#at least Sazed said they’re happy

[thehalfbloodfreak]

Okay but when Elend pulled out a book while dancing with Vin

I love my scholar and warrior dorks. Iconic.

[raineydaywrites]

working on from then til now (4/5)

link to part 1 (x), part 2 (x), part 3 (x), ao3 (x)

Taako couldn't explain how, but they got past it. Angus asked for more magic lessons, he hung around with Tres Horny Boys, and he put up with all of their dumb jokes until Taako stopped wanting to flinch every time they spoke.

Taako found himself growing extremely protective of the kid, much to his own dismay. He didn't want to care about this stupid kid. But he kind of already did. He'd cared about him before he'd learned what he'd done, and he'd felt- responsible for him afterward.

He loved this dumb brat, and it was terrifying, and it was amazing.

And then everything changed again.

The deaths at Glamour Springs- they hadn't been his fault at all. Not directly anyway. Not in the way he'd always thought they had been.

It had been Sazed- the fucker- jealous and bitter and taking it out on Taako and his audience.

Taako hadn't done anything wrong. Well, except for everything he did that convinced Sazed to hate him in the first place- but, but that wasn't the same. It wasn't his cooking. It wasn't his magic. It wasn't him.

It was just a dick who went way too far.

Taako wanted to be happy about that, but he couldn't quite bring himself to be. It didn't change anything that had happened, really. The only person that this knowledge benefited was himself, and, like, yeah, it was pretty great to know that he hadn't messed up in that particular way- but was it really all that much better? Still his fault. Still his food. Still his reputation ruined with no way to prove that he hadn't done it.

But he could tell Angus about it. And maybe the kid wouldn't feel so bad about him anymore.

Angus had been really torn up about befriending his parents' supposed killer, Taako knew. Kid was all about justice and fairness, so it was hardly a surprise. He had spent so long wanting to punish the killer, and then suddenly he was trusting him instead. Of course the kid was gonna feel weird about it.

Oh. Wait.

On the other hand, Angus wanted justice. He'd pushed that aside when he'd thought it was Taako, thought it was an accident.

How would he react to knowing that it had been murder after all? What would the kid do about it?

The thought of Angus running headlong after a murderer, especially while emotional and overwrought, sent a spike of fear through Taako's blood. Sazed was a slimy motherfucker that had always known how to act in his own self-interest- how to eliminate loose ends. Taako had appreciated it before, when he hadn't realized that the guy was willing to commit stone cold, premeditated murder. When those talents had been used to his advantage in running the show, and he'd thought Sazed wouldn't do anything worse than skirting some of the less convenient laws.

Sazed had poisoned the food Taako made for a crowd. He had wanted Taako to die in front of an audience, to die painfully and ruin his reputation in the process. Sazed had either not cared about or maybe even hoped for the deaths of the audience members as well. Sazed must have planned it out at least a few days in advance, if not longer, and he had spent that time calmly working with Taako while imagining his death.

Sazed had been the one to suggest running first. Taako knew that he probably would have come to the idea soon enough, but he'd been too frozen in shock in the moment to start moving. The fucker had seen his plan go awry and decided to make Taako look as guilty as possible before ditching him and stealing his shit.

He would have no qualms about killing a kid.

If Angus went after him, he'd be putting himself in danger.

And Angus would go after him. Taako knew him well enough by now to know that. You didn't become a renowned detective by the age of ten by holding back. The kid had no concept of his own limits and a years-long hope for justice.

Taako couldn't let that happen, but he didn't know how he was supposed to protect the kid either. He and the guys could go with him, Taako supposed, but that would still bring Angus into danger by the fact that he would be present with a murderer.

And Taako didn't know enough about Sazed or the situation the guy was currently in to be certain of the threat level. He was sure that he, Merle, and Magnus could take the guy if he was by himself, but what if he had allies? Who even knew where the guy was nowadays?

Taako was going to tell Angus. Of course he would tell Angus, the kid had a right to know.

