty drastic change, but Mama’s sister lived out here for them to stay with, so Barry was trying not to make a huge fuss about it.

Still, it was weird here. Living in the city was far too loud. Barry didn’t know how anyone could sleep with all the noise. Even at night, there were car horns and bright lights and just- too much, sometimes. Way, way too much. He couldn’t hear the crickets over all the noise. He wasn’t sure California had crickets.

And the kids here were different. Back home, they’d get into scuffles a lot, but they’d always make up after each other. Barry had known the kids there his whole life. Their school was small enough that he knew every face, and everyone knew him. Here, there was more than one classroom per grade. He had already been dreading middle school, but he felt like he could Barry breathe in the hallways with so many people around.

But Mama— or, now just “Mom”, because someone overheard that he still called her Mama and started picking on him- knew what she was doing. She worked a lot more now. Barry supposed that came with the new territory. He was trying to get used to it.

But it was very, very hard.

She was never late picking him up from school on purpose. Sometimes she just ran a little behind. And his aunt and uncle were gone this week for a holiday, so they couldn’t come pick him up. He was trying to learn his way home, but every street corner looked the same here. Barry didn’t remember which towering building their apartment was in, let alone which of the endless streets it was on.

And it was raining.

The line for student pickup was slowly winding down. Barry kept his umbrella over his head, his eyes trained on the parking lot. She should be here soon. Unless she got hurt somehow? Or got fired and she was too sad to pick him up? Or something absolutely terrible had happened—

“Hey!” said a voice above him.

Barry jerked back, nearly falling off the bench. Standing there was someone he just vaguely recognized— from orchestra, maybe? From orchestra, definitely. She was carrying a violin case, which she set on the bench next to him. The bottom half of her pants was covered with mud.

“Uhm,” Barry said. “Hi.”

“Bet I can make a bigger splash in that mud puddle than you,” she said, pointing to a puddle further away from the school doors.

“Uhm,” Barry said again. “Prob— probably?”

“That is not the response I wanted,” mud girl said, somewhat critically. “But I’ll take it. C’mon, I’m gonna prove you right.”

Lup was… wow. Lup was. And from that moment forward, she Was with him included. She didn’t fix all his problems- he had too many of those. But over time, the harsh words from the other kids meant less and the sound of Lup’s laugh meant more. Life wasn’t better, but it was something. She was something.

Barry wouldn’t say that Lup was perfect by any means, but she made it a lot easier on him. Any time he’d get an “anxious face” (which he didn’t know what the fuck looked like, but Lup said it was very obvious), she’d nudge him and say-

“I bet I can talk to our waiter more than you can.”

“I bet I can get dressed faster than you.”

“I bet I can do the solo better than you.”

And Barry’s responses began to build from blubbering excuses into laughter into,

“Yeah? I bet you can’t.”

Barry— man, Barry will admit it, he was not a smart guy. Sure, his grades were good and he got into a good college but, it was sometimes hard to see what was right in front of him. It took several people to make him realize that his affection towards Lup might kinda be crush behavior. And it took over a decade to realize that, oh! Duh! She liked him back.

“Hey,” Barry said, nudging her. They were sitting in the back of their friend Magnus’s shitty pickup truck, deep into the country. There were crickets chirping around them. Barry always thought it was wild how you couldn’t see the stars in the city. Lup said she didn’t get the big deal of it all until the first time Barry brought her out here. The expression on her face when she first truly saw the sky was one he’d never forget.

“Hm?”

“Bet I can propose better than you can,” Barry said. Lup raised her eyebrows, her mouth quirking up into a smile.

“Oh?” she said. “Is that a challenge, babe?”

“Maybe,” Barry said. “If you want it to be.”

“You are going down,” Lup said, winding her arms around his shoulders. “I am gonna propose to you so hard.”

“I look forward to it,” Barry said, leaning in to kiss her. 

[fandomsnstuff]

Day 4: au

@blupjeansweek

Read it on AO3

This one's a little shorter cause i got lazy and didn't feel like doing more lmao

Summary: Lup goes to a cave and doesn't die. What happens next?

