#and her ears do NOT look like an octolings

[ghosthoodie]

i think she is a salmonling

[rassicas]

Frye is not a Vampire Squid.

It's one thing to headcanon something, but it's another to pass it around a fact, which is why i have to say: Frye is not canonically a vampire squid. This idea originated from a popular twitter thread made at the time of Splatoon 3's direct, and the evidence it's based on is...weak. And yet I still see this info passed around... Yeah I think Frye is just supposed to be a regular Inkling.

the splatoon team has shown us that inklings, like humans, can have a lot of diversity. while our player character models are limited, in-universe its a different story. these are all considered regular inklings. look at the varied eye masks, faces,...they can even have blue skin! So i think that frye is just the splatoon team showing us how more diverse inklings can be.

I made a google drive folder of Inkling hairstyles with a lot of concept art, you can see many diverse examples. To address the other specific points of evidence used:

Long fangs: All Inklings have sharp "teeth"/ beaks. Inkling beak shapes can vary. the last one appears to have a snaggletooth.

Long ears: Ear shapes can vary as well. compare ears of the squid sisters with the player character. Pearl has short ears. hell even the player inkling ears between s2 and s3 are different.

purple fingertips: prior to S3, fingertip coloration was something only seen on octolings, not on inklings. with how her and Shiver can freely change finger tip colors according to their ink, it seems like just a thing inklings and octolings can Do and we just haven't seen much of until now, like how we didn't see much varied hairstyles until s2. Perhaps with how integrated octarian culture is in the splatlands, inklings have caught onto this style as well? Her earrings, the sharp pointy bits in her design: Yes this was used as evidence for the vampire squid thing. That's all eel motifs.

Now the biggest reason she cannot be a vampire squid... vampire squids are NOT squids! They're more closely related to octopuses, but really, they're their own thing (also they're called 'bat octopuses' in japanese... the language the splatoon developers speak. nothing to do with vampires or squids)

With how splatoon's designs have been so far, other species of cephalopods are not guaranteed to look like inklings, especially if not closely related to ink-producing squids and octopuses (and vampire squids are not) Here we have a dumbo octopus (not octoling). also nautiluses. In the case of a species that would be more closely related to the playable species, what seems to be an octoling based on a blue ringed octopus.

Going off this, if the splatoon team were to make a vampire squid character, it most likely wouldn't be a subtle 'inkling/octoling but 2 inches to the left,' For such a unique species, I think they would be pretty explicit about it in the design itself. And considering that they are deepsea creatures that do not produce normal ink, a vampire squid in splatoon might look pretty odd! In conclusion...please stop claiming frye is "supposed to be" or "canonically" a vampire squid, it's a flimsy headcanon based on superficial traits at best and there is zero evidence that was the developer's intent.

(And while I'm here, Pearl is not confirmed a pygmy squid, marie is not confirmed to be a firefly squid, marina is not a webfoot octopus etc. That's fanon based on their japanese names, not canon. As far as we know, the player inklings and inkling idols are all just one species of inkling. inklings and octolings seem to take inspiration from multiple species, but it's not confirmed if they are those species.)

[reserved-system]

Lizzie and Jimmy Splatoon AU

Local artist is normal about their own AU, more at 11

I had a little SplatAU Lizzie doodle floating around and decided to give her an actual design. Usually I'd draw her and Joel together but decided to give Jimmy a go. :] You know the drill! Rambles + bonus context under cut

WHERE DO I BEGIN IDGJDNH

Lizzie is a Range Blaster/Custom Range Blaster main and Jimmy is a Hydra Splattling main mostly but he can use just about any weapon class, just depends on what's needed.

Lizzie and Jimmy are the sorta friends that everything thinks are dating when really they're not, they're just really close friends going back to when they met at Uni. Lizzie and Joel dated for a few years before they eventually grew apart after Lizzie moved to Inkopolis for Uni but still left on good terms. One of those ‘they work better as friends than dating’ moments. But Lizzie does have eyes for this one Octoling that runs a cafe 👀 totally not Cleo WDYMM--

Lizzie went to Uni for a teaching degree and now works as a substitute teacher, but still makes time to splat it up! While Jimmy didn't really know what he wanted to do but settled on a marketing degree and got a job out of Uni as a weapons tester. Ya'know how in game new weapons are teased and showcased in matches before they're released in game? Think of Jimmy as one of those guys.

Like what if there was a company that kinda played around with the weapons and maybe produced and showcased different weapons that haven't hit stores yet. They see what a group of squids/octos would think about a new type of blaster, roller, what have you and take feedback on how to make that weapon either viable or put those ideas into other weapons. Jimmy would be one of these people who're like introducing the latest from [insert company] and try to pitch the weapon to other people. Someone may go hey we like that idea for a weapon, let's make it official! and then a fucking bath tub makes it into the game dbgibdih

Our mate Pancho lovingly refers to Jimmy as an influencer which I think is funny. Speaking of Jimmy, look at those ears! I wanted to give some inkling variations but what if some inklings from Inkopolis had larger than average ears. Like a regional adaptation so to speak. The only real differences that makes is well bigger ears and the tips taking up his secondary ink color whenever he changes ink colors.

Here's a bonus doodle so you see what I mean

I had a lot of fun making and designing these goobers if you couldn't tell :3 Also with Jimmy being from Inkopolis he was most likely living there during the first final Splatfest and that's what his shirt references!! It's the ink colors used during that but in shirt form. I think it's a fun call back because when we were drawing him the Splatoon 1 servers went offline and thought hey, why not. It might be a little loud/have a lot going all things considered but I think Jimmy is just that kinda Inkling.

[shlubbyart]

May I see the disabled rep lore?

Absolutely!

I'll keep this to disability rep in Suit-Nami specifically, but if you want my thoughts on canon Splatoon characters and disabled representation I'd be happy to delve into my headcanons in a separate post.

This is gonna be a long one so check under the cut if you wanna read my ramblings:

As someone who is disabled/neurodivergent myself, having disabled representation is pretty important to me. It probably shouldn't come as a surprise that Suit-Nami has become a way for me to represent myself, as well as simply exploring the kinds of disabilities I could imagine existing in the Splatooniverse.

I'll start off by going into more detail about Tide's physical disability that I referenced in my previous post.

#1. Developmental Deformities in Inklings/Octolings

In short: Tide has a misshapen ear due to a hiccup in his ability to shapeshift.

I always thought it would be interesting to explore the idea of the squid to kid transformation not always working as intended, and for that to be used in the context of disability.

Here's a little graph to show what I mean:

For Tide, his left ear (or fin, however you want to define it) isn't able to fully morph in his human form, so he's left with a blueish translucent fin/ear malformation.

Being an idol, as well as previous experiences with ableist discrimination, Tide opts to cover his ear by hiding it between his two hair tentacles. He's quite sensitive to having his hair being lifted or his ear being touched without permission, so doing either of those things is a big no-no.

Tide could be partially deaf in his left ear as a result, but that would really depend if you think he'd be partially deaf in squid form too. I think either interpretation is interesting.

#2. Crash and Hereditary Mutations

Similar to exploring the hiccups of shapeshifting, I also found the concept of Inklings/Octolings having disorders that affect their abilities to change colour as something that would be worth diving into. It technically has already been explored in canon too! Yoko from Ink Theory/Gold Bazookas is implied to have some sort of mutation that makes her tentacles split into different colours.

On that note, have you ever noticed that the ends of Crash's tentacles are always red? It isn't just to look cool (even though it does look very cool), Crash can't actually physically change the ends of his tentacles to any colour outside of a red to dark pink pigment.

The reason? Well I'll have to briefly explain how adaptive camoflage in real life squids actually works:

In simple terms, squids and other animals have these special skin molecules called chromophores. They are able to control the pigments of these chromophores through special multicellular organs in their bodies. Think of it as like having a second nervous system for changing the colour of your skin.

So what if the chromophores or multicellular organs were to not function in the way that they should? Like for instance, chromophores not having enough pigments to shift to certain colours. What are the implications of inkfish being unable to change colour in the context of things like Turf War?

