#first and foremost this is about. My splatoon ocs

[toldentops]

I’m so obsessed with reunions. All the possible thoughts that come with it. What were the circumstances that led to this? Did it tear us apart? Did it wane out slowly? Was it intentional? If I had known it would be the last time I saw you, maybe things would have been different, maybe I could have prepared you for it. What of the time in between, if it was kind, or if it was wracked with grief or resentment? Did your image of me change, or have you preserved me in your mind just how I was? Have you forgotten about me or have I always been in your head to remind you where you are? Was I mourned, even if I never died? And when the actual reunion comes, is it sudden, or is it through torturous anticipation because I can’t wait to see you and we’ve been talking about it for weeks? Or maybe it’s anticlimactic, we lock eyes and talk as if no time has passed. Did you catch me by surprise? Did you recognize me? Are we so changed that it takes a minute for it to register, until you’re running at me with full force and I’m doing the same? I’d know your smile and laughter anywhere. Are you greeting me with open arms? Does this change if it’s been 1 year or 10? Could it be a silent nod exchanged when passing each other on the street because we don’t talk, and there’s nothing more to add? Would I dread seeing you? Do my eyes widen as if I’ve seen a ghost?

[abibeur]

So. I played Side Order (or rather I finished Side Order, aside from a few completion marks that doesn't offer any spoiler stuff!).

I've been seeing stuff on Tumblr, on Discord servers, on YouTube comments by people who were… Not entirely happy with it. Or rather disappointed. "They could have done more…", "This character was underused…", "I preferred the Octo Expansion…", "Let's re-write it for something better…". And let me tell you, I was (and still am) infuriated when reading these. Not because those comments and posts and messages were unfair, unjust and idiotic or anything (well maybe the re-writing thing was uncalled for), but because I actually loved that DLC. I think that's pretty normal to be angry with seeing a thing you love being shit on, even if I get what all of you meant. But I still wanted to share my own thoughts (because why not, I like saying what I think).

First and foremost, let me just say that I have a pretty different relation with Splatoon than most people. I was in since the release of the first game. I didn't play it due to a lack of Wii U, but I watched a lot of videos. And I liked it! I even had Splatoon OCs, I could be considered a fandom veteran at this point! But after some years, I put it at the back of my head as something I loved. When the Switch came out, I didn't have the money for it and no one would buy me one, so I continued to be a PC gamer. And when I saw the news of a Splatoon 2, I dismissed it like it was something silly, "what can you say more about Splatoon!?" I knew there was some new idols, some stuff about a DLC, Callie being kidnapped, but that's all. I dismissed all of this, and as a result I don't have much of an attachment for it. But in 2021, when I saw the news about a third game, I was ecstatic again. And in 2022, when I finally could afford it, I bought a Switch. Not just any Switch, the Splatoon themed one, and I pre-ordered the game. And when it came out, I spent less than a day to finish the story mode, and it was one of the best day of my life, I played Splatoon for 16 entire hours. Splatoon 3 is now my most played game on the Switch, more than 300 hours (that can seem not that much for some of you, but I'm a casual gamer, I don't play every day, so that's still a lot!). I even bought Splatoon 2 and the Octo Expansion after that. Splatoon 2 story mode was incredible, because that's the game I never got to play but more mastered. Octo Expansion was incredible, because it was… incredible. But I still liked Splatoon 3 story mode better. Is it because I've played it before? Because I hadn't the one year of unskippable Off the Hook news to make me like them before the DLC (to be fair I didn't know much of Deep Cut too!)? Because it clicked more on me? Honestly I don't care. It's not important, because it's still my preferences. But let met tell you, when the news of Splatoon 3 DLC dropped, I was roaring. Every crumbs of news and trailers widened my life expectancy. I was finally sharing the hype that you felt for Octo Expansion. And…

Two days ago, I played it. And I loved it. Why? Why did I love it where so many people seem disappointed? This will not be an analysis, I'm not good at those, just… Here's how I see things. Also there will be huge spoilers so if you haven't censored the tags for whatever reason, I will hide it beneath a read more because I'm nice.

