#All sorts of good Splatoons and things in there

[t1meslayer]

What's your headcanon about which Gen IV character is the rival/player? Also, what do you think about games like Sun/Moon where only one character is used?

Had the feeling you’d be jumping on that little comment in my post 😉

For Gen IV I tend to lean Champion Dawn, Research Asst Lucas. That one feels pretty canon based on auxiliary media too, but my opinions don’t always line up that way.

For games with one character, it depends! More often than not I stick with one, but there are caveats. I default Elio in Sun/Moon for example, but am also a fan of pairing Selene with either of the Aether siblings, so we can just say she leads the Ultra canon (unfortunately the worse one lmao). I’ve also been getting pretty invested in the Scarlet/Violet headcanon that Florian and Julianna look so similar because they’re the same person… Working on some ideas in the bg

[remxedmoon]

What are your thoughts on ISAT's magic system?

AUTISM BLAST

okay long rambly post incoming. for the record like 90% of this is pure unfiltered headcanon. and almost all of this is about colors. sorry if this is hard to follow!!! i need to get this all out of my system.

oh also! a lot of this is based on a really good post by @/chronologically-challenged that shows off the differences between each character’s craft style! go check that out it’s really good

okay!! so!!! colors. this is just my own thing, but i personally like to color code the different types of craft!

don’t worry about those middle tones yet just put a pin in those

there’s still a little bit of color variety within craft types (for flavor), but generally, rock is blue, paper is yellow, and scissors is red. i’m not going to lie to you i only did this because the splatoon testfire had these colors. it’s also why my triplets designs are colored like that!

i think these colors also just fit the descriptions of these crafts? red feels like a more aggressive and active color, which matches how piercing craft is generally more focused on dealing damage, blue tends to be calmer, which matches protective craft being more supportive , that kinda thing. something something children’s hospital. yellow is a bit of a wildcard here lol, it just looks nice with the other two.

putting aside the colors for a mo! don’t worry those’ll come back soon. i’ve also been thinking a lot about how dual craft types work, though this is a little more speculative. i’m entirely basing this on how mira works. basically, one craft type seems to be more ‘dominant’ over the other. while mira is both paper and scissors, she’s still weak to rock, her basic attack is scissors, and her scissors skill (jolly round rondo) does much more damage than her paper skill (artsy silent burst). she behaves more like a scissors type, with an extra affinity for paper. which i think is interesting!!!

in terms of colors, i think this would manifest as mira’s craft being tinted orange, as a mix of both her craft type’s colors! this is partially what those uncategorized colors are for. while her scissors attacks are only slightly tinted, her paper attacks would be a lot closer to orange! and this would apply to other dual crafts as well. a rock/paper type would have more greenish attacks, a rock/scissors type would have more purply ones, etc etc.

i think this color mixing would also apply to single craft types trying to use a craft type that isn’t their own, though it’d prolly become less pronounced the more a person ‘gets used’ to using that craft type, so to speak. in a while rockodile would be pretty solidly purple, while rock bottom is more of an indigo color, and odile’s craft skills probably only slightly tinted as well.

ok!!! that was a lot about colors. i’m really fucking normal about colors. onto craft styles!! this is still kinda about colors tho sorry. also, again, go check out @/chronologically-challenged’s post if you haven’t already, it’ll prolly explain this better than i will

for a tl;dr on that post, each country has a different way of using craft. the forgotten island has lightless craft that tends to manifest as stars and zigzags, vaugarde has big, rounded bursts of grey craft (with smaller circles around it), and ka bue’s craft is more diamond shaped/triangular and tends to be on the lighter side.

this is also the part i’m a little less sure about. i haven’t drawn these out in my normal style!! so a lot of this is subject to change. sorry about that!

anyways. i wanted to preserve the island’s lightless craft while still making it colorful, so i decided to give it a sort of. halo effect? i guess? i wanted it to vaguely resemble the ring of light around a black hole or a solar eclipse, but that is a lot harder to do with the zigzag shape of the craft + my color limitations. and as i’ve recently learned, glow effects look really weird with my pixelly art. so this is all just flat colors 😓

shhh don’t mind the art here i’ve totally posted it before 🩶

vaugarde is pretty simple comparatively!! the craft is a sort of midshade ingame, so i just made the main color the normal craft colors. not much to say here!

and ka bue is in a similar boat! i did kinda draw it in my odile sprite redraw, but i didn’t really look at references so it’s kinda boring looking there. not much to say here either!!

and!! as we can see from the king’s special attack art, craft styles can kinda mix together. king’s style follows the general shape of vaugardian craft, but keeps the shade and stars from the forgotten island! i think it’d be fun to play with that a little more teehee. i imagine these are a lot more variable depending on how engrossed someone is in a culture, hence why odile’s craft doesn’t borrow from vaugarde’s style. unless she does? it’s not like we see other ka buans using craft in game. who knows.

also because i forgot, some extra bonus doodles of that craft color mixing i mentioned earlier! yipee!

and that’s it!!! there’s probably some other stuff that i am. currently forgetting. but this post is absurdly long enough!!! thank you so much for the ask i’m so sorry for autism blasting you about isat and color theory. am i still cool. here’s all of my craft doodles as compensation for reading this giant infodump. i’m so so sorry.

[strawbuddy-luv]

Tim Drake would love video games sm tho, and I do not see that represented enough.

He'd be a total nerd about it to. He'd rant and rant and rant about all the games he's played and all the cheats and the secret cut scenes and the hidden lore. He'd be a game theorist for sure, probably has a YouTube account dedicated to it since he's such a little detective. He knows the true lore of FNaF.

He'd definitely speed run minecraft, rp to probably. First person shooter? How about first hand experience. FNaF fanatic oh my God he'd LOVE that game so fucking much. Absolutely a Sonic kid, like you cannot convince me otherwise. Mario less so but you knows hes probably played every single game anyways. Pokemon? Every single one memorized down to their exact coloration. Stardew valley? Do i even have to ask. Animal crossing? Perfected his village, villagers and all. Zelda? I cannot prove it but he has a lino Cosplay somewhere and he's worn it for under cover missions. He'd slay in DTI, have like 5 different mansions in Bloxburg, defiantly played Royal High until the capitalism became to close to the real world, probably has hundreds of avatars to. An expert at games like fnf has played half the mods to ever be made for that game. He's been playing fortnite since it's release. He'd have one of the top scores ever in subway surfers. He'd download those "complete your restaurant" type games and finish them in two weeks and it'd only take that long because the game forces him to wait sometimes. Candy crush is his bitch 100%. He'd download mobile games and finish them in a day and then keep redoing them till he's perfected his method. He has played and replayed countless driving based games, can learn almost any new one in 6 minutes. Going back to the speed run thing I think he'd just enjoy speed running games in general, and gridning. He'd love minecraft so much omg-. Last of us? Played. Iron Lung? Played. Cuphead? Played. Detroit Become Human? Played. Kindergarten? Played. Sallyface? Played. Splatoon? Played. He'd love small games to I just am not that into video games to know any to list- :').

I mean think about it. Going off the "Tim's parents are never home" version of him, he'd have so much time to just sit around and play video games. He has the money to buy them and the time to spend getting ungodly good at them. He'd have amazing equipment, and it'd give him some sort of community even if he doesn't really interact with it personally. Like if he's not out stalking Batman or at school, he's playing a video game. Even after he starts working for Batman, he'd overwork himself to the bone and he'd STILL find a way to go pro gamer in-between. Probably for like 0.5 seconds whenever he's got to stand up to get himself another energy drink.

Like please, video game nerd Tim Drake on my knees begging you add this to your stories and headcanons. Have him introduce other batfam members to video games. HAVE HIM INTRODCUE BRUCE TO CANDY CRUSH AND MAKE THEM GET INTO A COMPETITION ON WHO CAN GET TO A HIGHER LEVEL FASTER. He shows Damian animal crossing. He gives Jason a gaming console and like 50 different shooter games and one copy of stardew valley as a joke and did not expect Jason to get so into it. Him Cass and Steph would love those Roblox horror games. He'd force the whole family to start having game nights and they'd have a world on Minecraft that has the most insane lore you've ever heard. Like please give me more video game nerd Tim and tell me your headcanons on what games he'd like and what he'd introduce different batfam members to in the comment I am begging you.

[azuremist]

"A ship manifesto is a meta essay meant to introduce fans to a ship and promote it by explaining its appeal."

Fanlore, on the definition of a ship manifesto

Welcome to my Pearlina manifesto! In this essay, I will be introducing you to Splatoon, as well as the characters, Pearl and Marina. I will be going over their lore, their coding, and I hope that I will be able to make you understand their appeal as a romantic pairing.

First, though, I must get you caught up on the not-inherently gay lore of Splatoon. What you need to know is that, around 100 years ago, Octarians and Inklings coexisted in harmony. However, rising sea levels made it so the two had to battle over remaining territory. The Inklings came out victorious, and forced the Octarians to live underground and in much worse conditions. Nowadays, most Octarians are a part of the Octarian army, trying to regain control of the surface.

Also, for clarification: an Octarian is any octopus-like creature, but an Octoling is specifically the intelligent humanoid creature. All Octolings are Octarians, but not all Octarians are Octolings.

As for non-Pearlina key players, we have the Squid Sisters, also known as Callie and Marie. When they sing the Calamari Inkantation, it's known to snap Octarians out of their brainwashing. Because it's just that much of a bop.

Agent 8 was the first playable Octoling, introduced in Splatoon 2's DLC, Octo Expansion. They're an Octoling who had their memories wiped, and was one of the very first Octolings to escape the Octarian army and go to the surface for a new life. They are also the playable character of Splatoon 3's DLC, Side Order.

We have DJ Octavio, who is the leader of the Octarian army. He has some messed up methods, and he's sort of a war criminal, but he's also a funny old man so we forgive him. He's been around since the Octarian and Inkling war of old, along with Cap'n Cuttlefish. Cap'n Cuttlefish is an Inkling who enlists the named Agents, and the grandfather of Callie and Marie.

And lastly, there's a phone. This phone is known as Tartar. It's an AI driven to insanity by isolation, with a desire to wipe out all living beings on Earth to start anew. It frames itself as trying to help the Octolings who attempt to escape the underground, while actually leading the Octolings to their doom. Agent 8 is the first Octoling to escape its grasp alive.

