#Lark lore

[ringtownrangerlark]

Pokeballs vs. Capture Stylers

As a ranger, it is my deeply held belief, based on observation and experience, that Pokeballs are an under-estimated danger to pokemon and the environment. They can cause harm even when used properly and with good intentions. When used by someone with criminal or otherwise nefarious intent, they make causing harm ludicrously easy. Let's do a little comparison, shall we?

How do you get it? Pokeballs can be bought for money in Pokemarts, and are often handed out for free at promotional events. Capture stylers are given only to certified rangers.

What about more advanced versions? Some types of Pokeball require a certain number of League badges to purchase. Others are gated only by cost alone. Capture stylers have built-in limits that can be gradually removed by senior rangers once a ranger has proven experience and risen in rank.

Who regulates it? Pokeballs are produced by the Silph and Devon corporations. While they have some cooperation with the Pokemon League, and are regulated by government, their fundamental motivation is profit. Capture Stylers are regulared by the Ranger Union. Even if one could mass-capture using a styler, it would not benefit the Union to do so.

How many pokemon can you catch? While league battles allow only a fighting team of six, a person can buy and own as many pokeballs as they can carry. Even for the highest-ranked rangers, the maximum number of friend Pokemon is 7.

Can you take pokemon somewhere unsafe for them/the environment? Capture stylers prevent taking a pokemon out of it's native habitat, a limitation removed only for Top Rangers. A brand-new trainer could catch a magikarp and then immediately release it into the desert if they wanted.

What happens if you capture a wild pokemon? With a pokeball, the pokemon is now permanently registered as captured by the trainer. It can be released. Depending on the training experience, it may or may not be safe/appropriate to release back into the wild, even in its native habitat. With a capture styler, the pokemon remains wild. It can temporarily assist a ranger, and then return immediately to its natural environment and behaviors.

What if you try to catch someone else's pokemon? A pokeball prevents re-capture of an already registered pokemon. A capture styler can be used to capture an owned pokemon (this is often done to return lost pokemon, or soothe agitated or injured ones) but it does not change the ownership of the Pokemon.

Is there skill involved? There is strategy in Pokeball capturing, especially via battle. But theoretically, one could still bombard even a legendary pokemon with enough pokeballs and capture it by sheer statistical chance. Proper use of a capture styler requires education and training. Even if someone stole a capture styler, they would not automatically be able to use it.

What if someone "bad" tries to catch a pokemon? Anyone can buy and use a pokeball regardless of intentions. A capture styler conveys the intentions of the ranger. No matter how skilled/experienced, a person could not capture a pokemon they wished to harm in an unmodified/unhacked styler.

What about evil teams? Criminal organizations where pokeballs are readily available (Johto, Kanto, Hoenn, etc.) have simply used regular pokeballs for purposes of robbery, poaching, etc. Evil teams in regions where capture stylers are popular (Fiore, Almia, and Oblivia) have either heavily modified an experimental styler (Super Stylers) or needed to invent and produce an entirely new capture system (Gigaremo, Capture Gauntlet). This vastly limited available supply to team members, and speed of plans. I'm going to repeat that bit. Without access to pokeballs, evil teams found it easier to make, manufacture and distribute their own inventions than to use capture stylers for crime.

What happens if you defeat a criminal using a pokemon? Defeating a criminal (such as an evil team member) in a trainer battle may lead to an arrest, but they may also run away and keep the pokemon they own. When using a styler to capture pokemon controlled by other means (e.g. gigaremo units) the pokemon return to the wild.

You see why I think it's insane that of these two methods, one is meticulously regulated, and the other can be bought for pocket change at a corner store? In case anyone lacks reading comprehension, I'm not saying pokeballs make people evil. But it is a hell of a lot easier to commit crimes like mass trafficking with pokeballs than with stylers. And even well meaning, perfectly nice people can do things like drastically alter local pokemon populations by catching many in a short time span, or releasing them inappropriately. Pokeballs are insane and I'm so tired of people thinking I'm the weird one for saying so.

[snowberriesromanoff]

Top 5 poems pretty please? If you have any

Courtney Love Prays to Oregon, Clementine von Radics - I have screamed both this poem and my own response to it into so many mics over the last year, it's beautiful, it's cathartic, it's so everything it hurts. My answering poem got published in a friend's zine, because something has to come after Oregon answers the prayer.