But he needed to make a plan first. He needed to figure out how to keep Angus safe and still get the justice he so wanted.

-

Taako tried to make a few discreet inquiries, but 'discreet' wasn't exactly the best skill of THB. And Angus McDonald was a very good detective.

Taako was woken by an urgent eyed Davenport, and he immediately knew that something was wrong. He wasn't sure why exactly the worried look on the dude's face prompted an instinctive alarm, but he had learned to trust his instincts.

"What's happening?" he asked, even though he knew he wasn't going to get much of an answer out of the guy.

"Davenport!" was all the guy offered, his hands moving quickly, but Taako didn't understand enough sign language to actually get it.

He did notice the signs for "Director" and "Angus" though, and he was moving instantly.

"Lucretia in her office?" Taako questioned, only pausing long enough for Davenport to nod before he was pulling on his boots and grabbing the Umbra Staff.

As Taako left, he half-noticed Davenport going to Magnus' and Merle's rooms to wake them as well, but he didn't pay it any mind, moving out of the suite and towards the elevators with a single-minded determination.

By the time he got to the elevators, the other three had caught up with him, and Taako tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Merle and Magnus to get in the damn elevator so they could get a move on.

He said nothing the whole trip to the Director's office, just knowing that something was wrong.

"Taako, there you are," the Director said, voice tight with worry when they got to her office. "When was the last time you spoke with Angus?"

"Yesterday? No, wait, day before," Taako said, stomach sinking with dread. "Why?"

"He left the base very early this morning, telling Avi that he had a family emergency to attend to. Avi had no reason not to believe him or to deny the request, so he sent Angus down planetside. But Angus left me this note-" the Director's voice cut off for a second, and Taako felt his dread increase. "He's in danger, isn't he?"

As the Director handed the note over for them to look at, Taako felt a strange, sickening sense of deja vu. Some part of his mind was screaming that everything was about to go wrong, but he didn't even know why.

The note was longer than Taako had expected, though he supposed it shouldn't be a surprise that the little nerd had babbled on.

Taako read the note as quickly as possible, cursing when he read Sazed's name.

"You two idiots can't keep your fucking mouths shut, huh?" Taako said, glaring between Merle and Magnus, refusing to admit to himself that if Angus had really been listening in for a while, he could have easily heard about it from Taako instead.

"Taako, please, not now," Lucretia said, glancing up from where she had her face buried in hands. She looked tired, and Taako thought about how much she seemed to like the kid and felt a stab of sympathy.

And she was right anyway. Snapping at his friends wasn't going to get them anywhere.

"Fine, whatever. We gotta find Ango," he said, hoping that Magnus and Merle would understand it as the apology it was meant to be. They seemed to.

"Do any of you know who this person is that he's looking for?" the Director asked. "I spoke with him a little while back and he said he was having a personal issue, but he didn't give much detail, and I didn't want to pry. Did he ever say anything to you three? I know he spends a lot of time with you."

Magnus and Merle glanced to Taako, clearly unsure how much he was comfortable revealing.

"Yeah. I know who he's looking for," Taako said. "Where'd Avi send him?"

"Wait- don't you have some way to track him through the bracers? They know where we are right?"

"They don't transmit constantly," the Director said, leaning her head forward in exasperation with herself. "I didn't want to be creepy, spying on my employees, you know?"

"Fuck," Taako said emphatically.

"It was a nice thought, though!" Magnus said, patting the Director on the back comfortingly.

"That could get invasive and weird, yeah, I suppose," Merle mused.

"Yeah, thanks for not being Fantasy Big Sister or whatever, but can we focus?" Taako said. "Where. Did. Avi. Send him?"

"Davenport!" Davenport exclaimed, spreading a map out on the Director's desk and gesturing to it, quickly marking where Avi must have put Angus down.

"Great. We're going," Taako said.

"I've had a team looking for Angus since I discovered that he was missing. They haven't turned up anything yet," Lucretia said. "I'm asking about this individual because I'm hoping that it may offer some insight to where he might be, or where Angus might seek him out."

