so nebby sky of mana update: they are canonically a system
so if y'all wanna know what mira/reflection was, they were once just this voice in the back of nebby's head essentially tormenting them for the whole campaign up to now but now they're somewhat chill and its more apparent that they are an alter
if i could go back i'd change some parts of mira's characterization to fit this vision a bit more but what can you do lol
Yeah the situation with poor Vivienne just got worse, forgot to post this art because I made it before the campaign actually reached this fight and didn't wanna spoil it for anyone who follows my Tumblr.
Lore basics are, Dark Matter causes rogue mega evolutions, Crook had evolved as a one up to the fight, but then... It went one step further.
As an autistic/adhd person going through the job search process I’ve learned to phrase my autistic/adhd traits as corporate friendly things. Here’s some examples:
I have trouble reading between the lines and picking up on implicit information? Actually, I’ve learned the importance of giving and receiving precise, specific instructions in order to avoid time consuming miscommunications.
I’m easily bored with only one task? Actually, I have a curious mind and thrive in places with a wide range of tasks as I prefer dynamic environments where I can contribute to many projects.
I have trouble with white lies that are merely social niceties? Actually, I prioritize a transparent work environment where we can tackle issues head-on.
This way I don’t have to lie, but rather just spin my truth in a way that’s palatable to them.
heres the (leaked) origin of the pokemon universe story with the correct pokemon names in place of the beta ones
(original text here)
EDIT: just woke up but theres an updated translated version here. I've gone ahead and changed the text below to the updated version
Please note that there is no mention of giratina in the updated version (which makes more sense based on some other info we have)
In the beginning, there was a vortex of chaos.
All mixed slowly together, and everything was a blur.
One day, a large egg appeared in the center of the chaos. For a long time, the egg continued to shake.
Eventually, the vortex stopped, and the egg broke. The absolute god Arceus was born.
The scattered fragments of the egg transformed into giants, and attacked the newly born Arceus.
However, Arceus quickly grew, and continuously defeated the giants.
At last, after a fierce battle, Arceus defeated all the giants.
The wounded Arceus created an alternate self.
As the left and right side of Arceus’s body were different, it created two selves.
Arceus gathered the body of the defeated giants, and poured its blood into them.
From the one who resembled his left poured out light, so Arceus named it Palkia, the god of light.
From the one who resembled his right poured out darkness, so Arceus named it Dialga, the god of darkness.
To the two, Arceus commanded that the world be filled with people, and fell into a deep slumber.
Although Palkia and Dialga were different in appearance, they loved one another, were joined, and had many children.
However, there still existed no world, and their frail children, who had nowhere to go, died one after the other.
Though overcome with great sadness, Palkia and Dialga thought of creating a world where all could live healthy and prosperous lives.
Palkia and Dialga called their children Uxie, the god of eyes; Mesprit, the god of heart; and Azelf, the god of voice.
When Uxie open its eyes, everything that was there appeared. There was now contour and color in the world.
When Mesprit wished for it, everything that was there could be felt. A sense of calm spread.
When Azelf shouted, everything that was there trembled. A blessed timbre began to resonate.
To the three, Palkia and Dialga gave the seed of life and told them to nurture it.
The three gathered in a circle and prayed, and the seed sprouted.
The sprout quickly grew, and became the giant tree of life.
However, the tree continued to grow, soon filling the entire world, and no one was able to move.
The three asked Father Palkia and Mother Dialga for help.
Dialga and Palkia joined once again, and had three children.
The god of the sky, RAYQUAZA; the god of the earth, GROUDON; and the god of the ocean, KYOGRE were born.
RAYQUAZA wrapped its body around the tree of life.
GROUDON and KYOGRE slammed their bodies into the tree of life.
Eventually, the tree fell and broke into three pieces.
Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf prayed, saddened that the tree would rot away like this.
Then, the pieces of the broken tree would transform into the sky, earth, and ocean.
RAYQUAZA became the pillar that holds the sky.
The shadow that reached into the heavens became the three gods who sustain the sky: Dragonite, Gyarados, and Tyranitar.
The air filled the sky, and the stars sparkled.
GROUDON became the land that covers the earth.
The roar of the diving land became the three gods who sustain the earth: DAABU, SAAN, and GOODON.
The earth shook, and the mountains stirred.
KYOGRE became the veins of water that embraced the oceans.
The ripples that disappeared into the seas became the three gods who sustain the ocean: LATIAS, METAGROSS, and LATIOS.
The ocean was filled with water, and the waves whispered.
Thus the world was born.
Palkia and Dialga, and the various gods, were very pleased with this, and filled this world with their children.
