ID [ A tan elf in a massive, floppy wizards hat smiles and blushes as he receives a fried shrimp emoji text. He wears a hot pink hat that covers his eyes, a pink and orange plaid jacket, purple pants, and green and white lightning bolt boots. Set against a light purple background, he leans against something, and crosses his arm and leg.]
I’ve gotten out of the habit of posting Takes so I hope no one was wondering why I hadn’t posted more Imbalance takes since the first episode came out Thanksgiving was busy and I was late finishing it, and yeah just don’t feel as much of an impulse to share my thoughts these days. But just to check in, I’m pretty happy with the arc overall! It was too short, yes, but it was like an extended live show in that way. I had emotions about the end and the gift each character got, especially Dav getting to process his regrets about Lucretia (aahh) and Taako just wanting to adventure again!! It gave me good feelings about the state of each of them post-Balance. It’s nice to know they’re still developing even ten years on. Yeah!! I enjoyed it. End of take ☺️
now that we’ve gotten to see a lot more of davenport it’s really funny to think that he’s just… like that. like how he acted on the pirate ship? that’s how he was for the whole stolen century. it explains. so much
it also explains why lucretia was like that as the director. this is who she was taking leadership cues from
[ID: Digital drawings of Captain “The Admiral” Anara. She is a human woman with brown skin and a curvy build. Her waist-length, sea green locs are decorated in jewels, seaweed and seashells. She is wearing a bright red admiral’s Jacket, over a brown corset, a ripped, light blue blouse and black trousers. She has a decorative green scarf and big brown belt around her waist. She has a lot of earrings and is strapped with scabbards. The left drawing shows her posed with one had on her hip and weilding a scimitar with the other. The right drawing is a portait of her giving a smirk. End ID]
only here roughly 20 minutes but already one of the coolest npcs
TAZ IMBALANCE SCREAMING below but I’ll tag spoilers as well
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DAVENPORT VINDICATION BABYYYYYY THANK YOU BASED GRIFFIN!
God this is exactly what I’ve wanted since the high seas adventure live show. So happy to get some Davenport characterization. I hope Lucretia features prominently as an NPC though because a reunion arc really needs her to be apart of the story.
Loving Aabria’s DMing so far! I haven’t watched her other shows but I feel like TAZ is in good hands and that she’s done her research!
A ten year time skip is great too because post-canon stories have always interested me; there’s so much to dig into there. The boys have ended up in a place that feels about right, ten years really isn’t too long for them so nothing hugely dramatic has changed since the live shows, though Taako probably has some stuff going on that he’s hiding. Glad that Griffin thought of the Lucretia-Davenport awkwardness inherent in their relationship now but the Taako-Lucretia awkwardness didn’t come up so I wonder if that’s going to be explored at all.
Um I love that Magnus doesn’t train his dogs like with commands and a clicker or something normal, but is actually running an adventurer boot camp where the dogs are like running drills and doing combat lol
The evolution of Susan as a background character is surprising but not unwelcome and also she and Taako have just been locked in a passive aggressive stalemate for a full decade. Kravitz the most patient man in the world right in the middle.
Oh, lastly, the glee on Griffin’s face when he realized Aabria figured out how to take the RFPSoD away from Magnus for this campaign.
OK I’m sure I missed some thoughts but I’m just excited for more! We get more guys! Can you believe we actually get more?? Oh boy. I just hope we get a good dose of Lup and Barry as well Hopefully. We’ll see. I don’t even know what the plot of the story even is yet lol but WE WILL SEE
Edit: oh one more note. Fanfic writers thank Aabria for making smart phones a canon thing so you don’t have to shrug and say that the Stone of Farspeech has like texting and a camera too lmao
Incoming but not Obligatory Plea to the Village from Your Local Court Jester™
With the buzz of TAZ Imbalance coming just around the corner, please remember that fans and creators operate from two very different degrees of separation from an original work. I’m saying this knowing that there will be folks arguing, “the boys are playing the characters wrong >:0” and “how could they possibly forget this integral part of canon?” While those can’t be helped, they can be acknowledged before the ball really gets rolling.
Fans have the freedom to devote time and energy to explore AUs and talk meta with other fans. They can fill plot holes and gaps because they have the power of God and Anime community on their side. To the point where it’s easy to forget that fanon accepted things are not canon. Or forget that your specific flavor of character and story exploration have been tailored to your own tastes.
Creators on the other hand, are not wed to one story. The McElroy’s have juggled four main campaigns, multiple mini-arcs, live shows, and other franchises since 2015 and beyond. They don’t always have the luxury to refine or explore their own meta. I remember reading an interview about when they were working on the first Balance graphic novel; they hadn’t considered the main storyline from Lucretia’s perspective until it came up in the scriptwriting process. Lucretia! One of the cruxes on which the plot hinged!