Lup doesn't remember what she was doing before she woke up in a strange bed. All she knows is what the healer told her; she came stumbling out of the forest pale, shaking, and bleeding from a slash in her back. He said she was lucky, the poison was cheap and therefore slow to kill her. There are plenty of poisons out there that would've killed her in minutes. Seconds, even. 

She also knows that when she woke up, she had the migraine of the century, and a looming feeling of wrongness. She chalked it up to the mysterious poison incident, because nothing else in her life is different. Ever since she left her aunt's house as a kid, all she's done is travel on her own. 

She didn't stay at the healer's for long, just enough to get her strength back. She collected her belongings, which weren't much, just the clothes she was wearing, a red robe with a (now patched) slash on the back, an umbrella, and a pack of simple travelling supplies. She struck back out on her own, going nowhere, taking jobs where she could find them. It was maybe two or three years later when she met Barry. He was a little bit of an asshole and a terrible fighter, but Lup was a little bit of an asshole back and a wizard in progress so they decided to stick together. 

It didn't take long for her to fall in love with him. Once they got past their respective prickly outsides, she fell hard and she fell fast. It scared the absolute shit out of her, cause she'd never let anyone in like she let Barry in, but it was so easy with him. When it was just the two of them, he had this gentleness to him that made her want to tell him all her secrets. 

Barry, evidently, felt same, seeing as their confessions happened at the same time in a chaotic dance of talking over each other, not quite hearing what the other said, then almost not believing it when they did. It all ended with a kiss that felt like they'd done it a billion times before and made some of that wrongness in her core go away. 

That night, they lie in bed together, not for the first time, but they no longer had to worry about if they'd wake up too close. They face each other, and Barry had a hand on Lup's cheek, admiring her. He says, "you know how I've been sent on a quest by my own voice in that weird coin?" 

"Yeah, you're looking for someone. What about it?" 

"It always said that I'd know who it was when I found them. That there's a hole in my chest only they can fill." He brushes his thumb over her cheek, and she could just get lost in his eyes when they meet hers. "I think it's you," he says quietly. "I don't know what it is, but something inside me changed when we met. Does that sound insane?" 

She puts her hand over his and says, "no. I had the exact same thing. For me… there's still something wrong, I'm sure of it. I mean, fuck, I got stabbed and poisoned and I don't even remember it! But with you… some of that bad feeling went away. And it hasn't come back." 

Barry smiles and says, "Two swiss cheese brains-" 

"-make one whole brain," Lup finishes. 

[holdmecloser-gandydancer]

@blupjeansweek May 29th: AU

[remember when I said I'd write the arcade date from Starblaster Lanes?]

“How have I never realized that this place was so close to my job?” Lup asks, following Barry through the front door of the arcade. A rush of air conditioning tumbles over them. It’s dark inside the arcade, the windows treated with a deep tint. The flooring isn’t the garish nightmare carpet Lup was expecting to see in an arcade, rather some dark tiles with faint specks of holographic glitter adorning it. A synthy 80s pop playlist plays quietly, under the sound effects from countless arcade cabinets.

Barry hands the guy by the door some cash and gets a nod in return. “It’s one of those things that either you know someone who goes here all the time and they drag you here, or you just never find out about it. It’s not the flashiest building, you know?”

And it’s true. The facade of the building is a dilapidated looking brick. No large sign like its neighboring businesses, just a peeling decal on the front that lists the hours and the price for an all-day entrance. 

“How’d you find this place, then?” Lup’s astounded at the sheer variety of cabinets. Lots she’s heard of, countless others she never could have even dreamed up. 

Barry moves through the arcade with a confident kind of comfort; he’s in his element and it’s clear to see. “I moved here when I was first starting grad school and I didn’t really have a ton in common with my classmates. They were nice enough in lecture and everything, I just never got around to really getting to know them. So, I took a lot of walks and stumbled into this place by accident, But it was like my paradise, you know?”

Lup stops in front of a game that features what looks like Godzilla, King-Kong, and a werewolf. She nods to Barry. They pick the Godzilla and werewolf, respectively. “I get that. Embarrassing as it is, that’s why Taako and I dig the bowling alley so much. We got into so much shit in middle school that our aunt just started dropping us there with some cash on days she was at work early. And now we work there. And it’s lame, probably, but it was a nice place to lay down some kind of roots.” She grimaces as her character bites into a piece of building that was concealing a toaster and falls down, defeated. 