"Team sweet flips?" Magnus questioned, a bit of excitement entering his voice.

"No, I'm afraid not. As impressive as they may be together, they're not our most- subtle team. I've sent a team of Seekers instead," the Director explained.

Taako stared down at the map, wracking his brain to figure out if he could remember anything useful. He hadn't paid much attention to Sazed, if he was being honest. He didn't know the guy enough to have a clue of where he might be.

But something familiar was whispering at the back of Taako's mind, and he focused, trying to pull it forward.

"There," Taako pointed to a small town a fair but walkable distance from where Avi had sent Angus. "That's Sazed's hometown. That's gotta be where Angus is looking."

The Director didn't question it, instead tapping at her Stone of Farspeech quickly.

"Maya? Have you and your team found anything of note in the town of- Wellspring? I have reason to believe Angus may have sought this individual there," she said.

A voice Taako was unfamiliar with came crackling back. "Yes, we have! I cannot confirm anything, but I'll send you the location information now."

Taako felt a tiny flash of relief, but didn't let it show. This wasn't over yet.

"Great, thank you," the Director said, and Taako saw the same wary hope on her face that he felt in himself.

"Normally, I would send Regulators for a task like this, but I know how much you three care for Angus, and so I ask if you-"

"Yes!" All three Reclaimers spoke before she could even finish speaking.

"Then I wish you good luck," the Director said, smiling softly at them. "Avi is waiting. I'll have Seeker Maya meet with you to explain the situation."

Taako was already leaving, barely taking the time to wave in acknowledgement as he stalked out of the office and toward the transport bay.

As they walked, no one said anything, too furious and worried to feel comfortable goofing too much. This was Angus who was in danger, after all.

The whole way there and into the glass cannon ball, Taako found one thought spiraling around in his head, over and over, somewhat nonsensical all things considered, but unshakeable regardless.

Hold on Angus. I can't lose you too.

part 5 (x)

[cinnamonbirdanon]

Heart eyes, motherfucker

Me and beauty-grace-aroace have talked about this au and I fucking love it, I had to get this out of my system.

Soulmates worked in funny ways, but the promise was that Istus always led you to meet yours. All of his life, Istus was brought up constantly to him. He knew why they brought her up- His pupil was halved from birth. This was a sign your soul mate was dead. It was a relief to know that, hey. At least they weren’t heart shaped yet. He was still to meet his soulmate. 

Growing up, Lup teased Taako about it constantly. The jokes went from “ Maybe she’s a vampire!” to “ Maybe she’s a zombie, heh.” Neither were comforting thoughts, how could they be, but they made Taako chuckle. 

Taako falling in love was nothing new, so as her brother gushed over the phone about a new person he’d been seeing, Lup didn’t think much. “ I’m telling you, Lulu. They’re the one.” He said softly into the phone, careful of his room mate’s prying ears “ I just- geez Lu. The boys have been making fun of me since it happened two months ago.” 

“ What?” Lup teased “ Did you finally meet your ghost babe?” She said, not expecting the photo she received. It was Taako with a happy smile, pupils in the heart shape they were when you met your soulmate. “ Wait! Wait, wait Koko that’s amazing! Bear! Barry! Taako met his fucking soul mate! So, was she a ghost like I predicted?” She was ecstatic for her brother. 

“ A: Gay. B: No, he isn’t a ghost. He technically was never alive? You know how my college is the one where weird necro shit goes down like every week cause we don’t have a necro lab. He’s the grim reaper. Necro cop. Lup, I watched his pupils turn to hearts when he had his skeleton head it was the cutest shit.” 

“ Koko, you gay motherfucker why the fuck didn’t you tell me you were gay?!” Lup frowned, feeling a little betrayed and in the background Barry called “ Taako’s GAY?!” Taako just laughed at the two’s reaction “ Who the fuck did you think Sazed was? Sazed isn’t a girl name, Lulu.” He pointed out. 

