#totally not how I think Taako's eye colour is

[cinnamonbirdanon]

I drew an eye. :>

I’m a self taught artist, aka I look at a thing, get the general idea and try to draw it on my own. It’s a lot of “no, ew” and hating my art, but hey! Some times good drawings like this come out!

The last art class I had was in 8th grade and I’m currently 20 sooo

[ata-art]

So this idea has been floating around in the back of my head for over a year now, but I never got around to doing anything with it until the other day when I drew up some designs, and now it’s become my procrastination project, these pages are so fun to do!

But yeah, I wanted to do something which was like, snapshots from Taako and Lup's spellbook, full of my headcanons about them as kids, an excuse to get all expositiony about how I think magic works, and just a chance to write sibling dialogue because that's always fun

Taako mentions in episode one his spellbook is actually just a copy of "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Elves", so I took that and ran with it, the twins found a copy of that book and turned it into their spellbook by writing and doodling all over it. It's sort of part encyclopedia, part high school diary, and part mutual memo board, and I've got so many ideas for this so I'll definitely make more pages when I get the chance, but have these for now!

(Second set here)

(Transcript under the cut for those who can’t see the images or find the handwriting hard to read)

First Image - Book Cover: Book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Elves (250th anniversary edition) Taako: aka us. Lup: we found this in someone’s trash and repurposed it into a spellbook - effective. elves. T: Okay well don’t write that on the cover. L: why not? it’s ours.

Second Image: [title page and first page of the book, the first page has been pasted over with brown paper to cover the text, the title page is covered in notes and doodles]

Book: The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Elves T: who do magic and stuff B: By Stevynn Covar (crossed out by Lup) T: Taako L: & Lup ^^

Notes on page: L: yo taako if you see this remember we gotta find a recipe to use up the last of that fish - if it goes bad that's another meal we don't get to eat T: Yeah yeah I got it.

T: Found another one time gig - back by 10

L: i know you were on a date tonight!!! i gotta be up early but you're not getting out of this without giving me deets!!

L (written at bottom of page): i'm bored... we've been on the road for like literally FOREVER

L (with arrow pointing to paper): stuck like this until taako can figure out how to get rid of the text on the page T: I can do it, I just can't do it permanently. L: same thing doofus XP

Page 2: T: So magic. There's a lot of it. L: No shit, dummy! T: Shut the fuck up, my intro! T: ANYWAY, as I was SAYING, so much magic out there, one day we're gonna learn ALL of it. But this book is gonna focus on two schools of magic L: (the BEST schools!) T: Transmutation and Evocation L: That's mine ^^ T: and mine.

T: School of Transmutation [a small diagram of a rock turning into a gemstone] Okay, so, this is the school of turning shit into other shit. Very useful for - just about everything, actually. Best school of magic, hands down. L: Nu-uh, evocation is totally way better! T: Sure thing, Lulu. Remind me - who's the one conjuring food out of thin air or fixing your damn outfits every time you rip them? L: Yeah but can you set a bad guy on FIRE??? Didn't think so XP T: Actually yes. L: that's just cuz you know my spells.

L: School of Evocation L: fire. ‘nuff said. [a doodle of lup with her hands on fire, there is an arrow pointing to it with the word “me”, next to her is a dead guy on the ground, with an arrow pointing to it that says “you”]

T: Useful spells Lup knows: 2 (Lup has crossed out the 2 and replaced it with “all of them”) Useful spells Taako knows: 5

Note from older twins in different coloured pen: T: Hey remember when we only knew 7 spells? L: Gods, BABIES T: I still know more spells than you L: You WISH

Third Image: [a two page spread each featuring a spell written by Taako, the pages are still covered in doodles]

First page: Message Components: Copper Wire. Easy enough to find, doesn’t need replacing, could wear as ring? (Taako has later crossed this out and written over it “Earrings work better.”, there is a doodle of both a wire ring and wire earrings here)

We learned this off that old guy in the... that merc caravan near the west coast? When we were about 40, I think. He was cool, couldn't speak so basically used this for everything, had a lot of great notes about non verbal spell casting (see page 13). Anyway it's basically instant telepathy which is like, hella useful in a bunch of situations. L: Like that time you got your ass stuck in a cave [crossed out by Taako] T: Never happened.

Message is pretty intuitive, point and think. Just be careful to direct it at the target and not broadcast your thoughts to everyone in the area. L: It was ONE TIME!!!