Crash's red ends serve as a sort of base-level exploration into the idea of inkfish having some kind of hereditary complication that effects their abilities to change colour. The reason why I chose hereditary specifically is because he has another mutation that is also genetic: his heterochromia.

I think instances of discolouration in the Splatooniverse could be easily explained through how heterochromia and vitiligo occur in the body. I know for certain there are other Splatoon fans who have OCs with vitiligo or other instances of unique colouration, so maybe it would be comforting for them to know that there is theoretically a grounded explanation as to why it would exist. Not that I think representation has to necessarily be grounded in reality to justify existing.

#3. Tide and the Autism Spectrum

While Tide's lucky ear has been a pretty recent addition, what hasn't been a recent addition is the fact that he is also canonically autistic. Just as a handful of examples, he...

Sometimes misunderstands or doesn't pick up on certain social cues (namely sarcasm and flirting)

Is very passionate and knowledgeable about cats (ie: a very common special interest for people on the spectrum; including me)

Did not start speaking until he was in his preschool years (a common sign of autism in young children; also including me :P)

Has a unique speech pattern and uses a lot of uncommon phrases and words.

Stamps his feet or plays with his hair when he is in a good mood (ie: stimming)

Tide being autistic is 100% a self-indulgent decision on my part, even if I don't completely relate to his experiences. I do play up some of his quirks for jokes, but he is nonetheless an earnest representation of the fun and frustrations that come from being on the spectrum.

#4. Tide and far-sightedness

I'll keep this one short. Tide wears glasses when reading, which while it may be pretty innocuous, is still technically a disability.

I also wanted to share Tide wearing his glasses because he looks like a dork (affectionate) when he has them on.

I'd love to keep exploring disability representation in Splatoon, be it through my fan characters or through headcanons. I think with such a weird and wacky world that Splatoon exists in, it serves as a great canvas for portraying disability in a positive light, and even in ways not fully applicable to humans. If nothing else it is a ton of fun to write about. :P

Sidenote, but despite my position as a disabled person, I don't consider myself an expert in disability. So if I got anything wrong or said something misleading or offensive please let me know!

Thank you for reading ☆

[maxslibrary]

Marina x Octoling reader (before octo expansion) where they meet and they just bond over being Octolings? Like nobody knows that Octolings aren’t Inklings so I think it’d be really cool with they could just bond about that type of stuff! Sorry i don’t know how to put my thoughts into words 😭

A different kind of Inkfish (Marina x Octoling!Reader)

You were sitting outside of Crusty Sean's food truck, you stared at the menu as you felt eyes on you. Sweat dripped from your head as you adjusted your hat, making sure your rounded ears couldn't be seen. You were surprised you've gotten away with it for so long. Suddenly, however you saw an Inkling staring at your hair, tilting their head ever so curiously.

"Your hair.." The inkling spoke up. Oh GOD. This is it you're gonna be exposed as an octoling and be sent back it's SO OVER-

"I love how exotic it is!" The inkling smiled "How did you get your suction cups to appear on the outside like that?"

"It's uh.." you felt your throat get dry "It's a species thing."

You weren't TECHICALLY lying.

"OH COOL! Nice to see a squid with cool features! Keep being fresh!" The inkling beamed as they walked off.

You let out a sigh as you placed a drink ticket on the table. With a smile, Sean took your food ticket and got to work. Pressing your back against the food cart, you let out a breath. You could finally relax..

Just then, however you saw as a figure approached you. She had a pair of clunky headphones, cyan fingertips, and a leather jacket. But the thing you INSTANTLY took notice of was the suction cups on the outside of her locks.

You almost fell over in shock and she noticed. Then she noticed the same suction cups on your hair. There was at least a solid minute of you two just staring at each other.. at this that's what it felt like. You had heard of Marina but you never expected to meet her in person.

"Ah! I uh.." Marina scanned over your outfit and noticed a squid sisters pin "A fellow Squid Sisters fan! Fresh! We should totally sit together!" trying to subtly hint something.

You got what she was laying down and proceeded to nod.

You two grabbed your drinks and sat down, a little bit away from the inklings, enough that they wouldn't overhear anything. Marina checked around before looking at you with her emerald eyes.

"Okay so.. you're an octoling, right?" You whispered, pointing at her suction cups.

"YES!" She said with a hint of relief, she fiddled with her headphones.

There was a collective sigh between you two as you slouched your backs a bit. Marina fiddled with her straw, trying to think of what to talk about first.

"It's so nice to meet a fellow octoling!" Marina smiled at you, her fangs showing off in the daylight.

"Me too! It's been so hard just.. lying that I'm a different species of squid." You tapped your hand against your plastic cup, excitedly.

"Do you get people saying your hair looks exotic?" Marina points out.

"ALL. THE TIME." You laughed a bit.

You two exchanged some conversations about being and Octoling and the struggles of having to adjust to inkopolis. You found yourselves with a pair of empty cups, still sitting at the picnic table.

Marina looked at her phone and her eyes widened "Oh ink I gotta dash!". She rubbed the back of her neck, not wanting to stop talking to you.

You nodded "Alright!". You were a little sad that the conversation was ending but it looked like Marina had an idea.

The cyan octoling looked left and right and looked around in her pockets and grabbed a napkin. She then proceeded to get out a pen and wrote.. was that her number?

"Here! It's always nice to talk to a fellow squid sisters fan.." Marina handed you the napkin and winked.

You grabbed the napkin as you watched Marina walk away. As you got up and walked in another direction, you felt less alone in Inkopolis.

[dokidokitsuna]

M4R1N3SN.0 vs. whaleFall

Just felt like doing some random Splatoon OC designs. ^^ Could it be time for the fan art pendulum to swing back towards my other video game obsession...? I have been meaning to get back to #re_rise...

Design Notes:

These are more musicians, but those are the names of their bands, not the characters themselves. I'm sure I'll give them names eventually...

This was inspired by the FrostyFest, unsurprisingly (btw, congrats on the Big Man Sweep, Team Solo! ^^). I came up with 'M4R1N3SN.0' ("marine snow") first, then immediately thought of its equal and opposite, whale falls-- which I then connected to Splatoween. And from there, the idea of the two rival bands was born.

The toothpaste-looking girl is an Octoling-- I know, it's kinda hard to tell. ^^ I just felt like doing a short-short haired inkfish design, and between that and the bizarre coloring, and the fact that her ears are covered...in the end, it all started to add up. ^^; Although, in-universe, I think it would lend her a sort of 'alien' vibe that would definitely be intentional on her part.

Her striped patterns are inspired by the mimic octopus, which (considering why it's called that) kinda lends itself to a longer-haired design...maybe I can do a variant later~

Zombie-lobster dude is a Halloween lobster, which is naturally born with both black and orange colors on its body, often split evenly down the middle. Look 'em up, they're so cute~

The "orange" half of his body is made up to look like he's suffering from epizootic shell disease, which is basically lobster leprosy, and not so cute. ^^; Between that and the claw bands, I think he has a very edgy look, by sea-creature standards: it'd be the equivalent of a human walking around wearing fake blood and handcuffs.

I like to think of these two band leaders' relationship as extremely theatrical and unclear. ^^; Like, no one really knows whether they're best friends who pretend they hate each other or actual enemies who occasionally pretend to get along. They give contradictory answers in interviews; even their own bandmates aren't quite sure what's going on with these two...

[ohheyaghost]

has anyone else noticed that shivers model for grand festival looks much more similar to her live concert one? (The mouth movements give it away a lot a long with the more in depth cup on her ear) not to mention the characters movements are a lot closer to the live concert performances.

I think I read somewhere they’re using the concert models&dances but maybe I dreamed it?

edit: I’m like 99% sure I didn’t dream it and that they actually are using the models/choreography for it. Or something similar to it. ways I noticed it:

Shivers mouth moving a lot more, it’s a very small detail but once you see it you can’t stop.

shivers inner ear line being a lot more noticeable. Octolings have one ear cupped (similar to actual octopi) that usually isn’t noticeable on models.

the choreography being a lot more bouncy. Pearls crown boings up and down when she dances, that typically only happens during concerts.

marinas tentacles getting in her face a lot more. This happens with the regular dances in game but it’s a lot more lively and gets in the way during concerts.

god I sound like such a nerd writing this. Whatever I can do what I want *disappears into smoke*

[bloomblanche]

＊✿ It's Melly!! ✿＊

I just realized that I haven't talked about her much on my blog. Time to fix that.

