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holdmecloser-gandydancer · 2 years

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@blupjeansweek day 4: monster

a continuation on this piece!

Barry never thought he’d adjust to a change in his routine so well, especially not with that change coming in the form of an eight-foot-tall alien taking up residence in his apartment.

It’s been about a month or so since Lup’s first appearance and after a week and a half of figuring out just how to make this unusual arrangement work, they function in a pretty simple harmony. Barry’s unsure of how long she plans on sleeping in his spare room but far be it from him to be a bad host.

They pair of them have figured out that Lup picks up on things with an almost freakish speed and accuracy. Verbal communication is still mostly a no-go but she can respond in her own way to most questions Barry asks, so long as they’re kept fairly concrete. And to his credit, Barry has picked up on the most common clicks and trills and whirrs Lup makes. They understand each other pretty well, it just takes a bit of effort. Barry’s willing to make that effort for Lup, though. He certainly knows when she wants more pop-tarts, which seems to be what matters most.

Generally Barry’s day-to-day hasn’t changed much. He gets up in the morning, goes to work, comes home, does his grocery shopping, his cleaning, everything. Now he just makes sure Lup’s got what she needs before he leaves. At this point, though, so long as the kitchen’s stocked, he rarely has reason to worry.

The first few days he went back into work he showed her how to work his TV; he didn’t want her to get bored. Lup doesn’t bode well with boredom, Barry’s learned. He does give her credit for being genuinely apologetic about the claw marks she left on his bookcase.

But it’s nice, he thinks. The days go by and his evenings aren’t quite so lonely anymore with her sitting on the couch and watching Bake Off with him.

Lup’s learning a lot about humans. Her only real frame of reference is Barry and his habitat. For the most part, it’s full of things that seem to make him happy. Lots of soft things: big ones to lay on, flat ones to put on while laying on one of the big ones, sometimes things Barry brings inside in bags. Barry’s soft too, even though he has kindly asked her to stop randomly poking him (“It just makes me feel like a science experiment, you know?”)

There’s a lot of not soft stuff too, she’s realized! The thing in the hallway Lup accidentally scratched a few weeks ago, all the metal things in Barry’s…kitchen, Lup ventures. Kitchen feels right. Lots of metal in the kitchen. The big silver metal thing that’s got…things stuck to it? That is a human thing that Feels Bad. A lot of human things feel bad. That big metal thing she avoids touching when she can, the towels Barry has hanging up in the kitchen, and a lot of the food Barry’s offered her. All very bad to the touch. She’s learned to avoid those.

She’s also been observing other humans.

Kinda.

See, Barry has to leave his habitat a lot and after Lup accidentally messed up the little hutch in Barry’s hallway, he’s insisted on keeping her busy. Not that she minds; she really likes the box on his wall with the pretty people in it. A seemingly endless supply of them in all kinds of different situations. And not to brag, but Lup’s really good at making the box work.

It’s simple: press the red button on the device Barry always misplaces (this wakes up the box and the people inside), then click on the white box with red words, the green box with different green words, or one of the blue boxes with white words. And then there’s an endless supply of these pretty people in all kinds of situations that Lup can watch to her heart’s content.

TV doesn’t really rot the brain, right?

Barry doesn’t think so and he’s pretty sure that’s not what’s happening with Lup but weeks pass and he’s seen some…odd changes in her behavior. It starts innocuously enough; one day when Barry returns from work, Lup seems intent on requesting something. They go back and forth for a few moments before Lup begins tugging on the sweatshirt Barry’s wearing.

“My sweatshirt? You want my sweatshirt?” He tilts his head a bit in confusion. Lup mirrors this before becoming frustrated. She points at the TV before beckoning Barry to follow her down the hallway.

She leads him into the guest room she’s been living in and gingerly opens the closet door. Inside are a number of pieces that Barry keeps in there for lack of space in his own closet. She points emphatically at some of Barry’s older sweatshirts.

“So, you want a sweatshirt? Not necessarily the one I’m currently wearing?” Barry reaches into the closet and removes an old college sweatshirt from a hanger.

Lup trills happily and nimbly grabs the sweatshirt from Barry’s hands before pulling it on. It doesn’t quite cover her torso and the sleeves only reach about midway down her arms but the way the streaks of colors peppering her skin and hair pulse give Barry an inkling that she’s absolutely delighted.

That night when they’re sitting in the living room, Lup’s curled up in a large throw blanket and idly rubbing at the material.

He makes a note to try and pick up some more comfy things she might like.

Lup really likes sweatshirts. She has a handful that are all her own now, ones that fit her a little better, but she does prefer the first one Barry gave her. The material feels a lot softer.

She’s picking up on this human thing really well. She has clothes!

It’s nice just spending time in Barry’s habitat even if he’s not there. It’s comfortable, he makes sure she has what she needs, and she gets to watch the pretty people in the box whenever she wants.

And boy does she.

She likes being able to see groups of humans interact; she supposes Barry has friends and family but she’s not seen any of them. That’s okay though, the box is teaching her a lot. Human customs are not necessarily that different from her own but some of them seem a little funny. A lot of what she’s seen is very dramatic.

She likes the drama. It’s fun to see what riles them up into an uproar that usually gets resolved simply.

Sometimes humans greet each other in odd ways, though. She finds herself making mental notes of this grand variation of greetings. She’ll have to ask Barry about some of these.

Maybe TV does rot the brain.

Or maybe it influences the brain more than psychologists wanna say. Are those psychologists being paid off by Big Cable? Or Big Streaming, at this point? That can’t be ethically sound, right? Just accepting money from these companies to fund junk science that heinously misrepresents the actual harm that can be done by their products, that has to violate an ethics board. It has to.

Calm down, Barry, you’re spiraling.

He’s calm. He is so calm it makes him look stupid.

He’s not calm, maybe.

He’s trying to be calm?

Okay. Okay give him some credit, who wouldn’t be freaking out a little in his situation?

It shouldn’t be a big freak out worthy thing.

Just an alien kissing him, that’s not the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to someone, right?

Aw shit, Lup’s in trouble, probably.

She’s really not sure what she did wrong. She’s been watching a lot of things where the human’s faces are really close together a lot and they always seem really happy about it. Sometimes their faces even touch.

That’s one of the weirder greetings she’s seen but it seems fairly common. So when Barry came back to his habitat, Lup thought she’d give it a try. She just put her mouth right on his mouth and Lup has to say, his mouth is very soft.

