#With a shiny starter no less!!!!

[shima-draws]

Starting a new playthrough of Scarlet AGGH I’m so excited!!!

[front-facing-pokemon]

[hairssexy]

tag drop.

୨୧ — it's all so simple ( ooc )

୨୧ — what day is it today ( inbox )

୨୧ — just talk to me ( starter call )

୨୧ — don't tell me to shut up ( open )

୨୧ — damn your fine ( edits )

୨୧ — time to think is in short supply ( study & headcanons )

୨୧ — swoopy hair and shiny eyes that i could swim in ( mirror )

୨୧ — welcome back nerd ( threads )

୨୧ — like that guy who gives out roses to those women ( isms )

୨୧ — could that image be more hot ( movie aes )

[feartoxinjelloshot]

EDIT JAN '25: i'm pinning this post to my blog since it's more recent than the last pinned post; however my au is in constant motion/development and this may not be entirely accurate in the present day. it should still give a general idea of what's going on, though. i might make an actual starter-guide info post to pin one day.

also, this chart contains a clerical error. cass/orphan's background color should match the 'court of owls' domain instead of being blank.

SURPRISE! a shiny new relationship chart for (mostly) all of the current cv members! needless to say it is much... MUCH bigger than the old one i made back in 2022. i'm not even sure i put that one on tumblr. i've also included a handy key image for clarity.

some important notes:

A. this chart is not exhaustive - as unfortunately i am constrained by 1. my memory and 2. the amount of colored lines i can put in there without it getting incomprehensible. if you think something important/obvious is missing i probably either forgot, or it just wasn't physically possible to get into the image. take it with a grain of salt!

B. the "domains" aren't necessarily literal - it's more of an arbitrary mental categorization system and less of a guarantee that two characters are directly positively associated with one another. a shared domain can mean that characters either 1. share overarching narrative involvement (i.e. harley and the joker), 2. are involved in a significant conflict of interest (i.e. the al ghuls vs the court of owls), or 3. have spent significant time within or dwelling upon a particular part of the overworld (the sewers, arkham hospital).

this chart is also not set in stone! i change and develop details of this au all the time and that includes the interpersonal relationships of various characters.

also, the plaintext of the heads, and the old chart (circa 2022) for posterity:

[fever-project]

Four for the Pokémon AU! He has an X&Y inspired design. Gave him the hat with the feather pin that’s now a Minish Feather, and also gave him this kinda ponytail thingy that is covered by an Ezlo charm. It’s weird but I like it.

I didn’t put in all of his Pokémon because i just couldn’t make myself draw them(Swampert and Azumaril). I only recently noticed how short I made the tunic. The anatomy’s just kinda wonk, but I can’t really fix it now. I also tried a new rendering style. I don’t know how to feel about it. Anyways, Lore under the cut.

At the beginning of the Minish Cap, Link doesn’t get a starter. Instead, he gets his starter once he meets Ezlo, who suggests to get a Pokémon companion to help out, since he can’t really do much. Because at the moment, he was a hat. Link choose Mudkip because he thought it could help him get over the water easier. That did not work.

Link also transforms into an actual Minish, who are a Pokémon in the same vein that the Zora and Gorons are also Pokémon. Pokémon=species, more of less. Pokémon-Mystery-Dungeon-esk, but not as much as Twilight’s adventure was. Four’s adventure was more or less the exact same, and he didn’t really use Pokémon all that much, just the Pictori sword/Four sword. But he did catch a bunch of Pokémon, because he was really into collecting things back then(like how there were a bunch of figurines in the actual game).

He found a Maril near the beginning of his adventure and thought it was cute so he kept it. He specifically wanted a shiny Shedinja because no one in Castle Town had ever seen one up close. He did not that shiny after hours of hunting. So in the end, he just got a regular Nincada and named his Shedinja NotAShiny, because he was so annoyed. Link did come to love it tho, so he usually calls him Nota for short.

At the beginning of Four Swords(and let’s just combine fsa because who cares), Link became friends with an Eevee, right before the maidens got kidnapped. Stuff happened and both Link and his newfound Eevee end up at the Four Sword Sanctuary, where Link had stored the Four Sword after his first adventure. The sword had been accumulating more and more magic since Vaati’s imprisonment within it. I don’t know how the story works in LU canon, but that’s how it works here.

The 4Sword not only splits Link up into four, but Eevee as well, the sword reacting to the uniqueness of Eevee’s genes or something. Leafeon for Green, Flareon for Red, Vaporeon for Blue, and Espeon for Vio. Also because of Eevee’s wild genes, the 4Sword clings to it and its spilt eeveelutions, and can only be pulled out by the colors. I mainly came up with this because I couldn’t figure out where to put the sword on Four’s design.

Link found the Castform early on, his first shiny on this adventure(he found shinies before but he liked this one especially so he had it in his team at the moment he went through the portal). Link also found the Zygarde Core sometime during the adventure. His collecting instincts kicked in whenever he found the cells. He can make Zygarde become 100%, but he likes the Core form best.

Btw, Shadow never had any Pokémon of his own. He’d order around Pokémon provided by Ganon. He would befriend a Masquerain and would love it forever. He’d say he doesn’t but he does.

I don’t really have any ideas about LU specific stuff right now, but I can say that Four, Legend, Wind, and Hyrule are the only ones with Mega Stones. Four’s Swampert has a mega stone.

[millenianthemums]

I know you love doing crossover pokemon teams, any particular reasons you gave dipper and mabel the teams they have, besides the obvious connections?

yeah! i have little headcanons in mind for each one!! i will now talk about them at length because you gave me permission!!!

this turned into more of a story summary than a brief explanation of why i chose these pokemon, and also became really long. so it’s under a cut. thank u

So I’ll start with Mabel’s team. She and Dipper both had an Eevee for their first Pokemon. Mabel’s is named Eloise, and he evolved into a Sylveon because i think that is by far the most Mabel eeveelution of all. the ribbons, the pink, the power of love… of course there’d be some big cool heartwarming moment where Eloise evolved to save the day because Mabel believed in it so strongly. they are best best friends and never apart.

Mabel and Dipper also both got to choose a starter Pokemon when they first arrived in Gravity Falls. i picture it as an equivalent moment to when Stan lets them each pick something from the gift shop. Mabel picked a Popplio she named Bubble Buddy. i remember seeing some cute art that i think Alex drew back around the time when Sun and Moon were new, showing Mabel with a Popplio, and i thought it was so cute and super fitting for her. the Popplio line is so cute and goofy and very transfem, all of which is true of Mabel as well. i imagine that Bubble Buddy is just as hyper and fun-loving as Mabel, and also tries super hard to be fun and funny and impressive at first, but chills out once she realizes Mabel will always adore her, even when her jokes fall flat.

