[OOC] Application for Victory Road
Nov. 6th, 2020 11:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hurricane_clownPlayer
Name: Raile
E-mail: railerat [at] gmail [dot] com
Preferred Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
railerat
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Victory Road: Dirk Strider
Character
Name: Karako Pierot
Series: Homestuck (Hiveswap + Friendsim)
Timeline: Pre-Friendsim
Canon Resource Links: Wiki. Player impact does not make a huge difference, and is covered in wiki.
Personality: In a classic Harlequinade, Pierrot's defining trait is his naïveté--he is seen as a fool, often the butt of pranks, yet nonetheless trusting. This jives with the player's first impression of Karako: just as startled by the player character (hereafter referred to as MSPAR, short for MSPA Reader) as MSPAR is by him, he jumps straight into the air and immediately gets stuck, having impaled himself by the horns into a low-hanging tree branch. He is left kicking his legs in the air helplessly, and the MSPAR is obliged to pull him down--which they do only after a great deal of explaining their situation and repeating that they mean him no harm and hoping that Karako does not use his belt(s) full of knives to fill them with holes.
On the ground, Karako Pierot turns out to be an expressive, upbeat young clown, 'chatting' with the player by means of honks and a few choice nonverbal cues. He quickly proves himself to be an attentive listener, open minded to the MSPAR's existence in a way many trolls are not (and without ulterior motive, as many OTHER trolls are not.)
Incredibly, he's a runt, and should have been culled back in the breeding caverns; instead, he was raised in secrecy by the self-appointed leader of the Jadebloods in charge of those caverns, and while he's supposed to be somewhat contained by the cloister, he's escaped 'to seek his fortune.' No lusus, no hive... just a pendant with his (dubiously appointed) symbol on one side and the words
One would think that a troll in such a dangerous situation would be more suspicious and guarded, but this is not the case. One would also expect a troll in such constant peril to be more prepared, and in this sense... well, the MSPAR both is and is not disappointed. Karako is impulsive, clearly, but not unintelligent; for one thing, he's still alive, which is a pretty strong indicator of ability on its own. And he's no less bloodthirsty or dangerous than any other troll--in fact, he turns out to be bloodthirsty and dangerous in a new and terrifying manner, or at least one new to the MSPAR. (Terrifying is an objective quality here.)
Like any good purpleblood, Karako is 'down with the clown,' which in this case means he is faithful to the (clown) church, a believer in miracles and the mirthful messiahs. He paints his face (and, somewhat unusually, his horns) and wears a bandolier of Faygo across his chest in active observance of the traditional practises. Whether he actually attends massacre is unknown, but as canon shows, it doesn't matter: he is no less a true faithful of the Dark Carnival.
Because that's where he (and later, MSPAR) are taken in one of the possible endings, one where he takes on three seadwellers in his rage at their insults and mockery and is murdered for his efforts. The heavens open up and some janky, painted mannequins come down, suspended on obvious fishing line, and lift his repeatedly-skewered body up to the massive Murder Go Round in the sky. Whatever else Karako may stand for, his strength of belief merits the afterlife of his faith.
The Dark Carnival, however, is not Clown Heaven. I am so sorry that I have to do this, but taking from the ICP wiki:
MSPAR's actions after Karako's death embody this: horrified by the cruelty of the seadwellers and the brutality of troll culture, MSPAR takes a stand. A moral stand, one in which they refuse to accept the way things are on Alternia, the way Karako was ridiculed and then murdered. They decide to embody that morality, to choose what's right, to put morality into events through their own actions, to attempt and be morality in their little space of the universe, right here and now. They take up Karako's knives and his Faygo and take on all three seadwellers themself, despite being objectively weaker and less skillful than Karako. Which is admirable, but why am I talking about MSPAR's actions in Karako's app?
