#sniper booyahs EVERY time

[art-making-grat]

more on the way !!

[rainbowroadonsteroids]

TF2 Mercs Playing Splatoon

Personally I like to think all nine mercenaries would play Splatoon, whether they play it a lot, or a little, and I've spent a little too much time on this, so enjoy my headcanons lmfao.

Scout would definitely play the most of this game, outside of Pyro. As in, not even a year after the release, he already has 1,250 hours invested in the game, roughly. Now at first he spent that time in Story Mode, and has gone so far to essentially 1,000% complete the campaign. Once he did that, he focused on online play, and has been a beast in it.

His main weapon is the Dark Tetra Dualies, as he likes how lightweight and quick they are, and loves the quad dodge roll that comes with it. His gear's ability chunks are split 50/50, being half Run Speed up and half Swim Speed Up, as that's how he likes it. He typically goes between Turf War, Rainmaker, and Splat Zones, with his favorite being Rainmaker. He also does like the occasional round or two... or five of Salmon Run. As for how he is as a player, I'd say he's a good teammate, though sometimes he spam booyahs/ouches. Not fully active in Splatfests unless they really interest him.

Heavy doesn't play too much of the game... so to speak. He only plays a few hours every few days but damn is he serious about it. Like Scout and some of the other mercs he started off just playing Story Mode, namely to get the Secret Kettle icon cuz bear. He has maybe 500 hours in the game, so a lot but nothing to compare to Scout.

His main weapon is the Heavy Splatling, though he goes between that and the Ballpoint Splatling. But the Heavy Splatling reminds him of Sasha in some ways so that's why he almost exclusively plays that. He doesn't exactly dress for fashion in the game but definitely wears the Teddy Band. Honestly he probably has a slight moment of silliness and wears the Fresh Fish Gloves and Feet as well as the Teddy band, just to look a little silly. He either does Turf War or Splat Zones, and sometimes Tower Control, but it depends on his mood. He plays Salmon Run sparingly. He's an amazing teammate, and even if he's serious he loves getting in on Squid Parties. He's participated in every Splatfest thus far, being in the following teams: Rock, Gear, Fire, Sour, Milk Chocolate, and as of the upcoming Splatfest he would go Bigfoot.

Spy mainly plays to spite Scout I won't lie. Does not play as much as his son Scout but he does play enough to have left an impact. Pretty good at the game but also infuriating to go up against. Has not touched Story Mode nor does he care to play it, though the lore does intrigue him a bit.

His main weapon is the Undercover Brella, for more obvious reasons shall I say. He will not use any other weapon because he deems most of them as "too messy", though contradicts himself through occasionally using a different Brella. He's flashy, hence why he's spent so much Gold on Toni Kensa clothing. And while Toni Kensa clothing does not normally have either Ninja Squid or Stealth Jump as its main abilities, he knows how to work around it to make it happen, that way he's stylish, flashy, and sneaky. He usually finds himself playing either Rainmaker or Tower Control for the sneaky aspect, plus he's good at fucking with people in Rainmaker. He's a good teammate but does not communicate all too often, and hates Squid Partying. He's only participated in the Food Sensation and Chocolate Splatfests. being a part of Team Sweet and Team Dark Chocolate, his reasoning for it being the seductive nature of the foods... hence why Scout did not play in either of those Splatfests.

Sniper plays quite a bit. I mean quite a bit. Not as much as Scout or Pyro but more than Heavy. Healthy... unhealthy medium. Fucking insufferable to play against because of his accuracy. He half plays Story Mode but isn't too into it, still thinks it's cool though.

He has a preferred weapon but not really a main. His preferred weapon is between the E-Litre 4K, or E-Litre 4K Scope. However, he's trying to get 5 stars with every available Charger or Scope weapon in the game. He will occasionally play just a regular Shooter, but prefers Chargers and Scopes. As for clothing he tries to match it to what he wears, or he'll make himself fruity to get a giggle out of it. He prefers Turf War and Tower Control, though very rarely does Splat Zones or Rainmaker, never Clam Blitz. By God he is a force to be reckoned with, and is genuinely horrifying in matches. But he is respectful, never Squidbags and always Booyahs back as well, though if someone Squidbags him he comes back for a kill like a goddamn wild animal. Not really into Salmon Run, and was on the Team Gear for the first official Splatfest of the game.

Soldier plays a bit but is a bit regimented with how he plays. He plays a few hours every few days but that's about it, has done everything you can do in Story Mode and keeps replaying it because he likes it, he likes the idea of being in a secret military.

He absolutely loves the Hero Shot Replica and that, outside of the Splattershot Jr., is the only weapon he plays, and he's very good at it. His clothing is just the Hero Armor Replica, and he doesn't have any clothing outside of that, not counting the clothing given as default. He loves Turf War and Clam Blitz, Clam Blitz because it reminds him of American Football, and we know how he is about patriotism. He doesn't like the other three ranked modes because he thinks they're a bit too annoying, and he has a legit hatred of Tower Control. He's a good teammate, though does sometimes Squidbag a maggot (as per his words), and usually he feels the wrath later on. He likes Salmon Run, and outside of Turf War or Clam Blitz that's all he'll play. He's participated in every Splatfest so far, and has been on the following teams: Scissors, Gear, Water, Sweet, and Milk Chocolate.

Demoman plays quite a bit and half the time... er... all the time he's drunk, but is still a powerhouse in the game. He hasn't played Story Mode but will listen to Pyro ramble on about it, he doesn't mind, he just has trouble focusing on the actual story. A smidge insufferable to play against.

His main weapons are the Explosher and Clash Blaster due to the fact they're quick and decently deadly. His clothing in game is anything to mimic his mercenary outfit, definitely has the Wharfside Cap, everything else is just random for him, though he wishes there would be an eyepatch head item. Mainly ever plays Rainmaker, though does play Splat Zones on occasion. He is a toxic player in the Squidbagging sense. He Squidbags everyone he kills and tends to feel the wrath within 10 seconds of that happening. Plus he does Squid Party in Anarchy sometimes which is an unspoked, or loudly spoken No-No. He does play Salmon Run quite a bit and loves Big Run, though he's not the best at it. Hasn't participated in any Splatfest yet but obviously would be on Team Nessie.

Medic plays quite a bit but is a bit infrequent with how long he plays, sometimes playing an ungodly amount in one day or just like an hours worth. He hasn't played Story Mode as he can't find the time to so instead he just does whatever, or tries to play Story Mode and gets interrupted.

His main weapon is the Splatana Stamper due to it looking like a saw, though he's become slightly partial to the .96 Gal Deco. He kind of just wears whatever since there's not really doctor clothing in the game, and he'd heavily prefer something so he gets to look like a creepy doctor or a similar concept. Right now he's settled for looking like a witch. He usually plays Turf War or Tower Control when he does play, but he heavily prefers Turf War. Yet somehow he's X Rank in Anarchy. He's a very friendly player but does love Squidbagging to piss people off lmao. He plays Salmon Run very seldom, but when he does it's for a little too long in his day. He's only participated in two Splatfests, being on Team Spicy and Team White Chocolate.

Pyro has way more hours than Scout, at around 1,790 so far. They play this game day and night and it has slightly become their personality, which they admit. They've fully completed Story Mode and has cleared the Secret Kettle, and they've found little secrets in the game too.

Their main weapon is between both the regular and Neo classes of the Splash-o-Matic and Sploosh-o-Matic, with the Sploosh-o-Matic being their favorite by far. They try to match their gear in game to their gear outside of the game, which they've done a good job at. They play every Anarchy Mode alongside Turf War, but they do love Splat Zones. They're not a competitive player but at the same time you can't really tell based on how well they play. They're very friendly too, and tend to send friend requests after battles. They also love Salmon Run, having binged that as well. They've participated in all the Splatfests so far, being on the following teams: Team Paper, Team Fun, Team Grass, Team Sour, and Team Milk Chocolate. As for the upcoming Splatfest they would be on Team Aliens.

Last but not least, Engineer does not play Splatoon all to often, only really playing it with Pyro. He has the least amount of hours at maybe 60 if we're being generous. He hasn't played Story Mode, genuinely just playing the game so Pyro has a gaming buddy.

Despite this, his main weapon is the Dynamo Roller, as he likes how powerful it is. He's very good with the weapon, and usually gets a lot of splats in a game. Since he isn't online much he doesn't have a favorite mode, and just kind of plays whatever Pyro wants to, and that's about it. He also doesn't really care what he wears in game so he looks a little goofy lol. He has no opinion on Salmon Run either, still just playing it so Pyro has someone to game with. And with Splatfests, he's been on the same teams as his mysterious friend and hasn't deviated.

[loser-brain]

A quick little rant as I noticed while playing Splatoon 3

I’m assuming the new players don’t know that if someone either press ouch twice or spam it, it means the enemy is still there. Spamming ouch means urgency btw! Example being you died and a nearby teammate didn’t see you get killed so your quickly telling them an enemy is close by! or an enemy got me and they are in our base!

