#also splatoon has been taking up WAY to much of my free time

[disorentedfae]

Really wanna make angsty Vocaloid art my my hands ain’t been eating recently

[factual-fantasy]

24 asks!! :0000🌟🎭🌟

I HAVE!!! :DDDD

Kinger and Caine are my favorite characters! I've seen a lot of theories and fanart and I've already started making my own AU and angst and everything but I cant DRAW any of that yet because I'm REALLY BUSY with an OVERDUE PROJECT AAAAA

(In recent development, Asgore is unable to heal Spamton because he is a darkener :((( )

I think it might have been addressed at one point yeah :0 Maybe something was wrong with Seam and Asgore reached out to help. In which Seam was terrified and Jevil jumped in to protect him. Asgore could see the trauma and tension in the both of them so he carefully backed off.

Later he could hear from Seam about their pasts and why they were afraid of him. Asgore would then try to take steps to.. not..? Be scary to them?? <:D

Spade king could have talked in a very gravely and booming voice. So Asgore is sure to always talk softly and clearly. He is careful to not make any sudden movements around Seam and Jevil. If he's reaching for something near Seam/Jevil he will gently announce what he's doing and make sure they understand before he does it.

Asgore with his hands in his lap: "Seam, I want to grab that bag.."

Seam: *turns "huh?"

Asgore, hands still in his lap: "That bag beside you, I'd like to grab it."

Seam: "oh, okay,"

Asgore then gently reaches for the bag, making sure that Seam can see his hand coming.

Little things like that would really ease Seam and Jevils nerves. And its what made Asgore so trustworthy to them. The fact that he cared so much about their comfort and went above and beyond to make sure they felt safe around him.

Not really a parental figure. He sees Seam as his equal in every way. So like.. he sees him as his brother of the same age.?

@beryl-shade

Oh he didn't lock Seam up in a cell. He just put shackles around his wrists and neck :00

The thing about Jevil is that the bigger the group got, the worse his habits became. And the harder it became to break those habits.. Jevil was the one who collected these people, so they are his responsibility. Giving up his food not just for Seam, but for everyone. Staying awake to keep the fire large and roaring to keep the group warm.

The others try to help him.. but they would have a hard time getting Jevil to listen to them. Telling him he needs to eat, sleep or just relax. He probably wouldn't listen because he's a bit stubborn and is probably riddled with anxiety 24/7.

Although when Asgore came around things got a lot easier.

Asgore is very powerful and has proved his trustworthiness multiple times to Seam and Jevil. So although the royal vibe is off putting.. Jevil trusts him to watch the fire at night and protect the group. Seam has been able to reason with Jevil about the food part a little too.

Jevil: "You need this food more than me. You gotta keep your strength up until we can find someone to break these chains!"

Seam: "Jevil, you consume energy to make those mirrors to other worlds. How are you supposed to keep looking for someone to break my chains, if you're collapsed on the ground, too weak to make another mirror?"

Jevil: "......."

Jevil: *takes ONE bite out of sandwich

I was thinking around 10 years or so..? Maybe more? Haven't really decided :0 And he was able to escape by making a mirror and stepping through it. That mirror basically poked a hole in the walls of the AU and he was able to step out of the AU. Effectively stepping out of his cell and breaking free :}

Also thank you!! :DD

@gracebeth3604

I've completely ignored comments like this recently because I don't wanna deal with all the drama that will surly follow. But you were really polite and very thorough with your evidence.. sooo I guess I might as well answer it now,

I am aware that people use they/them for Seam. But -> my version <- of Seam goes by he/him.

I don't reeallly have a Splatoon AU..? And I haven't played Splatoon in a while- although I do still like it and have made some Splatoon ocs!

These drawings are pretty old. I've been meaning to come back and re-draw them haha <XD

Yeah its okay to tag like that. Like "seam and jevil" or "mario and luigi". That's just tagging them as being in the same post, no big deal 👍

Also no, no art of any kind. If you truly wanna show that you appreciate my work then leave comments. Maybe reblog once in a while or send me an ask. The comments don't have to be anything complex. You could leave a "Looks great!" comment on 50 posts of mine in a row and I will see what you're doing and appreciate it endlessly.

@genericcereal-wastaken

(I most likely will lol XD) Also thank you! I'm glad you love it! :DD

@elegysonnet

Honestly I can see Seam wanting nothing wrapped around/touching his wrists for a while.. even though they need it. But he could accept cold rags being dabbed on the wounds to ease the stinging.

As for what he'd eat? Dude- anything XDD Probably a burger to start. He'd just take a big fat bite and cry about how good it tastes 😭

And yeah! Now that he has his full range of movement he has his cat like flexibility back :}}

When it comes to Seam using his magic? Its hard for a while...

He hasn't used it consistently in so long.. he would be rusty, and probably anxious to use it again. It would take a lot of sparing and gentle guidance from Jevil and probably Asgore to get his grove back.

It would also take time for him to physically heal. Having his body's energy constantly drained has really effected his ability to control his magic. He would need a few weeks of good sleep and hearty meals before he could get his groove back. But he'll get there. With the group/Jevils support, he would eventually be back to the way he was. Equally matched with Jevil. :}

@clevermakercupcake

Thank you!! :}}} 🌻🌻

I don't remember that, did he do that?? Kwazii whyyy that's nasty XDDD

@cupcake-kingdom

Seam is frightened and confused but appreciates the message! XD

Joy. There's just joy and relief everywhere.

There has been a constant anxiety over this group- not just Jevil, that Seam would suddenly collapse and die. Finally succumbing to the chains draining properties.

Now that the chains are off? Seam will heal. He will eat and stay full. He will absorb those calories and turn it into energy. And he will keep that energy. When he sleeps he will wake up feeling rested. He will heal, he will live.

For Seam, it was almost too good to be true. It just, it blew his mind. He was free. He was really free. No more pain, no more aches. No more hunger. His freedom truly starts here. The relief he felt can't be described. He cried, hard. But he also laughed, and for the first time in years, he smiled.

And Jevil? He couldn't speak. He just cried and cried and cried.. He couldn't let go of Seam. He couldn't stop looking at his wrists. Exanimating them over and over again. As if he couldn't truly believe it. All the anxiety, all the worry, all the sleepless nights. They were all over. Seam was gonna live, he didn't have to worry anymore. He couldn't let go of Seam, he couldn't stop shaking, he couldn't stop crying. He couldn't stop smiling.

They will likely leave some kind of permanent scar on Seam yes.. but his floofy orange fur hides the scars around his neck. And the scars on his wrists will be somewhat covered up by his fur. So thankfully they wont really be noticeable. <:)

@nunyabusiness459

Heck yeah. After they cry their souls out together they go and crash for like 6 hours or something XDD

(Also funny username, made me laugh! XD)

WAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! And heck yeah!! Feel free to send me your AU stuff when you're done/ready! I'd love to see it! :}}

@ocinstituterep I imagine he's just reeeeally quiet about sneaking out. My Kwazii doesn't sneak out though he knows better XD

Thank you so much! Also Spongebob has angst??? :00000

Things are mostly better!

Little Red got her knees fixed, Escorts broken down a few times but he's currently in working order! Suburban is stiillll a work in progress... undrivable at the moment- :x

Greenie now takes all 4 limbs to start, Brown is out of the garage and U.M is out of the trailer! Pretty good stuff :}}

(If any of that made sense to you I applaud you for your dedication to my Transformer ocs <XDD)

@skywillow28022

She does exist, although I didn't have any real plans for her.. maybe she was just a gal that the bros knew in passing back on Earth.?

@beryl-shade

I feel like none of them would willing visit that old stage.. expect for maybe Foxy. I feel like Foxy would be a very emotional and tender hearted character. I can see him not wanting to "leave them behind" in a way. He would come back now and then and talk to the stage as if they were standing on it and could hear him. The staff think that Foxy's programming just hasn't properly registered that Chica and Freddy are gone. And in a way.. they're right..

Foxy cant let go of their memory. And despite how much it would ache seeing that empty stage, I can see him coming back to it anyway..

This also means that part of the reason why Bonnie and Foxy clash so much now is that Bonnie is trying to snuff out any memories and feelings of the past. Meanwhile Foxy is wallowing in those memories and refuses to let go.

If any of the four of them had to preform on that stage once again? Oh man. That would hurt. It would kill Foxy to stand in the place of his late friends. He would feel guilty, ashamed.. Monty and Roxy also couldn't handle it. They would be crushed. Monty would likely get emotional and angry. Roxy would want to run and hide her face. Maybe the three of them would find a way to fake a malfunction so they could just get off the stage..

But Bonnie? Man. Maybe he's so overwhelmed that he just goes on autopilot and finishes the performance. Only to have a complete mental breakdown in his room later.. being so close to the memory of Chica and Freddy.. its crippling to him.

@skatermusic

Daww, thank you :}}}

[lucenare]

A letter to the Fable SMP

I'm going to pour my heart out into this post. So sit down, take a breath, and get ready for a walk through all the ways my life has been impacted. This is pretty heavy.

Warnings: discussions of bullying, death of people and animals

If you don't know me; Hi, my name is Rin Silas. You know me better as tumblr user Lucenare.

This starts before Fable began, with a buildup to me losing my love of cosplay, and what brought that back.

When I was in high school, I was a horror SFX cosplayer. I was going to cons all the time, finding my niche in the local cosplay community. Some of my friends came to be professional cosplayers. I did not. When I got diagnosed with POTS, cosplay became hard for me. I wasn't sure how to do it. I stopped being active. My self image plummetted. And one of my "friends" turned out to be an awful person. A professional cosplayer, who was a bully and made that self image worse. I couldn't go to certain cons for years because of her. She would bully people until they left if she saw them-- and she was so popular in the community. It crushed me, to see her rise in the community. It stripped the joy out of cosplay. I didn't *want* to be in this space, and it soured the craft.

I wanted to get back into it, but I was unsure of how. I started working on clothes again, making my outfit for senior prom. At my highest point mentally in all of high school, finally being creative in a way that made me feel good again, with a clear path for college; the world shut down. With all that free time, and multiple generations worth of fabric hordes, I started sewing again. My grandmother got me a graduation present- a heavy duty sewing machine all to myself. No more borrowing my moms. I sewed so many plushies durring that time- but I still wasnt making cosplays again.

And then the DreamSMP happened.

And then I signed up for Tiktok.

And suddenly, I had all of these tiktok cosplayers cosplaying minecraft cubitos all over my feed. No fear, just fun. All different body types- going crazy with it, not being "canon accurate"-- two things my "friend" had strongly ridiculed me for. And it was great. It felt so good, from my heavily sterilized cosplay scene, to see so much freedom and love put into it. I was too scared to cosplay again, but I saw a love put into it that I hadn't seen since I went to BLERD, a smaller local con geared towards minorities. All of these cosplayers- whos names we all know, as so many of them were part of Fable- let me see the love in something that had been taken from me again. And years later, I love cosplaying again. Without this, i don't know if I would have started cosplaying again.

And then those cosplayers started to cosplay their own characters- and they were all *connected*. It was such a pure form of enjoyment- watching people love what they had made enough to cosplay from it. And then I found myself tuning in to Sherbert's streams, mid corruption arc.

And that's how it started. My love for Fable. The impact it had on me- the vessel for healing my relationship with cosplay. I also healed my relationship with makeup in this time.

Throughout 2022, Fable was a source of fun, and something to look forward to. I loved it. It became a hyperfixation. I started cosplaying again, privately. I wanted to show my love for what was bringing me joy. As my grandmother who gifted me my sewing machine's health worsened, I met George witchcrafting in person for the first time, my work closed for remodel, and I became my grandmother's caretaker. Being woken up in the night to help her, until eventually I was sleeping at her house. Stay awake until 3 playing splatoon, wake up and watch whatever fable lore was happening to pass the time around caring for her.

By the end of this, I was waking up at 8 am and going to bed at 3 am, waking my mother up so I could get a couple hours of much needed sleep before doing it all again. Having to call my brother to watch her for a couple minutes at a time so I could go outside and cry. She was only on hospice for a week, that's how fast she got bad. She passed a week before Christmas, the night before my work re-opened. I was the only one awake.