“It’s not lame! It’s nice, feeling comfortable somewhere.” Not too long after the demise of Lup’s giant lizard, Barry’s werewolf falls victim to a similar fate. They both share a laugh about this and meander to other cabinets, idly playing a few, laughing when they lose. 

Lup eyes the massive mural in the back depicting all manner of pop culture icons, and she and Barry take time pointing out the best ones. Lup’s especially fond of what seems to be Dot Warner, though she appears bereft of her brothers.

At long last, they approach the Space Invaders cabinet. Being his home turf, Lup lets Barry take the first crack at the machine. He racks up quite the respectable score; nothing that takes down his personal best, but something to knock poor old Bob outta seventh spot. 

Lup claps and rubs her hands together like a villainous cartoon spider. "Alrighty, that was a pretty good showing but there's a new sheriff in town." She sidles up to the machine and meditatively hits the new game button.

She dies fairly quickly.

"Yeah, see that's what we in the biz call a trial run," Lup says casually, stretching her arms and rolling her shoulders. Barry laughs good naturedly. She bounces on her toes a few times before readying herself in front of the machine again.

She does markedly better this time, the trial run seeming to have worked magic. When she exhausts each of her lives, she's delighted to realize she's managed to snag a spot on the board. Near the bottom, but there nonetheless. 

"Just going easy on me, huh?" Barry asks, a grin pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"Exactly right. Couldn't unleash my full force right here. Then you might get turned to goo and I can't in good conscience subject the employees here to goo cleaning," Lup says seriously. 

"You're just so kind and thoughtful."

"I am. I'm like the Princess Diana of this arcade."

Barry looks at her, bewildered. "I certainly hope you're not," he sputters.

Lup grins. "Yeah, I guess that wouldn't bode well for either of us, huh?"

"It wouldn't!" Barry nods toward the tiny snack counter in the back corner, boasting two empty stools and delicious 80s prices. "How about I buy you a soda while we figure out how to muscle our way into the line for the N64 over there?"

"Think you could throw in one of those dubious hot dogs on the rollers?"

"You drive a hard bargain, but I think we can make that work."

Lup grabs his hand as they slowly make their way to the counter.

[natjennie]

taako's best day ever for lup includes

huuuuge fucking delicious breakfast

carb nap til early afternoon

water gun fight in the park with capnport

released in an abandoned dmv to destroy

a turkey feast with their aunt's recipe she would only cook on lup's birthday

big ole bottle of grey goose

[ungarmax]

Chapter: 1 - The Soul is a Signpost

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Relationship: Lup & Taako (The Adventure Zone)

Characters: Lup (The Adventure Zone), Taako (The Adventure Zone), Barry Bluejeans, Taako's Aunt (The Adventure Zone), Pinako Rockbell

Additional Tags: Crossover, Alternate Universe - Fullmetal Alchemist, Angst, Blood and Injury, taako is edward, lup is alphonse, the rest is a surprise

Chapters: 1/2

Summary: Taako and Lup just want their auntie back. Unfortunately, the price of knowledge is higher than they expected.

FMA crossover where Taako is Edward and Lup is Alphonse.

Many thanks to @ficklepenguin, my co-conspirator, my cheerleader, and my beta. Without you, this fic wouldn't exist. <3

[ineffectualdemon]

AU where Eda is the Tacco Twins' Aunt who raised them

Baby Taako and Lup learning to grift at her knee

I just think that would be fun

[cataztrophi]

The Thing With Feathers

Ship: Kravitz/Taako

Words: 2,603

CW: food

Read below or on AO3

Taako knew that Kravitz was having nightmares. He could tell from his red, puffy eyes and the exhaustion that hung about his shoulders like a cloak, not to mention, well, who wouldn’t be having nightmares eighteen months after what they’d been through? So when he was startled awake in the middle of the night by Kravitz sitting bolt upright in bed, he knew why.