That was over a year after the main story had concluded. And yes, they are more atuned to their fandom than most creators can afford to be. But with years of gap time, they are different people today, who will play their characters differently. And that’s cool and okay! Just don’t into Imbalance expecting it to go one way, only to be outraged when it goes another.
One option for mitigating this issue could be for fan and creator to relisten to Balance beforehand. But that’s the least-likely option. (There is a statical error in the average podcast listener experience. Podcast listener Herbgerblin, who has listened to every podcast at least ten times, is an outlier and should not be counted.) The other option is to let this be something familiar, but not too familiar (HAH. I’m so sleepy I wrote this at 2:00am) and enjoy the ride. Last option is to not listen at all and live in your bliss. ✨✨✨
But consider: Aabria girlbossing her way to being queen of the modern podcast realm and getting everything she deserves :0
[id: a digital drawing of Kuo, a person with light purplish skin and long sage green braids, pulled up into a ponytail. They have yellow eyes with glowing white pupils, and are wearing a blue lipstick. There are golden freckles on their face. They’re dressed in dark red trousers, a belt with a golden buckle shaped like a rose, and an open bright yellow shirt, revealing black, yellow and red vines and flowers tattooed on their chest. They have pointy ears with tunnels, adorned with huge golden circles. Their left arm is outstretched, and there’s a vine and some sparkles appearing from their palm. /end id]
The mental image of Susan running out to take a picture and her boss’s boyfriend running in after her and scooping her to take her out is absolutely perfect.
(I must amend my mistake for a major detail I added in this story now that we have updated information lol)
Kravitz hates having to leave in the middle of dinner to go to a work related emergency. It doesn’t happen too often, but it happens often enough that it irks him greatly. Couldn’t necromancers and undead beings hold off on doing their nefarious work from seven to eight pm everyday? Or even just every other day? He’s sure Lup and Barry would love the consistent break too if they could just make that happen.
Unfortunately, he knows necromancy won’t stop for anyone.
Tonight is another night that he gets called out to help with a job, but Taako promised he would keep the rest of his half eaten food warm in a stasis spell. At least he has that to look forward to as he cuts his way through a horde of zombies a powerful lich summoned from the graveyard he was squatting in, so Lup and Barry can concentrate on taking down the lich himself.
By the time they’ve dispatched everyone in the graveyard, Kravitz is exhausted. He’d already had a really long day, but at least now it should finally be over. Lup and Barry thank him for coming out to help them and send their regards to Taako before he waves to them goodbye and steps through a rift back home.
Kravitz steps through the front door and immediately heads back to the dining table where his food is waiting for him. “Lup and Barry say ‘hi’,” Kravitz says as he passes the kitchen. Then he does a double take and walks back to the entrance of the kitchen. “Taako, what are you doing?”
Taako looks back at him from his place in front of the sink and laughs. “What does it look like I’m doing, babe?”
He turns around again as Kravitz walks toward him, and places another dish from the sink into the drying rack. “It looks like you’re just piling dirty dishes in the drying rack that’s meant for clean dishes to be put away.”
Taako snorts. “Do these dishes look dirty to you?” He asks, gesturing to the drying rack.
Kravitz gives them a once over. “No, but if you haven’t actually washed them, then they’d still have whatever bacteria, germs, and whatever other particles and food stuff on them.”
Taako sighs. “They’re not dirty, Krav. Look.” Kravitz watches as Taako picks up a pot with sauce in it and waves his hand over it. Instantly, the sauce disappears, and the pot looks clean. “It’s called magic, and cha’ boy is chock full of it.”
Kravitz shakes his head and crosses his arms as Taako places it in the drying rack. “You can’t just clean them with magic.”
Taako glances up at him. “Uh, yes I can. See? They’re clean.”
Kravitz sighs. “That’s not actually cleaning them! Does prestidigitation kill off the microbes and sanatize the dishes?”
Taako shrugs before picking up a plate. “I don’t know. Probably? I mean, it does clean anything smaller than a cubic foot, and they look clean.”
“But cleaning away what’s visible is not the same thing as actually cleaning it,” Kravitz says pointedly.
Taako elbows him in the ribs playfully. “Why do you care, Bones? You’re already dead, so it’s not like you have to worry about illness and disease.”
“But you do. And just because I don’t have to worry about getting sick doesn’t mean I’m okay with eating off of dirty dishes.”
“Okay, but they’re not dirty!” Taako says, slight irritation seeping into his voice now. “See, look!” He waves his hand over the plate, and the remaining food particles vanish. “I’ve gotten all the important bits off at the very least, so they’re fine!”
“It’s not properly cleaned! You can get sick!” Kravitz says exasperatedly. “And you’ve been doing this with everything lately.”
