#foundling mercantile

[impossibleprincess35]

What we're not going to do is pretend that this isn't the most legit shit that has ever been put on a pin.

I ordered this so damn fast.

(Also, there's a shirtless Obi pin, so that's coming home to me, too.)

Go check out this pin maker, Foundling Mercantile. :D

[aigoos]

Obikin Shrine Journey

Today, I went to work for the last time this year, and I added to my Obikin shrine some new merchs that I received a few days before. This shrine has been my project for all of 2024. What started as a few charms (or danglies, as I call them) and buttons grew into this as I spent the entire year collecting enamel pins, stickers, charms, prints, plushies, buttons, figures, magnets, and photo tiles.

I started off with a much smaller board, but then in the summer, my co-worker and I had to change offices, so I took the larger board in our office (which was good, because I had run out of space), and then even took over the refrigerator and expanded the shrine onto my desk, shelf, cabinet, and wall.

Let's just say I am grateful that my current co-worker and my former co-worker support my obsession. I've never mentioned to them about the actual ship, only stated that they are my favourite characters from Star Wars, and I did do my best to keep the shrine platonic as possible . . . until a gay colleague saw my shrine and said, "It's giving off a homoerotic vibe." LMAO. If he thinks my work shrine is homoerotic, then I wonder what he'd say if he saw the sexy shrine I have at my work home. See below on why that shrine is staying home LOL.

Anyway, I also wanted to mention that @barmadumet's collection is what heavily inspired me to start my own collection. Thanks to her, I finally personalised my workspace that I hadn't bothered to do anything to for three and a half years. This adventure has brought me many joy -- though my bank account says otherwise, ahaha! But seriously, it got me to support many small businesses and artists (50+!!!!), and it allowed me to meet many other like-minded collectors, and they also helped me get some of the pins that are no longer available. Plus, a couple of my friends and colleagues even gifted me some items for my shrine. This adventure has not only brought me happiness, but it has humbled me as so many people have helped me along the way.

Oh, and it has also taught me to just accept that I cannot put things up straight and to know when to just let the crookedness be.

That said, I've compiled a list of all the businesses/artists below with links to their shops and/or social media~ To conclude, I hope 2025 will allow me to fill up that remaining space on the board!

Amanda Baldwin Art Armstrong Outpost A Sirens Pins BBCre8 BCRCustom BlackWandaShop Cedric @cherriielle @christinechangart Designs by Gen Designs by Joe Distant Fantasy Boards EchofromtheMill @faivsz FestiProper FoldItCreations Foundling Mercantile @geekipopstudio @ginalongillustrations Ginshi Hatters Designs Holy Pins Hunter and Convor IchigoTokki Joy Addict Junction Point Workshop @kana7o KJones Crafts LaDecorEU @dinagastuff Lantern Pins Laser Brain Patch Co Liminal Pins MaxxMerch @mouyashii @mushbuzz-do-not-repost Mythmore Mythos Merchant Co @nickytess Odder Than Antiquity Osiripengin PinButlers Inc Pinculture Co Pins of Marvel and Magic PlushiShop PotatoClone RebelArt Design Roobean Art Ruzovy @saeuchelle @saltyseaturtle Shannon Burton Art SnowFoxTrading Co SuppieDoodles Sword and Whetstone These Pencil Shavings Winter Aifu Xanadu Pins

[proffbon]

The Fool and the Moon for the whole rookery >B)))

Hoo boy, here we go. Questions from the Tarot ask.

The Fool: Where did Rook's journey begin? What were they doing before joining the Veilguard?

I think I have the more detailed backstory posts about every Rook scattered somewhere around the blog so I'll just do shorter versions.

Mien de Riva: As a child he was a slave in Tevinter along with his mother. Due to Tevinter's favorite past time (political intrigue) their master was forced to flee the country but as he was quite the greedy and mercantile man he refused to adanbon his slaves when he could sell them for a bit of money. The master mostly made deals in border or trade towns so most slaves were taken as dock hands or cheap laborers but as there could be a chance that they would be bought back to Tevinter Mien's mother warned him to not show their relation and not react if she would be taken by someone from Tevinter. This, in her opinion, could ensure that at least one of them got out and would be dealt a better hand. Unfortunately, this was exactly what happened but Mien acted just like his mother instructed. Unbeknownst to him, the whole interaction was witnessed by a passing Crow recruiter. He noticed the boy's ability to act stoic despite circumstances and bought him out. When he offered for him to join the Crows Mien didn't see any other way but to do so. He's been part of the assassins guild ever since, slowly accumulating money from contracts to find and free his mother. Unfortunately by the time he was able to do so he was too late. The anger and grief over his mother's death is what led to the Antaam incident.

Varsch Thorne: Varsch was a member of the Warrior Caste in Orzammar. While being a great warrior he wasn't a great member of the caste, refusing to engage in politics or get married for an alliance. As any other warrior he often ventures into the Deep Roads and sometimes they would be accompanied by Grey Wardens. He looked up to the order, in his eyes their life was a much better version of his: fighting a good fight without having to worry about any of Orzammar's tradition-driven nonsense. One day he asked one of the Wardens to join and left Orzammar, giving up his caste. He then served as a Warden for the next 5 years until he was sent away and started helping Varric.