“ Yeah, but he FORCED you into that relationship. You didn’t want to be in it.” She pointed out. “ Wait, you said your boy is the grim reaper right?” she asked “ Barry, you know the grim reaper, right? He tried to arrest you a few times.” She called into the apartment.

“ Yeah, wait, KRAVITZ is his soulmate? Jeez, didn’t know Taako had a thing for brit boys.” Lup snorted and laughed “ Ko, Barry said he didn’t know you had a thing for brit boys.” She said, moving so Barry could sit next to her on the couch. “ He isn’t British though, he dropped the accent when our eyes made hearts. Also Lucas got expelled because he had a necro lab ALL in this shit. Ya know that creepy ass elevator people kept drawing a face on?” 

“ You mean the powerful, dangerous, eldritch being Lifty, your lifting friend? I remember. When aunty worked at the college we were the ones who put the fake tongue rug with them to fuck with peeps.” Lup said, face stuffed against Barry’s shoulder. “ Well, Lucas somehow found out it led to the basement so Magnus and Merle and I were sent down by the director of the college herself to fuck up his shit. He had people working for him down there Lup, he’d been there for a while.” 

“ Krav was trying to kill us the entire time thinking we were in on it and when he was about to leave with Lucas’ mom’s soul- That fucker was trying to bring back his MOM Lup, like, the fuck? But me and Krav made eye contact and both our eyes did the heart thing. After some breaking and entering on Kravitz’ part, we’re now dating.” 

Lup snorted “ Well, is that how all love stories start? Some death crimes, fighting a death cop, all normal things. So, anyways, when do I get to MEET my little brother’s soul mate?” Taako took a minute to think “I dunno, uh, next time we meet up as a family. So Candlenights? If Barry doesn’t summon something and get Kravitz to come arrest your asses first, that is. And if anything YOU’RE the younger one, Lu.” Taako said

examples of Taako’s eyes below:

[jazzy-kandra]

Noodles and Company

After a long stay in South Scadrial, Marsh returns home to find a bowl of warm noodles, a purring cat, and some unwanted company. AU. Mistshot series. Spoilers for Bands and Secret History. For @eyeronis, since I promised some time ago to write you a domestic Marsh story, I didn’t forget, the first draft just wasn’t working...

Generally speaking, Marsh was happy these days.

He had a flat in the midst of downtown Elendel, a new bottle of wine, and would soon have peace and quiet after months of spending too much time around too many people far younger than him. Yes, Sazed had asked him to go to the South and the work he had done down there - studying their cultures, their technology, and their ongoing struggles with those they referred to as the Maskless barbarians - was important, he was relief to return to his apartment and take a well-deserved break.

Marsh smiled, slipping the key into the lock. Unlike what the stories said, he did not always have two spikes or a bald head. Vin had removed the spike in his right eye, and while he hadn’t been able to heal that injury completely, he’d gotten his eye back. (1) His hair, still blond, fell past his ears, longer than Marsh preferred. He’d have to get that cut. Hopefully Harmony wouldn’t need old Ironeyes to appear anytime soon, it always seemed to take it’s godsdamn to grow back.

He was Marsh, not Ironeyes, no matter what Northerners believed. With a hump, and final jiggle of his key into the damn old lock, he finally unlocked the door and stepped into his flat, but stood in the small foyer in shock.

The lights were on. There was no dust on the wooden furniture, picture frames, or bookshelves. The floor-to-ceiling windows were not only clean but had the maroon curtains drawn back. Someone had removed the white sheets from his leather furniture which was slightly scratched up. And there was a new glass vase filled with fresh Marewill blossoms resting on the dining table.

Why did he have to be here today of all days? A steam of curses alighted from Marsh’s lips.

“Are you done?” asked his unwanted guess. Marsh burned bronze. He was in the kitchen, it seemed. All he could sense was his Investiture through the thin wall.

“Rust and Ruin,” he said, still seething with anger. “What in Hell are you doing here?”