Taako places the plate in the drying rack before turning to give him his full attention and crossing his arms. “Doing what?”
“Using magic. Magic can’t be your solution to everything.” Kravitz says.
“And why not?” Taako asks, heatedly.
“Because it can’t do everything for you, and it’s ridiculous how many things you’ve used magic for that you can use your own two hands to do. Like getting up from the couch to grab your cup from the counter instead of using mage hand, or or… I don’t know, taking a shower?” Kravitz runs his hand through his hair in exasperation.
Taako pokes him in the chest accusingly. “One, magic like that is helpful for when I don’t feel like doing things, vis à vis mage handing my cup or doing the dishes-”
“Which aren’t getting cleaned proper-”
“Two,” Taako continues, “I don’t use magic to clean myself. I’m not an animal; I do take showers! How do you think I get my hair this soft and smooth?”
“Okay, but that doesn’t change the fact that you use magic for literally everything else! I’d bet that you can’t go a whole day without using magic!”
Taako gets a glint in his eyes, and he smirks. “Is that a challenge, Kravitz?”
“You know what? Yeah, it is.” Kravitz says, smirking back.
“Well I’ll do you one better,” Taako says. “I won’t use magic for a whole week.”
“That would be literally impossible for you,” Kravitz scoffs.
“No it wouldn’t! I could go a whole year without using magic if I really wanted to.”
Kravitz raises an eyebrow. “Could you? Could you really?”
Taako straightens up and taps him on the nose. “Yes, I can, and in fact I will.”
Kravitz full on laughs at that. “You are not going to be able to not use magic for a whole year!”
“Want to actually bet on that?” Taako asks.
“You know what? Fuck it, why not. Whoever wins has to give the other a back rub.” Kravitz says, thinking about how desperately he wants one right now and how he usually does on really intense work days.
Taako smiles as he turns around to turn on the water and grab a sponge. “When you give me that back rub, Bones, it’s gotta be the best one I’ve ever had.”
Kravitz rolls his eyes and kisses him on the cheek. “I give it 12 hours before you crack.”
Taako rolls his eyes too with a smile and grabs another pot. “Whatever you say, babe.”
[Image description: A two panel monochrome comic featuring Davenport and Lucretia from The Adventure Zone: Balance podcast. The comic is a visual version of a scene in the Imbalance spinoff miniseries. In the first panel, Davenport is arranging ration bars on a plate from within a giant suit of armour. Beside him, Lucretia is asking, “Can we say it’s from both of us?” In the following panel Davenport has released his grip on one of the suit of armour’s arms to princh the bridge of his nose, and is exclaiming, “GOD ALMIGHTY.” Lucretia is grinning and has small flowers floating around her head as she responds, “Thank you!” End ID.]
“No, look it’s a touch too tall, that’s Gilbert Gottfried.”
“You know they asked Taako to be on this?”
“Kravitz, they’ve asked mostof us to be on this. Think Merle might actually do it.”
“Merle? On the Masked Singer?” Kravitz ponders this for a moment. “Okay, why does that make a certain sense?”
“Because Merle has no sense of dignity,” Taako answers after silently sliding in the door. He lowers his hood and hangs up his crossbow.
Kravitz swivels around and grins. “Hey stranger. This Jocasta or do I get my boyfriend back to catch the last bit of the Masked Singer?”
Taako rolls his eyes and smiles. “Just good ol’ Taako, sorry to disappoint.” He catches sight of Lucretia smiling at him and blanches. “Uh, hey, Lucretia. Whatcha still doing here? Thought everyone left earlier.”
She shrugs easily. “Well, you were running late, I love trash TV, and I wanted to make sure Davenport got his plate back.” She cranes her neck, trying to catch a glimpse behind Taako. “He’s not with you?”
Taako fiddles with the hem of his cloak and gnaws on his bottom lip. “Nah. Um. Krav? Could you give us a minute?”
Kravitz furrows his brow and looks from Taako to Lucretia and back to Taako. He nods before standing and meeting Taako halfway between the door and the couch. His eyes scan over Taako’s face and he knows in his gut there is no happy spin to whatever conversation Taako and Lucretia are about to have. He reaches down and laces his fingers between Taako’s.
“You okay?”
Taako squeezes Kravitz’s hand before forcing a tight smile. “Will be.”
Kravitz nods and presses a quick kiss to Taako’s lips before releasing his hand.
Taako watches Kravitz go before going to sit on the couch next to Lucretia. He digs his hands in his pockets and runs his thumb idly over the feather that has been weighing him down more than any weapon ever could. “So I’m a ranger now.” He can’t. He can’t do this. He just wants to deflect or get someone, anyone else to do this shit.