[a doodle by lup at the bottom of the page featuring the two of them with closed eyes and the words ~magic thought powers~ between them]

Second page: Mending Components: 2 lodestones. This is a problem - they’re hard to come by. Never did get my first set back after the Ravenpoint militia confiscated them. L: Yeah, cuz you stole them. T: Not important.

The most useful spell I know. In this line of work, things get broken. Clothes get torn. Sisters set fire to everything. L: Hey!! >:( T: You gotta be able to fix your own shit.

Technique for this one - So, you're channelling this through two lodestones, right? Lodestones come in pairs, and they always want to be together. If you let them sit next to each other they'll snap together, and you gotta pull them apart. It's this energy you use to fix whatever got broke, channelling the transmutation power from things that want to be together, into things that don't, like the two sides of a ripped piece of cloth. You gotta be careful though, think about what it is you're fixing. If you just let it snap together like the lodestones, it'll all fuse into a huge nasty mess. You gotta guide it. Imagine like you're holding a lodestone in each hand, and trying to put them together without making a noise. Or actually try that, you have the lodestones. Now imagine that but with the thing you're fixing. If you can swing that, you're golden. And don't try to fix a person with this spell, you'll fuck them up real bad. L: seriously, don’t :(

[a diagram at the bottom by Taako of two lodestones (naturally occuring magnets), with arrows pointing towards each other and the label “Lodestones”. Lup has drawn the magnetic fields over the arrows and written “magic”]

[internutter]

How about a prompt where Angus tends to make himself scarce at the BOB during an approaching holiday, because the stress of holidays brought out his parents’ anger, and Taako finds out.

Spring Carnival was a time for celebration. Wearing flowers, dancing, bright colours and any excuse for fireworks was a good one in Taako’s mind. Fresh fruit and feasting and a good dance or three to shake off any lingering winter funk.

He had flowers in his hat and woven into his hair, wearing something bright and flowy and sparkly enough to attract any jackdaws that might be living on the moon.

Everyone was having a good time. Even “permanent bummer” Johann was smiling as he played a lively tune for the carnival crowds.

Well. Almost everyone. His apprentice wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Taako checked the rides, the food stalls, the games of skill and cunning... Nowhere at all. Which struck Taako as kind of odd. When he was a kid, he leaped at the chance to be in on the big parties. Spring festival, harvest festival, candlenights, you name it. He was all over the place and gorging himself on sweet treats.

Yet Angus wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

Come to think of it, he’d been conspicuously absent during Candlenights as well, only turning up for the presents and beating a hasty retreat as the party came to a crashing halt.

Now he was nowhere to be seen during Spring Carnival, too. Something, therefore, had to be up. Taako grabbed a go-box of commissary chicken soup, almost as good as his own and a flower crown and headed off to Ango’s little flat.

Ango answered the door.

“Oh, so you’re not sick,” said Taako. “And here I am with chicken soup, looking ridiculous.” He swanned in, leaving the flower crown on the kid’s head, and added the box to Ango’s Fantasy Refrigerator. “What’s your excuse this time, then?”

Angus was untangling the crown from his curls. “Excuse, sir?”

“You were barely there for Candlenights, and now you’re playing possum for Spring Carnival. What the fuck? It’s free food and all the rides you can eat out there.”

“Oh, I just... prefer to stay in for the holidays, sir.”

Taako felt his brow. Nope. Not feverish. “You’re a child. Holidays were made for children.”

“I’m of adult age in some circles, sir.”

“Yeah, Gerblins and Kobolds’ circles. What’s the real dirt, D’angus? Dish.”

Shrug. “It’s just... stressful, sir.”

“Stressful,” echoed Taako. “Candy apples and roller coasters is stressful?”

“No, sir, it’s all the yelling and fighting.” Angus realised what he’d just oh-so-casually said and clapped his hands over his mouth. “Please don’t tell anyone I said that. My parents would be mad. They work so hard on getting things right for the holidays, it’s totally my fault I add to that by getting underfoot all the time...”

Taako raised an eyebrow. “Keep digging, you might reach Fantasy China.”

“Wait,” said Angus. “That’s not normal?” He almost had the flower crown free of his head.

Taako re-seated the thing on his head. “No arguing or fighting out there, homie. If you want, I could escort you around so you can see for yourself.”

“I-I-I’m not... I don’t-- I’m not sure...”

Taako gripped his skinny shoulder and bent down to his eye level. “Sooner or later, you have to face your fears, kiddo. Face them, or they’ll face you.”

