#The Adventure Zone

[queenboimler]

#dimension 20 #critical role #the adventure zone #d&d #mine personally was TAZ: Balance #and it consumed my life #also reblog!! esp if you put other im so curious #/ i want to find new d&d stuff to watch/listen to!! #ive only played irl a few times bc it is SO HARD to get a group of busy adults on the same schedule #my real pipeline to dnd was: tumblr gifs of mcelroy tv show->mcelroy tv show->mbmbam->taz balancs #so really tumblr was what led me to my path of d&d

[very-small-giant]

it’s the parley room…the parlor room? the parley parlor.

#the adventure zone #taz #taz balance #taz balance spoilers #merle highchurch #taz merle #john hunger #i rotate their dialogues in my head constantly now #you choose joy in life….

[mcelroyfamilystaff]

Another recurring theme in our work

#mbmbam #my brother my brother and me #mcelroys #taz #the adventure zone #tumblr 'sclusies

[taz-balance-zine]

🌂 Hail and well met!

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@zine-scene @zinefeed @all-zine-apps

#the adventure zone #the adventure zone balance #taz balance #the adventure zone fanzine #the adventure zone balance fanzine #the adventure zone zine #magnus burnsides #merle highchurch #taako taaco

[jerreeeeeee]

i don't think taako's voice is really all that high most of the time. it's higher than justin's normal voice a little, but idk, the defining quality of it isn't its pitch to me, there's something else that i don't really have the words for. but anyway i do notice that his voice gets lower and less exaggerated when he's being serious. which is interesting bc it sort of implies that the usual "taako voice" is something he puts on.

i don't really think of taako as a habitual performer. his charisma modifier is a -1, he's not this ultra smooth charming actor, and although he does tend to hide behind humor and is slow to build connections, he's also very frank with what he's about and what he wants. he goes on an entire tirade about wanting to talk about his feelings (he's multidimensional!), he never acts embarrassed or hesitant about big moments of vulnerability and caring for others (arms outstretched, "i'm not going fucking anywhere," admitting a deep fear to kravitz on their first date, spilling his tragic backstory to angus, not to mention several serious moments with lup) (and not all of these can be chalked up to "forgotten connections," either. he does have a foundation of growth with magnus and merle, even forgotten, and his conversations with lup are of course all with memories intact, but he does not have that with kravitz and angus). he's just slow to reveal all of his hidden depths, because of (understandable) trust issues. but all in all he's not nearly as closed off as i think fandom tends to portray him (which is not to say he's open, either), nor is he someone who wears a lot of masks and obscures himself. i don't think he hides his "true self."

sizzle it up was successful because of his intelligence, not his charisma. he's a natural teacher who's knowledgeable and passionate, and that was what made the show great, not his personality or performance (though i don't think those were bad. just not the primary appeal of the show. the only fan we see is ren, and she loved sizzle it up because it inspired her and taught her to cook, not because she thought taako was awesome or whatever). bc that's the thing, he's not a performer, but he is extremely adaptable. so when he's set up with a stagecoach and a show lined up, sure, he'll have a TV persona, he'll learn to be charming, he'll learn to be showy, when he's on stage. when he gets famous, he learns to like being famous, but i don't think it was really a dream of his before then. or at least not in the way people think of it. i don't think he ever wanted to be a celebrity as much as a celebrity chef or celebrity wizard. he doesn't care if people think he's pretty. he doesn't want people to adore him (before the voidfish, anyway. afterwards is a different story. there's a void where love used to be that he's desperate to fill, and adoration almost feels like it works). really what he wants is for people to appreciate his skill and intelligence and depth (and he's also very afraid of actually displaying those things. he's multidimensional).

but most of the time, when he's not literally performing for an audience, i just don't think he's putting on a show, desperate for people to like him and think he's charming. he'll do what he needs to do, say what he needs to say, be who he needs to be in any given circumstance, with strangers and antagonists, but he also drops the act when it's not necessary. or at least his performance is subtler. he performs stupidity, he performs nonchalance, he makes efforts to be funny (because he is always funny, but that's something you have to work for and always be thinking about, even when the humor is dry), he carefully does just enough to be useful, but not enough to raise expectations. he's very aware of how other people view him, but he's also perfectly okay with people thinking negatively about him—as long as they're the negative traits he wants people to see. but, he only does all those things in the beginning of the show; after a little while with magnus and merle, after a little while with the bob, he drops the act. so i guess that's the difference to me. he's adaptable out of necessity, it doesn't bleed into his entire life. i don't even really think i'd qualify it as a performance. it's more of an invisibility. he's not performing charisma to get people to like him, he's trying to lay low. but then when he actually wants people to like him, he's himself, fairly unapologetically. with the people who matter, lup, magnus and merle, kravitz, the other bob members, the other ipre crew, he's pretty comfortable with himself.

one last interesting point is that while he doesn’t seem to hesitate when it comes to actions, he does shy away from verbal displays of affection, trust, vulnerability. and the best two scenes to show that play out almost exactly the same: lup’s best day ever dinner, and dropping his disguise self with kravitz. in each, taako does something meaningful for both npcs, who then verbalize their affection for him, which taako immediately deflects with a joke.

taako drops his disguise spell for kravitz, totally honest with him, (although… i don’t tend to think the beauty sacrifice was as meaningful to taako as fandom tends to portray, i think most of his vanity is an exaggeration he intentionally cultivates, but still, it’s a vulnerable moment, he clearly cares what kravitz thinks), and kravitz tells him he loves him. to which taako replies with a joke. he does not return the words.

taako doesn’t hesitate to construct the best day ever for lup, never even questions why she’d ask. he puts it all together, cooks for her, shows her he knows her, he loves her—and then when she bears her heart to him, tells him he is her heart, all he says is, “i know,” and pulls out a bottle of vodka. of course lup knows he loves her, the whole day was an elaborate demonstration of it, but he doesn’t say anything. to be fair, it’s not exactly a typical interaction between them, taako is textually scared shitless, lup did just tell him she’s going to turn herself into an undead abomination, so he’s not exactly at his best here. but anyway.

i don’t really have anything to add to this observation, it’s just very consistent and interesting to me. taako is fairly comfortable with grand gestures, but sidesteps around words. which ties in perfectly with his identity as a chef, to me. cooking is an action, work, intention, cooking for people is an act of love, an act of connection, an act of caring, and taako’s character doesn’t fit the bill for that—except, he kinda really does.

