I feel like the Taaco twins' senses of personal style developed because every time Lup wanted to jump into the middle of some stupid shit, she'd hand Taako all of her accessories for safekeeping and he'd just... Put them on.

They wear matching outfits not to be some kind of weird twin stereotype but because Taako needs to be prepared to wear anything Lup has on at a moment's notice.

Pretty soon they'd have arguments about who owns any single piece of jewelry because Lup swears she bought it for herself but it's been an essential part of Taako's wardrobe for 50 years.

So by the time they get to Faerun at the end of the Stolen Century, Lup looks like she walked out of a streetwear fashion magazine except that her only accessories are a jacket and MAYBE a pair of sunglasses, and Taako jangles when he walks under the weight of all his jewelry.

You ever think about Lup and Taako’s dynamic and just like ... cry

there's nothing inherently wrong or unhealthy with a platonic relationship being the most intimate and important in someone's life (whether that person is also in a romantic relationship or not). this has been said before but people still treat it like its true. ESPECIALLY that a prioritized platonic relationship belies “codependency” even though no one would bat an eye at the exact same dynamic if it were romantic, because of the idea that a prioritized platonic relationship is somehow immature/unhealthy and something to grow out of/move on from.

the idea that the twins just go, well, you've been the person i felt safest loving and trusting in my entire life, our souls have been bound by fate and magic and our love for one another is one of the strongest bonds in the multiverse, transcending death and unimaginable loss, the motivation behind everything we’ve ever done, but since we're both in romantic relationships now and the story is over, the reasonable and in-character thing to do would be to split up and have separate nuclear families because that's the "healthy thing" (read: expected thing). there's no other form of a domestic happy ending than a marriage and typical nuclear family. you're everything to me, my entire world, my heart, see you later.

ok this got too long i'm putting it under a readmore.

(also why i don't really like the idea that taako adopts angus. "parent" is not the only important, loving role an adult can play in a child's life but people feel that need to shove everything into a nuclear family. also taako has too much going on to be the good parent that angus needs anyway. and magnus and lucretia are right there. but this is another post <- this is actually a fan fiction i’m writing, kind of)

i just find that frankly silly. i truly believe that the twins live together for the rest of their lives and are always each others' most important person (before anyone kills me i do think barry is there too. they also both love him so much. capacity for love INCREASES there’s no need for a replacement or a “moving on” it’s an addition). there's not any reason they wouldn't live together other than that it’s not “normal?” but why would they give a shit about that. their prioritization of one another isn't the unhealthy thing about their relationship. they do have other stuff going on that's actually codependent, but i think they eventually work past it and come to have a healthier (yet no less close) relationship. actually this post was originally just supposed to be about those codependent tendencies but i felt like i needed to compensate by clarifying that there are only a very specific few things abt their dynamic i find unhealthy and that by and large they’re fine, actually.

the main thing is, as is so succinctly put in this post—they aren't able to communicate about big, important decisions. not to say they never communicate about anything, i think they actually do communicate effectively about a lot of things—warning i’m going into a complete tangent here—i see a lot an idea that they’re not siblings who hug or really verbalize affection at all which is crazy to me (<- personal opinion alert) like they’re closed off and distrusting (taako more than lup, but she’s certainly not exempt from their trauma) to other people and the world at large but they have always always been each other’s exception, each other’s utmost safe place, the one person they could be absolutely comfortable around, who they never have to be afraid of. that’s one of the things i find so compelling about them, that they trust each other with their entire selves. they have no reason to ever feel defensive around each other. oh to be known so entirely and intimately and never feel ashamed or afraid of judgement or abandonment. augh. so i do think they hug.

also—i don't think they're unhealthily codependent in the sense that they "don't know how to be a person without each other" like that's certainly not true for lup and i don't really think it's true for taako either. they have their own distinct personalities and identities they just also both inform each others’ lives. they're an integral part of each other's identity the way your family or best friend or partner or most important person in your life is but again i think that's fine.