Angus made a face. “Isn’t that the opposite of know when to cut and run, sir?”

“It’s a corollary,” Taako allowed. “C’mon. I’ll be your bodyguard and you can tap out when you’re feeling gross. Deal?”

Angus said, “Deal,” and took Taako’s arm.

Twenty minutes into the carnival, the kid forgot about his death grip on Taako’s arm. In another half hour, he was off and having fun on his own.

Taako kept an eye on him anyway. It just wouldn’t do to have his apprentice have a meltdown in public view.

That’s what he told himself, and that’s what he’d tell anyone who was invasive enough to ask.

[TAZ Prompts Remaining: 8]

[Be sure to visit internutter (dot) org for details on how to support this artist]

[no-rizz-gideon]

emmy 🔥 - Last Thursday at 3:14pm “I crave dog thief Taako”

Taako carries out some vigilante canine justice and Kravitz is some form of Lawful. Enjoy.

In Los Angeles it wasn’t necessarily weird to see a guy in a floor length teal skirt and shining gold fanny pack sipping on a large frappuccino, but the fact he was walking in excess of ten dogs definitely punted him into ‘unusual’ territory.

It was a dreary grey day, and he sashayed down the street like a ray of technicolour sunshine, bringing dogs and bustling movement, and Kravitz wondered if he looked very different from an angel, assuming they existed.

Kravitz had just got off work. Though he would never admit it, he was roasting in his all-black ‘uniform’, and almost envied the freedom of a floaty skirt, skimming ethereal along the sidewalk with the dogs flanking him like a pack of familiars. There was something unreal about this guy, and Kravitz wondered if the eighteen hour shift had taken its toll, making him fuzz around the edges and seem a little brighter than the rest of the grey street. He walked like a supermodel, graceful even in heels, all long willowy limbs and a skirt that clung to his calves, every bit of him elegantly poised.

From the bus stop Kravitz watched how the dogs seemed to beam up at the guy as they bustled along the sidewalk. They dodged obstructions with an easy fluidity, and he moved unerringly within the pack, never having to glance down to ensure he didn’t step on them, one hand on his frapp while the other held his phone, texting with his thumb. It was a strange kind of magic, Kravitz thought, that the guy didn’t stumble. It took something special to be able to multitask like that, and look so graceful while doing it; the brim of his extremely wide hat bouncing with each step, only affording Kravitz snapshots of his face, with high cheekbones and an elegant jaw, long hair tucked behind his ears as he kept his eyes fixed on his phone.

Kravitz wondered, briefly, how much this guy was earning per hour to walk all those dogs, assuming he was a professional. It certainly looked like a professional endeavour. All the dogs seemed happy and he appeared to have a handle on them, able to stop them lunging at a new dog tied up outside a shop front.

With a glance across the street, the guy paused in front of the new dog. He leaned down to pet it as the other fuzzy bodies and wagging tails shrouded it from view, and Kravitz found himself smiling as it was sniffed by the entourage of a dozen or so new friends, all very excited to meet it.

When the guy moved off, the dog was gone.

Kravitz blinked once, then twice, and glanced after the man as he glided away, just as fluid and natural as before, shades pulled down over his eyes and the brim of his hat obscuring his face. Had he… had he really just seen that? Had he imagined it?

Maybe it was a pickup? The guy had arranged with the owner to… leave the dog leashed up outside Whole Foods. No. No, that didn’t seem right, of course not, but… He’d just witnessed dog theft. Was that even a thing?

Kravitz looked to the Whole Foods, then back to the guy, then to the Whole Foods again. Then he scowled and hurried after the dog thief.

“Excuse me,” he called, lifting a hand as he crossed the road, a thin line growing steadily between his brows. “Excuse me, sir.”

The thief kept walking, tapping away on his phone, and Kravitz might have been imagining it but it seemed like his pace picked up a notch.

“Excuse me, if you could just- EXCUSE ME.”

It was very difficult to pick his way through the buffer of dogs, who all beamed up at him and snuffled at his pockets and hands, but as soon as he got close enough he could definitely see the new dog milling within them. It was a matted clump of creamy brown fur amongst a sea of others, mouth open and panting gleefully. It almost looked like it was grinning.

The dog-walking supermodel turned off down a side street, taking another sip of his drink, and Kravitz lunged forwards, setting a hand on his arm and planting his feet.

“Excuse me, sir,” Kravitz said, voice low and firm.