Barry did not seem quite as happy as the people in the box, though. His face went really red and he started getting sweaty. He immediately backed away from Lup, too. He didn’t yell or anything but he acted weird around her for the rest of the day. And she didn’t see a ton of him either.

And now she’s worried that he’s mad at her or that she’s in trouble or he doesn’t want her in his habitat anymore. She messed up and now it’s very dramatic.

She prefers watching drama over actually being in it, she decides.

A few days after the…incident, Barry decides to clear the air. He shouldn’t be fixating so hard on this; she didn’t realize what she was doing. That’s it.

He finds Lup in her room, gently worrying a throw pillow between her claws. Barry knocks on the doorframe.

“Can I come in for a minute?” he asks calmly.

Lup looks up at him before sitting up and chirping in affirmation. Barry nods and pauses before he sits on the edge of the bed.

“I want you to know that I’m not mad at you, okay?” He’s choosing his words carefully because the last thing he wants is another miscommunication. “I was…surprised, is all. But I’m not mad, I promise.”

Lup nods, her claws still running along the edge of the pillow.

“You learn that from the TV? Uh, from the box?”

Lup looks down at the pillow and trills reluctantly.

Barry laughs. “Hey, that’s okay! You just can’t do everything you see on the box. What that was…That’s something that humans usually only do with people they really like.”

Lup looks back up and makes a mechanical noise in the back of her throat. She tilts her head at Barry, waiting for elaboration.

“Uh, n-not the way that you and I like each other!” Barry clarifies quickly, his face heating up again. “Um, usually I guess you could say it’s for potential mates? Anyway. Yeah, it’s a greeting that humans do but probably not one you should be doing. But I’m sorry for reacting poorly without explaining. Do you forgive me?”

Lup thinks for a moment before nodding. Barry smiles and rises from the bed.

“Wanna come watch Bake Off? I think they’re making baked Alaska.”

Lup trills happily and follows Barry to the living room.

#taz #taz balance #blupjeans #blupjeans week #barry bluejeans #lup #reese writes #alien blups my mf beloved #anyway many thanks to hali for helping me break my writer's block on this <3 #blupjeansweek2022

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g00sefeather · 2 years

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Here’s my piece for @crowsong111′s fic, Caves and Cypress, which is part of the @podcastbigbang! I love the fic a whole lot and it’s a great exploration of Barry’s experiences before the events of TAZ, I highly recommend it! [ID: A horizontal full-color rough digital painting of Barry Bluejeans from The Adventure Zone and a blue-scaled dragonborn meeting in a cave. The piece is overall fairly saturated and dark with high contrast and a predominately teal and red color palette. Down and to the left, visible from the thighs up, the dragonborn stands tense and fearful, body turned to the left but head twisted to the right to stare at Barry, their mouth open a little in horror. Their one visible arm is raised to cradle a ball of light that casts both them and most of the cave in a teal glow, and their tail is curved to loosely frame the bottom of the piece. The dragonborn has dark, curved horns and small spines along the back of their neck and tail, and their eyes are yellow with slit pupils. They are wearing a loose gray shirt and brown pants, along with a brown leather backpack with a beige bedroll tied atop it and a sheathed sword attached to their belt. Located in the upper middle right of the piece, Barry is in his lich form, appearing as a red-robed figure with his hood up and his face completely obscured by shadow. He has a gold, heart-shaped pin attached to his robe under the opening of his hood. He is floating with a subtly slumped posture. He is surrounded by a red-orange glow and crackling lightning, which illuminates the dragonborn as well as the walls and floor of the cave near him. /End ID.]

#barry bluejeans #taz balance #taz #taz:b #taz: balance #the adventure zone #podcast big bang 2022 #barry bluejeans my beloved...#this was a lot of fun to paint though it's pretty rushed #the fic is very good though!!#described #my art

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you-know-from-tv · 1 year

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Every now and then I remember “sturdy denim and blue” and LOSE IT

#THIS MOMENT WAS EVERYTHINNGGGGG #Barry my beloved #barry bluejeans #taz balance

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barry-j-blupjeans · 1 year

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2022 Fic List!

This is a compilation of all the fics I've posted on Ao3 in 2022, plus some ficlets I like that I posted here! As always, Journal Pages is still being updated but I'm not gonna put it on this list because I made it last year (I think??)

Memories, Just a Bit To the Left

Being kidnapped was, honestly, not incredibly horrible. It wasn’t a good thing, for sure, for sure, but Barry could deal with it. Was he low on hit points? Yeah, and it was shitty. Did he feel like he was going to die? Occasionally, that’s just something that happens sometimes, you know? But it wasn’t all bad. Some of the gerblins were nice. They gave him some water, kicked him around a bit more, gave him an orange that they refused to peel so Barry just kind of spat the peel out as he went. A solid three out of five stars.

But he wasn’t too worried about the whole thing. Even as low as his hit points got, he knew that Taako would come find him. It was just a matter of if he would find Barry too late.

This was for the 2021 Candlenights exchange and it is killer, I think. I really enjoyed getting to write this and explore the space of this AU.

Archaeology Excavation on My Body

“How do you always know everything?” he asked instead of rising to her bait. “That’s the secret I want to know, ma’am. You’ve got prying eyes anywhere? Listening ears?”

"I run a secret organization on the moon,” the Director said dryly. “I’ve grown accustomed to knowing both everything and absolutely nothing at the same time. If you don’t want me to know, then I won’t know. I’ll never bring it up again. I’m simply offering us a way to, uh-” she glanced at the wall. It had been twenty minutes since the Reclaimers went offline. “Pass the time. And perhaps a way to help manage your pain a little better. No one else has noticed, Angus, but you do tend to limp a bit.”

Fuck, Angus thought.

This one was a pure vent fic, but I'm glad other people could relate to it anyway! I love giving characters I like everything that's wrong with me.

Tedious Familiarity

Déjà vu. Noun. A feeling of having already experienced the present situation. A tedious familiarity.

Barry Bluejeans woke up in a cave, fresh out of a pod filled with green goop, and saddled with an unsettling feeling that he had been here before. If you had asked forty-year-old Barry if he would follow instructions left by a talking coin, he probably would have asked you what type of drugs you were on. But, y’know, fifty… two? Fifty-one? How old was he? Fifty-two sounded right. But, y’know, fifty-two years old Barry didn’t really have that many other places to turn, so this couldn't be all that bad.

Barold my beloved!! I love any take on Barry's years alone and I thought I'd give myself a stab at it! Or several stabs, if we're going by death count. I really like how this one came out!!