#listened to the multidimensional scene bc i'm writing about mongooses. it made me think #also i'm learning so much about mongooses and also weather systems in south asia. not strictly necessary but interesting #mine #taako #taz taako #taz balance #the adventure zone #analysis #also his cha mod is -1 in gerblins its possible he put ASIs into it later on but it still wouldnt be very high #his int and dex are his high scores

[knightforflowers]

—and then the three of you see immediately overhead, the Coriolis, in freefall, above you.

Part one of like, a dozen infinite clam redraws I want to draw as I relisten to this arc!!

#the adventure zone #the adventure zone ethersea #taz #taz ethersea #ethersea #bugs when you lift up a rock #i have so many ethersea wips its getting so dire out here #i say ‘infinite clam redraws’ as though Im not gonna do redraws for every other arc as I get to them in my relisten too #devo la main #zoox anthellae #amber gris #romeo’s flowers #id in alt text

[month-during]

#betty cooper #绿帽 #nepeta leijon #westallen #valerie cossette #kaeya smut #jordan torres #swimming #the adventure zone #chocolate #th11n$p0 #julian devorak

[karmathenightowl]

something something werehorse mind palace

#sometimes you just have to draw something cursed #figuratively and literally #also as terrifying as the implications are with the whole werehorse thing #that DO WE line genuinely made me chuckle #also who is the farmer lady we need to know #taz vs dracula #taz versus dracula #the adventure zone #lady godwin #taz spoilers #nightowldraws #comic

[ceilingfan5]

Unauthorized Access

brand new warm and fresh 9k, rated T, taakitz fic!!!!

Summary: Okay, so Kravitz knows he shouldn't let the cute professor from the philosophy department(?) into the Arcane History Restricted Archives, but counterpoint, he just left his badge in the car, and he's very cute and funny, and what harm could it possibly do? What his mean boss doesn't know can't hurt him.

Taako is definitely not supposed to be here, but it's fine. The rules certainly don't matter when lives are on the line. And he's not about to get distracted.

Definitely a situation where two people think they are each in a very different genre than the other. Read it here!!

[id: workplace sign in red and white that says Restricted Area, Authorized Personnel Only with a red crossed out circle with a person icon. The sign has been filtered with rainbow, and purple hearts have been added.]

#taz #taakitz #tazb #the adventure zone #the adventure zone balance #fan5fics #taz balance #taakitz fic #new fic!!! new fic!!!! #new fic #taz fic #:3 #tell your friends

[yourbelgianthings]

#message from mirph #the adventure zone #taz balance #taz amnesty #taz dust #taz commitment #taz graduation #taz ethersea #taz steeplechase #taz vs dracula #taz outre space #tumblr polls #polls

[taakosleftshoe]

Cooked up something again in Audacity

I think it would be really cool to do something with this as a tribute to ten years of TAZ which we'll hit in December :O

#sierra speaks #taz balance #taz ethersea #taz steeplechase #taz amnesty #taz commitment #taz dust #taz graduation #taz outrespace #taz vs dracula #the adventure zone #SoundCloud

[adreamthatsworthkeeping]

This is how I pictured Lady Godwin as a horse.

#taz dracula #taz vs dracula #the adventure zone #the adventure zone versus dracula #lady godwin

[chryseis]

FYI every purchase of any of The Adventure Zone music on Griffin McElroy's Bandcamp will be entirely donated to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund for the rest of 2023. His music is set at 'name your price', and the McElroys are also going to match the donations.

If you've listened to even a bit of any TAZ campaign, you surely know what a fantastic musician Griffin is, and there is no better time to purchase his music than now.

#idk how many of my mutuals/followers are into taz/mbmbam these days #but i know that at one time a lot of people were so i thought i'd share in case some people hadn’t heard #the adventure zone #mbmbam #griffin mcelroy #i just finished this week's episode and so i thought i'd share this

[humunanunga]

Enough of the trope where memory loss undoes the damage or the corruption or whatever. More content where removing memories just removes the context.

The tragedy of needing to grieve and not knowing what or who you lost or why. The angst of having trauma and being denied the awareness that it's trauma. The suspense of being different somehow and left to wonder how and when. The tension of knowing that something is off and you can't find where it hurts. The Adventure Zone gets it. Kingdom Hearts gets it.

There is an aching inside you and you don't know how it got there.

#i think about xion or the stolen century and need to lay down. i'm so normal about them. #tropes #narrative tropes #memory loss #tragedy #angst #the adventure zone #taz balance #the stolen century #kingdom hearts #xion #writing #musings #hall of fame

[longlivechips]

#the adventure zone #the adventure zone balance #taz balance #barry bluejeans #mcelroys

[knightforflowers]

assorted shitpost redraws from the last few weeks while I finish actual serious art

#the adventure zone #the adventure zone ethersea #taz #taz ethersea #ethersea #I feel bad that there’s no Amber one but dw I will fix that soon #devo la main #zoox anthellae #romeo’s flowers #id in alt text #tumblr desaturating all my old art is going to make me fucking lose it I SWEAR