“Ow, watch it thug, that shit’s gonna bruise.”

The thief turned, leashes wrapping around his thighs, and raised a delicately arched eyebrow that had definitely been threaded and dyed some time within the last few weeks. His glasses rested on the bridge of his nose below heavy-lidded eyes, and he pushed the brim of his hat up to look nonchalantly at Kravitz. He seemed incredibly unbothered.

“I think you have something that doesn’t belong to you,” Kravitz said, letting go of his arm and leaning on his words very carefully.

“Uh, yeah, the dogs? No shit, I don’t own fourteen dogs, who the fuck do I look like? I’m walking them, dumbshit, it’s kinda my job?” His voice went up at the end of each discretely packaged clause, and he looked vastly inconvenienced.

No way was this happening. Kravitz was slightly taken aback, blinking once, twice, and glancing down to the dog that was definitely a recent addition, wriggling round and sniffing and tugging on the leash as the rest waited patiently.

“I saw you take that dog,” Kravitz said, pointing to the dirty one who stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the well-groomed entourage, looking up at him with adoring eyes and a small pink tongue lolling out. “If you don’t return it I’m going to have to report it. I’m sure it has an owner already, you can’t just take things that don’t belong-”

“Relax, stud, I’m with the police.” Rolling his eyes, the guy reached into his pocket and flashed a… business card? He was pouting on the picture, and it stated his name as Taako Taaco, in bright pink font, though it was scooped away too fast for Kravitz to get a good look.

“Actually, /I’m/ with the police.” Kravitz reached into his jacket and pulled out a lanyard.

He’d never seen the colour drain from someone’s face so quickly.

“Oh shoot,” the guy - /Taako/ - said, voice warbling softly, eyes widening as he peered up from under the brim of his hat. There was a soft tapping sound, and Kravitz realised he was still texting with one thumb, his phone down by his hip. “These heels aren’t made for running.”

Kravitz raised an eyebrow and slotted his card back inside his jacket.

“Please don’t chase me. I’m too pretty to run, and I didn’t set my foundation,” Taako said, sighing.

“I can’t chase you if you don’t run,” Kravitz said, glancing down at the stolen dog.

The moment hung, and Kravitz was half expecting Taako to throw the frappuccino at him and sprint. But he just stood there, glancing at his dogs and back up to Kravitz, teeth worrying at his rosy lower lip, coated in a lacquer Kravitz was sure cost more than was reasonable.

“OK, so, listen. I can totally explain all this away,” Taako said, speaking with his hands even though one was full of frapp and the other waved his phone around. “You’re not getting the big picture here.”

“Do go on.”

“…Didn’t think I’d get this far.” Taako stalled, biting his lip again. Kravitz noted with a weird lurch of his stomach that he had a charming gap between his front teeth. “OK. So. I work with… a guy. Who rehomes dogs like this. But he can’t legally repossess them.”

“So you /illegally/ repossess them?”

“Well, sure, it sounds shitty if you put it like that.” Taako rolled his eyes, bringing his phone up and opening an album, flicking through the pictures and holding one right up in Kravitz’s face.

It was the dog, sitting in a dirty backyard by an empty water bowl, looking terribly sad.

Kravitz frowned. “So call the pound.”

“He IS the pound, doofus, it takes months to go to court and get a warrant. And the dog might be dead by then. You want that? Want a dead fucking dog on your hands? Just watch, buster, I’ll sneak in Godfather-style and leave this little guy in your fucking bed.” Taako gestured down to the dog, almost pouting.

Kravitz looked at the dog again, and the other dogs, too.

“Are they stolen too?”

“No. Mostly. Some of them.” Taako pointed at one, tall and skinny and dark haired. “She’s a Sammy, had to shave her because she was all matted to shit. Owner didn’t want to take care of her past feeding her and whoring her all over Instagram.” He looked to his other side and picked up a little one, shoving it right in Kravitz’s face. “This is Fischer. He’s my friend’s. Came from a puppy farm, brought mom with him, he was the only one that survived because they were left in their own shit and-”

Fischer sniffed at Kravitz and licked his nose with an unreasonably tiny pink tongue.

“Aww, see that? He likes you! He’s saying ‘please don’t arrest my dad, shockingly handsome police officer, he’s way too cute to go to jail’.”

Taako was practically batting his eyelids, bringing the puppy back in closer to his chest, and Kravitz considered the rest of the dogs. There was definitely more than one leash twined around his ankles. He was going to eat shit if he turned round too quick.