Kelsier’s head poked out of the half-open kitchen door. Long blond held back in a loose ponytail, face clean shaven (at least he had gotten rid of that stupid facial hair), and his face seemed to have a few more lines edged into it. That last detail was probably just his imagination. Cognitive Shadows weren’s supposed to age, right? A part of their Identity still viewed themselves as dead, even when they were in physical form. (2)

Still, Marsh grimaced at the sight. Kelsier wasn’t pretending to be the Lord Ruler these days, why did he still insist on keeping his hair so long? It was improper! Did that woman like it? He would never understand her sense of taste.

“That’s a secret,” Kelsier said. Marsh flattened his lips into a frown. “At least for the next few minutes it is.”

Kelsier slipped back into the kitchen, closing the door. What was that smell? Was Kelsier cooking?

Marsh sighed, slumping down onto his brown leather couch. It was just his luck that his brother had come to visit right when he got back. The man wasn’t quite as bad as he once had been in some respects, but he was just as annoying in others, some of them new. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Kelsier was tapping Fortune just so he could show up at the best times to annoy Marsh for the rest of eternity.

At least, that’s how he thought Fortune worked. It wasn’t a power he had access to though, despite all his spikes.

“Your noodles are served,” Kelsier said, dramatically handing him a bowl of strange, curly noodles with even stranger looking vegetables and bits of mystery meat in the broth. Marsh scowled in disgust. What in the cosmere had Kelsier brought him this time? “Oh don’t give me that look, it’s perfectly edible.”

“Edible doesn’t mean they’re something a man should want to eat.” Marsh grimaced, staring at the bowl on his lap.

Kelsier took the only wooden chair in this part of the great room, sitting on it backwards out of habit. He dove into his bowl of noodles with the kind of reckless abandon that only a Cognitive Shadow who did not have to worry about what he ate could.

“Kelsier,” he said, “that’s disgusting.”

The man looked up, a mouthful of noodles hanging from his mouth.

“What would our mother say?”

Kelsier just snorted, finishing that mouthful before he spoke. “Eat your noodles, Marsh,” he said in a slightly higher pitched nasally voice. “You never know when we’ll get our next meal.”

Marsh rolled his eye. They’d actually never been without food as children. Neither of them had really understood what it meant to starve - even a little - until they were adults. “Coppermind?”

He nodded, holding up a small diamond ring made of copper that was a replica of one their mother had once worn. Sentimental bastard. “Eat your noodles, brother, and I’ll tell you why I decided to bother you when you just got back.”

How does he know that! Marsh thought, miffed.

I may have let it slip, I think. Sazed, it seemed, was paying some attention to this conversation. Do not worry, Marsh. There is a low likelihood that those noodles will upset your stomach, and an even lower chance that they will kill you.

Wonderful. Just the kind of answers he wanted.

Do the damn things taste good at least?

I’m afraid I cannot answer that.

He should’ve expected this. Shards didn’t exactly need nourishment, and while Harmony doubtlessly knew the likely outcome of these events, it wasn’t like him to share said information.

Especially when both he and Kelsier were in on some grand joke.

“Speaking with Saze?” Kelsier asked. “They won’t taste good at all if they get cold.”

Marsh grunted. Then sighed. That was something their mother had said too. He might as well get this over with. Wearily, he twirled the noodles around his fork, then slowly took a bite. They were spicy, but not as hot as Terris noodles, and surprisingly favorable. He swallowed, still shocked that he actually liked something from another planet.

“What’s wrong?” Kelsier said, looking concern. “Oh dammit. This isn’t the future where you choke to death, is it?”

He flipped Kelsier a rude gesture. “They’re...actually good,” he admitted, taking another bite. “Damn you.”

Kelsier laughed. Harmony joined him in his merriment. Why did he have such poor choices in friends?

“And him.” He did not speak again until he finished the rest, and emptied a glass of wine that Kelsier had wordlessly poured at some point, a twinkle of amusement still alive in his brother’s eye. “Now, why in hell are you here?”