Tartar is also the owner of what is known as Kamabo Co., which, among many other messed-up things, uses a process called "sanitization" to brainwash and wipe the memories of Octolings who work with them to escape to the surface. Sanitized Octolings are then used by Kamabo as test subjects, now mindless husks. Empty of all previous personality. Zombie-like creatures, made of Octolings who only wished to see the sun.

So, anyways, meet Pearl! She's an Inkling who likes rapping and the dualie class of weapons! She's a blunt speaker who uses slang a lot, and she's energetic, expressive, and brash, but ultimately friendly. Her personality is intended to clash with her appearance, which is that of a typical soft, cute Japanese pop princess. "Gap moe", as the kids say.

She was born rich, and with oddly-shaped vocal cords that made her able to be so loud that it could cause damage to her surroundings. She participated in a youth folks-singing contest as a child, which had to be cut short precisely because of the damage caused by her singing. Her using this ability is called her "Hypersonic Battlecry". Upon reaching adulthood, she started a heavy metal solo career, and she had a song that gained some fans, "#$@%* Dudes Be #$@%* Sleepin". However, besides that one song, she didn't have much luck. Even still, she practiced regularly; going to Mt. Nantai to be alone, due to the potential danger her singing can cause, when she did.

Marina is an Octoling who likes singing, music production, and is also generally good with tech! She draws in a shoujo manga-esque style, and likes the brella class of weapons. She speaks in a soft and sweet way, but she can get sassy if provoked. She's sentimental, shy and pretty bad socially, often coming across as awkward or oblivious. Even still, she expresses herself honestly, without embarrassment.

Marina was born into Octoling soldierhood, and was trained up from a child as a combat engineer. She was so intelligent that she skipped multiple grades, and went to an elite training facility, where she became an active soldier in the Octarian army. However, when she was on the surface on a mission, and heard the Calamari Inkantation, she deserted the army and Octarian society. She was at a severe disadvantage, of course; she didn't speak a word of the Inkling language. But she managed to escape, still, to Mt. Nantai.

Pearl and Marina met for the first time by chance, as Pearl was practicing in the mountains at the same time that Marina was escaping the army. They quickly grew close, and Pearl taught Marina the Inkling language and Inkling culture. She didn't know that Marina was an Octoling at this time.

After this first meeting, Marina returned to the mountains every day for two weeks in hopes of meeting Pearl again. When they finally did meet again, Marina showed Pearl a demo of a song she created, which Pearl loved. The two agreed to form Off the Hook, and they released a polished version of the demo as their first single, under the title "Ebb & Flow".

9 months after the events of Splatoon 1, Off the Hook was popular enough to take over hosting Inkopolis News for the Squid Sisters, who were now focusing on their solo careers.

Which leads us into Splatoon 2! Marina and Pearl don't have a big role in the main game. They get a bigger spotlight in the game's DLC. However, they host Inkopolis News and the Splatfests, so they have lots of dialogue for that!

But! There is another key player here. A rather important one, in fact, one who actually has a big say in Pearl and Marina's story.

So, basically, Nintendo of America hates queer people. The Japanese dialogue for Pearl and Marina make it VERY clear that the two are intended to be queercoded. But Nintendo of America didn't likey, so they censored the everloving shit out of it. They only got any better about this during the tail end of Splatoon 3's lifespan, ending around the time Side Order released. Even then, I personally suspect that they only did this because a lot of the fanbase took notice of how, hey, they sure are throwing the term "best friends" around a lot more in the English version… For that reason, a lot of the dialogue I'll be sharing for this section will be the original Japanese dialogue.

Note, these are just my personal favorite examples of dialogue between them. All dialogue referenced can be viewed on the indie Splatoon wiki, also known as Inkipedia.

During the first Splatfest, Marina says, "Even against Pearl-senpai, I will not lose," and tells Pearl that she won't hold back, despite how much she admires Pearl. We also have Marina inviting Pearl to eat with her after winning the Fries vs McNuggets Splatfest, and Pearl excitedly inviting Marina to see a movie together with her for Action vs Comedy. For the Knight vs Wizard Splatfest, Pearl says that she likes knights because they fight to protect everyone, and Marina, in response, says, "Ehehe, then I'll be a witch so you can protect me!" Marina also reveals that she learned how to make chicken the way that Pearl likes so that she can make some for her, despite it not being her taste, in the aftermath of the With vs Without Lemons Splatfest.

One of the rare English localization wins is Marina saying that she likes using the brella to "protect her precious Pearlie at all costs!" There is also a line in the German localization where Pearl says that the Ferris wheel glimmers and shines, and Marina replies, saying it doesn't glimmer and shine like Pearl's eyes.

Lastly, in one of the Sanrio Splatfests, Pearl talks about having a dream where she is with Hello Kitty, and Marina responds by saying it's too much cuteness for her to process. (Of course, her implying that Hello Kitty and Pearl are both cute, so them together makes her malfunction.)

I think one of the most underrated exchanges, though, is in the Friends vs Family dialogue, where Pearl is team family. Marina at first seems sad that Pearl would choose her family over her, and Pearl, noticing this, clarifies that she sees Marina as a part of her family. Marina, in response, exclaims that, in that case, she's joining Team Family too! It's SO cute. In the Japanese version of this exchange, she even does a keyboard smash in response because she's so flustered and happy.

Also, when describing one of her favorite manga, Marina describes a manga which seems to heavily parallel her own life: "The protagonist was born to be the prince of an evil army and the story progresses along with his troubles! And to say nothing of the romance elements on top of that! It gets me emotional every time!" It's clear that she sees herself in the protag, and is likely projecting her relationship with Pearl onto the romance, as her relationship with Pearl is what helped her escape her own "evil army".

I'd also like to invite you to check out the official Splatfest art of them! There are a few pieces that show them domestic and just hanging out, like Pulp vs No Pulp and Warm vs Cold Breakfast. There are also a few more overtly romance-coded ones. In the Sci-Fi vs Fantasy art, Marina is obviously swooning over Pearl, and the gay eye contact in the Kid vs Grown-Up promo art is so good. But my two personal favorites are the Knight vs Wizard and the Vampires vs Werewolves art. I adore the framing of knight Pearl protecting witch Marina, just like she talked about in her Splatfest dialogue, in the Knight vs Wizard art, and the dramatic lighting is gorgeous. For the Halloween Splatfest, I've never gotten over the detail that Pearl is gently touching Marina's face. Something about it just activates my neurons.

And speaking of Splatfests, after all is said and done, there has to be a final Splatfest, doesn't there? This one is themed around the Splatpocolypse! Pearl reps Team Chaos, and Marina reps Team Order, for the question of which kind of apocalypse would be more bearable. The results of Final Fests are known to be very important, and to affect what happens in future Splatoon games, so, when Pearl starts talking like the future of Off the Hook is depending on the result of this Splatfest, the threat is very real, despite her reassuring Marina that she cares about their band.

But, in the end, it's Pearl's team who comes out victorious! And so Off the Hook will break… into new musical genres! Ayy!

Marina is confused by this outcome, and voices that she thought that Off the Hook would be breaking up. Pearl is confused right back at this assumption, because she would never break the two of them up.

Pearl's Japanese dialogue reads: "That's exactly why! Our, Off the Hook's, best, unbeatable color will repaint the world! After all, I need you… Making music without you is no fun! Now, now, settle down… Are you okay, Marina? There's still more coming up for Off the Hook!"

And her English dialogue reads: "You and me are gonna rock the mic together until the end of time! Or at least until I can get my solo career off the ground. BAHAHA! I'm just playin', Marina. You know I love you. It's you and me against the universe, 'Rina!"

In all versions of the dialogue, Marina bursts into tears on-air out of joy, and Pearl tries her best to comfort her, assuring her that she never wanted to leave her behind, and never would want to. (She also directs the cameraperson to point the camera at her, trying to save Marina from any embarrassment.)

Special art for the Splatfest shows Pearl putting her signature crown on Marina's head. In Splatoon 3, we get to see an in-game selfie of the two which confirms that this happened, presumably once they were off-air.

Splatoon 2's DLC is called Octo Expansion, and follows Agent 8. Octo Expansion is where a lot of the lore with Octolings gets explored, including Marina being one! Because, yes, up until the release of this DLC, Marina has just VISIBLY been an Octoling this whole time, with nobody addressing it. It drove the fandom nuts. It was pretty funny.

Agent 8, with amnesia, finds themself in an underground subway system, stuck with Cap'n Cuttlefish and a desire to see the surface. Pearl and Marina accidentally get in contact with Agent 8 and Cap'n Cuttlefish because of a glitch in their communication device, and decide to help them out. As such, Pearl, Marina and Cuttlefish all end up in a group chat together to discuss strategy, and the player can read through their chat logs. It's in these chat logs that Pearl and Marina relay much of their previously-discussed backstory. However, Marina never brings up her own past before meeting Pearl.

Which Cuttlefish decides to fix via outing Marina as an Octoling! Very cool. He sends Pearl information about Marina from when she was in the Octarian army, while Marina is away from the chat. Pearl is, of course, surprised, but isn't stunned for long, as she immediately starts jumping all over Cuttlefish, threatening him to make sure no harm comes to Marina. World's tiniest attack dog, truly.

When Marina returns, she goes silent when Pearl tells her that Cuttlefish shared her past, but, when Pearl reassures her that she's still accepted, Marina's implied to start crying out of joy via the emoticons she uses.

Something worth noting is that the Inkling/Octoling conflict is heavily coded to be analogous to racial and xenophobia-related issues, especially from this DLC-onward. Past wars are used as an excuse for bigotry, Marina and Agent 8 are both dark-skinned, Octoling culture seems to take inspiration from black culture, and Cuttlefish quite literally says, "I don't see species" while complimenting Marina on how "articulate" she is.

In the final battle against Tartar, Marina and Pearl play a huge part! Marina uses her hacking skills to determine how to weaken Tartar's blast, which would destroy all inkfish. Pearl uses her Hypersonic Battlecry to push back against the blast, and destroys the weapon in the process, after planning it with Marina (who uses a really gay shoujou manga-like drawing of Pearl, with sparkles around her, to illustrate the plan). This, of course, leads to the iconic scene where Marina glomps Pearl and nuzzles into her face at such force that she makes both of them fall over. They can be seen on the floor in the following shot, where Marina is still nuzzling into Pearl's face.

While we're in between Splatoon 2 and 3, I thought now would be a good time to sprinkle in some miscellaneous fun facts that don't really belong anywhere else!

