#holy shit my first taz fic!!!!!!!!

[tazzymcclazzy]

RAAAAGH GRAAARRRGHHH AND OTHER SUCH SCARY DRAGONDOGTHING NOISES pleas e read this

tazdrgaoneyetagain -> tazzymcclazzy! first url change lets go

HELLAO! i go by taz, tazzy/tazzer, jevil, petco, or if youre feeling sillay, you can call me drgaone! or just dragon. if youre normal. also any variation of the word dog. if you call me fazerblaster you get fazerblasted into next fucking week (i'm looking at you, deezers)

☆ he/it/that/bark/woof/any canine-related neo you can fathom but i very much like it/its, transmasc and pan! can't quite describe my exact gender its like caninegender and boygored's evil child it's like the cissest-looking trans man you know its like some shadowy creature in the woods its like a domestic puppy. you know the drill. one day ill find a xeno that fits that

☆ furry and therian (black wolfdog) and simultaneously petre because you can never be too canine i guess, otherhearted (dragonhearted of course flaps my huge wings at u), selfshipper!!!1!1!

☆ not whatsoever diagnosed with anythin other than a few miscellaneous conditions but everyone who talks to me agrees theres some divergent on that neuro

☆ taken and very loud about it i love bird sm. SO much. im normal im so so normal [dies

☆ chronic epistaxis i am the number one bleeder

☆ also part of the corpoverse! i'm petcotherealest

《FANDOMS :3333》

◇ wings of fire

◇ pjsk/vocaloid

◇ fnaf, specifically the dcas

◇ hfjone

◇ the walten files

◇ chonny's charming chaos compendium

◇ regretevator. its birds fault

◇ kinitopet!!!!

《F/OS !!》

♡ sun (five nights at freddys, romantic f/o)

♡ six-claws (wings of fire, father f/o)

♡ sayori (doki doki literature club, romantic f/o)

♡ shadow bonnie (five nights at freddys, caregiver f/o)

♡ all 3 of the goofballs [heart mind and soul] r my platonic f/os. or fictional cgs. idk they're my friendce :]

♡ kinito (kinitopet, platonic f/o)

《TAGSSSS》

♧ drgaone roars -> og posts

♧ drgaone snarls -> asks and answers

♧ tax evasion -> art tag! i used this one across all my past blogs (@taz-drgaone, and the one i had to deactivate womp womp) so going through a tag for a literal felony is fucking flooded with fruity dragons. in retrospect i should have made it drgaone draws

♧ manatee the silly! -> manatee my blorbo my silly. also used across all blogs but you dont have to scroll past political shit

♧ drgaone scrawls -> vent poetry n fanfic !!!!!!!!! pls dont look there i put those there 4 safekeepin

♧ saveforlater -> imagine me curled up on a pile of these posts like a sleeping dragon atop its horde of treasures

♧ holy shit the images are moving -> animations i post

♧ partnerposting -> me being in love

♧ drgaoneflame -> posts im proud of. or popularish ones. the bangers

《MORE INFO I GUESS》

♤ feel free to send asks requests dms whateva!!!1! i thrive off interaction its my fucking lifeblood

♤ ask about my ocs. i beg you. hehe is that a sex reference

♤ on that topic, if it's brought up and ya get confused: carp is a dca au/selfship/crossover thingy invented via dumbassery and roleplay by me, birdic, and realguitarcenter/kaiyadrawzz, and it involves a lot of my wof oc lore (if i infodump to you abt one and redact something due to carp relation that is why), literal satanism, and lotsa heavy topics. if you wanna know about it, i will GLADLY TELL YOU and i have a loredoc in the works. my sona/the guy in my pfp is from carp, as is any characters by the name of austin, avery, or gabe. we hate gabe

♤ my discord is assignedmuckaatblucka PLEASE ADD ME i love makin friends so so so much

♤ tazzerjevil on ao3!!! read my fics boy. currently workinf on a jashling chatfic im v proud of

♤ not gonna put my triggers here due to An Incident but ask about em via dms or smth if you wish ^^ please do not ask about their origins. i will possibly block you if you try to find out

♤ PRO-PALESTINE. except i cant post much abt it because my zionist mother looks at my tumblr and id rather use this website as a place to relax than a place to spread information about current events pleeeaaasse respect that. but from the river to the sea palestine will be free‼️ i do my daily clicks also

♤ i am worlds most annoying dog. i will spam you with barking and yap about my partner so much

♤ i have many a sideblag! if you find the petre one, you get a gold star. if you find the other one and ask abt it, you get blocked. i sincerely apologize! but if u find the other one you probably have me blocked anyway ORRR youre looking here for more info about that one so uerm. hey there guys

♤ i am tooootally okay with jashshipping! i do NOT hc them as brothers. polytrident for the win bcos Comfort okay

BASIC DNI SHIT! pls if ur a jackass or bigot or anything do Not follow. also anyone against transspecies people (not one myself but its such a cool concept), mspec lesbians, xenos or neos. also if youre gonna tag me in a reblog chain plEASE dont, but especially dont do one of those ones where it says "tag [insert number of people]" i panic and have no clue who ta tag,,, also no reblog bait please! makes me nervous.

sona refs, theriotype refs, and other such images under the cut

SONA REFS:

second one by @/ratboyinastarrycoat!!

THERIOTYPE REFS:

i am simultaneously a large predator and an Oipouy. got a problem with that, liberal?/ref

OKAY THATS ALL SCAMPERS AWAY

[fuckin-georg]

Kravitz Went Down to Fantasy Georgia

It was scorching hot in Fantasy Georgia when the stranger came. A quiet, sweltering August day. The kind that discourages any sort of movement whatsoever. Most of the residents of Fantasy Georgia had taken to sitting on their doorsteps, casting cold spells as much as their spell slots would allow. The non-magic users of the town quickly sidled up to the magic users, aiding with fans and anything cold they could find. Business owners had their doors opened, and a drow woman, the owner of the local bar, brought out fresh lemonade to anyone who wanted it. On the steps of a building on the right side of the street, a young elven woman played a fiddle, providing a welcome entertainment. A human man leaned against the stair railing, watching her play with a mix of admiration and love.

The stranger seemed to materialize out of the horizon line, melting into reality like a desert mirage. His dark suit, dark hat and dark horse certainly stood out in the hot Fantasy Georgia sun, but the stranger wasn’t even breaking a sweat. His handsome face was set in a stern expression, and he rode with a purpose. Little did the people of Fantasy Georgia know how much of an act he was putting on.

Kravitz was in trouble. The Raven Queen was kind and patient, much more patient than Kravitz ever was with himself, and she had been giving him dozens of second chances to catch the liches he’d been pursuing for months. These red robed specters have been giving him quite the chase: through the mines of Phandalin, winding through the Felicity Wilds, and even to the moon and back. But finally, he had them tracked down to this small desert town. Soon this wild goose chase will be all over.

As soon as he enters the small town, all eyes were on him. A burly, bearded man standing outside of a carpentry shop paused his work on a wheelchair to look at him. Kravitz tipped his hat towards him, and he nodded his head back at him. A dwarven man sat outside of the local church, as two young children played in front of him. From behind the building where the bar was, a young elven man carried a box of food, but stopped in his tracks as he saw Kravitz. When he noticed Kravitz looking at him, he smirked and winked, and continued walking. Kravitz blushed and coughed loudly. That was the last thing Kravitz needed right now. He was so close to the liches he could feel it. He couldn’t afford to be distracted by a very handsome elf. Not right now, at least.

Finally, Kravitz came upon the young fiddle player and her admirer. He couldn’t help but be impressed at her skill with a violin. He had always appreciated good music in life and in death, and she obviously had a gift. He dismounted his horse as casually as he could, which meant that he fumbled with his footing a little bit as he went to the ground. He heard a snicker behind him, and then a voice.

“First time riding a horse, city boy?”

Kravitz heard the music stop, and saw the woman looking at him. He chuckled.

“Was it that obvious?” He silently cursed himself for his ridiculous accent. It was an old habit he was trying to stop, but old habits die hard. Pun intended.

“Nah, just a feeling. Your giant black suit definitely doesn’t give anything away. Seriously I’m sweating my ass off just looking at you.” She turned to the man sitting next to her. “Babe, you wanna get us some lemonade from Ren?”

“Sure thing.” The man kissed her cheek and got up to go to the bar. The woman put her fiddle down and stood up, smoothing the wrinkles on her clothes. “So what brings you here?”

Kravitz paused for a moment, trying to find the right words.

“Business.”

“Ah I see. Trying to open a fantasy Hot Topic?”

Kravitz gave another chuckle as he looked down at the ground. “No, nothing like that. Doesn’t seem like that would be a big seller here.” She laughs at that. Another pause. “Actually Lup, my business here is more…personal.” And as he looked at her, his eyes glowed red, and for a moment, he let his human form flicker to his skeletal form, and then back again. Lup shivered in the sun.

“Oh.”

Kravitz reached into the air and a book materialized into his hand. He opened it and flipped through it until he found the page he was looking for.

“Lup, you are under arrest for necromantic crimes against the Raven Queen and the natural world, including but not limited to: becoming a lich, evading capture, and for the use of arson against multiple reapers.”

Lup looked affronted. “Now, wait a sec there, ghost rider, y’all are already dead. I don’t think a little fire is gonna do any real damage.”

Kravitz snapped the book shut, pointedly ignoring her comment. He lifted the book back into the air, and it dematerialized. With his other hand, he summoned his scythe.

“You couldn’t run forever, Lup. Now you can come quietly with me and we’ll do this properly, or it can get very ugly very fast.”

It was at that opportune moment that Lup’s boyfriend decided to come back, precariously carrying three glasses of lemonade that he was intently focused on not dropping.

“Alright. I didn’t know if you wanted any lemonade, so I got us three just in ca-“

He looked up and saw Lup, the stranger, and a scythe. The stranger turned his head toward him and flashed his red eyes once more. He brought the book back and opened it to-

“Barry Bluejeans: multiple counts of necromantic crimes against the Raven Queen, including becoming a lich and evading capture multiple times. You are also under arrest.” And the book disappeared once more. Barry just stared dumbfounded at the stranger.

“…So no lemonade, then.”

Lup put her hands up, seemingly looking to negotiate a deal.

“Alright, listen, ghost rider. Can I call you ghost rider?”

“I would prefer if you called me Kravitz.” He growled a little. He definitely was not in the mood to negotiate with these undead abominations who refuse to go in quietly, if they ever go in at all.

“Alright, skeletor. You’ve been following us for a while now. Let me ask you something. … Have you ever actually seen us do any harm to anybody else?”

Kravitz gripped his scythe harder and brought it closer to the liches. Barry flinched a little bit, but Lup stood unwaveringly.

“Your presence is a danger to everyone on this planet. Now, my patience grows thin.” His eyes began to glow again.

Lup’s eyes darted around, seemingly looking for an out, when her eyes landed on something peeking out from behind Kravitz’s back. Hey eyes widened.

“Wait wait wait.” She pointed to his back. “You play, too?”

This was enough to halt Kravitz for just a second, and he glanced behind him at the violin case strapped to his back. “Yes. I’m rather fond of the violin as well. Small world. Now if you’ll excuse me.” He began to raise his scythe.

“Let me play you.”

And now, Kravitz was listening. “Beg your pardon?”

Lup looked relieved that Kravitz had finally paused in his mission. She continued.

“Let me play you. One fiddle vs another. Best player wins.”

And oh. Lup had hit Kravitz in his weak spot. He couldn’t resist a good gamble. Especially one that he had such an advantage on. Nothing against Lup’s rather good skills, but he doubted that she, at one point, was first violin in the most famous orchestra on the planet. Kravitz chuckled and dematerialized his scythe.

“Alright. Best player wins. If I win, you and Barry come with me. No resisting,” he gave Lup a stern look. “No fire.”

“No fire. And if I win?”

Kravitz thought about it for a minute, and then put his left palm out with his right hand covering it. He pulled his right hand straight up in the air, as if he were pulling a string, but instead of a string, he manifested a fiddle made entirely out of pure gold. It glimmered magnificently in the sun, and Lup’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.

“Holy shit. Deal.”

Kravitz looked around and saw an old hickory stump in the middle of the street. He walked towards it and laid the golden fiddle on it. By this point, most people had been watching this back and forth intently, and Kravitz wondered how many of them knew that their dear friends and neighbors were undead beings. No matter. He turned back around to Lup and Barry. Lup had went and gotten her violin and was walking towards Kravitz. She seemed pretty confident and Kravitz almost felt sorry for her.

They took their positions. Kravitz on one end of the street, Lup on the other, just like an old-fashioned shoot-out you would see in those old Fantasy westerns. Kravitz reached behind him and pulled his violin from behind him. It was completely black, and the base was shaped like a skull, to match the entire aesthetic he had going on. It was a gift from the Raven Queen when he first became a reaper. He took out his bow and looked at Lup, who bowed to him.

“Reapers first, m’dude.”

“With pleasure.” And Kravitz positioned his bow across the strings, paused for a moment, and began to play.

His first movement across the strings ignited a fire in him that he hadn’t felt in a long time, so much so that it spilled out of his fingertips and sent sparks into the air. His red eyes glowed with passion and power, and a mighty ripple went through the town and its residents. Music had been Kravitz’s passion in life, and it continued in death. He played a dark tune that made the ground rumble, as if the souls of the damned were threatening to break through. Kravitz finished on a truly impressive glissando and brought his bow down with a flourish. Not a soul stirred as all of the residents stared at Kravitz in awe. Then, the silence was broken.

“FUCK yeah, bone daddy!”

Kravitz whipped his head around and saw the handsome elf from earlier shouting at him from the porch of the bar. Kravitz blushed again, but his newfound confidence from his recent playing encouraged him enough to wink back at the elf. Lup, however, was not as pleased.

“Taako, what the FUCK! You used to be my brother!! Support me, please??”

The elf, whose name was Taako, at least had the decency to look guilty.

“Sorry lemme try again. … Go Lup! Woo!” Taako did not sound nearly as enthusiastic as he did for Kravitz. Lup rolled her eyes and turned back to Kravitz.

“Not bad. For a dead guy.” She smiled. “The sparks were real cute. Now, let me show you how it’s done.”

And she began to play.

Hundreds of years in service to the Raven Queen is proof that Kravitz physically does not have a heart anymore. That still didn’t stop it from warming as soon as Lup began to fiddle. Kravitz’s playing chilled the town. Lup’s warmed it back up. There was love in every note and it filled every person with a sense of hope. Her passion for something…or someone…was so obvious and evident, it seemed to be a magic all on its own. It didn’t even take the whole song for Kravitz to realize that he’d been out-fiddled. When Lup finished up, the entire town cheered, and Kravitz actually had to stop himself from cheering too. Barry ran over to Lup and embraced her, a huge smile on both of their faces. Kravitz bowed his head and began to walk back toward his horse, ready to leave town, when…

“Wait a minute, ghost rider. You’re forgetting the last part.”