GRAPPLING HOOK is a stand-in for Mabel’s grappling hook, of course. she completely lucked into catching her as her very first non-starter Pokemon and is unbelievably proud about it. she’s her ace in the hole for battles, and she thinks she’s the coolest, strongest Pokemon ever… even though she’s actually kind of a pushover in battle, at least at first. she gets knocked out all the time early on, but Mabel never loses faith in her, and sure enough, she comes through and saves Mabel and Dipper in the season 1 finale. then once she evolves, she actually becomes the unstoppable ace Mabel always believed she could be.

Waddles is Waddles. same role and backstory, the main difference is just that he was deliberately bred to be shiny and that’s why a regular little Lechonk was a sought-after carnival prize. the guy selling him had lots of objectively cooler shinies, but Mabel wanted Waddles. he loves following Mabel around, but hates to battle, so she just lets him hang around and chill out like a spoiled pet. he also doesn’t want to evolve, so Mabel makes him an Everstone friendship bracelet (not pictured but it’s there i prommy)

Mimikyu and Garchomp are less fleshed out in my mind, but i still think they’re fun choices. i think the Mimikyu’s name is Dolly and joins Mabel after she and Dipper realize he’s responsible for a haunting they were investigating. Mabel immediately thinks he’s adorable and shouts down anyone who calls him creepy, and Dolly is so happy to find a friend who loves him for who he is that he demands to join her team on the spot. Garchomp’s name is Chompy, and she hatched from a random lost egg that Mabel found. as a Gible, she was an absolute menace who gnawed on everything in sight and threw tantrums constantly. Mabel had a tough time training her and getting her to listen, but eventually Chompy learned to trust Mabel. she matured as she evolved and became very sweet and cuddly over time.

Ogerpon would definitely join the team after a big important story arc, but i’m not sure how that would go. i just think Ogerpon and Mabel are so similar in a lot of cute ways. they’re both weird girls with big sweaters who are very sweet but also very aggro. i’ve seen them compared before and i just love to see it. i think her nickname would be Pompom. i also really like the idea of Pompom being besties with GRAPPLING HOOK, i just think it’d be cute.

-

NOW DIPPER’S TEAM! his starter was also an Eevee, of course, but his was a shiny! he and Mabel chose their Eevees from a big litter of babies their dad’s Eevee had, because giving an Eevee to new trainers is a longstanding Pines family tradition in this AU.

his was nicknamed Laika, and she started out as a solemn, angsty loner who took herself too seriously and only got along with Dipper; they’ve always bonded over being different and having trouble making friends. but over time, just like Dipper, she makes new friends and becomes more confident. eventually she evolves into Umbreon at a dramatic story moment, maybe at the same time that Eloise does because that’d be really cool. i think Umbreon is a fitting choice for Dipper because it’s mysterious and odd, but still based on the power of friendship, so deep down it’s just as cute and sweet as Sylveon. it just doesn’t like to admit to its own cuteness.

Dipper’s Alolan starter was Rowlet. he named him Nova, and Nova absolutely ADORED Dipper from minute one. despite being the size of a basketball, he immediately saw Dipper as a tiny little baby that he was responsible for. he was always preening him and fussing over him, and Dipper was annoyed and embarrassed by it at first, but always kind of found it endearing. sometimes in the first month, people like Robbie and Gideon would make fun of Dipper for being babied by a tiny round owl, but then a couple months later that tiny owl was a six-foot-tall assassin raptor, and if you so much as breathed wrong while looking at his human son he’d try to tear out their liver, and no one made fun of Dipper anymore. anyway, Rowlet is the most “nerdy bookworm”-coded starter in my mind, so i think it’s a natural choice for Dipper. especially if Mabel already has Popplio. i think the Litten from the trio they both chose from stuck around the Mystery Shack and eventually became Stan’s pokemon against his will.

The Rotom, Pluto, lived inside Ford’s Journal 3 Pokedex and was just trapped in there until Dipper found them. Pluto is super excitable and full of energy and always wanting to do new things and have adventures, and after all the time they spent cooped up inside a hidden, deactivated Pokedex, Dipper can hardly blame them. he does everything he can to help Pluto have fun after everything they’ve been through, and tries not to pry too much even though he’s really curious about their past. Pluto doesn’t talk, so they never directly give Dipper any answers about Ford. they’re still technically Ford’s Pokemon, and they’re traumatized by the loss of their trainer and at first very conflicted about whether they should let Dipper go down the same path that he did. but eventually they bond with Dipper enough to decide to help with solving the mystery of the journal-dexes. i just love the idea of the journals in a Pokemon GF AU being Pokedexes, because in a way, they kind of already are in canon, right? so i think that’d be the perfect excuse for Dipper to have a Rotom. once Ford comes back, he would be really grateful to see how much Dipper helped his traumatized Pokemon. up to that point Dipper wouldn’t have caught Pluto since they already had a trainer, but once Ford’s back, he’d definitely gift them to Dipper.

Crobat (named Comet) was Dipper’s first catch and represented a big important step in his journey, but starts out super anxious and terrified of everything. Dipper thinks Comet is kind of useless at first and is jealous that Mabel caught GRAPPING HOOK, who actually likes to battle and has confidence, as opposed to this dinky little Zubat who would never impress anybody. but eventually Dipper realizes that viewing Comet that way is unfair; she’s not a tool, she’s a living thing who’s shy and fearful and needs a friend who believes in her. so he changes his approach and treats her with more kindness and care, and she very quickly comes out of her shell and actually ends up being one of Dipper’s most powerful Pokemon.

The backstories for Golisopod and Beheeyem are a lot less detailed. Golisopod (Bermuda) is basically just a nod to Dipper’s arc of learning to be brave and stand up for himself, and Beheeyem (Dover) is just because Dipper’s whole thing is mystery and the paranormal and stuff, and also Beheeyem strikes me as a big nerd just like him. Sorry Dipper, that’s just how i view you.

finally we’ve got Terapagos. i like the idea of Dipper befriending them because to me they represent, like, the truth behind a big mystery. the hidden treasure at the heart of a search for the truth. that just seems perfect for Dipper. i think he deserves to discover and befriend Terapagos and be the first one to discover all the secrets they hold. and also hug them because they’re a cute little turtle. i think he’d name them Star.

