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noodyl-blasstal · 1 year

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29 with barry!

“I’m only a little dead. It’s not that big of a deal” from Monster Mash Prompts by @juicywritinghoard

Time is a construct (sorry for the delay! I was in deadline hell, and then I wanted it to be good, and then I forgot how to write for a while in there, but @ceilingfan5 reminded me.) Am I done with the vampire AU? Absolutely not (the one below comes first).

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Lup had always liked night shifts. They were wrapped in a softness that daylight hours weren’t. Everyone was a bit sleepier, a bit calmer, grateful that they had somewhere to go. When she and Taako blew into town and saw the near-ish all night diner was hiring, they snatched the jobs up. Taako cooked, Lup served, they studied through the lulls, and got at least one square meal per shift (plus whatever Taako could squirrel away into his layered coats and cardigans). It wasn’t like their other work paid well, or at all. Walking home in the early hours had its benefits too; they made sure to take the long way, the less safe way, the dark-alleys-and-unlit-streets way. Better them than someone else - they knew what they were doing, they knew why they were doing it.

Training was quick, Day-Shift-Carole was ‘impressed by their ingenuity’. Lup and Taako were grateful for mass production. Same coffee pot, same griddle, different city. She talked them through the till, the exact place to tap on the days it decided not to open, and the sticky keys that needed coaxing. She talked them through the regulars too, Lup’s favourite was Barry. He came in three nights a week, drank coffee, read books, and took a lot of notes. It turned out that he read about astrophysics, didn’t drink the coffee he ordered, and was definitely a vampire. Lup should have staked him by now. She was going to! That first night, she was going to, but then he’d noticed her looking at his hands (he must have been buffing his nails down every night to hide the points) and thought she was looking at his book instead. To be fair, The Disordered Cosmos was on her to-read list, and she couldn’t exactly kill a guy in the middle of her shift… not front-of-house anyway, so she went with it. May as well get some intel, find out why he was sitting here happy to debate theories and not trying to drink her like a capri sun.

A few hours later she knew about his job teaching astrophysics night classes (of course, could this guy be any more obvious?) at the local college, decided to hunt down his most recent publications to see if he actually knew his stuff, and had mostly forgotten about the whole ‘gonna have to kill him’ thing. She’d even been disappointed to hear the bell jingle across the door to announce another customer. By the time she had settled them and taken their order, Barry was gone, leaving a cold mug full of black coffee and a $20 bill behind.

That was three months ago. She hadn’t told Taako yet, wasn’t quite sure how. His new favourite sport was teasing her about her nerdy ‘boyfriend’ and she didn’t want to ruin that for him. It was important to let him feel joy, so obviously this was purely selfless. Plus, there was no world in which Taako decided that it was cool for her to hang out with a vampire because the dude was willing to spend an hour talking through what exactly here and now referred to and whether here was really the diner or earth or a tiny spec on a telescope some alien was using right now. Taako’d work it out eventually, but for now no one was in danger and Lup had lots to learn.

Barry stopped in at least four nights a week. He brought her books, recommended articles, and never made her feel like her questions weren’t valuable. She baked him cookies sometimes, just to keep up the facade, it was pretty adorable that he thought he was hiding it well. Barry always took them gratefully and told her how much they’d been enjoyed the next time he was in. She pretended not to notice the careful phrasing. He was polite and courteous, didn’t even look at her ass when she dropped the sugar packets… an increasingly regular occurrence. Obviously it was always an accident, but it was important research to know what his motives were. In fact, in the name of science she should probably slip Barry her number, get a chance to speak to him alone and work out exactly what his deal was. He wasn’t like any of the vampires she’d met before, and okay, he could be playing the long game, but why? He knew her shift patterns, knew her scent by now, could easily track her home. He obviously hadn’t eaten any of the other staff here either - no one had mentioned any abrupt disappearances. He wasn’t a threat.

She and Taako handed over to the early shift staff, shrugged their layers back on, and began the longer-than-necessary walk home. Taako was in the middle of complaining about how much he smelled like the fryer when she heard the crunch of broken glass behind them. Lup kept her walk loose, but glanced to Taako, he gave the slightest nod without breaking stride.

“I’m telling you Lulu, this is not the perfume Taako deserves.”

“I don’t know, I think it suits you, l’eau de frites. Tres chic!”

Taako gasped in horror at her teasing and replied in kind. Lup laughed casually, but tuned him out as she reached into her oversized coat pocket and eased her hand over the smooth wood of her stake. They were armed, they wouldn’t be harmed. She’d done this so many times, but the anticipation always made her nerves jangle, she fought against the urge to tense up, they had to appear unaware. This was the place she’d do it, the alley was dark and noise from busier streets barely filtered through. A slight crunch of gravel was all the warning she got, but it was enough. She and Taako snapped together like magnets, back to back, eyes cast over the alley. Nothing yet. Lup pressed her tongue against the back of her teeth, desperate to funnel the tension anywhere. She hated the waiting, craved the doing, or at least the satisfaction that came after. They stood stationary, no need to circle and search shadows. They were bait for their own trap, they had something it needed - it would come to them.

It wasn’t long before it showed itself. It burst forward and Lup surged to meet it. The punch glanced off its chin, barely connecting, but it was enough to piss it off. It hissed and snapped at her, stale breath from barely moving lungs ghosted across her face. She adjusted her stance and prepared to swing again, but it was smart enough to dart back before she could attempt a second blow.