Kravitz turned back around, and Lup had her fiddle back in hand, ready to play again.

“What next part? You won, fair and square.”

Lup laughed. “No no no. Now,” and she played a chord, “we play together.”

Kravitz cocked an eyebrow as Lup looked at him expectantly. “C’mon! Play with me!”

And Lup began to play again, a jovial dance tune. Kravitz looked at her. He wondered why he didn’t just strike her down when he had the chance. What in the world had compelled him to take this bet, and not just bring in the two liches who had been causing him so much trouble? He could do it now. He could just rear his scythe back and end them here and now. He could…

Maybe it was the long journey he had. Maybe it was the elf who had been flirting with him. Maybe it was the thrill and joy of the music that he hadn’t felt in a long time. For whatever reason…

Kravitz played with her.

Their two different music styles weaved so wonderfully together: Kravitz’s low, otherworldly sounds, Lup’s full of life and love. Before they knew it, they were playing like old friends and partners. The townsfolk had begun to clap in rhythm, some even dancing in the street. Barry had somehow (probably with magic) pulled a piano outside and began to play with them as well. It was the most fun Kravitz had had in the mortal world in a long time. He and Lup were laughing and so was Barry and for the first time, Kravitz was making mortals happy, and not bringing death and pain to them. It was thrilling and wonderful. One song turned into two, and then into five, and pretty soon, Kravitz, Lup and Barry had spent the better part of the afternoon giving an impromptu concert to the residents of Fantasy Georgia.

The concert had winded down to a halt right around sunset, when people were just too tired to dance, and, in Lup’s and Barry’s case, too tired to play. Kravitz sat with them, and finally got around to having that lemonade from earlier. They sat on the steps that Kravitz had found them on earlier.

“I haven’t had that much fun in a long time,” said Kravitz.

Lup looked at him with a smile. “Yeah. You’re not so bad once you finally let loose.” She took a swig of lemonade. “And you’re a pretty fucking good player.”

Kravitz smiled too. “I should hope so. I wasn’t first chair at the Neverwinter Orchestra for nothing.”

“No shit!” Lup looked impressed. There was silence as the three of them looked at the sky. Kravitz sighed and turned to Lup and Barry.

“Look. I’m gonna need to talk to you guys eventually. About you being liches and everything. You can’t stay like this forever. Liches are…incredibly dangerous beings.”

Barry spoke up. “We know. We…we knew the risks when we first became liches, but…you have to understand. We were coming from a place where we encountered…” he looked at Lup nervously. She shrugged as if to say “Might as well tell him.” “…we encountered death more times than we ever would like to admit.”

Lup popped in. “We stopped a major apocalypse happening here. Of course, nobody knows anything about it because…well, we stopped it.”

Kravitz blinks a couple of times. “Wait, you guys stopped…the end of the world?”

Barry grimaces. “It’s a long story. Us and a couple of other people here…we’re not really…from this world?”

Kravitz could feel a headache forming. This was a lot more complicated than he thought. “Hooo-kay. I’ll…I’ll take your word for it for now. We need to talk about everything, eventually. How you’re able to be so calm and collected for being liches to start. But I do have to get back soon. The bottom line is we really can’t have liches on this planet.” Lup and Barry look nervously at each other. Kravitz suddenly has an idea. “Look. What if I talked to my goddess about you two, and we set up a meeting where you explain everything to her. What I could do is…talk her into letting you become reapers. You’d do everything that I do and possibly could still have residency here with your family.”

Kravitz looked expectantly at Lup and Barry, who looked extremely surprised. Barry spoke up first. “Woah. That’s…that’s a better proposition than I thought you were gonna say.” Lup then said “Why are you being so nice to us?”

Kravitz fiddled with his glass of lemonade and avoided eye contact with them. “Well, to be honest, you reminded me of how much I enjoy making music with other people. It’s been a while since I’ve plated with other people.” He paused. “Plus, I would very much like to play with you guys again, and I can’t really do that if you’re in the Eternal Stockade.”

Lup smiled wide. “Fuck yeah, ghost rider! We’ll be a trio of reaper musicians! Fear the Reapers! That’s our name. Don’t argue with me on this one, my names are fucking perfect.”

Kravitz laughed. “I still have to talk with the Raven Queen tho. But I’ll be in contact with you.” He stands up and turns to them with his hand outstretched. Barry takes it.

“Will do, Kravitz. Thanks for…y’know, getting to know us and not taking us in right away.”

Kravitz smiles and then goes to shake Lup’s hand.

“Oh, NONE of that, bones.” And she forgoes the handshake and goes right in for a hug. Kravitz is taken aback for a few seconds before he reciprocates. Lup lets go and says “You’re pretty much our friend now, so there’s no getting rid of us. Plus I’ve already made an Fantasy Instagram for our band. You can’t back out now.”

Kravitz shakily laughs. “Oh, I’m gonna have so much explaining to do to the Raven Queen.” He walks over to his horse and mounts it, ready to head out. “Barry, Lup, it’s been an absolute pleasure, and I look forward to our meeting. I’ll um…actually hold on. Do you have Stones of Farspeech?”

“Yeah.”

“For sure.”

Barry and Lup pull out two stones hanging around their neck. Kravitz waves his hand and the stones glow for a couple of seconds before returning to their normal state.

“There,” Kravitz said. “I’ve attuned your stones to mine, so when I have the meeting set up, I’ll contact you.”

Lup looks at her stone. “Oh rad!” She looks back up at Kravitz and says “Take it easy, ghost rider! And thanks for the golden fiddle!”

Kravitz waves at Barry and Lup before riding down the street and out of town. Before Kravitz could get too far out of the town, he heard a voice shout from behind him.

“HEY! Hey woah woah woah! Bone daddy!”

Kravitz turned and saw the handsome elf from before (Taako?) riding toward him on his own horse. He slowed down right as he got to Kravitz and rode next to him.

“Think you were gonna leave without saying goodbye?”

Taako was even more handsome up close, and it threw Kravitz off so much that he forgot to keep up the accent that he’d been doing the whole time.

“Um…can’t say goodbye if we didn’t even say hello.”

Taako laughed a little hysterically. “Holy shit. That accent wasn’t even real?!” He tipped his head back and laughed for real. Kravitz secretly wanted him to keep laughing forever. “You’re a fucking dork!! Oh my god!”

Kravitz bristled a little at that. “I am not.”

“Um, yeah you are. You come in here all:” and at this, Taako, dropped his voice comically low and adopted a ridiculous accent. “Wotcher, I’m here to collect your bloody souls, mate. Wanna cuppa tea? Pip pip and all that!” Taako laughed again. “And then the accent isn’t even real!!”

Kravitz’s blush deepened and spread down his neck but couldn’t stop himself from laughing with Taako at how ridiculous it did sound. “Did I really sound like that?”

“Oh don’t worry, thug. It’s hella cute. I love a dorky man.” Taako looked at Kravitz and Kravitz looked back, both pretty enamored with the other. Taako held his hand out. “I’m Taako. Y’know from TV.”

Kravitz took his hand and shook it. “Kravitz. Not from…TV…what even is that?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Taako said as he let go of his hand. (Kravitz wished he didn’t.) “So, not gonna lie, your fiddle playing was pretty hot. You’re really good. I was almost scared for Lup for a split second.”

Kravitz puffed his chest out at the compliment. “Thank you.”

“Well,” Taako said, “even if you had tried to do anything to her or Barold, I would have stepped in and stopped you.”

Kravitz nodded. “Right, siblings, yeah?”

Taako leaned in with a smirk, “Twins.”

“Twins?” Kravitz sighed and put his hand on his forehead. “Oh my god, there’s two of you.”

“Yup.” Taako said with a pop on the “p.”

Kravitz shook his head. “No matter. If I had won and you had tried to do anything, I would’ve had to arrest you, too.”

“Ooo kinky. Buy me dinner first.”

Kravtiz choked on thin air, and Taako nervously laughed. “Woah take it easy.” Taako reached over and patted Kravitz on the back, and Kravitz died a second death. “You’re not on the receiving end of a lot of flirting, are you?”

Kravitz regained some composure and replied, “No, surprisingly enough. When people see me, their first reaction typically isn’t ‘Let me flirt with the man whose here to reap my soul.’”

Taako laughed, and Kravitz beamed. “I must be pretty special, then. One of a kind.”

Kravitz clicked his tongue and shrugged his shoulders, “Technically, you’re one of a pair, because of the whole twin thing.”

Taako gasped and clutched his chest dramatically. Kravitz laughed at his ridiculousness. “Krav, I’m WOUNDED. How could you say that? I’m clearly the better twin. Now you HAVE to buy me dinner to pay for that cruel insult.”

Kravitz laughed as he put his hands up in defeat. “Alright, alright! You drive a hard bargain.”

“Hell yes!” Taako pumped his fist into the air. “Wanna do 8 pm next Friday?”

“Sounds perfect,” said Kravitz, and in a stroke of confidence that surprised even himself, he reached over and touched the Stone of Farspeech still hanging around Taako’s neck. It glowed for a few seconds and became still once more. It was Taako’s turn to blush as Kravitz reluctantly pulled his hand away.

Kravitz said “Now, I can contact you anytime and vice versa.”

Taako took a deep breath. “Sounds like a plan, bone daddy.” He smiled. “See you then.”  And without another word, Taako turned back around and rode towards town, looking back to wave at Kravitz.

Kravitz waved a hand back as he watched Taako fade into the distance.

All in all, not a bad day.

[barry-j-blupjeans]

Hey! I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely love your writing! I would have commented on one of your fics, but this sorta encompasses all your fics (that I’ve read, at least, there’s still a few I need to get to), so I figured it would be better to comment here. (Also I apologize in advance because I know this is going to get long and include many parentheses because I have many things to say and even more thoughts about them.)

Your writing is way too good at pulling on my heartstrings, whether it’s making me sob or laugh or just fall completely in love all over again with these characters that I already know and cherish, but get to see lovingly written in ways that show new sides to them for us to explore, enjoy, and cherish even more.

When I first started listening to the podcast and then getting involved in the taz fandom (mostly just reading fanfic, if I’m being honest), I focused on Taako, Lup, and Angus, and didn’t really appreciate the other characters as much, but I grew to appreciate so many more characters, in a large part because of your writing, because you write everyone so well!

And when I say everyone, I do mean everyone. Even the side characters are lovingly written and paid attention to— in your fics, it feels like every character is the protagonist of their own story, even when they’re not the protagonist in the story you’re writing. When a character shows up in your fic, they’re written true to how they were characterized in the podcast, and then you expand on that, which makes what you write seem incredibly realistic (or as realistic as dnd podcast characters in a fantasy world can be). You also do this thing that is sorta hard to describe but I hope what I say makes sense: you don’t just plop them down in different situations— you immerse both the characters and the reader in different situations and then explore how different characters would respond, grow, and develop in their own ways in response to the world you’ve written around them.

As Taako would say, in your writing, they have a beating heart! They’re multidimensional! They’re fully realized creations! FUCK (you write them so well and I love it so much)!

Also, you are simply amazing at conveying and evoking emotions through your writing, and it makes reading your work an incredibly immersive experience (and I’m saying this as someone who will gladly tune out the world given a halfway decent book— actually being immersed in a story is a much rarer occurrence than just ignoring what’s happening around me in favor of reading). Your writing sucks me in, and there doesn’t have to be any cliffhangers for me to want to keep reading and living in a story you’ve written.

Basically, I love your work. You write beautifully, your characterization is absolutely incredible, and you are way too good at making me laugh, cry, and fall in love with these characters even more. I hope you realize how great your writing is and how loved it is, and how loved you are as a part of this community.

I hope the rest of your week is full of little surprises that bring you joy

HELLO??? 😭😭😭 thank you so much????? i don't know how to respond to this but holy shit!!!! thank you!!!! I do rr try my best to at least make everyone seem Well Rounded when I write them, so I'm glad that comes across!!!!

it's easy to keep writing n trying to improve when there's such a supportive community for the content!! like I've written for other fandoms before, but the taz fandom is just so uniquely passionate and supportive about all different kinds of ideas and works. it makes it much easier to want to keep creating bc I know at least Someone will give me feedback!!

i super duper appreciate you taking the time to say all of this to me. it really means a lot to know how much ppl like my stuff, bc it can be easy to forget sometimes sldfksd. thank you so so much <33

[gotta-get-back-to-hatchetfield]

tldr: both times I’ve joined the Starkid fandom AVPM was my gateway drug so massive shout out

For AVPM rewatchers week massive shoutout to my mate Phoebe for literally forcing me to watch it when I was being all too cool for school back in 2011.

After weeks of being a herman-style buzzkill while all my mates were making jokes about Pigfarts, it took me literally 3 minutes of Act 1 Part 1 to become absolutely hooked.

We bashed out AVPM and AVPS that afternoon and I think I watched Starship later that week (it would take me 5 years to watch MAMD because we were 13 and scared of the concept of penis). We stayed up to do watch parties for when HMB, AVPSY and Twisted came out, literally every birthday present we would club together to get each other some Starkid merch (I still have my Taz shirt!).

After GCSEs we all went seperate places for sixth form so we all kind of drifted away from Starkid. I remember trying to watch TTO when it came out but I didn’t really understand it and was too busy dealing with relationships and mental health to let myself get into it. I didn’t think about Starkid for maybe 4 years then rememeber sometime when I was at uni I saw the Firebringer meme (We got work to do), and the names Lauren Lopez and Meredith Stepien which I’d completely forgotten sprung to my mind. I remember thinking ‘good for them, glad their still going strong’ but was too busy going out and being hungover to investigate further.

Then bring on coronavirus, and while stuck at my parents house (I’d went to visit for christmas then got trapped by the January lockdown) I decided to re-read Harry Potter for the first time in about a decade. I have to say I absolutely fell in love with HP again, it was my first obsession and I was so suprised by not only how well it held up to reading it as an adult but also how different my perspective on lots of the plot points was. I then decided to rewatch the movies, and just thought holy shit these are really fucking crap, but then I remembered. AVPM. I decided to try rewatching it and was just screaming with laughter for 3 hours. Then went straight to rewatching AVPS, SY, Starship, HMB, Twisted, all my old favourites.

I then decided to click on this ‘The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals’ thing for no better reason than the title sounded fun, and holy fucking shit I was blown off my feet. I then caught up on all the Starkid musicals I have missed (including TTO which I had wrongly blamed for my falling out of love with SK).

I was gonna leave it at that, but one afternoon in April working from home was being super slow so I decided to check out this Nightmare Time stuff. It was Time Bastard which imo is just an absolute masterpiece of story telling that finally convinced me to join the online Starkid fandom (previously I’d only discussed it with my irl friends). Because of that, I decided to make a tumblr account, and here I am now.