“To win a bet!” he said with all too much cheer.

“A bet about what?” he asked, though he feared he already knew the answer. “Dear Harmony, you ruined my peaceful day for some bet you made with that damned Nazh-person, didn’t you?”

He nodded with a show of faux sincerity. “Sorry,” he said. “If it makes you feel better, I brought you a new cat.”

Marsh gave him a dry look. He didn’t hate cats, but he wasn’t particularly fond of the creatures, either. They scratched up your nice leather furniture and got white fur all over your nice black cloak. That was, of course, when said cat decided to come out of nowhere and jump on his lap, kneading his legs. Soon, it curled up and fell asleep, purring loudly near his knees, almost out of reach.

“I prefer dogs.” Marsh stroked the cat’s long fur despite his words. At least it wasn’t white this time, just some dark shade of grey with bright green eyes. It was...admittedly rather adorable. Dammit.

“She’ll lick your hand given the opportunity,” Kelsier said.

He stared at him in reply. Of course his brother thought that would fix the problem, but he supposed it was a fair compromise. After all, Marsh’s landlady did not allow dogs in her building. Thus, this cat was the closest thing he would get.

It was thoughtful...in a Kelsier-like way.

“Plus, Vin seems to like you.”

“You named a cat after Vin...?” he said in mild disbelief. “Kelsier.”

“She was catlike.”

He lifted a hand to his cover his eye spike. “I know you miss her, but this is insane.”

“That’s what makes you question my sanity these days?” Kelsier raised an eyebrow. “Not going to Taldain to steal the technology and recipe for making instant noodles?”

What.

“Nor pissing off a goddess for stealing said recipe?”

The.

“Or bringing back the god Trell because I pissed her off?”

Hell.

Marsh stared at him in the kind of loud silence only his brother could produce. He thought he’d seen the limits of Kelsier’s stupidity when he got himself killed to bring about the end of the Final Empire. At least that time he had a good reason for his actions. This though...this...Marsh nearly stood up and decked him. Harmony knew Kelsier deserved it.

“Marsh?”

Marsh blinked.

“You’re telling me,” he began once he regained some semblance of composure, “that the reason the Set is working for a foreign god is because you pissed off another Vessel all for the sake of a bowl of instant noodles.”

“Several bowls. If we don’t control the market on convenient foods, it will jeopardize our Cognitive Realm-based economy!”

Marsh glared. “Brother.”

“Yes?”

“Last I recall, you went to Taldain to help Khriss visit her homeland,” he said. Or at least that had been part of the plan. Marsh wasn’t aware of all the details. Usually tales of his brother’s adventures in the greater cosmsere gave him a headache...and he already had one. “Not noodles.”

Kelsier shrugged. “They are good noodles,” he said, then he added as though in afterthought: “Fine. I think she was angered that a servant of Harmony had the guts to ‘interfere’ with her Autonomy.”

Marsh nodded. He, for one, wouldn’t call Kelsier a servant of Harmony. Maybe an ally of some type, but his brother had his own agenda, though both were trying to make sure Scadrial ‘survived’ what was coming. Whatever the Hell that meant.

“Go on...,” he said.

“And that we were able to hide from her for so long by storing the correct attributes in medallions,” he said, then waved a dismissive hand at that. “But that’s a long story, we can speak of it later. Harmony wants us to speak with that idiot Ladrian boy and his friend, Marasi. You’ll need to shave your head, I fear.”

He said that with a slight smirk. Kelsier knew how much Marsh hated doing so. The thought filled him with dread, but he would not let his brother ‘help’ him this time. Marsh stroked his new cat for comfort.

“We’ve got reports from our spies that the Set has found a way to produce Atium,” he said. “They can’t burn it, of course, unless they have a Mistborn we don’t know of. But you know why it’s something to be feared: with that metal, they can use it to steal any power or attribute...” (2)

Marsh sighed, pouring himself another glass of wine. Damn. This was going to be one hell of a long day.