Heart-Shaped Stickers

A collection of my blupjeans week prompts for 2022!

As seen on the tin sldkfsd.

Keep Your Friends Close (And the Lich Who Gives You Cryptic Advice Closer)

“There’s a lot you don’t know and I can’t tell you yet,” the Red Robe said. “And I’m genuinely sorry about that, Magnus, but right now, from the Bureau’s perspective, I’m not the good one.”

“From your perspective?” Magnus asked.

“From my- I…” he stopped again, contemplating, as if no one had ever asked him this question before. "I try to be, I think."

AKA: Magnus has questions and no one from the Bureau is giving him answers. He goes looking for the one person who will.

This baby is my pride and joy of this year, I think. It has always taken me Ages to write any chaptered fic but I'm very very proud of this one.

Autumn-Themed Notebook

Prompt fills for TAZ November Celebration 2022.

Again, as seen on the tin!

Now onto the Tumblr Ficlets!!

This list would not be complete without this ficlet about Magnus, Carey, and Killian discussing Magnus's top surgery or this one about a heart-shaped locket Barry picked up. Some other favorites from this year include:

Voidfished Taako interacting with Red Robe Lup and Barry (x)

June/The Temporal Chalice finding Barry's worst memory (x)

Merle and Hekuba talking post Story and Song (x)

Lucretia and Magnus talking about emotions and the stars (x)

Lucretia discovering the umbrastaff broke early (x)

Barry and Lucretia forming a truce to fuck over Governer Kalen (x)

Lucretia trying to discover who's stealing from the Fantasy Costco (x)

Taako taking the fall for all of Lup's deaths (x)

The Starblaster Crew stealing Magnus's shirts while he's dead (x)

Taako, Kravitz, and the mafia - Werewolf edition! (x1, x2, x3)

I gotta stop there or else this will go on forever sldfksdf. Let me know if you have any particular favorites from what I've written this year :D! It'd mean the world to me. My writing tag is #ise cube writing as always and my ao3 is IntrovertedHappiness if you wanna go check me out there!

#taz #taz balance #fic list #i am speaking #:D!!!!

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ceilingfan5 · 2 years

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22 (Hey I love you and still very much do want to marry you but I need you to elaborate on these last few amazon purchases with my credit card?) w blupjeans please :O!!!! thank u <3 -ise

“Hey, Bear?” They’ve been on the phone for at least an hour now, and there’s been pleasant silence for a solid chunk of it, Lup working on a project and Bary idly re-reading the same page over and over in the text book he’s meant to be approving or denying for use in his class next semester. On the one hand, it sure does have many words inside, in a particular order. On the other, his mind is entirely elsewhere, and it may as well be word salad with a noticeable lack of ranch dressing.

“Huh?” he says, incredibly intelligently, genius level, Nobel prize and a half, tell the news, et cetera and so on. So big-brained he lugs the thing around in a wheelbarrow and can’t see because the implications of that, physically, are horrifically comical. Jesus, what kind of flesh nonsense crimes would have to be committed to manage such a thing? Now, maybe if he carried it around in a backpack…no, that’s still pretty awful.

“Bear,” Lup says, a multi-pack of the amused flavor and the getting-at-something flavor, which is a bit spicy, honestly. “Back to the planet, hon, reel your ass in and turn your gravity boots on.”

“Click click woosh.” Barry shakes himself and tries to focus. It’s easy to daydream about other things, one big thing in particular, if he’s gonna be real with himself here. He keeps spinning the roulette wheel, or maybe one of those things that makes the different animal noises, and, swish, moooo, he’s thinking of a white dress and a veil and rice from above, and swish, baaaaa, he’s back to a number with far too many digits and its place on a check he’s going to have to write, and swish, quack quack, it’s the tin cans after a limo, the Just Married :) he can’t wait to write…How can a guy focus on the here and now when the most important event he’ll ever be a part of is looming?

“One more time, paging Doctor Bluejeans, you’re needed back on the planet, Doctor Bluejeans?” Lup snickers. “Hey, come on. You’ve been in the clouds a lot lately.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a lot of clouds up there, and, you know, as clouds go, they’re pretty fluffy and inviting and, uh, up, there. What’s, what’s the thing?” He knows she can’t see him, but his cheeks burn and he rubs his neck anyway.

“Listen. Listen. Listen.”

“Listening, I prommy.”

“Stop letting Taako teach you slang, I swan to John. But uh. Hey. I love you and still very much do want to marry you but I need you to elaborate on these last few amazon purchases with my credit card?”

Barry freezes. Had he…did he…what? He didn’t think…But…oh dear.

“Your credit card?”

“That’s what the numbers business do say. On the bank’em cruncher and everything. Several dollars, my fucking beloved, and, uh, Barry, Bear Bear. Barrold. Barty Juhbullgens.”

Barry is sweating whatever comes after bullets. Very quiet armistice, maybe.

“Should I put you, my fuckin’ betrothed, on blast, right here, right now, to an audience of you and moi, or do you, are you aware of my uh, confusion on this front?”

“Um,” Barry says, throat dry, dry dry.

“Too late. Trendy Watermelon Inflatable Pool, $57.95. Fuckin’, 1,000 Bright Colors Ball Pit Balls Crush Free with storage bag, of COURSE. $99.04. Entire Gallon of Fake Blood, $24.98. Burritos Tortilla Blanket, X-Large, $34.99. Fort Builder Kit, $35.99.”

“Um. I, um. I, I, um. In, in my defense,” Barry pushes up his glasses. “I thought I was using my card. And just your Prime, I’m so sorry, incredibly remorseful,”

“I’m not worried about the money, doofus, although I would appreciate you taking care of that, but no. No, uh, my question is more on the order of what the actual fuck.”

“Um,” Barry says, swallowing. “If I said honeymoon prep, would you believe me?”

There’s a beat.

“You know what,” Lup says, before absolutely losing it and laughing so hard she almost asphyxiates. He can practically see her smile, all screwed up and wiggly, trying to hold in the mirth like she’s trying to keep marbles in her armpits. “Yeah. Yeah, I would.”

#blupjeans #barry bluejeans #lup #lup taz #lup adventurezone #lup taaco #taz #tazb #the adventure zone #the adventure zone balance #fan5fics #taz balance #thank you!!

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entguarde · 1 year

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OH FUCK IT, IM LISTING THE BIRDS

Magnus (And Julia): Golden eagle (i wanted to make most residents in Raven’s Roost based off birds that live in Yosemite, hence why both are eagles!)