(Text cut for aesthetic purposes)

Bear in mind that she kinda evolved from "splatsona" to "OC who shares a lot of things with me (but not everything!) and still represents me sometimes but is mostly her own character now"

❥ Mélusine (full name Mélusine Larchipel) is 20 years old and goes by she/her. Her height is 166 cm, aka 5'5. She's autistic and pansexual.

❥ She's all academics, no street smarts. She's rather shy, overly polite, and has trouble voicing her opinions (as well as socializing in general). Her enthusiasm and eccentricities regularly slip through the cracks of her demure appearance.

❥ Melly moved to Inkadia around 10 years ago (making her multilingual as a result), but she still hasn't gotten used to everything because she would mostly spend her time inside without interacting much with other people. She's only recently started to open up, and she uses ink sports and tableturf as a way to do so.

❥ Her mom is a surface Octoling, but her dad is a Cirraling (which is my fan species of cirrate octopuses). That makes her half-grimpoteuthis! The reason why it matters is that the top design isn't her true appearance. The bottom one is what she looks like all-natural.

(Older drawings for comparison)

❥ Due to the biological differences of cirrate octopuses, her chromatophores and her ink sac are a bit underdeveloped. It takes roughly 15 minutes of light exposure for her chromatophores to be able to change colour and roughly 30 minutes in darkness for her to revert back to her natural colour.

❥ She's a bit insecure about her differences, so that's why she disguises herself as a regular Octoling. In fact, her hairstyle is meant to make her ears look smaller since she would get teased for them as a kid.

❥ This character is pretty much a metaphor for masking, when you think about it

❥ Now! Being part-dumbo has its perks, such as better night vision, but it also has its downsides. Remember when I said that her ink sac was underdeveloped? Because of that, she has to focus almost all of her gear abilities into ink saving.

❥ And that combined with her being unable to play anything other than brushes means that Melly REALLY sucks at Salmon Run. She sucks so much that her teammates kept complaining, and she ended up getting kicked out of Grizz Co. She doesn't mind it too much, though, because she's happy earning money with turf war and sewing. Not to mention that the whole business looks really shady anyway.

❥ Going back to brush weapons! Melly has a weird obsession with them. She owns all of the available ones on the market and will only listen to Sheldon's rambles if they're about brush weapons (if they aren't, she will immediately zone out)

❥ She's named Mélusine after the fairy from the eponymous myth. Mélusine is a spirit of fresh water who was cursed to become a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. So! Not only does it have a water theme, but it reflects her appearance-changing deal. She likes her full name, and her family uses it on a regular basis. The reason why she mostly goes by "Melly" is because it's easier for her friends to pronounce.

❥ Her favourite band is Chirpy Chips, and her favourite song from them is Shellfie. She's also a big fan of Raian (guess where that came from) and has a celebrity crush on them.

❥ Her favourite show and videogame are called "Magical Mumi Uni-chan" and "Coral Village 2" respectively.

❥ She loves blueberry pies and hates walnuts for their dry aftertaste (macadamia nuts are more up her alley)

❥ She developed emetophobia as a kid after a severe bout of salmonella.

❥ She really likes flowers as well as lolita fashion and does sewing as a hobby.

❥ While not visible in this drawing, she has some webbing between her fingers (which are tainted purple)

❥ Her shoes are punk whites with ruffle socks.

❥ And last but not least: Melly is based on this specific octopus! She's also very interested in the deep sea and likes to search for books about it.

Thank you for your interest!!

Here are some silly gifs

[octomae]

Hello, fry3cap creator (loved that fic you wrote so much <3333)

11.(Optional prompt, romo) (hc Frye is tall :3 ): "I could lift you up off the floor while kissing you." "Excu- what are you doing?! Put me down!"

oho i see, we are going for gay people :3 glad u liked the other one!! this one is short, but hopefully sweet!

adding my own headcanon that octolings skew taller than inklings, they/them captain, and she/they shiver

-

If there was one thing Frye adored about her partner, it was that they were short.

Or maybe she was just tall. Shiver always said stuff about how Frye was tall for an inkling, and it was true. She could look most octolings in the eye, Shiver included, but she'd never met an inkling she had to look up at. It suited her just fine though. It wasn't a problem.

The problem was something else.

Captain 3 was always sitting down. They never got up out of their seat for too long, which meant Frye never got to fully and completely revel in the fact that she was taller than them. She had voiced this complaint to Shiver, whose only response was to give her a flat look.

"If they won't get up," the icy octoling had said, snapping their fan shut to point it at Frye the way she usually did, "just pick them up."

That was sound advice. Frye could do it. She was used to physical exertion after all, hours upon hours of dancing for splatfests engraved into her muscles. She'd caught the Captain staring at her exposed midriff more times than she could count.

So it was one of those days in Alterna, where the moment Marie saw Frye coming, she left to join Callie and Neo. That suited Frye just fine. It meant she and the Captain were alone.

"Oh my cod, you're so light," Frye said, marveling at just how easy it was to scoop her partner up off their box. She lifted them up and swung them around with ease, twirling on her feet with impeccable balance. "I could kiss you like this so easily."

Said partner was gaping down at her, hands grasping onto her arms for security, their ink color flushed across their face and the tips of their ears. "Excu- Frye, what are you doing? Put me down!"

"So that's a no on the kiss?" Frye teased, holding them a bit closer to herself. When they paused, she couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter. "You're so flippin' cute, Cap."

The blush across their face only deepened. "Frye, if you wanted to kiss me you could've just asked," they complained, though there was no real ire in their tone.

"And what, take all the fun out of it? I like seeing you all flustered like this!" She snorted, pulling them close enough to nuzzle her nose against theirs, an eel's snaggletooth grin on her face. "Augh, you're so small, it's seriously adorable."

The Captain let out an embarrassed sounding noise, though they no longer protested. When she kissed them, they didn't complain either.

[sunsetcorvid]

Can i steal some silly headcannons about inklings/octolings, hell mayhaps even inktolings?.. for the soul and totally not to steal and implant in my own silly bastards 👁

I don't think I have much different from in game, though I do follow real life biology on them.

So, starting, Inktolings are biologically impossible, unfortunately. Squid and Octopus are incompatible and thus cannot have children together. So, sorry if you got your hopes up for Inktolings on this blog. I'm not stoppin' y'all from goin' crazy with it though! It's fiction, make as many Inktoling OCs as you want!

Depending on the Octopus species, Octolings have venom. This can range from Barely Harmful to You Will Probably Die If Injected With A Certain Amount. Eight herself is literally the highest on that list, being a Blue-Ringed Octopus, which is one the most venomous species in the ocean. In relation to this, the blue rings that appear on the species also appear in Eight! Makes it easy to tell if she's mad or scared.

In Inklings, they will very much resemble their species in bipedal form. An example being Four, who is a Clubhook Squid! Meaning he's got hooks on his tentacles. The same is seen in Neo, as well, with her being a Magister Armhook Squid. This doesn't just affect tentacles, but physical features as well! Three's ears are smaller and more rounded than a normal Inkling due to being a Hawaiian Bobtail Squid (Which, fun fact, they are more closely related to Cuttlefish than Squid!), Four's ears are much sharper than an average Inkling as well, as Clubhooks have a sharp frame. Marie is a Firefly Squid, so if you've ever noticed in my art her freckles are green and they glow! Bioluminescence babey! Species may also affect their height as well, though not as much as the other stuff. This is why Three is so short compared to everyone else in the Splatoon. (Bobtails are a very small species.) ((The stuff here also apply to Octolings as well!))

Unfortunately, I think this is all I have, but I hope it's interesting!

Here are what some of species I mentioned look like:

[gnomefreak]

Splatfest Blues

Frye looks across the open lobby. The Splatfest is bustling, bubbling and boiling, all words indicating a successful Splatfest. Out of the corner of her eye she spots Shiver, in a tense Tableturf battle. Frye squints, trying to clear the ink from the last Tricolor Battle out of her eyes to better see her bandmate.