Pearl and Marina have nicknames for each other! Marina calls Pearl "my precious Pearlie", or just "Pearlie", and Pearl calls Marina "'Rina".

In the Japanese text, Marina calls Pearl "senpai", while referring to everyone else with the "-san" honorific. This is likely both because Pearl is older than her and because she has a lot of respect for Pearl. (Because yes, Pearl is the older one, despite their height difference suggesting otherwise! She is 21, while Marina is 18.)

Marina's feelings for Pearl are 100% confirmed romantic! In the official relationship chart, Marina, in relation to Pearl, is described as "koisuru otome". "Koisuru" means "to fall in love", and "otome" means "maiden", especially in romantic contexts like otome games. So she's a "maiden who has fallen in love"! Nintendo of America, predictably, censored this in their localization of the chart.

They seem to have a princess and knight motif! This is made more explicit in Splatoon 3, but Pearl's Japanese name, Hime, means 'princess', and she is known as MC Princess in English. Her appearance is based on that of a "pop princess". Marina, of course, was a top-ranking Octarian soldier. But Pearl is braver and is more protective of Marina, while Marina swoons at the idea of Pearl saving and protecting her in the Japanese text for Knights vs Witches. In appearance, Pearl is the princess and Marina is the knight, but in personality, it's swapped.

In "Suffer No Fools", Pearl refers to Marina as attractive and intelligent in various ways, depending on the language. In English, her line is, "She's divine, one of a kind, voice so fine, BIG mind!" In Dutch, it's, "She is without equal! Hell of a voice and won't give an inch!" In French, it's, "Divine and seductive, ravishing voice and GORGEOUS brains!" In Italian, the line is, "She is divine, a darling, crystalline voice, refined mind!" And, my personal favorite, the German version of the line: "My beauty writes tunes and she's smart like a dream!"

Also, Suffer No Fools is a rap battle. So one of Frye's disses is targeted at Marina, calling her Pearl's "grouper". This is a fish pun on "groupie", which is someone who follows a pop star around in hopes of forming a romantic connection.

The Final Fest of Splatoon 1 was Callie vs Marie, so many people were expecting Splatoon 2's to be Marina vs Pearl. When asked why this wasn't the case, a head developer stated that the reason was that the Squid Sisters always had a hint of rivalry in their relationship. However, Pearl and Marina hold only care for each other. This is even directly addressed in the Final Fest's pre-Fest dialogue, where Pearl states she knows that Marina is more popular than her, without a hint of bitterness.

Nintendo likes to give the idols of Splatoon faux-interviews, to make it feel like they're real idols! One such interview asked Pearl what the most precious gift she's ever received was, to which her answer was, "The chance to meet Marina!"

Lastly, in the Splatfest performances of "We're So Back", there is an extended section where Marina places her hand on Pearl's lower back as they dance. Kinda gay.

With that, let's get back to the story! Stop me if you've heard this before — but Pearl and Marina don't get a lot of focus in Splatoon 3's main mode, instead getting the spotlight in the game's DLC. They're super busy, after all, on their world tour!! Agent 8 went on tour with them, too, in order to help out behind the scenes. It's also heavily implied that they moved in together between Splatoon 2 and 3, as, multiple times in 2, they say they have separate houses, but, in Splatoon 3, Pearl mentions "our (her and Marina's) yard". (Oh my God, they were roommates.)

Onto Splatoon 3's DLC, titled, "Side Order"! As Splatoon 3's general main story mode took on the chaotic aesthetic due to it winning 2's Final Fest, Side Order is what takes on the aesthetic of Team Order.

And, remember how I said that Nintendo of America only got better about censoring Pearl and Marina being queercoded with the release of Side Order? Yeah, we're gonna be referencing the English dialogue a lot more from now on.

In Side Order, Agent 8 is transported to a virtual world created by Marina, named Order Sector. This world was originally created to help sanitized Octarians regain their memories! However, it seems to have been corrupted, somehow…

In Order Sector, Pearl is turned into a drone! Together, she, Acht (also known by their stage name, Dedf1sh) and Agent 8 climb the Spire of Order to save Marina, who they can hear calling out to Pearl from the spire.

Quick Acht break. I would like to bring to attention the fact that Acht is canonically non-binary, and are only referred to with they/them pronouns in-game. This means that Splatoon is willing to go there, in terms of purposefully putting queer characters in the official canon. Just in case you needed more convincing, regarding Pearl and Marina's queercoding being 100% intentional.

Anyhow. Upon reaching the control room, the 3 of them encounter Marina, now mind-controlled with a visor and called Marina Agitando. This new name for the controlled version of Marina matches the naming conventions of the other Side Order bosses. "Agitando" means agitated or restless, and an "agitato" in musical composition means that something must be played with force and accuracy (of course, leaning into the theme of order).

After freeing Marina, Agent 8 and Pearl are confronted by Order, an AI who seized control of Marina's virtual world, and whose goal is to force everyone in the outside world into Order Sector, and to then establish a colorless world of order, where independent thought does not exist.

Marina, obviously distressed by her altruistic project being hijacked for a horrible purpose, resolves to help Agent 8, Pearl and Acht with subsequent journeys up the Spire. After rescuing Marina, Pearl is also able to freely transform between being a drone and an Inkling, but chooses to be a drone most of the time, as that form helps Agent 8 more on their missions.

(By the way, it's around this time that we learn that Marina's computer background is a picture of Pearl lying seductively in her Final Fest outfit. I'm not kidding.)

In subsequent climbs up the Spire, Marina joins you, and there is dialogue in between her, Pearl and Acht between stages. This dialogue had a tendency to be Very Gay. Standouts include but aren't limited to:

Marina doing her usual gushing about how cool and cute and incredible Pearl is.

Pearl being protective of Marina, threatening violence if anyone is mean to her.

Pearl talking about a planned break after the tour, saying: "I promised her that we could find a quiet spot together and take it easy for a while."

Pearl confessing that she isn't scared of the usual enemies in the Spire, and the only time she did get scared was when she was fighting Marina. It frightened her that she didn't know if Marina would be okay. (Again, knight/princess, you get it.)

Multiple instances of Acht saying "I'm glad you're here, 8," or something to that effect, after Pearl and Marina have a moment. With the implication being that they're glad they don't have to third-wheel these dorks alone.

And, of course, the iconic dialogue where Acht says, "Hey, Pearl. Have we met? You seem familiar," and Marina immediately responds, "What?! Acht, come on! You can't seriously be hitting on Pearl in front of…!"

Ah, sweet, sweet, blatant queercoding. We could've been having this level of it this whole time in the English version, if Nintendo of America weren't cowards.

Additionally, one of the rewards for completing missions in Side Order is being able to read Marina's dev diaries! These give the player a lot of insight into the development of the virtual world.

We learn, among other things, that Marina planned for Pearl to be the player's guide from the beginning, and that she personally crafted a model for her to use for this purpose. She writes: "It's really, truly all starting to come together! I'll put myself at the top of the tower, so Pearl has to climb it to get the user to me. ❤️ Wait… would that make me like a storybook princess? ❓ Hahaha, now I HAVE to do it! I'll build you a tower worth the climb, brave Pearl!" (Again with, in terms of personality, Marina being the princess, and Pearl being her brave knight.)

Also, is now a good time to mention that the currency in the virtual world Marina created are called "Prlz"?

Marina also writes: "When I felt lost and directionless after deserting from the army, it was Pearl who showed me hope. ✨ The two of us formed Off the Hook, and ever since, I've felt like I'm just waiting to wake up from a dream! ❤️ Sniff- sorry, something's in my eye!" Then she does a gay keysmash and crying emoji.

Plus, with each diary entry, we get a picture taken by Marina! This is where we get the selfie of her in Pearl's crown, post-Final Fest. We also see, via her pictures, that she has plushies of her and Pearl on top of her computer setup, and has a sticky note doodle of Pearl with a heart in a speech bubble stuck to her computer. Among other gay shoujou drawings of Pearl we get to see, of course.

Once again, Pearl and Marina help Agent 8 a lot with the DLC's final boss!

When you reach the top of the spire, before Order attacks 8, Marina is seen pleading with Order, trying to explain why its idea of a perfect world is dysfunctional. Her words, comparing everyone's different thoughts to colors that mix together, closely parallel what Pearl told her in the Japanese text to comfort her after the Final Fest, showing that she's truly internalized what Pearl told her.

When Agent 8 is knocked out by Overlorder, Order's battle form, it seems, for a moment, all is lost. The screen is slowly losing its color. Marina desperately types away at her computer, scrambling to see if she can do anything, anything at all, to stop Order, but it's no use.

Marina herself turns gray, and begins to glitch, just like everything around her. Everything slows. Realizing that she's about to lose everything, she speaks, her voice distorted from Order's influence: "Pearl… I…"

She's not able to finish. The screen turns gray.

However, Acht had rushed over to Marina's laptop, running and reaching out to just barely press the correct key. Agent 8's heart begins to pump again – pumping to a beat.

Marina and Acht had begun playing a new version of Ebb & Flow, "Spectrum Obligato", in defiance of Order's ideals. Pearl, hyped up by the music, uses her Hypersonic Battlecry to destroy the control room!

After Agent 8 destroys Overlorder's barrier, and collects all the color chips that were lost, Pearl uses a unique special, dubbed the Color Wail, which combines her Hypersonic Battlecry with the Killer Wail. The usage of "Spectrum" in the new version of the song, the collection of all of the color chips, and the new special being Color Wail all, of course, additionally call back to what Pearl told Marina.

This final attack causes Overlorder to explode, and in its place…! Reveal a tiny octopus, who baby-talks. This little guy is known as Smollusk, a childlike, heavily-damaged, and restricted version of Order. Like this, Order no longer poses any real threat.

In additional runs after this final boss, the player learns that Order was made of the desire from Marina, and other Octoling programmers she brought on, for an unchanging world. This adds additional meaning to the continuous callbacks to Pearl's comforting words to Marina. Order is a manifestation of Marina's desire for the world to never change, so she never loses Pearl, and, for Order to be defeated, it needs to be reminded again and again of Pearl's words of comfort: that, even if the type of music Off the Hook makes changes, that change makes the world more colorful. But what will never change is that Pearl needs Marina by her side.

In these subsequent runs, as well, Pearl and Marina grow gradually more fond of this childlike version of Smollosk, who grows to like them in turn. Which, of course, leads to the fandom in-joke that they're Smollosk's moms, helped by the fact that Marina did, quite literally, make Order.