Taako and Lup: Northern gannet (cmon. look at that bird and tell me it doesn’t look like the way the twins’ voices sound)

Merle (and his family): Floridian burrowing owl (YOU CANT TELL ME MERLE ISNT A FANTASY FLORIDA MAN I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL)

Klaarg: Argentavis (aka huge fucking vulture)

Barry (and i cant stress this enough) Bluejeans: BLUE FOOTED BOOBY

Magic Brian: European starling

Killian: Cinereous vulture

Carey: Peregrine falcon

Avi: Merlin

Johann: Lyrebird

Lucretia (beloved): Greater sooty owl

Davenport: Arctic tern (small? check. fearsome? double check!)

Angus (MY SON): Black billed magpie

#taz balance #taz au #these arent done buuuuuut!

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in-this-crystal-kingdom · 1 year

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Ranking the Arcs of TAZ Balance in order from worst to best in my own personal opinion with reasons!

(Respective Interludes joined together with the arcs-- This is for fun please don't kill me)

8. Petals to the Metal

I'm sorry I just don't like this one very much and I don't know why

The stuff with Sloan and Hurley is really good, I'm just not a fan of much else

Ironically one of my favorite lines in the whole campaign comes from this arc ("I am a fully realized creation! Fuck!")

It's not a bad arc, I don't HATE it, I just never remember much of it after it's over

The festival where Magnus dresses like Taako is funny as shit tho I will give it that

Also everything with the "Merle Fucks Plants" jokes are iconic

On the other hand the relic of this arc also isn't my favorite, sorry Merle

7. Here There Be Gerblins

This one is before PTTM for a few reasons but I also have issues with this one

It feels very different from the rest of the series which makes sense since it was originally supposed to kinda be a one off thing before everyone was like MORE NOW PLEASE YES

This is another that I don't really remember much of after it's over, but again-- it's not BAD, just not my favorite

Barry Bluejeans does a die in this one, rip sir jeans, he is one of the most character ever

Taako's Taco quest is so funny and is rarely mentioned throughout the series (which I get but still kinda wish it had been more relevant before the end)

I do like the Voidfish reveal and the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet though, so it pushes this arc just above PTTM (slightly, they are the only 2 I don't love)

6. Murder on the Rockport Limited

We are officially in the territory of having a hard time ranking these because I LOVE THE REST OF THEM SO MUCH

It kind of hurts my soul this one is at six but like... it has to be...

ANGUS MY BELOVED I care him so much

Jerkins Jenkins is such a good character and I love him

Him being the only one who is just immediately sick of their shit is iconic

The entire gag if Magnus being absolutely fucked up and trying to talk to Avi is so funny

TOM BODET

Leinen Kessler (I mean Justin) not fooling anyone is hilarious

Trashy wizard! Miss him dearly.

Have I mentioned how much I love Angus yet

5. Story and Song

Listen this arc is iconic, it is where everything comes together, and I'm not kidding that I spent like 10 minutes trying not to put it at 5 but FUCK I CAN'T RANK IT ABOVE THE OTHERS I'M SORRY

I love it so much and I'm litterally so mad I decided to make this list because I can't believe the arc that made me sob during my lunch break the first time I was listening to it is number 5

But I also need to speak my truth and this one is under some of the ones that came before it simply because of how wonderful the others are and how dearly I hold them in my heart

Taako breaking the Umbra Staff will always kill me, I cry every time.

Speaking of the Umbra Staff, Taako pointing it at Lucretia and counting down gives me chills every time.

"There is magic in a Bard's song" FUCKING KILLS ME EVERY TIME I CRY SO HARD

Small mention for all the members of the Taakitz and Blupjeans nations, come get your dinner-- I know that’s not even close to the only important things going on here, but this arc did so much for us.

The endings for each character make me so happy and I cry every time hearing them all

Merle and his kids. Merle saying he loves Mavis and Clint confirming later that he was talking to Justin, Travis, and Griffin as well as the audience when he said that always gets me.

Taako getting to be a part of a family he never knew he had. Taako and Lup getting to be together again, Taako teasing her and Barry, Kravitz's hand being warm. Taako getting to return to the lives he loved with the people he loves. Perfect.

Magnus and Julia reunion is one of the main reasons I was debating this rank because on one hand I love the other arcs dearly for personal reasons but on the other hand I can't deny it is one of the most poetic and romantic scenes in any media I have ever consumed. Griffin and Travis play off of each other so well, and this scene genuinely remains such a gut punch for me. "She smiles-" will happen and every time I immediately start crying without fail. This moment is so raw and emotional and I hold it dear in my heart.

Fisher and Jr. being free will always get me so hard. Such a beautiful end to a beautiful story that I will never hear anything like again. What I wouldn't give to hear it for the first time again.

4. 11th Hour

This arc was the arc that made me bolt up in bed several times for several different reasons.

God I just love this arc so much I'm so excited for the novel I just- AHHH

This arc was probably the first inkling I had that something big was coming, I felt it a little in Crystal Kingdom but this arc made me realize "Oh shit, Griffin has something PLANNED and it is going to be BIG" because even though I am several years late to this party I somehow encountered no spoilers for my first listen (sort of, will explain later in this post)

But back to my point

The reason I rank this above Story and Song is not because I think it's better story wise (although it is really fucking good story wise) it's because of how excited I am to listen to it

The first moment I realized they were stuck in a loop- God I was screaming in the car on my way home from work

Everything with Junebug and the Chalice was so well done and I love how Griffin decided to do that so much

Taako learning that it wasn't his fault all those people died, I could feel the weight being lifted off my own shoulders that was so evidently huge for him in that moment.

Magnus crying as soon as he sees Julia in his memory and not even being ashamed of it, just so emotionally raw and powerful.

The fact that Taako and Merle understood why Magnus might want to take it and they didn't stop him

Magnus not taking the chalice because "it's not what Julia would want" is so good, I cry every time.

Taako making a joke about them needing to make his dick bigger on the statues they made will always send me becahse I almost always forget the joke when it happens.