Fable SMP became my escape from the grief and pain. The funeral was the day after my 21st birthday.

In Febuary 2023, I came home from my trip to visit my beloved GB for our anniversary, and my cat was sick. She passed a couple days later. Fable was once again my primary outlet. Being silly on tumblr was my primary outlet. I changed my url on my minecraft blog from craftsunemineku to lucenare. As more random cast members started following me, Ghosty started to mess with me in replies. I never let anyone know my twitch, though. I didn't want anyone to. I wanted to remain an Entity on tumblr.

Until Ghosty send me a meme, with an accidental spoiler of Allerion's mural in it. And that was too funny to pass up. The next time Ghosty was live, I subbed with prime, and hit him with the famed "oh tumblr user ghostyjpg we're really in it now" in my sub message.

I wouldn't be where I am today without that, truly. We were silly goofy, I got goofier on tumblr. I had been wanting to get back into streaming, as I had started to right before my grandmother's health had declined and had to stop almost immediately. I became a mod for Haunt, Ghosty's viewer smp.

In early July, I lost one of my guinea pigs. Jack's partner, Phineas. Phin was a birthday present I got when I turned 17. He was my emotional support for grief especially, and the world took him away when I needed him the most. A month later, the world took away my other cat, too. Three pets, and my grandmother.

Being Tumblr User Lucenare got me through the worst time of my life.

And then I started streaming again. And Ghosty grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and flung me. And because of that, I'm now a streamer, I've made so many friends. I changed my major-- the trajectory my life was on changed.

And here I am.

Without Fable, I would have never healed my relationship with cosplay the way I did. Without Fable, I would never have met the people I have. Without Fable, I wouldn't have started streaming again. Without Fable, I wouldn't have started Terramortis.

I hope that Terramortis can do for someone a fraction of what Fable did for me.

To Heyhay: thank you for being a creator I could look up to. For inspiring me to bring my crazy UV makeup into cosplay. Sorry Rae's Big Naturals ended up being a major bit on my streams, I dont know how that happened. Also thank you for the elytra tutorial on your youtube that is my Rock for texture pack things.

To Sherbert: thank you for helping heal my relationship with cosplay, even before you knew I existed. I will always appreciate that. Thank you for inspiring me to script out CMVs, showing your processes to the world, and inspiring me to change my major to one I actually enjoy.

To Ocie: Thank you for helping me get my dog back from Ethan and Eagle on EOD in season 4. Unbreakable bond of theres a rule written about us.

To Beck: my fellow old bay hater, thank you for joining my smp and all the silly conversations we've had. I cant wait to work with you more going forward.

To Connor: One day we need to make teas together on stream. You are a delight to know and never let anyone tell you otherwise. I can't wait to see where these bugs go.

To Ven: thank you for joining in on the occasional splaturday, even in chat. You are so brave for the costuming you're doing right now, I hope we can hang out more in the future and do cool things

And to Ghosty: Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for everything. Without you, I don't know where I'd be. Thank you for playing splatoon with me, for the silly messages I get, for all the little spoilers, accidental or otherwise. Thank you for helping me through one of the worst years of my life, before you even knew me. I genuinely did not know if I was going to make it through 2023. I did, in no small part thanks to you. I made it through and I thrived and the foundation for it was so simple. A meme. Some jokes. An accidental spoiler.

It's funny how fast your life can change.

So, to the cast of Fable:

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for building this story and this community. This community that saved me, that guided me through the dark. That allowed me to meet my dear friends that I have now. I am meeting so many people at vidcon this year, so many friends that I didn't have a year ago are now some of my closest.

I can't wait to see what comes next, and I can't wait to create with some of you.

Thank you, so much, for everything.

[hmshermitcraft]

been thinking about my Splatoon au and went. What If It Was Skizzpulse. bc in the original idea they're just best friends but,,,, I'm in the mood for gay people tonight. also the original au was inspired by rose_kitty's ranchers-centric Splatoon au, which has ex-agent skizz, so..... yeah!

also they're not in an established romantic relationship in this one. yet

also also this is written by an aroace person idk how crushes work

----

Skizz hasn't been sleeping well.

He doesn't know why.

Actually, that's a lie- he does know why, but he thought he got over it years ago! And yet, he's on his third day with about three hours of sleep in total, having woken up from night terrors he doesn't remember and then being unable to fall back asleep. And just because he doesn't remember them doesn't mean he doesn't know what they were about. Images of dead Octarians and Octolings haunt him on the daily. Even more after he learned they hadn't been attacking of their own free will. His roommate notices, of course. On the first day after the night terrors (re)started, he got some playful teasing from Impulse, who was unaware of why Skizz didn't sleep. On the second, there was genuine concern. And now it's the third day, and Skizz is pretty sure he's about to be subject to an intervention.

This is proven correct when Impulse practically ambushes him when he gets home, drags him to his own bed (his own, not Skizz's(!!! (skizz should probably be feeling less Emotions about this)), forces him to lay down, gets Kevin(bubblesmalonerefrigeratorjimmymadeyedugan(espacitoappleseed)) the mudpuppy to lay on top of him so he can't move, and then asks, "What's up with you?"

For some reason, that's all it takes for Skizz to cave. And, yes, Impulse put aside his own distaste for physical affection in order to cuddle skizz until he fell asleep (and stayed asleep), but no, that did not make Skizz feel any particular way! His hearts did not beat faster at the physical proximity, thank you very much! And he definitely didn't spend the next few days thinking about how caring Impulse is, willing to go through discomfort just to make his friends feel better...

Impulse just listened. He didn't interrupt Skizz, or try and comfort him, just made the appropriate noises when Skizz expected them (he didn't even realise he was expecting them!)

And he slept. Not peacefully, but not fitfully, either. Because every time he woke up, Impulse was drooling by his side and Kevin was lying across his front. He could feel Kevin breathe, or watch Impulse's chest rise and fall. And he fell back asleep, every single time.

How can he not think about it? What did he do to deserve such kindness?

Impulse would probably hit him for thinking that about himself too. Ugh! What a stupid, kind idiot.

[terminatorbuns]

The Deep Cut Deep Dive: Overthinking the Deep Cut Dynamic in Excruciating Detail (An essay by @TerminatorBuns)

This was originally posted on Reddit, but I want to share with Tumblr to see if Tumblr likes this format more. Also because I'm close to finishing a second essay about Deep Cut, focusing on Frye.

Deep Cut is great, I love them, and their relationship dynamic lives rent free in my head. The one thing Nintendo did for us this time is drop story mode lore for Deep Cut on Day 1, and it has fleshed out their relationship dynamic in IMMENSE detail, enough to rival what we know about Off the Hook. How much detail are we talking about, you might ask? A FUCKING LOT it turns out! We're talking about Tableturf secrets, we're talking about Frye's feet, we're talking about the implications of Big Man's breakfast on the course of his artistic development, this shit goes DEEP. I don't know who needs to hear this but Splatoon idol lore is the meatiest part of Splatoon world building and an absolutely BONKERS ride. I want to take you through that journey if you haven't been on it before, or just need more fuel for your lore headcanons.

I wish this was a bit more academic but I didn't have the time and patience to cite everything with game screenshots, so I'm assuming whoever is reading this has already played the story mode and has a rough idea of what I'm talking about. Spoilers obviously. At the very least I hope this will be an entertaining rant, feel free to yell at me in comments about stuff I got wrong, I welcome the discourse.

1. A Bunch of Theatre Nerds

Deep Cut primarily differs from Off the Hook in one way: they do not specialize in music, but in THEATRE. Each of the two humanoid idols are designed from the ground up to represent two different forms of traditional Japanese theatre, and it ties deeply into their dual roles in the game. The important takeaway is that each idol excels in one art, but struggles at the other, and we will explore what this means. Let's talk about Shiver and Frye; Big Man is a special case, we'll have to put a pin in him and come back to that.

2. Shiver is Rakugo

Shiver is a performer of Rakugo, or Japanese seated story telling. Deep Cut's day job as newscasters is represented as a Rakugo performance, and Shiver brings a fan and a little table to the job, both common props in Rakugo. Shiver exhibits all the qualities of a strong Rakugo artist, she sits in a Seiza kneeling position with excellent posture, and delivers the news with wit and poise. She has excellent, sharp facial expressions that she directs straight at the audience, she uses her fan to gesture in ways to attract attention, and she punctuates her delivery by tapping her fan against her table to create little sound cues for a listener. Her approach to drawing an audience to her words is multilayered and complex, and her vocal skills as a storyteller seems to parallel her strong vocals when singing (not that you can tell how good her diction is since she speaks in warbly Squid-Gibberish).

Frye is much less skilled by contrast, for a number of reasons. She doesn't even attempt to sit in a Seiza stance, and in fact can barely sit still without attempting to wiggle off her cushion. From a general speaking perspective, Frye fails to establish eye contact with the audience because she's always staring at the other two performers, whoever is speaking at the time. She also lacks all of Shiver's propwork and has no intentionality in her gestures. She compensates for her weak delivery with goofy, high energy antics that are charming in her own way, and this is what earned Frye a reputation as a fidgety gremlin baby compared to the cool, sophisticated Shiver. Before launch that was everyone's impression of Frye, but the arrival of story mode dropped a massive bomb on us that flips the dynamic COMPLETELY UPSIDE DOWN. Feet are involved, let's discuss.

3. Frye is Kabuki

Story mode showed us Deep Cut as a hilarious team rocket like villain team, but the bigger takeaway is that we finally see Frye in her preferred art form: Kabuki stage performance. Frye's entire villain persona is a stage act, she thrives as a stage villain and has the charisma and skills to back it up. I should note that Frye doesn't practice pure Kabuki with all of its strict discipline, but Frye isn't full, or even partially Japanese herself, since she's very much South East Asian in design. She has her own, maybe(?) SEA inspired take on stage performance, but some of her stances in the later sections of story mode are unmistakably Kabuki, it's clear where she draws inspiration for her style from.

Villain Frye is amazing, she's confident and charismatic, and genuinely menacing in demeanor before her fight. She has a professional code of conduct as a villain: she states her intentions clearly, paying respect to the player before her boss fight and offering to negotiate before fighting. She's the only one who correctly uses her smoke bomb correctly to make a dramatic exit, and she names all of her meticulously choreographed attack patterns like a proper anime villain.

Conversely, story mode is where we finally see Shiver struggle. Her villain performance is fun, yet inconsistent: she's unnecessarily melodramatic and overacts every scene, and she throws petty insults at you before breaking character to just try to run you over with a shark-bike. She fumbles her smoke bomb and becomes increasingly frustrated everytime you knock her down, unlike Frye who doesn't break character and recovers immediately after she is downed. Shiver still makes a fun, campy comedy relief villain, but she visibly loses the confidence and dignity she had as a Rakugo performer, highlighting how much she is out of her element. In Shiver's defense, she does manage to pull off that absurd sleight of hand in her intro where she switches her mask for her fan while delivering the spiciest piercing gaze, while Frye just chucks her mask off screen instead. Once again Shiver's dexterity in her face and her hands are her strongest tools.

4. Frye's feet

I feel like an absolute lunatic writing this section, but I assure you there is genuinely a need to discuss this topic in length. Forget Frye's forehead for a second, her FEET are easily her most important assets. Frye uniquely emotes with her feet more than any other idol the same way Shiver emotes with her hands, except Shiver's hands don't have enough lore significance to fill a whole section. Frye's feet DO. I would go so far as to say Frye's feet are one of the most SIGNIFICANT visual tools we have for contextualizing the difference between Frye and Shiver's entire professional art forms. Strap in.

For starters, Frye's footwork is MONSTROUSLY powerful. Take a look at her during her boss fight, she's playing an instrument, and hopping up and down on an Octostomp like it's a goddamn circus ball. It doesn't take a single eel hit to knock her off balance, you have to send her ENTIRE eel army at her before you can knock her down! I think the eels inside her Octostomp are moving it, so in theory she's not piloting it with pure foot power, but also she kicks it onto its side before she starts blowing into her flute?!! I have no idea, I can barely comprehend what is happening here.