*** A/N: All WoBs in Footnotes are shortened/linked for brevity. This is a story, not theorycraft.

(1) Based on this WoB:

"Brandon Sanderson: Or really I can tell you--it's in my notes, and I don't have them, but it's not particularly relevant--it's the opposite side of the one where Death's skull was crushed. Questioner: Oh, yes. Yes. Brandon Sanderson: They would look like mirror images if you saw them.”

(2) To keep spoilers at bay for a certain book, I will not be delving into an explanation on this one. Marsh, however, doesn’t have the best understanding of Investiture, Identity, and other such concepts. He’s certainly cosmere aware, but he’s also no arcanist.

(3) And you THOUGHT Atium wasn’t useful in modern Scadrial. It is for Hemalurgy at least, and an organization like the Set would find it very useful indeed. Based on this WoB about atium’s actual Hemalurgic uses.

[6969ville]

TAZ NORMAL AU THING

THB HOUSEHOLD - MAGNUS, MERLE, TAAKO (And Steven the Fish)

part one / part two / part three

Merle works at Home Depot and is the one keeping most of the plants alive

Magnus is a carpenter. He's got his own lil business going.

Taako works at the gas station and has seen A Lot.

They're all roommates and live together in [Town 1]

Magnus wants a dog but the landlord says no :(((

I feel like Taako still does a bunch of witchcraft-y stuff

At first, Merle does most of then cooking because Taako hates cooking for others but at one point he slowly starts getting back into it and then he's just the only one who cooks.

No one else is allowed in the kitchen. No one. Get out.

Taako used to work for a fancy restaurant but one day a bunch of people got rlly bad food poisoning and some people even died and he quit and he's been at the gas station ever since

However at one point when Merle and Magnus were watching tv, something about the restaurant came up, new evidence on the case, Sazed's arrest.

“Taako you should come see this”

“I hate the news fuck off?”

“Dude I think you'd actually be Very interested in this come here”

“Uuuggghhhhh- holy shhit my dudes that's my old manager- what the fuck. What the fuck?”

After that he gets back in the swing of cookin' for his friendos.

Merle has two kids and an ex wife

He sends money back to them often enough.

They were kept a secret from Taako and Magnus until one Christmas- i mean Candle Nights in which he got a letter from them and Magnus and Taako got ahold of it

“YOU HAVE CHILDREN?”

“YEAH I DO SHUT UP YOU DIRTY SNEAKS”

It's fine no one is too ‘Holy shit what the fuck’

Prior to THB living together, Magnus lived with his wife, and his father-in-law & mentor, Steven.

They were killed by an explosion planted by the old mayor. Magnus was out of town at the time.

They were expecting a child

Merle and Taako were unaware of this part for a long while. They had to use context clues at first but that gave them the wrong answer and when they confronted Magnus about it, Magnus gave them the fuller story.

They were at Goodwill or something and Magnus got caught up looking at baby shoes.

Merle and Taako added that along with the few times they'd seen Magnus with small child and he got hella choked up and decided something like.

“He's probably just upset he'll never get to have kids y'know.”

“I mean he probably could.”

“He's way too devoted to his dead wife i dont think so pal”

“alright true. so hes sad he can't have kids and grow old with the lady he loves.”

They corner him in his room and talk about it. He's carving something and he mostly stays focused on that when talking until he gets way way way too choked up and has to put it down.

“We- we've talked about... Julia before, yeah?”

“Yyyep.” “Mhmm.”

“Well. Um. Be- before she, she died, we...” shaky hands strike the wood and maybe this isn't a good idea. “We were... expecting. A baby. She was pregnant, and,” he almost cuts his thumb so knife gets to go down now. “...yeah.” 

this is officially worse than what Taako and Merle thought.

It's not a great day.

They'll get better, though.

There's still bad days but they get more manageable.

Flash forward, Taako gets himself a boyfriend.

I need to find a way to work in “Hey thug whats your name” bc thats. how i physically need them to meet. idk how tho.