[themurcyregion]

Wickid, the Lamb Pkmn

Wickid is the fire type Starter in the Murcy region.

Shiny Form and additional information under the cut.

This Pkmn is quite serious in nature and fierce in battle. It emits fiery attacks from the candle-shape woollen clump atop it’s head, and can deliver a mean headbutt that leaves nasty singes on it’s opponents. With fast bounds Wickid is able to use a new move call…

Quick Singe

A physical fire type attack that works like Fake Out, but has a 10% chance to inflict burn.

Name and origins:

Wickid’s name comes from “Wick” as in a candle’s wick, “Kid” the name of an infant goat, and plays on the word “Wicked” to reference the witchcraft theme in it’s and it’s evolutions’ designs.

Wickid is based off a sheep / goat, following the fan-theory of Pokémon’s fire starters being themed around the animals from the Chinese Zodiac.

In Wales there are over 11 million sheep, three times as many sheep the country’s human population (source: a few quick google searches). Sheep farming in Wales has been a part of Welsh agriculture and a staple in it’s economy for centuries.

The witchcraft-y element of Wickid’s design (candles and sheep’s skulls) will become more prominent in its evolutions. But the theme comes from Wales carrying out significantly less witch hunting than England and Scotland (Source: M. E. Dunning. 2024. Why so few witches were executed in Wales in the Middle Ages. The Conversation).

Shiny Variant:

[aparticularbandit]

Shinies

Summary: Pokemon and OT3.

Because why not.

For @princescar.

Rating: T.

AO3

“What’re you playing?”

“!!!!”

Mikan jumps less from the sound of Junko’s voice and more from the way she spreads herself across the back of the couch, sets her arm across Mikan’s shoulders, and leans her face really close to Mikan’s.  Sure, sure, she’s peering at the Game Girl Advance in Mikan’s hands, but it’s the closeness – it shouldn’t startle her anymore, because Junko’s always touching her like this, but it still does.

So much that she nearly drops the GGA.

Junko reaches out with her free hand and stops her before she does, a smug smile on her face.  “Spooked, bunny?”

“N-n-no!”  Mikan flushes a bright red and hunches her shoulders to hide her face.  She tightens her grip on the GGA and then holds it up for Junko to see.  “Nanami-san g-g-gave me an extra copy of her…of an old P-P-Pokémon game.  She…she said I’d p-p-probably e-e-enjoy it.”

“Huh.”  Junko takes the GGA in her hands, fiddles with a few things, and then hands it back.  “You picked Bulbasaur.”

Mikan hiccups.  “Y-y-yes!  He looked cute and…and lonely, so I thought—”

“You thought right.”  Yasuke slumps onto the couch on Mikan’s other side, and she squeaks again, even though he’s got a manga volume open in his right hand and doesn’t appear to be paying any attention.

Junko sticks her tongue out at him. “Just because you picked Bulbasaur for your first starter—”

“And wiped the floor with your Squirtle.”  Yasuke glances up just long enough to meet Junko’s eyes.  “By the game’s logic, that means he’s the better of the two.”

Junko rolls her eyes.  “Also means that Mukie’s basic Charmander is better than your stupid ass Bulbasaur.”  She brushes her fingers through Mikan’s hair and offers her a near-petty smile.  “Your Bulbasaur is fine, bun.  It’s just his that’s shit.”

Yasuke glares at her.  “Ugly bitch.”

Junko leans over and kisses his forehead.  “But you love me.”

Yasuke grumbles under his breath, but he doesn’t counter her.  Instead, he leans against Mikan’s shoulder.  “Bulbasaur your favorite?”

“N-n-no,” Mikan says, setting the GGA down in her lap.  She brushes strands of her uneven, disheveled hair back out of her face.  “I-I-I mean, I don’t…I don’t know.  I haven’t...I haven’t gotten very far.”  Then she bites her lower lip, hesitating.  “B-B-But I always really…really liked Chansey?”

“Hah!”  Junko slaps Mikan’s back, just between her shoulder blades, and Mikan startles again.  (It doesn’t really hurt or anything.  She just wasn’t expecting it.)  Then she grins, huge and proud.  “Knew you’d be good at this!  Chansey’s the best.”

Yasuke’s face grows darker and more sullen, which seems like it would be hard to do – and maybe no one else would notice – but Mikan does.  He grumbles out, “I hate Chansey.”

Mikan shivers.  “I-I-I’m s-s-sorry!”

But Junko just cackles.  “Never did figure out how to get past my tank, did you?”  She kisses Mikan’s cheek and pretends to ignore how her already red cheeks grow redder.  “It’s not you.  We just used to practice competitive shit, and if you slap an Eviolite on Chansey, she’s a boss.  Perfect for stalling people out.”

“O-o-oh.”  Mikan stares down at the GGA in her lap.  “I like her because all of the…all of the Pokémon nurses have one.  If…if they were real, I-I-I’d probably…I’d probably have one.”

Junko’s grin broadens.  “Oh, you’re cute.”  Her gaze flicks over to Yasuke even as she plays with Mikan’s hair, idly braiding it and unbraiding it and braiding it again.  “Yasuke would probably have one, too, then.  He’d hate it.”

“Shut. Up.”

“Oh, I know!”  Junko jumps up.  “We should get our games and play with you!”  She shoots a look over to Yasuke.  “You still have yours, right?”

Yasuke shrugs.  “Doubt it.  You don’t really bring that shit to be a doctor.  It gets boring.”

Junko rolls her eyes.  “Everything is boring, Yasu-kun.  What’s your point?”

~

It’s a few days later.  Junko’s off for a fashion shoot, which gives Yasuke a moment of freedom to read when he isn’t working on their combined project, so it isn’t too surprising when he finds Mikan in one of the lounge areas.  She glances up, cheeks flushing a soft red, and then back to the GGA in her hands.  She hasn’t had a lot of time to play, but Chiaki’s said she could keep it, and it’s been nice to see all the new Pokémon that aren’t in the anime, creatures that she’s never seen before and that are so, so cute.

Yasuke sits next to her, an old, scuffed GGA in his hands along with a cable.  “Here,” he says, handing her one end of the cable.  “Plug this in, and find a mon you hate to trade me, and then close your eyes.”

“U-u-um.”

It takes more than a few seconds.  Mikan fiddles with the cable, trying to figure out where to plug it in, and then has to go out and catch a new Pokémon that she doesn’t want to keep.  (She wants to keep all of her Pokémon so far.  That’s why she caught them!  She doesn’t catch ones she doesn’t like.)  Then, once all of that is done, she closes her eyes, just as Yasuke requested.