Because MSPAR dies. Like, that was fucking inevitable. But upon their death, the heavens open once more, and once more those mannequins descend on their fishing lines, lifting MSPAR in their arms and placing them onto the back of Karako's same Murder Go Round horse. (I have to note here that the term Murder Go Round is actual ICP canon lore.) Which leads me to my second pasting from hatchetpedia, the actual goddamn Juggalo wiki:
This obviously describes MSPAR's actions, as inspired by Karako's death, but it also describes Karako's. Karako, as a reject, a runt and an outcast, is extremely sensitive to (and quickly enraged by) bullying and general unfairness. This despite his status as a purple-blooded troll, ostensibly the blood caste intended to become subjugglators--to subjugate the lower castes and keep them down. Given the ICP lore likely associated with him, and the way things unfold in canon, it seems likely that it's not just being picked on himself (though he surely doesn't like it, he's just very obviously used to it) which sets him off so violently. And he is super fucking violent.
He absolutely loses his goddamn mind on the seadwellers.
He's not on a hair-trigger, but he is surely quick-tempered--his anger is immediate (jaw clenched, face flushed), but stares at the seadwellers with stony dignity until they try to make him and MSPAR bow, mocking him for his anger. That's when he completely snaps. If allowed to attack them (the route that leads to his and MSPAR's deaths), he is so absolutely consumed with fury and bloodlust that the seadwellers are at one point described as 'dealing with hurricane clown' until they eventually manage to stab all of his own knives into his body. Also their own weapons. There are a lot of weapons stuck in his little body when he finally goes down. Like, there's an entire trident in there.
If he is restrained--a feat that takes all of MSPAR's strength and body weight, and is barely successful at that--he gets increasingly furious, so much so that he eventually unleashes the chucklevoodoos.
Even the seadwellers run in fear.
Yet this same clown opens his arms to offer MSPAR a hug--a hug he reconsiders for MSPAR's safety (he is wearing an awful lot of knives) and swaps out for a friendship-sealing handshake instead. And MSPAR is a soft, hornless thing, an alien being of a kind Karako has never seen before! MSPAR isn't on the hemospectrum. They're not even a Troll! Sure, MSPAR saves his life (twice), but that's not the kind of treatment MSPAR gets from... well, practically anyone, really. It's almost innocent of him.
It is innocent of him, really.
Word of god has confirmed him to be a wanderer (more specifically, he's living "the nomadic shrubbery lifestyle") and a good person, albeit still a Troll.
Which opens up the mystery of Karako's age, and.... truthfully? Information is conflicting. Friendsim confirmed Karako to be a tween (via narrative genuflection by MSPAR), but Aysha (one of the writers) told me on Twitter (I swear this is true) that this is a mistake, and he's actually the youngest Troll in Hiveswap, younger even than Barzum and Baizli. Who are... young. Definitely "children" and not tweens.
Which is... uh, frustrating. The fandom tendency is to characterise him as very young. A toddler maybe, or something like human five years old (not to be confused with six sweeps old, which is approximately human thirteen.)
I disagree with this pretty strenuously, though from an RP perspective, the details really don't matter. Karako's demonstrated intelligence and ability doesn't change in any way. His amount of lived experience does, but given how perilous Alternia is (especially for an outcast Troll like him) and the role of Pierrot as mentioned briefly at the beginning of this section... it plays out effectively the same way. His lack of verbal skills are still attributable to his existence as a runt. And he's clearly a minor in any case. However, since he needs "an age" for RP purposes, we've got a conundrum.
Canon indication is that Trolls in general just continue to get bigger as they age... but we don't really know how they age, whether it's different across blood castes, or what that means developmentally. I mean. Yes. Karako is definitely smaller than almost all of the Friendsim Trolls save for Amisia and maybe Barzum/Baizli, whose ages are also unknown, although Amisia claims to be "too young for quadrants." (Chahut disputes this, saying she that knows "a few motherfuckers what started younger," so Amisia can't be THAT young, but how young THAT young is... is a mystery.) But it's not clear how tall he is even compared to Amisia. The best we have is that they're both described as 'small' or 'little' and are shorter than MSPAR.