“HEY!”

They both turned back towards the road. A lady was storming down the side street towards them, waving her arms.

“Oh shit. Now you’ve done did it,” Taako grumbled. Shoving his glasses further up his face, he set Fischer back down and gathered the dogs in, tutting his tongue and unzipping the fanny pack. They all drew closer, looking up at him, tails wagging as he fished out a bone shaped treat.

“HEY, THAT’S MY DOG! THAT’S MY DOG, GIVE HIM BACK.”

“Listen, lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about-”

“THAT’S MY FUCKING DOG, YOU IDIOT, GIVE HIM BACK OR I’M GONNA SUE YOUR ASS OFF.”

“Hey, you left him out on the sidewalk in hundred degree weather, surprises me you even noticed he was missing,” Taako said, giving a shitty smirk as he dropped a treat straight into the stolen dog’s waiting mouth.

“Give me my fucking dog or I’m gonna beat your ass, you scrawny fa-”

“Excuse me,” Kravitz cut in, stepping between the two of them and holding a hand up, eyes like thunder. She scowled at him, her car keys clutched in one hand and her Whole Foods bag in the other.

“Yeah? What the fuck do you want?”

“I think you’re going to want to let this go,” Kravitz said, reaching inside his jacket and fishing out his ID. It looked very municipal, very official, and he might have shown off a flash of handcuffs with the same motion.

“What the fuck? That’s my dog, you can’t just threaten me, I have RIGHTS-”

“I’m sure the LAPD would be very interested to know about a dog housed outside with no access to shelter or clean food or water,” Kravitz said, coolly. “In fact, I believe Act 17 of the Animal Protection Act puts the minimum fine for that at around $5,000. Interesting, isn’t it?”

She gaped for a moment, mouth opening and closing like a fish on land, looking around him to Taako and back to Kravitz, silently fuming.

“You know what?” she said. “Keep it. Cost $30 from Petsmart I can get another one. Keep the shitty dog, it’s got diabetes anyway.”

She huffed and turned on her heel, and Kravitz felt himself release a sigh he hadn’t realised he was holding. He turned to Taako, trying very carefully not to step on any paws. Taako had the /shittiest/ grin plastered right across his face.

“Oh boy. That’s kinda hot, you know, I, uh, love a man who knows his legislation.”

“Did it sound convincing?” Kravitz asked, cracking half a smile. “I’m not even sure if the Animal Protection Act is a real thing.”

“Kind of a shitty cop, huh?”

Kravitz chuckled. “I’m not actually a cop. I’m a bail bondsman with the Raven-”

“Shut UP, so you couldn’t arrest me?” Taako said, gaping.

“Not unless you have a warrant out?”

“Mmm. Not in California.” Taako winked, dipping his shades just far enough that Kravitz could see it. He was back to being as sparkling and charismatic as he had been before, chuckling and checking his phone again. “Well, sir, thank you so very much for your time. I know Barold here will be looking forward to his new home.”

“Barold?”

“Inside joke. Hey, I never caught your name?”

“Kravitz. You’re… Taako?”

“Yep. Taako Taaco, so good they named me twice.” He took another sip of his drink and winked, checking his phone and sighing as he tapped out another text. “Well, I better let my buddy know I don’t need rescuing. But you should call me sometime, boyo. Let me thank you.” He might have winked again, or it might have been a trick of the light.

“It’s really no trouble.”

“I insist.” Taako fished a card out his pocket, offering it to him.

“…Dog walker and chef? A dog chef?”

“Do you have any dogs that need cooking for? I do people-food too. Make a baller macaroon.”

“No dogs, I’m afraid. I work strange hours.”

“Huh. Good thing I’m freelance.” Taako gave a smouldering grin with half of his mouth and looked Kravitz up and down. “Call me sometime, stud. You got my number.”

“I certainly do. If you need any bail enforcing you, uh, you know where to come.”

He faltered his way through the sentence, white knuckling it to the end, and realised exactly how stupid it sounded once he ground out the last word.

Taako just chuckled, eyes sparkling as he pushed his glasses back over his nose and tossed his hair back over his shoulder. “I sure do. See you later, Kravlova.”

“Oh no.”

Taako sauntered away, smiling, dogs panting around his feet, and Kravitz was left holding a business card that smelled vaguely like wet dog and roses.

His bus roared past behind him, and he swore quietly as he turned and started the trudge back to the bus stop.