Yasuke tilts Mikan’s screen toward him – his fingers brushing gently across hers – and then sets it back.  “Okay,” he says.  “Open up.”

Mikan opens her eyes, only to see a Chansey of different colors on her screen.  Instead of her healthy pink and deeper pink accents, this one looks unhealthily jaundiced, with green accents.  Her brow furrows.  “Is she…is she sick?”

“No.  Pokémon can’t get sick.”

“One of mine got a virus once—”

“That’s a game mechanic.”  Yasuke glares at her.  “That Nanami didn’t teach you anything, did she?”

Mikan shakes her head furiously.  Then she glances up at him and meets his eyes.  “B-b-but why does she look sick?  Is this…are you…are you making fun of me?”  Tears creep at the corners of her eyes.

“No, you—”  Yasuke cuts himself off and rubs his forehead with one hand.  “That,” he says, finally, “is a shiny.  An extremely rare color variant of a Pokémon.  All of them have one, but you usually only have a one in eight thousand chance of finding one.”

“A-a-and you’re giving this…to me?” Mikan barely squeaks out.  “Wh-wh-why?”

Yasuke shrugs.  “Because I thought you’d like it.  And you’re kind of a shiny person.”  He slumps back, head resting on the back of the couch, and stares at the ceiling.   “I started breeding a bunch of them for Junko.  Thought she’d like having a shiny Chansey on her competitive team.  But you have to have perfect stats for that sort of thing, so breeding a shiny like that is fucking hard.  She got bored before I got one.”  He glances over and taps Mikan’s GGA screen.  “In fact, that’s the only shiny Chansey I ever bred.”

“You bred—”

“Waste of my free time,” Yasuke mutters under his breath.  Then he meets Mikan’s eyes.  “Until now.”

Mikan blushes.  “Th-th-thank you.”

“Mm.”  Yasuke huffs.  “Just make sure you save it.  Wouldn’t want you to lose it.”

“R-r-right!!”

[koeniginderskizzen]

Another adorable abomination: Here is my idea of what a Pokémon trainer Ralsei would look like:

I based Ralsei on the "Friendly Rival" Type. My main inspiration for his design here was Wally (and Ralts).

While friendly Rivals also can have a full Team. Here I took more inspiration from the XY friendgroup, and only gave Ralsei 4-5 Pokémon.

Since Ralsei is a friendly Rival, he gets the weaker starter Pokémon. Kris already got Dewott, so Ralsei gets Servine. The Snivy Line has a royalty theme, plus with Servine being a grass type, you also have sort of a connection to Flowers. Furthermore, since Ralsei also has "Devine" attacks, it rather fits name wise, and choosing the middle stage is representative of the gang being in their teens. I had a special thought for Ralsei having a starter though. The starter your rival picks is dependant on your choice, so initially Ralsei just picked Snivy because the protagonist chose Tepic. Ralsei did this to please the programm so to say (something he tends to do), while Kris might've had no choice, but at least they now have the upper hand over them.

Next is the goat Skiddo. The reason for Skiddo is relatively simple and obvious, but Skiddos are also the first pokémon that lived together with humans, which would fit the darkner theme. They can sense it's trainer's emotions (in the anime at least) and are also seemingly willing to help out others if we extrapolate a bit. Also the pokémon that represents Ralsei in a more literal sense being a pokémon whose main use was being a vehicle is pretty fitting for Ralsei's "I have to be useful and serve others" complex

A pokémon I really want Ralsei to have is Eevee, because of it's evolution potential. Not only are Eevees fluffy boys 87,5% of the time, but Ralsei himself currently has to figure out who he is and who he wants to be, which is a great parallel to Eevee. I imagine his Eevee would be shiny, because of Ralsei being a darkner and having white fur.

Another pokémon I think Ralsei would have with a simple reason is Milcery, which famously evolves into a cake that changes it's design and flavour depending on how you decorate and turn your Milcary, which agin symbolizes Ralsei's journey of self discovery, and his love for cake.

Lastly, though Ralts was a very tempting option, I think Ralsei would have a Hattena or Hattrem (not completely sure).

Both Ralts and Hattena have the ability to sense emotions, the key difference though is that Hattena has a little pointy witch hat.

...

I jest but this is part of the reason I picked Hattena in the end.

No, the key difference is that while Ralts gets less shy when confronted with positive emotions, Hattena and Hattrem can't stand strong emotions, and preferr their surroundings to be calm. While Ralsei isn't allergic to other's emotions, he has trouble actually handleing them, as shown in the post Spamton Neo fight, or in how he handled the roaring. He doesn't know what to do about them, and his main strategy seems to be: "positivity=good, negativity=bad, so better stay positive and don't pay attention to the bad stuff", which isn't really helpful, and you could even argue that for a Kris that needs a different kind of comfort right now instead of just getting a "how about you just think about something else" is a pretty bad Hattrem-style slap in the face. (btw, I love Ralsei and I think his flaws make him a super interesting character, this isn't a front against him)

Other than that, I imagine Ralsei would want to have a Blissey someday, but I feel like he wouldn't have one yet, and I sadly couldn't really think of the right fire type for him, but maybe next gen, we'll finally get the fire fairy goat I always wanted.

[haveyouusedthispokemon]

If we're still doing ScarVio team names, here's a few of mine

First the Minecraft brothers, cause they just look like that. Got the first one for my first regular playthrough, and shiny hunted the second one after i finished the story.

Then we have weedcat, my first gen 9 starter. She got her name from the meme going around when the starters were first revealed

Meow the baxcalibur. when i first captured her as a teeny frigibax, i was running around in the glaseado caves and somehow heard it's cry that at the time felt like a cat meowing to me. After review in the pokedex it does not sound like that so idk who i heard but that's her now.

Sashimi the veluza, due to it's special move fillet away, and also to complete the sushi motif going on with tatsugiri and dondozo

Finally, Umbra the umbreon,  less of a thought out name, but fits him well. Umbra was also my first full (modern) odds shiny since i caught him in a random 6 star daily raid, and is a go-to raid debuffer since

First of, congrats/good work on Minecraft 2 and Umbra!