Barry The Red Robe trying to protect Magnus from the scroll, Magnus realizing that he himself is a Red Robe and he just can't remember it is another moment that really got me

I love this arc so much

3. Stolen Century

Man this arc has so much to it and it is so wonderful

I feel bad not ranking it higher but as much as I love it I have two I love more

Underrated moment people never mention, Magnus being a children's team coach for a cycle and them winning it all is so wholesome

Merle in the congregations he helped and taught through the cycles

Davenport being a great leader and such a complex character despite what we used to know him as

Lucretia learning and growing so much and making the most difficult decisions whether they worked out or not

Taako being similar but all at once nothing like the Taako we know. Taako being one of the smartest people in the IPRE. Taako loving the culture and unique qualities of each cycle.

Barry being so kind and brave even though he's a nervous wreck. I have never seen a character with anxiety be portrayed as someone who can put themselves before others without a second thought and be so brave in the face of danger that he faces death and laughs in its face.

Lup. I can't express all the things I feel about Lup. Courageous, firey, kind, compassionate, so torn apart by her decision to create the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet that she risked her life to seal it away for good. Lup, who was smart enough to create the very item that would be her prison for so long. Lup who can never forgive Greg Gramauldous to save her life. Lup.

Magnus having several reoccurring themes of learning to accept help, learning to ask for help, learning to work with others, learning to share the glory, learning to he humble. Magnus learning his strength can be his weakness and that weakness doesn't mean he's not strong enough.

Lup and Barry's duet. The undeniable love they have for each other is so beautiful.

Everything with Merle and John. Merle being kind to him, always leaving the door open for him to admit he was wrong. I love it.

This arc is so... yes. All of it. I hear people saying the format was bad but I loved it.

2. The Suffering Game

God so much shit got real in this arc

Lucretia revealing she lost a lot of her life in Wonderland

Magnus' secret break in to the brig to see Pringles

Magnus accidentally leading to the death of two guards

Wonderland has such a cool description and I can not WAIT to see this shit in book form you don't even KNOW

EDWARD AND LYDIA MY BELOVED

Taako being absolutely delighted by Wonderland at first and knowing what comes next always makes me weirdly sad

The wheel. That fucking wheel.

I will not be covering every little thing in this arc that I want to talk about because this post is already a novel but the wheel you guys. Fuck.

Trust or Forsake

SPELL SLOTS

Magnus and the Red Robe working together

GOD EDWARD STEALING MAGNUS' BODY. CHILLS EVERY DAMN TIME.

Taako using the spell to go get Magnus and Merle using the last of his magic to help. God. I am in tears just thinking about it.

"I'll be having my body back, you undead fuck."

BARRY REVEAL BARRY REVEAL BARRY REVEAL BARR

DAVENPORT SPEAKS IN THIS ONE Y'ALL

THE FIRST TIME I LISTENED TO THIS AND GRIFFEN PULLED THE "Of course, Lup, how could you forget your sister?" I WAS SCREAMING SO MUCH.

1. The Crystal Kingdom

If you saw my username and didn't see this coming I don't know what to say to you.

I know this isn't the most significant arc but it means a lot to me for one big reason-- it was the first one I went in completely blind on. At the time the Crystal Kingdom book hadn't come out yet, and the books were how I got introduced to the podcast.

That and because this arc fucking rocks (no pun intended... sort of.)

This post is honestly long enough already I'm gonna go more in depth on this with a separate post soon because I have a LOT to say about this arc

But seriously-- this arc is the fucking best and I will boy be judged by my choice

#taz #the adventure zone #justin mcelroy #griffin mcelroy #clint mcelroy #travis mcelroy #dungeons and dragons #taz balance #taz spoilers

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hammer-n-tails · 2 years

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Woah i just noticed your bio said ”ask about my dnd campaign” so may i just… do that? like i know ive seen bits and pieces on my timeline, but if ever you feel like infodumping about it, pls feel free too!! id love to hear about it

ok buckle up!!!!

So my campaign actually just ended in February. Our party was the dragonborn cleric/rogue Krista, tiefling monk Bella, centaur warlock Eddie, and my half-elf sorcerer Brie. The campaign was heavily inspired by taz balance... The party's home base was a city called Astra, led by a council of four NPCs who each represented an element. Early on in the campaign the party discovered a cursed book that gave them nightmares of a really fucked up deer and spiral symbols while rescuing Barry Bluejeans Jimmy Jorts. The party then went through a series of element-themed arcs and slowly discovered pieces of a big puzzle.

The Air arc was first, and the party won a dragon race and did a heist against fantasy joe exotic (this was back in May 2020), recovering a relic that revealed that the gods of the elements, which the city of Astra historically relied on for their wisdom, had died in a horrible war. Meanwhile, they gave their Cursed Deer Book to one of the council members (Humboldt, my beloved retired gnome!), and set him up on a date with his coworker, a human wizard named Iris. I think they also discovered the mysterious Forest Clearing of five pillars outside the city at this point too, which they were led to by the Oracle (a dog, who talks but only rarely).

The second arc was Earth, where the party went on a rescue mission for Krista's friend and navigated a Home Alone-style orphanage and a crypt full of otherworldly cultists. They also came face-to-face with the BBEG in this one on accident, but all they learned was that he was a shadowy god in the astral plane with lots of spiral imagery, locked up in chains. The next collective deer nightmare was really confusing, because the deer speaking to them seemed to confuse them with someone they knew, and they also didn't have the book anymore. But, most importantly, the deer threatened to unleash the apocalypse and told the party that their time was running out, as the solar eclipse is in just a few months.

The next arc and my personal favorite was Water, where the party was sent after a passage into the Plane of Water on a hunt for clues about the Goddess of Water's death and how to stop the next apocalypse. This dnd campaign can fit so many pirates in it. The party got stuck in a time loop on a pirate ship, and each loop ended with the goddess Umberlee/the Kraken destroying the ship. The party had to deceive the captain (Bella's ex, the vampirate Edward Cullen. I shit you not) and return Umberlee's mermaid daughter to her to break the loop. After breaking the loop they were transported to the plane of water where they discovered the ruins of a triton city and murals revealing that the shadowy spiral god, Tharizdun, and the secret fifth elemental god (god of Void), had killed the other Elemental gods. The party met a triton soldier named Kelp (he's just underwater Link and this is underwater BOTW) who eventually gifted the party the Bond Blade.

God. Let me TELL YOU about the Bond Blade, my pride and joy. This sword is literally powered by love. You whisper a name of someone you love to activate it, with varying degrees of strength. It was made to kill Tharizdun. The elemental gods failed against their traitorous friend because he cornered each of them, killing them separately, and by the time he got to the Water Goddess who wielded the sword, it was useless to her as her strongest bonds were severed by death. Anyway, it's like a hilt with a broken blade and when you activate it it forms a beam of light like a light saber. On a crit (18 and up!) in it's strongest form, it deals like 12d12 damage. I fucking love this dumb sword.