I have informed my old mates that I’m back on the starkid train, and sent Phoebe the first chapter of an AVP fic I’m writing and we had a massive nostalgia reconnect over it.

While I have not been on here for very long I have had an absolute blast (aside from this website being super addictive and ruining my life). And for the first time since a very difficult breakup about a year ago (lets not get into it) I don’t feel so alone my heart starts to heal to know this is real this is how it must feel to have a home

[charmandhex]

Today on this most glorious of days, for no particular reason (okay, there is, and she knows why), it is time to celebrate @everqueen12. And since I know her because of fic, I’m gonna do that by celebrating her fic!

First up, your melody sounds as sweet as the first time it was sung. Kat’s first TAZ fic, first fic in general, and the first fic in her visible bonds AU. And y’all. Y’all. This was one of the first TAZ fics I read, and it has stuck with me since I read it on tumblr back in 2018. It’s so very good. There are lines that will occasionally rise and echo up in the back of my head, and a shiver will go up my spine because damn, Kat.

Onto i’m so much older than i can take. Is this going to take a while if I keep moving onward chronologically and deciding to talk about every one of Kat’s fics? Yes, but I can’t not talk about this. Round 2 of the visible bonds AU focuses on one of my favorite things: post-canon Taako and Lucretia interactions. Bittersweet and angst and humor and hurt and comfort all wrapped up in one, it’s delightful. Characterization is on fucking point and the descriptions are chef’s kiss. It’ll tug on your own bond strings in the best way.

Okay, let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes. AKA one of the reasons Kat is probably my favorite writer when it comes to Merle. Serious, sweet, joking, genuine, irreverent, and so fucking funny in equal measures, it encompasses Merle thoroughly. I don’t want to give away the jokes or any of the wild ride that is this fic, but it’s a truly wonderful look at parlay and the friendship between John and Merle (yeah, I said it John Hungryman, whatcha gonna do about it?).

Next is the whole damn world went and lost its mind. Meet Keeper, an innkeeper who has seen some shit and will continue to see some shit over the course of this fic. Kat rolled some of this fic, leading to considerable shenanigans. 8000 words of them, precisely. Please enjoy the best version of decade Lucretia.

So the love that brings me home. This is one of Kat’s Taakitz week fics, but also features some Lucretia, so it’s TWO of my favorite things, so of course I’m gonna talk about it! It also ripped my heart out like three separate times! Ow! The premise is what happens if Taako forgets and hoo boy does Kat take it and run with it. Also, without explaining, it reminds me of Tamora Pierce and Circle of Magic, and that fucking rocks. It’s painful, it’s powerful, it’s about love and family and bonds, and it’s so very, very good.

Some turn to dust or to gold. Another fic from Taakitz week, this one is a Kravitz character study and I love it very much! There’s something very rhythmic and bardic in how Kat structured it, and holy fucking shit the imagery is to kill, die, and necromance for. This is another time one of Kat’s works and specific lines and phrases from it have stuck with me for months afterward.

Then sing it out like it’s never been sung. I am, in this instance, even more entirely biased, as this one was a gift for me. It’s got Angus, it’s got Lup and Barry, it’s got suburban moms summoning a demon, it’s got humor, it’s got everything! What was that middle things you say? Guess you’re gonna have to read to find out!

Last but most certainly not least. The behemoth. The masterpiece. The legend. I am, of course, speaking of The Taxman Cometh, a 50k fic that lists every named character and then some in the TAZ Balance universe and details their many, many tax crimes. It is a non-stop ride of goofs and delight and 90s band names and unspeakable crimes against trash cans, featuring, again, literally every goddamn character in the entire universe and featuring almost literally every goddamn character in the entire universe going to tax jail for tax crime reasons.

[ruffboijuliaburnsides]

Fic writer meme! I was tagged by @mihrsuri

(I’ve been writing fic for absolutely ages but I’m only doing my AO3 fics here)

AO3 name: ruffboi

Fandoms: Currently Writing In: The Witcher. 

Others on my account that I’ve written for in the past... The Adventure Zone, MCU, Rent, Hamilton, Sports Night, Doctor Who, Marvel 616, Homestuck, Next Avengers, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Newsflesh, Firefly, World of Warcraft

Number of fics: 29

Fic I spent the most time on: Before now I would’ve had to think about it, but 100% it’s And Yet, Here We Are. I have spent so long on it the past few weeks. Holy shit.

Fic I spent the least time on: It’s hard to be sure because it’s been like 8 years since I wrote it, but I’m pretty sure Hardened Criminals (Firefly ficlet) is probably the one I just pounded out in like 10 minutes tops.

Longest fic: And Yet, Here We Are, with 14,107 words. I don’t usually do longfic, AND YET, HERE WE ARE!

Shortest fic: Hardened Criminals, 205 words. It was just a little advent ficlet iirc.

Most hits: How Darcy Lewis Kissed All The Avengers, with 3,197, which was me just being silly and cracky back in like 2012 (I hope AYHWA passes it one day...)

Most kudos: Sturdy, Denim, and Blue, with 515. my TAZ Balance cracky little AU where Barry is secretly a tiefling and his bluejeans are enchanted to disguise him as a human. And he doesn’t tell the Starblaster crew for like over 50 years. XD

Most comment threads: And Yet, Here We Are, with 74, which is nearly twice my second-highest. Y’all literally are the best and it is so encouraging and that’s how I’m still managing to work on it even with a 2-weeks-and-counting sinus headache. <3

Most bookmarks:  Sturdy, Denim, and Blue, with 94. AYHWA is closing on it fast, though.

Total word count:  79578 words

Favourite fic I wrote: And Yet, Here We Are, unsurprisingly at this point. Seriously, I’m really happy with this one and it’s satisfying to work on, and... honestly, the fact that I’ve gotten so many comments and so much feedback on it is DEFINITELY PART OF THAT. Toss a comment to your writers, oh fandom of plenty...

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: Hmmm, that’s hard. I think probably if I could ever get back there, I’d love to expand and rewrite Autumn Days That Make You Feel Sad, because it was one of my best fics for a long time. Got nominated for an award back in the days that some big fandoms (and Doctor Who specifically) would have like. Fanfic awards and shit. I’m still pretty proud of it, though.

Share a bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on: Hmmmmmm, ok so this one is gonna not be live for a WHILE bc of AYHWA and also because I’m planning to actually FINISH IT before I post it, bc I’ve got an outline and everything (gasp!), but here, have a chunk of the first chapter that I have written:

It was better than being alone, with the gaping ache in his chest as he tried to find his way to something that would fill the empty loneliness, that he'd felt every time he was without Geralt. But he’s done. He’s washed his hands of Geralt of fucking Rivia, and he’s glad of it.

Except that he’s not. Not really. Jaskier is in the next town down a random road, out of the town Roach had been stabled in at the bottom of the mountain, and his chest aches and aches and aches, the way it did before he met Geralt, the way it did every time they were apart. When he met Geralt it was a revelation how well he could fill that emptiness, and he stayed with the man for twenty years. Twenty. Years. Despite the harsh words. Despite the way he sometimes heard Jaskier and looked as if he’d just eaten a lemon. Despite the fact that Jaskier knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the witcher tolerated Jaskier because of someone he'd already fucking lost.. And then after Jaskier finally lost his patience with it and told Geralt as much, he had the audacity to try to claim that he’d let Jaskier stay for his own sake.

Which, frankly, was bullshit, and Jaskier knows it.

tagging (if you want to only): Don’t feel obligated buuuuuut @storyinmypocket​ @jackironsides @sith-shenanigans @wingedquill

[arofili]

fic writer tag game!!

i was tagged by @meztliel, thanks so much!!

AO3 name: starlightwalking

Fandoms: mostly Tolkien, my current main WIPs are Hobbit and LOTR fics, but i’m definitely mostly writing for the Silm these days, just lots of oneshots. i also dabble in Les Mis (at least once a year for Barricade Day!) and TAZ :)

Number of fics: 179??? how??? and i’m only gonna have more!! i’m not even done with B2MeM20 yet!!

Fic I spent the most time on: oh geez. that’s a tough one. this fic that i just posted, a Measse/Thuringwethil oneshot, i started in 2015?? but i left it sitting for 5 years, so i don’t think that counts. and i guess this drabble comp would be the next candidate, i started it in May 2016 and i last updated it in December 2019, but it’s...a drabble compilation, not an actual fic. so i think i actually spent the most time on my current WIPs, “Moonlight” and “Roads Go On,” both originally posted in May 2018 (jesus i was still in HIGH SCHOOL) and updated.....last year...... really i just haven’t had time to work on them, rip, though i think about them constantly. that’s what happens when you’re not in high school anymore i suppose....

Fic I spent the least time on: i mean, something from that drabble comp, probably. Or a B2MeM ficlet. probably this Glorfindel fic? I only remember writing it because I know it was written in a hurry at like 2am and my friend Moth @thishazeleyeddemon loved it and I was like “wow weird considering how little effort I put into it!”

Longest fic: Currently my post-BotFA Tauriel fic “Beneath the Stars” coming in at 49k! RGO and Moonlight both promise to be longer, but that would require me actually finishing either of them... but I love BtS so much that I’m glad it’s up there, it was a real labor of love <3

Shortest fic: “The Lay of Nienor” which I just wrote this past month! it’s only 238 words long - but it’s in verse, so that’s pretty respectable!

Most hits: My first BotFA fix it fic, “A Merrier Place,” with 5544 hits - to no one’s surprise by my chagrin. That was one of my first forays into Hobbit fic and I wrote it shortly after the movie came out, when people were most in need of a fix it AU. So I don’t blame them, really - but as I’m sort of setting out to rewrite my thoughts on what actually would’ve happened in an Everyone Lives AU in my current fic “Moonlight,” I wish people would pay more attention to that...

Most kudos: My TRSB19 Gigolas fic, “Love and Fear,” coming in with 155 kudos! this fic features art from @ginogollum and honestly, it deserves that love! (though, I think it does say a lot about what fandom wants that my only romo!gigolas fic has the most kudos of anything i’ve written, and all my qp!gigolas fics are much lower down the list... though perhaps I’m being unfair, considering my qp!Domadry fic “Wedding Blues” has the second-most kudos at 147.)

Most comment threads: My other TRSB19 fic, the Feanorian Redemption/Rebirth story “ATATYA” - that’s 71 comment threads and 147 total comments including replies!!! :) that makes me very very happy, because I wrote the 45,000 words of that fic in like...two weeks, about? it was INTENSE. and i’m very proud of that story, it’s got a lot of headcanons that I stand by, and I reference it frequently!

Most bookmarks: I added this category bc it felt weird it wasn’t here. Again, this prize goes to “Love and Fear” with 43 bookmarks!! woah :o second place is “A Merrier Place” with 35, and then the first fic I haven’t already mentioned is “The Naming Dame,” a HTTYD book fic with 30 bookmarks! I really should go back and update that fic, considering I wrote it before the last book came out and there’s new relevant information...

Total word count: I also added this one because I wanna brag!! I currently have 739,961 words archived on AO3 - holy shit!! adding the ~253k words I didn’t transfer over from FFN, that’s nearly a million words of fic! by the time i finish B2MeM I might push past that threshhold!!!!! that’s so exciting!!!! (fun fact about me: before Tolkien, my main fandom was...warrior cats...roughly 215k of that fic I left to gather dust on FFN is WC fic........)

Favourite fic I wrote: This isn’t fair, I can’t choose just one!! Ugh...well, if I must, I think it has to be “ATATYA”? This is subject to change, and “Beneath the Stars” is a close second, but “ATATYA” is my first real Silm longfic and I’m very proud of what I accomplished there, especially in such a short amount of time. Bonus: my favorite oneshot / favorite non-Tolkien fic is “and Love,” the aro Magnus fic I wrote for ASAW last year!

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: I mean, I already talked about how “Moonlight” is kind of a rewrite of “A Merrier Place,” so...hm. Well, earlier today in an ask game I mentioned my fic “fell and fey” which is the Eol-living-in-a-fairy-tale fic I wrote just this past month. I started writing a longer, more poetic version of that fic that I’d like to return to and expand on someday, but I wanted to get that idea out of my head and B2MeM was a great excuse to do it, so I went with the shorter version instead - for now!

Share a bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on:

I’ve got a couple WIPs right now... here’s a snippet of ch8 of “Roads Go On” (which i PROMISE i will have up soon...i know i’ve been saying that for more than year but i MEAN IT this time...)

“What do you mean we can’t take the freeway?” Boromir snapped.

“My way or the highway, he means,” Gimli quipped. “And, uh...not the highway, I guess.”

Mithrandir shot Gimli a withering glare. Though he only smiled, some part of him shriveled up inside. A wizard’s evil eye was nothing to mess with.

I think I’ve already shared that snippet in a different tag game, so here’s one more for the road - this one’s from “Cause and Consequence,” my Halenthir baby OC fic. This snippet comes from a chapter that won’t be out for awhile (and might undergo some serious revamping before then), and it’s set right after the Nirnaeth, with my OC (Ryndil) about to confront their dad.

“This is no place for mortals,” Maglor said flatly. “You do know who we are, don’t you, Rýndil of Brethil?”

A shiver ran down their spine. Seven tall elf-lords, gaunt and scarred and bloody in the aftermath of a disastrous battle. Maedhros, the eldest, was a shell of the glorious figure he’d been on the battlefield; they weren’t sure if he was even awake, his eyes were so glassy and unfocused. Grief, they supposed. They’d heard the rumors about him and the High King, after all.

Maglor, leading in his place, trembling despite the firmness in his golden voice. Celegorm, bitter and angry and mean despite his fair features. Curufin, his dark shadow, flint in his eyes and venom on his tongue. Amrod and Amras, mirroring each other in their distrustful glares. And yet despite the blood and dirt and pain, a light shone from each of them. These were men to be feared, men to be worshipped.

And then there was him. Caranthir the Dark. Rýndil’s father, the blood flowing through their veins, the reason they were here in the first place. Gaunt and red-faced, the weary host of his defeated brothers, he had scarcely stopped moving about and making room for them since they arrived.

As much as Rýndil was of the Haladin, as much as they were the child of Haleth, they were bound to this family and people also.

there’s a lot of grief-stricken angry feanorian banter that comes after this (including some Maedhros characterization that i’m Very Proud Of), and honestly? i might just go ahead and post the whole excerpt if anyone wants to read it (it’s about 1.3k words) since I’m fairly sure I will be changing a lot of it anyway, even if it’s only for tone.

~

looking at these stats, i’m both kind of sad and kind of proud. like, i’m proud of myself for what i’ve written, and proud of the relationships i’ve forged with readers and writers on AO3, but i know lots and lots of folks who have waaayyy higher stats than me. i know considering i write a lot of gen and aro fic that i’ll never be a Big Name Fan, but that doesn’t stop me from being jealous... sigh...

anyway, this was very very fun!!! i tag @buffintruder @himrings @mushroomwriter @zealouswerewolfcollector @hennethgalad @absynthe--minded @stormxpadme @morifiinwe @raisingcain-onceagain annnd any other writer who sees this and wants to do it!! no pressure of course, only do it if you want to :)

(and LMK in replies if you’re interested in seeing more of that Ryndil snippet!!)