Which leads us to the Final Fest of Splatoon 3! But, I'd like to take a small break again, if you'll indulge me. I'd like to provide a quick list of some of the romantic tropes that Pearl and Marina fall into. Yoinked from TVtropes!

Love Doodles: Drawing love symbols and writing initials and names, indicating someone has a secret crush. (I'd argue Marina's doodles of Pearl fall into this trope.)

The Glomp: Tackling and hugging one's love interest tightly.

Interrupted Declaration of Love: Character tries to confess their love for somebody, but is interrupted. (During the final boss of "Side Order".)

Love at First Note: Falling in love with somebody when you hear them sing. (Marina first encountered Pearl when she was practicing her music.)

One Head Taller: A couple where one partner towers over the other partner.

Pitbull Dates Puppy: A rough and tough character (Pearl) falls in love with someone of a softer, gentler nature (Marina).

Please, Don't Leave Me: A character pleads the love of their life not to leave them. (The point of conflict in Splatoon 2's Final Fest.)

Sickeningly Sweethearts: Two people love each other to a sickeningly sweet level. (A sentiment expressed by Acht and Shiver.)

Violently Protective Girlfriend: This girl will not let anyone harm her significant other. (Pearl is very consistently shown with this trait.)

Like an Old Married Couple: Friends bicker and banter the way a married couple might, but without being married. (Seen a lot during Splatfest dialogue.)

There are even more tropes that Pearlina falls into that didn't have a proper label on TVtropes (learning a loved one's language, "it isn't fun without you", having your loved one as your phone or computer wallpaper, etc…), so just know that their story falls into many established romantic tropes.

Which brings us to the grand finale of Splatoon 3; a grand fest! Some may even say, the Grand Fest: Past vs Present vs Future! This was a very unique Splatfest in that each team is represented by a different idol group! Team Past is represented by Callie and Marie, Team Future is represented by Splatoon 3's idol group, Deep Cut, and Team Present is represented by Pearl and Marina! Their team choice is a culmination of the lessons they've learned since their own Final Fest. In Pearl's own words, from the Grand Fest announcement: "Get all you can out of the present, and the future will take care of itself. That's real!" Which prompts Marina to agree, "I can take or leave my past. But my present with Off the Hook means so much to me!"

Indeed, the general theme with Pearl and Marina's promotion of Team Present is that the reason why they love the present is because they love each other, and they love their present with the other. This is displayed no better than in their portions of the song, "Three Wishes."

"Three Wishes" is a song, sung by all of the idols, about why their team choice is important to them. Callie and Marie sing about their past, shared memories, and how far they've come. Shiver, Frye and Big Man of Deep Cut sing about their hope and excitement for the future, and determination to cut down anything that gets in their way. Pearl and Marina, though, have many, many lines dedicated solely to how much they deeply care for each other, and how that makes them love the present.

A good example to illustrate this difference is each team's lines following "Here we stand in time—endless past, present, and future span. / Our wishes are the flame that lights up history." Callie and Marie's are, "All life here is one—intermingled in the hourglass. / No start, no end, it lasts for all eternity." Shiver, Frye and Big Man's are, "Surging down the line—glowing promise we hold in our hands. / Reflecting off themselves to build a guiding gleam." Both being rather directly about the appeal and importance of the past and the future. Pearl and Marina's, though? "In the infinite sea of people passing in the dark, / My brightly burning radiance drew you to me." Not referencing the present as much as their wonder and joy in the fact that, in such a wide world, they still managed to find each other.

Furthermore, in their extended section, Marina sings, "I've been searching, all of my life, / Finally I've found my north star. / My heart's synched up, a satellite, / Orbiting wherever you are." Following this up, Pearl raps, "So your life sucks? Down on your luck? Gotta free yourself, get your mind unstuck. / Let fear push you on through, can do— Use some colors in your palette but blue, / Paint it new!" Her language echoing the way she comforted Marina during their Final Fest, with talk of colors and paint, and the fact that this follows up Marina talking about meeting Pearl, seems to imply that these lyrics are directed at a past version of Marina. The following section being question-and-answer (Marina singing, "When is the moment you should chase your dreams?", and Pearl responding, "It's right now!") seems to reinforce this idea.

After this, they sing together, in order to close out their dedicated section: "Overlapping cycles, binary stardom / Nothing can knock us out of our groove / Overlapping cycles, binary stardom / With you, nothing can stand in my way." But, just in case you thought that would be a really romantic note to end on, don't worry! They have one more shared line, which they sing together near the very end of the song:

"Having you by my side makes today perfect."

That is what they provide us as their closer; their ultimate reason why they live in the present. Why would they want to be anywhere else, when the other is here? This is also represented visually, in the trailer which revealed their outfits; they are not only holding hands, but them holding hands is the central point of the piece's composition. Your eyes are meant to be drawn to it. On top of that, you can see them tighten their grip on each other as the camera pans out, drawing your eyes to that motion. You are meant to see and take notice of the fact that they are holding hands. That is the point. That is their point.

(By the way, one of Pearl's lines in the Japanese version of "Three Wishes" is, "Hey! Give us a stage, romantic, and we'll reminisce in the café." The English translation is otherwise pretty accurate, so I didn't feel the need to provide the Japanese versions of the text, but… yeah, sure. Namedrop a romantic café as the place where you and Marina ("we'll") would reminisce. Why not, at this point.)

Even when they lose, they still manage to make it about how much they love each other! When Marie prompts, "In honor of Team Past's victory, let's hear some of everyone's favorite memories!", Marina is quick to respond, "Mine would be the day I first heard Pearl's voice at Mt. Nantai! Let me set the stage…" (She loves her wife so much. She needs you to know this!) Before she can continue, though, Shiver interrupts: "Um... not sure we have the airtime to go THAT far back. Save it for a podcast." One last time, someone has to shut Marina down before she starts gushing about Pearl, before they go off-air.

And that is the complete timeline of Splatoon, as-of my time writing this!

So, basically, these inkfish are gay. Good for them! Good for them. I mean, if you have Nintendo of America censoring your dialogue for being too queer, and weirdos on Twitter are using you as an example of Nintendo going woke, then you know you've got it made.

Pearl and Marina genuinely love and care about each other so much, it makes me feel ill. They balance each other out in personality, able to banter and tease each other, but they are also both open about how much they admire and cherish the other. Both need the other in their lives, not just as their musical duo partner, but as their life companion. Marina will follow Pearl wherever she goes, and Pearl will protect Marina at all costs. Pearl doesn't find any joy in making music without Marina, her muse, and after being a child soldier for the vast majority of her life, Marina is able to rely on and relax around her precious Pearlie, knowing and trusting that she is safe with her. They are both each other's most precious gift.

[dr-spectre]

Guys, i wanna preach something to y'all.

If you really love a character and if they are really important to you, but you feel like a large majority of fans treat them poorly and they mischaracterise them. Don't be scared to talk about it.

PLEASE!

This is not even focused on Splatoon, no, this is just in general. If you genuinely love a character so much and they are treated in a way where you feel like it doesn't represent the character's true personality, events, arcs, etc, then speak up about it. Make a post on any social media platform or forum. Speak your peace, share your evidence, do what you can to say "hey guys. I think you should all take a second look at this character i really like! They have some cool stuff about them that not a lot of people talk about!"

I think a really great example of a character who's been really mischaracterised is Deadpool. In the comics he's a sad clown sort of guy where he hides his pain, suicidality and depression behind jokes and 4th wall breaks. He's a bad dude who tries his hardest to be a good person, but he fails over and over again and he doesn't believe he can ever be loved or respected. He's funny but he also has depth and layers which is so important to create an everlasting character. Or at least that's what I've heard he's like from comic fans. I haven't read the comics but i plan on to some day because I'm fascinated by his depth and i wanna experience that.

However in his first major solo appearance, which was the game, he was treated as only a loud mouth jokester who sees every woman he comes across as "awooga! boobies and ass!!!!" and all the depth and nuance is gone. Even though they had a comic writer who worked on Deadpool comics for years, he didn't fucking ATTEMPT to give the character any form of intrigue. Just... nothing. Only memes and pop culture references that'll become dated in 5 years.

And a lot of people think that's just who Deadpool is... That's how so many people got introduced to this character which caused misinformation to spread about him for so long... And that fucking sucks dude.

Thankfully the movies have some form of an emotional center with Wade and Vanessa's relationship and they give the character... SOMETHING!!!!! At least the comic fans seem to be pretty okay with movie Deadpool from my knowledge, which is good.

ANYWAYS! BACK TO SPLATOON!

Do you guys remember when Pearl and Marina used to be treated like this? Pearl as some big forehead joke of a character, while Marina was some bimbo with huge honkers and a giant waist.

Oh yeah, this was how they were treated for years. I remember it man, i fucking remember it all. I was there. Sorry to tell the new fans who joined from Splatoon 3. Even after Octo Expansion gave them detailed backstories and further explored their personalities, they were still mischaracterised as flanderised jokes and nothing more in the community.

But after people took the time to get to know these two, after people spent 7 years with them and discussed the interesting things about them online, they are now portrayed significantly better than how they used to be treated in the community and are celebrated as some of the best characters in the franchise. As they fucking deserve to be treated. Fans don't treat them as jokes anymore, casuals don't make tired old jokes anymore. Everyone loves these two now and for the right reasons.

And all it took was a small section of people to praise their best attributes and eventually overshadow the misinformation about them. Pearl is celebrated because she is genuinely a great character with a heart of gold and a want to care for the people around her. To make every day chaotic and to have fun with her CANONICAL GIRLFRIEND!

Marina is celebrated as a character who autistic people can look up to and find comfort in. AND THAT IS FUCKING AWESOME!!! AND IT ALMOST NEVER HAPPENED! If no one bothered to look deeper at her character then maybe many peoples lives could have never been changed for the better... Isn't that crazy to think about?

If you can change one person's perspective on a character you love, and they feel that energy and they wanna help you share that energy with more people, then i think you've done something truly amazing. Eventually that shit is gonna spread further and further AND FURTHER!!!!!!

Remember when Shiver and Frye were treated as jokes similar to Pearl and Marina at the start of Splatoon 3? Frye with her big forehead jokes and people calling her ugly due to... well... i'm gonna make some wild accusations here but... there might be an undertone of racism when people call Frye ugly... like... i'm just saying... I'm scared of what these people think about Indian women in the real world... What views they share about them... Frye is inspired by Indian culture and by proxy, Indian women. I'm just saying...