Boobs, Ollie Schminky - my gender is this poem played against a background of that one scene in the terrible Selena Gomez movie Monte Carlo where the Meg character talks about the scream trapped inside her and then at the end of the movie gets to scream from the top of the mountain. Watch Ollie Schminky. Read this poem or better yet find a YouTube performance of it. Do not watch Monte Carlo.

OCD, Neil Hilborn - I cannot pick just one Neil poem because I used to be in his writing workshop and he's great and I relate to his work an uncomfortable amount, so I'm picking this one because it's the first one my friend ever showed me and sometimes you fall in love with poetry by listening to your friend scream the lines to the poem that made them fall in love with poetry, an infinite loop of friends sharing poems with friends

Hum, Hum, Mary Oliver - this is the poem everyone gives me when I tell them about the kind of abuse both Mary Oliver and I survived. In this case, everyone is right. Read it aloud slowly, whisper 'not to be held back' with growing defiance, hum hum HUM. Remember there are still honeybees.

Conversations About Home (At the Deportation Center), Warsan Shire - there's a more well known later version of this poem, but this is the one I carried with me when I left my own shark-mouthed home. Mine is not the same story as the one Shire tells, but it still resonates deeply. It hurts to read. I want to paint it on my homeless shelter's beige fence and watch them try to paint over it

Honorable mention

Litany in Which Certain Things are Crossed Out, Richard Siken - do you ever cry about queer love and hurt? do you want to? read this poem

Anything by Hanif Abdurraqib, even his essays - he's arguably the GOAT when it comes to modern poets and everyone deserves to experience his work at least once

Helen of Troy Does Counter Top Dancing, Margaret Atwood - I'm not sure if this is a good poem. I have no real feelings about Atwood. But I like the feel of the last stanza in my heart on the days when everything seems too much.

[ringtownrangerlark]

Obviously I can't decide for you, but I thought I'd chime in as I'm pretty sure I'm aromantic and asexual. I haven't had a lot of negative experiences with romance- some awkward first dates that never "went anywhere". I've transitioned as much as I want to, so I don't think it's gender dysphoria or discomfort with my body. My parents are happily married and would provide excellent role models of healthy romance, but I'm not sure I want (or am increasingly sure I don't want) what they have. I have good family, I have close friends, that feels like enough. Everything I see, read and hear about some sort of Magically Different feelings that leave one all brainless and twitterpated continue to be something that feels fictional and I can only abstractly try to understand. I like doing things with other people- going out for meals, seeing movies. But I've yet to have any kind of moment where suddenly I want to Go To The Movies But Different, With Just One Person.

Maybe that's naive, somehow? It can feel like a joke I'm just not getting. And when I was younger, people trying to be reassuring and encouraging often told me I could take my time and would get there 'eventually'. So I'd be lying if I said some part of me didn't sometimes worry I was still 'behind'. But I'm almost thirty and, frankly, perfectly content with the friendships I have. While it's theoretically possible for that to change, I'm personally reaching a point where I'm not waiting for something to happen.

Despite my best efforts, I have admittedly been thinking about my identity and relationships in the past. It's hard to figure out if I'm genuinely uninterested in romance, or if I'm just averse to the idea currently because of my own experiences and flaws. I kind of like the idea of having a partner, but proper dating, marriage, etc just turns me off to the whole thing.

I don't know why. I wish these things were easier to figure out.

[alien-bluez]

i don't think i posted pirate au so. pirate au.

[ringtownrangerlark]

Possibly the best bug photo I've ever taken. Sending it immediately to my uncle Tal

[odie-oleander]

“Meandering leaves are never too far from a tree.”

A fanart based off the Majesty n Kingsley theory :>> the concept of the blue eyes was from a mutual’s post but I’m having a hard time looking for it 😢

I had so much fun making this RAAAHH I hope my Majesty design isn’t too shabby!! Since I got a new phone digital art has become like 10x easier WE ARE SO BACKK

[the-sky-queen]

Since the @sonic-au-collision reblogged my Render art from yesterday, I thought it would be fun to do a little post explaining what With Great Power Comes is to anyone interested!

With Great Power Comes AU is a Sonic Prime AU and it asks the question of what happened in the Shatterspaces after Sonic and Shadow went home? And where were the variants of Sonic and Shadow this whole time?

The AU is split up into three main parts for the different Shatterspaces. I have plans for a fourth part, but it's not really developed yet.