but back to the topic at hand anyway they DO hide their misgivings from each other when it comes to huge shit with world-changing, life-threatening consequences lol. when it comes to, like, turning herself into a lich, or leaving to recover her dangerous magical artifact, lup feels like she needs to be entirely decisive and confident for taako, and when it comes to his sister turning herself into a lich, or proposing a dangerous magical artifact plan, taako feels like he needs to be unflinchingly supportive and loyal for lup. and those both backfire obviously. because they trust each other so completely that they don't trust each other enough to not trust each other. weird paradox.

but really its not a lack of trust in each other its their own insecurities projected onto each other. lup second guesses herself but feels like she can’t express that uncertainty so she’s alone with her doubts which increases the pressure and stress and creates a feedback loop that only makes her more insecure. and taako feels like he doesn’t have anything to bring to the table other than backing up lup and is afraid doubting her would hurt her which means he never has an opportunity to find out he does actually have good ideas and that lup would listen to him constructively. but it manifests in lup “not trusting taako” to have her back even if she doubts herself and taako “not trusting lup” to take criticism even if his idea is good.

and honestly i think the solution to this codependency just comes with… not being in those lifethreatening situations anymore. the universe was saved and they have normal (magical fantasy world) lives. so now when they’re hiding things from each other the stakes are a lot lower. and when the stakes are lower they’re able to express uncertainty because they don’t feel that extreme and terrifying pressure anymore. lup doesn’t have to make impossible decisions and stick to them despite any doubt because she doesn’t have the survival of entire worlds on her back anymore. taako doesn’t have to always agree with lup and uncritically support her every choice because he’s not the only thing holding her together from oblivion anymore. so they're able to express doubts and nothing falls apart and they're actually stronger for it. and they’re already doing so much work on fixing their relationship just from being separated and kinda grieving for a decade too, so they eventually work past that.

and also because they have to face those insecurities and their consequences. lup got trapped in umbrella limbo for a decade and taako had his life destroyed. if lup had been able to overcome her need to put everything on her shoulders and expressed uncertainty, if taako had been able to overcome his blind loyalty and expressed doubt, would they have gone through with the relics? would they have even gone through with the lich plan? they realize only afterward that they should’ve talked about it, and so they learn from their mistakes.

another tangent—isn’t it so crazy how, by any standard, lup should be the strongwilled, passionate, heroic protagonist and taako her cynical, pragmatic, yet loyal sidekick? and yet he’s the protagonist and she the supporting character in the actual narrative? so subversive and intriguing. i cant believe this was all masterfully and purposefully written. anyway. (<- in the in-universe metanarrative version of the story, lup [and honestly, probably davenport] is the tragic ghost who haunts the narrative and lucretia & barry are the morally gray protagonist foils, and tres horny boys are supporting characters/comic relief who go on to have their own semi-important b-plot arcs that ultimately serve to further the protagonists’ arcs. btw.)

back to the twins. i also think they don't only grow post-canon, i think they grow a LOT during the century, because in the beginning, they're coming from a life where they have been not only the most important people in each other's lives, but the ONLY people in each other's lives. and now they're suddenly faced with more people, which they handle fine individually, more or less—lup is faster to warm up to the others, but even though taako's attitude is very much that he only cares about him and his, he is capable of expanding the people who are "his" (eventually). but they've never had to bring other people into their dynamic with each other before.