[deannastrois]

to the end of the decade

I started this decade out…not great. And straight. I’m ending this decade maybe not perfect but accepting that I need to get better and working on it through therapy and drugs. And bi. So I’d say that’s at least something of a step up despite that I’ve had bad depressive episodes this year alone.

I also started this decade being a shadow in fandom, a lurker with nothing to say and not making friends. I’m ending it on a completely different note having actually begun creating and writing and having people on this site I’m more grateful for than anything. (and I’ll put my thanks to specific people under the cut cause I am nothing is not a weak, soft bitch at heart)

To all mutuals, thank you really for sticking around. I know I’m not the easiest to get along with and I hope to talk to some of you more at some point. I’m just so bad at it but <33333

@lembeau, I know things have been weird this year and that’s on me but at the end of the day you are always my forever girl and original otp. I don’t know how I would have gotten through some of the years without you, you’ve been my (salt)rock and best friend and everything in between. I hope things go well for you in the coming decade and know that I’ll always have your back and be immensely proud of what you’ve accomplished. I love you more than Eliza loves Goliath and in every universe the Middleman could ever give us.

@xsarahx, you were the very first person I started talking to and befriended on this site, even pre-musketeers days which is more of a throwback. We’ve come a long way from the Andrew Lee Potter days and I am always glad to talk to you about anything, including, of course, how comics have fucked up so badly these days. I’m with you till the end of the line, babe.

@sidewaystime, okay this one time I’m not gonna go with the red vs blue joke with your name I promise. Even if in my head I definitely am. Thank you for standing by all these years and I disastered my way through a career in computers, I’ll always appreciate someone knowing my absolute pain when it comes to users. Beyond that you’ve always got the best ideas for fandom aus and I love to hear them, especially if they’re old 90s fandoms. (and Canadian)

@sweetlyfez, remember back in the day when I was figuring out I was bi and it was all Constance’s fault? Well thank you for standing beside me as I figured that all out. And then laughing about it later because okay let’s be real, it is amusing in hindsight. You encouraged (and sometimes goaded) me on to writing femslash and I’ll never forget that.

@fonapola, we’ve come a long way from the musketeer-ing days. Who’d have thought our love our rare pairs would take us here but I’m glad we got there. Thank you for always letting me ramble on about those ideas and your own amazing ideas and fics and vids and everything when it came to that. You let a small thing grow large and kept the excitement going. Maybe one day we really will write our own thing together and have a shared world of sci fi and magic and someone clearly ready to be played by Howard Charles…Here’s hoping there’s more games I can drag you into it because I cannot wait.

@biportamis, oh Hannah I’d say I’m sorry for the million and one spams this year but that’s a lie and I’m not and if you’re gonna make me have musketeers feelings in 2019 then I’m gonna make you cry over Hawke. It’s equality. Jokes aside though I’m glad we always have those and holy shit you wrote a book!! Remember that?? That’s wild and I’m so proud of you for it, I can’t wait to see what you do this next decade.

@vulpyx, I am eternally grateful we got to talking and sharing fandom things, you’ve always been fun to talk to and I look forward to every pokemon game so we can make jokes about it and just be excited over it. And books! We need more good books, I hope that next Kyoshi one is gonna be good. I’m also really thankful that you’ve understood my anxiety and I wish I could help you with your own but know that I’m always here if you want to talk or need a distraction. <3

@waverly-earp, we have been through a lot of fandom madness together. Starting with AoS way back in the day and it just kept going. You’ve been a wonder through it all and an inspiration to make better gifs that look half as good as your beautiful edits. I love everything you create and wish this site wasn’t so terribly broken that it missed out on a good chunk of that stuff, but I hope you don’t stop because they always look so good. See you in the next decade with probably a dozen other fandom things to complain about (sorry not sorry)

@amandatapping, wild how quickly we bonded when it came to star trek but I’ll never regret that, the crazy things and injokes we ended up coming up with still make me laugh and you are the only person (aside from those femslash events) I’ll make ENT gifs for. Sorry I don’t love it like you do but I’m always willing to hear about how much you love it because it’s important to you and you’re important to me. #legged, baby!

@girlonthelasttrain, has it really only been two years since we started talking because it feels like we’ve been sharing memes forever. I’d say I’m sorry for spamming you with them but let’s be real, I’m not and it’s what Tidus would want. Truly a millennial icon. But really thank you so much for being around these past few years, I appreciate it every time you let me go on about my latest worries and panics and hyperfixations. I hope we get to share even more terrible memes over the next decade and I love you more than 13x7.

@alluringcliche, it’s been a while since the AoS days which really feels like it was already a decade ago but regardless I’m glad those days made us friends. Thank you for supporting me when I needed it and being there, I hope I could do the same when you needed it. I’m always down to talk about whedon shows even if joss has disappointed us terribly and this is our city now. All the best for the new year/decade and I hope to keep up more.

@dragoncharming, I was gonna call you my fandom backup but then that doesn’t feel like the right term but I also can’t think of the term to use when you’re always the person I count on to know if I’d love/hate something. You’re my guiding star for fandom, knowing where to steer me and what to steer me away from and I love you for it. I hope we get to play dnd together soon because that would be so exciting and thank you for everything.

@boydetective, oof I need to get better at texting more because I feel like I fell off the map this year and I’m sorry. I love getting to talk to you about small fandom-y things and sharing the wildness of KH and BNHA (aaaand I need to catch up again) and thank you for just rolling with it as I appear and disappear and I’m sorry about that. I’ll try to do better next decade.

@vulpixelates, thank you so much for letting me join a dnd group, it’s been a lot of fun and I am looking forward to meeting more of your characters in one shots and later on. And thanks for letting me ramble on about a million things and have Bi Panic about fifty times a year because that’s very real and I am very bad with it.

@adhd-athena, you know how next decade is starting with the KH DLC and it’s like…finally…some answers…. Well I bet we spend the next decade with just more questions and by the end of it we’ll finally have KH4. And even more questions. Regardless I’m looking forward to speculating all about that and DSC and other things with you, sorry for all the spams about those in advance I’m sure. Thank you for always listening <3

@malarkiness, I’m tempted to stick a picture of troi in here because that’s usually what I send to you and I have no regrets. Okay that’s a lie, I send you other things and I’m grateful I can always send you the most random things or rambling things and you just roll with it and amazingly haven’t blocked me yet. I hope we get to talk more about KH and FF and holy shit the remake is so close but it’s only like ¼ of it and Nomura what are you doing. (no one knows, not even him) All my love for you and the next decade of SquareEnix confusion.

@twilightacespect, it’s funny to think that I didn’t know you on this site until only about three years ago because it feels like we’ve always had this friendship. And by this friendship I mean you sending me cowboy things and me being haunted by them. Thanks beks. Okay okay, I love you a lot despite the cowboys. We’ve shared a lot of stuff and you’ve let me go on about a lot of fandom things and I’m sorry for the million and one spams over it when I hyperfixate on something we share. Except I’m not and suffer with me.

@organasoloskywalker, this year has been hard and I’ve said it a dozen times before but I wish I could be there with you. I’m always here for you though and I love you so much. Thanks for always being around to watch things with me and dragging into PGSM hell (“it’s a musical, you like those!” LIES LEXI, IT WAS PAIN) and a dozen other things. I hope we get to see each other sometime in the future and do a TAZ show or something but I’ll always be the voice on the other end of the line texting you pictures of my cat and loving Wedge Antilles. (and you) Also you know see you tonight for Fantasy High watching. <3

[nillial]

please forgive me for whatever i do (when i don’t remember you)

a taz fic in which edward and lydia, being undead, are immune to the voidfish and thus can see thb’s blocked memories and offer them up for sacrifice. taako spins mind. they want him to sacrifice the memory of his sister. except taako doesn’t have a sister. or-- taako makes a mistake. and once you sacrifice something in wonderland, you don’t get it back.

ao3 link in the notes because tumblr is dumb and won’t let links show up in tags

--

“Mind, huh?” Lydia grins, wide and unsettling. “We could have some real fun with this.”

Taako scoffs and watches some black smoke drift up to the ceiling. He’s sick of fun. So far, the only thing that Wonderland’s fun has given him is a bloody nose, a limp, and what he thinks is a broken rib. All he wants to do is finish this job, go home, and sleep for so long that his nap borders on a coma.

“What do you want?” he asks, leaning on his umbrella and feigning indifference. “My brain’s clogged with tons of shit I don’t need. You want spells? Recipes? I’ve prob’ly got some fond memories stuffed somewhere up in the ol’ clunker. ”

“No, no, none of that,” she says. “We want to up the ante a little bit. How about… a person?”

She and her brother smile at one another with wide, unblinking eyes. He suppresses a shiver and steels himself, because, no, they don’t scare him. They’re just weirding him out. Twins are creepy like that.

“A person?” he repeats. He almost ridicules them for making it so easy on him, but decides better of it.

A person. Taako doesn’t have anyone from his past that he’d mind forgetting. Everyone he’s ever known either abandoned him or betrayed him. Who could they make him forget, really? Sazed? His aunt? Every other asshole who left him?

Forgetting wouldn’t be so bad. He’s better off alone, anyways.

“Bring it on,” he says.

--

Lydia flashes him one of her fake toothy grins and tilts her head. “How selfless! You know, I think you’re becoming our favorite, Taako.”

He holds back a facetious remark and barely restrains himself from grimacing. He’s not sure that being Lydia and Edward’s favorite is much of an honor. “And why’s that?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Edward asks. “The enthusiasm for the job, the impeccable style, the willingness to relieve yourself of your burdens— you’re just like us!”

At that, Taako fails to choke down a “Like hell I am.” He ignores the black smoke drifting up to the ceiling. Magnus shoots him a glare. He shoots him one back. Sure, he was pretty impressed at first, and it’s nice to finally have his oversized hat and ten layers of mismatched clothing recognized as impeccable style, but there’s no way he’s letting them compare themselves to him. Having heavy machinery dropped on top of him and watching his traveling companions suffer cancels out any and all compliments they might give him.

Lydia laughs, cold, empty, and humorless. “Really, Taako, you can’t deny how similar we are. We apologize for the bias towards you, if you feel it’s unfair, but you have to understand that it’s not often we come across another pair of powerful elven twins with such a strong bond.”

Taako’s train of thought halts. Twins?

“It’s a shame only one of you is a lich,” Edward adds. “We really could have been matching then.”

“Even more of a shame that you couldn’t bring her with you. Physically, anyways.” She gives him a once-over, but Taako swears her gaze lingers on his umbrella, which she stares at quizzically before she returns to her usual cocky countenance. “But she’s always there in your heart, isn’t she, Taako?”

He has no clue what apparent twin sister she’s going on about, but something deep in his chest aches.

“Taako, you had a caretaker who you trusted, a friend who betrayed you, and a sister who meant the world to you. You loved each of them, and they all left you.” Edward leans closer to him and Taako takes a few steps back. “I wonder who we should take?”

“Now, Edward,” Lydia says, “it wouldn’t be a sacrifice if it didn’t sting a little, would it? Let’s go with someone he’s still fond of. Someone he wants to hold on to.”

Edward shifts his gaze from her to Taako. His stare drills into him. “Of course. Besides, we’ve already gotten rid of one quest for vengeance today, haven’t we? Right, Magnus?”

Magnus narrows his eyes at them, but it’s more of a confused squint than the threatening glare that it’s intended to be. Taako can’t help but feel sorry for him. He supposes he has to add Governor Kalen to his personal hit list now.

The two of them turn their heads to face him in unison. He stifles another shiver.

“If you accept this sacrifice,” says Lydia, “you will forget Lup. You’ll forget your childhood together, your journey, your grief and denial and relentless searching after she left— you’ll forget your other half.”

Edward slides off the top of the wheel and approaches him. “You spent so long looking for her, Taako. You clung to the hope that she really was out there somewhere, told yourself that she wasn’t gone, you could feel it, and that you just had to look harder. Even after all of those failed expeditions, after your search party had dwindled from six members to two, even after all of those sleepless nights and countless hours of praying to whatever god would listen to you, you remained hopeful.”

“It’s admirable, really,” continues Lydia. “You truly believed she’d return to you. Even after everyone else accepted that she was gone, you kept looking. You always had faith in her, Taako. But things didn’t work out the way you hoped, did they? In your experience, they rarely do.”

“You moved on like she was never even there in the first place— you had to at some point, I suppose— but part of me wonders if she’s not the reason why you’re always traveling. To keep looking. It makes me speculate whether or not the Animus Bell is truly your heart’s desire, instead of, say, a device to help you find your sister?” Edward waves his hand dismissively. “But we might save that for another round, if it’s still a viable option. Can’t spoil all the fun yet.”

It’s Lydia who approaches him now, gliding off of the wheel and onto the floor below, walking towards him with slow, deliberate footsteps. “You loved her, Taako. You couldn’t live without her. She was your twin sister. She was your other half. She was your heart. You searched, and searched, and searched, but you could never find her. I’d say the sacrifice we’re offering now is more of an opportunity than a forfeiture. A chance to shed all of the pain and agony her disappearance has caused you. Why would you deny that? To hold on to a false hope? Because, quite frankly, Taako…” She reaches out to touch his shoulder. She’s cold. “That’s just… greedy.”

They both stare at him, smiles wide and unwavering. He stares back. Their eyes are empty, save for the hunger within them.

Taako leans in close. And, then, mimicking their unnatural grins and wide eyes, says, “I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about.”

Their faces drop. Lydia and Edward share a look.

He has to admit: their confusion is kind of gratifying.

“This isn’t… We’ve been doing this for a long time, you know,” Edward tells him. “We can tell when people are lying to get out of a sacrifice. The ‘you’ve got the wrong guy’ trick isn’t going to work on us.”

“I’m not lying,” he says, his mock creepy grin now a genuine satisfied smile. “I don’t have a sister. I’m an only child.”

From behind him, Magnus speaks up. “You don’t have to take the sacrifice, Taako. I get it. It’s a lot. I’ll spin instead.”

“You don’t need to spin for me. These fools made a mistake.” He watches Edward and Lydia turn and scowl in his direction. Yeah, this is incredible.

“Wait, hold on,” says Merle. “Lich?”

“Oh, no, I’m not a lich,” Taako replies. “I’m not even into necromancy. Remember Grim Reaper? He would kill me. Like, he’d be legally obligated to kill me.”

“He was legally obligated to kill all of us before our charges were cleared,” Magnus points out.

“Yeah, but—” He hesitates and recalls their high death count and the undead presence on the Bureau of Balance quad. “Holy shit. Am I a lich?”

“You did all die those times,” Merle says.

“We died all those times,” Magnus counters. “Especially you, old man.”