At the same time, her feet fully solidifies her ties to Kabuki. Kabuki is an art form done without shoes, and since she performs her villain persona outdoors, she doesn't wear shoes anywhere. Kabuki is also a full body art form which requires precision footwork, and she has that in spades. This is in stark contrast to Shiver, whose seated Rakugo performance has no footwork whatsoever. Shiver's footwork is comparatively weak as a result.

Don't get me wrong, Shiver has enough footwork to dance in blocky Geisha shoes (I've been told they are Okobo shoes), but it's in a stage performance capacity where Shiver's footwork completely falls apart. Shiver doesn't know how to express body language through footwork, so she DOESN'T. Shiver stands completely in place during her villain performance and tries to compensate with her upper body expressions, but this lets Frye completely dominate her in stage presence. In most scenes with both idols, Frye physically takes up more of the screen through footwork: she positions herself one or more steps TOWARDS the audience and literally looks BIGGER as a result. Frye's full body poses are also wide and faces the audience/camera at an angle that maximizes her surface area to attract visual interest, which is a core Kabuki concept that, again, requires intentional footwork and positioning. Shiver poses with her feet together and her body turned to the side, so her screen presence is minimal every single time. In fact, she uses her feet so little in her villain performance that she's the one member of Deep Cut that fights on a vehicle and has no mobility of her own!

At the same time, Frye's feet are double edged swords and her greatest weaknesses. Take a look at Frye while she is newscasting, what is she doing in her default pose? Yeah that's right, HOLDING HER FEET. Her Kabuki background is so used to full body acting that she's restless sitting still, and she's holding down her feet because they literally want to EXIT THE PREMISES. Every once in a while she fails to contain herself and kicks off in every direction, threatening to kick a hole in Big Man's TV and boot Shiver's table off the stage. Frye's feet are a MENACE.

5. Big Man and Amateurism

Remember at the beginning we put a pin in Big Man? His arms are getting tired so we're letting him down from the wall now.

So how does Big Man fit into this dynamic? Nintendo confirmed that he is their composer, so he provides a music background to the team whereas the other two are theatre nerds. Big Man is unique in that his talents are largely background work, unlike our other two idols who specialize in stage work. However, that makes him a bit of an outlier in terms of theatrical performance. He follows Shiver and Frye around to both their performances but doesn't have much proficiency in either one. As a newscaster he stumbles over his words often, and his villain persona is just his regular persona but slightly angrier. He doesn't really dance and sing particularly well either, there's a sequence in the Anarchy Rainbow choreography where Big Man nearly smacks the other two idols out of clumsiness. Big Man is an odd duck in the Deep Cut trio, and yet, this is a central aspect of his design and his appeal, it's kind of the point.

The central theme of the Deep Cut dynamic is Amateurism, and this ties into Splatoon 3's core theme of Chaos. Each humanoid idol is a master at a specific performance art, and an amateur at the other art form, but the important part is that they show up anyways to clown around, and that in and of itself adds a distinct flavor to the performance despite their individual weaknesses. The chaos of Splatoon 3 is the contrast between a professional artist on a stage next to two absolute goobers, and the chaotic, yet dynamic performance that results from three artists of different skill levels colliding. In that sense, Big Man is the true amateur who shows up to everything in an effort to contribute, and his bumbling inexperience is extremely lovable. This is in direct contrast to the Off the Hook dynamic, as both members of Off the Hook are musically talented and completely aligned in their artistic interests, while the members of Deep Cut have differing interests but will always show up for each other, like absolute BROS.

The Big Man discussion does not end here, however. Big Man's sunken scroll depicts him as a member of the prestigious Manta Clan, with the fanciest dining set while the text describes the Manta Clan's meticulous breakfast habits. Shiver and Frye's sunken scrolls, in contrast, describe the ancient artistic history that both of them descend from. Jumping into story theories at this point, I would personally guess that Big Man comes from a different economic background than the other two. Splatsville appears to have the aesthetics of a rural city after a rapid expansion, many of the buildings are cluttered and old looking in contrast to some infrastructure that looks very new. If we assume that Shiver and Frye's families have lived in this area for quite some time, it would be quite likely that they were poor or middle class, partially explaining their concern for the underprivileged citizens of Splatsville. Big Man on the other hand looks like he comes from the richest, snobbiest kind of high society family. He's a fancy fancy boy.

The more important takeaway is this: Big Man seems to come from a family background that prioritizes formality and rules over personal expression. From this we can make an educated guess that Big Man started his theatrical journey LATER IN LIFE. Shiver and Frye could easily have been practicing stage performance from early childhood through their family history, but Big Man's family traditions doesn't lend itself well to open self expression, and whatever artistic ability he might have gained through his family does not translate well to the stage! Big Man's exposure to theatre would have happened outside of his family, possibly after he gained some amount of independence from them. I'd hazard a guess that his friendship with Frye and Shiver might even be the starting point of his stage career!

Shiver and Frye are letting Big Man, maybe even encouraging him, to perform with them on stage despite him being a relative newcomer to theatre. There's relatively little judgement, they too understand that all artists have been amateurs at some point in their journey, and continue to be amateurs at other art forms even after mastering their own. My boy is doing his absolute best to perform alongside his theatrical seniors and it's so precious. This dynamic is wholesome beyond my wildest expectations, I am HEALED.

6. Tableturf and Artistic Priorities

I added this section last because I only discovered this information after I had completed my original draft, and Nintendo is actively fucking with me at this point. Each of the three idols have personality traits that come through in their TABLETURF dialogue, of all places, and it's kind of the final piece that makes the Deep Cut dynamic click for me. Through their tableturf dialogue we learn a lot about each member's priorities as an artist, enough for us to explore in detail.

Shiver is an audience focused artist. Her focus in tableturf is centered on you, the opponent, and she makes it a matter of personal pride to compete against you and she takes her victories and losses very personally. No matter the outcome she requests a rematch, because her priority is the opponent's experience, as she seeks the approval of her audience. Her eye contact and graceful mannerisms are as sharp as ever up close as she is on stage. This plays well with the second aspect of her artistry, which is the fact that she has a Geisha aesthetic in addition to her Rakugo specialty. Hospitality and direct conversational interactions are a part of both jobs, even if she secretly has a bit of an ego and barely resists gloating if she wins.

Big man is a self-focused artist. He comes off as awkward and shy in a tableturf match, and we get to see a little bit of the bubbling insecurity behind Big Man's jolly smile. Big man's lack of stage performance abilities translates into his social interactions as well, and he uses self deprecation to downplay his abilities and expects to lose, being pleasantly surprised if he wins. What Big Man is primarily looking for is a kind of self-acceptance, as an amateur artist he wants to hone his abilities to a point that he can be confident in himself, and he shows the same anxiety in his social interactions and tableturf games. No matter if he wins or loses, his primary focus is on his own performance, and he mostly comments on whether or not he has met his own expectations. Every small victory seems to do great things for his self esteem and you just want this boy to be happy, let him win at card games.

Frye's tableturf mannerisms is the most interesting, as it turns out, and is actually the reason I even wrote this section (my Frye bias strikes again). The most important detail is that she fails to make eye contact with the player, AGAIN, just like when she's newscasting! At face value this is VERY strange: in the news room she is clearly staring at whoever's talking, but in a direct conversation with you, why does she still not look at you? I've also seen people complaining that she's one of the only players that insults the player after a win and makes no attempt to console the player, and that is completely true. What isn't very obvious is the additional layer of meaning in the same win dialogue that really clarifies her priorities in the moment, and this is a CRUCIAL piece of Frye's characterization. When she wins her first instinct is to tell SHIVER and BIG MAN about her victory.

Remember that Kabuki is a stage performance with multiple artists in multiple roles. Rakugo can be performed solo, and Big Man seems to compose solo as well, but Frye's Kabuki actively requires the participation of other artists, it is a collaborative performancr. This brings us to the realization that Frye is a uniquely TEAM focused artist amongst Deep Cut: her top priority is her bandmates, at all times! Frye NEEDS Deep Cut, her personal style of theatre doesn't even work without friends, and she's fixated on maintaining her friend group as a result. Frye is able to focus on an audience when she is actively doing her job as a Kabuki artist, but any other time she starts spacing out because she simply spends all her energy thinking about ways to impress her bandmates! She comes off as dismissive to the player, because her mind is literally wandering to her band friends, even when they are not around! Deep Cut means the world to Frye in a way that isn't as meaningful for her friends, and she's made herself into the glue that holds this friend group together; Frye is very much the heart of the Deep Cut trio. Frye's dedication to her friends is the actual CUTEST detail in this entire game, I CANNOT believe they hid this information in tableturf. Why is Nintendo like this?!!

7. Conclusion

Splatoon's world building is extremely art centric, and the lore they write for their fictional artists is some of their best, most detailed work. Looking at Splatoon lore through an artistic lens is extremely rewarding because there are secrets and details everywhere. I've obsessed over Off the Hook's similarly complicated character dynamic in the past, and Deep Cut is really making me relive those memories like that dude from Ratatouille, it's hitting me HARD.

In some ways even this write up is only a surface reading, I'm no expert on traditional Japanese theatre or SEA culture and I have no idea how many details can be uncovered by an actual expert. I also have no music background and the Splatoon team hides fricking lore in the fricking OST and I cannot begin to unpack any of that. I fully expect that there's more details I've missed or have gotten wrong, but I hope I've at least established how deep this rabbit hole goes, and how much fun it is to dig through Splatoon lore instead of getting enough sleep.

Anyways the next time someone asks me why Frye is best girl I'm gonna have 3000 words of documentation to show them.

8. Miscellaneous notes

- What is going on with Shiver's shoes, they don't have straps, how do they stay on? Are they glued to her socks? Does she have to take the sock part off to remove the shoe? She has to take her shoes off to perform on a tatami mat, but we can't see what's going on back there feet wise since she has a Rakugo table in front. Is her lower body even rendered back there? I draw fan art, I need to know this stuff.

- Shiver likes to take jabs at Big Man sometimes that he struggles to respond to, being a less experienced conversationalist and just socially awkward in general. It's not necessarily malicious, however, Shiver could just be giving him opportunities to practice his conversation skills and keep him in the discussion. Plus he's very cute when flustered, I dunno that Shiver can resist prodding him.

- Big man is differently abled in a very literal sense. He has no hands or feet with which to emote, he's trying his best to express himself with his flappy fins. He barely has functional vocal cords, just going AY and making warbling fish noises all the time. Big Man's body isn't great at singing or dancing, but it is very good at things that Manta Rays are traditionally good at. He mentions being able to filter feed, and his mobility is remarkably good in swim form. Big Man is also a pretty dangerous predator unless you have the sensor upgrade.

- Shiver's family situation is kind of a mystery, how do they have a tradition of Shark taming if Octarian society is a militaristic dictatorship run by DJ Octavio? I suspect that Shiver was never a part of his army and there are Octarians living outside of his rule. She's definitely a Splatlands native, members of Octavio's Octo Canyon army should have been able to identify Callie and Marie easily.

- Shiver's aesthetic shifts to a violent Bōsōzoku biker gang aesthetic when she boards Master Mega, since he's outfitted with motorcycle parts and wears those bad boy sunglasses. It's a sharp contrast to her polite Geisha presentation, and so is her entire villain persona. This is what I mean when I say Shiver's performance style is inconsistent, but Shiver's two-faced presentation is also super fun to watch and kind of her entire appeal. There's an aggressive pettiness underneath the polite outward presentation and the gap between her two personalities is peak comedy. - I only just recently realized that she's a Geisha with a shaved punk cut and that's amazing: https://www.reddit.com/r/splatoon/comments/xk5mtx/did_yall_notice_shivers_head_is_supposed_to_be/

[coldgoldlazarus]

Oh! Sorta responding to the "responding to sexualizing woman. Don't." post. What are your thoughts on Smash Ultimate altering Zero Suit Samus' design? Personally not a fan of it compared to Smash 4. I liked her bigger boobs. 😔

I don't really pay that much attention to Smash, honestly, (fighting games just aren't my thing as is, and I'm not attached to 95% of Nintendo's stuff the same way I am with Metroid (even if I am curious about Zelda and Splatoon)) so I don't really care that much one way or another. But I guess my take is, on one hand I respect the attempt to dial back on Samus's sexualization². On the other hand, as the full un-blackouted version of that post said, focusing on boob size to do so instead of other elements of design, both doesn't really address the actual problems, and kinda carries some dubious implications¹.