It seems like you've worked really hard to build them all up, and all the names match really well ^^ I especially appreciate Sashimi, a great name to tie into the aforementioned sushi motif

[taranida]

What's in the box?! Or contents of Samantha's shoebox and who wrote what

Many of my theories use evidence from This House of Dreams — how two sets of poems in the shoebox were written by two different authors. I never explained, why I use it as a fact, but I have an excuse! To this day I cannot with confidence say which font is used on the first set. Not like I didn’t try to find out, but I’m at a loss: everything authentic to the time has at least one thing that doesn’t fit. But at this point I also believe that it doesn’t really matter much. There is already enough to talk about as is, and, finally I can touch up on the topic of the Light Switch vs the Clicker.

So, let’s look at the contents of the shoebox and do some comparisons.

First time when Samantha finds it, she makes this photo:

This is where the first set of poems comes from, together with the photos of the Diver, who wrote those poems, and his girlfriend as confirmed by the Bright Presence in the dream:

“The diver from the photos appeared to me. He looked nothing like in the photos, but it was the same man. He was the poet who had written the poems as well. In the dream he floated in the air above me in the bedroom as if we were underwater. He was wearing a strange, heavy diving suit, almost like a spacesuit, and he was shining with a bright light.” “The diver told me that a dark presence had taken over his girlfriend (the woman in the photos).”

What poems he wrote from the two sets is not specified, but it’s not really needed. Let’s take a look at the photos:

Honestly, with such a blatant “the girlfriend — the woman in the photos”, I have questions. Barbara as the Dark Presence in-game is rocking black hair even at her respectable body-age of 65, the woman in the photos seems to be blond or at least light-haired.

Did the Dark Presence make some changes to Barbara’s body to match the gothic vibe more? Did the public perception of The Scratching Hag and Baba Yaga make her black-haired? Sadly, we have no other images of Barbara Jagger to confirm any of that (no, the photo from the second game with Tom the Filmmaker Seine and Baba Jakala is not a source I’m willing to accept), but the detail is quite curious. It is entirely possible that the Dark Presence having the body would be able to make some changes; after all the Bright Presence made Tom’s body so shiny, he’s a floating lamppost. The Poet and The Muse also point that some changes are possible:

In the dead of night she came to him With darkness in her eyes Wearing a mourning gown Sweet words as her disguise

I have doubts that Barbara went to swim in a mourning gown, and the Dark Presence throughout the game is still dressed for funerals, even if her body changed and aged — the clothes adapted to it, fitting perfectly.

Okay, let us move on to the poems. We have few things to establish the author of each set. Firstly, the font. From the first game we know that Alan’s typewriter accompanies him in the Dark Place:

This is the shot from the moment when Alan finds Alice’s “surprise”, that starts the argument.

This is from the very end of the game. We also can see that the font on the page is Courier; same font that is stressed in the guide:

“Wake was hard at work, adding the final edits to his manuscript. He loved the Courier font.”

Twice!

“But then other, less savory ideas began to formulate, encased in the disgusting, black Courier font.”

Second set of poems also has a page that’s pretty in-your-face:

The Courier font; the title page of the AWAN’s Return; revelation about Campbell’s Monomyth, that plays huge role in AWII (In the whole AW franchise to be fair). All of this points to Alan, of course.

Now the first set uses a different font for starters. I will put them side-by-side:

The first one is Tom’s and the second is Alan’s.

The differences do not end here. We also have handwriting on some pages. Since the title-page is the one surely marked by Alan’s hand, let’s take it as an example and put all other notes near:

I’m by all means nowhere near to be a handwriting expert, but those “T”, “N”, “K”, “U, “E” — they kinda look alike. Yes, the writing changes a bit from one page to another, giving a feeling that something was written passionately or even frantically, something — calmly, with care, something dismissively. But some letters just stay the same for the most part. I would bet it’s the same hand. And yes, I see the elephant of E. in the room, I will talk about it.

Now let’s take a look on the notes from the first set of poems:

I know it’s an abomination of a picture, but we can see, that the way of writing is different.

I’ll also put them side-by-side:

It is another abomination, but easier to compare.

Finally, we can talk about the contents.

The first set of poems has 12 of them. And since Tumblr doesn't allow more than 30 pictures per post, I will drop the images while I can and others I'll leave as text and a link. The most famous are, of course:

The “follow my light”.

From the memorial at the Cauldron Lake Lodge:

And:

Used in OGoA’s Balance Slays the Demon (along with the memorial’s lines and the part of “follow my light”).

And those two from the second game, that are recited by Tom the Filmmaker:

In this temple of shadow and mist There's a window In the floor and A door in the ceiling There is no knowing Am I standing still Or running or kneeling

I wish it would shatter Like glass under my heels Just like a sheet of ice When I close my eyes That’s how the mirror feels Oh mercy Thousands have gone missing Beyond the labyrinth of me When you’re lost You’re lost in your own company

I will also draw attention to a bit of unreliable information, since the site of OGoA was taken down, but I find it curious. So, their albums’ names go like that:

And four of them are lines from Tom’s poems:

Until that time comes around again The shadow falls on this town again It’s barely evening But the shadow falls on me again No one will miss us Our faces inked black They’ll sell our things at the flea market They’ll never call us back So she left with them They’ll wine her and dine her We huddle naked in this alley Nothing’s for sure Fir needles tickle We bathe in rain water All the way to the ocean The memory of the slaughter Until that time comes around again The shadow falls on this town again It’s barely evening But the shadow falls on me again When I’m awake I’m barely alive When I sleep I have two hearts Your heart and mine Your two hearts and mine

The memory of the Slaughter, 1971

I go underground Follow me underground Everyone else has gone there Down to the ground I’ll take you underground They chased a mystery They are a mystery to me And you’ll think that of me When I tell you my tale What we bring with us Sorry secrets and awkward lies Wet matches A yarning for overcast skies Everything else down here Has been stolen so many times Everyone who walks down these steps dies I go underground Follow me underground Everyone else has gone there Down to the ground I’ll take you underground

Follow Me Underground, 1972

Divorce me from all that’s sane Screaming, mute darkness Descend on this frail frame I drown in fathomless black space Light never scratched The depths of this domain I see not; yet nothing could be worse Than the shades My mind calls herein Alone at my own wake The unraveling of reason’s skein

Alone at My Own Wake, 1973; The Unraveling of Reason’s Skein, 1975

Now, for completion’s sake I would drop all the poems that are left, but because I managed to get an error every time I've tried to save draft, it will be a link: here's the post of the blog with all 12 poems of the first set.