If someone press ouch once, they are just saying ouch but nice shot to the enemy player, like aw dang I got killed but this player is really good! They are more of a relax player and not competitive.

Same goes for saying booyah after saying ouch. Players will say booyah first to celebrate their kill. But if a player say ouch and then booyah that means they got the player kill never mind don’t worry about it! If they said ouch and you got their the enemy that got them they would say booyah as a thanks!

Don’t stand in front of snipers! Or either of your teammates really. Granted, I have this problem too forgetting my shots doesn’t just go through my teammates. So don’t clump up!

Squidbagging is still frowned upon! The difference between a squid party and squidbagging is when they start the match.

Squid party folks would either quickly run to the center as fast as they can or do a quick squid flop to get your attention to show Hey! We’re really chill folks and only want to hang out with friends!

Squidbaggers would squidbag you after ever kill they get or when their team is winning would squidbag right away.

I would report them as unsportsmanlike (disrupting team). Doesn’t matter if they are on my team or not. That’s just being plain rude and cocky.

There’s a debate when it’s okay to have a squid party such as should squid party stay in Turf or not.

In my opinion, please keep squid parties in lobby and turf. It shouldn’t be in rank or anarchy matches. That is where more competitive players are playing!

Same goes for salmon run. Wave 3 ending should be a squid party time (every other wave should be a quick clean up!) really BUT PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE MUSIC!! If the music distort your shift is not done yet!

GOOD LUCK!!

[kenmaiii]

adding onto this a little with some KenBarbz splatoon AU headcanons since i realize no one can stop me (feel free to ask me abt the other characters in splatoonverse tho -w-):

difference in their playstyles is that Kenma gets real sweaty (ie plays way too competitively), meanwhile Barbs doesn't even try he's just really good without thinking about it at all

Kenma loves to charge in head first unfortunately.., so while she can hold her own she def has to be supported for acting recklessly

Kenma always goes into Salmon Run with random players hoping for the best. it rarely works out. especially during Big Run

Barbatos never does random games because at the first sign of disappointment he stops playing altogether. but he's always gonna do his best AND make it look effortless at the same time, but it's too much stress to constantly be covering everyone.

I can imagine Barbs going "Alright well, that is enough." after one two many rounds lost. he has more productive ways to spend his time!!!!!!!

if Kenma is forced to properly team up with three other people in Salmon Run her first picks are always Barbatos, Mammon and Levi

(besides being Kenma's bestie) Mammon to me just seems like the kind of guy to go in with high energy and do his best, even if he gets a bit too smug for his own good. His greed and willingness to show off has him bragging about collecting the most eggs (even tho its very much not likely). And he's just happy to earn some extra dough besides helping out! (he gets cornered by salmonids a lot unfortunately tho)

I don't know why but I feel like every time the rewards suck Mammon has to be talked out of complaining to Mr. Grizz. He definitely hordes eggs in one area for too long and spams 'this way' though.

Barbatos is very efficient with staying on task and not getting cornered often. He just seems like he'd be pretty good support! Just don't make him be the only one that has to carry everyone round after round! He won't comment on it outright or even very often, but he'd feel annoyed having to do so.

He's the guy that hears someone Booyah at the start of a round, pauses for a moment consideringly, then cheers back as means of encouragement. Don't spam it and get right to work on collecting though. If you spam it he's leaving you die for most of the round and leaving the lobby right after.

and Levi because I feel like he actually plays the game in Obey Me's canon? Like you go into his actual room I think he would genuinely be playing it.

I feel like it was alluded to before maybe.... but also he's just such a gamer. The guy owns a switch and Splatoon is very popular in JPN so I wouldn't put it past the devs (not saying the devildom takes place in japan, just giving a nod to where its creators are from and the influence there).

But yeah, AU Levi! I also think that he gets really sweaty in game so in this AU he'd just know what to do pretty well. Is the kind of guy to know what SR rotation it will be just by hearing audio cues. Or he'll have pretty good guesses as to where enemies might spawn. Knows all the secret tips and tricks like staying on the wall during Glowflies etc etc. He shows off for funsies sometimes

His weakness would probably just be occasionally getting overwhelmed by enemies if he focuses too much, or someone like Mammon accidentally leads too many things his way

When they all work together though! dream team!

Also I was chatting with someone awhile back I think that Barbs would be good at pretty much any weapon! mainly snipers tho

Mammon seems like a dualie squelcher weapon kinda guy but it was discussed that he might enjoy the slosher/bucket types! guys that roll into the water on accident tho

levi also seems very much like a sniper guy,, perhaps the scope. i just also feel like he'd learn the hardest, stupidest or most annoying weapons out of personal spite. get him the bamboozler and he will make it work somehow

power duo on one team, mortal enemies when they are against each other 🦑🐙

[eluxcastar]

Splatoon headcanons.

FEATURES: shinoa hīragi, yoichi saotome, mitsuba sangū, yūichirō hyakuya

CW: none it's about mfing squids

WC: 350

NOTES: not my usual but I was playing Splatoon 2 and thought it would be cute. we do be inking tho

part one | part two

shinoa hīragi

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Dedicated sniper and annoyance to the other team, that's literally the only reason she does it

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Keeps firing at the floor after you go under kinda dedicated and basically boxes the opponent in 💀

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Can't really vibe with a brush or roller that well, but might use the umbrella once in a while for shits and giggles

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Usually plays league matches but might do ranked or turf wars on rare occasion

　

₊˚⊹꒷ yoichi saitome

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Splat roller/brush pacifist until he's not

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Doesn't use guns that much, but he is REALLY good at flattening and/or splashing opponents with ink, just tends to colour the floor (*￣︶￣)

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Revenge killer who will kill people who kill his teammates

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Only really plays turf wars and probably isn't even ranked high enough for league. I think he did the story first though, also probably has Octo Expansion

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Could get away with using a gun but just doesn't want to (ﾉ´∀｀*)

　

　

mitsuba sangū

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Married to her splat duelies and will not give them up for the world

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Plays everything, including Salmon Run, does the story at her own pace and just sorta comes back every now and then

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Struggles to use brushes and rollers and keeps dying if she tries (_ _;)

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Kills other players on sight regardless of if they were attacking her or not 💀 cannot let people LIVE

　

yūichirō hyakuya

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Really wants to be a gun main but just CANNOT AIM 💀 always something else to blame though, it isn't the right one or the sub abilities aren't good

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Does not own Octo Expansion but played a bit of the storyline, didn't finish though

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Trying to rank up in ranked matches so he can play league but he is struggling (¯―¯٥) probably at C+

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Uses the callouts all the time and always booyahs on the booyah bombs

⊹ ִֶָ𓂅 Plays Salmon Run so he can kill the bosses and get the most eggs (he's very good at getting the most eggs)

[sutimetravelau]

would any of the twoies play splatoon? what weapon would they main?

I LOVE THIS QUESTION!!!

okay ummmm I'm just gonna say they all play it (some more than others) bc its so fucking good. Although looking at Stevens actual games in the show, he's apparently more into RPGS... whatever!!! Here's their load out:

Twoie: wants to be multifaceted. He's kinda basic and just levels up his shit. Splattershot. Uses a bubble (Hehe) and rolls his clothes to have all similar slots to max out his defense, swim speed, etc... He likes salmon run best bc its teamwork. Hates squidbaggers and will only squidparty if everybody else is. Basic inkling boy with ponytail. Also uses those weird ass boosts crusty Sean gives you.

SB: customize, customize, customize!!! He LOVES GETTING OUTFITS!!!!! Also uses the boosts, but isn't as hardcore as Twoie is. Honestly, he values looking cute more than being powerful, and it makes him bad at the game... :( he gets very upset, never plays rank unless with pals. Salmon runs a lot. Hmmm I think he'd switch up what gender and race he was depending on how he feels. But idk I get octo girl (01) vibes from him. He thinks they're cute (hc octo girl and boy (02) are nb) he uses probably... Idk. Maybe he switches around. Maybe 52 gal? Bc bedazzled cute.

P: inkling. Idk which gender. Uhh switches up weapons a lot. He almost never uses the shooters tho, opting for buckets or brushes instead. Fucking menace. Like the others he mostly does salmon, but also does normal battle. A little scared of rank unless its one he's good at. Likes playing w friends more and vcing. Feels bad sometimes when he wins if they destroy the team. He just wants every body to get along!!! (This might b all of them tbh) also wants to look cute, but will sacrifice that for being good (and will whine the whole time)

Hero: THIS MF... LOVES THE SINGLEPLAYER SM. HE HAS THE HERO SHOT REPLICA, HE HAS THE GOLDEN PIN (HOLY SHIT), HE HAS THE ARMOUR, HES GOT IT ALL... he loves looking cool and winning. Will 100% try to "help his team" as much as possible (hogging the rainmaker, diving headfirst into the battle) and will booyah for his team every time. Also spams "over here!" A lot. Bc he genuinely wants everyone to win and work together as a team. But like... Buddy... Also he uses octo 02 afro possibly. Also he is the person to, when squidpartying, also cover the map so he still wins.