So, uh. As a solution, I'm putting Karako slightly younger than fellow Friendsim characters Wanshi and Tirona... the equivalent of human 8 years old, aka a human third grader. Which means that until proven otherwise (or told directly by a member of WhatPumpkin), I'm declaring he can read. Which is very likely, because Karako did share Wanshi's extremely sheltered life in the Caverns.
Even with all that, though? Tirona and the zodiac trolls are a much better comparison for life experience and maturity than Wanshi.... or the bizarre and isolated Barzum and Baizli. While his life was made easier in some ways (and possible to begin with, really) thanks to Bronya, Karako has an extremely difficult life overall. Mutant though he was, even Karkat had a lusus and a hive.
So far, Karako hasn't died (in this timeline, yet or to his knowledge), but that's the most one can really say has gone right for him. And technically, that's only gone 'right' for him because someone did the system wrong. It's... not great. He's a highblood who doesn't benefit from highblood privilege. He's certainly going to be hard to kill, but he lacks the societal benefit of his blood colour and a good chunk of the physical benefits. His horns are massive for his head, and that's because purples like him become fucking huge. Even less physically mature purples than Chahut are noticeably bigger than MSPAR. Not just taller, but bigger. Karako is not only shorter than MSPAR, he's pretty scrawny looking. At best, he's full of lean muscle but can't seem to bulk up. (Maybe when he gets older... but given he's a runt, I think it's doubtful he'll get much taller, if at all, so that's a mental image for you.) But the point is, anyone can pick on him. Anyone can threaten his life. And based on his route, it's easy to decode that they definitely have. MSPAR refers to him, at one point, as "a clown of suffering" while the seadwellers are mocking him.
Even staying alive is ultimately a futile endeavour... after all, he's a cull-on-sight runt, and has failed to keep (or even have begin with) a hive or lusus (which would also call for being culled, Alternia sucks.) He will never go to space and serve the Condesce in her eternal Space War... sooner or later, Alternian society or some other facet of Alternian life will kill him. So why does he even try?
... fucks' sake. Someone give this kid a flipping break.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer
Starter: Galarian Meowth
Password: Atomic Fireball
Samples
RP Sample: Here, but you can definitely tell this was originally going to be the second sample and then I made it the top level instead. Sorry.
Victory Road Sample: It's not like Karako hasn't done this before. Hell, this is practically normal! Wandering byways and back trails through thick brush outside of inhabited areas, searching for food or fate or fortune despite the ever-present dangers of the outdoors. Native fauna and flora with massively oversized teeth and talons and stingers and spines and venom sacks and poisonous flesh and projectile weapons and--
And no weapons. Not a single motherfucking knife. Not even one lonely little blade. Nor a single can of miraculous bubbly elixir to lift his spirits and free his mind. He tried to find some--tearing through the hive of the friendly-but-frightening 'mom' like a hairy, honking barefoot tornado, pulling open drawers and emptying the contents of her thermal hull onto the floor--but to no avail.
Well, some avail.
He'd found some glass bottles of sweet, bubbly soda, which had seemed like a victory at the time. It wasn't until he'd made his way out into the wilds that he'd tried chugging one, only to be let down when it had no effects save to make his sniff nub hurt terribly for a few seconds. He'd broken the bottle on a tree, so he was slightly more armed than before, but mostly he was frustrated. Soft-bodied and warm and hornless and nearly-unarmed. Worst of all, he was disappointed.
But the Mirthful Messiahs had not abandoned him in this tamed jungle of mostly-inert plantlife, obviously not. His new friend, Gigglesnarl, was bright-eyed and coarse-furred, sharp of tooth and claw, and happy to lead the way. He didn't know where they were going--he didn't speak purrbeast and Gigglesnarl didn't speak Alternian--but they were going somewhere, and Gigglesnarl had already found him a piece of candy. Just one piece, but it was pretty clean, and still in its crinkly blue wrapper. They... had disagreed over who got to eat the candy, at least until Karako traded his new friend the bag of desiccated vine drupes and nut creature snacks for it. That had settled things between them. And now he could see they were heading into a cluster of bushes covered in fat, blue berries.