But on the other other hand, I remember the ridiculous blowback and controversy from Those Kinds Of Gamers™ being just, embarassing to watch, and I wish Samus hadn't been stuck at the center of that, but I kinda support the move on that front, catering to the assholes that much less, even and especially when they made a huge overblown fuss about it.

So it kinda balances out to a net result of "ehh whatever" either way.

---

¹The interplay of boobs and sexualization is of course it's own complicated topic, honestly. In an ideal (but hopefully attainable) world, the nipple would be free and breast size would be culturally sexually neutral - as with really any aspect of appearance. Particular people might have particular preferences, but it would be a purely personal thing without an established cultural yardstick to literally measure oneself up against. Unfortunately, we don't currently live in an ideal world, and that yardstick does exist (which is why all the Gamer Bros were so Big Mad over the Smash Samus breast reduction in the first place) and has to be contended with, so it's kind of a catch-22.

I do think breast size shouldn't be tied to sexualization, and unfortunately reducing one in the name of reducing the other, does just kinda serve to reinforce the base assumption of their tie being inherent. At the same time, while a real-life person having giant G-cups might have my sympathy for the back pain involved and little more thought than that, a character designed that same way would definitely have me questioning the creative intent behind that. So I do think there is kind of at least an upper limit to boob size in character design, past which it's hard not to assume sexualization is at play; even if I personally try to set that upper limit a bit higher than some people, and put more stock in other contextual aspects of the character design and source media before jumping to conclusions.

---

There's also a larger discussion to be had around like, what sexualization even is, types of sexualization and appeal, whether or not it's even a bad thing and when and why it is or isn't, and the cultural yardstick stuff surrounding that, but I don't quite have the brainpower or desire to get into all that right now. The distinction between why 2B from Nier Automata being sexualized can be criticized but is also mostly fine, whereas the gal from Stellar Blade being sexualized in a similar way is more dubious; and how the culture they both exist in impacts things, compared to if they existed in a vaccuum or a completely different zeitgeist. I guess a summary of my feeling there is that once again it really just depends from case to case; and the context of creative intent, execution, impact, and just how much narrative sense it makes, are key.

---

²Which brings me back to Samus. I'm running out of steam so I'm just gonna do a quick lightning round.

- Do I have a problem with the broad idea of her being sexualized? Not necessarily. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense for her role as a bounty hunter, but it can serve well as part of her personal characterization, and metanarratively as part of the subversion of gender roles and stuff that she can be read as. (Though that in of itself gets into some thorny bigger topics around gender I also don't have the energy for rn.)

- Do I take issue with the specific way most of her canonical appearances do it? Yes, and I've talked at length in other posts about how I think they should do things instead.

- Does her presentation in Smash matter nearly as much as her presentation in the actual Metroid games? Ehh, mostly not, but it would be nice if she was represented better there.

- Do I think her breast size matters all that much? Generally not, barring of course the aformentioned upper limit of reasonability; the problem is more in other aspects of the design. Again, I didn't have a problem with the original boob size or the reduction, so much as Zero Suit Samus's overall design in the first place.

- How should they actually fix those in Smash, then? IMO there are two different approaches there. The simpler way would be to redesign Zero Suit Samus from the ground up to be less of a latex-clad barbie doll. Dread's buffer ZSS model is a pretty good show of how to accomplish that without drastically altering the design; though I also think the Zero Suit itself is in need of a moderate rework, to feel more like the astronaut's undersuit and conduit with the Powersuit that it's excused as in the lore.

The other option would be to address the whole weird thing of Zero Suit Samus for some reason being counted as a completely separate playable character from (Powersuit) Samus, and coalesce them together back into one thing. (Possibly with the option to switch modes at will, or being forced into Zero Suit mode on her last life, or something like that.) This would definitely more significantly impact her place in Smash and would probably cause an uproar that would make the boob controversy look like nothing, but it would be worth it for the greater character accuracy IMO. Honestly of the two options... Well, I'd just prefer they do both, but I think if I had to pick, I'd want the full redesign more.

[dogtoling]

your oc lore heavily revolves around krakening you say 👀?? I really enjoy your splatoon ocs and i remember peppermint has a kraken condition of some sort (btw she’s one of my favourites i love her :3), but I don’t know much about your lore for it besides the contents of the kraken special post. can you share anything further about it, or point me to any posts where you’ve talked about it before?

Thank you! it makes me really happy when people like seeing my OCs. And to be fair Peppermint seems to be the one I draw the most lately... her lore specifically centers around the Kraken a LOT. Honestly, as for stuff about it, I don't really have much more than the Kraken post out in public (everything lives rent free in my brain). This comic i started making the other day taking place in like 2021 is extremely relevant to this topic... it's going to have at least one continuation, and i find it funny that the kraken was revealed to be re-added to the game literally 1 day after i posted this

But the gist of it is that yeah Peppermint does have Kraken syndrome, which triggered in around 2014 - she'd been playing for like four years OBSESSIVELY and she was kind of insane about turf wars. Per my story, her main was the Krak-On Splat Roller (and later the Custom Range Blaster) but uh... canonically, we don't know ANYTHING about the turf war scene prior to 2015 and whether those weapons existed at all yet, so you have to use your imagination on that. (I WISH WE KNEW, BY THE WAY.) She was genuinely going to pursue becoming a professional ink battler, but obviously her body said otherwise because involuntarily Krakening because you got too stoked about the match or got a bit too heated about an enemy player is kind of bad. Like really bad on every possible level.

So needless to say, she had to quit very much to her dismay and it was a primary reason why the blue team (which Engel was also part of!) ended as a whole. Doctors were busting their ass trying to figure out what the hell was triggering the transformations and why it was so easy, given that the drug was probably fairly new at the time and she was likely one of the first people out there to have Kraken Syndrome (Krakening like 6 times a day will do that to you), at least two years before cases of it would start more commonly popping up.

She's had meds for it for years and they seem to work fine, so it's not really a problem for her (except in the mornings sometimes and if she like, forgets to take them.) but she did go like the entire Splatoon 2 era without attending turf wars pretty much at all just because she was really worried things were going to go south, and again, none of her teammates really play anymore. She returned to Turf Wars for the first time in forever last year sort of on impulse as her and Amber happened to land in Splatsville just in time for the Rock-Paper-Scissors Splatfest and decided hey, why not. (then proceeded to be on different teams, so never mind.)

Um, she's been using the Splat Roller lately and enjoying more of a support position instead of Kill Everything Immediately, but now her actual main is coming back, WITH THE KRAKEN... I don't think she's going to be taking up on that offer and I don't think she's super thrilled about it.

however, here's a bonus picture of her from like, 2018-2019? having a kraken moment in her house.

[roseofblogging]

Measuring Up Short

I've battled with wanting to Be the Best (like no one ever was) for much of my life, probably all the way back to when I was a kid watching shows and playing games where the main character also had a quest of trying to be the best. Sometimes they actually were the best, and sometimes they weren't, but they were always trying. I'm pretty ambitious by nature, but not in a healthy way, I don't think. I imagine a healthier version of ambition is consistently challenging yourself without shaming yourself for not meeting lofty goals. It probably comes with more reasonable benchmarks for progress, and is more inward-focused than on outward results. And I try to embody that. I think I succeed sometimes.

But trying to progress while keeping negative self-talk at bay is so exhausting, and it's not something I can easily maintain if other things are compounding my stress and worsening my mental health. If it's something impacting only me, I try to take a break. (I think I succeed at that maybe 20% of the time I try. Actually resting without shaming yourself for it is hard.) But as I've gotten into competitive Splatoon and assumed the captain position of the team, I often feel like I have to keep going regardless, solely because of the pressures I place on myself to be there for others. (Note to self: maybe figure out a co-captain situation.)

We're nearing the end of the groups stage of LUTI (Leagues Under the Ink--a competitive Splatoon tournament in which people are sorted into divisions based on skill level and then have a match each week). I'm very tired. It feels like you need to commit a lot of your time to it in a way you don't have to for a tournament that has you play a bunch of matches for a couple hours. If you find out morning of that you are just not feeling it, you can drop out, no harm no foul. But I feel way worse about wanting to drop from LUTI, because matches are planned out in advance. We're on week 5, the last* week of the group stages. (*Last, unless you're in our situation and due to various circumstances with three teams, we've had to reschedule 3 out of 5 for the "Reschedule Week" aka Week 6.) I rapidly picked up a new weapon, our whole team is sort of figuring out how to play in the current meta, we're having to adapt, and it's been a gigantic struggle in which I know all of us have things to improve, but I'm just gonna be way harder on myself.

But why are we so often the hardest on ourselves? Why is that such a relatable struggle? I suspect some of this has to do with my ADHD and the underlying trauma of undiagnosed neurodivergence as a child with comorbid anxiety. Something about how we see other people doing things and it (seemingly) coming more natural to them, but we have to put in so much more effort to put on a good face, make friends, be social, do well in school, pretend to pay attention, etc. and when the mask slips, it feels really embarrassing. Because if they can do it, why can't I? I used to think I've been so judgmental of myself because I was pretty judgmental of others, but I think it's actually the other way around. I think I've been way harsher on myself from a young age, and then that developed into being spiteful at other people when they either do things effortlessly or don't even bother putting in the work like I have. Because if they're not working hard, then I have to ask why I care so much about being perceived as good at something.

But then there's all the other stuff I do. So many of my creative projects stall out and make me think no one would care if they came to fruition. Streaming on Twitch often feels like a slog (and makes terrible money, but at least that's like a "part-time job"). My freelance dayjob has me working on constant projects without ever feeling like I have room for a real break, or no client seems to have anything for me so I have a ton of free time yet feel guilty about that, and it pays terribly, too. I wish people were excited to engage with stuff that I've worked on, but I just never really get that vibe from others.

Anyway, this is probably the last time I do LUTI. Time to stick to occasional weekend tournaments and practices rather than working super hard to practice 3-4x a week, just for another match to be rescheduled (not that those teams are being malicious--just unfortunate timing) or for us to get our butts handed to us.

how does one properly take a break? like a real break?

thank you for reading whatever this tangent is; enjoy this gif of two adorable kittens!

[the-lost-kemetic]

I'm back!

I'm back from my little hiatus, so I'll start to get back into posting from now on. What happened to me?

Essentially, I'm a college student. This month has been terrible for me, due to the fact that I've been busy with midterms. They're over now, so I should be back into a normal posting schedule (meaning, posting whenever the hell I want).

For those of you who might be interested in following my main blog it's @sabels-small-sphere. I talk about non-pagan and non-witchcraft stuff there, including media I'm interested in (Splatoon, Okami, Legend of Zelda, and much more) and I also talk about my WIPs. I've been taking a ton of time to focus on those as well, so if you're looking for fantasy stories centering queer and/or black characters, feel free to follow. This blog will stay pagan focused, although I may occasionally reblog some of my writing content. If you don't want to see that, feel free to mute the #sabels-drabbles tag.

New content below the cut. It's pretty short, but I figured I'd write something new.

The gods don't care if you have a lapse in worship. As a devotee, I've always felt like I must worship the gods at all times. That if I don't somehow that makes me less of a devotee. It's one of my insecurities I'm trying to curb because I don't need to worship them all the time.

Midterms really messed up my schedule for everything. Regardless of how hard I tried, it seemed like I could never get back into a good schedule to worship or give offerings. I felt like a failure, like the gods didn't care about me because "how dare I not worship them the way a true devotee should??"

And of course, having depression just makes everything worse! Sometimes it feels like I can never catch a break.

But being on spring break this week really opened my eyes to the fact that, no, I'm not a failure for not worshipping every day. Personally, I believe that me just living my life to the fullest, gaining success in my college life, and not caring about what others say about me—as cliché as it sounds—is the best way to show my dedication and devotion to the gods. After all, what's a devotee if they're hurting themselves while trying to worship?