Part 1: A Spark Soaring Down Through the Pouring Rain - the New Yolk story. This one follows Nine, who didn't stay behind in the Grim and instead went back to the city to help the Resistance drive off the Chaos Council for good. He very quickly discovers Momentum, Sonic's counterpart here, who has been a mobian slave since he was four years old. Nine vows to not only set him free, but help rehabilitate him afterwards. In a sense, Nine is trying to repay all the ways Sonic helped him. Along the way, Nine meets Render, Shadow’s counterpart and a computer program that the Council is using as their new enforcer. There's a whole mystery going on with him, but I won't spoil it. :D This part is the most developed right now, currently sitting at 8 chapters. Go check it out!

Part 2: We Disappoint, We Disappear, We Die But We Don't - the Bosscage Maze story. This one follows Thorn as it's revealed that she knew Lark, Sonic’s counterpart here, before the events of the show, but they had falling out and she hasn't seen him since. Miraculously, Lark shows back up one day, but he collapses on the spot. It becomes clear quickly that someone did something to Lark that caused him to pass out, but who? Thorn, Lark, and the Scavengers need to figure that out before it's too late. (The Shadow variant, Oleander, hasn't shown up yet, but he's cool. He's half plant!) This part is currently sitting at only 2 chapters, but I'll be focusing on it more once part 1 is finished. Also, if you like Sonamy, this is the story for you, because Thorn and Lark are a couple and they are adorable!

Part 3: The Difficult Balance Between A Blessing And A Curse - the No Place story. This one sadly isn't posted at all yet, as I've had to rework it a couple of times, but here's the basics. The crew of the Kraken (now with added Rusty Rose!) come across Splash, Sonic’s counterpart here, and invite him to join their crew. Splash as it turns out, is the adopted son of Oceana (the ocean goddess who essentially IS the ocean) and as such has some really cool water powers. But everything goes sideways when Torrent, Shadow’s counterpart, shows up. He’s got water powers too, along with a grudge against all life. If Splash can't figure out how to talk him out of his revenge quest, all of No Place is doomed.

If anyone would like to know more, feel free to send me an ask! My inbox is always open.

[ringtownrangerlark]

Neither!

My partner pokemon was a 10th birthday gift from an uncle in Alola who worked with a breeder. He sent an egg (after checking in with my parents beforehand, of course).

But I find people use the word "starter" to mean one's first pokemon specifically for trainer league journeys, rather than "first pokemon ever". I've hardly ever heard people call their pet zigzagoon their "starter" pokemon. So in that sense, while I have a partner, she wouldn't be a "starter".

Aight, I want to ask something to Rotomblr 'cause I'm actually curious.

How many of y'all had an actual, Prof-given starter, and how many just... got a random wild one?

[ringtownrangerlark]

Chimchar - Have there been any rumors about you?

Tepig - What are some of your favorite foods? Which ones do you crave the most?

Fennekin - Is there anything you like to chew on that you probably shouldn’t?

Oh, all sorts of rumors. The most outlandish was, I believe sometime around my initial assignment to Paldea, rumors that I was not entirely human. I take it as a compliment to my efficiency.

I like bitter foods a lot! Nanab bread, Yago fruit, curry with rawst or aguav berries. Though if I had to pick a favorite it would be malasadas- blame the Alolan side of the family for that one.

If I am given a hoodie and the hood strings have aglets those aglets will not survive. Also, in a context between my teeth and the ends of writing utensils, my teeth win, though not in the long term. Send prayers to my poor dentist who has to deal with "teeth grinding".

[midstpodcast]

What are the Fold & The Un?

Let our magnificent Junior Lore Keeper Jared Deiro de-mystifiy the MIDST Cosmos with his latest deep dive! 🧡

[ringtownrangerlark]

I'm very fond of spinarak! They're just friendly little smile spiders.

What is everyone's favorite bug types ? Maybe we will share some stories about them if you mention one we have at the sactuary !

Sincerely : Keisuke Semizuka .

[wanderingibon]

inquisitor lark, of clan lavellan

(they/them) very nervous fledgling hunter who was set to get their vallaslin but instead got the anchor and the unbearable weight of the world placed upon their unwilling shoulders! fun! (don't worry they're doing much better by veilguard, luckily- unlike my rook) 😭💙

[ma-lark-ey]

hypothetically if one got neurotic enough to create a complete pro exy league with teams, conferences, and an entire draft system & contract regulations; would the people want to see it? or should the neurotic loser keep the entire fake professional sports league in the notebook where it belongs...