Aside from the one that starts with "We pillage and whore" (although it can be connected to the Taken), many of those poems point to Barbara being taken by the Dark Presence already. It’s up to interpretation, of course, but I see it there. I, honestly think that those poems were among others that Alan found in the shoebox in the cabin in the first game:

“Anything outside of writing is a struggle. I feel ill. I managed to make my way downstairs. There’s a shoebox filled with books and papers by Thomas Zane. It’s very hard to focus but I managed to read some of it. He’s a poet and a good one. He writes of muses and creators, summoning fabulous things from a magic lake, using its power to shape the world, of a realm of gods and dreams, and demons, dark things that wait for a chance to slip through, wearing the flesh of men as disguise. Zane writes about himself, his girlfriend being taken over by a Dark Presence, about growing scared of the lake. Zane believes it’s a mirror to the gaping void of darkness above, where some Lovecraftian presence lurks. I crawled back upstairs. I’ll borrow these things for my story. They ring true. They fit.”

Also, can’t help but wonder, why would Barbara be so happy about this poem to even draw a heart?

I mean it reads as “love is no more”. But, again, what do I know about Tom’s unique way of expressing his thoughts through art? Or the Dark Presence’s kinks.

Moving to Alan’s poems. By the way, pay attention on the poor condition of the pages; the first set is not pristine, but at least not this horribly damaged.

This one heavily hints on Alan’s journey. Now I will drop all the other poems as well (and hope I won't hit a wall with the ammount of pictures):

I’ll just leave some of my thoughts about the poems and tie them to events of Alan’s journey a bit. You can treat it all as a wild speculation, really.

Spider time! Oh, sorry, I meant: wild speculations time!

The poem about the princess: Mr. Scratch and the Dark Presence? I’m of the opinion that Alan consumed the Dark Presence after “filling it’s heart with light” and I will eventually talk about it; but it fits. To both Mr. Scratch and Scratch in the second game. The rope-walking feels like Alan’s “I’m drowning”, his always-changing mind-state in the Dark Place and also sends back to the AW1 DLCs. Well, the king poem is obviously the desire to leave the Dark Place and the inability to do it. I have no clue what the dinning poem is about, to be honest, is it somehow connected to deer? Deer-fest? Or the Dark Place populace that might or might not feed on Alan himself? After all, in AWAN he claims he became highly knowledgeable of the inhabitants and the fauna of the Dark Place.

The end of wild speculations.

Now let’s talk about E. And I kept the last poem with no wild speculations just for that. So, we have E. and B. in the notes of the second set of poems as well; I would assume that this is the moment in Alan’s stay in the Dark Place when he goes mad enough to try to impersonate Tom or summon him this way, or even create yet another Barry from DLCs, but this time — Tom (might be with Alan’s face?). B., obviously is as dead as she can be for Alan, he probably has no idea about the private island (or forgot about it), so we have only one mention of her, one that is plausible in Alan’s opinion. E., on the other hand was in the Dark Place with Alan at the time or before.

Allow me to explain. Emil “That Arsehole” Hartman is reported missing in AWE-35 up to 2011:

The “notable individuals still missing after the Bright Falls event” here assumes that Hartman still wasn’t located by FBC after the events of AW1, but they already know about the book published in 2011. Sometime after he was arrested:

And released:

Only after that he makes his leap of faith into the Dark Place. By rough calculations year is 2011-2012, so before being spat out from the lake he might’ve been there with Alan and those notes about E. not understanding:

"E can't see it. He's view is too narrow, limited. It's not a lake, it's an ocean, darkness before the act of creation, before the Big Bang, darkness upon the face of the deep, upon the face of the waters, before light, before the primeval atom, before the word, before THE POEM. I can be a creator, the creator. It has happened before, and it will happen again, many times."

Might be genuine. Hartman jumped into the lake having no idea about its nature, tunnel-visioning only the opportunities, profits. His understanding in the recording before the plunge is narrow and limited, his overconfidence blinds him, he has no clue what he’s dealing with, he was shown glimpses of the power of the Dark Place, but was never able to comprehend it.

And it costed him greatly. Alan, assuming the role of Tom, even wrote him a warm farewell; far warmer than Alan without any splitting personalities or creating imaginary friends would have (the grin after closing the office door on Hartman in the Lodge during the attack of the Dark Presence is golden):

I would bet that E., indeed, didn’t find this funny.

And a bit more clues about the contents of the shoebox. Following the story of Samantha, we know that she found it the first time just to give it to FBC:

“In the dream, I heard the doorbell ring and went to open the door. There was a man there. He said he was a federal agent. He showed me his badge and all, just like the FBI agents do in the movies. Here comes the scary part: there was something wrong with his face; it was leaking inky smoke so that I couldn’t see what he looked like. When I woke up I realized that this image totally came from the ink-covered faces in the photos, of course (see the previous post). The man asked me about the shoebox. He said that it contains top-secret information and that I need to give it to him. I got scared that he’ll put me in jail and went to get the shoebox, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I searched the whole house but it was nowhere. Then I went to the bathroom to look for it, and saw myself in the mirror: my face was covered with inky smoke as well! And that’s when I woke up. When I think back about the dream, it didn’t say “FBI” on his badge; it said “AWE”. This is the weirdest thing of all: Now I can’t find the shoebox anywhere. I have looked everywhere I can think of. I’m sure that it will turn up somewhere, there is so much junk lying around in the house at the moment, but kind of creepy in any case.”

She writes about it as a dream, but it did happen, here’s the whiteboard from Control:

Then there was yet another dream:

“In the dream I was visiting the previous owner of my house at the nursing home, only in the dream the owner wasn’t a sweet old lady, he was a man, and he wasn’t old, he was a young man with a dark hair – very good looking in fact. I remember that he was wearing a funny jacket with old-fashioned elbow patches. I was there to find out about the shoebox, but he was very agitated and didn’t listen to me. The place was brightly lit, it was sunny outside, but he was still very anxious and wanted me to turn all the lights on. He kept going on about the place being too dark. I remember being certain that all the lights were on already, but that didn’t calm him down. In the end he was screaming for me to turn the lights on. I was also starting to freak out, starting to think that something horrible was coming to take us away, and that’s when I woke up.”

Hard to miss those give-away elbow patches, so Samantha had a dream about Alan a week before she got the shoebox back. Here are the contents:

“When I found the shoebox again, there were more poems inside, and a battered, old device: a switch of some kind. I actually had to go and ask about it in the local hardware store to be sure what it was. It’s an old light switch. When you flick it, there’s a solid, satisfying click. When I flicked it the first time after finding it, all the lights in the house went out.”