[the-rookinator-3000]

IM SORRYYYY I LIKE CALLIE! SHES SILLY AND GOOFY AND VERY NICE I CAN ADMIT THAT! I JUST... don't really have a favorite... i always cared way more about salmon run stuff than literally anything else in the game...

and speaking of which oh my god FINALLY someone who also loves salmon run. i'm so enamored with the horror aspect of it. just the whole system of going to war with the honor of accepting a death fought tooth and nail for... a massive swarm of bloodthirsty fish who want nothing more than to see your ink on the walls... and man it is INTENSE. splat3 salmon run is SO MUCH HARDER than splat2. way more mobs and way tougher ranks - the danger percent can go up to 333%. insane. and then of course the lore of the gamemode itself is great too - even beyond splat3's story mode, it's so fascinating to see their culture and the kinds of fish that can develop depending on conditions. and of course the aesthetic of it being much more grungy and dark and industrial than the rest of splatoon is just so very good.

i doubt you have a favorite fish (i mean what kinda crazy guy would! hahah °_ °") but please allow me to tell you how much i LOVE horrorboros. first of all he looks so fucking awesome. very solid design and detail. and he looks like a SNAKE FISH. two of the world's greatest creations in ONE... AND he KILLED it in the first impressions department! like:

HOW AWESOME IS THAT??? i'll tell you just how awesome it is: HELLA!!!!!

secondly, the symbolism of horrorboros' original symbol (uroboros as i'm sure you're aware of) is just SUCH an incredible pick for salmon run. first of all, it's just a very good ancient symbol in general (i'm a sucker for cyclical motifs that embody infinity...) and secondly it is very fitting to the salmonid's culture in general! the strong focus on consumption and a salmon's life cycle in general, with the babies using the nutrients from their parent's corpse (it isn't exactly pretty) to survive, both make uroboros an incredible pick to draw inspiration from for a king salmonid. i love horrorboros so very much. what a great snake fish <3

(if you do happen to have a favorite salmonid... feel free to tell me... :-) i quite enjoy the salmonids if you couldn't tell already)

GOOD. BE SORRY >:[ and HEY YEA i've always been a big fan of salmon run's COMPLETELY different vibe from the rest of splatoon (u could argue it fits with splat 3, but that also is cuz of the whole "chaos" theme ehehaha) (<- just realized u already said this whilr i was reading back whoops)

im gonna put more of my opinions here...

OKAY SO yes!!! i really love the horror parts of salmon run! usually splatoon handles horror in very subtle ways, like the unnerving sounds hidden in splat 1 + 2 and octo expansion's whole sanitization thing, but salmon run went ALL OUT and i love it

i had stopped playing splat 3 around the time horrorboros was introduced, but the posts i saw abt it were HORRIFYING, especially it's scream! splatoon could traumatize an 8 yr old child...

salmon run has always been very interesting, from the design taking the "octos use scrap for their tech" concept to a WHOOLE another level never ceases to amaze me how much effort the splatoon team put into that mode... especially with the symbolism you mentioned earlier! salmon run has a very unnerving feel to it, i recall it's lore also had something to do with splatoon's religion themes?? although it has a good chance to be another reference, it is very interesting...

also, my fav salmonid is the maws and the big shot!! i dont know i jus like them... ive killed a lot of maws but i think they are growing on me....

[mossible]

ALRIGHT i’d like to preface that this is most likely gonna be really rambly (mostly due to excitement), but i promise that some questions will be sprinkled here and there as well, just bear with me LMAO ANYWAYS

with that out the way, i just finished reading all the chapters you’ve released of Cracked Snowglobes so far, and WOW you’ve done such an amazing job with it!! seriously, the way you’ve characterized everyone, especially octavio, just makes my heart sing. i feel like nintendo’s slept on developing octavio within splatoon’s story modes when there’s SO much available that they could work with, so reading your interpretation is such a fresh breath of air. what inspired you to write it from his perspective?

also, i love how splatoon’s silliness and flair is still present without interrupting the genuine and heartfelt scenes; the story naturally ebbs and flows (sorry not sorry :)) between the two wonderfully, it’s really a treat to read. speaking of the pacing, you’ve done the cuttletavio content SO WELL. i really appreciate the seeds you’ve planted throughout the story, because it creates a solid foundation for their relationship to grow from and, well, make their development believable! after all, the two of them have been through a LOT, so it makes sense that’d it take a while to work through it all.

before i finish, here’s some misc. questions for you! what have you learned about yourself while writing this fic? did of any scenes leave you stumped on how you were gonna approach it? what’s your greatest strength and weakness as a writer? and lastly, what’s your favorite scene you’ve written so far? feel free to answer as many or as few of those questions as you’d like!

thank you so much for the time and effort you’ve put into the fic so far!! it’s evident you’ve done your research, and i can’t wait to read what comes next! wherever the story goes, i’ll be there for the ride!! :))

OMG HI!! sorry this took like a day to get to but holy shit this is such a thorough and well thought out ask im like. in awe thank u so much for sending all of this in

if i thanked you for every incredibly kind thing u said throughout this entire ask i would fr be typing for like. hours so i will consolidate that all here; THANK U SO MUCH FOR UR KIND WORDS OMG !! i am so glad that youre enjoying the fic so far, and that you think so highly of it ?? i am absolutely blown away every time yall give me such encouraging feedback like this thank u so much!

ok on to the questions though!

what inspired you to write it from [octavio's] perspective? ok well funnily enough, you sort of answered your own question, (at least, the second half of what my reasoning is lol,) in the paragraph before you even asked it nintendo has ABSOLUTELY slept on octavio's more indepth nuances, i totally agree! i think to fully contextualize why i chose to write his perspective specifically, i do need to let myself be a little smug and say that i just so happened to revisit and reread Dissonant Melody in its entirety this summer, long before the b-sides were ever being posted. it. oh my god it fuckign awoke something in my brain and gave me cuttletavio brainrot BAD up until the new game was released and even then that absolutely did NOT help considering how our beloved dj got such an awesome spot in the limelight during the final boss. to summarize, though, i decided to stick with his pov partly because i felt i was not alone in my own personal sentiments over him and how silly and interesting of a guy he is, that others would also probably enjoy to see his pov, (as well as the octarian pov as a whole,) quite a lot. the other part is just that i had baaad brainrot and also that he is so silly and i wanted to write him interacting w cap'n more. bc, again, nintendo!!! youre sleeping on these two!!!! quit making us writers and artists do all the work for you tell us what they were like before the war!!!

ok i said i wouldnt repeat myself over and over again thanking you but!!! ahhh im so glad that the humorous beats i wrote landed. ive genuinely always been someone who cannot handle something serious without it being just a little silly and goofy on the side, just to make it feel. believable i guess? that the world isn't as dark as it sometimes seems? that and just. most people who know who i am as a person know where a lot of my influences lie and that a lot of it is in comedic source material, so there's that as well.

what have you learned about yourself while writing this fic? did of any scenes leave you stumped on how you were gonna approach it? i am going to lump these two questions together bc i think my answer will go hand in hand. i have been very much humbled to the fact that i am naught but a humble young adult who has yet to truly drop the young part and quote, unquote, "grow up" as they say. …by which i mean; my scope of the world is very very limited, and for as much research as i am able to do about a fictional, sci-fi-esque, futuristic society dominated by evolved mollusks, there is just as much real life experience that i feel would change the entire trajectory of this fic, were i to have it under my belt. perhaps some future plot points i have prewritten would theoretically play out much differently? perhaps some characters would be characterized differently, leading to said different plot points? perhaps, we will never know… perhaps, though, there are some experiences that i will never feasibly be able to live through to then incorporate into my writing. like living for over a century to reunite with my scorned, ex-whatever the hell these two are! specifically addressing the second question with that in mind, i can say, without spoilers, that there is indeed a scene that i'm working on right now funnily enough that is. stumping me quite a bit. i'll let your mind and the context i provided before to fill in the blanks on what could possibly be in store that i'm trying to figure out how to approach next.

what’s your greatest strength and weakness as a writer? and lastly, what’s your favorite scene you’ve written so far? i'll group these last two questions together as well because i have both a short and a long answer to at least part both of them; DIALOGUE!!!! i adore writing dialogue so much i love it when characters interact and say things and when i am able to study and practice their vocal quirks and nuances in such a way that it paints not just a picture of two plot devices talking to move the story along, but two very much matching or opposing sides to a discussion that has been thoroughly baked into the narrative. that and i like making nintendo characters say things that the NA localizers would never have the balls to make them say. not just in a swearing way but in an actually natural and not trying-and-failing-to-be-hip-with-the-kids type of way. (sorry NA team i still love yalls work but sometimes it doesnt seem like yall even read the JP text at all </3) to answer the second half of the question though, i do think that my weakness is feeling a bit too comfortable writing dialogue and the like. as someone who got got their start in writing from roleplaying online, whether as canon characters or ocs, i can say for certain that it is physically impossible for someone to perfectly mimic how a character acts in canon, down to a T. you can absolutely get close, don't get me wrong! but everyone's always going to view their fave or their muse in a different light than how someone else views them. humans are perfectly imperfect, and the things that we create and put out into the world are equally such. there are most definitely a lot of times where i will let my own preferences and biases for how a scene should play out cloud my judgement, and, as a result, i write myself into a future plot hole when it comes to consistent characterization. still love dialogue though <3 speaking of things i love! that last question… hmm… i think i had the most fun writing callie's final scene in chapter 3, but genuinely everything that involved the octarians in chapter 2 is a close close close second! esp stella's little scene. i talked about this a little bit in the comments on ao3, but, without spoilers i can absolutely promise yall that she is coming back. she has evolved from just a side character to my dear sweet little scrumply munchkin she is my scrimblo. sorry shes just really fun to think about and im excited to write her more </3

[lorebird]

That post about combining your first and current fandoms has snared me in its trap..... now I’m making content that caters to approximately Only Me! Splatoon wof au! Squids but make them dragons! I’m way too excited about this time to infodump under the cut

SO the NightWings are essentially the octarians of this story, with plans to invade the rainforest and/or the whole continent. In the first stages of the plan, they kidnap RainWings like in canon, 2 of which are dragonets named Lychee (Callie) and Srikaya (Marie). They figure out the plan and then some from a strange NightWing dragonet named Observant (Marina) who visits them occasionally, and at one point maybe kinda has a prophecy. Observant eventually helps the RainWings escape, but gets found out -- an older dragon named Sincerity is told to kill her and dump the body somewhere off the island as a show of disgrace. However, Sincerity lets Observant run free through the portal to the sand kingdom.

The two RainWings return home and spread the word about what the NightWings are planning, but the entire rainforest kingdom is woefully unprepared to deal with an invasion, even if they have a lot of time in advance. So Lychee and Srikaya go to the claws of the clouds to see if any other dragons will heed the warning and possibly help out the RainWings, since the entire continent could be under threat.

A retired SkyWing general named Pinyon (capn) hears them out and takes it seriously, but pretty much no one else does. Most SkyWings seem to think Pinyon is a little off his rocker for the whole invasion story. But Lychee tells him about the prophecy they heard from Observant, hoping it could help them; I’m too lazy to actually come up with one right now but uhhhh it amounts to something like “a royal heir hatched when [insert condition here] will beat the NightWing’s asses woohoo” SO pinyon gets right to work trying to figure out how to fulfill it, though Srikaya is a little doubtful of prophecies and thinks they should focus on practical solutions. However, her efforts to raise concern over the invasion does Little Good becauseeeee plot convenience for my au dw about it /lh

ANYWAYS Pinyon and Lychee track down two possible candidates for the prophecy: a SeaWing and a MudWing. The eggs are stolen talons of peace style, and the dragons are raised separately, each believing they’re the one to fulfill the prophecy. Boom bam training montage!!! A handful of guardians watch over + teache the 2 separately, and Srikaya trains Viridian the SeaWing (3) while Lychee trains Sienna the MudWing (4). Plot happens idk but unlike the DoD, the dragonets of prophecy here are actually treated Like People (figuratively) and have happy childhoods. But then uhhhhhh bam time to be thrown into the middle of a war!