“Babe? You alright?” His hand went to Kravitz’s shoulder, but he felt Kravitz flinch at his touch and he quickly withdrew. Taako couldn’t blame him. He remembered nights on the Starblaster after a particularly difficult cycle when even Lup’s comforting hands on his back made him shudder, unable to dismiss the image of the Hunger’s oily tendrils creeping up his body. Instead, Taako slid out of bed, pulled on his robe, and held out his hand.

“Come into the kitchen with me.”

Kravitz looked up at him, surprised. Taako felt a twinge in his chest at the haunted look that still lingered in his eyes. Still, he held firm. “Well? Come on, my fella.”

Kravitz took his hand and let himself be led into the next room. As soon as they were in the kitchen Taako was all business, his years of experience taking over. He let Kravitz settle himself on a stool at the counter while he bustled around the room, grabbing bowls and spoons and ingredients and preparing his mise-en-place. He had never truly let go of the showmanship he had cultivated during his years with Sizzle It Up, and he slipped easily back into the old patter.

“Now, watch closely, Kravitz. I’m about to teach you how to make the perfect pancakes every time.”

“Pancakes?” Kravitz asked, seeming to rouse from his stupor for the first time. “Taako, it’s three in the morning.”

“Exactly. It’s the perfect time to start making them. By the time you’re done cooking those little sons of bitches it’s seven o’ clock anyway.”

Kravitz still looked skeptical.

“Okay, listen.” Taako began measuring out flour into a ceramic mixing bowl. “Lup and I had a lot of nightmares when we were kids. Not sure why. But when we did, our aunt would make us pancakes, no matter what time it was. And her pancakes were the best. So we’d eat like, a mountain of pancakes and she’d tell us stories about when she was a kid, and it turns out when you eat enough pancakes your body will just knock you the fuck out, probably to stop you from actually exploding. Here, start stirring this while I heat up the pan. And then when we got older and we started traveling around, whenever one of us had a bad dream, the other one would get up and make pancakes, and then it was like, a thing. Bad dream pancakes, or whatever. So that’s what we’re doing now.”

The faintest smile crossed Kravitz’s face as he stared into the bowl of pancake batter he was dutifully stirring. “Bad dream pancakes?”

“We were like, twelve. Give us a break.” He took the spoon from Kravitz’s hand and gave the batter an experimental stir. “Looks good! Now how’s your wrist strength?”

“My–what?”

“I’m gonna need you to whip some cream for me.” He grabbed a copper bowl from the counter and zapped it with a quick ray of frost before upending a cup of rich cream into it, followed by a tablespoon of sugar. “Now you just whisk it…like… so. It’s all in the wrist, bubelah.” He winked. “Alright, your turn.”

He handed over the bowl and whisk and watched Kravitz’s first awkward attempt to copy him.

“Not quite.” He placed his hand on top of Kravitz’s, guiding him until he settled into a pattern of steady, swift circles. “There you go, babe! Now just keep doing that for ten more minutes.”

He ignored Kravitz’s protests and scooped up the bowl of pancake batter. The first spoonful made the softest hiss as he dropped it onto the pan. Perfect. While he waited for one side to cook, he glanced towards Kravitz to check on his progress with the whipped cream. Kravitz was staring intently down at the bowl as he whisked, and with each rotation Taako heard him counting under his breath: one-two-three, one-two-three…. He was whisking in the three-quarter time, like the steps of a waltz.

“Kravitz?”

The beat of his hands faltered as he looked up at Taako. “Yes?”

“You know I love you, right?”

A smile broke across Kravitz’s face, the first true, bright one since they’d woken up. To Taako, it felt like seeing the sunrise after a storm. “I know. I love you, too.”

“Pssh, who wouldn’t.” He tossed his hair back from his face, partly to keep it away from the pan and partly for effect. “Now, the mistake that most people make when they’re flipping a pancake is they get too aggressive with it. You really only need to toss it gently. I tried explaining that to Magnus once and we had bits of pancake falling from the ceiling for two weeks.”

With one deft flick of his wrist, Taako flipped the pancake and set the pan back down on the stove. The upwards-facing side was a perfect golden brown.

“Now let me check on that whipped cream.” He practically danced over to the counter and dipped his finger into the bowl, then raised it to his lips. “Taste: good, texture: perfect. Well done, babe!”