Anyways they go on their first date at the fuckin' Chug and Squeeze and at first Kravitz isn't entirely sure that it's a date and not just like ‘Two bros, chillin at the Chug&Squeeze, three feet apart cuz they're not gay!’ but it becomes abundantly clear that this is a date

Also followed up when they're walking home, Taako gets a call from Lup that literally just starts out 'hey slut whats up' 'im on a date why are you calling me'

“You're on a DATE? With who? Do I need to beat them up? HEY SKANK WHAT'S YOUR NAME TOUCH MY BABY BROTHER AND DIE“ “LUP WE'RE THE SAME AGE GOODBYE sorry about her anyways um walk me home?”

Kravitz, his face very red because Lup is a very loud girl and most of that conversation was in fact audible to him: ok

What is Merle's relationship? With anyone? It's assumed he's dating Davenport. He also is fond of Lucretia.

“Are you dating Davenport??“ Magnus asks, eyeing him suspiciously.

“I think so.” Merle shrugs.

“Ohh my god. Oh my god.” Taako says from the couch. “Incredible.”

Magnus is the third wheel of forever.

Not just in his friends romantic settings though sometimes Lup and Taako will go on lunch dates and 'hey wanna come' 'yeah sure' flash forward 'ohkay ive said about six words this entire hour'

He'll tag along with Carey and Killian from time to time

Killian isn't. Toooo entirely fond of this but its not often enough to be like 'nope this is too much'

He went with them (the second time) to visit Carey's new [niece/nephew] and got to hold them and he started crying

(Killian later told Taako and Merle about this and it was part of their Clues For Sad Magnus)

(In reality he was just super happy for them because look at this tiny beautiful baby!!! so healthy!!! you made this!!!!! he's a weeper)

(Magnus is a total weeper and you can take that from my dead gay hands)

Both Taako and Merle are allergic to cats

This does not keep Taako from petting street cats though.

Taako is allergic to peanuts and will avoid using them in his cooking if he can get away with it.

The only pets they have is Steven the Fish who lives in a giant tank with some guppies and a sucker fish.

Merle has a few of his plants named.

“This is Beth, Abigail, and Petersburg.” They're well loved.

Taako has a number of herbs and stuff which also have names.

“This is Shub-Niggurath, Yig, Cthylla, and Nyarlathotep.” They're also well loved, but mostly by me.

Taako and Lup sibling dates though.

They happen constantly too. They’ll go to other restaurants together and rant about boyfriends and friends and life.

Sometimes they’ll go shopping together and they’re definitely the most obnoxious customers in the store

THB have like two restaurants they’ll go to like at least once a month

They have an order to tell who’s paying 

One of the restaurants they go to has a gumball machine. Some of the gumballs have Nerds in them.

They’re very passionate about Nerds gumballs.

This is also where Leon works so every few weeks the boys come in and his happiness dies because they’re so loud and yell about the fucking gumballs 

[I wrote a thing about it here read it]

Magnus runs his own little carpentry shop with a few employees who frankly mostly just deliver the stuff and run the money and all that shit. Magnus is mostly the only guy workin’ the wood.

When the time came, he helped Carey propose to Killian. Actually it was a little bit of all three of them, but Magnus and Carey came up with the plan.

He also literally carved her a fucking engagement ring

He was her best man at the wedding.

[jazzy-kandra]

I've just finished bands of mourning and I still don't approve of Sazed's style of god-stuff, but I have a lot of Thoughts about Nicrosil (and Duralumin) feruchemy.

In Sazed’s defense, being stuck as Harmony is a pain in the ass, but yeah, I’m not all that happy with his choices either. I’ve got a feeling that some of the reason (other than the spiking thing) that CS!Kelsier and Sazed don’t see quite eye-to-eye anymore is because of how Sazed acts and has probably acted in the past. I imagine that at the very least, they argue. A lot.

Yeah, they’re really intriguing, but go on, I can’t exactly read your mind to access said thoughts...xD