“Hey, we’re talking about Taako right now!”

Taako runs his hands down his face and sighs. He’d contemplate their lichdom some other time. “Look, guys, it doesn’t matter. This whole situation isn’t even about me! I don’t have a twin! What matters—” Taako spins on his heel to face Lydia and Edward, who cease their murmured squabbling in order to look at him. “— is that these two fucked up.”

Lydia rolls her eyes. “We didn’t 'fuck up',” she says. “We saw her. We know she’s there. You can’t just pretend like you don’t remember her in hopes of getting out of a sacrifice.”

“You’ve got yourself mixed up there, thug.” He takes a step towards them and presses his hand to his chest for dramatic flair. “I’m Taako. Bomb wizard, culinary genius, single child, and only maybe a lich. I don’t know what poor soul you’re going on about, but it’s not me.”

They’re both silent for a moment. Edward takes a deep breath, and says, “I’m just— I’m not even going to— take the sacrifice or don’t, okay? If we really did make a mistake, which I doubt, then nothing will happen to you and you can move on.”

Taako grins. A free opt-out of a sacrifice? He’s more than happy to take that up.

Before he can accept, however, he feels the weight of Magnus’s hand on his shoulder. “Wait, Taako, I— I don’t trust this.”

He sighs. Magnus isn’t usually the discretionary one. “C’mon, my man, free spin.”

“Yeah, I know, but…” Magnus purses his lips. “The Bureau’s been… weird lately. Weirder than usual. I don’t know if this is really a mistake or not.”

“What do you mean? You think I actually have a sister?”

“I’m just saying there’s a chance that the Bureau... isn’t as good as we think it is.” Magnus’s gaze travels to an empty corner of the room and lingers there. Through the neon pink and green light, Taako thinks he sees a flash of red, but it’s gone before he can register what it is.

“Listen, I believe you when you say that the Bureau’s all secretive and might not be trustworthy. I knew that going in. I mean, it’s a organization hidden in a fake moon harboring a weird jellyfish that’s single-handedly saving the world from destruction or whatever,” he tells him. “But a twin? That’d take a whole lot of covering up for something they have no reason to make me forget.”

“They made us forget an entire war, Taako,” he says. “Is it really so ridiculous to consider that they might be hiding more from us, too?”

Taako hesitates, just for a moment.

Everyone he’s ever known has abandoned him at some point.

He spent his childhood being unwanted. Too much to care for, too much of a troublemaker, too much of a handful— nobody wanted a kid that actively tried to wreak havoc.

(He wasn’t always like that, though. He learned fairly young that every arrangement was temporary because everyone got sick of him eventually. Why stick around? Why get hopeful? Why prolong the inevitable? If he was going to get kicked out at some point, then he might as well have fun until then.)

His aunt was the first caretaker he’d had that he trusted wholeheartedly. It was a temporary arrangement. He knew that. He also knew, from experience, that he probably wouldn't last past a month, so he started being an asshole. Messed up the house, talked back, ran too quickly to be caught, destroyed furniture and clothes and valued possessions by shooting off dangerous low-level spells every which way— the usual routine.

But his aunt tolerated him. That was a lot more than he could say for any of his previous caretakers.

She saw some sort of potential in him, maybe, or she saw someone who could help her with supper, but, either way, she taught him everything she knew about cooking. How to make the gross stuff taste better, how to season bland food, how to prepare a meal when you don’t have anything. He was fascinated by all of it. Every recipe, every tip, everything to do and to avoid stuck in his head and never left.

He loved it. He loved the fulfillment of making something good, and he loved improving on a meal that was already delicious, and he loved the praise that accompanied cooking something right. He loved it because it was fun. He loved it because he was good at it. He loved it because it was useful. He loved it because it was his.

He and his aunt grew closer and closer until Taako was constantly trailing at her heels. Wherever she went, he followed. It was probably annoying, looking back, but she would just ruffle his hair and tell him to help her with the laundry. She seemed to appreciate having him around— pretended to genuinely enjoy his awful early experimental dishes, laughed when he cracked lame jokes, hugged him close to her when hugs were needed.

And then the time came for him to leave again.

She packed his bags herself. She told him she couldn't keep him anymore. She told him that time was up, that he had to go, that it was his cousin’s turn to watch over him.

He asked why.

She sighed. Stared at the wall instead of his eyes. It was easier that way.

“This was temporary, Taako. It was always temporary,” she said. “I thought you knew that.”

Which he did. He knew the whole time, but he ignored it. Shoved the incessant reminders that this will end, this will end, this will end, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment because this will end far back in the recesses of his mind. It’s just that he thought—

He hoped—

God, he was an idiot.

He never went to his cousin's house.

Instead, he took to the streets. He worked on caravans for money, slept next to campfires in empty woods, focused on his magic and his cooking because it was what he was good at and he didn't need anyone to tell him so. No estranged family members to pass him around, to sneer at him, to whisper about how awful he was while Taako listened behind closed doors and thin walls— and no aunt to pretend that she cared.

He used his cooking and his magic to get by. Impressed people on the sidewalk for tips, prepared food for the crews he traveled with, worked at local restaurants for a couple weeks or until they realized that some of their stuff had been stolen. Rinse and repeat.

He spent his life as a traveler.  He'd been one for so long that being grounded to a single spot felt unnatural. Maybe he was never meant to settle. Or, at least, that's what the restlessness in his bones told him— the survival instinct that he never really shook, as deep as the well of magic in his veins, as innate and unfulfillable as the desire for more, more, more to fill the something that's been missing his whole life.

Maybe that’s why he opted for a career in a traveling caravan.

He doesn't remember the specifics of how he got his caravan in the first place, really. They're all a little fuzzy around the edges. All that he knew and all he presently knows is that he woke up with the world's worst hangover, lying on the floor of a probably stolen stage wagon, and all he could think was I am Taako, I'm a great chef, and I'm going to start a traveling cooking show. He couldn't recall much else besides that.

But, as his fame grew and his time narrowed, he realized that he'd need to hire someone to drive. Someone to take him places while he caught up on much-deserved rest and prepared for the next show. Someone like Sazed.

Someone like the worst mistake he'd ever made.

Sazed needed a decent-paying job and Taako needed a driver (and, as he would begrudgingly admit to himself and to no one other than himself, another soul in his caravan, because it was just... too empty). For a while, driving was all he did. But when there’s no one else to talk to besides yourself and your employee, you eventually crack.

They grew closer. Taako did shows and helped Sazed with cleanup. It started as mostly friendly coworker chat, but they got comfortable around each other, as people are wont to do when they only speak to one other person. It still took Sazed some time to make Taako talk about anything even remotely personal, but he did, eventually, and told him snippets of stories from his past, to which he'd listen intently. And things were good like that.

But Sazed wanted in the show and Taako wasn't willing to share the spotlight.

And then came Glamour Springs, and the mass murder he thought he committed, and—

There was just— everyone was sick, and they were dropping to the ground, and there was blood, there was so much blood, and— they were going to toss him in prison, and— his show and his fame and everything would be gone again and— he just—

Taako did what he does best and ran. He fled and dyed his hair and covered himself in layers upon layers of clothing. He camped out in the middle of nowhere and didn't dare to go in public except for when it was absolutely necessary. And he choked down the shame, and the fear, and the knowledge that the name he made for himself was ruined.

Sazed left him after a couple days. Motherfucker couldn't stand being around him so much that he killed 40 people to get away.  

And this sister, if she exists…

Everyone abandons him at some point. If his apparent sister got a head start, then that's fine. He doesn't need anyone in the first place— not an aunt, not a friend, not a sister, and not even Magnus and Merle, when they inevitably leave. He's Taako. He can take care of himself, and he's damn good at it, too.

If he really does have a sister and The Shining Twins aren't fucking with him, then she's out there, somewhere in Faerun, and she hasn't bothered to find him. That's assuming that she even knows he exists. Why should he hold onto the memory of someone who he never knew and who doesn't care about him?

Even now, he reminds himself that everything is temporary. Even now, he reminds himself that he's a wanderer. Even now, in Wonderland, on the brink of giving up, he knows that he won't be here forever. Even if he dies. Taako is slippery. He can find a way out if the need arises.

If taking advantage of a sacrifice that means nothing to him is what it takes to ensure that, then so be it.

Fuck his aunt.

Fuck Sazed.

Fuck his sister.

“I get where you’re coming from, Magnus,” Taako grumbles, “but I don’t care.”

“Taako, wait—”

Magnus reaches for his shoulder, but it’s too late. Taako shrugs him off, steps forward, and says, “I accept the sacrifice.”

Edward and Lydia turn and grin at one another, then turn back to face him. Lydia snaps her fingers.

And then Taako recoils.

He sinks to the ground and onto his knees, and his insides are turning, turning, turning, and they just won't stop. His ears ring with a loud, overwhelming static that builds and keeps on building. And then he sees— he sees—

He sees snippets of memories that aren't his, yet he intrinsically knows that they are. They have to be. That's Magnus, and that's Merle, and that's Davenport, and… Barry, and— and Lucretia? And—

And he sees a woman that's almost entirely identical to him. He sees her, but a deep static keeps him from connecting the dots. He knows her. He's known her for his whole life. That's— That's his sister. That's—

That's Lup.

That's Lup. He sees her, hundreds of years younger, squeezing his hand as they leave their aunt's house for the last time. That's Lup, shoveling food into a bag while Taako distracts the shopkeep. That's Lup, drunk, belting Fergalicious with him after they found out that they'd both been accepted into the IPRE. That's Lup, staring at the inky mass below what used to be their world, clinging to him as tightly as he's clinging to her. That's Lup, shooting off fire spells left and right. That's Lup, performing a duet with Barry. That’s Lup, giving a passionate speech in front of a glowing pink crystal. That's Lup, clutching his hand as they face off against the world again, and again, and again.

That's Lup, holding his umbrella.

That's Lup, with the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet.

That's Lup, telling him thank you for the last time.

Through the debilitating, unexplainable pain in his head, Taako manages to open his eyes. He glances at his umbrella, but then his gaze is caught there, held there, unable to break away.

That’s Lup.

But as soon as that thought is there, it’s gone.

Memories of her filter through his mind, escaping him just as soon as they surface. He claws at them, screams, begs them not to go. Those memories, however distant they may be, are all he has left of her. She’s all he ever had. She’s his heart.

He can get her back. He will get her back. He’ll find a way to reverse Wonderland’s sacrifices and he’ll get his sister back. Everything is temporary, and Taako is— he’s slippery— he can find a way out if the need arises, even now, even here— he just— he needs to hold on, for her—

Lup’s face, her voice, her laugh, everything she ever did and ever was flits through his mind. A memory surfaces of the two of them on the deck of some kind of— rocket ship, maybe? Flying boat? She points out something on the ground below and makes a joke, but her voice is too distant to discern what she says. Taako replies with something that makes her crack up, but that, too, fades away. He tries to conjure the memory back up, but then realizes that he can’t— can’t remember— what—

Taako sees her eyes light up at an abandoned DMV in the middle of nowhere. She looks at him, grinning maniacally, and casts a flurry of magic missiles at it, setting it ablaze. He watches as it burns, sending embers flying through the air, thick smoke building and rising. And he watches her shoot off spell after spell, each one more destructive than the last. She asks for his wand. He gives it to her. He smiles as she sends lights crashing to the ground, sheets of glass shattering on the floor, beams crackling with flames, but then it goes foggy, and he— he tries so hard to hold on to at least that one memory, but— but it’s— it’s escaping his mind, and—

Taako sees maps piled up on a desk, held down by thumbtacks and paperweights. The one at the top of the stack has several circles drawn on it, some of which have been crossed out. He can remember, at least for now, that the maps are for Lup. She’s been missing for a long time. He and Barry are still searching for her. They always will be, so long as she’s not with them. Barry’s eyes are bloodshot and his chin is resting in his hands. He points at a circle somewhere on the map and begins talking about the possibility of uncovering her whereabouts, and—

And it occurs to Taako that he’s spent so much time not searching. He’s wasted the years where he could have been looking, could have found his sister, could have had her back by now, and—

He needs to get out of Wonderland, he needs to tell Magnus and Merle to keep searching, he needs to—

He needs to find a way to reverse the sacrifice, he needs his sister back, he needs—

He needs to find her— he has to keep looking for her, for Lup, and—

He needs to find his sister, he—

He needs—

Who?

He feels everything crumbling down all at once and he doesn’t know why. His headache subsides, the static clears, but he feels nothing. Instead, he’s left with a deep sense of emptiness. A blankness in his brain. A pit in his stomach. A hole in his heart.

Like he’s one half of a whole that will never be filled.

He tries to stand upright, but staggers. In an attempt to steady himself, he grabs onto the handle of his umbrella and realizes, stifling a yelp, that it’s searing hot. He’s hit with an immediate and immense wave of sorrow, overwhelming him, washing over him. Taako, in the back of his mind, hears sobs and screams and pleas to every god there is.

She’s crying.

Who’s crying?

He’s crying, too.

His palm comes away burned.

From behind him, he hears Magnus ask, “Taako?”

Taako quickly stashes his umbrella away. He stumbles to his feet, wipes the tears out of his eyes— yikes, embarrassing— and swivels around to face him. Magnus and Merle are both staring at him in horror. He rolls his eyes.

“What’d I tell you?” he says. “I don’t have a twin.”

Merle and Magnus share a look. Taako ignores them.

From the other side of the room, a third bright green light flickers on. The stone door below it slides open, revealing another room shrouded in complete darkness.

“Huh,” Edward says.

“What’s ‘huh’?” Taako asks.

“I don’t know. I figured that the sacrifice would void and you’d have to spin again, but it’s gone through. Then again, we’ve never really made a mistake before, so what do I know? Right, Taako?”

He swallows thickly and runs his thumb across his newly-burned palm. Stupid twins. Why do they have to be so weird?

He shakes off the residual feeling of immense regret as best he can, then turns around with a flourish to face the rest of the group. Settling back into his usual Taako self, he says, “Come on, fellas. I’m low on health and I don’t want my soul to be slurped up, or whatever it is that happens when you die in here.”

Merle and Magnus eye him warily. Merle asks, “Uh, are you sure you’re—” 

“You can thank me later,” he tells him. “It’s no big. Let’s go.”

He starts heading for the door and is satisfied when he hears the shuffling of feet behind him. Taako doesn’t want their pity. Can’t understand their pity, even if he did want it. Something is blocking his memory. Not like the disconnect and fog and staticky something of deja vu he feels every once in a while, either. Whatever he lost is just— gone. Entirely irretrievable.

And he doesn’t get it. He never had a twin in the first place. He didn’t have to sacrifice anything at all, and yet something is gone. Something important that he can’t place.

He decides not to think about it.

Out of his peripheral vision, Taako sees red lightning crackle and curl around the back half of the room. He suppresses a gasp, so as not to alarm Lydia and Edward, who are whispering next to the door. Hesitantly, he turns around.