A veritable feast!
Uh.
Hm.
If they're not deadly poison?
It's never occured to him before that he might not be able to eat something (that wasn't trying to eat him). He's seen Trolls and wildlife both die from eating the wrong this or that, a price paid for picking the wrong leaf or berry or stem. It never worried him because (as a purple blood), he can survive pretty much anything. Even that one swollen, pustule-covered fruit that made the organs and soft tissues of that gobblefiend dissolve so all the rest of its insides fell on the ground and attracted a lot of ripperwasps for some reason....
While he's pondering, though, Gigglesnarl has stopped and begun stabbing fat berries onto each one of his six sharp claws.
The.... conversation... that ensues might not be intelligible, but the pointing and gesturing between the wayward young clown and his Galarian Meowth might be more facilitative of real communication.
"Honk?"
"Nyarrrrl?"
"Honk! Honk! Honk!"
"Nyaaaarl."
"Honk!"
"Nyaaaa!"
"Honk!!"
He's so relieved to learn that eating his fill of berries isn't a terrible mistake that he'll regret immediately that he could just.... he could just motherfucking honk. Instead, he grabs a double handful of berries and flashes Gigglesnarl a bright, toothy grin.
... and thus concludes this episode of moments paused seconds before disaster.
Name: Raile
E-mail: railerat [at] gmail [dot] com
Preferred Contact:
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Victory Road: Dirk Strider
Character
Name: Karako Pierot
Series: Homestuck (Hiveswap + Friendsim)
Timeline: Pre-Friendsim
Canon Resource Links: Wiki. Player impact does not make a huge difference, and is covered in wiki.
Personality: In a classic Harlequinade, Pierrot's defining trait is his naïveté--he is seen as a fool, often the butt of pranks, yet nonetheless trusting. This jives with the player's first impression of Karako: just as startled by the player character (hereafter referred to as MSPAR, short for MSPA Reader) as MSPAR is by him, he jumps straight into the air and immediately gets stuck, having impaled himself by the horns into a low-hanging tree branch. He is left kicking his legs in the air helplessly, and the MSPAR is obliged to pull him down--which they do only after a great deal of explaining their situation and repeating that they mean him no harm and hoping that Karako does not use his belt(s) full of knives to fill them with holes.
On the ground, Karako Pierot turns out to be an expressive, upbeat young clown, 'chatting' with the player by means of honks and a few choice nonverbal cues. He quickly proves himself to be an attentive listener, open minded to the MSPAR's existence in a way many trolls are not (and without ulterior motive, as many OTHER trolls are not.)
Incredibly, he's a runt, and should have been culled back in the breeding caverns; instead, he was raised in secrecy by the self-appointed leader of the Jadebloods in charge of those caverns, and while he's supposed to be somewhat contained by the cloister, he's escaped 'to seek his fortune.' No lusus, no hive... just a pendant with his (dubiously appointed) symbol on one side and the words
If lost, call BRONYA URSAMA on the other.One would think that a troll in such a dangerous situation would be more suspicious and guarded, but this is not the case. One would also expect a troll in such constant peril to be more prepared, and in this sense... well, the MSPAR both is and is not disappointed. Karako is impulsive, clearly, but not unintelligent; for one thing, he's still alive, which is a pretty strong indicator of ability on its own. And he's no less bloodthirsty or dangerous than any other troll--in fact, he turns out to be bloodthirsty and dangerous in a new and terrifying manner, or at least one new to the MSPAR. (Terrifying is an objective quality here.)