That peaceful world was a paradise for the children of god.
The children of god would continue to multiply.
Through that, words would change little by little.
Over time, the gods began would call those who lived in the world by two names.
The children of god who resembled the great father, Palkia, would be called “Pokémon”. The children of god who resembled the great mother, Dialga, were called “humans”.
The absolute god Arceus will soon awaken, and seeing the world filled with its descendants, will promise great abundance and prosperity.
A post??? on My blog??? it's more likely than- wait I made this joke already-
Finally got to drawing my favorite moment in Sky of Mana between Darkrai and Crook where Crook is finally being vulnerable and Darkrai is the first one saying something for a change. I had a lot of fun working on the details for this one.
Sha-BAM surprise sky of mana related cover! at the time I made this the DND party was BIG so my plan was to split the team up in two covers- one half is 'Aeons of Mana' where they'd be more focused on the Dialga Arc of the story and the other would have been 'Shadows of Mana' where it focuses on Darkrai and his team of baddies. Never got to drawing the shadows of mana cover though, and this is ALSO on my list of digital redos :)
You may have an explorers of sky story, but does your explorers of sky story have an apple woods boss fight??
*WITH A SPHEAL NPC???*
(in case images don't load- they're screenshots of a text rp where Team Skull's Zubat goes to nab some apples, when an NPC spheal named Berg BURSTS outta the treetop and scares the living daylights out of Zubat, scolding Team Skull and declaring them under arrest dramatically from in the tree. Skuntank is not amused and knocks him out of the tree, making him harmlessly tumble out.)
sooooo you know about that campaign @scrambledsigil made called sky of mana
well i just so happen to be one of the players in it, specifically the player of the cleric of yveltal!
their name is nebula (usually shortened to just "nebby" (no, they are not related to cosmog in any way)) and i have a bunch of art for them (like four that i'm proud of and are up to date with their current design) i might post later but i'm gonna post the two i'm most proud of lol-
i might post some stuff involving their lore and how their story is going but for now im just posting the art
Drew this Crookrai comic a while ago- this really is just the dynamic with these two.
May redraw it but figured I'd share here!
this isn't in the sky of mana campaign or anything, just an ooc shitpost lol
She still doesnt get it 100% , but at least she has her girls to help her get through it, bruises, slobber and some cuts are no worrires for mira and rumi if it means keepings their puppy happy
The ultimate Darkrai ship (from my Pokemon DND campaign)
EVEN WITHOUT THE CUT, THIS WILL BE LONG.
and under the cut will have screenshots+ further info under the cut for maximum info dump. above the cut will be the Inciting Incident >:3
I run a DND campaign based on PMD Explorers of Sky, because I love this game to death and thought it would make an excellent campaign- It follows the plot for the most part but obviously, canon divergence.
Through one of the players, Darkrai got introduced early on in the story, which changed up a lot:
Wigglytuff's guild has two clerics of yveltal and xerneas respectively, both told to fix temporal tower to keep the great resurrection cycle their gods perform in check. It ALSO has the DMPC, who is the explorers hero (don't judge me/lh) BUT she has all her memories. she Knows what she needs to do.
in other words, the guild is a huge threat for Darkrai, so he plagues it with nightmares to break their spirits/warning shot them.
....Crook the barbarian sandile is the boi in question.
Lucid dreamer, has great emotional awareness and control, is an ex-con but believes everyone can be redeemed with enough patience and time- after all, he was.
So Crook is unfazed by the nightmares, and on top of that treats Darkrai like just some guy- not disrespectfully, but not like some Demon of Shadows, or the mythical Darkrai absolutely is. It stumps Darkrai but he tries again.
Darkrai and Crook talk and Darkrai claims Crook cant care about anything if he's this unfazed by the nightmares, of the concept his friends would betray him- again. That Crook is heartless and apathetic.
Crook says "No, I do care about smth actually."
and Darkrai asks what that would be.
.....and CROOK...
Crook says he loves Darkrai.
Crook is laughing and rolling on the floor, he's clearly pulling a leg, but for a reason I can't explain, I rolled insight for Darkrai.
CRITICAL. FAIL.
he had a 19/20 chance to roll his eyes and go "ha ha fucking hysterical" AND THIS IDIOT BOUGHT IT.
Darkrai doesn't fall head over heels just for that, he dismisses it but is flattered, but still flabbergasted at the confession- especially because, Darkrai is an empath for negative emotions.
Nothing Crook is feeling disproves this actively. No hate, no malice, at Worst some annoyance, because he doesn't see Darkrai as an enemy. (he doesn't worship or ally with Darkrai but also just. treats Darkrai as a person.)