He expects a savior or an enemy to kill either Lydia and Edward or the three of them. He expects a reaper ready to collect a five-person bounty. He expects the red robe, maybe, to say something cryptic and then vanish.

But there’s nothing there.

Magnus gives him a look that he doesn’t know what to make of.

-

Edward and Lydia are there, the Animus Bell in their grasp, and then they're not.

There’s a flash of lightning and then the Red Robe is there, floating above them. This time, though, he doesn't speak to them. Doesn’t say anything vaguely menacing. Doesn’t predict their doom or try to convince them of some different destiny. He only raises his fists, crackling with electricity, and he aims.

The worst storm he’s ever experienced lasts only a few seconds. There’s lightning everywhere— bolts of it curling off the red robe’s spectral form, striking with reckless abandon, crawling up the walls and disappearing into the void above. And there’s so much of it, too. Too much. They should have gotten struck by now, but for some reason, the red robe is protecting them from a hit that would undoubtedly kill them.

All three of them are trapped in a cyclone of crimson and power. Taako isn’t sure whether it’s a prison or a means of freedom.

Until he hears screams, nearly identical, nearly perfectly in time with each other, so loud and so passionate and so painful that they shake the sky above and the ground beneath their feet.

When the storm clears and the lightning dwindles into sparks, the Red Robe is there and the twins are gone.

The Animus Bell sits cleanly in the middle of the ashes.

Magnus looks between the three of them, and then at the red robe, whose vacant stare offers nothing to their silent conversation. He approaches, careful and slow— Taako has never known Magnus to be either of those things— and, for a moment, he just looks at it. Too long of a moment, he thinks, until Magnus says, “I’d hate it. Shut the fuck up.” With the hand covered by his Phantom Fist, he picks it up.

An intense gust of wind blows through the room, making Taako clutch his hat and causing the mannequins to fall over like dominos. Thick black smog peels off the walls, off the stage, the floor, the furniture, the lights, all of it getting pulled into the wind until every one of his senses are obscured by dark fog. He squeezes his eyes shut. When he opens them, Wonderland is gone.

When his vision finally clears, the Red Robe’s vacant stare is on him. Or maybe “vacant” isn’t the right word anymore, despite his eyes being nothing but shadow and skull. Somehow, he looks angry. Heartbroken, even. He doesn’t know how he knows that.

He points at the three of them. Taako instinctively grabs his umbrella and prepares to cast teleport.

YOU, he says, in his low, whispery voice. YOU WILL ALL COME WITH ME.

His finger shifts to Taako.

AND YOU WILL FIND A WAY TO FIX YOUR MISTAKES. FOR YOUR HEART. FOR MY HEART. FOR HER.

He jerks his skeletal thumb behind him.

LET’S GO.

——

All the memories flood back, but they’re not quite there.

He sees his friends, the rest of the IPRE, answering questions at a press conference, and it’s… okay. Strangely lonely. They say their piece and sit back down and everything is weird and professional. There’s an empty spot in the seat next to him. Taako wonders why they even set it out.

He sees a black mass overtake the planet he called home and his hand reaches out and grips the air beside him. He doesn’t know why he does that, but he doesn’t let go, either.

He sits on the beach next to Barry and he’s goading him into telling who he has a crush on. Barry sputters, and blushes, and stumbles over his words, but then he stands up and deadpans, “Just forget it.” Which is… weird. It strikes him as very un-Barry like. He doesn’t think about it too hard. Either Taako will find out eventually or his feelings will pass.

To earn the Voidfish’s approval, Barry does a piano solo. It’s beautiful and heart wrenching, but Taako can’t help but feel like there’s something missing. The Voidfish accepts it anyways.

He takes a day for himself during one cycle. He makes himself breakfast, he has a water gun fight with Davenport, and he goes to an abandoned DMV. He stands there for a moment, looking at the glass panes and the motivational posters and wondering absentmindedly what happened to the people who used to be there.

Until the wall on his right catches flame.

Taako doesn’t know why and he doesn’t know how, but everything begins to catch and spread rapidly. Bolts of fire seem to come out of nowhere. The glass panes shatter. Sections of ceiling fall and crash at his feet. Thick smoke builds and rises and threatens to choke him. The entire infrastructure begins to crumble as everything goes up in flames. Taako should be running. He should be terrified.

But he doesn’t, and he’s not.

He’s elated.

He finally runs when the building threatens to topple on him, but he’s giggling on his way. And he can’t stop. Laughter bubbles in his throat, overwhelms him, makes him double over and clutch his knees. Tears spring from his eyes and he can’t be bothered to wipe them away. He’s just so happy and he doesn’t know why.

Memories flash by, one after the next. A stone of transmutation and a fiery gauntlet that he can’t quite pin the origin of. A sharp star and a mysterious umbrella. A blue sky with only one sun. A celebration that was more of a wake. A day where he feels incredible panic and loss stemming from a source that he can’t identify, and weeks that follow in which those feelings don’t change. Then he sees Barry, on the deck of the Starblaster, under the light of the night sky, poring over maps and stray papers with his head in his hands.

Taako approaches him, but before he can reach him, there’s static.

Static, and then he’s awake.

Everyone is silent. Unbearably silent. And he has one hundred years worth of old-new memories back in his head, however choppy they may be. He’s reeling. He tried to save the world. He has to save the world.

Taako says, “Hey, what the fuck?”

The rest of them find their voices. A cacophony of accusations and epiphanies and questions that have gone unanswered for years mix with each other until they're just noise. Taako is quiet because he doesn't know what else to say besides "what the fuck?" This whole situation is really... what the fuck?

“I’m so sorry,” Lucretia chokes out, hoarse and teary-eyed. “I’m so sorry, everyone, I— but this plan? My plan? It’ll work, I promise—”

“We’ve been gone for so long,” Magnus says, more to himself than to her. “We just... stopped knowing each other for so long."

“I know,” she says. “I know what I did and I know I have a lot to atone for, believe me. I didn’t think things would play out like they did, and I’m so, so sorry. But, please, please — let me finish what I started. I can keep the Hunger at bay. I can save this plane.”

“But isn’t The Hunger… already here?” Merle asks.

“It’s not too late. I— I can fight them off, I—”

Barry interrupts her. “You’re going to sever all of the bonds in this plane! Please, I understand why you did what you did, but, Lucretia, the barrier— it won’t work. Lup and I told you—”

“Lup made us promise that we would never put a planet in danger to stop the Hunger and that is exactly what we did. Barry, please. Let me do this.”

“Hold on,” Taako interrupts. “Who’s Lup?”

Everyone turns to look at him. Confused, concerned stares that betray a hint of horror behind the eyes, all on him.

“What?” he asks.

Davenport is the first to break the silence. “Taako, you… you know who Lup is. Of course you know who Lup is. Right?”

“No. Why would I?”

All of them, now, look at each other like he just murdered somebody in cold blood. Which is totally unfair because, when he does do that, it’s a group effort. He gives Merle and Magnus a pointed glare to even out the scales of justice.

The silence in the room lingers for a moment before anyone builds up the courage to break it again.

Barry says, in a small voice, “She’s your twin sister.”

His insides turn.

“I don’t…” He gives a small, nervous laugh. “I don’t have a twin sister.”

He watches, one by one, as their eyes widen, some of their expressions replaced with worry and others with panic.

Lucretia’s grip on her staff tightens so much that her knuckles turn white. “He should— he should remember by now,” she says, her voice slightly quivering. “Why can’t— why doesn’t he— did I— did I—”

“Hey, hey,” says Merle in his patented “calm down” tone. “I’m sure it’s fine, Lucy. That was a lot of remembering we all had to do. He’s just having some trouble, I bet. His memory’ll catch up with him.”

“No, it won’t.”

Everyone turns to Magnus, looking for elaboration, but Magnus just looks— panicked. Regretful, even.

All he says is, “The sacrifice.”

Something inside of Taako crumbles.

He remembers the sacrifice itself. He remembers Edward and Lydia spinning a story to him about a sister that doesn’t exist. He remembers accepting and absolutely nothing happening except a green light blinking to life. He remembers the confusion from everyone else, the stares he couldn’t understand, and although nothing is adding up right now— although, logically, he should have a twin sister, or should at least remember having one by now— he doesn’t. He doesn’t have a twin sister.

Part of him can’t bring himself to care about his twin sister because his brain is telling him she doesn’t exist, but that part is also panicking because everyone else seems to think he has a twin sister. Part of him is devastated because he must have sacrificed her, and Magnus is right, and the only way any of this makes sense is if he lost his memory of her. However, that part is also confused because he absolutely does not remember that happening, nor can he quite convince himself that it did. He thinks he knows, in the back of his mind, that he gave her up, but the rest of him is just— doubtful. The rest of him, for whatever reason, keeps telling him that he never had a twin sister and everyone around him is mistaken. Admittedly, that’s the part of himself that he’s inclined to believe.

His head hurts so bad. His stomach turns and turns and turns and his throat is tight, almost as if he’s choking on the thick smog of Wonderland.

Through his internal panic and confusion, he hears the distant sound of the voices so close to him.

He hears Davenport say, “What do you mean ‘sacrifice?’”

He hears Lucretia say, “Did— did Wonderland— did he—”

Then, Barry, “No, no, no, he has to remember by now, Magnus. He— It’s Lup, Magnus, he can’t just forget her again. Not after everything.”

Then, Merle, “Shouldn’t the Voidfish have… I don’t know, reversed it or something? I feel like the Voidfish is more powerful than a couple of dead liches. Like, uh, Magnus, you remember Governor Kalen now, right?”

“Who’s Governor Kalen?”

“Oh. Okay, then.”

“No, Merle is right,” Taako speaks up, quiet, withdrawn, confused. “If I had a twin sister, I’d remember her.”

Barry speaks, and he looks and sounds like he’s on the verge of a breakdown. “But you do. You had a sister, she— her name was Lup, she specialized in evocation, she was a lich, she liked fire spells, she was funny, she was passionate, she was good-hearted, and she loved you, Taako. She’s just… she’s not here. She’s gone and we can’t find her, but that doesn’t mean that she was never there. I mean, you have her umbrella, Taako. I don’t know where she is now, or if she’s safe, but your entire life was spent by her side. You just have to remember her.” Utter heartbreak like Taako has never heard before creeps into his voice. “Please.”

Taako tries. He really does. He tries to conjure up an image of a woman he’s never seen before, tries to imagine what she’d be like, tries to insert her into scenarios in which she could’ve been in (his aunt’s departure, his caravan work, the IPRE interviews, the fire at the DMV), but nothing quite works. All of it is met with internal disbelief that he just can’t shake. For some reason or another, he just cannot fathom having a twin sister by his side at all times, watching his back like he’d watch hers, being friends, looking out for one another. He’s never been able to rely on anyone but himself. Having someone like that— a sister to do everything with, to depend on and be depended on by, to care for unconditionally and for her to do the same— it’s unimaginable.

“I’m sorry,” is all he has to say for the hope to drain out of Barry’s face.

—

“I… I didn’t cast that, sir!”

“This isn’t the time to be modest, Agnes.”

“No, sir, you don’t understand. I didn’t cast that.”

“Uh, like hell you didn’t. I watched you do it. Good job. Do it again.”

“I--" Angus starts, but is pushed back by the force of a flurry of fireballs, all hitting the beasts of the Hunger that are advancing towards them.

“Woo!” Taako shouts. “Doing great!”

Across the room, Barry’s eyes widen. He diverts his attention from the threats he’s facing and instead focuses on Angus. “Kid,” he yells, “give me that umbrella!”

Angus looks apprehensive. He turns to Taako.

Taako shrugs. “Your call, I guess?” And then, cupping his hands over his mouth, he yells to Barry, “Don’t mess up my umbrella!”

Angus slides the Umbrastaff across the floor and to Barry, who picks it up gingerly. For a moment, he just looks at it. Turns it over in his hands. He watches as Barry purses his lips, closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath.

And then he snaps the Umbrastaff in two.

Before Taako can ask “What the fuck, man?” a spark of red light ignites from the break in the staff. And then another. And another. A sparkler that grows exponentially until Barry is thrown backwards by a firework with the force of a bomb. Even Taako himself, on the other side of the room, is flung against a wall by the power of the explosion, which is so great and so awe-inspiring that it takes a few moments for him to register what's happening.

Then there’s smoke, red and thick, wrapping itself around the tendril of the Hunger in the center of the room, which begins to explode in a mass of oranges and yellows and pinks. The dark, inky mass of the tendril turns white hot and subsequently erupts in flame, taking out all of the adversaries it brought with it. In its place is a lich, who hovers above the rubble caused by their breathtaking entrance, fire licking at their shadowy fingers. They’re wearing an IPRE robe, but Taako doesn’t know… how. He doesn’t know who this is. He doesn’t know who it possibly could be.

The lich wastes no time in rushing over to him, as if they know that Taako would run if they were not quick enough.

A woman’s voice so similar to his and yet so unfamiliar addresses him. “Do you remember me, Taako?” she asks, and she sounds so desperate.

His heart aches.

He wishes he could tell her that he knows her, but she holds no spot in his memory. Even in her ghostly form, her shadowy face hidden by the hood of her robe, her grief overwhelms him. Something deep in his heart tells him that he does know her vaguely. An acquaintance, maybe. He doesn’t know. His mind feels empty and busy at the same time and he just… can’t think. And it’s not static, not deja vu, not easily glanced over like the Voidfish memories were. It’s just not there. It is hollowness and disconnect and confusion and just not there. Like a part of him that he can no longer identify has been taken and is now entirely out of his grasp.

“Taako?” she asks. She reaches out a translucent hand and grazes his face. She feels cold. “Say my name, Taako. Please.”

He opens his mouth and finds that he has no response.

This woman— this woman, hovering in front of him in her IPRE robe, this woman who sounds just like him, this woman who is insisting that Taako knows her— she should be familiar. He should know something about her. It would explain the robe, the seventh relic, the sister everyone seems to think he has, but it doesn’t… fit. He remembers only five other members of the IPRE. He remembers a childhood in which he fended for himself and only himself. He remembers Taako. Just Taako and no one else. That’s the way he likes it because that’s the way it’s always been.

But everyone else is claiming that isn’t the case.

His memories have returned. If all of them aren’t there by now, they’re not coming back.

And Taako, no matter how hard he tries, no matter how much he racks his brain, no matter how deeply he wants to tell this woman that he remembers her and he loves her and he’s so happy to see her, he cannot comprehend having a twin sister. To lie and to tell her that he knows her, or to even say that he truly believes they’re twins, is cruelty he can’t bring himself to commit.

He gazes into the blackness beneath the woman’s hood. She smells of smoke and emanates heat, despite her bitter touch.

“I’m your sister, Taako,” she tells him, her voice breaking. “You know me better than anyone else. Say my name.”