Viridian ends up being the chosen candidate to take down the NightWings by killing their leader, Songweaver (Octavio). Why are the NightWings ruled by a guy and not a queen? Uhhhhhh trans grandpa dw about it he’s allowed I guess. But when it comes time......... Viridian can’t kill him. The island ends up blowing its top and they figure he’s good as dead so uhhhhh woohoo prophecy fulfilled ig!!! Party time!!! Sure am glad no one here is left without purpose and having an identity crisis over not being the hero of legend!!!

So yeah the NightWings settle in the mainland except they Aren’t awful and terrible like in canon bc no thanks. The day is won, all is well, sorry about the identity crisis Sienna, until UH OH. Lychee goes missing

Sienna JUMPS at the opportunity to finally save the day, and soon it’s found out that Songweaver isn’t dead and has somehow gotten Fucked Up and Evil mind control over Lyche!! A few loyal NightWings get in the way, but eventually, Lychee is freed and Songweaver is dead for good. All is well For Real This Time. Except for the NightWings that have been mysteriously disappearing from the mainland. Say, some of the guys Sienna fought look a little familiar........

It’s eventually found out that Songweaver was working with an unnamed animus to build a new army. No one knows the animus’ motives, but now they know they’re out there and dangerous. Viridian, now having a crisis of their own over having failed the prophecy, spearheads the search. But the closer they get to answers, the more isolated they become, with memories becoming foggy. They run into two NightWings, one who’s completely forgotten who they once were and now goes by Wanderer, and the other nearly there; this one is named Amaranth (8).

Oh also Observant is off in the desert with her gf Rose Gold (Pearl) they’re doing great

Ok I have a disproportionate amount of lore for the OE equivalent of this au and I’ve gone on long enough SO........ I’m leaving it there for now!! Pls interact if you‘re interested in the au none of my friends are in these fandoms /lh

[zikadraws]

🦑Splatoon Headcanons : Inklings (& Octolings) Development 🐙

Because I might be out there not posting anything, but believe it or not I've been very active these last weeks, especially on Splatoon concept art. I'm not kidding, I've been franctical.

So I wanted to share some of my -numerous- headcanons with you as long as I got motivation for it. Enjoy. (Long post ahead, Contains bodyhorror/depiction of bodyhorror, Click for quality.)

We don't see a lot of adult Inklings/Octolings concept art, so I had to make my own. Free of interpretation naturally, but here goes.

As they evolve from supposedly nowadays squids, Inklings are actually rather tiny. Inklings that we play probably aren't much taller than one (1) human meter, and it's being generous. Of course, these are fourteen-years-old squids, so it's safe to assume they haven't achieved their full maturity, as pictured above.

As in a lot of species, the females grow to be slightly bigger than the males.

Octolings are canonically bigger than Inklings.

Based on canon (Captain Cuttlefish and Diss-Pair), male inklings tend to naturally grow tentacle 'beards', that start out as 'sideburns' and 'goat beard', then slowly spread out to the rest of the face when they come to dehydrated age (+80). It's a sign of maturity and protects the now exposed beak (between others), so male inklings always take good care and pride of it.

Male octolings, on the other hand, tend to grow mustaches, equally valued, but when they become old they regress into their octopus form (both males and females) as a form of conservation. They then for some reason gain the ability to survive in (clean-ish) water, and grow way older than Inklings with that system.

Elder Inklings are allowed to show off their weapons off limits, first because most of these are the traditional Bamboozler, popular as a crutch, and second because as most elders get body degenerescence they couldn't do much damage anyway.

Inklings have kept a habit for Heterochromia, which basically dictate that males tend to dress more colorfully than females (and have brighter ink color) , in a very old 'mate attracting' logic. It's most likely subconscious.

In Inkopolis, people from all species refer to girls, boys and gender neutral folks as females, males and hermaphrodites.

As a general fact, Human Era still affects SeaFolk (the name I give to the sea creatures who evolved their way to civilization in Splatoon as a whole.) By that I mean that there is still an awful lot of our waste and detritus in their oceans (to the point entire currents and sea areas are restricted to anyone else for health and safety measures, a lot of these zones being in Salmonid territory, but that's another story), the ''detritus continent'' is sadly still a thing, but most specifically for this post, radioactivity from the Last Human War is still lingering about practically everywhere on the planet, the zone in which Inkopolis is built being about the least infected zone that is also in fertile territory. Which is why this is also the biggest city worldwide. (The Splatlands are actually in first position for least infected, but their zone is, well, not fertile and rather hostile, which is why it's in second place for dream destination.)

This radioactivity has consequences on SeaFolk lifestyle, as to about 1/4 of the population end up developing mutations once their body stop creating cells (at adult age so), which are gladly non-lethal (or at least treatable) most of the time (like 3/4 of cases, let's be optimistic please and thank you), as SeaFolk, especially cephalopods, possess better regenerative abilities than us.

These mutations often consist in extra limbs (easily ridded of for those who want to or if the limbs starts rotting, which is eerily common), or organs, such as internal organs which develop 'sprouts', that often needs ablation to prevent rotting, or extra sensorial organs growing in undesired places, such as (in the case of Inklings/Octolings) extra eyes (functional or not) popping in the suckers, spawning in their 'eyebrows' or less commonly directly on the limbs or eyes themselves ; or, equally creepy but way more brutal, beaks (because Inklings have no teeth but beaks) that can grow excessively (like Hyperdonthia, the subject end up having several superposed sets of beaks) or in extra in uncanny places, like growing from the ends of tentacles or directly sprouting from limbs, which is generally really painful and disturbing for the victims. Imagine growing a full-ass functional set of teethed jaws inside your arm, and when it tears open eventually it proceeds to split your arm in half and cause your fingers to fall off. That's basically what happens to some grownups Inklings. And Octolings.

Tough the most lethal consequence of radioactivity about cephalopods is a chronic condition (hits about 5 to 7 % of individuals), randomly striking and most feared, that causes the body's ink to rot, which is basically leukemia, if leukemia caused your blood to deadass rot constantly. Cephalopods who develop that condition must wear a device that replace the ink of their body with fresh ink constantly. But as that condition is chronically painful and feverish, and cannot be cured, the victims often chose the, well... faster way out.

If you take in consideration all of this data, and to insist on that point, Inklings and Octolings are actually encouraged to profit from their 'unstained' body for as long as they can.

I do realize that the headcanons I just exposed are straight up grim, so I'd like to finish with some more light-hearted headcanons in some attempt to ease up the angst. Here.

Inklings are renumered for their fighting -and most specifically for how much land they ink- because the turfs they play on are actually covered with movement sensitive, chemical reacting captors, that product electricity from the chemical reactions caused by Inkling's ink and the ambient energy emanating from a team's ''synergy'', like static electricity. So basically, the more you ink, the more energy you produce, and the more you get paid.

Octolings subconsciously switch colours depending of their emotions (like in the wild) : they'd switch to the White when they feel sad, scared or vulnerable (symbol of defeat in their society) ; they would harbor red when they feel determined, courageous, enthusiastic (symbol of victory in their society). Which speaks some things about the global mentality in the Octolings Army. Inklings, on their side, switch more depending on mood and hazard.

I believe that the reason why many of the agent's official art represent them with orange eyes is because Inklings (and Octolings)'s eyes naturally switch to orange when facing an intense situation -just as they start glowing when their specials are charged. In cephalopod culture, orange is by the way a symbol of intensity, of ''Now you've messed up''.

As cephalopods, Inklings and Octolings have beaks, not separate teeth ; which means they can't really munch. So they usually try to swallow whole, but with more 'crafty' meals, to split the food apart, both species have different techniques. Witnesses with no sense of politeness would call both of their eating techniques ''messy''. Thanks cod SeaFolk have a strict inclusive policy.

And alright, that's about all I got for now !😅

*****

Sorry if some of these headcanons sounded complicated, repetitive or shocked you. I hope that you enjoyed them, or that they at least made you see Inklings's (and Octolings's) life under a new light ! ^^

I'm far from being done with Splatoon though. I will be posting about my general SeaFolk and Inkopolis headcanons soon enough (hopefully). I might also be updating this post, so stay tuned~🤗

If you have any questions about these headcanons or want to know more about something, feel free to ask. I'd be glad to discuss about this !🎵^^

Alright, thank you so much for your attention (and reading it all despite the length hopefully.^^''') Stay fresh tuned and have a great day ! ❤🧡💛

[ikatako38]

thoughts on splatoon 3?

Thanks for giving me the chance to rant about this! I stayed up way too late the last two nights grinding multiplayer and story mode, and I have a lot of thoughts about it! I’m going to break it down into three parts: multiplayer, story mode, and music. And don’t worry, I’ll keep this totally spoiler-free!

Multiplayer

Multiplayer is a lot of fun! Lets start with the new weapons! So far, I’ve only tried the Splatana Wiper and the Tri-Stinger. I used the Splatana Wiper throughout most of the Splatfest, and despite the steep learning curve I’m really loving it. It feels sort of like an Octobrush combined with a Carbon Roller, which is great. The step-forward with a vertical swings is very cool and useful but has also gotten me in trouble a couple times (like stepping into a bomb). However, as I started playing Ranked Anarchy Battles (it’s going to take a while for me to make that switch), it didn’t seem to work quite as well for me s some of the weapons I was more familiar with. I had some decent success in Clam Blitz with it, though.

I bought the Tri-Stringer to use for Tower Control, and it’s been working pretty well. It feels like a charger, but it’s a lot more forgiving about aiming. The bomb-arrows can be especially useful for getting people off the tower, although to be honest that plan didn’t work quite as well as I had hoped it would. I still need to go used to the horizontal vs. vertical shots, and adjusting my aim when I jump for a vertical shot. I’ve made some pretty great splats with it so far, though. Overall very happy with it.

The only other thing I’ll mention about main weapons is that I like the new sound effect for the Rapid Blaster (and, presumably, all the other blasters, too). It feels somehow cooler. I’ve been using my Rapid Blaster primarily for Rainmaker like in Splatoon 2, but I’ve also surprisingly had a lot of success in Splat Zones with it, too.

I haven’t tried the Angle Shooter sub yet, so I can’t say much about that. As for specials, I think they seem decently balanced with each other, although I think they’re generally more powerful than the Splatoon 2 specials. I assume this is part of what contributes to the ridiculously high splat counts I’ve been seeing. The only flaw I’ve found in the specials so far is that Big Bubbler feels a little bit OP when placed on the tower in Tower Control. Zipcaster is really fun and especially useful on Tower Control, but I’m guessing it’s going to follow Splashdown down the path of Cool Looking Specials That Become Useless at Higher Levels After a Few Months Because Everyone Knows How to Counter It. Splashdown was my favorite special when I first started playing Splatoon 2, and Zipcaster is my favorite now, but I’m worried that theyre going to have the same fate. The Zipcaster counts on catching the opponent off-guard, but it’s so easy to see when someone is Zipcasting because of the glowing ink. Also, without Special Power Up, the special isn’t long enough to reasonably have a chance of splatting more than one target in different locations. However, I did just learn that the Zipcaster actually does up to 60 damage on impact if you land on an opponent, and that might be its saving grace. Also, while I haven’t personally used it, I think the Inc Vac is pretty tame. You’re out in the open for a really long time, exposed from the back, and it just makes a little explosion in a predictable location. Since I started playing (including the Splatfest), I still haven’t been splatted but an Ink Vac even once.

And before we move on from weapons I’ll also bring up Squid Roll and Squid Surge, I guess. They’re useless. That’s all I have to say. I had high hopes for them, but I really don’t see any way they could consistently help anything. The Squid Surge takes too long, and the jump you get is… what, maybe a few inches higher than without it? It also does work on low walls. I can only see two instances where it would ever be useful: if a wall isn’t full inked (but still inked just enough), or possibly on Blackbelly Skatepark. And even in those cases, only with certain weapons. As for the squid roll, it requires you to be swimming through your ink at a speed that’s impractical during battle. Even one tiny dot of ink can slow your momentum, and if someone is shooting at you, you’re quickly going to lose mobility. Not to mention that you can only jump between about 120 to 180 degrees of the direction you’re swimming in. I can only see one instance where this one would be useful: to avoid a bomb you’re swimming toward.