[thegreatyin]

more fun important lark lore for the class:

he's a thief of light

[ringtownrangerlark]

My uncle was (and is) a bug catcher, my dad has been a birder all his life. I grew up, honestly, mostly more of a grass-type kid than one or the other. But between bugs and birds, I did lean more toward the local spinarak, to my uncle's amusement.

Actually wait- did everyone go through a bug catcher phase as a kid? I know it wasn't a phase for some people but I feel like every other kid I remember from when I was younger had a bug catcher phase at some point.

[lookatmysillies]

Round 24 - Himei POV

Himei's pulse throbbed in her ears when she stepped onto the stage.

Cirrus looked like something entirely beyond human, as usual. They hadn't interacted much with Himei before the show but to smile at her silently once when she was caught staring. She'd torn her gaze away, quiet resentment bubbling up in her chest. Fizzling out at the ever-present thoughts of Lark and Noora.

Her bruises had healed, for the most part, but she still required a bit of extra makeup to make herself presentable for the stage. Inside and out, Cirrus was better. They were just better. They looked it. They acted it.

They were better.

Himei had conquered the stage twice for a third kingdom come, and yet she felt as the spotlights beamed down on herself and her opponent that it would be the last. She wondered if this was how Tallis felt. Small. So small and insignificant.

The music reached her ears as if from some distant, long-forgotten dream or memory; perhaps a memory that turned out to be a dream after all, a fallacy of the mind. Her PR team had only just barely agreed on her song choice. They wanted her to stick to what was working, songs with attitude, songs with scoffs and snarls, but she argued that her fans would enjoy more depth from her now that she was in the final eight.

And that was probably true. It wasn't why she chose it, but it was probably true.

She could feel her heart down to her stomach, throbbing against the corset that sat snug around her torso, the perfect centerpiece to her flowy blouse and skin-tight pants with tall, thigh-high boots. They limited her movement, but she didn't need that freedom as she had her first two rounds. Her moves were slow and liquid smooth when the first words came from somewhere deep in her chest, flowing out with all the calm dignity she found from within as her eyes fixed on a point in the sky that seemed random to any viewer:

Just a moment Right before all the song and dance...

Himei had kissed Tov again before she was taken to the performance site.

It was a frenzied, frantic thing, an immediate clash of lips and teeth when she came to see Tov in her quarters. She maneuvered her so her back was to the door once it closed and kissed her until they were both breathless, then again until Tov planted two firm hands on her shoulders and shoved her back.

"What were you thinking?" she asked. She didn't sound angry. She didn't sound afraid, or affronted. She just looked sad. "Coming in here and doing that at a time like this? Like you're never going to see me again?"

Wasn't brave enough to tell you But there ain't gonna be another chance

Himei wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as if to swipe away the shame of her own actions, the taste of fear and self-loathing lingering on her tongue. "I don't know. I don't know, Tov, really, I don't know. I'm sorry."

Tov crossed her arms. "Sorry for what?"

Confusion made Himei's brow tilt. "For... for kissing you? You just said—“

"Well, I wish you weren't." Tov blinked, and only then did Himei notice a telling shine of moisture in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but Tov beat her to it. "I wish you weren't sorry for kissing me, but for your own apparent need only to do it when you're afraid."

Himei stared, mouth agape.

She didn't know what to say or do. It felt like she was an inmate on death row about to meet the consequences of her crimes - what does one do on their last day? What can one do? Everything, and yet nothing at all?

Tov stepped into her space, gently as opposed to Himei's ferocity, always gentle when she needed to be and firm when she needed to be that, and Himei was always the wrong one at the wrong time, nothing but a broken record. Tov cupped Himei's face in her hands - smooth, unlike Tallis's. Smaller than his.

It's not long until All that I have And everything's still The minutes are racing

"Don't kiss me afraid," Tov whispered, her voice breaking. It sounded like a plea. "Just kiss me."

So Tov pressed her lips to Himei's, and Himei did.

They kissed. The moments passed as they embraced, as if it would be enough to rid of all the baggage and clear a path for the future, just this one moment.

Maybe it could.

In some other world, it could; the ghost of Tallis wouldn't be sitting with his chin propped up in one hand, staring vacantly through them. Lark and Noora wouldn't be whispering in Himei's ears, calling her a liar, a killer, a coward. Daiki wouldn't be perched on the desk in the corner with her feet on the chair looking Himei dead in the eye and hissing not so fun now that you've got it, huh?