First, the gameplay. When I heard it was going to be a roguelite, I was intrigued, because it seemed interesting. I was wondering how it was going to play out, more like The Binding of Isaac, or like Hades… Okay I only played those two. And it was like Hades. But I think the best thing to come out of this gameplay is… Well, the fact is every mission from all other story modes (including octo expansion) are pretty much the same in that they have an intended way to be beaten. Sure, for OE and S3 you have a choice of weapons, and there's probably unorthodox ways to finish them (including speedruns), but it's still organised around a specific way to deal with the levels. You go at one point and there you're done. And that's why I will never re-play the story modes I already finished. I know the ropes, so… Why? But here… The gameplay itself doesn't change much. It's an amalgamation of most Splatoon gameplay since now, Salmon Run, Ranked Match, Octo Expansion levels… But the way you APPROACH this gameplay is different and that's why every thing changes. Because you are now free to choose. You don't want a stage? Choose another one, the cost of a good chip and membux not being that punishing, you want a specific type of chip? Go for it! There is so much fun combos to do, I have fun at every run! They told us it was going to be replayable. And they haven't failed to give. Because when I want to replay a game, then I know it's good. Aside of multiplayer games and games made to be replayable (TBOI, Dishonored…), some of favourite games are Half-Life 2 (my favourite game in general), Hollow Knight and Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story. Once you've finished exploring it all, well there is nothing else. But I still want to experience it again. And again. I have tens and even hundreds of hours on each of them. So yeah. If a game makes me want to replay it, I like it! And also… The final fight. The "phase 2" of the final fight. It was probably the most satisfying gameplay in all of Splatoon. Every path you took? Every path you didn't take? It was there. And you could experience it all together and finally finish your first run, empowered by it, in-game and outside. This was so good. I really wish we will get updates like more stages, bosses or even chips, because wow.

Secondly, the atmosphere. This point will be much shorter, but holy shit this game was incredible to be immersed into. The cold and sanitised atmosphere of the Spire? Amazing. Obvious Portal and liminal spaces vibes, but hey. And the music… Really the music makes a lot of it. The final fight music is absolutely incredible, one more time, and the credits theme is probably my favourite credits theme of every Splatoon game and DLC (that VIOLIN, that heckin' VIOLIN). I wouldn't be able to say which one of Octo Expansion and Side Order's atmospheres was my favourite. I guess I'm less sensitive to childhood memories and such but hey. Both DLC's atmospheres were incredible good.

Finally… The sore point of everything I guess, the story. I guess we expected more. Even myself, I expected something darker, deeper, more mysterious and esoteric… Have I been disappointed. No. I understand that some people were, but I am not. And frankly, I feel like I don't have to be. Like what do we really wished for? More octoling lore? Marina's past uncovered? Mature themes and dark atmosphere? I am just describing Octo Expansion. We didn't need Octo Expansion 2.0. Every theme that I've seen wished for? Octo Expansion tackled them, greatly even. So did we really need to do the same thing again? I feel like Splatoon 3 was the great conclusion of the other games' story modes, where all marine life finally united against the common enemy: mammals, the past of Earth's life coming back for its great revival. And it was a spectacular conclusion. And Side Order was Octo Expansion's conclusion. But it wasn't that bombastic, it was more of a calm conclusion, an epilogue of some sort. Marina wasn't in great danger or anything (well she was but less than we expected), we didn't need to expand the damsel in distress role for confirming Marina and Pearl's relation (which was pretty much hinted on greatly without it lmao), we already knew that. We didn't need some dramatic story about Marina's departure's effect on the one she was close to, like some people predicted for Acht. I think some fan comics explored this way better and Nintendo telling their own version would have been disappointing either for it or for the fan comics' versions! We didn't need more insights on Eight, because once again Octo Expansion ALREADY did this. Eight seems happy with their new name and identity, so why should we uncover more? They already won a lot with Octo Expansion and their sacrifices would have been dull if there were reveals on "who they really are".