Wait a second. Is she looking at that kid’s cards?

No, it can’t be. Shiver is a talented Tableturf player, she wouldn’t cheat-

“Is Shiver looking at that kids cards?” A deep voice booms behind Frye. The aquatic version of Judd stands tall behind her. Despite Big Man’s massive presence, Frye knows not to fear his size or volume, he is a gentle nonjudgemental giant.

“Oh my judge, she is looking at that kid’s cards!” Big Man maneuvers his way past Frye to the table covered in cards. Frye can’t believe her eyes. It’s almost as if her eyes feel… wet? She blinks hard, thinking there might be some ink still in her eyes.

“It’s not cheating, it’s knowing the rules, and sleight of hand-“

“Shiver I saw you looking at his cards. Frye saw it too.”

A cold chill rattles Shiver’s metaphysical bones, her ears ringing loud as she turns to meet Frye’s line of sight.

Frye knows that look. It’s a look she’s seen Shiver use to get out of sticky situations. Frye has taken that as a sign before to evacuate Shiver from the premises. But a Tableturf battle? That is ridiculous.

Shiver holds her look at Frye, her eyes staying wide, the shining of her eyes begging and pleading for Frye to help her out of this spot. For a brief moment, Frye can feel Shiver’s panic.

Frye blinks hard, and looks away. Why do her eyes feel like this? It feels as if her world is shaking around her.

“Frye? You saw right? I would never cheat!”

Liar.

“I don’t play with cheaters.”

Frye looks back to Shiver. Her expression has completely changed, a mortified look paints her face. Her mouth hangs open and it looks like she’s trying to think of something to say, but no words come out of Shiver’s fanged jaws.

“Frye lets calm down… it’s just a game.” Big Man whispers to Frye.

“It’s not just a game!” Frye fires back. Her iconic loud recognizable voice carries through the room. The lobby goes silent and the crowd waits to listen to their favorite Frye speak. If a pin were to drop in someone’s locker, you could hear it over the low hum of the speakers in between songs. There does seem to be a collision glitch happening in someone’s locker, but that’s a typical and tangential observation. The octoling sitting across from Shiver sits unspeaking, a polka face Shiver still can’t read through. Why hasn’t he said anything?

Everyone is looking.

Shiver is visibly chilled. Big Man’s eyes dart around the room. “Let’s wrap this up, okay?” He says to Shiver and the other octoling at the table. Shiver nods and she silently rises from her seat, quickly shuffling to the green room. Big Man comes towards Frye, mumbling something Frye assumes is to calm her down, but right now she refuses to hear any of it.

Frye makes a break for the green room. She enters to see Shiver sitting on a padded chair, still shaking.

“What was that?”

“Frye, listen, I can explain-“

“No! There is no reason to do what you just did!”

Big Man squeezes himself through the green room’s door. They’ve gotta make that thing bigger. “Guys, lets just calm down first-“

“No! You disrespected me! You disrespected my family! My grandfather taught us everything we know about Tableturf and told us to always play fairly! He said if you just believe in the heart of the cards you would never have to cheat!”

“Frye, we’re thieves.” Shiver states, unable to deny she was caught red handed.

“Yeah, we steal TREASURE, not wins from kids in Tableturf during the Splatfest!” Frye’s fingers curl into fists.

“Big deal. You tried to fame-bomb me! You know how bad that would be for my image? And during the Splatfest?” Shiver sits with a wide posture, holding onto the arms of the chair as if it were her throne.

“Fame bomb you? Fame didn’t even win last Splatfest, and it’s all gone to your head!” Frye wiggles her finger at Shiver as if it were one of her eels, a dangerous move, considering Shiver’s tendency in the past to bite people’s fingers off. Shiver snarls and her teeth poke out from her lips, her hands tightly gripping the arms of the chair, her jaw clenched tight, refusing to take the literal bait.

“Guys…” Big Man tries to get the attention of his band members, his voice shaking timidly. The two ignore him.

“You know what? I’m starting to see how it is. You’re all obsessed with this money and power! Then you have all these people that adore you and you won’t even respect your own friends!” Frye slinks closer to where her seated duelist stares. Shiver shakes, the emotions changing the color of the ink keeping her hydrated, flashing red and white, an ancient warning telling Frye to back off. Shiver bares her pearly white megalodon teeth at Frye, shivering in rage. Anyone else would have had their head bitten off by now. It’s not like Frye couldn’t cook Shiver alive, she thinks back to the last annual Fry-cook game, and how Shiver didn’t stand a chance. This situation is getting hotter, and Frye knows the heat like the back of her hand.

“Frye… slow down… let’s not superjump to conclusions…” Big Man manages to interject.

Frye snaps her head to meet Big Man’s line of sight with her eyebrow furrowed, frustrated at him using puns at a time like this, then her gaze softens as she realizes his distress.

“This is just like what happened during the Callie and Marie Splatfest so long ago… I told you guys this was an awful idea…”

“Listen we don’t make the Splatfests we just announce em, okay?” Shiver says to him, hoping to avoid some blame. Frye’s anger heats up in her chest, wondering how Shiver who she thought was her friend could say something so heartless, and before Frye can think of the nastiest thing to say…

“Well… what are they trying to do then? Break up our band?”

The green room goes silent. Frye unclenches her fists, and Shiver’s grip on the arms of her throne loosen. The sound of the Splatfest current outside is low, only the bass from the speakers barely leaks into the space. Big Man is gazing down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with his bandmates. He’s missing the look of heartbreak on both of their faces. The love that they won so long ago. Shiver’s ink stops flashing colors, her tone returning to her usual deep purple and her eyes gloss over. A shining in her eyes so bright only Toni Kensa could see through.

“Maybe Big Man was right. Maybe… love was more important.” Shiver says quietly, her tone sheepish. She wonders what a sheep is, and why she sees white spirals in her vision.

“Did you just admit you were wrong?” Big Man bellows.

Shiver’s face flushes. “M-maybe! I said maybe!” She sputters in response. The corners of Frye’s lips curl up into a smile, and she can hear Big Man let out an aquatic purr.

“I’m sorry, Frye. I shouldn’t have cheated. You and your grandfather taught me the game well. I was having doubts… I stopped believing in myself… and I forgot what was important. Please, let me redeem myself.”

Shiver looks up to make eye contact with Frye. Instead of the look Frye’s seen Shiver use to manipulate her way out of situations, she sees true shame. The sparkle in Shiver’s eye beats with the heart in her chest. Frye feels her eyes are wet again, the feeling similar to falling into the water during battle, and she’s losing, hard.

“Frye? Are you okay?” Big Man gazes in Frye’s direction.

“Yeah, yeah, I just got something in my eye.”

“Yeah, I can see it.” Big Man swims over to her. “The whites of your eyes are like, red?”

“Red?” Shiver stands from her throne, now just any other empty chair, and walks to the aide of her partner. “Hopefully you don’t have conjunction-itis.” She cups Frye’s cheek with her hand and uses the other to push the tentacles out of Frye’s face to clearly look into her eyes. Shiver smiles, and Frye can’t help but smile back. Through the shines in their eyes, Frye knows Shiver truly meant what she said.

In an instant, Frye shoots forward, arms wide open, before latching onto Shiver. “Oh, I can’t stay mad at you!” Shiver laughs, and hugs her friend back tight. She looks to Big Man and smiles. He lets out a big sigh of big relief. Crisis averted, once again, Big Man thinks to himself. Splatfest is almost over, and no matter who wins, he knows none of them are truly in charge.

Theres a knock at the door. Before any of the three can answer, the door opens. The door to the green room usually stays locked, but in the frenzy of the moment, it was left unlocked behind them. Before any of them can sweat if they are in any danger, Big Man steps up to plate. “Be not afraid.” the visitor says, his blank expression unchanging. Shiver swears she hears bells, but there is no where they could be coming from. She wonders if Frye can hear bells too.

Though Big Man might not be a Judd traditionally, he retained the ability of being a good judge of character. He takes a look at the stranger, and knows they are in no danger. “Uh, can we help you?”