Ok, moving on from weapons. The new stages all seem great so far! I’m also especially happy to see Museum d’Alfonsino and Wahoo World returning. The only big thing I’ve noticed so far about the maps is that the Inkblot Art Academy map for Clam Blitz has replaced with the stairs right in front of the basket with a ramp. It’s definitely an interesting choice and makes scoring a lot easier. It also makes it possible to use the Reefslider or and Ultra Stamp to open a path to the the basket, where it was very difficult to effectively use a Baller, Ultra Stamp, or Splashdown. Other than that I haven’t noticed any major changes to returning stages.

I touched on this already, but let’s talk about… stats, I guess? For one, I’ve noticed that splat counts are WAY higher across the board, on both teams, even. As for the “Awards,” I really down understand them at all. What’s the difference between “#1 Overall Shooter” and “#1 Enemy Shooter”? What on Earth is “#1 Record-Breaker” (it was something like that) or “#1 Point-Scorer (which I got in a Tower Control game where I was backling with the Hydra Splatling and never touched the Tower once). It’s fun and all, but I’d like to know what they actually mean, especially if they’re figuring into my Rank. Also, it’s SO nice that they included the times splatted so that I don’t have to check Splatnet after every single battle. They still didn’t break down the splats and splat assists, though, so you still have to go to Splatnet for that. (Really, how hard could it be?)

I’m really happy that they brought back all the Ranked Modes. I was especially worried about Clam Blitz because it gets so much hate, but it’s actually my favorite mode so I’m glad we have it. I did hope to get a new fifth Ranked mode, but I’m happy enough with what we have. The four modes seem unchanged except for Rainmaker’s inclusion of checkpoints and Clam Blitz’s change from 10 clams to a power clam to 8. I think the checkpoints for Rainmaker are a great idea. It gives the defending team some time to respawn to that a wipeout in the first few seconds doesn’t automatically mean a loss. Also, it narrows down the routes you can take, which gives the offense a sense of direction while making it more predictable for the defense. It gets a little confusing for stages that’s have two checkpoints, but as far as I can tell you can just s pick one or the other.

The 8-Clam rule is interesting… to be honest, it doesn’t really affect my formation of clams much (one clam short is still one clam short), but one thing that I do think is worth mentioning is the scoring. In both games, a clan is worth 3 while a Power Clam is worth 20. However, 10 clams on their own would be 30 points, which means that you sacrifice 10 points every time you make a Power Clam. The tradeoff, presumably, is that you get all 20 points in one quick toss. I’m Splatoon 3, this disparity drops to 4 points instead of 10. This means that, if the opponent’s basket is already open, forming and tossing in power clams instead of regular clams doesn’t have as much of a negative effect.

Okay… I just talked about multiplayer for WAY TOO LONG. The next sections will be shorter, I promise.

Story Mode

I was a little nervous when I first started the story campaign because it starts just like Octo Valley and Octo Canyon, but I should’ve known there’d be some sort of twist. Lore-wise, I did find it unnerving to hear Cap’n Cuttlefish using Octoling slurs to my face. (Especially because my New Agent 3 is an Octoling!) I guess the character development we thought we got in Octo Expansion didn’t really happen? Then again, there was some very brief interaction between Cap’n and DJ Octavio that I’m sure got the Cuttletavio shippers excited. While personally I don’t ship it strongly, it was sort of exciting.

I sort of screwed up my Captain Three because it was really hard to tell what color the little splashes actually were without actually seeing them on his body, so his skin tone ended up being clearly a shade too dark, but it’s fine I guess. I understand why they did what they did when you try to talk to him, and, honestly, I’m kind of glad because if they gave him a really distinct personality it might be at odd with my Three. But it’s still frustrating to just watch him sit there while Callie and Marie talk to you over the comms and follow you around. Having Captain Three talk to us over the comms during missions would have been so cool! So, naturally, I’m probably going to have to write about it. I don’t have any ideas yet, but assuming the TPWCH sequel is also set post-canon, I pretty much need to finish the story mode and probably the DLC too before I can even start thinking about it.

Also, there’s no sign of Four or Eight yet, and I kind of doubt they’ll appear. I’m guessing Eight may reappear in the DLC, though, possibly alongside Four.

As for the structure of the campaign… the best way for me to sum it up is that it feels like a ripoff of Octo Expansion, but at least it’s not a ripoff of Octo Valley or Octo Canyon. The Alterna Logs are pretty cool, at least.

I also think it’s kind of bizzare just how low percentage completion they allow you to move forward with. I cleared up to Site 4 last night, and k only had to do like 1 or 2 levels from each Site. I’m definitely going to go back eventually, but I really was wanting to binge the plotline at the time.

The boss battles are cool from a lore standpoint, but from a mechanics/difficulty perspective, they’re rather average. They’re pretty similar to the kinds of bosses we’ve fought throughout the other two games, and they’re not all that difficult.

I’m guessing there’s going to be another big twist once we’re finish all 6 Sites, and I hope they pulls through! So far though, I give it maybe a 6/10 for both mechanics and lore.

Music

I did want to do a quick section in the music, too, because WOW! The battle music is amazing. Every single song is an absolute banger. It’s fun to hear Pearl and Marina singing in normal battles, too! Definitely nothing to complain about there.

I’ve never really liked the Story Campaign music all that much in the other games, it just seems kind of drab to me. Return of the Mammalians isn’t much better. I still prefer the Octo Valley music the most, actually. Oh, and there’s that one track in the new campaign that sounds like there’s an opera singer in the background… why? I hate it.

And finally, can we talk about the music in the Battle Lobby? Because sometimes I swear it’s normal, and then all of a sudden there’s these really funky noises going on. Also what exactly is the purpose of the Copy Machine? It seems completely useless.

On that lovely note, I’ll wrap it up. Overall, I’m totally overjoyed for the game! I’m definitely going to spend almost all my free time playing it, and Splatoon 2 (sadly) is getting demoted to a Nostalgia Only game. I love the graphics and the music of the new game so much, and the new weapons/specials are really exciting! I’ll also post an update once I’ve tried out Table Turf (which I’m really excited for!) and Salmon Run.

I’ll leave you off with a picture of my adorable lil’ Octo UwU (I love that the Hero Suit is a crop top for both “styles”)

[theonlygamergost]

A tattoo for a lost best - Fd!au - 3/3

This fanfiction is based on the Family Dynamic au made by @antarctic-bay if you would like to know more, go check them out!!!

Also please bear in mind that the things written in this might not be canon!

This fic was corrected by the lovely @im-default

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Techno and Skeppy bet on stupid things, and sometimes their bets can have very severe consequence if lost.

If you want to, look at what Minetra’s desing of Techno tattoo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tw! Betting, swearing. Btw, this is very long

<—Previous part 

Enjoy~

To avoid any more drama, he went straight home. The house was empty though, so he connected his phone to Wilbur’s small Bluetooth speaker to his phone and played a random playlist he had made to motivate him to do chores, took out the mop and started cleaning the floors, humming the songs and sometimes bopping his head to the beat.

While the pavement was drying, he logged on Minecraft and started playing on Hypixel.

Tommy arrived home just as the pavement dried out, grabbing a glass of chocolate milk and another glass full of cookies. Bringing them to his room and closing the door. A few minutes later he logged into Hypixel and sent Techno a party invite, they started playing various minigames, winning most of them.

Until, while playing BedWars, Tommy whispered to Techno.

TommyInnit whispers to you: I’m sorry

Techno finished destroying a bed and sat at the generator while quickly responding.

You whisper: About what?

TommyInnit whispers to you: About telling Will about your tattoo, I sneaked into your room this morning and I saw it

TommyInnit whispers to you: I’m really sorry, but if Phil found out later it would have been worse

Tommy’s and Techno’s bed was gone, they were just flying around as ghosts at this point. But if they wanted to keep talking, they couldn’t have gone into another game so Techno typed /hub and teleported both of them into the main hub of the server.

You whisper: It’s fine Tommy, I’m not angry

TommyInnit whispers to you: Then can I come and hug you?

Techno wasn’t expecting that. But he smiled and closed Minecraft after sending the last message:

You whisper: The door is unlocked

Techno lied down on his bed closing his eyes as he listened to Tommy’s steps growing louder.

The door gently creaked as the young Pandel stood by the door, looking at his older brother laying down with his eyes closed.

Climbing onto the bed, he plopped down next to Techno, scooting closer to him and hugging him, Techno exchanged the hug, embracing the blonde boy tightly.

They stayed like that in silence, the world around them looked like it froze. When Wilbur got home and went to check Techno’s room to see if he was there, he found the two brothers peacefully sleeping. Wilbur smiled at the cute sight, he made sure to cover them with a blanket and close the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Phil arrived home, the brothers were silent, they couldn’t get themselves to talk or make jokes, the older brother acted as usual, solar and positive, but he had noticed how Wilbur and Tommy were silent. Something was wrong, and after dinner, he was going to figure out what.

To his surprise, when he got out of the bathroom, the brothers were back at the kitchen counter, all of them had serious and sad faces, “Phil, we need to talk to you”

He sat on one of the stools, “Sure… what is it?” The two brothers both looked at Techno who’s shoulder tensed, he looked like he wanted to disappear.

“I… have made a serious decision without asking and… It’s something you have explicitly said to not take before... “ What was going on? Techno never made dumb decisions, and if he did, he alone came to talk to him, then why were all of the brothers there? Phil was now very worried.

Without saying another word, Techno took off his hoodie, revealing a sleeveless shirt, and the tattoo.

Wilbur looked away, Tommy looked sadly at Techno, Phil looked unimpressed.

So you really did it too huh…

“Wait, you guys didn’t know he had gotten it?” Everyone froze.

“It was pretty obvious, the bandage, the moisturizing cream, the antimicrobial soap, they all gave it away. Plus, we all know Techno hates carrying his backpack on one shoulder, there had to be a good reason for him to carry it like that” The brothers were impressed, Phil could notice the most subtle changes in behaviours, it wasn’t surprising he had picked it up quickly, but still…

“Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m okay with your decision”

Phil brought a hand on his forehead, thinking about what to say, choosing his words to get his point across, he hated scolding his brothers, but they were teenagers, sometimes he had to be strict and direct with them.

“The only thing I can say, Techno, is that I’m disappointed in you, very disappointed” The pink-haired boy fidgeted with the hoodie in his lap.

“I thought I had made it clear that tattoos were prohibited until you're old enough, just because I have one doesn’t mean you could get it too” Phil sighed, “You’re grounded Technoblade” All of them looked at the older brother in disbelief, Phil almost never grounded anyone, both Tommy and Wilbur now felt guilty for getting Techno in this situation. Techno just accepted his fate, all of this for a goddam bet.

“No going out after school and no video games for fifteen days, let this be a lesson for you two too, ok?” Wilbur and Tommy looked at each other, only fifteen days? That was nothing! Techno had gotten a permanent tattoo without permission and he got away with fifteen days?!

“Now, Techno, prepare for bedtime and go to your room, I need to talk to you more in private. Wilbur, Tommy, you’re free to go” They nodded and got up the stools, both of them flopping on the couch. Techno instead whispered a soft “I’m sorry” and headed for the bathroom, leaving Phil the only one at the counter. He took his head in his hands and leaned over the counter, using his elbows to support himself.

I hope your reason was better than mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A knock on the door interrupted Techno’s train of thought, he quickly sat at the edge of his messy bed and waited for the crack of light coming to illuminate his dark room. Phil peeked from the door,  surrounded by a halo of yellow light, smiling brightly as he always did, “May I come in?” Techno gently nodded.

Phil sat next down and hugged Techno for a bit, “Let me guess” He started, bringing a hand to scratch his short beard,” You didn’t tell the others why you got it” Techno nodded again. The older brother looked at the younger one, waiting for him to start talking.

“I’m warning you, you won’t like it” the blonde man shrugged, so he took a deep breath.