i don't think either of them are possessive, their relationship is built on deepest mutual respect and love and trust and "possessiveness" is kinda antithetical to that, but they can both be jealous on occasion. although there is a difference—lup is the only one who will outwardly display jealousy (and maybe a better word than jealousy would be insecurity), again because of the dynamic earlier: taako must always support whatever decisions lup makes without question. so when taako dies one cycle and all of a sudden merle and magnus and everyone else grieve him too, lup feels a sense of ownership over grief (not over taako himself, but over loving taako, just because no one else ever really has before, and she’s never had to think about the possibility that he might love other people too) that she initially may not challenge but does eventually let go of, because it's actually a good thing that other people love him now, and bringing new people into their family doesn’t make their love for each other any less. and taako has a similar experience but tbh i think its a little easier for him bc, like, who wouldn’t love lup, and lup loves other people way more freely than taako does (still not super freely, its a low bar). not that lup thinks taako is unloveable OBVIOUSLY (taako does think he’s unloveable tho) i just think they have different attitudes abt it, like they both have the moments of “but you don’t love them as much as i do!!” which is true, no one loves them as much as they do, but taako’s more willing to let that shit go bc he just doesn’t care as much what the others do as long as they don’t fuckin bother him about it. like lup sees the others equate (as she sees it, but oc they’re not actually grieving At Her) their (comparatively shallow) grief to her world-shattering loss of her best friend, only family, soulmate, silly rabbit, and she gets angry about it, but taako’s reaction is more like, “ok they’re stupid. who cares.” meanwhile and more importantly, all of a sudden lup is falling in love with barry, but taako's not one to throw a fit or demand that he's the only one who can love lup nor the only one lup can love. she’s made her decision. he just gives barry advice and lets it quietly hurt and draws distant, because he has a deep seated fear of abandonment that is now, for the first time, clashing with his unshakable trust in lup. and their relationship irrevocably changes but maybe not for the worse, because taako has, for the first time, doubted lup, a disruption to their typical (codependent) dynamic. but, of course, in the end his fears are unfounded and lup pulls him back in, because their capacity for love increases—of course lup still loves him just as much and yknow what, so does barry, and so does the rest of the crew. so he doubts and fears and is proven wrong. and so they grow and change, and their world increases from two to seven.

but that doubt doesn’t really go away for a long time, exacerbated and strained the more lup keeps secrets (especially with barry) until it reaches a head when lup finally doubts taako and does truly abandon him. but again, of course, never on purpose and never forever, they find their way back to each other despite everything and, again, come away stronger for it. the idea that the twins’ relationship is never as close again after story and song is so fucking tragic and heartrending but really i just think its unrealistic. because the rift between them is what caused their pain in the first place, of course they wouldn’t just shrug and move on. they would do anything for each other, including a lot of difficult emotional work and healing. for a little while they do have to deal with the reality that they’re not as close as they were. but they can be again. it just takes time and effort.

but anyway just to drive my point home—we mostly see taako's side of it since he is the protagonist in the real world narrative, but lup is always, always positioned within that narrative as his most important person. (and even then, lup says as much for taako! she loves barry of course but she loves taako so much he’s her heart!!) when thb see their lives after the hunger in paloma's prophecy, taako sees himself cooking with lup. she's textually representative of healing and joy in his future, and she's the main character present in his epilogue too. she's his greatest loss and his greatest love, positioned in exactly the same place as julia and merle's kids. there are a myriad of love stories going on in balance and a myriad of love stories involving taako that are all beautiful and significant in their own right but i really do think the main one in his life is lup!!

well all that to say they’re my favorite little critters ever and i’m studying them under a microscope forever. how do you end posts

Something something transgenderism being contagious lmao

Man TZoA:I really is just that good. I never get tired of listening to it I have heard it all a million times before and I'll hear it a million times again I'm rotating it in my mind 24/7. Imbalance really just is that good

Sexiest Podcast Character — Unscripted Bracket — Round 2

Propaganda

Lup (The Adventure Zone: Balance):

Is somehow the hot twin between her and Taako

Lup Bluejeans (née... Taaco? Tacco? Taco? Tako? who tf knows this is why I'm going with her husband's last name. doylistly she gets her last name from her brother whose last name is given as "Taako again but spelled differently"): Hot, funny, smart and undead. Is there anything else you could want in a woman?? Well, in case there is: she's also canonically trans

Sans Undertale (Interstitial: Our Hearts Intertwined: Authority):

He's Sans Undertale and he's dating John Cena.

sanscena is an all time podcast ship and i truly believe he can stand up to the more popular podcasts through the power of old man yaoi

Anon, math wise, I think we can still beat Lup. It'll be hard, but every challenge is. If it was easy... anyone in the world could do it... sans.. will win...

I have an incredibly vivid memory of walking laps in the park in the pouring rain listening to Interstitial because I was so engrossed in Sans Emotions, having to stop and go "what the hell am I doing", and then continuing to walk laps in the rain because I realized I knew exactly what I was doing and it ruled actually. I promise you he deserves this for Interstitial

We are the most contentious poll... we can do it, gamers. Sans can win!!

vote for sancena.