“Magnus!” Called a loud voice as a huge shape dropped from a rusted fire escape, landing heavily. Shit, this didn’t fit the usual mould. It was rare for vampires to work together - more so for them to do anything quite so indelicate. Lup and Taako were used to quiet taunts, violent descriptions of exactly how painful the draining would be, attempts to find some psychological weaknesses to exploit, but not this. What the fuck did ‘Magnus’ mean?

In the silent second of the aftermath, the vampire rushed Taako. Lup should have anticipated it, they both should have. This was gonna come up in training. She winced in sympathy as Taako’s back hit the ground, relieved that his head stopped short of the wall. An incapacitated meal was easier to chug than one that was fighting back, and unconscious under a hungry vampire wasn’t the place to be. Taako just had to keep himself un-chomped long enough for her to stake it properly, and he could manage that. He had to manage that.

Lup was about to lunge forward when a blur smashed into the vampire, knocking it clear of Taako. Shit. Surely food wasn’t scarce enough that vampires needed to fight over it? If they were hungry they’d be less careful, but they’d also be prepared to take more risks… At least the infighting had given Taako long enough to get back on his feet.

“Yet another fight over Taako. At least they have taste.”

“Shut up, Goofus.” Lup didn’t bother looking at him, because if her eyes weren’t tricking her the fire escape acrobat had just rushed into the middle of a vampire fight at distinctly human speed.

“Dude, get out of there!” She started forward, Taako moving with her. What did this idiot think he was doing?

“Lup, run, you need to get out of here! Go!” The second vampire yelled in a familiar voice. Far too familiar a voice. Shit. Maybe Taako wouldn’t notice…

“Hold the fuck on, is that space nerd?” Taako said, slowing to a stop and staring intently at Lup.

“No?” Nailed it. Perfect denial.

“Lulu, is Barold a vampire? A vampire whom you conveniently haven’t mentioned to me? Have you been putting off ashing this dude so you could talk science? Endangering your dear brother’s life, so you can chat comets, blather about Barlow’s Lens, gossip about the galaxy? All while I stood innocently by, pre-seasoned in the kitchen…”

“No!” Lup repeated. Trying and failing to inject more indignation. Okay, so maybe she did enjoy his company and Barry had seemed harmless. Why was it a problem for him to come to the cafe and chat a few nights a week? Taako wasn’t in any danger and it was educational. A cultural exchange! They hadn’t met such a lucid vampire before, it’d be a waste to jump to immediate murderation. Although right now harmless didn’t seem entirely accurate as he punched the other vampire hard in the face and knocked him back.

“Oh, you already know Barry? I’m Magnus.” Said the tall guy, waving quickly before he grabbed the stunned vampire and trapped his arms behind his back.“Are you both okay? This stuff is pretty scary.”

Taako turned slowly to Lup, eyebrow raised. Lup waved anyway. Magnus seemed nice, there was no need to be rude.

Magnus held the struggling vampire firmly in place. Unable to get free, the vampire eyed Barry and snarled out “Barry, you absolute fuck, what are you doing with them?”

“Oh shut up, Archibald. Stop trying to eat nice people.” Barry didn’t seem to take any pleasure in it, but slammed the stake home with an unpleasant squelch.

Magnus didn’t let go as the vampire’s form started to crack, fissures opening across pallid skin showing the curdled burgundy light within. He’d done this before then, they knew to wait. The cracks widened and the vampire thrashed again, hands scrabbling towards its chest, but Magnus didn’t let up.

“Fuck you.” It hissed at Barry before the light sloshed free, dissipating as it hit the ground, leaving only charring chunks of flesh behind. Barry sighed and nudged them with his toe until they crumbled.

Magnus grinned toothily, pure joy radiated from him despite the streaks of grime on his face and the ragged cut on his arm - who came hunting in a sleeveless shirt? “Another win for Team Bagnus! High five!”

Barry looked like there was a strong possibility he might be sick. “Magnus, bud, not right now. These two have just found out vampires are real…”

Taako made a loud buzzer noise to cut Barry off.

“0 points for you, space nerd. Lup, you said this guy was smart, I thought that was why you liked him. Was it actually just for his ass? I’m shocked. You were so obsessed with his body you didn’t even realise he was dead. I can’t believe my sister’s so shallow.”

Lup was going to murder him. Maybe she could think Taako got bit during the attack, if he was possibly a vampire she couldn’t be blamed for staking him a bit... She settled for elbowing him instead. “Shut up, Goofus! I knew he was a vampire.”

“Didn’t deny staring at his ass though. Interesting.”

Lup exhaled hard and decided violence was definitely the only way to counter violence. It didn’t have to be true to hurt.

“It’s okay Taako, I’m sure Magnus already knows he’s very handsome, there’s no need to show off for him.” Taako’s strangled screech was enough to assure her that she had at least a few moments to try and talk to Barry.

“So… er, you, uhm, you knew about vampires?”

“We hunt vampires, Barry.” Lup doesn’t mean for it to sound so gentle, so questioning, but the thought of staking Barry hasn’t been in her head for weeks now. Fuck, was this a ‘he’s not like other boys’ situation? He’s not like other vampires, he’s different! He might be undead and have finger claws and I just watched him kill someone, but I think he’s special…

Magnus barreled into the introspection.