Denim: I'm running out of steam for these but hmmm he's not hardcore. Hes the average player tbh. He likes ranked bc of the variety, and finds working w others a little taxing bc its so hard to community. Loves to squidparty!!! Him and SB just fuck around and draw in maps sometjmes. Inkling and octo 02. I think he'd try sniper honestly!!! He's a bit of a lone wolf, but looks out for his teammates. Sets up teleport beacons.

420: squidparties all the time. Its a little annoying. Also sometimes... Sigh... Squidparties in ranked... Oh no... Someone stop him... Also will shoot teammate for ruining squidpsrty or for being AFK. he's not that good. The games a bit fast for him He likes singleplayer. Uhhhhh probably boy or 02. He dresses weird. Uses... Idk. He can never decide what he wants. He rly likes the sloshing machine tho bc "Hehe its a washing machine". Or some basic gun.

Tats: good player! Fucking A+ ranked get it. Carries team, gets a little pissed when he loses. If the other team has given up, he feels so fucking bad and tries to help them get back out and fight again. Sometimes goes easy on opponents. Tried to get golden pin. Didn't. Inkling boy or octos. Shooter main.

ET: THIS JUST IN: TEENAGER GAMER RAGES AT BABEY SHÜT GAME. but hmmm octo 01 or 02, never inkling. Likes the octo expansion bc aesthetic and the music calm. Single player... Likes it. Gets pissed at teammates, so never salmon runs. He wants to look cool. Probably uses a blaster or a brella or a brush or an aerospray... Something cheap and infuriating. Hates ranked bc he's so bad but keeps playing bc he doesn't wanna give up. Didn't even try golden pin. LOVES THE LORE

[freshocto]

👋💢😳

👋: do you booyah back?

hell yeah! i booyah at the very beginning of a match and literally every time someone booyahs i’m doing it back lmao

💢 have any game pet peeves?

other than squidbaggers, snipers usually get on my nerves. i get that it’s a perfectly viable class, but just know that if i see that little flash im throwing an ultra stamp at it sfhhjgjfgh not really a pet peeve, but i don’t really have all that many bad feelings towards the game

😳: most embarrassing moment you had in game?

i don’t think i’ve had many embarrassing moments? i may mess up occasionally but nothing too bad. maybe the fact that i fight agent 3 a lot for fun and have only beat her 3 times and lost at least ten times that hdjhfghj

[zwei-the-penguin-with-a-pen]

‘Color Pulse’

"Hold onto your tentacles..." Callie began as she and her cousin appeared on every screen in all of Inkopolis.

"... It's INKOPOLIS NEWS TIME!!!" Her cousin Marie finished. The Squid Sisters still ran the usual news broadcasts in the city, bringing the hottest scoops to the freshest squids and kids around... and today's news was EXTRA FRESH! The annual Splatfest was hosting its final battle today!

"We interrupt your regularly squid-duled programming to bring you this urgent news bulletin: SPLATFEST FINALS TODAY!!!" Callie yelled at the top of her voice! The small pink Inkling was especially excited. Splatfest was her favorite time of year!

"The epic battle between FRUIT and VEGGIE has culminated in this monolithic battle! Eight of the freshest squids in town will duke it out for domination! Well, make that seven Squids and an OCTOGIRL!!!" Marie cheered. The lime green Inkling could hardly contain herself. "We take you now to our awesome squidster station for a spot on the scene!"

The screen flashed, and a dark Octoling girl with long black tentacles traced with teal appeared. Behind her was a sold-out crowd awaiting the final match of the Splatfest!

"Thanks, Callie and Marie! It's your most favorite Octogirl here! And hopefully, I'm not only your favorite because of my shapes. I mean I know that's why Pearl loves me, but that's beside the point!" Marina joked. She was never one to miss an opportunity to knock fanboys off their game. "Marina here with the four finalists of Team FRUIT! I believe they started in the Cantaloupe Division, correct?"

"We certainly did, Marina!" Ruby Rose, the crimson Inkling with the compound weapon told her.

"So I've been hearing you girls will be using custom Ink colors as well as custom weapons in this last bout. Give us any details you're willing to divulge, please." Marina asked politely, twirling one of her tentacles in one hand.

"Ruby Rose, the team leader! I will be using my hybrid Carbon Roller SplatSniper! I like to call him the KRIMSON KRILLAH!" She bragged, holding up her compound weapon that was the horrific fusion of a Roller and a Charger. "I'll be using Red ink, my usual go-to!"

"I'm Weiss! I've acquired an exquisite Inkbrush for today's bout! I call it the White Knight!" Weiss Schnee, the short Inkling with the long white tentacles tied into an off-center ponytail, mentioned next. "I'll be using my signature white ink today!"

"The name's Blake! I'll be using my way fresh Tenta Brella! Complete with black ink and Suction Bombs!" Blake Belladonna, an Octoling with night black tentacles, told her. Weiss and Ruby had felt it best not to mention their bombs, but Blake kept no secrets when it was Ink Battle time.

"You can call me Yang! I'll be wielding Dualie Squelchers today and firing yellow ink!" Yang Xiao Long, the final team member, told Marina. Yang had bright yellow tentacles that flowed down her body.

"Red, white, black and yellow! It's gonna be a regular rainbow of ink at the Piranha Pit! Of course, the map will show your team color, which will be orange. Team VEGGIE will be blue. Speaking of who, here's Pearl with an interview with the losing-- ER-HEM I MEAN OPPOSING team!" Marina scoffed and grinned. She and Callie were confident in the talents of Team FRUIT.

Marie and Pearl were sponsoring Team VEGGIE. The screens flashed again, cutting to an interview with Pearl's team.

Finally cutting back to the Squid Sisters, they left their viewers with their usual tagline. "Staaaay FRESH!!!"

\/\/\/\/\/

"Alright, team FRUIT! I know we've got the Popularity score in the bag, and we've smashed everyone that's come against us! Let's get out there and smash this thing to bits!" Ruby cheered, her teammates joining her in a team chant.

"We're gonna be so awesome, you guys!" Yang cheered. This Splatfest had been loads of fun. They would be sad when it was finally over, but there would always be next Splatfest. Plus, it looked like they were favorites to win it all, and a nice payday would be lovely.

The call came for them to make for the platform and wait to be warped into the Piranha Pit. The four of them stepped onto the glowing circle and awaited the signal. When it came they morphed into their squid (Octopus in Blake's case) forms and were instantly warped onto the battlefield.

The three Inklings and the Octoling appeared at a launch point at one side of the Piranha Pit, an enormous quarry next to the sea. There were conveyor belts sprawled around the pit. They were easy to ink and counted at Turf, though they were usually vulnerable at all times to opposing ink.

The opposition appeared at the other launch point, and the countdown began. Once the cry of 'GO!!' hit their ears, Team FRUIT was off! Ruby and Weiss swiftly covered the Turf with their ink, rolling and painting with ease.

Blake and Yang inked in the gaps their teammates had left. These two were more thorough despite Ruby and Weiss having more inky weapons. Yang periodically laid Ink Mines for opposing players to surprise. If they were stepped on or swam over they would explode and SPLAT the one that disturbed them.

And suddenly, there was a blue Inkling in Blake's sights. She armed her Tenta Brella and fired at the enemy Inkling girl, dousing her in black ink that slowed her down and injured her. Yang fired her Squelchers at the blue girl to get the job done, the squid becoming a 'ghost' briefly before she respawned. Her Slosher never stood a chance anyway.

Some boy with a Roller exploded in a blast of yellow ink. Poor unsuspecting Squid!

Meanwhile, all the opposing team members became visible to Blake and Yang. Ruby must have used her Special, the Echolocator!

Weiss was in a scrap against some girl with Sprinkler Bombs and a Splatling gun. Weiss fired precise and artful strokes, slowly turning the girl white. She pulled out a megaphone suddenly. Her Special was the Killer Wail! Weiss dipped into her ink in Squid form to escape the huge shockwave of sound and ink, emerging to SPLAT the opposition from behind!

Weiss smirked at the 'ghost' squid that floated away! "You call that a Killer Wail? More like a KILLER FAIL!!"

"Wow..." Weiss heard in her earpiece.

"WHAT, Octopus?!" She complained.

"That was actually a pretty solid burn, Weiss!" Blake replied. Weiss blushed. "Don't be cute about it! That girl is pissed off and swimming your way!" Blake warned. The blue Inkling in question hopped out of the ink and tried to fire at Weiss from her Splatling, but before Weiss realized it the foe was covered in red ink.

"STAY OFF MY SQUEEZE, YOU SLIMY LITTLE HIPSTER!!!" Ruby commanded, retracting the sniping implement from her hybrid weapon and slashing down with the enormous paint roller. Weiss stuck the blue Inkling with her 'White Knight' to finish the job, though Ruby had already gotten the SPLAT.

The game clock read '1:20' and the map up on the huge screen showed a generous covering of orange ink. The four of them swam forward and found more Turf to ink.