Kravitz smiled again, but Taako could see the restless dread creeping back in behind his eyes. He turned back to the stove with worry knotting in his stomach.

"The biggest trick with pancakes is getting the consistency of the batter right," he said, forcing a little more cheer into his voice. He was practically babbling now, and he knew it, but what else could he do? He needed to distract Kravitz somehow.

Still, he knew that eventually Kravitz would want to talk about it. Taako did not want to talk about it. As far as he was concerned, the best thing any of them could do was move on and forget the shit they'd been dragged through. Wonderland? He didn't know her. The Hunger? Doesn't ring a bell. Time loops that all ended in his horrible, painful death? Must suck to be that guy.

"Shit!" Taako was pulled out of his reverie by the smell of burning food. The pancake was beginning to smoke.

"Are you alright?" Kravitz was half-standing, unsure what to do.

Taako sighed. "Yeah, it's fine. Anyway, you always fuck up the first pancake. Ask anyone."

He flipped the blackened pancake into the garbage and poured another spoonful of batter into the pan. “Now, let’s talk syrup. Magnus swears that Raven’s Roost makes the best, and tragically I have to agree with him. Some people mix cinnamon into it, or butter, but really all you need is a little rum to give it that zip.”

He rambled on until he had a full batch of pancakes, then set the plate triumphantly in front of Kravitz alongside the promised rum-infused syrup and the bowl of whipped cream. “Now eat up, we’re about to have a bunch more.”

Kravitz smiled weakly. “Thanks, Taako. I’m��� not sure I’m hungry just yet.”

Taako shrugged. “Okay, but they’re gonna get cold.” He turned back towards the stove, but Kravitz stopped him.

“Taako, wait-”

“Yeah?” He watched Kravitz’s face contort into a grimace as he debated what he was about to say.

“Can we… talk for a minute?”

Taako’s shoulders slumped, but he tried to keep his tone light. “For sure! What do you want to talk about?” He propped himself up on his elbows at the kitchen counter facing Kravitz.

Kravitz frowned down at his pancakes for a long moment before answering. “I… I thought the dreams would stop by now. But I can’t stop thinking about being trapped in the Astral Plane, and how… helpless I felt.”

Taako shifted his feet nervously. He felt like his heart was climbing up into his throat, and any moment he would choke on it.

“I didn’t know where you were,” Kravitz continued. “And when the… the Hunger… you know… it was like suffocating in these waves of- of cold and emptiness and….” He took a deep, shuddering breath, composing himself. Taako thought he might throw up. “And I didn’t know if the same thing was happening to you, and then I heard that Song, and then I knew that it had happened to you, for- for decades, and this thing was coming after you, and I still couldn’t get to you, and I keep thinking about how I could have lost you that day, or- or so many days before that–”

“But you didn’t!” Taako broke in. His heart was pounding, much too fast for a guy making pancakes. “We’re fine, babe! We’re both fine!”

“I know that, but-”

“Anyway, it doesn’t help to keep thinking about it. I mean, maybe that’s why you keep dreaming about it.”

“I don’t know how to stop.” His eyes were pleading. He needed Taako, and Taako knew it, but he didn’t know how to be there. All he could think about was the walls closing in, and the way his heart was hammering in his chest, and how his breathing was coming too fast until it became almost a pant. “I thought maybe if I talked about it-”

Taako pushed himself back from the counter and began pacing around the kitchen, desperately searching for anything to diffuse the bomb ticking away inside him. “I’m sorry, Krav, I can’t talk about this.”

Kravitz frowned. “But why don’t you need to talk about it? Don’t you think about it? Taako, I know you’ve dreamed about it, too.”

It was too much. The wall Taako had so carefully constructed around those memories, the one he rebuilt after every nightmare and silent, shuddering panic attack, came crashing down. “Of course I dream about it, Krav! I dream about every fucking– If I let myself start thinking about it I’d never stop. I just can’t, Krav, I can’t– fighting the Hunger, year after year, never making any progress, or… or fucking Wonderland, watching those liches carve off little pieces of us, and then that rift opening, and seeing you, and not knowing– wondering if maybe you–” The tears came suddenly, surprising even Taako as his voice broke. Before he could stop himself they were rolling down his cheeks, his shoulders shaking as he fought to hold back sobs.