“Cool! Us too! Fuck ‘em.”

“Kemosabe, half of you are vampires.” Taako was still flushed around the tips of his ears, but had recovered the power of speech.

“You worked that out, then?” Barry looked at the floor and shuffled his feet.

“Worked it out? Barold, my guy, my dude… you only come in at night, you teach night classes, you don’t ever drink anything, you’re pale as fuck, and you sometimes forget to breathe.” Lup couldn’t help it, did he think he was doing a good job of hiding it? She’d clocked him within minutes.

“I was always this colour!” Barry said indignantly.

“Of course you were.” Taako said, rolling his eyes.

“Look, I’m only a little dead, it’s not a big deal. I haven’t eaten either of you…” Taako snorted. “...or anyone else for that matter!” Barry continued valiantly.

“He really hasn’t.” Magnus added. “Scout’s honour!” He threw up the three fingered salute.

“How’s that possible?” Lup asked.

“Has anyone explained grounding to you?”

“If someone had would I be asking these questions, Barry?”

“Yeah… yeah, that makes sense. Sorry Lup. Okay. I have to get inside, but do you both want to come to the institute? We can give you breakfast and explain. Well, Magnus can, I’ll probably be out soon.”

“Just to clarify there, Barold, we…” Taako paused, glared hard at Lup, and continued. “...I, just found out you’re a vampire and you’d like us to come over for waffles and a chat, and definitely not getting eaten?”

“Yeah.” Magnus replied. “That’s basically it.”

“Alright, we’ll come.” Lup said. Fuck it. She’d been with Barry every day for over a month. If he wanted to eat her he’d have done it by now.

“We’ll fucking what, sorry?” Taako asked.

“Great! Glad you’re both coming! I think we’re gonna be friends.” Said Magnus, grabbing Taako round the shoulders and walking towards the mouth of the alley. Taako ducked under his arm and spun on his heel to march back towards Lup.

“We’re not too far from home.” Said Barry mildly. He nodded encouragingly and jogged ahead to walk at Magnus’ side, crossing paths with Taako as he stormed towards Lup.

“Have you lost your entire mind?” Taako hissed as he grabbed Lup’s shoulder to stop her from following. “You wanna take his space class, so now you don’t think vampires are dangerous anymore?” He grabbed her right arm and pulled her sleeve back to gesture at the small white ridges on her forearm. “Do I have to fucking remind you?”

Lup pulled her arm back quickly. That was a low blow. She knew Taako was worried about her, that was the only reason he’d bring this up, but it didn’t stop the sting of old wounds - literal and metaphorical.

“Look, have you ever met one of them that behaved like him?” She gestured at Barry’s retreating back. “He teaches a class, has a job, sits in the diner all night, hasn’t hurt anyone. Hasn’t even looked likely to. So forgive me if I want to find out more about what the fuck is going on. I thought you believed in evidence based practice? We’ve got some new evidence, so now we’d better do some research so we can amend our practice if needed. Or are you going to be a shit scientist and just keep doing what you’ve always done?”

Taako looked like he was going to fight, sucked in the breath to, then deflated. “Yeah. Fine. Academic rigour. Whatever. But if you get us killed I’ll haunt your ghost so hard.”

#Another chunk of vampire AU for you all #This was an ask from October and I'm so sorry for hanging onto it for 4 whole months #Spoilers: They're not gonna get eaten by Barry and the gang #But you already knew that because you've read the other one #The Adventure Zone #TaZ balance #Noodyl Writes #Lup taaco #Taako #Magnus doesn't get to Magnus much here - but he makes up for it wherever possible

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taakosleftshoe · 1 year

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Taakko fromtv is a valid troll name

#sierra speaks #taz balance #homestuck #tw homestuck #taz taako #yeah the gang is introducing me to homestuck help #blinkshark discord

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oqulis · 2 years

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yes I agree Lucretia was mostly an antagonist/antihero up until just before the very end. yes she almost destroyed the world and betrayed every one of her deepest bonds to do it. yes im a Lucretia apologist. support women’s rights AND wrongs <3

#she was TRYING to SAVE PEOPLE the ipre gang fucked over even if her method was like Way Worse and she should’ve known better #TAZ balance #taz spoilers

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funkylittlebats · 5 months

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Hey Taz Balance fans how do we feel about Lucretia striving to choose lives for her friends that she thought they could find joy and peace in (the beach with family for Merle, Raven's Roost for Magnus, a whole traveling cooking show for Taako) and checking up on them to see them safe and happy and using that as her only rock in her lonely and doomed mission to recover the relics, only to watch all three of their lives fall apart (Merle's lovless marriage + running out on his family, Governor Kalen destroying Raven's Roost and killing the love of Magnus's life and his father in law, the poisoning in Glamor Springs that led to Taako believing he'd killed 40 people and having to abandon his dream job). How de we feel about that gang.

#taz #the adventure zone #taz balance #the adventure zone balance #lucretia #taako #magnus burnsides #merle highchurch #lup #barry bluejeans #cap'n'port

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dogs2shouldvote · 9 months

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during my latest relisten of taz balance, i recorded every line i found even the slightest bit funny with zero context, not even who said it (though some are pretty obvious). here’s all my favorites!!