He can’t tell her that he doesn’t have a sister. He can’t tell her that he knows her, either. He remains silent and wide-eyed.

He takes in this woman before him— all shadow, all smoke, all fire and darkness and red electricity and, most of all, warmth— and he lowers her hood.

Her features are difficult to make out. They’re obscured by the black smoke she seems to be comprised of, and which all liches are comprised of. Semi-physical, semi-transparent smoke that has trouble sticking to one shape surrounding a skull in the center. He does see, however, a face that looks just like his. A nose like his. A mouth like his. Ears like his. The face she’s wearing is exactly like his but it’s not his and he can’t understand why that is. He tries to tell himself that this is his sister. He tries to convince himself that this is the one who he felt was missing his whole life, but now, when he thinks about it, did he ever truly feel like there was something missing or was he just lonely? He wants this to be his sister and he knows that she needs him to be her brother, but he also knows that they can’t be twins because they aren’t.

Surveying her features, looking into her eyes— they’re searching, desperate, they hold a spark of hope that’s quickly dwindling— he knows from somewhere within him that he made a terrible mistake.

“Taako,” she says again, a miserable whisper that would be inaudible if everyone around them were not so quiet. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Do you remember me?”

He can’t lie to her.

Taako stares at this woman who is fire, who is love, who is warmth and passion, who is strength, who is brilliance, who he innately knows holds all of these qualities and who just cannot be his sister.

In a trembling voice, tears threatening to spill out of his eyes, he tells her, “I wish I could remember you.”

She crumbles to the ground in a shaking heap of sobs and lets out a cry full of anguish and despair. In it, he hears her heart break.

Taako’s heart breaks with hers.

[miamaroo]

hi!!! i love your work so much 💖💖💖 northern migration made me fall in love with balance all over again, and I've reread it 3 times this year so far. its so good!!! I was wondering if you had any TAZ fic recs for balance or amnesty? judging from your own writing, I'm sure you have good taste. thank you sm!!

I’m pretty sure taz nm doesn’t even hold up on the first read through, so the fact that you put yourself through it three times makes you stronger than any us marine.

As flattered as I am (and I really am, like holy shit thank you so much!!!), I cannot abide you not reading some of my favorite fics.

and the warmth will never die by Junkyard_Rose: this is one of those fics that I think about often, long after I finished it. The prose is wonderful and the nonlinear storyline is a treat to read. 

Joker’s Wild by DragonWrites: Do you like Davenport? If you don’t, this author will dunk your head in Davenport content until you do. This is one of my favorite twists on a canon divergent storyline, so much so that I sorely wish that this was actually canon.

A Story, But With No Song by ToTillAGarden: Another story whose imagery is superb. I could read an entire novel about this concept, though that’s hard to say when every word of this is so perfect, you’re unsure if anything else could be added.

the tower and the chariot by weatheredlaw: Honestly, read everything but this person. All of it is good. All of it sticks with me. But this one in particular? GOD. Just. OH MY GOD. 

Bureau of Badass by Chemicallywrite and miceenscene: You can draw a direct line from this story to taz nm. I would not have written it if I had not read this first. This is the perfect AU, faithful not only to the spirit of the original show but also to the time period. When I first read this, I remembered thinking that it was going to be standard fair-- but BOY WAS I WRONG. There is a point in the story, about 20-ish chapters in, when it had suddenly clicked how incredible this work is. This should be a novel. This should be the original content that the adventure zone is a fanfiction of. If you have no read this, you are doing yourself a disservice. 

I don’t read many amnesty fics, but I do enjoy the work of @taako-waititi. If you haven’t checked them out yet, you really need to!

[ghosty-schnibibit]

one last amnesty liveblog :’)

i’m writing this literal seconds after it came out and i am hyped as all get out, let’s do this!!!!!

IT IS TWO AND A HALF HOURS LONG, NICE

they haven't announced more than that trav is dming and i'm hype for it

dang i wanna listen to those so bad

love ya griffin :')

... i don't remember there being distortion there???

WHY IS THE INTRO BREAKING DOWN

GRIFFIN WHAT THE FUCK I AM INSTANTLY TERRIFIED

... this isn't just old quotes, these are memories we haven't seen before now mixed in. i'm 90% sure that was just a memory from thacker's perspective of mama finally finding thacker possessed by the quell

was that little aubrey getting inspired to be a magician? sweet baby

aww aubrey :'(

and that was duck in class the day after minerva visited him

"wayne newton? that can't be real" pfff

DUCK MEETING AUBREY AWWW

who???

"this isn't how it happened" what the fuck is going on

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO NED DURING THE SHIFTER ARC

... THAT'S NOT REALLY BEACON IS IT

YEP, YEP, YEP, THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO NED

it wasn't expecting him to grab beacon

... they're in the alien base aren’t they

this is terrifying holy shit

it's the rest of the pine gaurd

waAaAaynEeEeE

"we've a little bit of the griffin panic settin' in" mood

nice! first of those good good finale rolls this ep

oh thank god it didn't take dani again

WELL THAT'S NOT GREAT

at least sylvaine is okay then

i love beacon so fucking much

"i think we're pretty well fucked" bless duck

thacker is so good and i love him

SOMEONE HELP HER

never mind about those finale rolls holy shit

yeah aubrey's fucked for luck lol

what are you quoting

it is so fucking weird to hear people calling him wayne, and yet it works so well for him

griffin keeps pointedly calling him wayne to get him to react and justin's just not yes-anding him lmao

this is so fucking weird holy shit

aubrey no

bless you for still calling him duck aubrey

GOD DAMN TRAV

OH THAT IS EXTREMELY BAD, OH GOD

THE LATE THACKER ROLLED A FIVE

this is so weird holy shit

jesus i just looked at the timestamp and it's only been thirty minutes

this is more of what ned found with the shifter

NICE!

i love minerva so

it's barry

the sudden music scares an intrigues me

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK

it's making copies of their loved ones to scare them into not fighting

duck i love you so much

beacon is so horny for destruction and i love him

WAIT REALLY??? shit, we were all terrified for aubrey’s luck and forgot about duck’s completely

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST THEY ARE BEEFING IT

thank you for minmaxing so much trav

HOLY SHIT THACKER WHAT

"oooookay" griffin sounds so excited and i love it

NICE! GO THACKER :DDD

W H A M I E

... why do i have a feeling this is billy

oookay, that makes sense

direct and fair

reconciliation???

oh no, this is bad, this is very bad

PIZZA

"what that being represented" wtf

... they created a great filter. they created a great filter to keep themselves safe and killed off god knows how many worlds. holy fucking shit this makes so much make sense.

yes duck, it it aliens  -_-

not the most nuanced of takes there aubrey

i don't know if it's just me but i am having such a hard time mentally picturing this room

griffin loves his domes lmao

WELP, THAT'S NOT GREAT

this music griffin holy shit

bless griffin

oh fuck, very bad, this is very very bad

duck took a fuckin turn here at the end, damn

"FUCK YOU, C'MON" i love you duck holy shit

natural human chitin

oh fuck i forgot they were there holy shit

jesus we have more than an hour left

well that's not great!!!

HOLY FUCK, GO THACKER :DDDDD

i cry, ned ; _ ;

YEAH MAYBE DON'T LET THACKER DIE

nice nice nice

griffin i don't think you needed to specify that it wasn't literal whales

"duck, honey" mama ilu so

YEEEEEAH GO DUCK MY BOY

jesus fucking christ that's horrifying

what are you gonna do here trav

YES BRING BILLY BACK

OH NO, OH NO, OH NO

"you absolute ding dongs" griffin ilu

YEAAAAAH AUBREY

BILLY!!! MY BABY BOY IS BACK :D

god damn clint has been killing these rolls today

"you and your bunch of commodore 64's" thacker i love you

HOLY SHIT BILLY

what in the world did he do?????

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME IS THIS A FINAL FANTASY REFERENCE? DID BILLY FUCKING SUMMON SEPHIROTH???

THE AMNESTY THEME

I AM SO HYPE RIGHT NOW HOLY SHIT

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

HOLY SHIT THE FUCKING TIM CURRY ASS SWORD

...god damn, i need to take a moment to just... whoooo fuckin boy that was so good. that was so incredibly good. as soon as this is over i'm going back and doing an amnesty relisten because so much makes sense now, holy shit

yay billy can talk now :D

my god this is so good

i love how much billy is using y'all, you can tell he spent a lot of time with duck

fair lol

awww billy's gonna save everybody :')

... is anyone else remembering that stern is still in sylvain

i descended to your pairing??? oooh dissented, okay

prove em' wrong

... are we in the end game territory here

whomst clint???

a guest bivouac

i love thacker so freaking much guys, i love him so much

mama :'D

who is this person i am so confused

IT'S THE QUELL

aww thacker :')

this music is destroying me holy fuck

"hi honey!" jesus fuck they're so cute

god this is such pretty imagery

AWWWWW NED I CRY

i love these two girlfriends and their rabbit son

"i love the whimsy" janelle ilu

travis mcelroy you have murdered me

aww little mousies

aubrey my baby ilu so much

duck wtf my child

that hasn't happened yet technically tho? i’m pretty sure it's still 2017 i think in this canon but okay then? i might be wrong tho

i love these two so much 

MINERVA MY BABY

wait a god damn minute

DUCK x MINERVA HOLY SHIT, RIP INDRUCK LMAO

oooooh i am suddenly very much not looking forward to going into the tag later, oh boy. this right here is why i make a rule of not getting too invested in non-canon pairings.

minerva is a non-neurotypical mood

... god damn duck this is killing me right now

why are you quoting spiderman minerva

there are only ten minutes left holy shit

i have very limited comic knowledge here guys please help me here boys

justin i'm gonna cry here

oh good, stern made it back to kepler

griffin i weep

indruck may have been sunk but sternclay is sailing strong lol

I CRY GRIFFIN, I CRY

THEY MADE A NEW PORTAL :D

janelle fell off a pudding fruit tree lol

INDRID AND LEO WTF

THIS IS SO HAPPY AND GOOD I CRY

NED :')

I'M SOBBING

and that was it folks! there's the end of taz amnesty! it has been an amazing ride and, unlike balance, one i was actually here for from start to finish in real time. this finale more than lived up to my expectations as far as tying up loose ends and ending on a wonderfully happy note and i cannot wait to see all the art and fic that comes out of it. i love this amazing fandom that’s felt like a home to me these last three years, i can't wait to listen to the next amazing arc the mcelboys conjure up with all of you

see you all again when the ttazz comes out!

[counterspelling]

minakooooo

also cause I've been listening to taz, lup

First impression - Oh god, I don't remember, probably just hearts eyes emoji???? I know I already loved her in the anime and then read the manga translations and it ONLY GOT WORSE

Impression now - ETERNAL LOVE OF MY LIFE, Usa's right hand, bodyguard and decoy, exuberant enthusiasm and sharp cunning, enveloping you with love and holding her sword ready at her side for whenever it's necessary

Favorite moment - In the manga, stabbing Beryl, her scream as Usa's taken during Black Moon, being the one who Usa runs to at the end of Stars to tearfully hug first, in PGSM every scene with Rei lol

Idea for a story - PGSM doing EVERY SINGLE MANGA ARC, we were robbed!!!

Unpopular opinion - Literally no version of Sailor Moon after the manga has understood that after Usa, Minako is THE MOST IMPORTANT SENSHI, she gets the most reaction shots and panels, she's Usa's closest friend and confidante, not Ami (Myu!!!) or Rei (90s!!!), MINAKO. Every other adaptation gives so many Minako-exclusive moments to the girls as a whole to cater to the wider audience and it annoys the shit out of me lmao

Favorite relationship - Both romantically and platonically, I can't pick between Usa or Rei, they're both so good. Also Kunzite, I wish any version took more advantage of that :(

Favorite headcanon - That people being in awe of her, feeling love toward her, feeling happy around her, actually translates into making her more powerful

Lup

First impression - "Holy shit?????? Griffin, what have you done???????????"

Impression now - My favorite character after Magnus!!!! She's SO GOOD, I could not love her more

Favorite moment - "You're dating the grim reaper??"

Idea for a story - TEAM FIC, I just love platonic Starblaster team as family fic

Unpopular opinion - Are there unpopular Lup opinions???? I like that she forgave Lucretia quickly

Favorite relationship - Taako??? I wish we'd gotten more scenes with Magnus because they're my faves and there's so much potential for hijinks with them together

Favorite headcanon - That post where the Raven Queen puts Lup's drawing of her up on the fridge lmao

[chrisis-averted]

The Adventure Zone Fic Recs

I wanted to rec some of my favourite fics that I haven’t seen much appreciation for around. I love these to bits.

An Umbrella Term by brushstrokesApocalyptic

Plot: The Umbra Staff haunts, Taako gets haunted, and Angus McDonald, the world's greatest detective, investigates.Or: AU where Lup isn't quite so trapped.

Comment: I’m a sucker for Taako&Angus fics, but this is an even more delicious cake, Lup&Angus being friends and partners in crime. It has such a good moments and a better inoculation/reveal than in canon if I might say.

Among the Ruins by DistractedKat

Plot: In one universe, Sazed tries to get rid of Taako with poison. In this one, he finds a more lucrative solution. It still doesn't end well.Years later, Lucretia steels herself to enter Wonderland with Cam as her guide. What she's looking for is the Animus Bell.What she finds is Taako.Everything goes downhill from there.

Comment: When I started this fic, I was gripped by such an unexplicable feeling of needing to know what was going on that I ended up contacting (and later befriending) the author. She’s incredibly talented and amazing, I’d read anything of hers.

Babes in the Woods by InterNutter

Plot: The Pine Guard are almost used to dealing with Abominations, by now. But this one isn't acting like your average bom-bom. Older people are going missing, and there's a sudden influx of children turning up lost.And there's something... else... with glowing eyes in the night...

Comment: A ‘the world of Amnesty is one of those visited by the Starblaster’ fic, with a childification twist. Extremely good and in character, especially the Amnesty crew even though they didn’t have many episodes yet when this story was written. Slow paced but enticing, is a pretty good read.

Cycle Sixty-Six by iox

Plot:  The IPRE family of five lands in their sixty-sixth cycle. This planet is battling against a forest and horrific creatures called the Fae. Something is very, very wrong.

Comment: Holy shit. Holy Shit. I’ve never felt such an emotion from any horror story (not even Stephen King can write this shit) - this story is pervaded by such an aura of wrongness that clutches at your heart and yet I couldn’t stop reading and rereading it. There was a moment I was so immersed in the atmosphere my own dog scared me.

Even a Sparrow Falls by distractedKat

Plot: When Governor Kalen is routed from Raven's Roost, he has to go somewhere to collect his forces before striking back.That somewhere ends up being Glamour Springs, where he makes a name for himself by capturing the criminal responsible for forty deaths: Taako, the famous wizard chef.Now Taako has to live with the fallout, injuries that change him and land him in the care of a bunch of weirdos, a new family destined to save more than just the world.