At the door stands the octoling Shiver was just dueling in Tableturf. He wears a Big Man Splatfest shirt and a pair of Grizzco shades from several seasons ago. Frye can’t help but notice he’s wearing the freshest kicks out of Crush Station. “I hope so. You promise not to freak out?” Shiver notices his voice… is missing something. He doesn’t sound like a kid, his voice is… dry… or no, horse? Shiver doesn’t know what a horse is, but she envisions it’s similar to a Reef Slider, or maybe even her Meg.

Shiver smirks. “They call me Shiver for a reason. I ride sharks without fear.” Her previous opponent grins at her, not caring about her attempt at cheating in Tableturf.

“Good. Then maybe you can help me.”

He takes off his Grizzco glasses, his pupils stare back at the trio in slits like a cat, and fuzzy ooze pours from his eye sockets.

Shiver shrieks in terror so loud, the world shakes with her.

[sick-ada]

CICADA AGENTS MASTERPOST

bc i keep forgetting that i havent actually put much abt my agents on my tumblr and i need to expose the max number of people to my blorbos as i can

going under the readmore cause this is gonna get longg

(this has been in my drafts for over a month)

CB-808 (agent 8, she/her) and Bubbles (agent 8 AGAIN, a SECOND TIME, CAN YOU TELL EIGHT IS MY FAV, he/him)

they're "twins", meaning they both woke up without any memories, saw that they were the only two nearby who looked similar (being the only non-sanitized octolings in the metro) and assumed that meant they were twins

they do all of the tests in octo expansion as a duo! this makes some tests easier (like girl power station) and others much harder (like the one with the dualie squelchers and the grindrails, since they have to share the weapon between them)

this kinda fucks with the computer systems and all their mem cakes are blended (lmao) together. they have to work together to figure out whose memories are whose, to varying success levels

very very very codependent. theyll get anxious if you take the other to another room where they cant see each other. proto (cap3) convinced them to do one test separately and CB got so worked up she punched the side of the carriage and permanently dented it

they didnt try a second time

ON THE TOPIC OF CB DENTING THE METAL: shes freakishly strong, in an artificially-modified way rather than a very-strong-but-normal way

after the splatoon 1 campaign, elite soldiers deserted en masse since nearly all of them were at the concert/final-battle, leaving a gaping hole in the octarian military. in an attempt to fill that gap as quickly as possible, volunteers were "purposed" to become enhanced super-soldiers

(ill probably make a dedicated post abt it when i remember but "purposing" is what they do to make octarians (the stubby tentacle guys) into all the different forms you see in-game. debateably ethical to begin with, SUPER unethical to do to actual octolings)

im bad at timelining but she signs up to this when she's like,,, 13. still kinda blobby

functionally, what it did to her was make her freakishly strong (she breaks the handles on doors ridiculously often) and about 50% more resistance to enemy ink. girls a tank. however, she has trouble regulating her strength and therefore cant superjump accurately since she overshoots her target every time

it's also super painful. she permanently lost her voice from screaming too much and cant speak any louder than a whisper, but she knows octarian and inklish sign languages so she gets along fine

her name is CB-808 bc that was the serial number printed on a livestock tag in her ear

BUBBLES ON THE OTHER HAND. not physically fucked up. mentally though................

his parents were some of the elites who deserted after hearing the Inkantation (in my headcanons it's something that can be resisted, but only temporarily). he wanted their approval more than anything so them leaving him was devastating

hes not actually a dude he just think he/him is a cool set of pronouns. heard someone say "him" once and absorbed it into his gender

he lied abt his age to become a scout/reconnaisance (how you spell that??), even if nobody was really gonna check given the situation after splat1

where CB is built like a tank, he's tall and lanky, and also scarily smart. combined with his lack of filter he'll literally just stare at you for 5 seconds before saying some shit like "oh i see. youre scared of us because of our competence and your perception of our alleigances compared to urs"

captain 3 is scared by him more than CB. as they should be.

his name is Bubbles because he has circular markings on his upper arms and CB is not very good at coming up with names (shes an amnesiac teenager give her a break)

theyre both 15 during octo expansion, and 20 by splatoon3

after reaching the surface they move in with flora (4) and his roommate bola (oc) to form the Leftovers Squad, an inksports team and maybe-gang

these two are wonderfully terrible influences and teach the two of them how to defy authority n shit, it's great, ill talk abt it more in their specific sections

CB mains the dynamo but plays it like a splat roller because she's so strong she can swing it with about that speed. Bubbles mains the e-liter and has nutty aim. the kind of duo that makes people realize theyre ex-soldiers

both of them are too obedient to authority, leftover habits from the military even if they don't fully remember their time there. CB is much worse in this regard, since she was more heavily conditioned to follow orders and Bubbles is observant enough to realize when theyre being taken advantage of

FLORA (agent 4, he/she used interchangeably)

part of the Leftovers Squad! a young punk squid that revels in rebellion and violence and showing people what's what

almost entirely deaf. he had pretty bad hearing to begin with, but loud raves without ear protection worsened it significantly. his hero headset functions as hearing aids but he doesnt usually wear them unless he's on NSS missions or patrols or w/e

came to inkopolis when she was 14, but it wasnt intentional. her parents were the kind of awful perfectionists that expected their children to be equally as perfect, so decided to leave flora in inkopolis bc she did awful in school

he was taken under Bola's fin (get it it's a fish pun theyre fish im hilarious) and became enamoured with the adrenaline-fueled, bloody-mouthed rush of fighting, in and out of inksports

the best way i can describe her is "violent for the sake of violence and gleeful about it". she starts a fight with someone twice her size just for the fun of attacking and taking a beating. probably something wrong with her. i love her with every fibre of my being

has absolutely zero respect or trust in authority -- especially adults, which includes Marie since she's 19 in splat2 and he's only 16

still goes along with her whole "hey go save the zapfish" spiel because A) she cant actually hear what marie is saying B) marie gave her some free fancy hearing aids so she GUESSES she has to return the favour somehow C) she wants to fight some octarian soldiers D) she wants to steal her own zapfish (she succeeds, it gets a tank in Leftover Squad's living room) and E) she thinks itll be REALLY funny to fuck with marie

shes right btw. its hilarious

she only follows orders when it's funnier than disobeying them. she puts zapfishes back in levels she wants to complete a second time. she teaches octolings how to play poker (and how to cheat at poker). she lets a squee-g splat her "to see what it feels like"

if callie wasn't missing marie would NOT put up with his bullshit, but alas.

respects agent 3 even less than marie, when they meet, since at least marie has a sense of humour

he's the one who suggests that CB and Bubbles move in with him and Bola after Octo Expansion. less out of his own goodwill and more out of a combination of morbid curiousity and a sense of "bola has a habit of taking weird inkfish under their fin, walking in with two soldiers will be really funny"

gets hypnoshaded 5 years post-splat2 (during the splat3 campaign) and has to be rescued by the leftover Leftovers (lmao) and Off the Hook. octavio doesnt really convince her to put them on, theres no realistic way he could do that, so he physically overpowers her and puts the shades on

he gets rescued tho! so it's all good and absolutely no interpersonal issues come from it i swear (lying)

Bola (they/them, not an agent)

another member of Leftovers Squad and, arguably, its leader

is about as comfortable with violence as flora (read: very comfortable) but, unlike him, doesn't enjoy it for its own sake. when they do a violence, it's for a specific aim and a purpose, even if that purpose seems inane or petty

theyre the leader of the leftovers mostly because theyre the only one with a goal or any sort of purpose. also because theyre by far the most charismatic of the bunch but mostly bc theyre the only one with any direction in life. the other three are happy to just help with that