“i’m probably studying.. my cantrips”

“just say mastrubating, dad”

“don’t come in mom i’m studying my canteips!!”

“yeah you’ll do any dumb shit”

“it’s like a bag of holding! but for.. ass.”

“do we know how much damage we did to him?”

“six damage, you said it out loud with your mouth.”

“it should be in the player’s handbook! get your salty snack to enjoy while you play dnd”

“my grandpa says it’s rude to whisper. especially on a train!”

“i’m not going to go toe to toe with a crab while youre armed with a terrible scottish accent and travis doesn’t even have his sheild. i’m out! … did i say travis? i mean leman kessler.”

“nope! that was wrong all the way around.”

“i’m cosplaying taako right now, as a stupid man.”

“who’s just rolling dice? who is doing secret checks that i don’t know about?”

“i always waste my 20’s on perception checks. like i give a shit.”

“it’s completely conceivable he would have a name tag.”

“IN A GANG?”

“like a pelt??? like a bramble*pelt*?????”

“is there a math check? what are you talking about?”

“yeah it’s your fucking brain. you use your brain to add numbers together”

“16”

“what are you fucking doing??”

“griffin i love you youre my brother. but if my skill called history doesn’t literally help me with history trivia questions in a category called history what are we FUCKING doing here??”

“can i ask you a question? are you guys mean to everyone?”

“fus-ro-over dere”

“that one was actually a badass bernie sanders”

“hey thug! what’s your name? i’m about to tentacle your dick.”

“a d6 is like some dice ass dice. that’s some monopoly shit.”

“i thought you were saying merle, it’s his bread and his body, take 2d6 healing points”

“you two remind me of something… you remind me of the babe! and then i throw the glass sphere at them.”

“make a constitution saving throw to see if you can eat this fucking rock with your mouth.”

“dungeons and dragons is a. great game.”

“my name is magnus burnsides”

“marchins burchens”

“magnus would not say that. however, travis would.”

“can we please not talk about chekhov’s bush?”

“we’ve got a ball, a sack, and a tool!”

“everything is gross here in dnd.”

“only losers smoke, isaac.”

“i give isaac an hour long lecture about the dangers of smoking.”

“i’m just gonna put my mouth down there and go buck wild”

“there’s a lot of go cart tracks called the adventure zone and i’ve been working with my lawyer to shut them all down forever”

“does taako fish?”

“yeah taako fishes.”

“a rock hard-“

*justin, clint, and travis laugh*

“come ON, *really*?”

“taako rushes in!”

“what! magnus follows him.”

“merle’s good out here!”

“WHAT is going on?”

“how do you not have a d6 it comes with every board game”

“my daughter-“

“eats them for power???”

“uhhh how much health do you have.”

“im not gonna tell you.”

“let’s see… i am going to hurt jenkins. with a magical spell.”

“this is about to become the taako show starring taako.”

“BLUFF FUCKING BLUFF O’CLOCK?? WHAT IS THIS, HALF PAST PERSUASION TIME??”

“i’m not laughing in game” *justin fucking loses it*

“she’s the best at burning shit ever.”

“traaav griffin got to do his show for so long and now he’s gonna destroy yours.”

“fucking lup finds like. a gun.”

“for sure, keep it sleazy. we’re out, bye!”

“i have to believe…. i’m gonna get those fifteen dollars back from greg fucking grimaldis”

“based on the rules of the game, dad… you die.”

“dad’s making a jerk off motion at me”

“don’t play the pennywise card like you ALWAYS try to”

“should i talk slower so that everybody who has been complaining about us not playing dnd has time to nut?”

“i am a wizard. my name is taako. and i am pretty well fucked.”

“yeah i’ve got cumin who do you think i am?”

“hear that, babe? we’re *legends*”

“i’m clint mcelroy and i played merle hightower-“

“nope”

#i actually have a ton more #taz balance #taz balance spoilers #kinda #the adventure zone balance #mcelroys #taz #the adventure zone #mcelroy brothers #taako taaco #merle highchurch #magnus burnsides

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gnarlystarships · 5 months

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TAZ Outre Space episode 1 reactions!!

I’m about to press play I’m so nervous. I’ve been beefing with Marvel for awhile 💀 But I love TAZ so I’m going in 🫡

Clint’s radio host ass voice lol

The theme song is pretty snazzy

omg werewolf guest star

no thoughts about Justin’s character yet i’m waiting to see what Voice he produces

IS ONE OF THEM GONNA PLAY A DOG?

I fucking knew it was gonna be Griffin. this is now at least the third dog character Griffin

“we’re going to fuckin petsmart”

“ITS FINE, I GOT DEADPOOL TO BABYSIT”

“You take out a device that looks a lot like a baby monitor. Because it is a baby monitor”

I think I will be mystified by how this game system works the whole time

Don’t know wtf a Norn is but we will pick up context clues along the way gang

“It’s a Scandinavian translation of One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” ah yes the Scandinavian language

Justin finally has the opportunity to scold Griffin like a dog

love that this prophecy includes the word “bullshitter”

wrow Miles Morales

I’m so conditioned from the character named Barbara in TAZ Balance (who was literally a very random side character) that I was surprised that this Barbara was a woman 💀

ough Kate Bishop….. character from ancient hyperfixation…. (I wasn’t hyperfixated on her specifically, but on the Young Avengers)

…….i need to google several things about starfox

ARE YOU AFRAID OF ME HITTING YOU WITH MY YUMMY BLAST ?