And, of course, fans gooning over Shiver because god forbid a woman exposes her midriff and has curvy hips... ugh...

BUT THANKFULLY IT'S CHANGED NOW! Lots of people see Shiver as a silly yet fun character who has the potential for depth down the line, which people are excited to see. People adore Frye and love her personality and her family.

There are people out there who say that Frye is actually cute and beautiful, AND YOU KNOW WHAT!?? I FUCKING AGREE! If people didn't share their love and takes on Frye then maybe she wouldn't become my favourite Deep Cut member.

Now... To tie it all back to me, I'm seeing this change in perspective for a character.... with Callie Cuttlefish.

During the years 2017 to 2022, Callie was always mischaracterised as some airheaded idiot who ended up getting herself "kidnapped" and "brainwashed" and had to be saved as she was some stupid helpless victim. This was seen in official material and fan comics too. I remember it man, i really do. Hell it STILL happens till this day. That fucking summer 2024 Nintendo magazine? Jesus christ dude...

But now? That perspective is changing... Sure not everyone is gonna fully agree and there probably isn't gonna be massive change in official media, social media such as YouTube and twitter, and of course wikis. Not everyone is gonna know about what Callie is truly like and what she has truly gone through. But....

That's okay.

I really don't wanna come across as some sort of gatekeeping fan, i really hate those kinds of """fans""" so much. I just wanna educate and share my love for a comfort character of mine. Eventually the perspective shared by me and others will be spread to other social media platforms and many more people. Because that's how the internet works baby!!!!

The perspective that Callie was just a girl suffering from fame and loneliness, a girl who wanted an escape from it all, a girl who went under hypnosis to numb her pain and stay in the corruptive darkness she built up for so long, a girl who wanted to help her enemies rather than stay in her current life with a cousin who isn't there for her anymore... A girl who didn't need to be saved, but a girl who needed to be reminded of the good memories she had with her cousin, to remember what she truly stood for and the love she wants to share with everyone via music... A girl who just needed... a fresh start....

She was never kidnapped despite what official sources say... She was never brainwashed despite what they tell you... Callie had agency... Callie was suffering... Just in a more nuanced and fascinating way.

that perspective... is spreading and... I'm so happy about it...

Anyways, that's all i have for you guys. Please share your love for a character with others, share your unique perspectives to the world, you have a voice, USE IT! I DON'T CARE IF IT'LL REACH TEN THOUSAND PEOPLE! ONE THOUSAND! A HUNDRED! ONE PERSON! DON'T FUCKING MATTER!

USE YOUR VOICE! PLEASEEEE!!!!!!!!

[badchoicesworld]

hello hello hi ! i hope you're doing well ! may i request a miles!42 and hobie with like a butterfly mutated reader (masc) ? ironically he's more bug than beauty and has alot of features that he tries to hide (antennae, long ears and :3 mouth that opens up to a long tongue to suck up food ? he has teeth too but theyre sharp with fangs in the splatoon inkling way. skin is like a bug's sort of hard and exoskeletonly and bro is just really fluffy. like his wrists and neck have fluff)

reader is a result of like a weird science experiment gone wrong so he sort of feels like an alien trying to fit in whenever his features pop out. he just wants to live an ordinary life but somehow keeps on gettinh pulled in the middle of every superhero fight there is :'). also ! ARTKIDDD

im sorry if the req got really specific to work w aha :') hope you have a good one !

hobie brown and miles42 with butterfly mutated boyfriends !

huge fan of these mutated readers, i am however a tmnt man so (i fuckin see you btw, my most active friend and that tmnt blog)

separate, established relationships

warnings: nah

pairing: hobie brown x masc!reader, miles morales!42 x masc!reader

requests: check out my guide/masterlist

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

we all know hobie’s a massive fan of making a statement, so he thinks that you look absolutely incredible with your mutation

will likely go through a phase of insisting you should embrace it and flaunt it, he’s gotta be told a few times that you just wanna live an ordinary life

sounds a little boring to him, but whatever suits you, y’know?

he’s not the guy to go to however for tips on how to blend in, do not ask

you’ve got a butterfly mutation, he’s got a spider mutation- he calls you the bug boys sometimes when he’s feeling hyped up and you can feel how you wanna feel about that

if you ever tell him about your mutation, about the experiments and such, it just fuels hobie’s habit of antagonising authority n all that

you’re like walking proof of the government taking advantage of the people through the systems they put in place to protect them but in reality are just some form of propaganda to give the public false hope and sense of security

yeah, hobie wasn’t surprised when you told him

not too pressed over it either since it’s been and done, no point in getting worked up over something thats irreversible and apart of you now

feels disrespectful to even feel bad to a degree

of course he feels bad that you were experimented on, but he’s not gonna say anything about your actual mutation

does however have something inappropriate to say about ur tongue im sorry

yknow what hard skins good for ? drawing on, let him please

yknow what fluff around you ur neck and wrists is great for ? hobie and his desperation for contact, ur mad comfy dawg

he likes to wear his studded collars and wrist bands in the same places as your fur sometimes, matching innit

hobie absolutely recognised how badly you want to have an ordinary life, so can honestly empathise and sympathise when you somehow manage to find yourself sucked into every super scrap in the city

he can try diverge the fights, but can’t promise a thing since they tend to be unpredictable

hobie’s plenty happy to diverge from large crowds with you if it helps you stick out less, he’ll navigate for the two of you and somehow come up with insane routes to get to where you need to be

will diy you clothes tailored to your mutation, shirts with holes in the back for your wings just so they don’t have to be uncomfortably folded under clothes n stuff

miles42

i feel like with society going up in flames, standing out is something you generally wanna avoid in earth42, just doesn’t seem so safe

so miles definitely goes the extra mile (ha) to make sure you’re not gonna stick out too much

if you’re smaller than him he’ll for sure lend you certain things to wear if they cover you up well enough, he knows just about every nook and cranny in the city to hide in whenever your features decide to make a guest appearance

like if you’re ever just walking down a street then your antenna poke out, he’s very fast to act and doesn’t make a big deal out of it

now you either just chill in an alley together or start making your way home through the intricate backstreets miles can effortlessly navigate

he appreciates your mutation though, it’s one of them things that he can silently admire and daydream about instead of worrying about the future

realistically ? you could be a result of a really shitty human experiment gone wrong at oscorp, god knows they can take advantage of the people without a spider-man to protect them

if you ever reveal this to miles, he’s obviously upset, but it’s probably predicted at this point

i imagine in his universe that they’re a force to be reckoned with

asks his mum to make things for you sometimes, to help you feel better about your appearance and to help hide certain features that you wanna

can completely understand your desire to want an ordinary life, he does too

he’ll help you achieve it, it’s one of his dreams and he can only hope to share it

your mutation takes time to get used to but it gets to the point where miles simply won’t bat an eye at your mutation, he treats you like any other person in the world except he loves you- wants so badly for you to feel normal if that’s what you want

in the least condescending way he will insist from time to time for you to stay home, just for your own safety if he starts to notice a particular rise in stats

he completely understands your desire to just blend in, but it’s not worth it if you’re genuinely at risk

he gets into the habit of doodling butterfly features on scraps of paper, on the back of his hand during classes- you’re on his mind a lot

says that he’s indifferent towards ur fluff but then he’ll fix it up for you after putting a shirt on and it’s a lil outta sorts

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

sorry this is kinda brief and not great, i’ve been out of it for the longest time but i’m tryna provide 💪💪

[sloshr]

After watching through Side Order... I have a Few Thoughts.

[Spoilers ahead]

My Review of the Side Order DLC - Its little more than Gameplay.

Initial Opinion

- - - - - - - - - -

Overall; I like the gameplay mechanics initially, but the story absolutely feels lacking to me, imo. It feels like they were really banking on Side Order being Hard but... multiple of my friends finished it on their 2nd or 3rd run through the Spire.

That in itself isnt a problem! But... everyone felt sort of unsatisfied? There were no developments in the story, as we, Agent 8, were just assigned the task to Get to The Top of the Spire -> The Player Does That -> You beat a Boss -> Credits Roll (?)

On my watchthrough I literally said Please Say Sike 😭 because, dont take this poorly, but they were advertising Side Order as;

• Difficult (stated Multiple Times in basically every Trailer)

• Story Driven (You Uncover things as You Climb)

• Character and Lore Intensive (as shown by the trailers with all the concept art as well as promo art)

I dont feel like it was wrong to expect more based on how it was advertised.

But... if you complete the DLC in 1-2 runs, which is Very Much Possible, no buildup happens at all. The story was banking on the player struggling, and putting all the content behind repeat runs, which falls through and Doesnt really work/feel satisfying if the main goal is achieved in such a short time. I Feel like anyone who regularly plays Salmon Run will likely have a similar experience. And I feel kind of cheated? Because what we got was something that was Tell Not Show rather than the Show, Not Tell formula. And in my opinion, it really doesn't work as well at all. It puts all the major lore that the game has set up behind repetetive climbs (which never change btw, despite each climb being generated differently, its the same after a while) and you get about 1 Sentence of Exposition, with a Modlog from Marina if you are Lucky.

Side Order was (to me), after watching it all;

• Not Difficult, But Repetetive Gameplay (This easily runs people down, which would be fine if the tower had more than 1 setup or phase)

• Inital Story Setup with no complexities or stages. You climb the first Tower, Save Marina, Climb the Second Tower, Beat Order, and the credits Roll. In its most complex, you could fit what Side Order's Story is in 2-3 Sentences. Rather than Lore being revealed During the story, it feels Pushed to the Side as all of it is either in Text the player may never see (different climbs) or care to read (Marina's Mod Log)

• Use of Character Drops with no explaination / mention (The Agent 4 Boss, Anyone?) (This felt very Bait-y, with No Payoff)

Rating

- - - - -

If I had to give Side Order a Rating

4/10. At Best.

I am a bit disappointed with this as I feel like I was promised more, Storywise, and honestly a bit gameplay wise. I think it fails where other DLC has succeeded Due to being Built in such a way where anything engaging is stuck behind barely changing gameplay. It is not built in a way where the experience cant fail to show you whats important to the characters and the worldbuilding. It relies too much on telling you whats happening rather than the world showing you. Its too Simple, and It Doesnt Work, personally, in a series that contains Octo Expansion.

Which is Sad to me!! It had so much wasted potential and I really hope this isn't the last we're going to see of the concept, we get to see ideas actually built into the story, and... maybe find Agent 4.