(calling it a purpose is doing it too much justice, it's a grudge. a massive fucking grudge against Squidforce as a brand and an institution and a company. they want that thing obliterated)

when they first came to inkopolis (they were like 12), they werent a citizen of inkadia so they had no ID and weren't allowed to do official Squidforce battles, so they went to unofficial/illegal/unregulated turf wars to make some cash

this got shut down by squidforce

they decided "no. fuck this. fuck you, im gonna fuck every single one of you over, die." and swore vengeance about as dramatically as a then-13 year old could. luckily, bola was a very dramatic, kinda blobby 13 year old

they met flora when he came to inkopolis and introduced him to the concept of You Can Just Fight These People If You Don't Like Them

would have agreed to housing CB and Bubbles if Flora had just asked but this is fine they guess

theyll be the last to admit they have a compassionate streak, but they have a soft spot for the underbelly of inkopolis and everyone who lives there, most of which are underrepresented or downtrodden by the system that squidforce upholds

theyre an octoling but not an octarian (citizen of octaria, the nation that lost the great turf war and now lives in the domes) like CB and Bubbles are

instead, theyre a weird subspecies of octoling that went back in the water while the "normal" species of inkfish stayed on the surface. they still have most of the same features as an inkfish, like the shapeshifting, but have more aquatic adaptations like gills and razor sharp teeth and being able to swim in water unharmed (ik inkfish dying in water is only dubiously canon but for my headcanons normal inkfish dissolve like ingame if they fall into water)

they also have sepiism! better described in this post this means their ink/tentacle colours are limited to blacks and browns. their subspecies is more prone to this colour mutation than other inkfish since black is a pretty good camoflague colour if youre in the deep ocean. idk i wanted an excuse to make them look cool dont think abt it too hard

they absolutely despise proto (captain 3). aint no world where theyd trust the militaristic authority figure that orders around the two ex-soldiers theyre trying to teach how to be independent

not to mention the grudge they form against the captain after the hypnoshading incident that i will elaborate on i PROMISE its in the next section

aFTER I TALK ABOUT THE LEFTOVERS SQUAD AS A WHOLE. IF I CANT ESCAPE THEM NEITHER CAN YOU

when they meet, post octo expansion, the twins are 15 and the punks are 16, so theyre 20 and 21 respectively by the time splat3 rolls around

flora gets squidnapped just after splat3 campaign (which lasts like a day for reasons that will be evident once i get to neo 3 and "little" buddy), so proto and the squid sisters are in alterna monitoring the situation and doing cleanup while it happens. this will be relevant later. foreshadowing is a technique where--

a couple months after the twins move in, CB discovers inksports and makes the biggest saddest puppy dog eyes at the rest of the squad until they agree to making a league team together. it's also called the leftovers

CB and Flora love it because they enjoy physically fighting people (CB likes that she doesnt have to be permanently hurting people during it, Flora would like it better if there was a lil permanent injury tbh). Bubbles enjoys it because his sister enjoys it and also because he enjoys using his big brain to do sick predicts and snipe people from across the map where he's nice and safe. Bola only joins at first because telling the ex-soldier, who theyve been trying to convince that you dont need peoples permission to do things, "no" would be counterproductive. they hate every moment they have to fight in a squidforce battle. but then once the team gets well-known they realise that squidforce cant get rid of them anymore and uses their platform to absolutely troll the shit out of squidforce

like when they go on interviews and stuff they constantly mention how shitty squidforce is and "yeah i personally prefer [smaller organisation]'s inksports, they have way better maps and modes, squidforce just has a monopoly so..." and squidforce cant do shit bc theyre the charismatic face of this popular new team and itd be bad publicity

CB and Bubbles dont have real IDs cause theyre amnesiac teenagers who made up their own names. flora and bola get them fake IDs that claim CB stands for Courtney Blitz, making bubbles into Bubbles Blitz

CB often gets called Clam Blitz. CB does NOT appreciate this. Bubbles thinks it's hilarious and only answers people who call him "Blam Blitz" for like a week

Bubbles mains the E-liter but likes lots of different anchors, CB exclusively plays her "splat roller" (a dynamo swung really fast), Flora learnt how to play every weapon from the splat2 campaign and can play basically anything (but usually goes for something close-range so his bloodlust gets put to good use. heavy weapons tend to turn into bludgeons in his hands) i dont know what bola would use tbh. i wanna say a splatana but this is set mainly in splat2 so they wouldnt have those. if anyone is still reading this far pls make suggestions in the notes 👍

CB and Bubbles dont have any sense of money (in my hcs, the domes work more on a communal property + bartering system) so they have no reason to object to pearl giving them inordinate amounts of money. bola and flora have to have a conversation where they ask whether pearl is their sugar daddy. this is agonising for everyone involved.

they used the money to buy an unreasonably large bed that they all sleep on together bc theyre my ocs i make the rules

i promised it was proto next. here *throws them like a javelin through the screen

Proto (captain 3, they/them)

i shld probably start at the beginning for them bc their actions through all the games are the catalyst for a Lot of plot

they were raised in calamari county, their parents were friends with callie and maries parents so they hung out a bunch when they were kids. basically the third squid sister, though they get way too bad stage fright to become idols like the other two

hanging out with those two so much also meant a lot of exposure to cap'n cuttlefish. proto idolised him to no end, decided they wanted to be just like him when they grew up

when the squisters went to inkopolis to become idols, proto became their manager. they were also recruited alongside callie and marie into the NSS when craig decided to reform it. ive never actually watched a playthrough of splat1 so i dont actually know how the plot works other than "craig is there and then callie & marie are there" so the next part is probably gonna be more canon parallel than canon adjacent

also because im just making up random shit about splat1. thats probably also a factor

in this version of canon, the octarians dont steal every zapfish you grab at the end of the levels, only the ones used for the boss levels. all the rest are ones owned by the octarians, mostly bred in captivity cause where tf else are you gonna get the power for running the domes

proto isnt an active agent in splat1, it's callie and marie who go in and do the fighting while proto is the one coordinating them and making plans. their plan is to steal all these extra zapfish to strain the domes' resources and then perform the inkantation during the final confrontation to make the maximum number of soldiers (especially elites) desert, all so they become incapable of stealing more zapfish or launching a retaliatory strike

and cap'n cuttlefish approves so surely that means that this is a good plan and any suffering caused is a necessary evil and it's not like this paranoid old man has any biases or grudges that would impede his judgement. surely not

side note: instead of inner agent 3, CB and Bubbles have to fight inner agents 1 & 2. inner-callie targets CB and inner-marie targets Bubbles because i think the roller-charger parallel is cool

the plan works! elites and soldiers desert in droves, neutering the octarian military capability, and octaria has to focus what resources it has on not starving (which it barely achieves, theres a famine regardless) rather than attacking back. it also creates the conditions for bubbles' parents to leave him and for CB to undergo the extremely painful and inhumane procedures to become an enhanced supersoldier but proto doesnt learn this til octo expansion

the squid sister stories proceed basically like canon, but proto dedicates themselves to agent work while marie focuses on the radio and callie focuses on acting. theyre out investigating the metro with craig when callie gets squidnapped so they dont find out until octo expansion finishes (like a few weeks after she gets rescued)

SPEAKING OF OCTO EXPANSION. PROTO IS THERE THE WHOLE TIME

they dont fight CB and Bubbles, theyre a terrible fighter and a bit of a wimp (and those two are kinda terrifying), instead they watch when they get overpowered and captured by a squad of sanitized octolings (those two got sent to investigate since people kept vanishing when they went that way). they still get the same "youre down here because of me" guilt since they chose to watch rather than intervene

they later got into the metro proper and found those same people but like super amnesia'd and a little traumatised already, even if theyre not sure how much of that was already there, and then they get even MORE fucked up because the metro is fucking Like That

also guilt bc they dont actually help with the tests beyond advice thru the comms. can never have too much of that

they get CB and Bubbles out of the blender by removing their special limiter and spamming splashdown on the top til it breaks, getting exhausted and passing out afterwards, letting tartar control them

the hole in the ceiling gets made by CB throwing a bit of broken blender really hard

usually they would get their ass kicked by either CB or Bubbles, let alone both at once, but the two of them are so exhausted and fucked up and a little injured that the fight is closer than anyone would like. the fight ends when CB grabs them by the ankle and slams them into the floor. think that one scene from the avengers with the hulk and loki

unfortunately, since CB is way too scared and full of adrenaline to properly regulate her strength, she completely crushes their ankle and lower leg. since it doesnt splat them, they dont respawn, and everyone is too preoccupied with destroying the NILs statue to get them to a hospital, the leg wasnt salvageable and they had to get it amputated below the knee

theyre an ambulatory wheelchair user, after that. sometimes crutches instead, but they tend to go for the chair in alterna bc crutches and ice do NOT mix trust me on this. i only had crutches for a couple months but i fell on my ass SO much

anyway they reconnect with callie and marie and things are fine and good and theyre totally not avoiding the twins because marina kept updating them on relevant files she found during OE and theyre struggling to reconcile the idea that these are enemies with the undeniable truth that nobody has had a greater negative impact on their lives than them.