I just realized when I came to make my next comment I didn’t say anything about Travis’s section. I’m a little confused about wtf he is but we will also pick up context clues along the way lmfao

I have no idea what the vehicle is so I’m just imagining the Mystery Machine

SMASH CUT TO PETSMART

this was slightly confusing without having read the comics but not that bad. ok see u all next week

#taz #taz outre space #taz outre space spoilers #outre space spoilers #taz spoilers #edit: i added a readmore line now #when i posted it this morning i was on my phone and idk how to put a readmore on there #ograt

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cobalt-knave · 10 months

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Inspired by @anistarrose 's poll because I found it so utterly delightful that I had to make one of my own

#Taz graduation #Taz Steeplechase #Taz Ethersea #Taz amnesty #Haven't listened to dust or any of the one offs #Impartial polling #Also op of the original poll should know I read it to three people and had way too much fun with their reactions

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thatoneacecryptid · 2 years

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My Favorite Things About Every Arc of The Adventure Zone (so far)

I recently finished TAZ Ethersea and really want to just talk about all of the lovely characters that the boys have given us. Feel free to add your own in whatever ways you see fit.

Fair warning, this may be long folks

! There are potentially spoilers for every arc ahead so read at your own risk gang !

Balance

Magnus: Magnus Burnsides’ whole journey throughout the campaign is wonderfully heartbreaking. Protector of a family he did not remember who also harbors a heartache for his second family that he lost. Travis was teased for having a bible of a backstory but I think in Magnus’ case it was entirely essential. So much of that background informed everything about Magnus and his constant protection of everyone (and every animal) around him makes so much sense narratively as well as mechanically and I think Travis did a phenomenal job.

Taako: Taako is a very deep character with a lot of complexity that you wouldn’t know based on everything about him and I do not want to downplay that at all, however, my favorite thing about Taako is simply the aesthetic and the vibes. A king, an icon. We love to see it.

Merle: My favorite thing about Merle is his capacity for love and goodness. He always choses the path of love and joy and its incredibly important. For goodness sakes he asked the BBEG if they were friends. A sweetheart.

Favorite NPC: Angus McDonald

My favorite section of this season in particular has to be Eleventh Hour, the aesthetics were great, the concept was super cool and we got so many cool moments out of it.

See You Later is my favorite track from the season followed by Purple Worm.

Balance is such a labor of love and you can feel it through every part of the story and it never loses any luster no matter how many times you relisten to it.

Amnesty

Aubrey: Aubrey Little is a badass and that is incredibly important but I think what I like most about her is that she screws up a lot. I don’t mean that I like that she’s a failure, what I mean is that she isn’t perfect. A lot of the time when playing games like these, there is a tendency (for some, certainly not all, we stan flawed characters in this house) to create do-gooder characters that have perfectly mastered their skills and perfectly save the day. Aubrey is not that. She makes mistakes all the time and recognizes that. The scene where she asks Janelle to take her magic away hits me every time because she thinks, and to a degree rightfully so, that she is a danger to those around her and she would rather give up her super cool magic fire powers than continue to do that. She continues to try and learn how her powers work and how to properly use them so it works out, but the moment was there. Aubrey Little has these incredible powers at her disposal but she is only human and I love her journey to pieces.

Duck: I relate to the tired vibes harder than I probably should for the age I am but that’s probably okay. A reluctant chosen one is an incredibly interesting idea that I am super proud of Justin for coming up with. Duck’s destiny scares the living crap out of him and his reaction, though strange in a narrative format, would most likely be how a regular person would react to being given a grand cosmic destiny where you have to actually fight evil monsters. Duck is amazing and I love him.

Ned: Ned is hilarious but also, his entire arc during the Shapeshifter hunt was incredible. The letters still make me cry to this day. Its always super fascinating when a character who appears to be (as much as you can in an RPG) comic relief at the beginning, get incredibly serious further down the line. Ned cared so much about his friends and I am so glad that Griffin gave Clint the opportunities to take over the narrative for a little while to give us those speeches.

Thacker: A goofy guy with some really weird snacks. Thacker was not Ned that is for sure but, he was a very nice inclusion. I always like explorer characters and Thacker is interesting, having explored somewhere dangerous, suffering the consequences but coming back with valuable information for the team.

Favorite NPC: Barclay

My favorite hunt is the Hunt for The Beast, it is the first one and there is so much else in the season to love but the aesthetics and vibes of this one were incredible. My favorite section of narration comes from the end of the third episode! “Which looks up at the sky, and then, with otherworldly malice, back down at the three of you...”

Amnesty’s and Graduation’s theme songs are tied for my favorites, they both make me smile so much.

The Amnesty Lodge themes are some of my favorite pieces of music ever. Never has any music ever made me feel as comforted as those two songs do.

This season’s vibe, setting, aesthetics, characters and inspirations are exactly my niche interest so, as much as I love all of the seasons of TAZ, Amnesty is by far my favorite.

Commitment

Nadia: We love a girl boss.

Kardala: I like the research that Justin did into creating the character, and in classic Justin fashion, made her the funniest character in the arc.

Remy: He’s such a little guy. Remy is a springy little spiderman-esque guy who just wants to save the day.