Anyway. The party killed Vampirate Edward Cullen who turned out to have also been a Tharizdun cultist because why not. When the party returned home though, they discovered that their friend Humboldt (remember our little gnome friend from before? Did I mention he was originally based on Jack Black's character in Jumanji?) had fallen into a deep paranoia/agoraphobia because of this cursed deer book he's studying for the party. The party only discovered this because they found his girlfriend (and their boss) Iris getting stood up at Fantasy Olive Garden. When they pressed her for an explanation about why she was eating dinner alone, she broke down in tears about it under a zone of truth. The party confronted Humboldt, and it was, and I quote, "some silence of the lambs shit" level of creepy (I've never seen silence of the lambs). My little gnome blorbo was doodling spirals on his hands, actively being posessed by Tharizdun and immediately Not Remembering It, and cackling like a damn villain. Have you ever had a good DM Cackle? It's so fucking powerful.

The party and Iris want to help Humboldt and hear something about a "black rock" in the mountains. The party travels to these mountains and discovers, you guessed it, another cult! But this one is led by a tiefling woman and a - well, a false hydra. The party figured this out in the middle of a 5-dimensional trauma dungeon (the "initiation rites" that were supposed to break them emotionally). Conveniently, the dimensional dungeon was also taking place within the black rock, which is a giant eldritch cube floating in the middle of a volcano where this cult is based. This is some critical role level shit now. The party's like, level 15 by this point? After escaping the dungeon and killing the cult leader and false hydra, the party had to evacuate the erupting volcano and grabbed some black rock on their way out.

They get back to Astra just before the eclipse and prepare for ???? the end of the world??? The day of, Iris and Humboldt meet them at the Oracle's altar and then they all go to the Forest Clearing together... and shit gets weird. Humboldt goes full tilt posessed and Iris does too, and everyone's confused and sorta fighting them from completing a ritual. The ritual opens a portal, and out steps just about the worst thing you can possibly summon that's not a god - a Nightwalker. The nightwalker traps Krista, the party's healer (!), in the astral plane (essentially killing her). The party fights the thing, which was really fucking hard because I had FOUR NPCS in this fight (Iris, Humboldt - who very almost died-, a bard named Keats, and my girlie Brie) and the party still almost died. Shit.

To end the fight, Keats, who was Krista's enemies-to-lovers-but-platonic-soulmates love interest, decides to sacrifice himself to bring Krista back and banish the nightwalker. This is how the nightwalker works, folks. Krista and Keats met on the shore of the astral sea as they passed each other by out of/into death, and by the end of it we had the whole table crying. Krista vows to save him one day.

We haven't even made it to the final boss fight yet.

After some wild crazy magic happens with that one, the party figures out how to activate the pillars in the forest clearing. The oracle dog transforms into Ao, our ouroboros overgod, and reveals that the party are the reincarnations of the elemental gods. This was really fun because each party member actually emulated an element on their own, so it fit so naturally. I made them all cry again, but happy tears this time. This was what the whole campaign was working towards. This was the big reveal that I hinted to for ages! The party also learns here that Tharizdun was corrupted by a black hole, which he placed in his heart, on a desperate search for something to fill the Void that he is.

So Tharizdun, that guy? Big, shadowy eldritch horror chained up in the astral plane? yeah he gets out. It's the eclipse after all. They all knew this was coming to some degree, and I let each player pick something they specifically wanted in this big boss fight. One of my players requested that Magnus Burnsides fight with them... so the 7 birds answered the call. The party spends some time on a battle field, kills some eldritch cultists, invading giant space worms, and then Tharizdun rears his ugly deer-skull eldritch head. Magnus Fucking Burnsides helps them wail on Tharizdun with some really OP weapons. Folks, let's keep in mind that Magnus canonically Can't Die (yet) so this was uhhhh hard! I somehow got him out of that fight. Tharizdun corrupts Eddie our warlock (think TMA-style) and very nearly kills our monk Bella. Krista polymorphed Eddie to neutralize him and when Tharizdun thought his work here was done he popped back to the astral plane for safety, to watch the apocalypse from afar. The party found him though, but knew they couldn't kill him or it would either destroy the world or permanently corrupt Eddie. Tharizdun was so angry and bitter. He knew he'd been beat but he couldn't admit it, insisting there was no going back. It was pitiful. He was practically begging to be killed, and down to 23 HP, but Krista?? Pried the black hole out of his heart?? with the Bond Blade????

She literally. Used the power of love to remove the void of hate and nihilism from their oldest friend.

And then she stabbed Tharizdun where it had been before. This transformed Tharizdun into a new god, a void fawn of acceptance and joy, ending the apocalypse.

(this is the part where I cried the most).

After saving the world, the party celebrated by thowing a circus in honor of their old bard friend Keats. Krista eventually used a Wish to resurrect him, but in the way that she worded it, and using part of the black rock for the spell... his soul came back, but in the rock. Some FMAB shenanigans later and we have a warforged bard boy, back to live out the rest of his days with his platonic soulmate. Eddie settled down with his love interest, the innkeeper, and they lived a nice little cottagecore lifestyle afterwards, with Eddie meeting up with Humboldt regularly to talk out the trauma of their Tharizdun corruption arcs. Bella, on the other hand, broke up with her boyfriend, which was just. so fucking funny? And the campaign ended with our new void fawn friend frolicking in the forest clearing outside the circus celebration before disappearing, looking for new bonds to forge and stories to tell.

....All this because my friend wanted to try Lost Mines of Phandelver (or, "Here There be Gerblins") when covid hit the US.

#new campaign just started but we literally had 1 session so far and i dont want to spoil anything im planning on accident #but its set in the same world a year later with new PCs

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raineydaywrites · 5 months

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20 Questions for fic writers

Tagged by @barry-j-blupjeans (thank you!!!)

tagging @sgrumby and anyone who wants to play!!