Like any good purpleblood, Karako is 'down with the clown,' which in this case means he is faithful to the (clown) church, a believer in miracles and the mirthful messiahs. He paints his face (and, somewhat unusually, his horns) and wears a bandolier of Faygo across his chest in active observance of the traditional practises. Whether he actually attends massacre is unknown, but as canon shows, it doesn't matter: he is no less a true faithful of the Dark Carnival.
Because that's where he (and later, MSPAR) are taken in one of the possible endings, one where he takes on three seadwellers in his rage at their insults and mockery and is murdered for his efforts. The heavens open up and some janky, painted mannequins come down, suspended on obvious fishing line, and lift his repeatedly-skewered body up to the massive Murder Go Round in the sky. Whatever else Karako may stand for, his strength of belief merits the afterlife of his faith.
The Dark Carnival, however, is not Clown Heaven. I am so sorry that I have to do this, but taking from the ICP wiki:
The Dark Carnival is a concept of the afterlife in which souls are sent to a form of limbo while waiting to be sent to heaven or hell based on their individual actions. It features multiple rides and attractions which assist in this purpose, which are the focus balls of multiple albums and songs within the group's discography. These concepts are related by Insane Clown Posse in a series of albums called the six Joker's Cards. Each of the six Joker's Cards relate to a specific character — an entity of the Dark Carnival — that tries to "save the human soul" by showing the wicked inside of one's self.MSPAR's actions after Karako's death embody this: horrified by the cruelty of the seadwellers and the brutality of troll culture, MSPAR takes a stand. A moral stand, one in which they refuse to accept the way things are on Alternia, the way Karako was ridiculed and then murdered. They decide to embody that morality, to choose what's right, to put morality into events through their own actions, to attempt and be morality in their little space of the universe, right here and now. They take up Karako's knives and his Faygo and take on all three seadwellers themself, despite being objectively weaker and less skillful than Karako. Which is admirable, but why am I talking about MSPAR's actions in Karako's app?
Because MSPAR dies. Like, that was fucking inevitable. But upon their death, the heavens open once more, and once more those mannequins descend on their fishing lines, lifting MSPAR in their arms and placing them onto the back of Karako's same Murder Go Round horse. (I have to note here that the term Murder Go Round is actual ICP canon lore.) Which leads me to my second pasting from hatchetpedia, the actual goddamn Juggalo wiki:
Carnival of Carnage is the first Joker's Card in Insane Clown Posse's Dark Carnival concept album series. This Joker's Card is a representation of the ghettos and the violence that occurs within them. It takes the form of a traveling carnival which releases the same brutality on those who have ignored the inner cities' cries for help. The Card issues a warning against the upper-class and government's negligence toward the lower classes.This obviously describes MSPAR's actions, as inspired by Karako's death, but it also describes Karako's. Karako, as a reject, a runt and an outcast, is extremely sensitive to (and quickly enraged by) bullying and general unfairness. This despite his status as a purple-blooded troll, ostensibly the blood caste intended to become subjugglators--to subjugate the lower castes and keep them down. Given the ICP lore likely associated with him, and the way things unfold in canon, it seems likely that it's not just being picked on himself (though he surely doesn't like it, he's just very obviously used to it) which sets him off so violently. And he is super fucking violent.
He absolutely loses his goddamn mind on the seadwellers.
He's not on a hair-trigger, but he is surely quick-tempered--his anger is immediate (jaw clenched, face flushed), but stares at the seadwellers with stony dignity until they try to make him and MSPAR bow, mocking him for his anger. That's when he completely snaps. If allowed to attack them (the route that leads to his and MSPAR's deaths), he is so absolutely consumed with fury and bloodlust that the seadwellers are at one point described as 'dealing with hurricane clown' until they eventually manage to stab all of his own knives into his body. Also their own weapons. There are a lot of weapons stuck in his little body when he finally goes down. Like, there's an entire trident in there.
If he is restrained--a feat that takes all of MSPAR's strength and body weight, and is barely successful at that--he gets increasingly furious, so much so that he eventually unleashes the chucklevoodoos.