Favorite NPC: N/A

Commitment is not my favorite of the seasons but I do like what Clint did with it, the story was unique and interesting.

Dust

Errol: A werewolf who wanted to president? Are you kidding? I love this little guy! I really liked that Errol lived in town but didn’t necessarily fall in line with the werewolf pack there. Him, instead, having a street that he looks after and protects is such a nice image. That and his whole attitude and semi-awkward personality, Errol was very easily my favorite of the bunch (not that I didn’t love the others)

Augustus: Augustus was an excuse for Justin to be hilarious with a ridiculous voice and I loved it.

Gandy: Her enthusiasm for many of the situations that arose during the investigation was really nice.

Favorite NPC: The Banshee

I loved this one! I continue to hope that they go back to Dust and even though that is unlikely, I still really liked the ideas behind this mini arc. A western, taking place at night, where werewolves and vampires make appearances, along with a whodunnit mystery taking place all at the same time? Sign me up! (Once again, an arc very much within my niche)

Graduation

Fitzroy: A king, honestly. Fitzroy is hilarious and such an interesting concept for Griffin to play. The voice and the vibes are immaculate and I am so proud of this boy’s progress. Also, he’s ACE!!!

Firbolg: He’s so 🥺. That’s the best I can articulate my thoughts.

Argo: My boy! Argo is such a sweet little guy who, just like his fellow roomies, did not deserve any of the bad things that had happened to them. Argonaut Keene is an absolute sweetheart and I wish him the best post canon fics. His voice and aesthetic are great. Also, he’s the first PC rogue! My class (and favorite subclass)!

Favorite NPC: Althea Song

School campaign!!! These boys deserve the very best and I loved every second of their journey. The entire campaign I was either aww-ing at the sweetness of the moments or cheering on these boys’ hairbrained schemes.

Ethersea

Devo: Devo’s accent is wonderful and I also really like how concerned he was about taking care of Beck and Skittles as well as his speech about saving the animals for future children to see and learn about. That speech in general got me to tear up a little bit given the state of our real life world.

Amber: I love sharks and I do not wish to see any harm come to them, however, the blink shark hunter thing coming back from the prologues was very funny and a welcome inclusion. It brought us some really cool moments with said sharks and I appreciated that. I also really liked how strong she was in her own opinions. No one was going to make her move. Not to mention the vibe checks were always awesome.

Zoox: Zoox’s journey of self discovery was very cool. I love that our little Brinar ended up being something all their own.

Favorite NPC: Ol’ Joshy

What I think was most interesting about this season, beside the looming fear of anything being out there in the depths of the ocean, was that the boys made this world together. This was not something that one of them made for the purposes of the others playing in it. They played a separate game to make the world they would be playing in. It was intensely collaborative and I think that was really cool.

Cannot wait to see what’s next!

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inklingofadream · 10 months

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Periodic WIP Cleanout Confessional

All the fic ideas that I have floating around in WIPs and may or may not finish but which haven't had any kind of tumblr posting

I take my decade and a half of being obsessed with advice forums/columns/blogs and inflict the Archives gang upon them in increasingly deranged scenarios

the jon, elias, and possibly jonelias fic where each of em gets a chapter of musing on things and the chapters mirror each other, showing them having exactly opposite views on most of the events of canon in approximately season 3 or 4

vampire au route 2 danny rescue fic ft. vampire nikola, possibly ft. vampire politics

king in chains au: TMA oraclei!jon edition

king in chains au: Malevolent human sacrifice!Arthur edition

Malevolent April Fools kayne pranking the bois fic

Malevolent whumptober Peter lives (and hunts down the monster that stole his boyfriend investigative partner) au

TMA whumptober fic where jon gets sick in the library (scrapped)

" where Nikola removes Jon's voice box and people are Mean to him

" reluctant caretaker elias

OFMD where mary decides they're Making It Work and so the whole family's on the boat

OFMD Stede and Ed attending Mary's art show in disguise (in drag)

TMA Narnia au

cult au au where Georgie successfully traces Jon to the Institute and attempts a rescue

TAZ Balance au where Taako forges documents on the side and he and Lup work for NASA????? It's the 60s????? I think Kravitz is doing a sting on Taako's forgery???? The entire fic is italicized for some reasong??????

AU where elias being a brat and calling basira "detective" Meant Something and I know this was inspired by a fic where she accidentally kills jon but I don't remember how

second chapter of Interesting

#writing #wips #snippets #ask me about anything interesting i GUESS. i did not anticipate the list being this long #some of these i straight up forgot existed #ink post

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miss-macaroni-vii · 1 year

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it's been awhile since TAZ Balance but I will always be laughing at what Lucretia must've felt when suddenly 3 of her friends she mind wiped somehow

1. got the gang back together

2. found her secret organization hidden behind said mind wiping

#taz balance

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journalofimprobablethings · 1 year

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Writing Masterpost

Hello!

I've finally gotten around to doing some blog maintenance and making a masterpost of all of the writing I've posted on here. If you've found my blog because of a fic post and want to know if there is more where that came from, you're in the right place!

I write mainly fic for The Magnus Archives and TAZ Balance, with a few original things thrown in for spice! Most links stay on Tumblr, but I've also got some of my longer pieces on AO3 linked here as well.

List is under the cut, and thanks for being here!