Vote Sans Undertale Gaster Cena Interstitial. The five-named Sans. The best Sans. Undertale or otherwise.

Also make sure you don't tag any of these for the game, we have to win this on the back of the podcast... we can do this... it's an uphill battle... every obstacle a mountain... but we can do it if we believe... magic is real love is real Sans Undertale Will Win

my psionic pokemon warriors. can i trouble you to cast a vote for sans undertale in this trying time

imagine not voting sans

hey everyone. i am speaking directly into your ear now. friends at the table has a billion characters in this bracket, but sans undertale is only here once. and he's married to john cena.

SANS GANG... HE DESERVES THIS.... WE CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN. THINK OF HIS BOYFRIEND!!!!

Mod Note: This is a poll for podcast characters. Please vote and offer propaganda for the Sans Undertale that is dating John Cena and appears in the podcast Interstitial: Our Hearts Intertwined: Authority.

Something short and sweet for @taznovembercelebration day 10

Day 10: sick

The Taaco twins have one cardinal rule: if you receive a text consisting of SOS and a number, you call your twin in that many minutes and give them an excuse to leave wherever they are. No questions asked.

Read it on AO3

Taako's having a nondescript night at home when his phone lights up with a text.

lupdelup

SOS 7

He waits exactly seven minutes, then calls her.

“Hello?” She should get an Oscar for that greeting alone. It's a perfect tone of slight confusion with a tinge of concern.

“Lup,” he puts on a performance of his own, making his voice sound weak and strained, “you gotta come home right now.”

“Taako? Are you okay? What's going on?”

“I'm really sick,” he lays dramatically on the couch for effect, tossing an arm over his eyes, “I haven't been able to keep anything down, and we're out of tums and tylenol.”

“Alright, it's okay.” Her voice quiets a bit through the phone as she talks to the shmuck that she was convinced to go on a date with, “I'm sorry, I gotta go. My brother-”

“He's a grown man.” The guy's voice is quiet, seeing as the phone isn't on speaker, but Taako's able to pick it out. “Sit down.” He sounds like a douche.

“Lup,” he groans, “my stomach hurts so bad, and I'm burning up. I think I need to go to the hospital.”

“He's in a really bad way,” she says to the guy, “I need to go help him.”

He can only get a vague impression of the guy grumbling, but Lup says goodbye to him and a moment later, she says into the phone, “what a fucking asshole.”

He drops the ailing brother act, “that bad, huh?”

“Ugh,” he hears her car door slam, “me telling him I needed to leave just now was the most words I've been able to say in a row all night.”

“Gross.”

“Just wait ‘til I get home, it gets worse.”

“I'll see you soon.”

“Thank youuuuu.”

They hang up, and Taako goes back to his show. About 25 minutes later, the door swings open and slams shut.

“This fucking guy-”

About a month later, Taako's home alone again while Lup's out on a date. But he isn't waiting for an SOS, because this date in particular is with one Barry Bluejeans. Lup probably wouldn't admit it, but she's been cuckoo for him from the moment she laid her eyes on him and he opened his mouth. As far as Taako's concerned, they've been going on dates for ages now, they just lied to themselves and said they were hanging out as friends. But this date is for realsies. “We said it was romantic and everything,” Lup had told him a few days prior, buzzing with excitement.

Lup said she'd be back later that night, but he's honestly not expecting to hear from her until morning. So when his phone lights up, he's confused.

lupdelup

SOS 2

Taako scoffs and goes against SOS protocol, texting her back:

🌮🔔

No

lupdelup

what?

🌮🔔

Unless you give me a reason, absolutely not

lupdelup

I thought the whole point of this system was no questions asked

🌮🔔

I've had to listen to you talk about this guy for YEARS

You get all wistful about it every single time

If you tell me he's a creep or a douche or secretly racist or something, ill call you, but im not giving you a bail out call if you're just getting all in your own head overthinking and freaking out about being on a date with THE barold bluejaens.

lupdelup

Taako please i dont know if i can do this

🌮🔔

Of course you can, you're LUP

He's lucky that you're into him and i know that he knows that

Tell you what

I'll give you an SOS 60

lupdelup

60 is so many though

🌮🔔

I'll call you in an hour. If you still want to bail, then bail. But go back to your man and enjoy it. From what I know about him, it'll be the best date you've been on in months

lupdelup

Maybe even years.