This results in a slow burn crush on Darkrai's end that is spanning the campaign and may lead to this idiot's possible redemption.
TL:DR the party barbarian of all people flirted jokingly with Darkrai and Darkrai believes this- or at least is getting Feelings about it from repeated talks
I FLIP TABLES FOR THESE TWO OK.
(now for under the cut-)
you still here? thanks! go get water or snacks, care for yourself on this journey w/me :3
OK
as promised I have screenshots, crook's first language isn't English so some of it reads strange but somehow that adds to this.
If you need more Crookrai, or even just aren't sold yet... keep reading >:3c
THIS IS EVEN LONGER, WOE BE UPON YE!!
Ok you're still reading.
So, these two built a slight rapport over the campaign, because they made a deal to be honest with each other (with the right to withhold info because naturally Darkrai doesn't want to be bound to spilling his Evil Plans:tm:)- not some grand deal or magic binding spell, essentially a pinky promise without the pinkies.
As the campaign went on, a wish spell was made so Darkrai couldn't hurt people in the guild, or their loved ones, with magic or his powers, effectively making him directly harmless (As a note, only one Wish at a time can be active, meaning to use Wish again on top of the usual cost will undo this effect- mimicking other spells for free is alright though.)
However, Darkrai manages to blackmail the life cleric and uses Skuntank to (forcibly) kamikaze in Apple Woods, near her village- everyone was relatively unharmed, but Darkrai made his point that he Can hurt people around them if they aren't careful.
in order to use this to further command the cleric, he tries to slip a sending stone into her bag.
....Tries.
Because Crook spots this and takes the stone- doesn't tell anyone, but he does take it anyways.
and how does he use his first call to darkrai?
(it became a running gag somewhere that the two use foul language with each other, crook screamed a curse and Darkrai called him out on it later)
They chat and Crook explains he actually wanted to talk to Darkrai again, and goes on to say he probably would have ended up causing the fire unintentionally by killing Skuntank in his rage. and while he was angry that Darkrai caused the fire... He still didn't hate Darkrai. Which is definitely still a step better than most people.
The second call was even funnier, though, because, with nothing leading up to it-
Crook basically called Specifically to make cat puns but also to mention that he'd met cresselia and even managed to give her head scritches (yes, he did.) and thought "hmmm y'know who else could use stress relief, THIS GUY!" and decided to ring Darkrai up LOL
Darkrai, naturally, refuses and gets grumpy at the idea and hangs up.
Now here's a part where the campaign REALLY differs- a few characters are from the Mist Continent (y'know like from super) which in this game is like a feudal Japan area, and it's needed to go there, so the party gets on a boat and sets sail.
but Crook being uprooted and rather lost with the various revelations being told- that Ezra will die to save the future, that a surviving friend of his who has every right to hate him may be in the Mist continent, that for once he doesn't have the security of a land he's familiar with..... for once, it Shakes him. He can't take it.
So, in a dream....
(I'm gonna let these screenshots speak for themselves.)
(crook showing off with the dream logic for his not-bf >:3c)
Not shown, but at some point Darkrai elaborates in his negative empathy (probably to explain he could Hear crooks angst for the whole boat ride) and Crook, earnest, says...
Now there's one bit of pertinent info the player didn't know about for a bit- and Crook doesn't really either.
Darkrai had someone he loved.
Actually a couple of partners, but he still grieves his first, Mew. They died, he felt it was his fault, but he also felt angry at the gods for not preventing it either.
Mew acted. Pretty much how Crook has been, with slight differences. But that patience, that love and acceptance, the gentle but stubborn insistence to talk to him...
It's too much. It hurts too much.
On it's own it already hurts but the wounds of the past sting too and he leaves abruptly. He cant stop his plans, he cant change his mind now, there's no point.
so cut to the Mist Continent proper....
Crook is looking for the aforementioned friend (Marshadow, a patron for another character, tags along because Crook completely alone is too dangerous) and....
Thats all we have as of right now, but Crook's player has informed me that:
-Crook would absolutely run away with Darkrai in a fugitive arc trying to redeem/defend him even if no one else will
-He'd also wrap Darkrai in a blanket burrito
-also, if he could ask Darkrai for anything it's apparently just giving the guy a good long hug.
Crook's player claims he's just being friendly but I'm sorry, no he's not-/lh
Thanks for reading this far and hopefully I've given you guys a funny story, and maybe a new ship to root for! Feel free to ask questions about the campaign or players, I'll gladly answer! Have a good day, afternoon, evening, night, and drink that water you grabbed earlier if you haven't :)