probably would be worse if marina told them the twins were 15. good thing she doesnt!

oh yeah i forgot ages. proto is 17 in splat1, 19 in splat2/OE and 24 by splat3

anyway yeah in their efforts to avoid the twins so that they dont have to think about the wide-reaching consequences of their past actions, they dont actually leave them with any way to contact them while they go check out the Crater. itll only be a quick mission, right? no need to worry about it

alterna happens

then they and the squid sisters come back to cuttlefish cabin to find it completely empty, then discover that flora is still in the hospital after having the shit kicked out of him because he was hypnoshaded and they didnt have any low-tide ink because marie wasnt there and they couldnt contact her and they tried and they tried and why didnt anyone answer and

theres a big cool dramatic confrontation where CB and Bubbles reveal they got all their mem cakes and know exactly who proto is and what they did and would have forgiven if they had been honest but now they cant trust their captain and formally quit the NSS

honestly theres more stuff for proto after this but i ahvent actually figured it out yet.

personality-wise, theyre overconfident in their own abilities and underconfident in the abilities of everyone else, they struggle to give control of anything over to someone else. because why would they allow someone else to be in charge when they know that their own plans are automatically so much better?

as they learn about the actual consequences of their splat1 plan via CB and Bubbles' descriptions of their mem cakes, this confidence falters a bit. they spent so long with that plan being one of their greatest achievements that they cant reconcile with the reality that it had devastating consequences for innocent people

this is not at all helped by Flora, who makes no secret of his opinion on proto. at first he's just fucking with them for the sake of fucking with them, the same way he does for marie, but it gets more antagonistic when proto reacts with genuine anger rather than the good humour marie does. flora absolutely does not take kindly to people trying to exert authority over her so she aims to piss off proto at every opportunity

it is very easy for flora to piss proto off

OKAY I HIT THE CHARACTER LIMIT ILL MAKE A SECOND POST FOR THE REST

[sailorsplatoon]

Can we have a written scenario with Callie and Cassie getting into shenanigans and Marie and Shina going to get them out of trouble?

Coming up!

———

Callie jumped over the back of the couch, landing next to Cassie as she watched a cartoon.

“Wanna go do something dumb?” Callie asked.

“Yes!” Cassie shouted in excitement, jumping to her feet.

“We can’t let your moms know, though. They’ll get mad at me.”

“Okay!”

****

“We’ve got to stay quiet so that we don’t get spotted,” Callie whispered, crouching behind a set of crates. Cassie nodded in understanding, peering over the edge at the octoling soldiers nearby.

“I used to work here a few years back,” Callie explained. “There’s this super good ice cream shop nearby that I’ve been craving for literal years.”

“Oooh we’re here for ice cream?” Cassie said in excitement, trying to keep her volume low. 

“Callie!” Marie’s angered voice echoed from across the room.

“Oh no…” Callie muttered, popping out from behind the crates. Cassie did the same. “Hey, Marie. What are you doing here?” She tried to play it off.

“I should be asking you the same thing.” Marie stood, her arms crossed with Shina next to her. The octolings nearby looked on with curiosity. “Why did I get a text from Octavio saying that his security cameras spotted you sneaking our child into an octarian base?”

“There’s a really good ice cream place nearby…” Callie whined.

“Oh my cod,” Marie muttered under her breath. “Cassie, honey, can you cover your ears for a moment?”

Cassie did as her mom asked, hearing muffled shouts through her hands and what she assumed were a lot of bad words. Eventually it seemed as though the argument had reached its conclusion and Shina motioned for Cassie to take her hands off her ears.

As the four were walking back home, Marie said, “Callie, please don’t do this again.” 

“No promises.”

———

I didn’t have many ideas for this, so I hope you like what I’ve got here. It’s not very long, and it’s not my best work, but I think it’s pretty good!

[canis-rex-lupus]

ok everyone. splatoon headcanons for the psychonauts main cast. buckle up its gonna be Detailed.

RAZPUTIN AQUATO

raz would be an octoling i think. he'd start out playing one of the weapons he sees his idols use, but as he finds his own playstyle (i think he'd go for skirmisher personally, he'd like to be in the front lines with all the action) i think he'd play something that's more *him*, something snappy and fast with lots of opportunity for movement. i think dark tetra dualies would suit him. the rolling mechanic mirrors how he implements his circus upbringing in the way he uses his psychic powers and i think he'd be big on trying to do sick team wipeouts with the reefslider.

he'd focus on ranked battles and rank up REALLY fast - he'd be in X battle in no time. as for abilities i think he'd use a lot of offensive/movement based stuff like intensify action/swim or run speed up etc etc. when he first starts out he makes a lot of mistakes like tunneling when matches get heated but he'd be diligent about watching match replays and improving. he does a good job of synergizing and keeping the team in check when he gets the hang of things. he'd make a lot of gutsy moves that win the match in those very last few seconds, always snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. his favorite mode would be clam blitz. he'd decorate his locker with items you earn from playing like the big run statues or the stickers you get by weapon freshness, and he'd plaster it with a ton of stickers he thinks are cool. you think it would look bad but it turns out to nail the cluttercore look pretty well?

LILI ZANOTTO

lili would be an octoling, frontline slayer, and most DEFINITELY play a splatana wiper. she antagonizes people with the torpedoes and gets the SICKEST trick shot splats with charged splatana shots and well timed ultra stamp throws. she could hit you from a mile away without even trying. she'd run a comp that's just as cool and fun as it is killer. intensify action, drop roller, maybe something REALLY nasty like respawn punisher. ink resistance and sub defense so nothing gets in her way. she's really good but aggressive and tends to tilt a lot, throwing her off her groove and losing her a lot of matches, which i think she'd be a little too hard on herself about. despite this she'd be S+ rank having played pretty much her whole life and her favorite mode would be turf war or rainmaker. she'd have a pretty cool locker too - it would have hard to get stuff like the bear ears from the secret story mode level and a golden big run statue, but be put together in a more thoughtful way than raz with additional items just for style.

SASHA NEIN

sasha would be an inkling. since he values control i think he'd play a backliner - he'd have the patience for a charger like the e-liter, and the steadiest aim you've ever seen. he'd have a lot of sensible but boring abilities like ink savers and sub power and all that. overall prioritizes function over flashiness. he'd use his long range to keep control of the goal area and pick off enemies, keeping the rest of the team safe. he'd be very strategic about when and where he moves, when to shoot or when to hold back, when to use his special, etc etc. he pushes raz to do the same but he's far too impatient to really master it like sasha does. he's X rank and his favorite mode is splat zones. he doesn't decorate his locker much, but maybe he'd at least have a picture of him and milla in there or some cool scifi thingies with lights for the ambiance.

MILLA VODELLO

milla is an octoling and plays midliner support! she likes painting more than fighting, and likes playing fun weapons that can cover lots of ground like custom jr, inkbrush, or big swig roller - i think she switches it up instead of having one signature weapon. they're all just so much fun! she'd have ink recovery, sub saver, all that good stuff so she can paint the whole stage and earn her team the upper hand while the enemy's distracted fighting. definitely prioritizes the team win over getting the most splats or points or whatever - she'd be sure to emphasize the importance of being a team player to morry or lili, who might tend to be selfish in their playstyle without the reminder. morry definitely needs said reminder frequently. she's X rank and i think she'd like turf war the best. can't go wrong with the classics! her locker is THE cutest. she has the pink one obvy. her decorations are color coordinated and well placed, and she spends a lot of time trying out new layouts for it.