🌮🔔

I'll talk to you in an hour

lupdelup

Fine

Asshole.

Taako sets himself a timer for 60 human minutes and goes about his evening. When it goes off, he considers not calling and waiting to see how long it'll take her to notice. But he's a man of his word, especially for Lup, so he calls. It rings, and rings, and rings. Taako's hopeful, Lup almost always picks up SOS calls on the second ring. It rings one more time before he's sent to voicemail.

The phone beeps in his ear.

“Your call has been forwarded to our automatic voice message system. Lup Taaco isn't available right now. Leave a message after the tone.”

“Told you,” he says, and hangs up.

Lup doesn't come home until morning.

This is incredibly self-indulgent but.

Modern Stranger Things AU. Steve and Robin get really into the adventure zone. And decide to go to a con or a liveshow or a costume party as really really elaborate Taaco twins. Because. Of course.

And Eddie isnt really into Taz because he takes DND too seriously but is tangentially aware and is like. Wait. CAN I BE THE GRIM REAPER? and it's a fun little time. But. Because of the scene in my head this is Ronance. Because hear me out. If Steve's boyfriend is part of their twins cosplay, Robins girlfriend has to be too.

Nancy doesn't listen to Taz cause it's not her sense of humor, but she's heard Robin ramble about it and she's like. Babe. Can we not be one of the several wlw ships you've talked about for hours? And Robins like. No! It's a twins cosplay. And Nancy doesn't really mind cosplaying a guy it's just. His name is Barry Bluejeans and he canonically wears So Much Denim and even if Nancy isn't super concerned with fashion it feels. Too much. To wear denim on denim on denim. But Robin's so so excited. So she's like. *big sigh* okay.

So Eddie, Steve and Robin have these beautiful elaborate fantasy outfits and Nancy is there, reluctantly, in a Canadian tuxedo.

For the prompts - 14 with the twins mayhaps? (I love your writing so much)

Thank you so much for this, you're so kind and I'm really glad you enjoy!

Prompt 14 is: You drive me insane. Obviously I would go to hell for you. (perfect for the twins)

--

“I hate you.”

“I hate you too.” Taako twists another chunk of Lup’s curls up on top of her head.

“I hate you harder.”

“Good. It gives cha’boy strength.”

Lup snaps her teeth at him in the mirror.

Taako doesn’t flinch, just grins back as big and as smug as he can.

“Just stop taking my makeup?” She makes her eyes go wide enough that Taako almost relents.

He doesn’t though, he’s stronger than that, he’s a lifetime veteran of The Lup Look. She shouldn’t use it so often if she wants it to keep its potency. “How else was cha’boy supposed to get this shiny?” Taako wiggles his shimmery shimmery arm.

“By buying your own glitter, Goofus.”

“Uh huh, yeah, sure, no problem, cha’boy’ll start doing that as soon as you start buying your own skirts. Also washing up liquid.”

“I got some!”

“You got the off brand shit.” Taako doesn’t even try to hide his distain.

“It works just as wel…”

“No it fucking doesn’t! We’ve had this conversation, I refuse to believe that you think for a second that it does, you’re smarter than that.” Taako pins another chunk of hair firmly (but gently) in place.

“Aw! You think I’m smart?” Lup bats her eyelashes and gives him the sickliest smile she can manage in the mirror.

“I didn’t say that!” 

“You absolutely did, but fine, we’ll test the Garfield dish stuff sometime.” Lup shrugs nonchalantly, too nonchalantly.

Taako looks her straight in her mirror eyes. “You swapped it!” 

“I didn’t.” Mirror Lup avoids looking back at him.

“Prove it.”

“Prove I did!”

“Taako doesn’t need to prove it, he knows it.”

“Oh, so you decided I did something and that’s it forever? What if I assume you’re going to let me have full control of the TV for the rest of the month?”

“Breaking news, Dingus, you’re not Taako and therefore it doesn’t matter.”

“Cha’girl’s just decided that it works when she decides something’s true too.”

“That’s not how it works!”

“Then how does it work?”