“Oh, Taako.” And then Kravitz’s arms were around him, pressing him into his chest, holding him up as he fell apart. Dimly, he registered the sensation of something dripping into his hair, and he realized Kravitz was crying too. He wrapped his arms around Kravitz’s chest as securely as he could. I’m here, he hoped he was saying. I’m fucked up but I’m here.

He didn’t know how long it took before his sobs turned into careful, slow breaths that still hitched in his throat every few seconds. It might have been five minutes, or an hour. “Fuck,” he sniffed, finally. “I was supposed to be making you feel better.”

Kravitz let out a breath that could almost be a laugh. “It’s okay. We’re both kind of a mess.”

Taako laughed, too. “Just a couple of genu-wine messes.”

“Hey.” Kravitz's voice was so gentle. Something in that softness compelled Taako to look up, into his face. When he did, Kravitz offered him a hesitant smile. “There’s no one I'd rather be a mess with.”

Taako let out a long breath, the first one he'd gotten through without that awful post-cry hitch, and buried his face in Kravitz’s chest again. “Same here.”

They stayed that way for another moment, holding each other up, until the restful silence was broken by Kravitz’s stomach rumbling. Taako snorted and wiped his eyes one last time before letting go of Kravitz and stepping away.

“You ready for those pancakes now?”

Kravitz grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I- that sounds good.”

Kravitz ate at the counter while Taako continued cooking, then joined him with the second batch, leaving his mage hand to do the work of pouring and flipping. While they ate, they talked; not about the trials of their past, but plans for their future. Other people must be struggling, too, they reasoned, and some of them might be ready to talk about it. Taako suggested Magnus or Barry, or even Merle. Lup, he knew, would be a no-go. Kravitz nodded along, grimacing a little at the thought of what a heart-to-heart with Merle might entail. By the time Kravitz put their plates in the sink, they had, if not a plan, then at least a place to start.

“You should talk to someone too, you know,” Kravitz said, coming up behind Taako and wrapping his arms around his waist. “I know you don't want to, but just… consider it, okay?”

Taako sighed, leaning against Kravitz. “Yeah, okay. But right now we've got a bigger problem.”

“What’s that?”

He gestured to the stove, where his mage hand was still frantically cooking. “I think I overshot the measurements a little.”

“Huh. Well, Barry and Lup should be getting off shift soon, do you want to call them and see…?”

Taako nodded. “Good idea. But… I'll call them, okay? You look dead on your feet. Heh.”

Kravitz smiled ruefully, even as he struggled to keep his eyes open. “Yeah… I think you were right about the pancakes.”

“Taako knows his stuff, babe.” He turned his head and kissed Kravitz on the cheek. “Now go lay down. I'll talk to Lup.”

Kravitz nodded and headed into the living room as Taako retrieved his stone of farspeech.

“Hey, Lup?”

The answer came immediately. “Taako? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Listen, I have like a shitload of pancakes here, do you and Barry want to come over?”

“Are you having nightmares again?”

“Nah, not me this time.”

“Ah, poor Kravitz.”

“Yeah…. He's resting now.”

Lup chuckled. “Bad dream pancakes claim another victim.”

Taako was silent for a moment, that choking nausea threatening to overwhelm him again as he chose his next words. “Hey, Lup?”

“Yeah, bud?”

“I think…. I think we need to talk about some stuff. About, you know… all the shit that happened. I think we- I think I need to work through some stuff.”

There was a long silence on the other end, and Taako’s stomach continued to twist itself into non-Euclidian shapes until Lup sighed heavily. “Can I have some pancakes first?”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Hell yeah.”

“Rad. See you in a bit, then!”

Taako hung up and took a deep breath to untwist some of the knots in his stomach. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

He headed into the living room and found Kravitz lying on the couch, dozing. Taako brushed the hair out of his face and bent down to place a gentle kiss on his forehead. As he did, Kravitz stirred a little, and he caught Taako's arm.

“Stay,” he said, his voice groggy.

“The kitchen looks like a pancake bomb went off, my man.”

Kravitz groaned and tugged at his arm. “That's fine. Stay.”

