[image description: a two-panel comic. First is Taako from the shoulders up. He has light brown skin and long pink hair that’s flowing behind him. He’s saying, “Am I?…I’m not going to lose you again.” Second panel is Lup in her lich form from the neck up. She has dark skin, completely white eyes, and short light hair. Her form is squiggly as if she isn’t corporeal. She says, “Never. Never again, bud.”]
sizzle it up with the twins! !! Lots of gossip to catch up
[image: an illustration of Taako and Lup as they stand behind a counter, preparing food. They have light brown skin and blonde hair. Lup is leaning forward to read a cookbook as she stirs a bowl of something. Her hair is pulled back with a red headband and she’s wearing a tanktop that says “aw yeah bitches.” Taako is cutting vegetables and checking out a pot of something cooking. His long hair is braided and he’s wearing a green bandanna and a tshirt that says: “Y’all still straight? …in this economy?” There are lots of speech bubbles between them consisting of emojis, mostly skulls with red hoods, scythes, hearts, and flames.]
magnus: hey taako lets rush into this super cool and probably dangerous area that could possibly get us killed!!
taako:
[image: a drawing of Taako, an elf with dark brown skin and curly black hair. He’s wearing a pink wizard’s hat and a black tshirt that reads: “I would prefer not to.” His hands are raised slightly and he has an uncomfortable grimace on his face.]
The greatest part of Candlenights is that it is so all-consumingly long! My gift for @evitcani-writes for the @ttazce2017 Candlenights Exchange! This is less of a single piece and more of a hodgepodge of multiple ones, and hopefully youll still enjoy that! It meant I got to draw more Kravitz and Magnus so we all win here.
this incident gets a brief mention in the Burnsides Island vacation fic I’m working on:
“Hey! Hey Jules! Guess who finally came to visit?”
“We already met, hon, ‘round the side. Actually, this’ll be twice now, counting that show back in the day. But it’s damn fine to meet you, Taako from TV. I’ve heard so much about you. You’ve got some fans, that’s for sure.”
You’re in a marketplace. Perhaps you came to run some errands. Perhaps you came to man your own shop. Perhaps you came to take a simple walk, do some window shopping and see some familiar faces.
Either way, you find yourself sitting down on a bench. On the other side of this bench is an instrument shop having an end-of-season sale. The owner, an old man smoking a pipe, sits crosslegged in front of his shop, eyeing the wares he has on display. He does this for good reason; he’s put out many an instrument outside his shop. There are drums, clarinets, flutes and cellos all in pristine condition. The biggest instrument, a large black grand piano sits proudly in the middle of this display, the sign “TRY ME!” hanging off an edge.
Perhaps you see a instrument you can play. Perhaps you move closer, feeling the storekeepers eyes burn into you as you pick one up, play a little tune. Perhaps you stay in your seat, content to watch others come up and try their hand-a little girl, banging the drums loudly with childish glee until her parents come to stop her. An old woman, picking up the cello and playing a song you’ve heard before but can’t put a name to. A teenage boy, looking around furtively before picking up a flute and playing a haunting melody that brings tears to your eyes.
(He doesn’t buy the flute, disappearing into the crowd as fast as he appeared. You look at the store keeper and see him also staring into the crowd, a sense of loss in his demeanor.)
And then there’s the couple.
You do not know that they’re a couple at first. They break from the crowd together, something you’d assumed to have been coincidence. The human man is wearing a pale blue button down shirt with blue jeans and a brown belt. His hair is beginning to thin, small spots of head showing from beneath his curly brown locks. The woman is elven and rocking it, fishnet tights paired with a velvet mini skirt and a pink tank top to match. Her hair is up in a ponytail and it brushes the man’s shoulder as they both go for different objects-the elf picks up a violin and strokes it, running her hands across the rosewood body. The human turns to the piano.
Yes, you do not know that they’re a couple at first, because how could two people so different possibly ever come together? You are dead wrong. (And also a bit stereotypical. It’s 2018, get with the program.)
The elf moves over to the human, violin and bow in one hand and the other moving toward his shoulder. “Play off?”
He looks at her with a puzzled smile, placing one of his own hands over her own. “We haven’t played in a long time,” he says, and she just smiles wider. “We’ll start slow,” she assures him, a chaste kiss on his forehead. “First person to mess up loses.”
He rolls his shoulders back and cracks his fingers. “Well then,” he says, a wolfish grin breaking over his face. “I’d better get started winning, then.”
When they start to play, they do not attract much attention. The melody is slow and lazy, both musicians playing the same song. It reverberates through the space, and from the corner of your eye you see the shopkeeper uncross his legs and lean towards the music.
The song repeats again and again, a faster tempo each time. The elf is clearly leading the song, the piano always picking up a few notes after the violin. It’s a race as much as it’s a melody and soon they haven’t only attracted attention.
They’ve attracted a crowd.