Taako pins the last of her hair into place and adds the pins that make it look like there’s flames springing up from her crown.

“It works.”

“That’s not an answer, Ko.” Lup turns her head a few times, then adds, “...thanks, that looks great.”

“Yeah you do!”

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere.”

“It’s important to boost your confidence, Taako knows it’s tough being the less hot twin.” 

Lup kicks him. Taako isn’t entirely sure how because she’s sat down and he’s behind her and there’s a fucking chair in the way, but she manages it because she’s nothing if not resourceful.

“We have the same face!”

“Sure we do.” 

“You’re the worst.”

“I know you are, you said you are, but what am I?” Taako sticks his tongue out.

“Have I ever told you that I hate you?”

Taako taps his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm… have you, Lup Taaco, my most beloved sister, ever told me, your darling brother, that you hate me? Surely not! Surely you would never hurt cha’boy that way.”

Lup’s eyes narrow and Taako surreptitiously double checks where the nearest exit is. He can hurdle the costuming tables no problem. Sure, it’d take a while for Lucretia to forgive him if he fucked up her system, but life or death…

“Twintentional Destruction! It’s go time in 60 seconds!” Ren shouts through the door.

“We’re gonna crush ‘em.” Lup jumps out of the chair, there’s no ounce of doubt in her voice, it’s just fact.

“Natch.” Taako shrugs. “We’re unstoppable.”

“Do you wanna do the piggyback, or should I?”

“You can get on my back this time. You had that cool pose we practised.”

“Hell yeah! They’re not gonna know what hit ‘em.”

“What hit ‘em’ll be you. Clotheslining them from my back.”

“Fine, they might know…”

“But if we’re really quick…” Taako adds

“Then they might at least be slightly confused.”

“Do you know anything about these guys?” 

Taako had meant to, you know, do some kind of google or ask literally anyone for any information, but time happened and then the fight was today. He’d figure it out once he got out there.

Lup skrunkles up her nose in thought as they walk towards the staging area. “Nah. I think one of them was called Bluejean or something?”

“I saw some incredible feather cloak on the costume table, but ‘Creesh threatened to put a curse on me if I tried to steal it.”

“Did you try anyway?”

“Look, magic doesn’t exist right? But if it did…”

“If it did then Lucretia would definitely use it to damn your soul forever if you messed up the system.”

“Exactamundo. So you see how it’s not worth finding out if she can or not?”

“Yeah, fair. I’d miss you if she banished you to the depths of super hell.” Lup pats him fondly on the shoulder as they reach their marked entrance spot. Ren nods, holds up both hands to let them know there’s 10 seconds to go.

“I’d miss you too. Now let’s go murder some fresh meat.”

“Denim Man and Feather Boy are going down!”

Lup jumps onto his back and raises a triumphant fist. There’s no way they’re not taking victory tonight.

Propaganda

Mario and Sonic:

People who pit these two against each other are WRONG. They both regularly meet up for the Olympics and they're great friends. Mario and Sonic probably get competitive when facing each other in sports but would definitely compliment each other afterwards and then go and get chilli dogs and spaghetti or something. They would bond over suggesting platforming tequiques to each other (where do you think Mario got his rolling ability from?), and they probably have a group chat with the other characters where they all talk about their adventures!

Tim Stoker, Lup, and Taako:

I have so many thoughts built up from drafting a TMA + TAZ crossover fic which I will hopefully one day post, specifically season three of TMA and the Stolen Century arc of Balance (and this is going to be incomprehensible if you haven't listened to both podcasts, sorry op). I just feel like both of the twins would get along with Tim so well on a base level, but especially a combination of the traumatized and depressed Tim of season three and the post-Legato deep into the cycles Lup and Taako of the Stolen Century arc. In my AU the TMA world is just one of the many that the Starblaster crew encountered during the century. As far as Lup goes, I feel like she would be able to connect with Tim's grief over Danny and Sasha (but especially Danny) and help him find a way to get revenge against the Circus that doesn't end in his death. Because of the mechanics of the cycles Lup's probably lost Taako early in a year at least once or twice, so she knows the grief of losing a brother, and whether you see Tim and Sasha's relationship as romantic or platonic (I personally headcanon them as a QPR but that's neither here nor there) she's got experience with that sort of grief as well through Barry and the rest of the crew. More than that, she has experience finding perspective and reasons to keep living beyond that loss and beyond the need to avenge it that Tim desperately needs. Above all, though, Tim really needed someone in his corner during season three to side with him about how utterly fucked and unfair the entire situation with the Archives and the Unknowing and help him figure out a solution to work towards, and Lup, being the magical powerhouse that she is, would be absolutely delighted to help him torch the Circus to the ground from a safe distance. On the Taako side of the equation, I feel like Taako's characterization during Stolen Century is simultaneously a good mirror and a good opposite to Tim in terms of their attitudes versus their circumstances. On the one hand both of them theoretically share the motivation of fighting to save the world for the people they care about, only Taako has already lost his home world to the Hunger and Tim has already lost his two most important people to the Stranger. On the other hand you have Tim's whole "you're the only one I can trust is still you" dealio with Jon from MAG 114 and Taako's "everyone aside from the six of you are dust" speech from the last part of Stolen Century, both of them clinging to people they feel they can trust in response to growing despair. While Lup would help channel Tim's anger into something productive and cathartic, Taako would help by just letting him sit with his feelings for a bit, not pressuring him to get over it or rush into forgiveness. And finally from Tim's perspective, I feel like it would be such a comfort to him to have the support of two powerful people who feel just as strongly about the situation as he does. Lup is an immensely powerful evocation wizard and Taako is a talented and skilled transmutation wizard, both of them are incredibly intelligent scientists and arcane scholars in their own right, and both of them are used to dealing with end of the world level threats on the regular. Knowing that both of them are on his side and are actively working with him to fix a situation he's otherwise felt utterly powerless within for a long time would be such an emotional thing for him. On top of all that, beyond just helping take down the Unknowing and deal with his grief, Lup and Taako are two fantastically funny and goof-loving personalities who could help bring out more of the old playfulness and lightheartedness that Tim had before things got so bad just by interacting with him. Anyways, thank you for coming to my TED talk op, hope you enjoy my 700+ word essay on why being adopted by the Tacco twins would fix Tim Stoker's mental health :)

HEIST TIME! ✦✦✦ [ID: a digital painting of Taako and Lup Tacco, twin elves, both with tan skin, dark reddish hair, and freckles. Lup has her arm around Taako and is wearing a black wide-brimmed hat, a sleeveless red halter dress with a high leg slit, dark red gloves that go to her upper arm, and low heels. Taako is wearing a light blue dress shirt with a purple bow tie, tucked into a purple corset, blue pants with circles and stars on them, and black dress shoes. He is holding the Umbrastaff, a purple, pink, and yellow umbrella. The background is light purple, with a pink grid and yellow stars. The two are outlined in yellow. END ID]

Fixed my designs from last year

[image id: two pictures depicting the Taaco siblings. On the left, lup is a tan elf with knee length pink hair, black lipstick, and long pointed ears. She’s wearing a golden wizard hat that opens on the bottom to reveal a cloudy blue sky inside. She wears a primarily yellow outfit, suggesting a day theme, with multicolored red and blue scarves tied around her neck and waist, large bell earrings, and blue gradient thigh high boots. She’s posed with her hands on her hips. On the right, taako has similarly dyed pink hair, cut in a bob that reaches his shoulders, as well as some pink scruffy facial hair. He wears holographic heart shaped glasses. His outfit is night themed, with a black wizard hat that opens to reveal a night sky. He wears a sleeveless dark blue robe with alchemical symbols over a poofy shirt, a blue apron, black pants, and blue and gold pointed shoes. He has a starry purple scarf tied as a belt, which mirrors the scarves in Lup’s design. He is holding the umbrastaff over his shoulder. End ID.]

Making a Lup design to go with my Taako

they only wear the official shirts on laundry day

[Image ID: A twelve panel tricolour comic featuring Taako, Lup, and Lucretia from The Adventure Zone: Balance podcast. Lucretia is a young woman with dark skin and medium-length curly black hair. Lup is an elf with medium-tone skin and long, pale hair. Taako is an elf with medium-tone skin and pale, fluffy hair cut just below his ears. All three characters wear red tee shirts with a round patch on the left breast that reads ‘IPRE’. Lup has the sleeves of her shirt rolled up.