Blake ran into the girl with the Sloshing Machine and took her out with ease. "This octopus OCTO-ROCKS!!!" She heard Yang say in her earpiece.

"Thanks, Babes! ON YOUR LEFT!" She threw a bomb at Yang that stuck on her, and the foe's blast caused it to ignite and cover both Yang and himself in black ink.

"Splatted by my own team! How will I ever go on?" Yang cried, her overly dramatic fake swoon causing her to fall into the water. Her squid body dissolved as she touched the surface. These sea creatures can't swim!!!

TEE HEE

Some of the Turf around their launchpad had been inked over, so Yang inked it yellow again, her Special meter glimmering as she did. She fired her Inkstrike into a noticeable deposit of blue ink. This apparently SPLATTED the entire opposing team.

"Yang fires the inks that makes the squids fall down!!" Blake rambled in a goofy voice as she saw the quadruple SPLAT come across the screen.

"We're crushing it, you guys! We've got to be the freshest Squids in the city!" Yang cheered.

"I'm an Octoling, so I'm fresher than you all by default!" Blake injected.

"I'd dispute that, but Yang would probably SPLAT me..." Weiss mentioned. With twenty seconds left, three of the opposing team members rushed their Team, all getting themselves SPLATTED instantly. Team FRUIT was not playing around...

"Their fourth squid has a Charger! Watch your backs!" Blake mentioned as her Special became ready. She found the sniper on the map and locked onto him. Her Tenta Missiles flew at him, causing heavy damage but not SPLATTING him. Weiss and Ruby took a high point and covered one another as the sniper boy swam up and rushed Blake.

His team all Super Jumped to his side, and the four of them came at Blake.

Weiss's Bomb Rush took them all down before they could get a drip of ink on Blake! The last countdown came just as Team VEGGIE spawned at their checkpoint!

The map on the screen was all but covered in orange ink, although their multicolored ink looked much fresher.

"The winner of this year's Splatfest is most obviously TEAM FRUIT!!!!" Marina cheered. "Pay up, Pearl!"

"I'm all outta coin, Marina!" Pearl complained, turning out the empty pockets on her dress. "I guess I'll just do that thing you love so much when we get home..."

Marina rolled her eyes but begrudgingly accepted Pearl's offer. "All right... But you'd better do it real FRESH for me!" She winked at her bandmate and squeeze.

"You two are disgusting! No wonder they hardly let you on the screen at the same time!" Callie nicked on the other screen. "Well, there you have it, little Squids! Team FRUIT has won the big Splatfest, and Marie owes me a ton of Coins!" She bragged to their audience, Marie rolling her big green eyes.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang took in the spotlight for as much as they could stand it. They made off to find some local eats after the whole thing was over, settling for a nice variety spot near the Booyah Base. Here they could get just about any filthy fast food they could ask for, and they filled up on the gross goodness that the wait staff offered them.

They left a ton of Coins for the crew when they finished their meal. Ruby and Weiss decided to crash at Yang and Blake's pad instead of making the long walk to their own place. They could still hardly believe they won the whole Splatfest!

And that's the end of my crazy crossover fanfiction, little squids! Until next time...

Don't get cooked! STAY OFF THE HOOK!

And, as always, STAY FRESH!!

\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/

Day Twenty-Six: Crossover of Your Choice

RWBY X SPLATOON CROSSOVER!!

Someone made fanart of Ruby using a Splat Roller, and suddenly this monstrosity came to my mind.

Basically Team RWBY as Inklings (and Blake as an Octoling) playing the final match of a Splatfest. Featuring the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook, and plenty of Splatting shenanigans!

[bassfishingbychris]

Red baits and Orange baits catch BIG bass in Spring! Don't worry about why, just worry about how to use it to your advantage the next time you're at the lake. With 100's of options to choose from, Matt breaks down his favorite Chatterbaits, Spinnerbait, Squarebills, and Lipless crankbaits for Spring bass fishing, and includes tips for both beginner and advanced anglers. 

The biggest issue with throwing these crawfish-imitating baits is knowing exactly which color to throw. Why are some transparent red while others are day-glow orange? Are they for different fisheries or can all of these work on your lake depending on the conditions? Matt answers every question in today's video as he explains how to adapt between colors, when to make the switch, and why he always starts with "Cold Blooded". 

With so many baits to choose from we've narrowed it down to a small handful of our favorites. All of the baits are linked below and include our favorite colors by model. We've also included some of the gear we use to throw these baits and any hook or hardware upgrades that you may need. All of the links go directly to Tackle Warehouse where you can see detailed photos and descriptions of each item. 

Matt's Favorite Squarebills... 

-River2Sea Biggie Poppa (Cold Blooded): http://bit.ly/2ahCzvo

-Spro Little John 50 (Blood Craw): http://bit.ly/2dDfuqt

Squarebills... 

-Luhr Jensen Speed Trap: https://bit.ly/3ccfJbV

Colors: Orange Crawfish, Hot Texas Red, Delta Craw, Crystal Crawdad

-13 Fishing Scamp 1.5: https://bit.ly/3iMkYAw

Colors: MudBug Punch

-River2Sea Biggie: http://bit.ly/2ahCzvo

Colors: Rooster, Delta Craw

-Spro Little John 50: http://bit.ly/2dDfuqt

Colors: Fire Craw, Western Craw, Delta Craw

Deep Diving Crankbaits...

-River2Sea Tactical DD75: http://bit.ly/37dclbX

Color: Blood Craw

-Megabass Deep Six: http://bit.ly/2A3clKP

Colors: Fire Craw, Tora Zari

-Spro Rock Crawler 55: http://bit.ly/2BLmsVN

Colors: Red Crawfish, Red Bug

Lipless... 

-Jackall TN-70: http://bit.ly/2lqAwjh

Colors: RT Escape Craw, Crawfish

-Lucky Craft LV-500: http://bit.ly/2aAUUbd

Colors: TO Craw, Aurora Craw, Wakin

-Booyah One Knocker: http://bit.ly/3kyOoD5

Colors: Rayburn Red, Tiger Craw, Toledo Gold

-Strike King Red Eye Shad: http://bit.ly/2fqX1RT

Colors: Royal Red, Rayburn Red

Blade Baits... 

-Megabass Dyna Response 1/2 oz: http://bit.ly/2R7FlvL

Color: Red Hot Craw

-Damiki Vault 1/2 oz: http://bit.ly/2rnO7e2

Color: Holo Red Craw

Chatterbait... 

-Z Man Cross Eyes: https://bit.ly/2ZrZnVd

Colors: Fire Craw, Chili Dog

-Z Man JackHammer: http://bit.ly/2popvj6

Colors: Hites Hot Craw, Spring Craw

Chatterbait Trailers... 

-Big Bite Baits SwimOn: https://bit.ly/2NkSdPV

Colors: FlameThrower, Green Pumpkin FlameThrower, Sweet Potato Pie

-Yamamoto Zako: http://bit.ly/2fKmSRp

Colors: Watermelon Copper Orange Red Laminate

Spinnerbait...

-Blade Runner Double Willow: http://bit.ly/2ShreWf

Color: Delta Craw

-D&M Sniper: http://bit.ly/3b3TPHa

Color: Delta Red Crawler

Budget Squarebill/Lipless Combo... 

Rod- Dobyns Fury 705 CB (7' Med Heavy Cranking): http://bit.ly/2bGvlVV

Reel- Shimano SLX HG: http://bit.ly/2NfdOnk

Line- Sunline Assassin Fluorocarbon 15 lb: http://bit.ly/2h4LNjm

Budget Deep Crankbait Combo... 

Rod- Shimano Intenza 7'6" MH Glass: http://bit.ly/2QADLTq

Reel- Shimano SLX XT HG: http://bit.ly/2BRTYL8

Line- Sunline Assassin 15 lb Fluorocarbon: http://bit.ly/2h4LNjm

Budget Chatterbait/Spinnerbait Combo...

Rod- St. Croix Bass X 7'4" Medium heavy: http://bit.ly/2r0xWAs

Reel- Shimano SLX 70 MGL: https://bit.ly/3gIUCgJ

Line- Sunline Assassin 15 lb Fluorocarbon: http://bit.ly/2h4LNjm

Want TacticalBassin Gear?  

We have a variety of apparel items and custom lure designs available! Everything from hats, to hoodies, to crankbaits! Its all available direct through Tackle Warehouse with fast shipping. See it here... 

TacticalBassin Apparel and Lure Designs: http://bit.ly/38YpPIz

[waynekelton]

Free Fire Tips & Tricks

Free Fire pro tips are key elements to become a pro player in Free Fire in addition to strategy and skills. Let’s check out the best Free Fire pro tips and tricks to get more Booyah. These best pro tips for Free Fire players are shared by top Indian Free Fire players and streamers.

Crouch To Avoid Shotgun Bullet

Although shotguns cause great damage to players, these weapons can release only one bullet per shot. Then, it takes this gun a short period to reload ammo. Exploiting this disadvantage, you can avoid being knocked down by shotguns by crouching. When the enemy fires at you with a shotgun, you can crouch to avoid the bullet, then fire back at him while he is reloading ammo for the next shot.