Even the seadwellers run in fear.
Yet this same clown opens his arms to offer MSPAR a hug--a hug he reconsiders for MSPAR's safety (he is wearing an awful lot of knives) and swaps out for a friendship-sealing handshake instead. And MSPAR is a soft, hornless thing, an alien being of a kind Karako has never seen before! MSPAR isn't on the hemospectrum. They're not even a Troll! Sure, MSPAR saves his life (twice), but that's not the kind of treatment MSPAR gets from... well, practically anyone, really. It's almost innocent of him.
It is innocent of him, really.
Word of god has confirmed him to be a wanderer (more specifically, he's living "the nomadic shrubbery lifestyle") and a good person, albeit still a Troll.
Which opens up the mystery of Karako's age, and.... truthfully? Information is conflicting. Friendsim confirmed Karako to be a tween (via narrative genuflection by MSPAR), but Aysha (one of the writers) told me on Twitter (I swear this is true) that this is a mistake, and he's actually the youngest Troll in Hiveswap, younger even than Barzum and Baizli. Who are... young. Definitely "children" and not tweens.
Which is... uh, frustrating. The fandom tendency is to characterise him as very young. A toddler maybe, or something like human five years old (not to be confused with six sweeps old, which is approximately human thirteen.)
I disagree with this pretty strenuously, though from an RP perspective, the details really don't matter. Karako's demonstrated intelligence and ability doesn't change in any way. His amount of lived experience does, but given how perilous Alternia is (especially for an outcast Troll like him) and the role of Pierrot as mentioned briefly at the beginning of this section... it plays out effectively the same way. His lack of verbal skills are still attributable to his existence as a runt. And he's clearly a minor in any case. However, since he needs "an age" for RP purposes, we've got a conundrum.
Canon indication is that Trolls in general just continue to get bigger as they age... but we don't really know how they age, whether it's different across blood castes, or what that means developmentally. I mean. Yes. Karako is definitely smaller than almost all of the Friendsim Trolls save for Amisia and maybe Barzum/Baizli, whose ages are also unknown, although Amisia claims to be "too young for quadrants." (Chahut disputes this, saying she that knows "a few motherfuckers what started younger," so Amisia can't be THAT young, but how young THAT young is... is a mystery.) But it's not clear how tall he is even compared to Amisia. The best we have is that they're both described as 'small' or 'little' and are shorter than MSPAR.
So, uh. As a solution, I'm putting Karako slightly younger than fellow Friendsim characters Wanshi and Tirona... the equivalent of human 8 years old, aka a human third grader. Which means that until proven otherwise (or told directly by a member of WhatPumpkin), I'm declaring he can read. Which is very likely, because Karako did share Wanshi's extremely sheltered life in the Caverns.
Even with all that, though? Tirona and the zodiac trolls are a much better comparison for life experience and maturity than Wanshi.... or the bizarre and isolated Barzum and Baizli. While his life was made easier in some ways (and possible to begin with, really) thanks to Bronya, Karako has an extremely difficult life overall. Mutant though he was, even Karkat had a lusus and a hive.
So far, Karako hasn't died (in this timeline, yet or to his knowledge), but that's the most one can really say has gone right for him. And technically, that's only gone 'right' for him because someone did the system wrong. It's... not great. He's a highblood who doesn't benefit from highblood privilege. He's certainly going to be hard to kill, but he lacks the societal benefit of his blood colour and a good chunk of the physical benefits. His horns are massive for his head, and that's because purples like him become fucking huge. Even less physically mature purples than Chahut are noticeably bigger than MSPAR. Not just taller, but bigger. Karako is not only shorter than MSPAR, he's pretty scrawny looking. At best, he's full of lean muscle but can't seem to bulk up. (Maybe when he gets older... but given he's a runt, I think it's doubtful he'll get much taller, if at all, so that's a mental image for you.) But the point is, anyone can pick on him. Anyone can threaten his life. And based on his route, it's easy to decode that they definitely have. MSPAR refers to him, at one point, as "a clown of suffering" while the seadwellers are mocking him.
