Take a sip

Today’s Davenport makes a stone call! … Also there’s a dragon.

[Image description under readmore!]

Image description: tumblr tags from myself reading:

"and i really cannot say *especially* lup enough times. like lucretia and barry have their own meta roles in the story within the story, the meta-narrator and the meta-narrator's chosen meta-villain, but lup is the meta-audience.

whenever thb wear red or joke about bringing barry back and we as the savvy audience get incredibly sad about it, lup is right there with us. she knows the twists and she knows the backstory and she is an observer who cannot tell anyone or save anyone. until she finally *can*. i love stories about stories and i love lup!"

lups brother is missing and he took her dope umbrella with her so she’s gotta find him. for the umbrella

but she also has to make rent

new roommate time

the only dude who answers her craiglist ad (quote: trying to find my missing brother. looking for roommate willing to pay half the rent and clean the bathroom. detective skills preferred but not required) is called barry bluejeans so she definitely assumes he’s a murderer but hey. maybe he has kidnapper buddies who know where taako is

oh, fuck, he’s cute

and the wizards are like

"we are going to kill taako. y'know? from the fish song?"

and taako is losing it but jocasta is very cool, very collect, is like "sure hell yeah" because of COURSE taako isn't gonna fucking tell them. so he's with them for MONTHS plotting out his own death and setting up where and when this will take place. going through all their failsafes. giving weird, cryptic but helpful advice about taako's current life, and then framing it as "oh I heard it in story and song duh"

"I don't remember taako being in relations with three reapers-"

"well, you musta missed it bc I heard it clear as day!"

and it all just... comes together at the dramatic scene where they "corner" taako. and they're like "we have to wait, jocasta said they'd be here and they really want to kill taako"

and taako pulls up his hood and does his funny little voice like

"you FOOLS. i AM and always HAVE BEEN jocasta nightstrider!"

TAZ is probably only topped out by LOTR on the list of media I wish I could experience for the first time again

I mean— fucking Davenport, right

I had an inkling that he might be The Wordless One just because no one else really fit but it was almost more in the “oh haha wouldn’t that be kinda funny” way

But the moment, the moment you fucking REALIZE that not only has this goofy ass Pokémon gnome who’s seemed like nothing more than a character created to fill a minor logistical convenience turned into a small running gag, not only is he a CRUCIAL PART OF THE PLOT but the moment he drinks the voidfish ichor he fucking SPEAKS and you understand, just so briefly, that something has been very very wrong the entire time you’ve known him—

And you don’t even have time to process that because then the episode is over and you’re suddenly in flashback land. And then you’re busy getting to KNOW Davenport, for the first time ACTUALLY getting to know him. You discover he’s the most brilliant pilot on his home plane and he’s a master explorer and the best captain in probably all the multiverse and he has a family and he loves them and he helps keep them together for A HUNDRED YEARS and he becomes a master of illusion magic and he likes to pull pranks and he outruns a malevolent devouring force dozens and dozens of times and he does it all in cheerful, relentlessly optimistic spirits, even in the face of the worst he believes in his family

And then you get to the end of that first terrible year in Faerun with the Relics wreaking havoc across the land. And you’re listening to him and Merle play cards and he says, “I think it’s my birthday.”

And you know, in the back of your head you know where Griffin is going because you know where this has to end, that this has to end for the story to begin, but you’re still recovering from Lup’s departure and you’re feeling the ache of this splintering little family and the burden of Lucretia’s decision with all your heart, and this goofy optimistic brilliant gnome has just told you it’s his birthday, and you’re thinking god, just give him this day, can’t you just give him today—

And then it starts to break down into confusion and the memories start to vanish and this little gnome turns to Merle and through the static he says over and over

I’M DAVENPORT. I’M DAVENPORT. I’M DAVENPORT.

And THEN, THEN it hits you, all at once, as he says his name over and over you remember this is the guy that you’ve spent 50+ episodes thinking of as just “that little gnome who only says his own name” and the fucking WEIGHT of that, of everything he’s lost, hits you like a goddamn truck

So what removes the Light from the IPRE or the Hunger when they get to a new world? Why is it always falling at the beginning of the year?

The story is linear. The IPRE’s perspective is linear. From the outside, it seems like one year in each world, happening one after the other and resetting the physical forms of the crew each time. But since each of these years happens in a separate dimension, consider: they’re happening simultaneously, in the same year.

The “reset” at the beginning of each year is not really a reset - the IPRE is returning to the beginning of the same year, at a different physical location. The Light always falls at the beginning of the year because it’s only just been misplaced; it’s gone when they reach a new location because it has to fall again, because the year is at the beginning again. The “one after the other” perspective of the crew isn’t wrong, it’s just a different way of ordering the experiences that is easier for the mind to understand. Seeing all of that happening at once would be devastating - it was devastating for Maureen, who saw all of those worlds at once and the one consistency between them.

BEHOLD! Every Balance arc (plus one Lunar Interlude)!! I’m so proud of these i wanna print them out and have them tattooed on my ass

[ID: First image is of Lup, an elven woman, standing at the top of a staircase. She has blonde, curly hair styled like a hollywoods starlet, tan, freckled skin, and a slight build. She is wearing an extravagent red robe with ruffles and a rhinestone clasp, and big flashy earrings. She dabs her eyes with a handkechief as she says, “I’m very sorry to have gathered you all here on the cusp of the passing of my dear, dear billionare husband. But I am at a loss and have no other oprtion for how to proceed. For all his brilliance and many streams of passive income, my darling Barold has left me with almost nothing-” 

The following image shows her standing on the staircase of a decadent mansion. She goes on, “-Save this gorgeous ten bedroom mansion, three yachts, a handfull of jewels, and a lamborghini. But that’s hardly enough to live off of! There is, of course, the estate’s trust fund.” She turns away. “ But that cannot be granted unti the mysterious nature of my husband’s untimely departure can be determined!” The crowd of guests in front of her all simultaineously think, “She definitely did it.”

The third image shows the rest of the ipre in clue-style fashion giving their own accounts. Taako, as chef, states, “Those idiots were lovesick for each other, no way my sister did it. Magnus, as security, says, “No one has left the property in the last 48 hours.” Merle, as gardener says, “Yeah, you could say some of the plants we have around here aren’t exactly “legal.” Davenport, as benefactor, states, “Barry was known to go on many risky expiditions in the name of science.” And Lucretia, as accountant, says, “The Taaco-Bluejeans finances were solid. I’ve triple checked.” In the panel below, a pair of indescript people search the hallways for clues. On person asks, do you really think the wife did it?” The other person replies, “I’m 98% percent sure. There’s just too much compounding evidence.” In the followins panel, a blue spectre appears in the backgound and yells,” Avenge me!” The first person screams and the second person shouts,” Holy shit a ghost!” 

The fourth image shows two more indescript people standing in front of the doorway of a walk-in pantry. The person in the background asks, “Why are you looking in there?” The person in the foreground replies, “I watch a lot of murder mystery shows. And no one ever checks the pantry for possible…evidence.” In the last panel, Barry and Lup, still in costume. stare which matching deer-in headlight expressions after being caught obviously mid-making out. End ID]

things may be starting to unravel