Who was he to say no? Taako stretched out next to Kravitz, who was apparently asleep again but immediately wrapped his arms around him. Taako smiled and nestled a little closer to him. He had one coherent thought before his exhaustion and the comfort of this moment pulled him into sleep. Maybe–just maybe–we’re gonna be alright.

[soysaucequeen]

Taako (and Lup's) aunt, who taught him how to cook

[raineydaywrites]

Ghost Lup Snippet

I want to start posting more fic, so here: A snippet from a WIP where Lup died as a toddler

Taako had always been able to see ghosts. At least, he had been able to do it for about as long as he could remember, so close enough. Probably hadn't actually been as long as he had lived, though, truthfully. Probably had started at a very particular moment that he didn't like to think about at all.

See, the ability to see ghosts was pretty rare, and was always caused by a devastating loss at an early age. So really, nobody was born with the ability.

Taako still claimed he had been. Because it was a good way to get people to shut up about asking him who he'd lost.

Losing Lup had ripped him in two. Of course it had, she was his twin sister, his other half. If he hadn't been able to keep her as a ghost, he didn't think he would have survived the loss at all.

It had been sickness. She'd gotten sick when they were just babies- maybe she'd been born sick. He wasn't really sure, because his family members had always given conflicting stories, because most of them hadn't cared enough to know the exact details.

But whatever it was, she'd gotten sick, and he'd moved in with his auntie- the only one he actually loved, the one who had cared about the tiny toddlers learning what death is.

She'd lost her eyes first, and they'd hoped that might be enough. Excise the sickness before it could spread, and maybe she'd survive. She'd be blind, but that was better than dead.

But she kept getting worse. Sicker and sicker until she didn't even seem like herself anymore. And then, she was gone.

Taako had never felt pain like that before. It felt like his soul had been ripped out too.

But then- later that evening, after he'd screamed and sobbed and fought his aunt's efforts to comfort him, because how could he be comforted over losing Lup?- he'd seen her. Sitting cross-legged on the end of his bed, just like they always did at their auntie's place. She was one of the few who could be bothered to give them separate beds, and while the gesture was appreciated, they were so used to spending all of their time together that it was almost disconcerting to sleep apart. Sooner or later, one of them would end up getting up and slipping quietly to the other's bed, settling down and just existing together until they eventually fell asleep curled together.

Lup's eyes seemed to glow even more than they had when she'd been- when she'd been alive, like this. And her form was kind of wavery and see-through. She wasn't the same, and that scared him, but it didn't even matter. It didn't matter because she was still here.

He'd thrown himself at her, and collapsed through her, but she came down with him too- not completely incorporeal, just slippery, they'd later say- and he'd cried into her wobbly form, grief and relief jumbled up together, and she had stayed with him. She'd always stay with him.

[youhearstatic]

It's that time of year - the time when I want to reread the Blupjeans and Taakitz Candlenights AU.

The premise:

Lup lives in England where she's gone back to school to study Shakespeare, Taako's a screenwriter in California. Each wants the other to come visit for Candlenights. What happens when they each decide to surprise one another?

Now Lup's in LA, staying in Taako's fancy refurbished apartment in Santa Monica all alone and Taako's in her cold little cottage several hours outside London where it's starting to snow.

This is an AU where the twins don't cook but instead gained a love of stories and old movies from their aunt, Kravitz is landed gentry, and Barry's ... still a nerd, but a music and computer nerd.

It's Candlenights romance time, baby!

[ID: Digital art of Taako and Kravitz, two young adult men, leaning over a bar countertop in what appears to be a warmly lit pub. Taako has long, blonde hair, tied in a braid, tan, freckled skin, green eyes, and a slight build. He is wearing a purple sweater and is seated on the customer’s side with his chin resting on one hand. He appears to be talking. Kravitz has dark skin, long, dark locs, pulled back neatly, facial hair and a slightly more toned build. He is wearing a blue button up shirt rolled up at the sleeves. There is a white towel over one shoulder. He is smiling and looking intently at Taako during their conversation. End ID]

POV: You are trapped in the English Countryside and the local bartender is an extremely handsome man. Inspired by O. Henry Never Had Santa on a Jet Ski by @youhearstatic and Bitsy on Ao3. Is 10/10 a good fic :0