MAGNUS ARCHIVES FIC

One-shots & multi-chaps (links to AO3):

present tense - Safehouse-era love confessions, the world didn't end edition.

will you remember me - Somewhere Else coffee shop au! Martin is intrigued by an attractive stranger who comes into his coffee shop, especially when they have an intense reaction to seeing him.

why can't the words I need ever come to me - Research-era Jon finds Tim crying in the bathroom. He tries to help.

slippage (4 chapters) - Jon starts to forget while he and Martin are still in Upton House. Martin has to try to get him out before he forgets everything.

something to hold onto - Tim & Jon s2 reconciliation, with background jondanny

a promise and a prayer - alternate ending to TheOestofOC's The Kindness of Strangers; or, what if Jon & Tim had reconciled before the Unknowing

these constellations will guide you back - What if Martin had been the one to find Jon trying to get his "anchor" for the coffin instead of Melanie?

Tumblr ficlets:

Somewhere Else coffee shop AU: snippet 1 (Martin) snippet 2 (Jon)

Tim & Jon's Excellent American Adventure: 1 (at the airport) 2 (there was only one bed (platonic) aka literal sleeping together) 3 (statement dependence)

Dad!Jon: Jon has always had trouble imagining the future They name her Sasha

yet broken, still you breathe - Jon & Martin listen to The Amazing Devil

life's but a walking shadow - Martin gets Jon to recite some poetry (aka Jon is a Shakespeare nerd)

i will bring you ruin - Jon Sees Jonah's plans before he goes into the Lonely

Other snippets:

Post-Circus Jon angst

JonTim Literal Sleeping Together: China Edition

Martin & Tim say goodbye before the Unknowing

Not-Sasha visits the Trophy Room

Martin can bake?! - s1 Archive gang fluff

Somewhere Else - an explorations of possiblities

Peter Lukas is having a marvelous time.

Message from Jon to Martin, several days after his return from the Buried.

TAZ FIC

One-shots (links go to AO3)

L-U-P (multi-chap, ongoing) - What if Lucretia saw Lup's name burned into the wall and figured out where Lup was? Lup gets out of the umbrella early, and she and Lucretia team up to save the world.

take me back to the start - The Chalice makes Lucretia an offer, and she has to decide what price she is willing to pay for a second chance.

without you - Magnus and Lucretia have only been together, really together, for a couple weeks. When a routine scouting mission goes wrong, he has to face to prospect of nearly a year without her. Magnus/Lucretia fic set during Stolen Century.

a recipe for home - Taako tries to cook for the first time since Glamour Springs. When it goes wrong, Lucretia is there to lend a hand. Set during between the second Lunar Interlude and Petals.

by means of heat and time - Taako gives Angus a cooking lesson (a lifetime ago, Taako gives Lucretia a cooking lesson) - TAZ November Celebration Day 23 - Cooking

how this grace thing works - Taako helps Lucretia with post S&S nightmares, and maybe, just maybe, something starts to heal.

Eventually - Kravitz told Magnus he and Julia would eventually have to re-join the rest of the souls in the astral sea. He never thought about what he would do when “eventually” finally came.

Tumblr ficlets

hold on tight - The Birds get together for a family dinner after Story and Song, and Magnus and Lucretia have a talk about what it means to deserve a happy ending.

"Today's gonna be the best!" - The Birds have a snow day.

Barry is falling. - The moment right after Barry falls from the Starblaster, when he realizes what Lucretia has done.

What if Barry found Lup in Wave Echo Cave? - Barry finds Lup, and has to find a way to hold himself together.

“Shh, they’ll hear us!” - Taako and Angus plan a surprise.

TAZ November Celebration Day 21 - Night - A lil quiet moment between Davenport & Lucretia during Stolen Century.

TAZ November Celebration Day 17 - Rest - The crew of the Starblaster take a much-needed pause.

TAZ November Celebration Day 3 - Warmth - Taakitz Modern AU ficlet. Fluff!

almost home - Magnus returns to Raven’s Roost. (and an answer to the question, how did Magnus get Julia’s ring back?)

Metas/snippets

The Director aways has music playing in her office.

Lucretia never met the Judges in Cycle 65.

The birds and hugs

What if Raven’s Roost never fell?

The Light of Creation isn’t sentient, exactly.

If Lucretia saw Lup’s name burned into the wall and figured out where Lup was

Lucretia doesn’t remember the first time the Bulwark Staff spoke to her.

Lucretia wakes up in a white space.

After Story and Song, Davenport leaves. Lucretia says goodbye.

ORIGINAL WORK Sometimes I post things on here that aren’t fic!

Macbeth in the living room - A short written at the beginning of quarantine, before we really understood anything about how the virus actually worked. The mechanics of distancing are So Wrong but the sentiment is there. It’s a time capsule of a moment.

The One Who Stays Behind (short story)

OTHER BITS AND BOBS

Thoughts on wonder

Babel by RF Kuang time-travel fix-it (ish)

#scribblings #masterpost #putting these all in one place has made me realize just how much i've written in the last three years #wow!

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justawishaway · 1 year

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I posted 18,257 times in 2022

That's 3,178 more posts than 2021!

