#imma start calling you octo anon

[proselfshipsafespace]

I need to stop being in love with my f/o's eyes

HELP ;--;

-🐙

WRONG!! youre getting stared down by your f/o like this

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

The full effects of Pearl getting zapped as a little squidkid and how Marina helped

(thanks again anon!)

okay so, since Pearl’s an Inkling imma gloss over some reality for this bc we can’t really know how any of this would work for an anthropomorphic squid

Cool? cool

im thinking little kid Pearl DID get electrocuted at the youth singing contest where she blew out the speakers-

(side note, theres an artbook mention that Pearl’s voice is ridiculously powerful and Marina had to made a special tuner to keep Peaarl’s singing from busting shit every time she sings. holy carp) 

-but she wasn’t like burned or anything so no one realized how hurt she was, not even her

that kind of a shock can have some pretty bad effects though

for Pearl those included: trouble with balance 

(still can’t ride a bike without training wheels + clumsy enough to hurt herself showing off in the octo interview)

irritability 

(insert pic of Pearl glowering)

distractibility and trouble focusing 

(cant sit still for too long and paces around during recording, picking adventure over relaxation, prefers movies to books and likes action maybe cause its big, in your face and doesn’t expect you to remember small stuff)

headaches, chronic pain, depression, self-isolation...

... a ton of stuff that she wouldn’t have had any explanation for. things just seemed to get crappier the older she got 

add to that how other people were probably trying to get to stop doing all this stuff she couldn’t help and then factor in the start of teenagerdom and the result is Yikes

not fun

she tried changing things up. cut her hair super short, started wearing all black and chains and spikes, tried getting some of the pain and frustration out by joining a metal band where her insane voice wouldn’t earn her ‘shh’ings  and she could scream her throat raw if she wanted to

the stunted growth thing doesn’t seem to happen to humans, but Pearl’s not a human so handwave that

So she’s short, and dealing with pain that doesn’t seem to have and cause, and she frustrates herself and others with her new memory/focusing troubles and fidgeting 

Cue Marina

Marina’s got no idea what Pearl ‘used to’ be like

Marina’s got no idea what Inklings supposed to like in general, aside from the ‘Enimies!’ she was fed and the ‘WOW COOL’ she saw for herself during the Calamari Inkantation 

and also, Marina is a fucking nice and decent cepholopod. so she just takes Pearl as she is

which gives Pearl a chance to pause and start doing the same

who the fuck cares what anyone else thinks??? Marina is awesome and Marina likes her, doesn’t shhh her just makes equipment that can handle her voice, always has this fond look in her eye even when doing something heinous 

(like eating mayo straight from the jar. with a Fork)

when Pearl has a bad night and cant sleep Marina is always just one call away, happy to stay up chatting about nothing or come over and play games even though she’s dead tired and needs a dozen energy drinks to keep her eyes open

when Pearl’s headaches flare up now she barely has time to wince before Marina is tossing her a helmet and taking for a motorcycle ride, out of the city to explore places with no glaring lights or flashing screens or yells from the endless turfwars

and when Pearl gets fed up even so, when rants about how fucked up her body is with all the stupid pains and shortness and how she suddenly got clumsy and short-fused out of nowhere

Marina listens...

...then asks if Pearl has ever, by chance, been in an accident with electrical equipment

because of COURSE Marina knows about that stuff

she was an engineer before Pearl was even old enough for her first turfwar, she’s probably seen or been warned about all sorts of accidents and injuries and what their damage could be

and as she explains about what a bad shock can do to you, even years or decades later, Pearl just stares in stunned silence

she remembers the youth competition

blowing out the speakers, feeling weird and sick afterwards- but she’d thought it was just because of how bad the day had went...

now she knows maybe it was more than just a bad mood

now she’s got an answer for all the stuff she’s been dealing with since then

knowing it’s real helps

and the calm way Marina talks about it helps too, almost as much as the simple fact that Marina is sitting with her, explaining it all in the same gentle tone as ever, still no hint that she has or will EVER have any thought of not being right here, with Pearl

next time Pearl has a bad day, that little fact is what helps her the most