What in the Dark Place is this Light Switch? I’m still trying to figure it out. We know that the Clicker washed ashore after 2013; if Alan wanted the Clicker in our world, he could arrange it: it was there, in his possession in 2012; why was this sent in the shoebox? It might be explained in the future or it might not. But I will still refer to it as Zane’s Light Switch and call the Clicker Alan’s. Because as much as Odin says that the Light Switch (meaning the Clicker) was cut of “Tom’s lamp”, he also calls Alan “Tom”, so which “Tom” are we talking about there?

The only theory about the Light Switch I have: it’s an OoP that’s bound by the real Thomas Zane and has no use for Alan or anyone else, since Thomas is partially alive and can maintain the connection with the item. Or the Bright Presence might be its new wielder. In any case, this at least somewhat explains why Samantha, of all the people, was shown the story about the Last Dive. I don’t think she bound the item, but she did use it, causing the power outage for the whole neighbourhood, might be enough to summon the Bright Presence. Otherwise I can’t stop wondering why Samantha, being so important as to learn the story of the Last Dive, never showed up again.

But, who knows, after all, her blogging time ends with:

“I know that something amazing is coming, that something wonderful is going to happen, and at the same time I know that when it does, it will be something totally different from what I’m expecting, something I could never have imagined. And I know it might take a long time before it does happen, but no matter how long it takes, I’ll be here, waiting.”

[kafus]

i sat up to get on my laptop to answer asks and then as i was moving my stuff around i peeked at my 3ds wonder trade and

LMAO?????

i ended up backing up the save file to check this thing out since i don't trust wonder trade shinies, and of starters no less, even though there was nothing outwardly suspicious on the pokemon's profile. pkhex is giving it a thumbs up legality wise but that doesn't necessarily mean that the chespin was actually found legitimately, especially because it has a few perfect IVs. RNG manip is possible and i personally consider that legal but???? idk a naive 3 IV spread is a strange thing to manip

unfortunately i don't know enough about 3DS RNG manipulation (i've never personally done it, only gens 3-5) and i'm not sure how to cross-check this chespin with 3DS RNG tool if that's even possible with the OT information provided by pkhex, so i suppose i'll ask a friend for help with that later since i have friends who have done 3DS rng stuff. regardless of if it was legitimately obtained or if it was hacked though, honestly still pretty cool lmao. i don't feel the need to toss it out like i would with a machamps dot com shiny with pokerus and 6 perfect IVs holding a master ball or whatever 💀

[pokemonlolitaproject]

sooo just curious but what happens when you reach the 100% mark and make coords of every existing mon?

So for starters that meter doesn't measure my progress for Megas so I'm not as close to the finish line as it may suggest. But that being said I have thought about this and have a few options for continuing the blog: 1) I start focusing on shinies (I do have a dex started on the same website calculating how many shinies I have done and it is far less)

2) I focus on pokemon trainers/Important NPCs (I have a few trainers designed already)

3) If I finish the first 2 (which is unlikely considering new pokemon games are bound to come out) I'll make coords invocative of elemental types or regions.

[sideblog-usernametaken]

Spoilers for Pokemon Horizons Episode 67 below:

So the battle between Liko and Roy was fantastic, it showed off how both of them have progressed as trainers and how much they've bonded with their pokemon. The fight choreography was great, Floragato learning Feignt by accident and Fuecoco evolving were both hype, and the pacing was tight with excellent animation. Like, this is how you script and direct animated pokemon battles.

However, I'm still a bit bitter about the outcome of the match.

Narratively, it fits and shows their character growth. This is Liko's first real loss that she takes without it having a massive emotional impact on her, and now that Roy has started fighting strategically instead of move spamming it makes sense that he's gotten much better at battling. The latter is especially important given his goal is to battle the Shiny Rayquaza.

It also makes sense from a more meta narrative too: Roy was the only one with an evolved starter so it makes sense Fuecoco evolves now and it makes sense that he goes on to win the battle after. Not evolving Fuecoco would've either resulted in Roy stagnating, or Fuecoco just becoming too strong to be believable anymore. They could've turned it into a subplot where Roy is concerned Fuecoco hasn't evolved when Quaxly and Sprigatito both did. But no other pokemon has gotten that level of concern regarding evolution and Roy isn't the kind of character to get hung up on a detail like that so it definitely would've felt forced. This was the right time for him to evolve and I kind of expected it going into the episode.

So why do I feel bitter about the battle's outcome if everything about it makes sense and it met my expectations for the episode?

Because Liko deserves a break.

Seeiously, she has been fighting uphill for this entire arc with nearly every battle putting her at a heavy disadvantage in either typing or level. Her basics test? Yeah throw her at the Bug type gym leader, her only two pokemon are Grass and Psychic which are both weak to Bug. Her double battle against Rika? Yeah have her go up against the one Poison type on Rika's team (This one is slightly less egregious than everything else because the Clodsire does lose its stab poision damage and Katy is helping for the first half, but still). Her implementation test? Yeah, send her to the Ice type gym leader who's pokemon are at minimum 5-10 levels higher than hers, don't worry about the fact that both of his pokemon are super effective against her main too (Ice and Flying both beat Grass). She has to confront the Explores on her own? Have her run into Amethio and his Fire/Ghost Ceruledge that can counter both of her pokemon. She has a climactic battle with one of her friends in the finale? Yeah pit her against the one with the Fire main and Flying second (Which has paralysis moves to cut down Floragato's agility). Oh, and for funsies, give Liko the other disadvantage of her second pokemon only really start battling this arc, so she doesn't have the time to get a good sense of how she battles until it's too late.

Seriously, the only battle in this arc that I can think of where Liko had at least a type advantage was against the Garganacle. Even then she was battling against someone trying to take her out instead of someone battling for fun.

Meanwhile, Roy more often than not gets type advantages, and Dot's arc focuses almost entirely on her character outside of battle so it doesn't really matter if she wins or loses because either one works. It's like the writers are intentionally putting Liko at a major disadvantage because she's genuinely become a really good trainer, but the plot demands she keeps losing for character development.

Seriously, the level of strategy and competency she showed in her fight against Grusha should've gotten her a passing grade. It would've gotten her a passing grade from any other gym leader, heck she probably could've beaten most of the other gym leaders. But instead the narrative keeps beating her down so she has a valid reason to have low self esteem instead of letting her have some wins to give her a better sense of self confidence. Like, Roy failed his first try at the implementation test because he needed something to deeply rattle him to bring about a change in his fighting style. That's an example of a loss being effective for character growth. But with Liko? It's like she's not allowed to see the progress she's made until the second to last episode of the arc, and in the finale she gets shown up by Fuecoco evolving.