Even staying alive is ultimately a futile endeavour... after all, he's a cull-on-sight runt, and has failed to keep (or even have begin with) a hive or lusus (which would also call for being culled, Alternia sucks.) He will never go to space and serve the Condesce in her eternal Space War... sooner or later, Alternian society or some other facet of Alternian life will kill him. So why does he even try?
... fucks' sake. Someone give this kid a flipping break.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer
Starter: Galarian Meowth
Password: Atomic Fireball
Samples
RP Sample: Here, but you can definitely tell this was originally going to be the second sample and then I made it the top level instead. Sorry.
Victory Road Sample: It's not like Karako hasn't done this before. Hell, this is practically normal! Wandering byways and back trails through thick brush outside of inhabited areas, searching for food or fate or fortune despite the ever-present dangers of the outdoors. Native fauna and flora with massively oversized teeth and talons and stingers and spines and venom sacks and poisonous flesh and projectile weapons and--
And no weapons. Not a single motherfucking knife. Not even one lonely little blade. Nor a single can of miraculous bubbly elixir to lift his spirits and free his mind. He tried to find some--tearing through the hive of the friendly-but-frightening 'mom' like a hairy, honking barefoot tornado, pulling open drawers and emptying the contents of her thermal hull onto the floor--but to no avail.
Well, some avail.
He'd found some glass bottles of sweet, bubbly soda, which had seemed like a victory at the time. It wasn't until he'd made his way out into the wilds that he'd tried chugging one, only to be let down when it had no effects save to make his sniff nub hurt terribly for a few seconds. He'd broken the bottle on a tree, so he was slightly more armed than before, but mostly he was frustrated. Soft-bodied and warm and hornless and nearly-unarmed. Worst of all, he was disappointed.
But the Mirthful Messiahs had not abandoned him in this tamed jungle of mostly-inert plantlife, obviously not. His new friend, Gigglesnarl, was bright-eyed and coarse-furred, sharp of tooth and claw, and happy to lead the way. He didn't know where they were going--he didn't speak purrbeast and Gigglesnarl didn't speak Alternian--but they were going somewhere, and Gigglesnarl had already found him a piece of candy. Just one piece, but it was pretty clean, and still in its crinkly blue wrapper. They... had disagreed over who got to eat the candy, at least until Karako traded his new friend the bag of desiccated vine drupes and nut creature snacks for it. That had settled things between them. And now he could see they were heading into a cluster of bushes covered in fat, blue berries.
A veritable feast!
Uh.
Hm.
If they're not deadly poison?
It's never occured to him before that he might not be able to eat something (that wasn't trying to eat him). He's seen Trolls and wildlife both die from eating the wrong this or that, a price paid for picking the wrong leaf or berry or stem. It never worried him because (as a purple blood), he can survive pretty much anything. Even that one swollen, pustule-covered fruit that made the organs and soft tissues of that gobblefiend dissolve so all the rest of its insides fell on the ground and attracted a lot of ripperwasps for some reason....
While he's pondering, though, Gigglesnarl has stopped and begun stabbing fat berries onto each one of his six sharp claws.
The.... conversation... that ensues might not be intelligible, but the pointing and gesturing between the wayward young clown and his Galarian Meowth might be more facilitative of real communication.
"Honk?"
"Nyarrrrl?"
"Honk! Honk! Honk!"
"Nyaaaarl."
"Honk!"
"Nyaaaa!"
"Honk!!"
He's so relieved to learn that eating his fill of berries isn't a terrible mistake that he'll regret immediately that he could just.... he could just motherfucking honk. Instead, he grabs a double handful of berries and flashes Gigglesnarl a bright, toothy grin.
... and thus concludes this episode of moments paused seconds before disaster.