Conclusion

- - - - - - - -

Tldr; Side Order had a good concept, but failed in execution for being simple and gameplay dependent, which was ultimately disappointing due to it being advertised as something more for all involved.

It was an alright attempt. The experience will just be known to me as... well. Baby's First Rouge-like. Nothing worldbreaking.

(PS, this isnt meant to be mean spirited or overly critical, I just love the Splatoon Series so I give it Tough Love. This is just my personal view on the DLC)

Thank you for Reading! Feel free to share or add any thoughts!

[astronnova]

please tell us about deep sea expedition

yes.... finally......... i can SHILL..........

basically, deep sea expedition or WHATEVER it would be called would be the salmon run dlc. wave THREE of splatoon THREE's dlc waves. you feel me?

so i've done just two posts before about this idea, but it would star agent 4 as our player character. reasons why?

agent four and agent 8 both having dlcs in splat3 would be a great way to pay homage to splatoon 2, since both were the protagonists of that game

grizzco and salmon run were introduced to the series with splatoon 2, might as well have the protgaonist of that game be the one to end the salmon run story line since return of the mammalians focuses more on mr. grizz himself instead of the salmonids

the basic idea for gameplay i have for this DLC would be a mix of a more open world approach (think security breach: RUIN) alongside a the PVE horde gameplay from salmon run. agent 4 would have to fight through hordes of salmonids and other deep sea creatures to descend deeper to reach a sort of salmonid capital. think maybe like... sparta? since the salmonids are inspired by that. maybe a giant ass collesuem (i know thats in rome i do not care).

point is, you start near the surface and have to descend to defeat the bosses (ha get it. cus side order has an elevator where you go up? im clever i think sometimes)

actually this sounds a bit like doom. oh well

i'd like to think there's some sort of phenomena of like... underwater air pockets. like underwater caves? where a bunch of civilizations are maybe? would be pretty neat to see all the stuff where salmonids go when they arent doing the salmon run part, among other species that could live in these areas considered the deep sea metro

(the naming coincidences are not lost on me but i have no idea what else to call this hypothetical salmon run DLC)

story? agent 4 has been stranded in hostile, salmonid territory with no backup, a faulty pair of grizzco (tm) dualies, and her wits. 4 meets a goldie salmonid, named chrysos, who takes 4 under their fin (ha) to help them find a way home. 4 and chrysos must explore deeper into the heart of the sea to find enough super golden eggs (name and idea pending) to have enough power to send 4 home.

thats the working synopsis anyway, excluding major spoilers and all

apart of the open world sections of the DLC would have the player controlling 4 and chrysos in a kind of open world diving situation. four is equipped with a prototype pressurized underwater scuba gear that makes it safe for ink-based people to go underwater! its grizzco brand and needs many upgrades (that could be acquired thru out the story).

im thinking for these sections you'd be timed to find an air pocket or new treasure of sorts? and if you run out of time idk 4 runs out of air or something and gets splatted. dw they have a life preserver which chrysos would reactivate to save four, basically restarting the level from the beginning.

chrysos would be a very straightforward character with a dry sense of humor and a natural curiosity for all things from the surface. they're helping 4 out of the goodness of their heart and to satiate that curiosity of what inklings are like, among other reasons.

they pluck one of their scales at the beginning of the story to help power up the faulty grizzco dualies, which would also be a tutorial on how to like.... level up? get upgrades? not sure

this was long! if you have any more questions feel free to ask. i love the salmonids and i love agent 4. mwah

[zenala-art]

Do you have an infodump on your captain Agent 4?

Firstly, thank you so much for the ask and interest!!

Secondly, I sure do! Conelia's my first and main Splatoon OC so she has. a lot. of lore, and I'll gladly infodump some stuff :D

Let's start with her general reference sheet! I think it makes for a nice introduction:

I think the first thing anyone asks (reasonably so) when I tell them that she's the captain is "Why not Agent 3?" In my agent story, Agent 3 is completely MIA since the end of Octo Expansion, and even without taking that into account, Conelia spends a lot more time with Marie and Callie than he (being very introverted) ever did, and she's definitely more dedicated to being a good fighter. So, when it came to choosing who's going to be the next captain, she was a very clear choice.

Being one of the captains of her competitive team, she was already used to this sort of responsability, too! The NSBS sure can sponsor her dream of being a professional competitive player, and this just meant more time to be spending with the Squid Sisters, which can't be a bad thing in her opinion.

Here's an overall of my (active) agents:

Asra and Radish are a bit outdated since I've added more interesting things to their lore since I made this picture, but the rest pretty much remains the same!

Conelia really enjoys Asra's company as her first pupil, being much more proactive and giving more pieces of random advice than we see the Captain do in the game. After the events of ROTM, the two of them very often communicate mostly through sign language, since it usually feels more comfortable for Asra (who is mostly nonverbal due to some circumstances in their life, but with Conelia they sometimes speak). She's super excited and wants to teach Asra everything she can, acknowledging that they "have a lot of potential".

She also has a long friendship history with both Agent 3 and Agent 8, but they might not be super relevant to the conversation at hand? I do have this relationship chart from some time ago that could be a fast, superficial view however (don't mind the old designs, drawings are a little old, but the info is still correct):

So yeah, if we talk about the general character, Conelia has most of the attributes usually associated with Agent 4 (the excitedness and general perceived vibe, the "always busy with school" aspect of it, living far from Inkopolis or Splatsville, etc). The most important aspect of her personal life that I feel affects how she handles leadership (and therefore her work as a captain) is having inattentive parents who forced her to be independent since way too young.

It took her some convincing from the Squid Sisters to accept recruiting a new agent, even though 8 is mostly not working with them anymore - she just wants to do everything herself all of the time, even though she knows that workload would be too much for her.

I won't go too far into detail on her personal life right now (or I'd make an actual essay here), but hopefully this infodump was interesting to you :D once again thank you for the interest and the excuse to dump about my ocs in public

[alebrijediscordico]

i need to sleep soon, but i've been rotating pastra's new video with his own retelling of the jeff the killer creepypasta and. mein gott……

first of, Go Watch 🔫

and second of, spoilers under the cut, bc im gonna ramble abt it now!!

so there's thing ive noticed of a few rewrites i have read before is that many times the authors take a lot of creative liberties while rewriting and, well, many of them interested me a lot ngl! most of them are full rewrites with almost no similarities to the og story that isnt the characters and maybe one or two plot points, and i think about them and it amazes me how one can change a characters story and still make it feel like the same character

but the thing about pastra's rewrite, is that they understands Who jeff the killer is and What jeff is, and not only gives the original story's Feeling an actual structure, but a Why for it too

and that starts with the who. jeff is a villain in most narratives that had included him before, even if the original creepypasta aimed (?) for him to be sort of the empathetic, like. back then he was but a kid, maybe a violent one, but a kid that fell to his most destructive urges nevertheless (and with this extra, irrational fear that i think was more of a personal observation when i first hear of this creepypasta when i was Really young, of "oh god, what if turn out like Him" since he was around my age then, but anyways.)

but this jeff is not a kid anymore, is actually of college age, and for most of this rewrite's narrative he is this looming terror on the loose; death with a rotting, self made smile. and as more things are revealed, and both the detectives and audience get closer to jeff, at first one would think is going with the same, empathetic route like the original, with the bullies and stuff, but since we already know how that goes, pastra actually Uses that to get people by surprise and… no, he isn't just a kid, or in this case a man, Driven to madness by circumstances. he starts a villain, ends a villain

which perfectly pictures what jeff as a concept was and is in essence:

a brutal, unpredictable force of violence; a monster

and that's what makes him scary again, because he is still a human after all, but his actions slowly take away that until only his appearance, no matter how mutilated it is by that point, is what anchors him to his humanity; a tether to it made out of a spider's web string

like i remember listening to the narration in the background while playing splatoon some days ago, and sometimes having to pause the game just to listen more attentively. and in some parts, specially towards the end, making me actually feel kinda scared, not only for liu (which is also Very well written and the role he plays to connect jeff's past to the present and reveal his true intentions is Amazing), but for every single one of the witnesses too

and then that part. that one part after staying convinced most of the video that this rewrite would follow a similar plot as the original, liu says "but no. it was just… jeff" LIKE- that legit gave me Chills, and minutes after jeff's infamous phrase Actually used well??? like as i said, this actually brought back some of that fear from the original, tho it mostly impressed me for the execution, but genuinely what the fuck (legit said out loud while listening "are they gonna- no they won't- HE DID…")

n. well, this is less about the creepypasta now, but just me thinking how good pastra's storytelling is, the story's structure feels so clean and interconnected, the pacing is so nice but it has that touch of his that is across all his videos. and the voice acting!! the man genuinely sounded insane when jeff did, is incredible :D

[crystaleevee4]

hey I keep seeing Splatoon aus so I want to talk now. this is mostly about skizz because he's my favorite (I need him to play Splatoon. for me. please) (there is a bit of inspiration here from rose_kitty's fic all is fair in love and turfwar, mainly just skizz bein' an ex-agent)

note that I mainly play salmon run and hero mode. I know next to nothing about the actual turfwars

Skizz really likes using long-distance stuff, in general, i've noted... but also I think he'd like something fun. other things is that he likes protecting his team. as such, some weapon possibilities I have for him: - Range blaster. Explosions. Fun. and it's long-distance. can't say much about the sub and special weapons, unfortunately - Custom explosher. More explosions! I associate this man with them, not sure why. It's also long-range and pretty accurate (plus a really fun weapon to use), and its sub weapon, Splash Wall, is a pretty good defense for both himself and his teammates! As for the special, Triple Splashdown... I mean, come on. it's triple splashdown.

mmmmm au imp n skizz are roommates (and childhood best friends!). they have a mudpuppy (yes that is a real animal but in this au it's. not that) named Kevin (bubbles malone refrigerator jimmy madeye dugan (espacito appleseed))! (this is also based on AiFiLaT ranchers having a catfish (Norman)) Kevin is skizz's dog(read:mudpuppy) that he brought with him when he and impulse moved (to inkopolis (yes they do live in the plaza area)) for college. impulse also has some pets, but they're at his parent's house.

skizz being an ex-agent. why ex? well. going through near-death experiences, almost on the daily, IS traumatizing thankyouverymuch. as is killing people. he didn't actually want to quit, though- maybe just continue his job with a bit less... murder- but it got to a point where he would literally not sleep for days at a time because of night terrors. his bosses (read: callie and marie and cap'n cuttlefish (I imagine Callie and Marie as sort of "the bosses" and then Cuttlefish as "the bosses' boss")) basically fired him. not that they disliked him, but they didn't wanna y'know. traumatize him more than they already did. he's in therapy now. yaaaaaaaaaaaaay

Scott. idk he feels to me like a dualies OR inkbrush main. also he and skizz are in a qpr because I love my rarepairs

Bdubs. Splatana Stamper. Why? Because I like the image of a tiny gremlin man holding a chainsaw almost twice his size.