Ruquantriviel Mercar: Dissatisfied with his lot as a foundling elf growing up in a military family, Ruq left his home, enraged at his father for taking him in and subjecting him to this sort of living. He managed to find a Dalish clan that agreed to take him in. Because of his magical prowess he managed to become the clan's Second but although he was good at memorising elven lore and language, the Keeper noticed he was restless in his role. If he was to become the Keeper it would be his job to take care of their people and he understood that but it seemed that he was more worried about elves who were still in Tevinter. Not everyone was as lucky as him, he took all his father's attempts to make things better for him for granted and that thought twisted Ruq up. In the end he decided to come back to Tevinter to aid his people in ways he was more experienced with. For a time he was acting by himself, a lone elven ghost with vengeance painted on his face. But his actions lacked subtelty. That's why he was approached by the Shadow Dragons, and not just by anyone but The Viper himself. Ruq began working with the Shadows and he and Viper agreed on a lot of things but would still chafe on Ruq's methods. The Nessus jod was a breaking point on Ruq and Ashur's amicable but strained relationship, in no small part due to Ruq's explosive personality.

The Moon: How does Rook's past impact their values? Does their past come with any biases or blind spots they have to account for?

Mien de Riva: Due to his own past he has a bleeding heart for the downtrodden (slaves and elves especially). And there's a whole pile of issues stemming from the death of his mother like being particularly pissed at Solas for implying there could be 'acceptable losses' or his insistence on Taash patching up their relationship with their mother. The long and short of it - mommy issues. Despite also being quite rebellious and free-spirited he retained some of his slave-like qualities, that's not something one so young could shake off easily (and Crow training did not help). He sometimes acts overly servile to his superiors (which Viago hates) and goes into a mindset of being a 'tool' which leads to him disregarding personal safety.

Varsch Thorne: For a short time after leaving Orzammar Varsch was actually acting quite haughty towards 'surfaces' but being among the Wardens with their diverse backgrounds and constant reminders that he's a surface now himself quickly beat that out of him. Although he would still sometimes whine about how no one makes strong enough booze 'up here'. He also subconsciously acts more brotherly to Harding because she reminds him of his little siblings he took care of back home. And as it is known he is wary of all things related to magic.

Ruquantriviel Mercar: He only recently reconciled his conflict of being Tevinter as well as Dalish and elven so he often doubts if Tevinter is even worth the effort especially with the Venatori on the rise. He also won't admit it but he's still uncomfortable with living and sleeping in the forest. Not to the point of irritation but he would much prefer a humble city living to camping in the middle of nowhere.

[daffodiltaurus]

https://www.instagram.com/foundlingmercantile/p/DCexaBvPksB/?img_index=1

[impossibleprincess35]

The lack of Satine merch has always struck me as being a total miss on the part of The Powers That Be. It seems they're adamant about not licensing anything.

But there is some great fan-made merch out there!

I've seen where some people have made custom Funkos, I'm in the process of making a series of Satine Barbies, and there's some artists and pin makers. I'm going to link some of my faves below:

Enamel Pins: My fave, Foundling Mercantile, makes some gorgeous stuff, but she happens to have a couple Obi-Wan/Satine or Satine-related pins in her shop right now. (There's one of them together on the Coronet that is in production and hasn't hit the website yet, but you can view the art on her Instagram.)

There are some other artists who have made Satine pins, but she's the one I know has some stuff guaranteed that's in stock or on the way.

Art Prints: You can find prints if you're searching on Etsy, but there's 3 that I'm going to link here. This first one from Odder Than Antiquity (and I actually commissioned it publicly, so I'm patting myself on that back for that one 'cause it was money well spent) is gorgeous and I have it in my office in the largest size possible. The second and third links are artists in the fandom who make Satine art! Vexx and Mercy are both amazing artists and have their work available in prints and in stickers, and I've bought some of both!

Etsy also has a wealth of other little things. There's a handbag being sold on there? Lego earrings or something similar to that? Niche stuff that's cool and hits a targeted audience.

I actually drove 3 hours last summer to pick up a 3D printed resin figure of Satine that someone scaled up in their printer so that I could hand paint it and put it on display in my office. Like, the desperation is real.

But yeah, we're definitely scraping up crumbs to try to make a meal here in this fandom.

ETA! I am the fucking worst, I forgot to share these items!

Like, the Keldabi kiss with Satine and Bo?! SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY. So freakin' cute. Sorry, @sapphicsparkles, for forgetting you on my OP. I'm an ass. <3

im in desperate need of satine merch. like that one piece of official merch she has? cant find that anywhere. the stuff on etsy is either not my thing or wildly expensive and i cant find anything else. if you know of satine merch or have any youre selling PLEASE let me know