Lucretia laughs uncertainly. “It’s a good look.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Shit. Okay, here’s the thing. I can’t figure out how to put this delicately but…Dav isn’t coming back.” He can’t look at her.
Lucretia’s face crumples. “What? Taako, what the hell happened?”
He looks back up, still not quite looking her in the eye. “H-He didn’t die, or anything like that. Um. No, we handled that big ugly bastard pretty easily, actually.”
He removes one hand from his pocket to tug at a strand of hair. He wills his leg to stop shaking but to no avail. “We all got…opportunities? When we killed that thing, bits of its time junk got on us and we each were given the chance to see something or fix something or earn something or change something. I uh, I took mine too. Trying to find my purpose. But that’s not the important thing. Um.” He shakes his head and darts his hand out to the half-drunk glass of wine on the coffee table.
He has to focus on something else for one second. Anything but that look of pure despair on Lucretia’s face. “Dav got a chance to fix his biggest regret.”
Lucretia blinks blankly at him. She doesn’t ask but she hopes she doesn’t have to.
Taako shuts his eyes. “His biggest regret was not giving your idea the floor. He um. He said you deserved to be heard out just as much as Lup and Barry. A-And maybe if he’d listened or even just…just gave you a chance to explain then maybe all this shit wouldn’t have happened. And maybe he’s right.”
Lucretia covers her mouth with her hand. She should be crying. She should be crying but the tears don’t come. She feels like someone has stunned her and stabbed her and ripped out her lungs. “No. No, he’s supposed to be here. He’s supposed to be with us, with his family.” Her words are rushing out like sand in an hourglass.
“I know.” Taako says thickly. “But he did want me to give you this.” He retrieves the feather from his pocket and holds it out to Lucretia.
She takes it gingerly and stares at it.
“It’s a Davenport original. He left a message in it for you. I’ll leave so you can listen.” The instant he tries to rise from the couch, he feels a vice grip on his wrist.
“Please stay. I don’t want to listen by myself.” Her eyes are still glued to the feather. She releases his wrist after a moment.
Taako nods and sits back down on the couch, scooting close to Lucretia. He hesitates before offering his hand to her. She glances at him and smiles weakly before taking it. She examines the feather for a moment before pressing on the part that used to be connected to Jeff Angel. Sure enough, Davenport’s voice rings out in Taako’s living room.
“Lucretia, I know you want to make up for what you did. And you can’t. But I can. Take care of everyone for me. Joyfully yours, Davenport.”
Lucretia squeezes Taako’s hand tightly, nodding silently. A bittersweet smile twists her face.
“I don’t want to be the new team parent. I was the team baby,” she says, her voice wavering.
“That’s why you were his favorite.”
Lucretia looks at Taako, her eyes glassy. “What do you mean?”
“This is his biggest regret because he hates what it did to you. And to the rest of us, sure, but he felt he forced your hand. He’s fixing it for all of us. In that reality, at least.” Taako shrugs. “I’m happy for him. I miss him like shit already.”
Lucretia nods and leans against Taako. It almost feels like old times.
taakitz is just so funny as a concept. here we have a giant crystal golem, who then turns into a skeleton with a cockney accent, and then into a handsome man, who’s also the literal grim reaper, hunting Taako, Merle and Magnus for their death crimes. then we have this elven wizard with a funny voice, who’s apparently into tentacle porn. fast forward ten years, we see a dinner party, hosted by Kravitz. This personification of Death, who is Taako’s boyfriend, has been for the past ten years, invites Taako’s friends to their house, convinces Taako to adopt a dog that Magnus brought with him, and patiently waits for Taako to come home from his adventure. what, you want to be a ranger now? you do you. Jocasta? nice name, suits you. I put the pie in the fridge, we can watch Masked Singer together at 10, love you, byeee. they’re just so! adorable, and also hilarious. Death is doing the dishes while his elf boyfriend fights a powerful terrifying creature using only a crossbow and the power of persuasion because he bet Kravitz that he can go a year without magic
taako doodle page from last night! that guy looks good in everything
[ID: Three sketches of Taako, drawn in shades of purple. Taako is a slim elf with long white hair and drooping eyes. Top left: Taako is seen from the knees up. He’s wearing a high-collared jacket with pockets on the chest and a long windsock-like hood, as well as belted shorts. Taako is turned to the right; his arms are loose at his sides, and he’s smiling. Top right: Taako is wearing a turtleneck, a corset at his waist, and a long, flowing skirt. There are hoops in his ears. His hands are clenched into fists. He looks down, expression forlorn. Bottom: Taako is seen from the waist up. He’s wearing a large sweatshirt and a fanny pack over one shoulder, as well as sunglasses. His hair is tied in two space buns. Taako’s hands are in his pockets and he looks to the right, expression neutral. Sparkles surround all three Taakos. /ID]