Free Fire Pro Tips For House Attacks

One of the best Free Fire pro player tips is using grenade before rushing into houses or blocks. The explosion by the grenade causes some damage to the enemies camping insides. Then, you can rush into the house and kill him.

The next pro tip for rushing into houses is moving quietly. While moving, press the medkit button to move silently. It’s very helpful because you can make sudden attacks into the house without noticing the opponents inside the house.

Free Fire Pro Tips For Auto Headshot 

If you use default aim precision, sometimes the auto-aim feature in Free Fire doesn’t work like what you wish. It’s recommended that you should choose Precise on Scope feature. It lets you do headshots easily and kill enemies quickly.

Here’re four steps of auto headshot tricks that you should learn: crouch, scope zoom in, then crouch, and fire. First, you crouch to avoid bullets from the enemies and have time to touch the scope button. Then, drag the aiming point to the head of the enemy, and fire.

Another headshot tip is jump shot. When you jump, it’s harder for the opponents to kill you with a headshot. Moreover, it’s easier to shoot at the enemy’s head from a higher position.

Free Fire Pro Tips In Swimming

One of many secret pro tips in Free Fire that not many players know is that switching weapons make you swim faster. One survival rule in Free Fire is not staying in water because you are more vulnerable in water. You cannot use weapons underwater and may get shots from enemies. Therefore, when you need to cross the river, you should practice this tip to increase your swimming speed.

Revive And Heal At The Same Time

It helps your squad save time and come back to combat soon. In a strain shooting game like Free Fire, time is one of the key elements for victory. If you fire sooner than the opponent team, you have more chances to win. When reviving the knocked teammate, you can use medkit and heal at the same time.

Free Fire Pro Tips In Looting Airdrops

To loot airdrops safely, you should create gloo walls around the airdrops. If you create a gloo wall covering one of four square corners of the airdrop, the enemies will have difficulty to shoot you. It’s because you will have the largest cover from the airdrops and a great cover from the gloo wall. Many players tend to avoid airdrops because of scaring about campers. But airdrops have lots of decent loots. With a great cover, you can take all these supplies safely and get Booyah.

Practice In Clash Squad Every Day

Playing Clash Squad is one of the best pro tips for Free Fire. It’s a good way to practice shooting and creating a quick logo wall in this game. Lots of pro players improve their game a lot by playing Clash Squads every day. This game mode is like a training room where you can better your skills and prepare for ranking games.

In this game mode, your squad will fight against another team. You will be revived unlimitedly until the match finishes. So, you can practice your skills a lot in this mode. Playing two to three clash squad matches every day, you will become a pro player soon.

Participate In Custom Room Matches

There are a lot of YouTubers and pro players creating custom matches every day for live-streaming or practicing. You should join in and test your level in these custom matches. There, you will meet lots of pro players or top players all over India. The competitive level is high and you can learn a lot of tips and skills from those players. So, it’s one of the best Garena Free Fire pro tips you should try to become pro soon.

Hunt For Enemies In The Shrink Zone

Pro players are not afraid of taking fights in the shrink zone because they can find lots of prey to kill there. Moreover, playing near the shrink zone helps you learn how to play as a predator, make and exploit available covers, and when to engage the combat. It’s very helpful for you to improve your skills instead of evading from combat and still die as a coward.

Survival in Free Fire is important for ranking up, but only trying to survive doesn’t make you better. Because when your rank increases, you will match with lots of pro players. So, if you don’t improve other skills, like shooting, you will die soon.

Practice Sniping

Another way to improve your shooting skills is by practicing sniping. It helps improve your aiming skill a lot. You should play in a solo mode, take a sniper rifle gun and suitable attachments, and start practicing every day. That’s one of the best and secret Free Fire pro tips you should practice now to become pro soon.

Verdict

These are some of the pro tips for Free Fire that can help you achieve victory!

The post Free Fire Tips & Tricks appeared first on GAMES INDIAN.

Free Fire Tips & Tricks published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[imagine--drv3]

Boys playing Splatoon with S/O?

The Discord can confirm the rage I had to go through whilst playing Splatoon for inspiration.

Korekiyo Shinguuji

he’s completely stoic as he plays, and you can’t help but watch because this is just fascinating.

his fists are clenched on the remote, you can tell he’s absolutely infuriated every time he’s splatted but he just refuses to let you see how angry he is.

his team loses the match.

you watch the subtle square in his shoulders, he takes a deep breath, and then-

and then he slamdunks the wii u remote straight through your glass coffee table.

SPLATOON IS STUPID.

THEY AREN’T EVEN PEOPLE. THEY’RE SQUIDS. STUPID DISGUSTING SQUIDS.

GAMES ARE STUPID.

EVERYTHING IS STUPID.

he locks himself in his room and you do not see him for the rest of the day.

Amami Rantarou

he’d actually like to try, it looks like a pretty fun game!

you let him play on your account, and he’s actually a little surprised and a little proud by how high of a level you have.

you let him try all sorts of weapons out, and finally he settles on liking the brush best.

he’s not bad! it’s a simple game and he seems to be getting the concept pretty easily.

he’s actually won every match so far, but usually at the bottom of his team.

and then, one round, he actually loses.

you can see the look of absolute disbelief on his face when the loser music starts playing.

but he had been doing so well! what had gone wrong?!

the other team had seriously inked almost everything in the playing field compared to amami’s two or three blotches-

you can tell he’s disappointed, but now he’s determined.

this won’t happen again.

you can’t get him off the wii u after that-

Ouma Kokichi

he seems pretty nonchalant when you propose the idea, simply shrugging and taking his seat in front of the television.

he lets you talk him through everything, telling him which clothes are better, which weapons are best, what he might like-

and though he nods and follows along, you can see he’s picking an entirely different set of items than the ones you recommended.

which is?? weird???

and then you actually get onto the playing field.

the second he’s in he’s moving with such skill that you’re amazed a beginner could EVER pull this off.

he doesn’t get splatted a single time, covering an insane amount of land as his score just skyrockets.

needless to say, he wins the match at the top of his team.

how did he do that?!

“Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you, I play this game literally all the time. Anyway, bye!”

and then he just

leaves

heck

Shuuichi Saihara

he’s willing to play, but...he’s not exactly the best.

it takes him a while to get the hang of angling the controller, and eventually decides that using the joysticks is probably the best choice.

he likes the roller, it makes the game a little calmer for him.

every time he dies you can see his entire body tense up like it’s an absolute disaster-

he actually spends more time running around the lobby than he does playing...

he’s not very good.

he always finishes at the bottom of his team with 100-300 points and never splats anybody.

maybe this just isn’t his kind of game...

you’ll put on something a little less abrasive next time, maybe.

Kaito Momota

he gets WAY too into it.

he’s totally on board when you say he should give the game a try.

he’s using the splattershot at first, but when he finds out the luna blaster exists, he won’t use anything else. it just looks so cool!

he gets pretty mad when he gets splatted, but the look on his face when he actually manages to splat somebody is priceless.

like a kid in a candy store!

every match he loses in followed by a series of swears and kicking the table, he gets pretty passionate about the game.

but every match he wins is celebrated like hell! fists in the air, the whole deal. he even picks you up and spins you! look S/O! look what he did!

but you can’t help but note that he’s always at the bottom of his team and his score is never very high, win or lose.

oh well. at least he’s having fun.

Kiibo

he doesn’t really get the concept.

so you’re a kid-

but then you’re a squid?

you’re an unholy human squid hybrid?

and when you become a squid you defy the laws of mass and descend into your own inky remnants?

....basically yeah

he can’t ever focus on the game because he’s too busy asking questions about how your character functions as a creature

he runs into a lot of walls and doesn’t manage to accomplish a whole lot, and doesn’t even seem to be enjoying it.

you thought a robot would be better at video games honestly.

you decide maybe he should just explore the lobby instead.

he thinks the squid sisters are very charming honestly! look at them go! lovely! wonderful! he is a fan of them.

everything else? terrible. not a fan.

that’s not how squids work.

silly S/O.

Gonta Gokuhara

he’s so enthusiastic! this game is so colourful and pretty!

he runs off of platforms into the abyss or the water constantly, but he’s having so much fun that you can’t bear to correct him-

he’s switching between kid and squid constantly, not even TRYING to win the matches.

he honestly doesn’t shoot a single thing the entire time he’s playing. he’s having too much fun exploring.

you know his teammates probably hate him, because not only is he doing nothing, but he’s hitting the “Booyah!” and “Come on!” buttons every two seconds.

“It’s encouragement!”

this is honestly painful to watch but he’s so adorable when he’s having fun like this-

maybe you’ll make him his own account, but you probably won’t be letting him soil your username again any time soon.