32 posts created (0%)

18,225 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@thebibliosphere

@dingdongyouarewrong

@butt-puncher

@readenheim

@whuts-going-on

I tagged 1,315 of my posts in 2022

#atla - 78 posts

#useful - 48 posts

#she ra - 46 posts

#spop - 45 posts

#yoi - 40 posts

#encanto - 32 posts

#taz balance - 18 posts

#leverage - 18 posts

#avatar the last airbender - 17 posts

#taz - 17 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#but i'll be zoned out trying to get a look at the cool pottery in the back bc did they throw the top and bottom separate and damn the glaze

My Top Posts in 2022:

Officially moved out! My new place is tiny but it's all mine and I love it.

4 notes - Posted June 21, 2022

@yueswife tagged me to write out my URL in song titles, so here we are. Thank you bestie, this was so fun!

j - Judith Ford / 36 Questions

u - Under Pressure / Queen

s - Sunlight / Hozier

t - Teeth / 5 Seconds of Summer

a - All Too Well / Taylor Swift

w - Watermelon Sugar / Harry Styles

i - In The Middle / dodie

s - Soldier, Poet, King / The Oh Hellos

h - Hold On / Wilson Phillips

a - Achilles Come Down / Gang of Youths

w - When First I Went To Sea / Katie Else

a - Anything / dodie

y - Young and Beautiful / Lana Del Rey

I'm tagging @lucyepiccrash, @onceuponablep, @savsfeelings, @bagel-rights-activist, and @whuts-going-on!

6 notes - Posted April 1, 2022

IT'S BEEN ALMOST 6 YEARS SINCE YURI ON ICE FIRST AIRED

6 notes - Posted July 6, 2022

One of my neighbors has recently begun parking in a different spot, and they unintentionally scared the Fuck out of me the other night.

Picture this: I'm driving home at around 1 in the morning, it's pitch black out and my neighborhood is insanely quiet for being in the middle of the city. I just got off work, I'm tired and a little out of it. I drive down the street towards my apartment, and my headlights illuminate a figure in my neighbors back seat staring through the window. Obviously, I jump and I'm more awake than anyone has a right to be at 1 am after a 9 hour shift.

I get close enough to see whatever the fresh hell is staring at me through the window in the middle of the night and see This

7 notes - Posted September 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I save you all, every day, from this.

10 notes - Posted June 4, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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smp-live · 2 years

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📕

HI okay it's been over a week but hear me out: I've been in midterm hell.

Anyways, I'm really struggling on which AU to pick but I think I'll talk about my TAZ:B one because I'm currently a bit obsessed with it. BIG spoilers for the podcast under the cut, I cannot recommend it or the graphic novels enough so don't read this if you've ever planned on listening to it. It's so much better going in with no spoilers. Also I'm not really explaining the plot because that would take an eternity, more just stating analogues to scenes, so it would probably be a bit difficult to understand lol.

So I actually have two versions I'm torn between. The one I'm more likely to write for has the L'Manburg gang as the IPRE crew. For the most part none of them are like... direct pairings with the TAZ characters themselves, but the closest are Eret as Lucretia, Wilbur as Davenport, Tommy as Lup, and Phil as Kravitz. Obviously relationships amongst all of them change to match their characters, so do their motivations, instead of losing all of his memories Wilbur is more akin to Ghostbur, etc etc etc. Other than that, Fundy is Wilbur's son, also on the mission, Tubbo (and maybe Jack) became a lich with Tommy, and Niki has a pre-Gerblins arc similar to Taako. So our adventuring party would be Niki, Fundy, and Jack, with Tubbo as the Red Robe. Jack and Tubbo are liable to switch, because I feel like it could work better with their dynamics, and with c!Jack's whole thing being "he's forgotten." idk.

And then I would switch up the relic gathering, too - Ranboo would probably have a role similar to Angus, but Quackity would be a casino owner they have to visit, the Egg would probably have to do with an out of control Gaia Sash or something along those lines. idk. I haven't really fleshed out my thoughts on the actual Balance-era plot yet, I've been more focused on Stolen Century and post-canon because they're so much fun.

But I also have my original idea, which is less DSMP canon and more of an SBI AU? And that's with Eret, Wilbur, Tommy, and Tubbo in the same roles as before. But then Phil, Techno, and Ranboo are the other birds. I like this one because in some ways the characters fit in better with Balance canon - Ranboo with his enderwalk is a perfect Barry, with his dead self leaving him instructions on what to do because he'll forget when he's alive, and I really like the scene with Taako killing Barry with Techno and Tubbo as an analogue for the Festival. Really, though, Ranboo just fits so perfectly in Barry's role during the ten years on Faerun that I'm actually tempted to give him main character syndrome in the other version and just stick him in with the OG L'Manburg gang. Make eight birds. It's my AU, I can do what I want.

Anyways. Then, Jack would be a fantastic Johann, (sorry king,) and I would have to find roles for the others. I really haven't thought of this version too much beyond those few scenes but they're all very special to me. Uhhh yeah I think that's it. For now. I do hope to write this one day, but I say that with everything, and no way will I actually have time to lol

#enderspeak #YAY thank you for the ask :D #I have actually started/brainstormed a few oneshots for the first one here #But I haven't gotten far in them. I love them a lot so I want to execute them right #and don't feel up to that right now. So I've been working on some other writing to try and get into the swing of things again #And. well. it's turning out to be a much bigger project than I anticipated :sob:#It was supposed to be low pressure and now I'm not even halfway through and it's nearly 5k ;-;

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