They wouldn't be pursued by the ghosts of those long gone.

But right here, right now, they were.

Whatever I've done

That's why Himei had slipped her letter to Leona in the event that she lost.

I did it for love

Dearest Tov, she wrote, if you get this note, we both know that I lost. Guess it's about time, huh?

I did it for fun

I guess this is both a confession and a farewell. Don't get excited, it's not a love confession. If you're not dense, you should already know I love you. But that's not what this is about.

Couldn't get enough

I want you to do me a favor and turn this note in to the guards once you're done reading it. That way, maybe they'll be off your back for good. I know you see me in such a positive light, and it breaks my heart to think that you might not think that now, but I hope you can understand why I did the things I did—

I did it for fame

—I had a hand in poisoning Lark.

But never for money Not for houses Not for her Not for my future children Until now

No, that's stupid, I was the hand. I poisoned him. I received the drugs from an outside source and used them on him before your round. I was scared. I've never been very good at that faith thing you're so fluent in. I was so scared because this source I mention had considered using the drugs to take Min out so she wouldn't be a threat to me, and I almost died against Min. I considered using them on Daiki before Round 7 and then I didn't and Tallis paid for my mistake. It's something I can never forgive myself for.

How could I love again? How could I ever ask for more?

And I was afraid that you would die too, and I could have stopped it. I think if your round against Akane came before mine with Cirrus, I would probably kill her too. I don't care about the consequences anymore. It scares me as much as I'm sure it scares you.

And to the road ahead Into a life I can't ignore

I didn't mean to turn into this. I never wanted to become this person. I don't know if it was the real me all along and if this ugly competition brought it out in me, but I can't make it go away, and it can't go on. Noora showed me that it can't go on. So it has to stop tonight, and if it doesn't, I have to do something about it myself. I don't want you to remember me this way.

(Lose her) how could I love again? (Move on) how can I walk this path for sure? (Lose her) with no more time to spend (Move on) I know the answer more and more

Please do me one last favor, the biggest favor I could ever ask of you - please remember me as I was, not as I am.

As long as I can Long as I can Spend some time alone

Remember me as the girl who sat under Eden with you and named the stars in the sky after the people we loved. Remember me as your roommate who left her socks everywhere and tried to talk to you long past any reasonable hour. Remember me as your best friend who loved you and our Tallis very, very much.

As long as I can Long as I can Be the man I am

Look at my constellation and remember me as the brightest stars.

As the numbers on Himei's side of the scoreboard continued to steadily drop despite her passion, despite how fiercely she belted, she let the tears come freely, her eyes locked on the night sky before her, shining just for her as she shouted out to the heavens.

Oh, life is strange For one more hour I can rage For one more hour

No more lies. No more death.

As long as I can (lose her) As long as I can (move on) Spend some time alone As long as I can (lose her) As long as I can (move on) Remember who I am

The music began to peter out, and Himei's eyes searched not for her guardian in the crowd, not for her guardian’s child, but instead for Cirrus on the stage. You don't deserve this like I do, that last, fighting voice of rage and resentment cried.

Just a minute, fella, right before you go out there All your voices said you wouldn't last a minute bare One more hour and you'll know your life is one to share

You haven't suffered like I have! You haven't had to do the things I've done to get here! It should be me!

Just a minute, baby, right before we go from here All those people said we wouldn't last a minute near I'm with you and I could roll into another year

It should be me, the voice spat weakly, fading into nothing. It should be me.

But then why shouldn't it be Tallis? Why not Nyx for Dian? Why not Min? Lark, or Noora?

Why should it be any of them?

The music drew to a halt, leaving Himei in nothing but the silence of her own thoughts and ragged breaths.

She reached for the sky and—

BANG!

Just a minute, fella, right before you go out there All your voices said you wouldn't last a minute, bare One more hour and you'll know your life is one to share Just a minute, baby, right before we go from here All those people said they wouldn't last a minute near I'm with you and I could roll into another year Just a minute fella right before you go out there

Tov belongs to @ivanttakethis. Cirrus belongs to @cirrusoftheclouds. Lark and Noora belong to @kamersona. Daiki belongs to @daiki1k. Akane belongs to @aakaneeee. Min belongs to @starry-skiez. Nyx and Dian belong to @rockwgooglyeyes.