The only real saving grace of the battle's outcome is Geeta and Rika reaction. They recognize that Liko has the skill to take on the Champion track and seem completely unbothered by the fact she lost to Roy. That means they probably realized all of what I said above, and came to the conclusion that if Liko's this good working against these kinds of disadvantages then she'd be incredibly strong once she levels up some more or catches a full team. If that's true, it would explain why they didn't have the same talk with Roy since he's largely had an advantage in most of his battles.

Ideally, I'd end this fight in a tie. Have them knock each other out at the same time to establish that they're on even footing, and they both get the benefit of technically not losing. This ending would also build tension for their inevitable rematch.

I really hope the next arc gives Liko some more wins because she really needs it. At this point in her character arc having her continue to lose and deal self esteem issues would just mean she's stagnating. They need to have something more substantial to show her growth, especially since one of her main character flaws before this arc was her letting other people win when she could've beaten them. You can't just tell us she's talented, then show us she's talented, and then keep making her lose unfair fights so you can drag out her self esteem issues longer. She doesn't have to win every fight but she should at least be able to show off in a fair fight every once in a while.

[quartings]

The Mystery of Munchlax: A Diamond and Pearl theory

By now, it's pretty common knowledge that Munchlax in Sinnoh is one of the most infamously rare Pokemon to find in history- having just a 1% chance to spawn from 3-4 honey trees in all of Sinnoh every 6 hours after honey usage. With the specific trees differing per save file.

But WHY is Munchlax so rare to the point where it's practicaly impossible to find in your average playthrough? I may have a theory.

The main point of evidence is that Diamond and Pearl are the first games with the GTS, allowing players to finally trade Pokemon with people across the world, and not just in their small hypothetical local groups. And making Munchlax so rare was a way to motivate more people to try out the GTS, this fancy new feature that Gamefreak worked so hard on.

Data shows that Diamond and Pearl sold over 17 million copies. so out of the 17 million people or so playing through the game, maybe a few hundred of them are lucky enough to get a Munchlax in their playthrough. Out of these several hundred, maybe a few dozen take the time to evolve their Munchlax into Snorlax and give it a Full Incense to breed more Munchlax. Since unlike other rare Pokemon like Legendaries or shinies, Munchlax is still a normal Pokemon who can be bred (essentially "duplicated"). Of these few dozen, maybe 9 or 10 have the intuition and wifi access to put their Munchlax on the GTS for a hefty price (like Dialga or Palkia or whatever).

And hopefully, as more and more Munchlax spread throughout the GTS, more and more players can get them for "cheaper" prices, as they become more common and people are just asking for normal Pokemon in exchange for them, like First Partner Pokemon Starters and regular version exclusives. That way, the "main" method of getting Munchlax during a normal playthrough would be to try and get one off the GTS.

And let's not forget the mass-marketing campaign Pokemon did to make Munchlax more appealing- an extended cameo in Destiny Deoxys, giving May one of her own in the anime, having appearances in Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Dash, and XD Gale of Darkness, and LOTS of merch, as well as Barry having one on his team to remind you that it's in the game. All on top of being a pre-evo of Snorlax, one of the most beloved and strong Gen 1 Pokemon around. If Munchlax's rarity was given to a weak standalone new Gen 4 Pokemon (like say, Carnivine), way less people would even try hunting for it.

But why is this not common knowledge to all of us? Why didn't this strategy work how Gamefreak intended? Well, there's a few reasons for that, too.

First of all, why even attempt the grind for Munchlax via honey trees when the Pal Park exists? Back in the good old days where transferring Pokemon between gens was free and humane, the amount of people able to transfer their Snorlax from FireRed/LeafGreen to Diamond/Pearl was likely MUCH higher than the aforementioned tiny amount of people who found a Munchlax via honey tree and were willing to breed more for the GTS.

And the amount of age 6-12 kids who were able to understand a new global wifi trading feature in their Pokemon games and ask their parents for wifi connection help in 2006/2007?? I don't think that number is very high, either.

Plus, let's not even get into how much of a mess the GTS was in the first few gens of its lifespan- kids (or just Pokemon fans in general) are nowhere near restrained enough to make reasonable trade offers even if they do happen to have a Munchlax.

Lastly, the final nail in the coffin came when HeartGold/SoulSilver released in 2009 with a static catchable Snorlax in its postgame. If there wasn't a reason to hunt Munchlax via honey tree before, there definitely wasn't one anymore.

And so, that's the story of Munchlax's debut! A fun little experiment by Gamefreak, but thankfully not one they ever really tried since.

[driofaire]

Treviso was beautiful at night. Rook hadn't ever really had the opportunity to explore the streets beyond the docks themselves, and now she thought that was truly a pity. It was a smaller city, and miniscule in comparison to Minthrathous. That was the way of things really, wasn't it? Comparing the sizes of things to others and marvelling at the differences. In comparison to the others she had visited, it never seemed to settle into the comfortable silences the others always had. Where merchants selling their spices and vegetables went to bed, other places that offered food, drink or entertainment yawned to life. Not quite as slowly as the lazy mornings, but quickly enough that the day crowd made way for ...

Something glittery caught Rook's eye. She would always be a pirate before she was a treasure hunter. A shiny trinket coveting magpie whose attention was caught quickly by the glint of something worth buying. She'd not had much time nor the coin to truly spoil herself in the past year as she had helping out Varric. He was a good person to know, with eyes and ears in places one wouldn't expect. The journey to find where her story had truly begun was an elusive one, indeed.

This particular trinket was a little too muted for her tastes. A well-carved and polished crow's head, the feathers engraved into the darkness of it and the lines filled with gold paint. Polished enough that, even under the softness of lantern light, caught the flames well.

"Hang about a second, Lucanis," she said, and reached out to touch it. Soft and smooth. A good gift, outside of the little coffee set she had been eyeballing the previous week. Rook plucked it from the stand, and moved to dig into her little coin purse. It was running a little light in the absence of solid work, but nothing that couldn't be replenished once the world wasn't about to take a nose dive for the worst. Three gold for something so small felt like daylight robbery -- or, considering it was evening time, a perfectly normal one!

She would not embarrass herself by trying to haggle them down to something a little less extortionate. The exchange passed, and she turned to offer it to the crow.

"A little on the nose, but I couldn't resist."

@dellamuertos / closed starter. ( NON RP BLOGS DNI ).