In the first two panels, Lucretia is pouring herself a cup of tea while Lup stares at her back, chin in her hand, looking perturbed. Math equations are floating around Lup’s head. Lucretia turns around with a concerned expression to ask, “Are you staring at me for a reason, or...?” and Lup seems flustered -- she slams a hand on the table and points at Lucretia, shouting, “I wanna know the secret to your perfect curls, Luce!” She is blushing, and nervous sweatdrops are flying off her head.

In the third panel, Lucretia is hugging her mug of tea to her chest, and looking surprised and flustered. She is blushing. She says, “Oh, uhh, I can show you what I do?” Lup is not visible in the panel, but her speech bubble says, “Hell yeah!”

In the fourth through sixth panels, Lucretia and Lup are wrapped in towels, and look as though they have just bathed. Lup is wringing the water out of her hair while Lucretia looks over a bottle in her hands. Lucretia says, “You wash curly hair with oil so you don’t dry it out.” Lup says, “No shit?” and Lucretia continues, “I mixed herbs into this one, so--” In the next panel, Lucretia has noticed that Lup is wringing her hair, and slaps her hands with an abrupt, “Don’t do that!” Lup looks startled. In the final panel, Lup is bent over laughing and exclaims, “omg LUCY,” and Lucretia looks incredibly embarrassed. She clutches the oil bottle to her chest and waves her free hand wildly, saying, “I’m sorry! It’s-- you aren’t supposed to-- it’s gotta be-- if it’s not, you can-- uhh--”

In the seventh panel, both women are sitting on a mattress, and Lucretia is combing through Lup’s hair with her fingers. Lup’s eyes are closed, and she’s swinging one leg delightedly. Lucretia explains, “Using your fingers to comb lets you feel for knots and keeps your curls intact,” and Lup says, “Sure~”

In the eighth panel, Lucretia is standing by a sink with her hair pulled up with a handkerchief. Lup is struggling to do the same, and is sticking her tongue out. Lucretia explains, “And you, um, sleep with the pineapple in so the curls can stay protected. Do you need help?” Lup says, “Ya girl’s just... got a lot of-- hair--” In the ninth panel, both women are leaning forward and scrunching their hands through their hair. Barry, a white man with dark hair and glasses, also wearing a red shirt, is leaning into the doorway, looking confused. A question mark hovers over his head. Lucretia explains, “And then you scrunch the shit out of it.” Lup goes, “Pfft, so like Koko having a meltdown. ‘Someone used all my SAFFRON! How dare you, this is the most tragic thing that’s ever happened to me!’” Lucretia laughs, “omg LUP”

In the tenth panel, Lucretia is apprehensively watching as Lup examines the results of their work. Both women are blushing. Lup is fluffing her now-curly long, pale hair with one hand, and looking startled and thrilled. Gold stars are sparkling around her head. Lucretia asks, “What do you think?” and Lup exclaims, “Lucretia, oh my GODS!”

In the eleventh panel, Lup is slamming her hand against a wall, and has her opposite hand on her hip, posing dramatically. The gold stars are still sparkling around her. “Guess who’s the hotter twin, BITCH,” she says to her twin. Taako points at her accusingly, his expression affronted and a large “GASP!!!” written over his head. 

In the twelfth and final panel, Lucretia is sipping at a mug of tea with a knowing expression, and Taako is beside her, one of his hands on the counter behind them and the other raised with his pointer finger extended. He squints back the way he came, looking irate. Lucretia says, “I’ve been sworn to secrecy, y’know,” and he argues, “Listen, Creesh. This goes against the cosmic order of things. I HAVE to know. I won’t beg, but I WILL barter.” Lucretia suggests, “Four batches of elderflower macaroons?” and Taako says, “Done.”]

HAD to doodle these two again because I,, love them

Love the transgender dynamics between the Taaco Twins as like. One's an amazing transgender character without that factor having a major impact on her story, while the other has an INCREDIBLY trans-coded storyline in the sequel without explicitly talking about his gender. Opposite but complementary transgenderness.