Ryouma Hoshi

he’s honestly scarily good at this game.

he’s a sniper, and once he finds the best spot on the map, he doesn’t leave it.

he’s completely straight-faced the entire time, and he doesn’t miss a single shot.

you’re seriously worried for anybody who has to play against him right now.

not a single member of his team gets splatted, not while he’s on guard duty.

so while he doesn’t win a whole lot of points himself, his team ALWAYS wins and they have him to thank for it.

despite the fact that he says winning doesn’t really matter and it’s just a dumb video game, you can see that smug smirk every time he makes another shot.

he probably won’t play again though.

you honestly don’t want him to.

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

Splataclysm!

So, uh, a Splatoon AU anyone? It’s even weirder than it sounds probably. But I decided to start writing one anyway because it’s fun. You don’t have to know anything about Splatoon to read it - all you really need to know is that no one’s a human, they’re all humanoid squids!

AO3

Chapter One

Nathaniel Kurtzberg couldn’t help but feel nervous about moving to the city. He had lived in Calamari County his whole life and was perfectly happy there, in relative peace and quiet, expecting to go on living there for the rest of his life without anything unusual or surprising happening to him. But everything had changed two years ago when his school friends Mireille and Aurore won the Youth Folk-Singing Contest.

The two of them teamed up to form a pop duo called the Squid Sisters (despite actually being cousins) and were immediately picked up by an agency in Inkopolis, where they shortly moved to. Now they were famous, and annoyingly this meant that Nath’s parents constantly pressured him to do something similar.

He didn’t want to be a singer, that was for sure. He would rather make a name for himself in some other kind of art, like painting. But his parents simply didn’t see things the same way. They were always reminding him that there was no future for him out here in the countryside, and that if he wanted to get anywhere in life then he should move to the city, just like Mireille and Aurore had done. Now, finally sick of their constant pestering, he’d packed his bags and taken the first train to Inkopolis.

It was just after midday when he arrived. Mireille and Aurore were waiting for him at the station. Plenty of adoring fans were waiting nearby too and waving at them, and they occasionally waved back and signed the odd autograph. As soon as they saw Nathaniel they ran over towards him, looking excited.

“Welcome to Inkopolis!” Mireille said, pulling him off the train and hugging him. “It’s been so long since we last saw you! How’s everyone back home? They all good? Has the weather been alright? Do you know anyone else here? You’re going to try battling, right?”

“Jeez, Mireille, let him breathe.” Aurore pushed her cousin aside and then shook Nath’s hand. “It’s good to see you again. Please ignore Mireille, she’s had too much chocolate and won’t shut up.”

“Hey, you had lots of chocolate too!”

“But at least I’m not going to use that as an excuse to bombard poor Nath with nonsense the second he’s arrived, am I?” She cleared her throat. “Anyway Nath, you’re here for battling, aren’t you? That’s why every fresh squid moves to Inkopolis.”

“I���ve never tried a battle before,” Nath mumbled. “But my parents said it was either that or singing, so…”

“I see. Well don’t worry, Mireille and I can easily get you started. Here, come with us.”

The Squid Sisters led Nath out of the train station and towards what looked like an empty urban yard, graffiti and old posters covering the walls. Aurore handed him a green, box-like ink gun.

“This is a Splattershot Jr.,” she said. “It’s a Shooter type weapon. Basically, you press the trigger and it shoots out ink. It’s a pretty good beginner weapon since it’s easy to get used to and it’s pretty versatile. Decent fire rate and ink consumption. Why don’t you try it out?”

Nath held up the weapon and tentatively pulled the trigger. It immediately blasted out spurts of bright red ink all over the floor in front of him.

“Nice job!” Mireille said, bobbing up and down. “Since you’re just a beginner here you’re not going to need to do much more than that, since they won’t let you do anything other than Turf Wars until you’re more experienced. But this is pretty good!”

“What exactly do you do in a Turf War?” Nath asked. He knew of Turf Wars, of course. The most famous inkling sport in the world. But he had never participated in one before. Usually he preferred to stay out of combat if he could.

“You try to cover the ground in as much of your ink as possible within the time limit. The enemy team will also be inking ground, in a different colour, so you have to make sure you do more! And try not to get splatted!”

He gulped. “Splatted?”

“Yeah, like… dying. Don’t die.”

“You can die in battles?!”

“Of course you can!”

Aurore rolled her eyes. “Mireille, don’t be dramatic. It’s not really death, Nathaniel, it���s more like a temporary setback. Do you want me to show you? Look, I’ll splat you right now.”

She pulled out a long, thin, black and green sniper rifle and pointed it right at him. There was a whistling noise as the weapon charged up, then it hit him with a painful gob of ink that felt like it knocked him right out of his body. He was so stunned he couldn’t move for a few seconds, only feeling as if he was floating up into the air with no control over where he was going. Within another few seconds he was back to normal, standing in front of Aurore and Mireille as if nothing had happened.

“And that’s what it’s like to be splatted. Though if you were splatted in an actual battle you’d actually respawn back at your team’s base.”

Nath nodded.

“So stay out of enemy fire as much as you can. You’ll know because the enemy team will be using a different colour ink to you. Stay out of contact with it. Of course, if an enemy is nearby, you could always use your own weapon to splat them before they can get you, but don’t worry about it too much. Turf Wars are about inking turf, not killing people.”

“You know how to revert to squid form, right?” Mireille asked. “Like, you can turn into a squid, can’t you?”

“Yep,” Nath said. He demonstrated by quickly transforming into a little red squid, then back into humanoid form.

“Good work! I know most people can do it by this age but some people still struggle sometimes. Anyway, when you’re in squid form, you can swim through your own ink really fast. Wanna try it?”

Nath turned back into a squid and slithered along the ground through the red ink that he had shot out of his Splattershot Jr. a minute ago. Sure enough, he did travel very fast – much faster than he could have run in his humanoid form.

“Awesome!” Mireille said once he had returned to humanoid form. “You can do that during battle to move around really fast or hide from enemies so they can’t see you!”

“You can Super Jump too, right?” Aurore asked him.

“Yes,” he replied. It was easy – turn into squid form, then launch yourself high up into the air to land somewhere else.

“Good. In battle you can Super Jump to your teammates to reach them quicker. Though be careful, because enemies will be able to see where you’re going to land and they might splat you as soon as you get there.”

“Tell him about Subs and Specials!” Mireille said, shaking Aurore’s shoulder.

“Alright, fine, get off me! Okay Nathaniel, now with your Splattershot Jr., which is your Main Weapon, you also get two other weapons: a Sub Weapon and a Special Weapon. You can use your Sub whenever you want but it uses up a lot of ink and you might have to turn back into squid form to refill you ink tank for a while. As for your Special Weapon, that has to be charged up before you can use it. You do that by inking turf.”

“The Splattershot Jr.’s Sub Weapon is the Splat Bomb!” Mireille said. “Basically it’s just an ink bomb and you throw it, and in a few seconds it explodes. You should totally try it!”

Nath reached into the weapon pocket and pulled out what looked like a little pyramid filled with ink. He flung it away from him where it landed on the ground, sliding a little before settling. After a few seconds it exploded and coated the ground around it with ink.

“Good work! You can always throw those at enemies to splat them or just get them to go away from you. And your Special Weapon is even cooler! It’s the Bubbler!”

“It’s not that cool,” Aurore huffed. “It’s just a shield that surrounds you and protects you for a few seconds against enemy attacks. You can pass it onto your teammates too if you come into contact with them. But it doesn’t last long and you can still be pushed around, so I don’t get how it’s that great.”

“Of course it’s great! Anyway yeah, I think we’ve taught you everything you need to know to do a Turf War. We’ll take you to Inkopolis Plaza and there you can go to the Tower and enter your first match – how exciting! And just in time, too, since me and Aurore will have to go do the battle stage announcements soon. Come on!”

“But wait!” Nath said. “I just want to know something… what’s the point of all this? These matches inking turf and all that, isn’t it just for fun? How do people make a living from it? Or get famous from it?”

“You’ll earn money from winning matches, duh! And once you’re good enough to start Ranked Battles, you can easily become famous by being one of the best players in history!”

Right. That sounded somewhat… superficial.

“Okay, cool,” he said. “Thanks for showing me all this.”

“It’s no problem! Now let’s go to Inkopolis Plaza and get you started on some actual matches!”

Inkopolis Plaza was filled with squids, jellyfish, a large television screen, a shopping mall area called “Booyah Base”, and of course the great Inkopolis Tower, stretching up into the sky.

“We’ve got to go now but our studio’s just upstairs so come and talk to us if you need to!” Mireille said before dashing off.

“Go to the lobby in Inkopolis Tower and get started – good luck!” Aurore added, then followed her cousin away into the crowd of squids.

Nath looked around, feeling a little overwhelmed. Everyone else here seemed so… well… fresh, as people said these days. All hanging out with their friends, laughing and having a good time, wearing cool clothes, carrying cool weapons, knowing exactly what they were doing…

It was the kind of life he had always wanted but never really fit into. But then again, that had been back home in the countryside, where everything was different. Maybe here he could make a new start for himself and actually be the kind of person he wanted to be.