Shoppers stop in their tracks to watch the duo battle. There are whispers amongst the crowd, mutterings of a story and song. You may have heard the story and song. You may have not. But either way you do not take your eyes off them. They play with fervor, glancing every so often at each other with grins on their faces. The elf isn’t still as she plays, moving in circles around the piano and calling out taunts with vicious glee. Her lover is not as expressive, focusing on the piano keys with determination. They play, they play and they play and-
The woman hits a wrong note.
She stops playing immediately but he does not, speeding up the tempo even as she takes the violin from her chin and the crowd starts to clap. It’s only after he finishes the song by himself that he looks up at her wearing the most shit-eating grin you have ever seen in your short, long life.
“I win,” he says, and the crowd erupts into applause as he stands to take an exaggerated bow. She comes to his side as well, whispering something in his ear that makes him smile and blowing kisses to the masses. The crowd starts to part, then, and perhaps you stay seated. Perhaps you begin to leave as well, standing up and stretching, ready to get on with your life.
You do not get far enough to miss this.
The man slides back onto the piano bench, setting his fingers on certain keys. The woman looks at him quizzically, unsure of her husband’s actions (they are married, you know; their wedding rings catch the light when they turn and twist.). She does not put down her own instrument, waiting to see what would happen next.
And then he starts to play.
This melody is rough in some places, a few notes grating with the tempo and tune that he sets. It’s a simple song, so different from the show of skill they’d just put up. It’s…weird, and yet at the same time remarkably charming, and you find yourself leaning towards the music, as if it was a story you wanted to hear more of.
And then the violin.
It’s when the elf joins in that the music starts to make sense. She smooths out the edges, perfecting the melody. The song deepens, becoming more and more intricate as their melodies seem to weave around each other, a delicate symbiosis of song that people once again turn toward. Time slows down around the couple, the people around them slowing their pace in an effort to hear them play longer.
And then she stops playing.
The piano continues, first with confidence and then with a stutter. The tune starts to collapse,the right keys being missed and the wrong ones being struck as the man fights to keep it together. There is a sort of fear on his face, you see, but not the the kind you would expect from a lover being left behind. He isn’t afraid of losing her. He’s afraid of never finding her again. The song he plays is horribly beautiful, and you find yourself holding your breath, glancing at the elven woman to see if-no, when she would join back in.
And then she does.
The song rights itself immediately, violin and piano both rising to a crescendo that screams of joy and relief before collapsing back into their refrain, love in every measure, longing in every note. They play, they play, and then they stop playing, the last notes from the piano ringing clearly through the market.
She puts down the violin and he takes his hands off the keys. They look up and stare at each other, silent and wide-eyed, as if meeting for the first time.
The shopkeeper starts to clap. A few passerby join in as well, and perhaps you do as well but you’re not sure if they can even hear the applause around them, so caught up in each other’s gaze that the world might as well have fallen away.
She breaks the spell first, walking over and kissing him hard on the lips. He’s startled but he kisses back, a smile growing on both of their faces until they pull apart, foreheads still touching. He whispers something and she laughs, whispering something back that makes him draw her closer for another kiss. They stay like this for a second, hands and lips clasped together for dear life until-
“Excuse me,” the shopkeeper’s gruff voice breaks them both out of their shared trance and they turn to stare at him.
“Are you going to buy those two instruments?” He says, pointing at the piano and violin. The couple look at each other for a second before the human sighs, digging out his wallet.
when killian’s nullsuit helmet cracks in the miller lab and she can’t go on in the mission, she says that it’s the most frustrating thing ever bc “all she’s ever wanted in life up until this moment is to destroy lucas,” which heavily implies that this is not the first time killian has wanted to kick lucas miller’s ass. this then raises the question as to what those exact instances have been. in this essay, i will
…I saw a brilliant light heralded by seven birds flying tirelessly from the storm. (Please consider supporting me and my art on Patreon and Ko-Fi! Patrons get early access to my TIZ drawings and lots of fun behind the scenes stuff. Links in bio and pinned post ^^)
Taako is that one friend who will go to Kwik Trip dressed to the nines, and then go to the club a week later in his pajamas and that’s the tea.
Click for quality!
[ID: A digital drawing of Taako, a thin elf with chin length blonde hair, bangs, medium toned skin, and freckles. He is wearing a dark blue suit with a gold embroidered pattern on the pants and hems of the jacket. The jacket is open to reveal a large piece of jewelry made from gold chain that resembles a harness. He is wearing big round sunglasses, and his wizard hat is also decorated with gold chains. In his hand is a bag labeled Fantsy Kwik Trip. End ID]
When you’re supposed to be collecting his soul for the goddess of death, but it turns out he’s cute and he invites you on a date at the Chug n’ Squeeze on the moon.
Commissions are open! PM me for details!
[ID: A digital drawing of Taako and Kravitz from The Adventure Zone. Taako is a thin elvish man with medium toned skin, long blonde hair and freckles. He is leaning on the handle of his red umbrastaff and smiling up at Kravitz, a tall half elf man with dark skin and dreadlocks. Kravitz is taking a step back with a suprised expression on his face. They are standing in a room The is being taken over by pink chunks of crystal with a large glowing blue portal in the background. END ID]