“You remember when Skeppy had to get his ear pierced last year?” It was Phil’s turn to nod, “That was because we had made a bet. He didn’t believe I was going to get max votes for every subject, so we made it that if I did have max votes, he would get his ear pierced, if I didn’t, I was going to get my ear pierced. You know who won the bet” Techno chuckled when the memory of Skeppy getting super mad at him for getting max votes arose, he had gotten one of his ears pierced, and even if he will never admit it, he loves wearing e-boy earrings.

Techno had actually bought him his first pair of earrings, he kept a mental note to look at Skeppy when passing near jewelry in case he started staring at a pair of them, he was bad with gifts so this was a good way to get ideas.

“This was… the same… We made a bet and… “ He had lost, Phil knew that Techno and Skeppy made these “bets” and he knew that they sometimes could have a strong penalty if lost… but they were childhood friends, if something was “too much” they could always call it off. So Techno did make the decision to get the tattoo, he just didn’t want to admit it.

“Okay then, I understand… You’re still grounded though” Techno smiled, “Goodnight Techno” Phil patted his brother on the shoulder and left his room, leaving him back in the dark of his room.

He just climbed further into the bed and fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“There is something going on here, there HAS to be!” Wilbur was pacing back and forth in front of the coffee table, he sounded pretty stressed about his thoughts, not that Tommy would care. He was just sitting upside down on the couch, legs slumped over the back and head dangling off the seat, of course, switch in hands playing the Octo expansion for Splatoon two. Techno bought it for him as his quote on quote “reward” for cleaning his room for him.

“You’re getting too agitated big dubs” The blonde boy shot a look at the legs walking around on the other side of the table, they stopped, facing his direction, “Shut the fuck up Tommyinnit I’m trying to think!” the legs continued pacing left and right. “Well, now that you said I need to shut up I’m interested!” He sat back up properly on the couch, pausing the game and placing the switch down. “What we thinking, big dubs?” He said before rubbing his hands together.

With a roll of his eyes, the older brother started explaining: “You remember when I took Phil’s scooter and drove Techno around town a year before I got my license?” Tommy giggled, Wilbur dead stared at him. “OKAY Okay jeez! Go on!” Will shook his head, “Well, Phil that time grounded us both, understandably, Techno got away with no video games for a week, I was the one driving after all…” He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, “But I had to go through A MONTH without video games and phone! And look at Technoblade! Fifteen days! Only fifteen days for getting a big ass tattoo without permission!”

Now that Tommy thought about it, Will did have a point, plus, not going out after school didn’t really affect Techno, he never went out anyway. “I know this going to sound bad but…” Will looked at Tommy, noticing the serious look he had on his face, “Do you think… Phil has… favourites?” Will’s eyes widened, a shiver shot down his spine. “Wha-what are you talking about Tommy? Phil loves us equally, he quit college to take care of us, there is no way he has… “ He couldn’t even finish the sentence, the words got stuck in his throat, he refused to believe that his older brother had a favourite among them. He just couldn’t.

“But what if he-”

“No Tommy, there has to be a reason why he gave him less time than he did with me, and he will tell us, I know he will. I’m going to sleep now” He passed by the kitchen and closed himself in his room, Tommy whispered “Goodnight Wil”  and headed for his own room, grabbing his switch along with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From there on, it was a monotone style of life for Techno.

Wake up, go to school, go back home, read, clean, and go to sleep.

He and Skeppy had to hang out at lunches since they couldn’t meet up after school, and if for some reason they couldn’t, they would either discord call or facetime each other and just talk about the most random things for hours, as good friends do of course.

The house felt a little bit empty for some reason: Tommy would stay outside later than usual and Wilbur didn’t try to create any type of chaos or loud noise, the melancholic sound of a soft guitar would fill the house more than it used to and Phil was constantly spaced out, it was like the cheerful Pandel apartment had lost it colours.

All of them had noticed this phenomenon. They all knew that they couldn’t last long like this, they needed the chaos, they needed the cheerfulness and the happiness of each brother equally. Their house was like an echo-system: If something was off, it made an impact on everything else.

So on the fifteen-day, the last day, while everyone was sat around the kitchen counter sharing dinner, Wilbur spoke up.

“Taking turns, let’s say what’s on our mind, anyone wants to start?” Techno nodded in approval of Will’s proposal, after setting his spoon down, Tommy started talking.

“I feel like we are hiding something from each other” Phil froze, Techno’s mouth curved slightly downwards “I don’t know why Techno didn’t tell us about the tattoo, I-I  honestly felt betrayed when I saw it, but someone else is keeping a secret now, and I don’t want this to become a normal thing!” Tommy looked away, clinging his fists. “You’re right, Tommy” The attention moved to Wilbur, “ We have always been honest with each other, please let’s keep it this way” Techno nodded again “ I am so sorry for not telling anyone about… you know… “ silence fell briefly while he recollected his thought, “ It felt wrong doing so, but I had no choice-”

“You did Technoblade!” Wilbur interrupted him,” You know we would have supported you in any decision you would have made! You were always the one to encourage us every time we were insecure about anything, no matter how stupid it was!” Techno took his glasses off, letting what Wilbur had just said sink in.

“I know… But-” He rubbed his eyes, “But what?! Don’t you trust us-”

“Alright, calm down boys” Phil interrupted them, making them realize what tone of voice they were using against each other.

“I am the one who should fix this since I was the one who started it” He sighed, allowing his head to rest in his hands.

“I gave Techno a pretty light consequence for what he did, I am aware of that and I’m sorry if that looked like I was playing favourites” Tommy looked at the plate in front of him, how could he have doubted Phil?

“There is a better…  or worse, reason for that, let me explain” he looked up at the other brothers waiting for a response. They looked at each other in confusion and nodded, at that sign Phil started.

“You all are aware that I also have a tattoo, a pretty big pair of wings on my back, I’ve never hidden it from you guys because there was no need too… what I didn’t say was why and when I got the tattoo… and there is a good reason for that, I promise” the brothers felt a bit dumb, why did no one ever think of asking him why he had gotten his tattoo? No matter how long back they recalled Phil always had that tattoo, that pair of angel-like wings who occupied most of the upper part of their older brothers back felt to them like something that always had belonged to Phil. They couldn’t imagine him without it, but it was still shocking how no one had asked him why he had gotten it.

“The reason why I never told you about why I got it was because I was afraid you would try to imitate me… which was the last thing I wanted to happen” Techno tried to lighten the mood a little bit, “Jeez Phil, you’re making it sound like you got it to enter a gang” Tommy and Will smiled, “That’s at least is a reason to get a tattoo” the smile faded away, “Mine wasn’t even a reason, I got my tattoo because the thought of getting a tattoo made me feel free, made me feel independent… me and a good friend of mine were “good boys”, we always did what our parents wanted and had the highest grades, getting a tattoo was the most rebellious thing two sixteen years old kids could do, so that’s why we did it” They all looked down, each of them absorbed in their own thoughts, “So that’s why the wings… “ Wilbur whispered, “To symbolize freedom… “ Techno finished the thought.

When the silence was about to become awkward, Phil got off the stool and grabbed his jacket that he’d left on the couch,” Get your shoes on, were going out” They looked at each other in confusion, “Wh-why? Where are we going?” Tommy stuttered while asking. “You’ll see”

~~~~~~~~~~~

The night’s breeze blew lightly through the Pandel’s hair, Phil was walking ahead of everyone with his hands in his pocket, Wilbur was behind him, trying to figure out where he was taking them meanwhile Techno and Tommy were playing rock paper scissor, mouthing each other insults and quietly cheering.

The walk went on for five minutes until Phil entered an ice cream shop, “C’mon, order what you want” the brothers looked at each other after ordering their flavours.

They sat down on a bench, each of them focused on their ice cream, Wilbur was leaned against a light pole since they all couldn’t fit comfortably on the bench.

“So…what was this for?” Tommy asked before licking his chocolate and strawberry ice cream, Phil looked up at the moon in the starry sky, “An apology, for hiding this part of me from all of you until now… “ Techno finished his ice cream and wiped his mouth with a napkin, “ I hope you guys can forgive me and we can all go back to when we never lied to each other-” All of the brothers threw themselves on him, “Whoa-! Guys careful I’m still holding my ice cream!” But the brothers didn’t care.

“We forgive you Phil, in fact, we were never angry at you, we understand that you didn’t tell us to protect us” Wilbur broke from the hug, “Thank you Phil for being the best brother in the world!” Tommy said with a huge smile, the other two nodded and he couldn’t help himself from crying with joy. If he had to decide again between taking care of his brothers and continuing collage, his answer would have never changed.

[dogtoling]

(1/2) i remember reading your thoughts post on RotM and how you also didn't like OE's plot a while back, and they were what got me wanting to send that ask! i usually have trouble imagining the splatoon world beyond what we're shown, so i was super interested to see if you had any examples in mind of what a campaign that digs into the worldbuilding might look like. i would now also absolutely kill for something set in a city, things like bounce pads and grind rails immediately come to mind as fitting much better in recreational urban environments and i would give so much to see in-depth explorations of places like hagglefish and makomart and wahoo world (imagine the hub potential,,,)

as for RotM i agree that it's so painful in its missed potential, it feels like it's trying to surpass the impact of OE and in doing so completely faceplants into anime stakes escalation. I don't understand why they even needed to go into literal space, when the space exploration tech everywhere in alterna along with some sky plates: starry darkness edition could perfectly well create the aesthetic of it for a final boss showdown (grizz's will to bring back the past world being so strong that the plates start displaying constellations that no longer exist in the current era !!) without having to break immersion by actually leaving the planet. i think inkling grizz, guide octavio and the final conflict instead involving the dome itself going to shit would be my ideal combination of plot elements that aren't so silly and outlandish that they steamroll over the fact it takes place in the final resting place of the human species.

and man, octo expansion. it's still my favourite and in my mind it all works so well but there are so many holes seeing the actual canon laid out and not just half-memories from the one playthrough i did when i was 13. i had thought it was that marina and pearl frequently hacked their way into shady goings-on in their free time and that's how they came across the player's situation in the deep sea metro, and that marina being an octoling played a pretty big fucking part in her motivations to help the protag and in her arc as the only octoling escapee we know of in the Turning Point For Octolings story. i had also kind of got the idea in my head that they do stuff like this on the regular behind the scenes similar to the squid sisters for their involvement in an action plot to make more sense, but no they're literally just some guys who showed up. why did my inaccurate memories work harder to try and make them fit in the story than the actual published product. walkie talkie on a mountain 😭

thanks for your patience if i went too long into any tangents there but overall yessss to your alternative story ideas and thanks for inspiring me to always be thinking about the possibilities of the splatoon world :) if theres other stuff i forgor to talk about ill send another but this ask has already gotten huge :0

thanks for the response essay (literally don't worry i enjoy reading response essays). "walkie talkie on a mountain" with the crying emoji is making me laugh rn THATS LITERALLY WHAT HAPPENED SDHFKJSDBF

I didn't even really consider RotM potentially having an ending where instead of space, Alterna just gets wrecked for real. man, that would've been a WAY cooler conclusion not to mention it would've been completely realistic AND impactful after everything you learn about it. One of the things that has always annoyed me about RotM is that Alterna's walls collapsed and humanity perished because a rocket TEST launch, not even a proper launch, overloaded the crystals and caused everything to cave in. In spite of this, it's not really caved in during RotM and they literally launch ANOTHER ROCKET AND NOTHING HAPPENS. Not even a test, a straight up LAUNCH. How come nothing happened this time!?!?! I know the reasoning is probably something like golden eggs as fuel don't burn as hot or something and that's why it's safe to launch a rocket this time, but come on now, it would've been way cooler and more impactful if Grizz repeated humanity's mistake and caused Alterna to be destroyed out of his hubris and wish to go back to how things used to be. It would've also been such a cool setup for a desperate final battle.

Anyway those thoughts aside, always happy to inspire people to think deeper into the Splatoon world. Honestly I don't even think THAT deep into the Splatoon world and i want to work on that and try to learn to get more out of it, especially when making OCs. But every time my ramblings inspire people that's a win in my books!