A collaboration with Moc
Mizue (Vaporeon) from Pokedemia! Six versions included alts. I'll post the progress behind it tomorrow.
There was a story behind it when I received this collaboration from them. But it was mostly a drama. (Beware, it's a wall of text)
Here's how it begins:
Back in July 2025, I was contacted by Moc for collaboration. Things went pretty well until the figure they sent got stuck in customs, and they asked me to pay a "fee" for a gift that had already been covered for from Moc.
That was my first real experience dealing with customs. They insisted I had to declare a value for the package, even though it was a gift and had no price tag. Since I couldn’t provide an official amount, they told me to “just say any price” so they could record it in the manifest. Then they asked to say any price so they could write it down in the manifestation with a note, "Please don't say it too low or the package can't be processed." I said 8$ because that was a common price for a delivery fee.
Next week, they sent me an email and declared the package was 80+8, and with 30% tax, the total was $114. That was a big WTF moment for me. The numbers were entirely fabricated, and I had no prior knowledge of any of it. I was so upset and told them to return the package to Moc and insisted it be resent a second time, this time through an express courier instead.
When the figure was sent for the 2nd time, it didn't cost me anything at all; everything went smoothly, no complaints. After the incident, I dig into it to find any information about why this happened to me. What I discovered was unsettling: many national postal services are plagued by corruption. They often invent arbitrary fees or inflate numbers, demanding small “extras” (actually, it's an extortion fee, also known as "coffee money" (bribe); you can search it on Google) from their customers. These charges aren’t tied to taxes or official obligations; they’re simply a way for individuals within the system to line their own pockets at the expense of the people they serve. It took me 7 months for a package delivered to my door, lol.
Corruption is quite common where I'm living, but I didn't expect anything to this level. That's the whole story, mostly a rant, actually. 😩
But, I'm happy with the figure from Moc sent to me. They're pretty good tbh ❤️