MORCEAU OLEANDER

he's an inkling. morry plays something big, heavy, and DEADLY. he could really get into the hydra splatling i think - he'd think booyah bomb is the best special of all time. he prioritizes getting splats over everything, even when he's the only one left alive and all four of the enemy team is on him. he just never thinks to retreat. he definitely doesn't make... the smartest plays. hence milla having to remind him to be more team oriented instead of constantly rushing to the other team to try to fight them on your own morry the hydra is a backliner we talked about this!!

hed be the type to not really internalize constructive criticism from teammates. yeah yeah whatever. he DOES get a lot of kills but at the expense of abandoning the actual goal of the game - it's probably resulted in a LOT of very close losses. he'd tilt a lot too, like lili. he's probably only A or S rank, and has league points waaayyy in the negative. his favorite mode is rainmaker, but he likes salmon run a lot too. it's fun to take down all those big nasty fish. he'd have no sense of design tbh his locker would be a little ugly LMAO

FORD CRULLER

ford would be an inkling, and a jack of all trades. him and each of his alters would have their own playstyle and favorite weapons. i'll just talk about agent cruller for now - i think he'd be a support but so practiced with his weapon he can and DOES use it like a slayer when the need arises - maybe undercover brella. he'd know all the best spots to put ink mines and he could show raz the best way to use his reefslider :) i think he'd use his ability slots to play to the strengths of his weapons and enhance them - for the brella, that would mean ink savers, special charge, and sub power. a lot of people would be confused that legendary psychonaut ford cruller would go with something as mid-tier as an undercover brella, but i think the way he uses it represents him well - it seems like it wouldn't get the job done but it's reliable if you give it a chance. sound familiar?

ford was the best player of the whole gang in his prime, and he's still a BEAST at it - he just slips up a little more often. he'd still have a lifetime's worth of knowledge and cool tricks though; i think he would've taught raz a lot of the important fundamental stuff as he was starting out, and if you really looked you could see echoes of ford in how raz plays. he's X rank of course, and his favorite mode is tower control. his locker would look disorganized to the uninitiated, but each section belongs to an alter so they all have a chance to decorate.

CALIGOSTO LOBOTO

cal is an octoling, and switches up his weapons ALL the time. i think he'd favor some really niche ones like bloblobber. he'd be pretty all over the place with his playstyle, having similar issues to morry in having no strategy. he probably doesn't think to practice much or familiarize himself with the limitations of his weapons, so when things get heated he either just throws caution to the wind and shoots without purpose. he doesn't think too hard about his ability comp - his outfit probably looks super silly, actually. silly in a cute way though. he'd wear something colorful, and maybe all the patterns wouldn't quite go together, but he's happy with it. he'd rely on stuff like ninja squid and quick respawn to make up for how flawed his strategy (or lack thereof) is. he'd shark a lot to get surprise splats.

he'd blame just about anything under the sun before he admits it's flawed though. this weapon is just no good, that other team was way higher level anyway, they weren't playing fair, so on and so forth. i think he'd get defensive at criticism -- he takes it very personally. in his eyes, being told about all the ways he could improve is the same as being told he's bad. it takes a lot of coaxing to get him to practice more and learn to admit his own mistakes. he might not even bother with competitive, but if he did he'd be pretty low rank. C or maybe B at best. both because he hasn't been playing for long and he's at a low-ish skill level. his favorite mode would be salmon run cause it's less competitive AND he loves to see the salmonids he thinks they're cool. his locker is a huge mess and has at least one of those furbies or the zapfish plush in it. i have a LOT more to say about cal but for the sake of post length i will save it for later.

this is all i will cover for now BUT..... i have so much more in me i could probably eventually cover the whole cast. for example how gristol malik would use the gold aerospray and be the most annoying player known to man. but i savr those foorrr... next time maybe this is already very very long. thank u for reading 😋

[maxslibrary]

Can I request poly Shiver and Fry challenging the reader to one of the "combative courtship rituals" heard about in sunken scroll 5 but the reader doesn't know about them since they are new to the Splatlands

A Splatfest Of The Heart (Shiver Vs Frye X Reader)

You were just hanging outside of Crush Station, minding your own business. You had moved to the Splatlands a while ago and you were still getting used to a lot of the customs around here. You were sipping some soda as you sat on the stool. You watched as folks of varying shapes and sizes walked around the street.

Suddenly you saw a few of the Splatlandians look back in shock as someone walked through the crowd. The inkling had yellow hair and long ears. You could see her purple tinted fingers. You recognized this inkling, it was Frye! She appeared to be dressed in a leather jacket and spiky wristbands.

You tilted your head at her before you looked over as another figure emerged from the other side of the street. She was an octoling with blue hair and red fingertips. Shiver, it was Shiver. She also appeared to be dressed like a biker.

You looked.. confused as you looked at the two. Both were inkfish you had known personally but you also knew them as two members of Deepcut, this could be something to advertise the next Splatfest. You sipped your soda at the thought, suddenly noticing the lack of Big Man. Odd. So this wasn't a Splatfest thing. Either way the surrounding crowd seemed pretty jazzed about it.

Suddenly Shiver spoke up "Tch.. nice to know you're not a coward, Frye." she posed, placing her fingers on her forehead, staring daggers at Frye. "Tough talk for the octoling who lost the flavor splatfest." Frye smirked at Shiver. The octoling's face turned bright red "YOU ALSO LOST THE CHOCOLATE SPLATFEST!" "Yeah but I didn't loose the last two splatfests." the inkling responded casually.

"WHATEVER! We're not here to debate splatfests.. our battlefield for today is love.." Shiver announced, crossing her arms. Suddenly you stopped sipping your soda, noticing it was empty. You shook around the empty cup, your eyes locked on it. Looking back at the street you noticed the two Inkfish walk towards you and your heart stopped.

"What in cod is going on..?" you whispered as the idols walked up to your table. Frye placed her hand on the table, smoothly gazing at you. "Heyyy Y/N.. what's cooking good looking?" the inkling purred at you as Shiver rolled her eyes in the background.

"Please. CLEARLY you don't know a thing about romance, Frye." Shiver shoved Frye out of the way, causing you to jolt in shock. You noticed how no one besides you seemed to really react. "My darling Y/N how does the sun shine on you this lovely day~?".

Suddenly you spoke out "Nothing besides utter confusion. What ARE you two doing right now?". Shiver and Frye looked at each other, genuinely shocked.

"You don't know..?" They said in unison. You shook your head, drumming your fingers as you look at them in confusion.

"We're having a rumble!" Frye started. "It's when two inkfishes fall for the same person and they proceed to playfully roughhouse until the winner is decided." Shiver explained, checking her nails. "Don't forget about the delinquent clothes!" Frye brushed off her leather jacket and adjusted her spiked bracelets.

You pause, your face going red as you realized "You both.. are in love with me?". They both nodded, causing you to look at the ground, flustered. "Wow.. that's... wow." You got up "Well I guess I'll have to decide then.." you hummed as you walked down the steps.

Shiver and Frye followed you, much akin to a pair of lost puppies, eagerly waiting to see who you'd choose. You turned back "After I think about it for a few days." you continue. The two inkfishes are left in shock as you walk away.

Suddenly the octoling stands up straight as she lends a hand to Frye "Truce?" the inkling shakes her hand "Truce."

[squid-ink-symphony]

Ok so here is my insane theory for what side order will be about:

This is kind of an amalgamation of other theories I've seen and my loose understanding of past splatoon games.

So. The octo in the trailer is NOT 8. It's a clone of 8. I think the twitter team referring to them as an octoling and not just 8 is kinda pointing towards that. And it would also explain why they look different. I think someone/something saw how epic and cool and strong 8 was and wanted that power for their own. I think that's also why the appearance of the character seems to vary from art to art in the trailer. And why some of them have odd inkling like ears. Its different clones. And not every single one turned out right.

Slightly random thing. But this game's whole thing is the number 3. Which is why i think the new character will be agent 9. Right after 8 but also happens to be 3 x 3

Another thing is that there has kinda been a slight emphasis on clones this game. With lil judd being implied to have taken over grizzco and the sunken scroll about marigold(the staff fish lady idk her name i hope im right) it seems like they are just kinda important.

I don't really know what the plot will do with other than oil, coral bleaching, etc. But i think it will touch on 9 not really knowing who they are since they are just a clone. I think Pearl and Marina could potentially mistake 9 for 8 or something. The constant shots of elevators and the importance of the tower makes me think we're going up, up, up.