1. How many works do you have on A03?

132

2. What's your total A03 word count?

568,150! half a million!!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mainly TAZ Balance and Star Wars (Prequels/TCW era, mostly), but I've written a fair amount for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the past, and I'll sometimes write a fic here or there for other fandoms.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

They're all Star Wars fics, which makes sense but makes me kind of sad because I love my other fics too. But oh well:

still much that is fair.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Jedi Code, and Other Things That Anakin Has Misunderstood

Take Two

brothers don't let each other wander in the dark alone

growing season (absolutely BLEW MY MIND that this one is in my top five now. It's a one-shot kidfic for a pairing I don't write often?? I'm not used to those getting notes. But I guess it is the Codywan era for prequels fans so I can see where it's coming from.)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! But sometimes I don't have the spoons for it. But I love getting comments and want to show my appreciation!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't usually write super angsty endings! I don't like them. Or, well, actually I do enjoy them sometimes, but IDK, if I'm writing a whole-ass fic, I usually want to make the ending happy!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending

still much that is fair! which is wild because it has one of the angstiest premises I've ever written (suicide attempt that all loved ones believed to be successful, ends with characters giving each other hugs and 'love yous' and closure)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Rarely. Every once in a while. Sometimes people don't like me writing autistic headcanons or characters mentioning pronouns.

9. Do you write smut?

No. I'm not opposed to it in fic, but it doesn't interest me.

10. Do you write crossovers?

No, but I'll read them sometimes. I'm not opposed to writing them, but I've never really gotten an idea for one that inspires me.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of! I did once have someone warn me that my fic was 're-posted' to ao3 back in the days when I was still posting on both ffnet and ao3 with different usernames.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, actually, though I forgot about it until asked! It's not one I ever posted. I co-wrote a Maximum Ride fic with a friend in middle school, lol. But I'd love to co-write again in the future! It's fun to talk about ideas with friends.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

All-time favorite ship is SO hard for me because I'm a multishipper and I flipflop fandoms a lot, so I kind of default to my first (and still beloved) ship: Janeway/Chakotay from Star Trek: Voyager. I'm also gonna answer for my two main fandoms atm: Star Wars is Obi-Wan/Satine and TAZ Balance is Barry Bluejeans/Lup/Lucretia, because I love a good polycule. Also Barry and Lup on their own are great but they remind me too much of my parents to really go wild over them.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Be My Brother's Keeper. A Darcy Lewis is Tony Stark's daughter AU. I love that one and I had PLANS for it, but my Marvel days are so long gone.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at coming up with creative, unique ideas and making them work!! People often say that they didn't expect to like my fics from the premise but enjoyed them anyway. :3 I'm also good at character interactions and emotions

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Describing things, mainly visual things that are happening. They're just there, in the fanfic, not in a physical location to me. Also staying motivated to finish writing and avoiding derailing my own ideas with wanting to include EVERYTHING.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I haven't done it before but I'm not opposed!

19. fandom you wrote for?

Like, first fandom? Nancy Drew. I wrote a Nancy Drew fanfic when I was eight years old on looseleaf notebook paper, before I knew that anyone else wrote fanfic. In it, Nancy fell down a hole, broke her leg, everyone who loved her thought she was dead and they were all soso sad, but then they found her and it ended happily. My tastes have not evolved much since, but my writing ability has!

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Changes often! Currently it is The Parent Trap(ped in an Umbrella) but I'm also quite fond of Still Much That Is Fair and one more last try, I'm gonna get the ending right.

#reblog game

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mthevlamister · 1 year

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Barry Bluejeans has been mentioned for the first time. My beloved

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theassthatquits · 3 years

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The Plane of Celebrations Ch 3: A Lesson in Empathy

The third chapter is posted! You can read the first two here.

Summary: After the events of the Day of Sacrifice, the crew attempts to prepare themselves for the next holiday: The Day of Humility (A lesson in Empathy). Barry and Lup visit a temple.

“Okay, so according to this book on this plane’s celebrations, it seems like the next one is the Day of Humility: A Lesson in Empathy,” Barry was thumbing through the text, trying to figure out what their year here was going to look like.

“And? What does that mean for us? I can’t go another day without my sense of taste, I’ll just knock myself out for the rest of the day,” Taako called out from the other side of the room.

The crew was congregated in their common room, Barry was sitting on the couch with Lup draped over its back, reading over his shoulder. Davenport was standing in front of him at attention, ever the professional. Taako was leaning against the doorframe pretending to look uninterested but Lup could tell he was pretty apprehensive about what the next “holiday” would entail. Ever since the Day of Sacrifice, Lucrecia and Magnus had doubled down on what they lost. She had been writing more than ever and was currently taking detailed notes during their meeting. Magnus was pacing around the room lifting dumbbells that he had acquired from...somewhere.

“I can teach these people a lesson on empathy, they’ll never know what hit them,” muttered Merle from the floor where he was sitting cross legged. “I think they need a taste of Pan.”

“Something tells me that bringing Pan into this world isn’t going to fix anything, old man,” Lup teased from behind Barry’s ear. He shivered involuntarily.

Barry read out loud from the textbook: “‘The Goddess Eies had noticed that everyone was too harsh and judgmental of their neighbors, not caring what others had going on in their lives. To solve this issue, she made every head of household swap with another. For the full day, they had to live in another family’s shoes, doing what they do on a daily basis, experiencing their struggles, their joys. At sunset, she brought everyone together in the center of town for a community feast.’”

“Okay so we swap Davenport with someone for a day and then go to a delicious feast? Psh, this will be easy,” Taako scoffed from the doorway and turned to leave, waving behind him. “Taako out.”

“Hmm, I guess we can prepare for this at least.” Davenport started staring off into the distance, stroking his beard. “Do we have any idea when this is going to happen?”

Barry started flipping through the pages, running his finger along down the paragraphs. “Uhhhhh, no clue. It doesn’t really give a timeline.”

“Ooh! I have an idea!!” Lup leaped up and started prancing around the room. “How about we head into town and start asking around. They must have some idea of when this fantasy freaky Friday will take place.”

“Hmm...I suppose that isn’t the worst idea.”

This was all the permission Lup needed. Squealing, she ran over and enveloped him in a large hug. “Thanks cap’n! Hey, Taako! Get your fancy shoes on! We’re going out!” Lup jumped up and ran down the hall after her brother.

Sighing, Davenport turned to Magnus. “Will you go with them? Just to make sure there’s no...trouble?”

Magnus smiled and pointed one of the dumbbells at him. “You got it, cap’n’port!”

——

Barry sat in the lab, engrossed in the book, making notes all over the pages trying to prepare for the holiday ahead. Was it a magical switch? Would the captain wake up inside someone else’s body? Or would they receive word of where he should go? Would it even be Davenport that was chosen? He had just assumed because he was the leader of the group, but maybe it was more of a metaphorical head of household, someone who held them all together. That would probably be Lup if it were. Barry frowned at that idea, he wasn’t so keen on the thought of Lup switching places with a random person for a day. Maybe it wouldn’t affect them at all, they were all just assuming it would because of the last holiday. It’s good to be prepared regardless, he decided.