Zed slosher because :3 silly weapon that I greatly enjoy.

Pearl. Luna blaster. luna. lunar. moon

lol I have no more thoughts for today. send me an ask about someone, though, and I can probably bullshit an answer and then incorporate it into my au lore!

[lomappreciationblog]

Legend of Mana is undeniably a funny game as with my last post, but it also has some of my most favorite poignant writing and dialogue lines ever in games.

So here's a collection of some of them:

Starting with Pokiehl, since, well, can't deny that the Messenger of Cosmic Truth really do be sounding cosmic:

From "Cage of Dreams"

And another noteworthy sequence:

...I just realized, I loved Legend of Mana ever since I was a kid, and I wonder if unconsciously, this was one of the things it instilled into me? That this beautiful world is indeed full of tragedy, but we aren't here to just curl up and despair. We're here to celebrate that beauty and share its love with everyone else.

And this sort of thinking appears in a lot of my favorite media: the Legend of Zelda (Courage is never forgotten; a single person spreads hope even in an hour of darkness), Natsume's Book of Friends (people in this world will love and accept you for who you are; be kindness to one another), Mushi-Shi (human or Mushi, we're all doing our best to live, and though alien to each other, there is beauty to be found in the other), and Ancient Magus's Bride (it may not be what you feel at the moment, but hold onto your life, hold onto it with fingernails - there is a home for you, too). FGO is also pretty blatant about this, I mean, the game is "take back humanity's future" and with that, "there is worth to humanity's journey." Splatoon as well, has a core message of "celebrate life and colors."

I guess, basically, my most favorite/comfort works has this say: despair seems natural in this world, but it doesn't have to be.

(wow that got long, move onto the next screenshot)

Lastly from Pokiehl, in "Legend of Mana."

Now onto another Wisdom - Tote! I'd say he's my second most favorite wisdom, I love just how chill he is, and he's simple. He's just a turtle, but one that lives a good life.

From "In Search of Faeries"

Onto my other most favorite NPC, Monique, from "A Siren's Song,"

It's such a simple statement, but the power behind it, and the scene for it bowls me over to think about.

And another from "The Spirits' Light"

Lay into him Monique!

Now here's our other resident siren, Elle, and her talk with Gaeus:

And lastly, Vadise from "The Crimson Dragon"

....ooof, I just realized, too. Vadise insistently uses "bonds" and the track that plays when your arm is twisted into working for Drakonis, is the rather melancholic version of the main theme for this arc...is "A Bond Bestowed". I'm not completely sure, but it may have been named "Bondage Bestowed" in the PS1 release, which is more accurate to the situation - you had no choice but to work with Larc because you had been dragged into the Underworld and turned into a half-spirit.

So Vadise uses "bond" here as to how it should be - connection to others that comes about out of kindness, not manipulative as Drakonis had been. Though, comedically, gameplay-wise completely NOTHING stops you from not going through with the dragon arc and screwing over Drakonis that way - to unlock the Mana Tree, only one of the main three story quests need to be finished, so if one so chooses they can either complete Star-Crossed Lovers or Jumi Arc and then jaunt on over to the Mana tree despite being supposedly half-dead lol.

There's waaaaaaay more poignant scenes, of course - I just talked about "Can't Look Back", which is all about grief and losing loved ones, and "Diddle's Had it!" is another big quest full of "we're here, and let's live life!" And of course, the Jumi Arc is filled to the brim with heartfelt story scenes.

So this long ass post really is just a small collection of these moments.

What would you say is a dialogue line from LOM that stuck to your mind?

[crowroboros]

the main echo cast and their splatoon mains. GO!

Oh fun, alright! I'll also put an explanation for my reasoning at the end. Really enjoyed thinking about this. This will be Splatoon 3 focused by the way, as it is the most recent game.

Chase Hunter - Octobrush (Suction Bomb/Zipcaster)

Leo Alvarez - Dread Wringer (Suction Bomb/Reefslider)

Jenna Begay - .52 Gal Deco (Curling Bomb/Splattercolor Screen)

Carl Hendricks - Splatana Stamper Nouveau (Toxic Mist/Crab Tank)

TJ Hess - Big Swig Roller Express (Angle Shooter/Ink Storm)

Flynn Moore - Custom E-Liter 4K Scope (Squid Beakon/Kraken Royale)

Bonus! Syndey Bronson - Custom Blaster (Point Sensor/Triple Splashdown)

Explanation time, spoilers will be mentioned.

Chase: Chunter mains Octobrush. The weapon cannot take fights head on due to having shorter range than many other weapons and thus has to rely on off-angles to get kills and take space or by poking with bombs from a distance. Chase rarely if ever wins a fight he's in one-on-one, having to rely on a distraction from people around him to get any sort of advantage. He also tends to avoid confrontation all together, usually running when faced with a danger like Duke or Brian. This works very well with Brushes as they are highly mobile when brushing along the ground which they use to escape situations that they would get splatted in otherwise. Chase is also referred to as having stubby legs that makes running not his strong-suit and that works with Octobrush specifically as it it slower in both its flicks and brushing when compared to the Inkbrush (though it is still faster than the Painbrush but I don't think Chase is that slow so it still works). Octobrushes tend to shark in ink, swimming around and popping up when an opportunity presents itself. So an octobrush user is often in swim form a noticeable portion of a match, which works great with Chotter who is an avid swimmer! Zipcaster may be the odd one out when it comes to this weapon being Chase's main but I do think it plays into all of the aforementioned traits with how Octobrush tends to use the special.

Leo: I might need to defend myself on this one but here me out. Leo is headstrong and very straightforward in how he does things right? He's intelligent but stubborn, rarely considering alternative options which can backfire on him. That is the Reefslider special. It is straightforward; Rush forward on an inflatable shark and explode. But because of that, it can be predicable and ends up getting countered a lot. Beyond that, Leo really does care for his friends and wants to be their protector. Originally I thought that a Big Bubbler weapon could be pretty good for that, but I think that Reefslider fits Leo better but also a main weapon like Dread Wringer also can cover that aspect. Dread Wringer paints an insane amount, which means that the team has a lot of ink to swim through, hide in, recover health, escape through, etc. It also is AMAZING at comboing with weapons like the Range Blaster or Snipewriter so it ends up working a lot with other weapons. Sharing the sub weapon of suction bomb with Octobrush can be representative of his relationship with Chase and how he sticks to the image of Echo, Chase, and the past.

Jenna: .52 Gal Deco and Jenna okay. I had a few ideas for Jenna, initially thinking of her maining a dualie of some kind but I just couldn't figure out which one would work best. Jenna is practical, self-reliant, and resourceful while also having a playful streak about her. She loves pulling pranks and joking around with her friends while still being generally supportive and helpful towards them even if she can come off as harsh at times. Also being a fox, she is rather mobile and fast on her feet. It's that last part that originally made me think of giving her a dualie, but I couldn't find one that I thought matched all of her traits. That's when I decided to approach it from a different angle. I started from her independence and worked from there. I started thinking of weapons that were very self-reliant, able to hold their own in fights, can paint well for themselves, etc. Then I started thinking about weapons that can be a bit playful and sneaky while keeping their mobility. And after a lot of consideration I landed on the .52 Gal Deco. The main weapon, .52 Gal, is a mid-range shooter that is pretty much the definition of a self-reliant and resourceful weapon. It is a very consistent two-shot weapon with a pretty solid fire rate, making it very reliable in fights while minimizing the amount of time it takes to kill so it can splat the opponent before it can get splatted. It can be a bit ink-hungry so the user needs to be resourceful and aware of their surroundings and their own resources to fully utilize the weapon's strengths. Curling bomb as a sub weapon gives this otherwise okay-mobility weapon much better movement, which the user can use to get around the map quickly and distract opponents. This weapon ends up playing rather fast paced and sneaky by using its range, kill-time, and curling bomb to move around the map to take positions that the enemy team might not be expecting. And then the special of Splattercolor Screen works as a smoke-screen of sorts, concealing your team from the enemy sight. That plus curling bomb allows for a bunch of mind games on where the .52 Gal Deco user could be at any given time, especially if they're running Ninja Squid.

Carl: This one was a bit more difficult to figure out than the first three but I think the Splatana Stamper Nouveau is a good fit for him. Carl is more laid-back and chill, so I didn't think a weapon that is very fast-paced, aggressive, and "high energy" would work for him. He also dislikes being the center of attention so in my mind that pushed me towards weapons that work well as an anchor in a team comp rather than a slayer or skirmisher or something. Carl also has a stockier build and for a time worked out, which made me think of Crab Tank. This narrowed my thoughts down to Splatana Stamper Nouveau and the Heavy Edit Splatling Nouveau. Both are strong, slower, sturdier weapons that play at the range that Crab Tank favors. I went with Splatana Stamper Nouveau over Heavy Edit Nouveau because Heavy Edit as a main weapon is much more fast and mobile and really likes fighting. Stamper Nouveau — unlike the vanilla Stamper — isn't as much as a fighter. It can still fight pretty well, it is a Splatana Stamper after all, but it plays more to support it's team by painting for Crab Tank to apply distance pressure and comboing with other weapons by using it's 70dmg charge slash or the aforementioned Crab Tank. Nouveau as a weapon brand also tends to make weapons based around art supplies, and Carl is an artist.

TJ: Okay TJ and Big Swig Express. TJ as a character is very altruistic and kind. He loves and supports his friends and I figured that a more supportive weapon would work very well with that. The Big Swig roller as a main weapon is focused on putting down paint for your team to swim through, heal, etc. And with Ink Storm also expanding upon that I thought that the Big Swig Express fits TJ's caring personality pretty well. It also is a weapon that doesn't fight much due to it's low damage, which I again think fits with TJ's personality. He tends to avoid conflict and often gets very uncomfortable when pressured by Flynn or anyone else. TJ is also very athletic, and the Big Swig is a faster weapon in terms of its flicks and movement.