Clutching his Splattershot Jr. in his arms tightly, he headed into Inkopolis Tower through the automatic doors. The lobby was split into sections where people were milling about, waiting for the next battles to start. Nath headed towards the sign saying “Turf War”, not really sure what to do next.

“Hi there!”

The person next to him had spoken to him – ugh, a stranger. Nath hated talking to strangers. He wasn’t even a fan of talking in general. It made him feel nervous. He turned to see that the person who had spoken to him was a cute little squid with short, yellow tentacle hair, wearing a frilly pink dress and carrying what looked like an oversized paint roller.

“Hi,” he said back.

“Are you new?” the squid girl asked, her voice rather high-pitched. “It’s just that you’re looking a little lost!”

“Yeah, I’m new. Just arrived here today.”

“Well then, welcome! My name is Rose. What’s your name?”

“Nathaniel, but you can call me Nath for short.”

“Nice to meet you!”

Nath tried not to roll his eyes. Small talk was the worst. It was just saying the same things over and over again with no real feeling behind them – what was the point of that?

“Anyway,” Rose continued, “I’m sure you’ll like Turf Wars, they’re really fun. They’re the least aggressive out of all battle types, which is why they’re my favourite! In fact I don’t actually battle that often. I feel like I’m not competitive enough compared to everyone else. But it’s okay because the most important thing is to have fun, right?”

“Yep,” Nath said, putting on a fake smile.

“Good! I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun together!”

The bell sounded for the next battle to start. Thank goodness, since Nath was not feeling in the mood for dealing with the sickly sweetness of a person like Rose for much longer. He followed her onto a launchpad, where he was given a map and linked up to the computer system that would help him track his score and his teammates, then he Super Jumped to the battle location.

The battle stage was called “Urchin Underpass”, located under a highway bridge just as its name suggested. Nath had a quick check of the map but it was far too complicated to memorize properly right now. He turned and had a look at his teammates, standing on the spawn point along with him. They had a range of odd weapons that he had never seen before. Through the linked-up computer system Nath could see that Rose’s weapon was called a “Carbon Roller Deco”, whatever that was.

“Is your weapon better than a Splattershot Jr.?” he asked her.

“Nah, all weapons are good. It just depends how you play! I personally don’t really like shooting so I go with Rollers, and anyway the objective in Turf Wars is inking as much as possible, not attacking, so you can use whatever you want!”

He remembered how Aurore had called the Splattershot Jr. a beginner weapon. Clearly it wasn’t something he should stick with for long.

“Where can I buy new weapons?” he asked.

“Ammo Knights back at Booyah Base sells weapons,” Rose replied, “though Tikki might not want to sell you more weapons until you have more experience. She’s like that.”

The computer system notified that the opposing team was now assembling too, at their own spawn point on the other side of the battle stage. Nath checked the map and had a look at what sort of team they were facing.

“Uh oh,” Rose muttered.

“What’s wrong?”

She hastily put a smile back on her face. “Nothing! Just… try your best and have fun!” Her smile fell slightly as she glanced back at the opponents on the map.

“Seriously Rose, what’s wrong? Is it these opponents? Are they really good or something?”

“Well… Adrien’s fine, I suppose, but the other three… we don’t call them the Slaughter Squad for nothing…”

Slaughter Squad? Wasn’t a name like that overkill? Surely they couldn’t be that bad. Nath took another look at the map to get some more details.

Kim: Aerospray MG

Max: E-Litre 3K Scope

Alix: Aerospray RG

Their weapons didn’t look like much. Two weak airbrushes and an old fuel pump – that was nothing compared to a gun, right? Rose was probably exaggerating. Of course someone as bubbly and innocent as her would be intimidated by a bunch of squids much fresher than her.

He was about to mention something about it when the signal played for the match to begin. His teammates immediately began spreading out from the base, inking all the turf they could get at. The ink colour of their team was a bright orange, and from the looks of the map, the enemy’s ink colour was light blue.

Not really knowing where to go, Nath followed Rose down the slope in front of them, trying to shoot ink onto all the turf that she missed. Her Carbon Roller Deco was rolling along the ground at a much quicker speed than he could run with his heavy gun. He had to keep dipping into squid form and swimming along the ground to keep up with her.

The first few seconds of the match weren’t so bad. Nath realized that, quite annoyingly, his points counter did not go up at all when inking walls, so clearly only the ground counted as “turf”. He also realized that the Splattershot Jr. was rather messy, spraying ink all over the place no matter where he pointed it. The lack of accuracy was probably going to come back to bite him at some point, he could just tell. At least for now it was helping him get a few points.

He followed Rose through a strange grate that could be surpassed by swimming straight through it in squid form, heading towards the centre of the battle arena in order to cover it in orange. That was when the trouble began.

There was an ominous whooshing noise somewhere overhead. The shadow of a target appeared on the ground just beside him. Rose quickly pulled him aside and as far away as possible – just in time, as a huge tornado of blue ink suddenly landed in the area, only narrowly missing them.

“That was an Inkstrike – a Special Weapon,” Rose said quickly, before running back and throwing her Roller down onto all the newly blue turf to make it orange again.

A Special Weapon? Already? How could someone have charged up their Special so fast? Nath looked at his metre to see that he wasn’t even close to using his Special yet. In any case he followed Rose back into the area and started inking turf again.

He was startled by a weird siren sound. Turning around he saw that there was an enemy device on the ground that was rapidly approaching him, leaving a trail of blue ink behind it. He backed up as quick as he could – but not fast enough. The device hit him and exploded, splatting him to pieces.

Ouch… being splatted still hurt a bit. Hopefully he would get used to that. While he was waiting for his body to reform he could still access the computer. It told him that he had been hit by a Seeker, which had been sent by Kim. It must have been his Sub Weapon.

Within a few seconds Nath had respawned back at his home base, far away from all the action. All the turf around here was already inked in a bright layer of orange. It would take a while to swim all the way to somewhere that hadn’t been inked yet – but wait, he could Super Jump to his teammates, right? He opened up the map and launched himself into a Super Jump towards Rose.

Oh no – that had been a mistake. While high up in the air he could see that Rose had just been splatted, and he was descending rapidly towards an enemy who was watching him with glee, already shooting at the spot where he was about to land. Sure enough, as soon as he reached the ground he was hit with at least 5 shots in the space of a second, enough to splat him again before he could even take a single step. Or before he could even get a look at his opponent.

Waiting to respawn again, he saw that this time he had been splatted by Alix and her Aerospray RG. But surely, surely a simple airbrush couldn’t be that good at splatting people? Nath knew a thing or two about art brushes and he knew that airbrushes were weak. But then again, the Aerospray fire rate seemed to be so high, so much higher than his own weapon. Maybe that made all the difference. In any case, it looked like she had already inked enough turf to have charged up her Inkstrike again.

Once he had respawned he took a quick look at the map but couldn’t make sense of where any of his teammates were. He wasn’t even sure which one was Rose, and he didn’t have time to stop and check – every second counted. The map showed that the enemy team had already claimed the centre of the arena in huge swathes of blue ink, and were fast moving in on Nath’s home base. There was no time to waste.

Compressing himself back into squid form, he surged forwards through what was left of the orange ink towards where the sounds of battling were. Before he even reached anyone he was suddenly splatted again, rather violently, by what looked like a mini twister of blue ink that had zoomed towards him so fast there was no way he could have moved aside in time. The computer screen told him that it was Kim using his Inkzooka, a Special Weapon. In fact he was still using it, and from the looks of it, it could travel straight through walls. Great.

Respawning once again, Nath decided perhaps a new tactic was in order. While the enemies had rushed ahead, there was no one protecting all the blue turf they had already inked near their own base right at the start of the match. Perhaps if he could sneak through one of the side alleys, he could reach it without being spotted and actually be able to ink it back to orange without being attacked.

He transformed into a squid and set off immediately. Urchin Underpass did indeed have a few sneaky routes down the sides of the arena where he wouldn’t attract any attention. In fact, this was working! The sounds of battling were quietly fading away as he got further away from them. And there – yes! There was fresh, unguarded blue ink just up ahead! Perfect!

Nath jumped up into humanoid form and started shooting orange ink. Points, at last!

But wait… what was this laser line pointing right at him? He looked up and followed it to see Max perched way off in the distance, aiming his E-Litre 3K Scope right at him. Pfff, that was alright, there was no way he would be able to reach–

Except he did. Nath was splatted in one shot.

No way. That was just unfair. How could Max’s weapon have such great range? And be powerful enough to splat someone in one go from all the way over there?

By the time Nath respawned, he could directly see that Kim and Alix were nearing his team’s home base. He swam ahead in squid form and tried to go around the side of them but they spotted him and started shooting at him. Thank goodness their weapons were short-ranged and weak or he’d be dead again already.

He remembered his Sub Weapon, the Splat Bomb, and threw one towards them. Unfortunately his aim was slightly off and it didn’t go far enough, exploding well away from them. The next thing he knew, he had suddenly been splatted again – this time by a hidden Ink Mine from Alix.