“Hey, there’s a whole world out there that can tell you all of that information, you know.”

Barry smiled. “Well if I’m out there winning the world with my charm, what will you do?”

“Hmmm,” Lup walked into the lab, settling herself down on the couch in the corner. “I guess hide here in the lab like the nerd I secretly am.”

“Gather anything good?”

“Oh, loads! So it’s going to take place sometime next week, it’s apparently always around the first week of the sixth month. And it happens magically, like Davenport is going to wake up in someone else’s bed on that day.”

“Yeah but will he be in that person’s body or his own?”

“His own! Isn’t that incredible? The kind of magic needed to just instantly transport all of those people, that’s…god-like.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure the forces behind all of this are gods. That is a whole lot of power that they would need for something like that…” Barry trailed off and Lup turned to look at him.

“What are you thinking about?” She said after a moment. “Barry, that’s your very intense thinking face. Did you get an idea?”

Barry snapped out of his reverie. “Oh! Sorry, Lup.” He furiously scribbled some notes down. “Yeah, something did just occur to me. Has anyone talked about these gods? If they have met them or anything?”

“I think a few have mentioned them by name but I haven’t heard of anyone being visited by them since the first time these events took place. I did see a few temples around town, did you want to go check them out?”

He paused, staring down at his writing. “Yeah, I think that might be a good idea.”

—-

Lup and Barry walked across town, over to the Temple of Eies. They walked past people preparing for the holiday, setting up tables and centerpieces, passing around sign-up sheets for food and entertainment, the temple itself was being adorned with flowers and letters written to the Goddess. Everyone was in high spirits, despite knowing that any day now a random person would magically wake up in their house.

This was not the first time that they had travelled into town, but Barry did not recognize many of the faces, he had really only just been to the library. Lup on the other hand was already on a first name basis with quite a few people. It seemed like no matter where they went someone was yelling over to them, or giving her a high five as they passed. One man was particularly enthusiastic about the high five and she swerved him, laughing as she walked past.

“He’s kind of a dick,” she whispered to Barry. “Told Taako his outfit looked stupid and no one messes with my boy like that.”

The temple was abuzz with activity and Barry almost suggested they turn around until they noticed that they were actively being welcomed inside. It was small, a statue of what he could only assume was Eies was at the front, a tall winged woman with her hands on the heads of two small children on either side of her. Fresh flowers were strewn around her feet, providing some color in an otherwise very gray space. A couple of benches were placed nearby and some columns lined the walls but other than that it was a pretty boring space. Not one that is immediately thought of for a Goddess of immense power.

“Can I help you fine folks with something?”

The small voice startled Barry and he turned around to find a halfling looking up at them.

“Yeah, actually. Are you in charge here?”

They chuckled at that, “Is anyone really in charge of anything? The Deities are the ones who are in charge, we just act in their vision. But yes, I am a devout follower of Eies and the keeper of this temple. What can I help you with?”

“Uh, we were hoping that we could ask you some questions about the upcoming holiday and the Deities.”

“Oh of course! I thought you were going to ask me for something difficult, this is an easy one. Come, come, let’s go sit and have a chat.” They led Lup and Barry towards the front of the temple to one of the benches nearby the statue. “My name is Sadorn, you two must be part of the group that are staying in that large metal thing right outside town.”

“Yes, this is Barry and I’m Lup. We haven’t been here for very long, we arrived a couple of days before the Day of Sacrifice.”

“You must have had quite a scare if that was your first venture into our celebrations!”

“Yes, it was…” Lup grimaced. “Unpleasant.”

“I’m sure but it is the work of the Deities! They know all, and we must trust them. Now what are your questions?”

“I’m curious about the nature of the Deities,” Barry started off. “Where did they come from and how do they know ‘all’?”

“Well, my dear, the Deities came from the sky! They had been watching us for a long time and couldn’t bear to see us miserable anymore. You’ve heard the stories, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I do have a book I have been reading, but it doesn’t give much in the way of specifics.”

“What kind of specifics are you looking for?”

“Like...has anyone alive spoken to a Deity?”

“Oh, no, the Deities left us a long time ago. They still watch us from above and will interfere again if needed.”

“How would one get into contact with a Deity?”

Sadorn motions to the letters left at Eies’s feet. “Write a letter, leave it at her feet. She will answer.”

“How does she answer? A note back? Some telepathy, perhaps?”

“Dear heavens, no,” Sadorn laughs as if this was the best joke they had heard in awhile. “The Gods don’t write notes.”

“Then how will we know?”

“Trust, my dear. The world will speak to you.”

Barry, a man of science, was not thrilled with this response.

“Okay, this has been...an interesting talk. Thank you for your time, Sadorn.”

“You’re very welcome, and please let me know if you need anything else. Have a great rest of your day and a safe holiday.”

Lup smiled warmly at them. “Thank you for talking with us, Sadorn. We will see you at the festival.” After Sadorn left, she turned to Barry. “Well, not the most reliable of sources but maybe we should give it a shot. Do you have any paper?”

The only thing on him was the book on celebrations he had been reading, so he flipped to the back of the book and ripped out the title page for the second chapter.

“What are you writing?”

“Well, they say that the Deities know all and they obviously have incredible power to pull off the things that they do. I’m going to warn them about the Hunger. And ask them for their help. If they really do have that kind of knowledge, then they should know that we aren’t from this plane and maybe they will know what to do.”

“I guess it doesn’t hurt to ask.” Barry pauses while writing, looking puzzled down at the paper. “What’s wrong?”

“How do I end a letter to a deity? Should I sign it with love?”

“Nah, man. Sign it something cool. We should come up with a name for our crew….ooh! I got it! How about the Hunger Blasters!”

Barry’s brow furrows, “I don’t know, sounds kind of dirty.”

Lup slaps him on the back in celebration. “Then it’s perfect! Sign it and let’s go!”

Sighing, Barry signed ‘Hunger Blasters’ at the bottom of the letter and then underneath in smaller print ‘(Sildar Hallwinter and friends)’. Probably best to be formal with a Goddess.

#blupjeans #barry bluejeans #taz #taz balance #taz balance spoilers #the stolen century #lup taako #Lup #barry bluejeans my beloved #the plane of celebrations

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