Flynn: One I think is pretty self-explanatory. Flynn is proficient with a rifle and the charger class of weapons fill the archetype of sniper-rifles in the Splatoon games. I chose the Custom E-Liter 4K Scope specifically as a callback to Flynn's role in Jenna's route where he takes a position far back to aim his rifle on Heather at the dam. Kraken Royale is a transformation special that transforms the user into a large invincible kraken, in which the user can swim around and perform melee attacks to fight before turning back about ~7 seconds later. For Custom E-Liter, this allows it to protect itself up close. The main gun is very long range and has a very slow charge time. It is meant to take vantage points and snipe from a distance and thus it can't fight when rushed down. Kraken helps cover that weakness. Flynn does throw some punches a few times in the vn, though he doesn't always win these fights. I thought that this dynamic between E-Liter and Kraken represents that pretty well. Also spoiler. Flynn transforms into the Socket Man, a seemingly immortal entity that can rush down and kill things kind of like how Kraken functions.

Sydney: I think this one is also pretty self-explanatory, right? Sydney was rambunctious, loves to wrestle, was a big fan of things like ninjas and treasure hunts. Custom Blaster is a short range blaster that plays to its aggression and being able to get up to an opponent and hopefully hit its one-shot direct before the opponent can fire back. Point Sensor marks any enemy that enters its aoe, so the Custom Blaster player will know where that enemy is while the enemy won't know where the Custom Blaster player is. This allows the user to get up flank and get up close to either direct or use Triple Splashdown, which I mean looks like this.

The user rises into the air and summons two massive fists, smashing into the ground and creating three large explosions.

Custom Blaster has a very aggressive, fast-paced, up-close playstyle that rewards both rushing down your opponent and being creative in ways that you approach to compensate for your short range. It also is a weapon that favors gear with Quick Respawn, cause it ends up dying a lot.

[dogtoling]

Hey! I was just wondering as a fellow Squid Enthusiast™ what your thoughts were on how inkfish hearing would work? I've been scratching my head about it for a while, as they don't seem to have external ears but rather fins instead.

Apparently real-world cephalopods use the statocysts as sort-of internalised ears, although maybe inklings would have something stronger, perhaps a small opening/tympanum or something behind the fins to hear from like a lizard or bird? What do you think?

Good question... honestly not something I've decided on a concrete answer for. The only thing I'm actually decided on about the matter is that their fins are NOT ears, but their actual ears are definitely around the fins, which means the fins likely help in redirecting sound to the ear, whether they have ear openings or a tympanum. One thing is for sure and it's that whatever they do have, it's at least around where the fins are due to where all their headphones and things go:

Also this biology scroll from Splatoon 1 tells us that they have Evil Snail around their fins so the ears are definitely there idk.

Judging by the fact that Inklings have earbuds that they can wear, I would assume they have some kind of ear opening that those can actually attach to, though it would make more sense for them to have a tympanum considering how much they deal with ink and how you would ideally not want ink to be in your ear hole 24/7. Assuming their main method of hearing are still the statocysts or something internal as such just more developed, a tympanum would also work in that sense as something that just redirects the sound there.

So... those are my thoughts on it, I haven't made concrete choices myself because just like the developers of the game, if you can skirt around something and still make it work I'll do it if there's no urgent need to address it lol. Hope this helps XD

[dr-spectre]

I saw your most recent post and noticed you somewhat said (kind of idk I don’t know how else to phrase it) you were on team present! Do you have any specific reason or just joining for funsies

I've explained my reasoning for joining team present in the past but you know what? I'll explain it again for you.

When I think back to moments on when I'm truly happy, it's always when I'm in the present. When I'm just thinking about the here and now. Thinking about "what do I wanna do today?" When I think of the past, it often makes me feel sad because... those feelings are gone... the places I used to go all the time... are gone... and that... stings. It really REALLY STINGS!

When I think of the future, it makes me feel scared and worried. I think, "will I be successful? Will the choices that im doing now will send me down a bad path filled with regret? Will I find a girlfriend? Will I be able to start a family?" In the past where I got sucked up into the """productivity""" advice youtube pipeline, it made me feel fucking miserable and awful. That I wasn't some robot, that I wasn't disciplined, that I didn't "work hard" and that "if you don't work hard now you'll regret it in the future!! You could be great!"

But then I realised something... the future doesn't fucking exist yet. There is no predetermined path. This ain't no fucking RPG where you choose the good or bad ending.

Life is chaos. Life is pure mayhem. Even if you work hard, your life could still be god awful. So what if I wanna relax today? I aint gonna end up broke, dying on the street in the future. I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT!! BEING IN THE PRESENT MEANS FREE WILL!!! ITS REAL!!! YOU CAN FEEL IT!! YOU CAN EXPERIENCE IT!!!

I now live life by one quote... one phrase...

I CAN DO WHAT I SO PLEASE! I HAVE CONTROL!

I dont pick teams based on which Idols are in them, I pick them based on my own beliefs as a human being. I hate getting into Idol wars because it's so fucking stupid. DO Y'ALL REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME WE GOT INTO AN IDOL WAR?!?

We got a whole fucking hero mode based on that idea. The idea that we should NOT do those sorts of things. That we should not fight. But come together instead. To celebrate what we have. To create more memories together. Because that will make us happy.

You paint the world and I will play my melodies...

I will not choose team past because Callie is in it.

I will not choose team future because Frye is in it.

I am choosing team present because that is what I truly believe in.

Plus. I'm a Splatoon 2 baby. Without that game, I would not be where am I today. I would not have the chance to voice my opinion to hundreds of people. To express myself and feel heard and seen for the first fucking time in my life.

I feel like I owe something back to that game and I will do so by picking team present, aka....

Off the Hook.

[simp999]

A New Home Ch. 34

Various! Splatoon Manga x Skilled! Isekai'd! Reader

Wc: 1k

A/N: sorry chat ww uh go read some past chapters for comfort idk

Warnings: Agressive language (swearing), abusive past significant other.

A/N 2: you can avoid reading this part if you think it'll make you uncomfortable,- it's just backstory and doesn't pertain to the story too much.

Back to the start! Previous Next

With a heavy heart, you arrived home and helped Milo make supper for the family. The night went by slowly with Milo's sister on your mind, but recognizing that he didn't seem as heavily affected by it anymore did help soothe you.

That night, you all fell asleep watching a movie; you in Milo's arms while he petted your tentacles. It was difficult not to fall asleep with how gentle he was- he must've had lots of experience.

The following day, Tasha was cleaning her weapon when you noticed a furrow in her brow. She then quietly said that she would be going to stop by Sheldon's today. Ah, she must have noticed a scratch or something. Either way, you figured it would be a good opportunity to spend time with her, so you asked if you could tag along. With a soft nod, she told you when she'd be leaving. Sooner rather than later- she'd rather fix her weapon as quickly as possible. You figured you'd get your weapon checked too while you were there. Seemed convenient.

It didn't take long before the two of you left the house, Tasha making sure not to scratch her weapon further. She held it close on the subway.

Maybe today you'd get to find out why she took such good care of the thing- if a reason at all. You're sure there had to be one, though.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You gave your weapon to Sheldon when you arrived, and he seemed shocked.

"The ink isn't fully going through! How have you been battling like this?"

... you've been at a disadvantage this whole time? He compared it to missing multiple Ink Saver abilities- it was really confusing.

Finally, Tasha carefully handed Sheldon her E-liter, pointing out the scratch he had to buff out. With a pleasant smile on his face while he analyzed the weapon, he said;

"Pristine as ever, Natasha! I admire your dedication to your weapon! If only others were as diligent as you..."

You noticed how Sheldon was looking at you when he said that, and you looked away out of embarrassment. Well, hey- you're sure Leo was much worse; you once caught him using nail polish to repaint a scratch on his dualies after dropping them.

"...Told you not to call me that." She quietly replied.

The two of you left Ammo Knights shortly, making your way to the lobby. It was a hot day, that blazer of Tasha's was probably way too warm. She was about to take it off when you caught her freeze in place.

She appeared terrified. You followed her gaze- and it was at some octoling boy. His tentacles stood out- a sort of mohawk fashion going backwards. He toyed with his Nautilus 47. He wore a wicked smile on his face. His eyes were closed and his sharp teeth showed. He sat next to what you assumed was his twin; a matching forward mohawk and a big frown. An octobrush sat next to him. The first one- the smiley one had pink tentacles, the second, frowny, had blue. The first laughed like a hyena as some girl he sat with told a joke, his arm around her with a seemingly painfully tight grip.

..he seemed like he was holding her hostage. Damn.

You looked back at Tasha and she seemed to cower even further as she stared at him. She held her weapon with shaky hands- wait, Tasha? With shaky hands? What the hell happened between these two?

The two of you had to walk by them to get to the Subway. You slowly tried to reach for her back, gently rubbing circles as you guided her, placing yourself between her and the twins.

But you were still noticed. You suppose she does stand out a bit with her height.

The pink-tentacled one stood up.

"Hey there sweetheart! S' been a while, love. How ya been?"

He got much too close, breath mixing with hers. She held her weapon even closer. She kept her head down. His hand left her shoulder when she flinched and she quickly tried to walk off, and you heard him mumble under his breath; "Tch. Bitch. Got what you deserved anyways."

Her hand shook as she held it in front of her mask on the subway. She was still frozen and you could see her tearing up.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You trailed behind her as she rushed to her room. Despite what you may assume, she continued to hold your hand. She needed company. She didn't want to be left alone.

She took her mask off as she shook. She was so vulnerable.

That's right. Her scars.

Wait... is that how she got those?

What the hell did that asshole do?!

Sobs wracked her body as you held her free hand, her other thumb rubbing her weapon, soothing her.

Once you offered her a soft hug, and you got her to breathe properly again, she began to explain. You wiped her tears as she went on.

"My weapon malfunctioned once and only once. The night I ran away from him.

...the night he gave me these scars.

I couldn't defend myself."

You looked at her with sympathy, and rubbed your thumb over the palm of her hand to soothe her. You stood up once again and held her head close to your chest, resting your chin on her head as you pet her tentacles.

Milo heard from Leo that the twins were in the square. Trav n' Marx. Milo put two and two together and raced down to Tasha's room to try to comfort her. He wrapped her in a blanket and quickly let his motherly instincts take over.

According to all you've gathered, she had an abusive boyfriend.

Tasha of all people.

Goes to show it can happen to anyone.

Poor girl...

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Mar.26,24

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