This was getting tedious. As soon as he respawned again he simply charged forwards as fearlessly as he could, firing ink in every direction. His weapon had better range and damage stats than theirs, right? In that case maybe running headfirst into battle might work better than trying to sneak around.

But no – Max splatted him with his E-Litre 3K Scope again, from so far away it was hard to even see him. It was so unfair!

When Nath respawned for the sixth time, he could tell it was hopeless. The map was almost entirely covered in blotches of light blue, with the odd specks of orange here and there, though those were rapidly disappearing. The other team had now reached Nath’s home base and were waiting there, ready to begin shooting at people if they tried to leave it. Even Adrien was here now. He was holding a Krak-On Splat Roller and looking somewhat apologetic about his rough teammates.

Well, at least standing in the home base circle gave Nath some protection. He stayed put and started firing ink in every direction he could, trying to aim for his opponents. The Splattershot Jr.’s accuracy was too low for him to be able to splat anyone though.

One by one his teammates were splatted and respawned back on the home base, deciding to stay there rather than risk stepping off it and being immediately splatted again. Rose thwacked her Carbon Roller Deco on the ground over and over, splashing ink everywhere.

It wasn’t good enough. The other team were too good at dodging, too speedy to hit, and for the most part they stayed out of range and kept themselves safe. Any time one of Nath’s teammates dared venture out of the home base circle, they were immediately converged on and splatted.

Gee… no wonder those three were called the Slaughter Squad…

“I’ve charged up my Special Weapon!” Rose said to Nath, hard to hear over the sound of weapons firing everywhere. “It’s Bomb Rush with Seekers – I’ll send as many Seekers at them as I can within the few seconds my Special is active, so get ready to use that to your advantage!”

Sure enough, she unleashed a torrent of Seekers along the ground. They began chasing down the enemy team members, though it didn’t look like they actually managed to splat anyone. At least they had driven the enemies back – enough for Nath to finally be able to leave the base and begin inking turf properly again.

Or so he thought.

Max, up on his sniper perch and well out of harm’s way, splatted Nath before he had even taken two steps.

It was hopeless. With only 10 seconds remaining, there was no way they could win now. Not a chance. The best thing Nath could do after respawning again was to stand on the home base, firing ink around him and trying to charge up his Special metre enough that he would be able to use the Bubbler before time ran out. That might give him and his teammates enough protection to not lose quite so badly.

But he couldn’t charge it up quick enough. The match ended, and all the players were Super Jumped to the centre of the arena by the computer system, ready to find out the results.

It was no contest whatsoever. Nath looked at the map to see that it was pretty much all blue, except for a tiny smudge of orange around his team’s home base. Yeah, they had lost. By a lot.

A tiny black cat-like creature appeared in the centre of the arena, between the two teams. He yawned and took a look at a map himself.

“Alright, here are the results,” he muttered, sounding sleepy. “The orange team inked 6.3% of the total available turf that can be inked, and the blue team inked 88.7%. Blue team wins. Yay.” He half-heartedly waved a little flag in their direction. “Now get out of here before the next match begins. Oh wait, it’s stage changeover time. So leave if you want, or stay here while the ink evaporates, whatever. I’m going back to sleep.”

He disappeared again. How was he doing that? Was it some kind of Super Jump? Anyway, weren’t mammals extinct? How was there a cat here? Who even was this guy?

It didn’t matter anyway. Nath had lost his first match. In fact, he had lost it very, very badly. Looking at everyone’s point scores on the computer system, he hadn’t even done well for a beginner. Only 140p? That was nothing! And the Aerosprays had got in the 2300p range! (Though that did include a 1000p bonus for winning, so it had been more like 1300p.)

The Slaughter Squad were already celebrating their win. Even though they had already started walking away they were so loud that they could easily be heard. Adrien had been left behind and he was watching them, looking a little uneasy.

“You only got more than me because you’ve got Inkstrike, that doesn’t count!”

“Oh shut up Kim, you know I’m better than you…”

“Well I splatted more people so there!”

“Actually Max splatted the most people, so why don’t you try out-snipering him next time? Or are you not good enough to be a sniper?”

“I could totally beat Max!”

Their voices finally faded away. Nath looked at the ground, ashamed at his easy defeat. And perhaps it was more than shame. Was it…

Jealousy?

He had never had a “squad” like that, so to speak. Those three were killers. The best of the best. Intimidating, terrifying, striking fear into the hearts of their opponents. That was the freshest kind of squid that anyone could ever hope to be. What would it take to be part of a squad like that? Or to be part of their squad, right along with them? He had always dreamed of being respected, popular, not on the fringes of squid society like he always was. But he was just… too shy…

His thoughts were interrupted by Rose.

“You did well for your first try!” she gushed, giving him a double thumbs up.

“No I didn’t,” he muttered. “And anyway, we lost.”

“That’s okay, not everything is about winning. You’ll still have earned some money, I’m sure! Though not everything is about money either!”

“Is every battle as difficult as that?”

“No, not at all. You were just unlucky to end up battling against Turf War legends on your first match. You won’t be against them every time, I’m sure. They do Ranked Battles sometimes too, so they’ll be busy with that and you’ll get easier opponents here! Or, of course, you could be lucky like Adrien and end up on their team with them…”

That didn’t sound like much fun either. Adrien had barely got to do anything. It was like he had been an outsider on his own team, and that was not what Nath wanted. Nath had felt like an outsider for far too much of his life.

“I need a better weapon,” he said finally. “Did you say Ammo Knights sells weapons? Where is that?”

“It’s at Booyah Base back at Inkopolis Plaza, but I don’t think Tikki would think you’re ready for–”

“Thanks.”

Without waiting to listen any longer, he headed away and Super Jumped back to the Plaza.

The weapons shop, Ammo Knights, was small and cosy. Inside was a strange bug-like creature who seemed to know a lot about weapons for someone who didn’t even look like she could lift one.

“Hello, my name is Tikki!” she said as soon as Nath walked in. “Are you new here? You look like it!”

He looked new, did he? Clearly he wasn’t fresh enough yet.

“Can I buy some new weapons?” he asked. “My friends gave me this Splattershot Jr. but I don’t think it’s very good…”

Tikki frowned. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Well… I just lost my first Turf War really badly because the others had way better weapons. Stuff with a high fire rate.”

“Weapons with high fire rates often have low damage, range and accuracy. Their weapons aren’t necessarily better than yours, they’re just better at using them. That’s all. You can easily be a brilliant player using a Splattershot Jr.”

She sounded like a teacher! Just try hard and you will succeed, no matter what… ugh. No.

“I don’t think it suits me,” he said. “I want something more powerful.”

“Weapons that do more damage usually have a lower fire rate, though. So which do you want? A high fire rate or high damage?”

“Um… I don’t know.”

“Exactly. You’re a newbie here, and the Splattershot Jr. is the perfect weapon to get you to learn the ropes. Come back once you’ve got a bit more battling experience and then I’ll show you some new weapons, alright? And have a think about what sort of weapon would suit you. Do some research.”

“Okay, thanks,” he said. She really was sounding like a teacher now, and it was starting to annoy him. “I guess I’ll go do some more battles then… and hope the Slaughter Squad aren’t my opponents again…”

Tikki chuckled. “Oh, so you were against them, were you? I wouldn’t judge a Splattershot Jr. based on that. You’re a newbie so you’re always going to lose, it’s nothing to do with your weapon. But trust me – those three can be beaten, and they can be beaten with a Splattershot Jr.”

“What? But they have Aerosprays, and a sniper…”

“I stand by what I said. It’s the player who wins a match, not the weapon. If Splattershot Jr. is someone’s favourite weapon and they know how to use it to the best of its capabilities, that’s infinitely better than a newbie messing around with an Aerospray or an E-Litre.”

“But–”

“Trust me,” she said firmly. “Go get some more experience. Then come back and tell me exactly what kind of weapon you’re looking for.”

He sighed. “Alright, thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure. See you soon, and good luck in your future battles!”

That had been far from ideal. Turning around, Nath headed towards the exit of the shop, looking at the ground. His floppy red tentacle fringe fell over the top of his face and he didn’t bother to move it aside again – until he walked straight into someone who was just coming through the door.

“Oh sorry – I didn’t see you there!”

He looked up to see a fresh-looking squid girl standing in front of him, her bouncy black tentacles tied into pigtails somewhat like Aurore’s. She was pretty… very pretty…

“Oh, um, sorry,” Nath mumbled, stepping aside.

“Are you new?” the girl asked.

Oh no, she could tell too?

“Yep.”

“Welcome to Inkopolis!” she said, beaming at him in a way that made his heart jump a few beats. “I’m Marinette. What’s your name?”

“Nathaniel.”

“Cool! Well, I’ll see you around, right? Let me know if you want to do some practice battles or something!”

“Yeah… see you…”

He let his fringe fall back over his face and walked off as quick as he could, his face heating up too much.

Marinette… that was a nice name. Maybe he would take up her offer of practice battles. If he could psych himself up enough to speak to her again, that was.