Comment: I did say I’d read anything of hers. I remember binge-reading this fic at uni, instead of paying attention to a goddamn 4-hours seminar. The plot, the character dynamics, everything in this is so fucking amazing I’m emotional just writing this review.

Impossible Encounters by InterNutter

Plot:  What if Angus met Taako a lot earlier in the time stream?

Comment: I have particular love for this fanfic, because it’s the first I’ve read in the TAZ fandom. From a sentence in one of its chapter was born the entire idea for my own fic, too. And I’m a sucker for parental Taako fics anyway.

Letting Dreams of Fame Take Over by Teramina

Plot: Nearly a year after Glamour Springs, Taako is still distant and wandering, looking for any kind of purpose, something to do with the rest of his life that doesn't feel meaningless in the wake of everything he failed.The Philosopher's Stone, since the relic war ended, has found itself bored. Few chanced upon it anymore, and those that did destroyed themselves so quickly. It needed more of a challenge, someone whose mind wouldn't be so easy to twist. At least, not for now.

Comment: Holy Shit (x2). I’ve been following this fic since it was an embryo of an idea and I’m so happy to see it all grown up. I’m like a proud uncle. This is the only fic I’ve ever seen that has such a good characterization of the relics and clear depiction of the thrall.

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This Before by ohjustdisarmalready

Plot: Lup is good at a lot of things. Magic, chaos, blowing things up, cooking…the list goes on.But she’s best at knowing her brother. And it doesn’t take much to see that Taako is being suspicious as fuck.

Comment: You know those lighthearted fics where ‘character goes back in time with their memories intact and fixes things’? This is not one of them. Oh God, this is not one of them.

The Act of Remembering by okbutfirsttea

Plot:  Davenport gets inoculated, only sooner than planned. How do they react to being thrown into an unexpected reunion?

Comment: WARNING! DON’T BE FOOLED! THIS IS BAD! UNFIXABLE ANGST! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! I love it and hate it.

What’s Done Cannot Be Undone (Series) by Lanyare

Plot: In the third round of Wonderland the stakes are higher. Refusing a sacrifice can lead to a penalty that's more than you expected to pay.Or, Taako refuses to give up his beauty and regrets the decision immediately after.

Comment: I’m a sucker for lich!Taako and this fic is the one that comes closer to what I want to see more of in this fandom. It’s a collection of 7 short stories, but they could very well be parts of the same fanfic.

What’s Lost by Habie

Plot:  Sazed kills Taako in Glamour Springs and everyone else lives. Taako remembers eveything and tries to find his friends, figure out what happened to Lup, and prepare for The Hunger while juggling death and the rules.

Comment: Taako as a Reaper is a chaotic force of nature that shouldn’t exist. But he does. The scene with Garfield is likely my favourite in all of TAZ’s transformative works.

Wings Made of Flesh and Memories by weevilo707

Plot: This final world they had landed on was so much like their own. They were so lucky to have a place where they could fit in and pick up new lives mostly uninterrupted. There was just one thing that set them apart as otherworldly and strange from the rest of this plane.Those were the wings that each member of the IPRE had.When Lucretia set up new homes for each member of her family, she had to be sure that they would be able to fit in. She had to keep them safe, to make sure nothing ruined these lives for them.Their wings needed to be edited.

Comment: this fic was my baby I needed to see in the world but couldn’t write so I did the next obvious thing. I commissioned it. It came out so much better than I could have ever written it, and I’m so happy weev accepted to write it instead.

[bastionkeeper]

Prompt: The first time Angus met Kravitz was before either of them knew Taako. It was on a case, where the necromancers Angus was tracking down nearly killed him, and Kravitz could not ignore the little boy on deaths doorstop.

holy shit this was so fun to write and now I wanna write The Adventures of Death and The Kid Detective like either as taz fic or as an original work this dynamic is just so great this is the best Kravitz and Angus work I’ve ever done I think. Please feel free to ask for a continuation because I might write one regardless

Kravitz was surprised to find anyone else in the room besides the necromantic cult. To be fair, he had seen the human child poking about while he went about his own investigation. It seemed he was also in the business of law. 

Kravitz tried to ignore the child as he went about with his reaping. No distractions, just follow his queen’s will and act upon it. 

His scythe moved in dangerous circles of silver, removing souls from bodies in a bloodied mess. The necromancers fired off spells, some raised swords against him. Kravitz managed to take them all down regardless. 

Or so he thought.

“Sir! Look out!” 

Kravitz turned just in time to see the boy rushing forward, taking the full blow of an offensive spell that had been aimed at his back. The necromancer who had cast the spell turned heel and fled from the room, his cloak whipping about behind him. 

Kravitz went to follow him but...the boy was laying on the ground in a crumpled heap. Kravitz could feel that his queen’s will directed him towards finishing off the cult but...this boy had taken a hit for him...a total stranger. A not even human stranger who very clearly was death come to call.

Kravitz knelt and picked the boy up in his arms, he wrapped his cloak around the two of them and they vanished in a snap of magic. 

It had been thousands of years since Kravitz had had to care for a mortal body, so he took the boy to the experts. He was reluctant to leave the boy alone until he woke up, however, so he stayed in the clinic by his side. Even in his more fleshy form he could tell the doctors and clerics were unnerved by him. Death in a hospital was never a good sign.

Kravitz just narrowed his eyes and waited for the boy to wake up.

“...sir?”

The hoarse voice sounded a few hours later as the boy raised his head from the pillow. Gods above and below he really couldn’t have been more than...nine maybe ten? What had he been doing chasing down necromancers?

“Ah, good, you’re...still alive,” Kravitz said, forgoing his accent in a moment of distraction. “Um...thanks...I suppose? I mean...you really shouldn’t have, that spell wouldn’t have done as much damage to me but...that was brave of you.”

“Well, it felt sorta like we were teaming up on that one, sir!” Angus beamed, a gap-toothed smile. “You don’t let your teammates take the hit, right? I mean...I’ve never had teammates but that’s what Caleb Cleveland always says!”

“Who?” Kravitz asked with a bemused smile. 

“Oh...he’s the hero of my favorite books I-I guess you wouldn’t have heard of him...” Angus reached for his bag, which Kravitz had set on the bedside table. He withdrew a well worn copy of the first Kid Cop novel and showed it to Kravitz. 

“Hmmm...” Kravitz looked the book over. “This actually looks...really good.” it had been quite some time since he’d been able to relax with a good book. The astral plane had been strapped for good reapers, and he’d been taking on extra shifts. 

“Would you like to borrow it?” Angus asked.

“O-oh, I couldn’t I...”

“No really! It’s okay! Then you could come visit and talk about it!” Angus said.

Kravitz smiled. How lonely and peculiar was this little boy that he wanted to have a book club with death? Of course, Kravitz had been a lonely and peculiar little boy once...maybe he’d never stopped being one. 

“I’d be honored.” Kravitz stood, tucking the book into his cloak. “I have to go now, there’s still one necromancer left.”

“Go get ‘em, sir! We can’t rest till the case is closed, right?” Angus said. 

“Right,” Kravitz said, offering a hand for Angus to shake. “It was a pleasure working with you, partner. Maybe we can do it again sometime....somewhere less dangerous. Maybe we’ll start with a light ghost-busting next time.”

Angus looked thrilled, and shook Kravitz’s hand with an enthusiasm he didn’t think the wounded little boy could have in him. “I’ll hold you to that, sir!”

[birdiethebibliophile]

{fic} That Old Sweet Feeling (part 31)

Fandom:  The Adventure Zone:  Commitment Rating:  M Chapter Warnings:  None Relationship:  Nadiya Jones/Mary Word Count:  1,237

Here on AO3. Read the rest: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30

Tagging @someone-called-f1nch, @voidfishkid, @mellowstarscape, and @jumpboy-rembrandt!

Holy shit, I can’t believe we’re finally here. It’s been eight months - almost exactly - in the making. The longest thing I’ve ever written, and the thing I’m (so far) most proud of. Thank you everyone for sticking with me, especially everybody from the TAZ Commitment Discord.

I love you all.

Chapter Summary:   A soft epilogue.

__________________

“No, Mom, I’m fine. I’m talking  to you. I couldn’t do that if I wasn’t fine.”

Nadiya glanced up at a soft tap on her door. There was Mary Sage, wearing a t-shirt and worn jean shorts and holding a potted plant. She waved.

Nadiya smiled and motioned her in. “I mean, yeah, you can fly out if you want. Aren’t England to California, like, literally as far from each other as physically possible, though?” She paused to give Mary Sage a careful, one-armed hug. “Okay, okay! Call me when you get in, okay? I can give you the hospital address.

“No, Dad isn’t coming. Yeah. He emailed me yesterday, you know how he doesn’t like to talk on the phone. Said he was in the middle of something, but if I needed him, he could – yeah, no. Mom, it’s fine. My friends are taking good care of me. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She smiled. “Yeah. Looking forward to seeing you. Love you too.”

Nadiya hung up and set the cell phone on the table by her hospital bed, next to where Mary Sage had put the plant. “Hey, Space Cadet.”

“Hey, Reed Richards.” Mary Sage kissed her on the cheek. “How ya feelin’?”

“Less like shit than I did yesterday,” Nadiya said. “Or the day before. So that’s progress. That plant’s not going to last a week – I’ve killed every plant I’ve ever had.”

“It’s the thought that counts,” Mary Sage said brightly, settling on the hospital bed with a slight bounce. “That was your mom?”

“Yeah. Apparently she saw the news and decided to fly halfway across the world to make sure I was all right. Good to know that something  will make that happen, even if it had to be a life-threatening situation.” Nadiya rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help smiling again.

It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t going to be perfect, between them, but her mom was making an effort, and maybe that was step one.

“Surprised it took this long,” Mary Sage commented.

“It didn’t make international news until this morning, I think.”

Martine may have shot the screens at the press conference, but Jonesy’s camera had still been up and working throughout their entire confrontation in the back room. She and Grace had retrieved the footage and disseminated it to every news outlet they could. As it turned out, it didn’t reflect well on Martine that she ordered the cold-blooded murder of multiple people on camera. Every security officer in the place had been on her as soon as they could get past her guards, anyways.

Because Martine wasn’t dead. What Mary Sage had done – whatever she had done – had ruptured the connections Martine had had with the former members of the Do-Good Fellowship, as well as the people who’d received stimplants since then. According to the news, she was suffering “unexpected neurological side effects” from what had happened.

“Oh, cry me a river,” Mary Sage had said when she heard. “I didn’t have a choice when she fucked up my brain. I’m not sorry.”

Now, Mary Sage flopped back with Nadiya, carefully avoiding her arm with the IV in it. “We heard from Jamie this morning,” she told Nadiya. “She wanted to know whether it was all true. We said yeah, an’ told her about the whole victim of war crimes protection thing or whatever. Sounds like she’s goin’ back to Eureka.”

“I’m glad,” Nadiya said, and was surprised to realize she meant it. “What about the others?”

“I think Irene’s been talkin’ to Flanagan, but Kardala’s been real cagey about it,” Mary Sage said, snickering. “She did say they were good, though, Addison an’ Flanagan. Figurin’ stuff out. Pridmore an’ Abbey are still hangin’ around. I think Grace got ahold of Joe this morning?”

Nadiya made a sound that she hoped adequately conveyed her utter contempt for and disregard for one Joe Carbinner.

“Aw, shut up,” Mary Sage said, giggling. “I know you hate him, but he got screwed over by the Fellowship as much as any of us.”

“Sure.” Nadiya smiled as Mary Sage’s absent fingers found the bracelet she was still wearing and started fiddling with it. “Has, uh… How’s Remy doing?”

“Not great,” Mary Sage said frankly. “Kinda the same as you. Today was better than yesterday was better than the day before. Somebody called him last night – his brother? He cried a lot an’ when he got off the phone he gave everybody a big hug, an’ he’s seemed a little better since then.”

“And you told him I want to see him?”

“Yeah. Might be a couple days, still. I think he knows it wasn’t his fault, but he’s still pretty messed up about it.”

Nadiya sighed. “I guess I don’t blame him. He probably got the worst of this, and that’s counting that I literally got stabbed.” She settled back further into her pillows. “You ever feel like… you can’t quite believe it’s over?”

“Every second,” Mary Sage said without hesitation. “Shit, Nad, this all started for us way before we even knew it had. I know it’s not, like, over  over, with Martine’s trial we gotta testify at an’ everything, and figurin’ out what the hell we’re gonna do now, but… I talked to a lawyer this morning, Nad. A lawyer. He said he’s gonna help me get my parents out of jail, and he only had to look at the case file for like, a second before he said there was more hinky stuff goin’ on than it even seemed like at first. Bribes an’ shit. Didja know that forbidding contact with family members in prison without due cause is a crime?”

“No, but it makes sense. Have they found Richard yet?”

“Yeah, as soon as they raided Martine’s place. He’s under arrest too – aiding an’ abetting. And treason,” Mary Sage added. “Sylvane’d be under arrest too, but he’s in the hospital right now, an’ he’s sayin’ he was controlled like Remy. I call BS, but I guess the feds can figure that one out.”

“God, I want to get out of here,” Nadiya grumbled. “I hate having to hear everything secondhand.”

“Hey, Nad, guess what I realized?” Mary Sage, sitting up and grinning.

“What?”

“Now that we’re not on the run, we can actually go on dates  an’ shit if we want,” Mary Sage said. “There’s a bunch of real great places in San Francisco. I’ve been checkin’ ‘em out so we can go when you get out of the hospital. Bookstores an’ ice cream places an’ coffeeshops an’ whatever. I dunno, that’s what you do for dates, right? I’ve only been on, like, one, an’ we went to Olive Garden, an’ I left early.”

“That’s one more than I’ve been on,” Nadiya admitted. “But that sounds… really good. And then I guess we’ll have to start apartment shopping, huh?”

“Yeah, eventually, once we know where we wanna live,” Mary Sage agreed. “Plus finding jobs, I guess. But we don’t have to worry about that yet, right?”

“Nah,” Nadiya said. “Let’s get through this first. Let everything reset and settle down. And in the meantime, yeah, let’s go on a bunch of dates.”

“Sounds good to me,” Mary Sage said, and kissed the corner of Nadiya’s mouth. “There’s that old sweet feeling again,” she whispered. “You feel it too?”

“Yeah,” Nadiya said. “I do.”

-----

(Tomorrow will take care of itself.)

[lichlover]

So if someone wanted to read this fic that you mentioned in the tags of that taakitz drawing you just reblogged, where could they find it?

first of all, holy shit, my dude, you’re one of my all-time favorite taz artists? you draw the boys so perfectly and i’m just. augh. wow. that’s some good shit right there.

second of all, it’s a Secret Project™ that i’m hoping to get done in the next month or so!! if yall like taakitz, 1920s aesthetic, fashion, and mystery, it should be right up your alley!