Nah. Side Order, how I see it, is a story about fixing the damage made in the Octo Expansion. It's a story about recovery. About finally confirming your place in the world and accepting that everything will not be like you think it will. Acht is not there to expose Marina's errors, Acht is there to show how this recovery can work. She symbolises every octoling Marina left when she quit the army and ESPECIALLY every octoling she swore to help. And she's also there because it would have been less interesting to see an octoling we've never seen before, especially since she is an octoling we knew got Kamabo Co.'d! Every palette is someone we already know, an anchor to the world of Splatoon, and for Eight, an anchor to their memories, as the locker was their palette. As they know more and more people, they know more and more where their place in the world is. And the end of your first run? The start of the final boss phase 2? Yeah the music is Pearl, Marina and Acht's. But it is Eight's pulse that got everything back together. Their heart beating made the world beating again. They found freedom, now they found their place in the world. They're finally complete. Like you complete your palette with every chips at once. Octo Expansion final fight was their last fight for freedom. But I think this was their last fight for identity.

But outside of that, I think Order/Smollusk is more than that. More and more we advance through completing the palettes, we learn that Smollusk is the result of Marina's wish for order in her life (and her fellow octolings') and especially the other octolings developers dreams. And I think that's really important, because after that, we learn that why Smollusk still fights us is because it's… alone. And Acht seemingly understands that. You know why this is? Why it doesn't understand Marina's intentions by "betraying" it? Because Marina, as opposed to the other developers and Acht, found someone. She found her partner for life, the love of her life you could say, she found someone else that could offer her something great. And I think the other developers didn't find that companionship, so they had other goals with the Memverse, and Acht, left behind by Marina, felt this loneliness too, taking refuge in music, so that's why she understood what Smollusk felt. I think Splatoon story is a lot about isolation, solitude and loneliness. The (Inkadian) octolings were chased from the surface, living in the underground, isolated and forced into military life. When they risked survival, they stole the great zapfish and we sent then back into the dark. So they retaliated by stealing it again and also kidnapping Callie, separating Marie from the person she holds dearest (while Callie thought she could offer them company and finally uniting back the two people). Octo Expansion was also about isolation from the surface, for everyone involved and Tartar… Well the mammal (and adjacent) survivors don't really have it well, huh? Judd was made immortal, a great lonely situation for one of the last mammals, even if the professor give him Lil Judd for that (isolating the latter from self expression, oops!), Tartar wanted finally someone who could understand the knowledge he was bearing, and in his final instants was longing to return to the professor and for Grizz… We saw what happened in the logs! But this is not where it ends. The first final Splatfest was literally choosing between the Squid Sister, separating one from the other. And when the Splatocalypse happened, we thought it would be the same, that both option were going to be negative. A endless world of anomy where nothing makes sense against a cold and dystopic dictatorship. But we saw Chaos rather meant a world of differences where anyone can be what they want to be and still be reunited with people. So now we see what Order meant: reuniting people by putting them on equal terms. And at the end, that's what you and Smollusk agreed on! He'd be a difficult final boss and you'd be a formidable opponent for him! Splatfests weren't meant to be divisive or anything, it's just a fun way to see what do people choose in their life. So to face loneliness and meet new and fun people, what will you choose? Chaos or Order?

I guess I understand if it wasn't the story you wanted to see. But I liked it either way, as I also struggle with loneliness and finding my place in the world. And as I also like roguelites!

[ashley-kins]

Kin list post here that I'll be linking to the pinned post.

Yes, I'll be updating this post over time to include more when I kinfirm someone

First and foremost: if I kin from a problematic source, I genuinely don't give a fuck. Don't @ me. Touch grass or something if you're angry about it. I LITERALLY CANNOT CONTROL WHERE I KIN FROM

Oh, and if you see 🔀 next to my kin name, it means I'm canon divergent. If you see ⭐ next to my kin name, that means I'm permashifted as that kin. If you see 🩷 next to my kin name, it means I frequently kinshift into them. If you see nothing next to the name, it means they are a medium kin and I'm canon lenient. If you see ⤵️ next to my kin name it means they are a low kin of mine.

If we're sourcemates, don't be shy to say hi. (Also I love doubles, twinsies, or whatever you wanna call it)

Applejack🩷 (My Little Pony)

Ashley Graves ×5⭐ 🔀×4 (The Coffin of Andy and Leyley)

Athena (Various sources, so I'll just say mythology)

Cho Hyun-Ju (Squid Game)

Colin⭐ (Changed)

Cyn ×2⭐ 🔀×1 (Murder Drones)

Buneary/Lopunny/mega Lopunny (Pokémon)

Edward Elirc (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

Em the enderkin⤵️ [OC] (Minecraft)

Emberlynn Pinkle⤵️ (Helluva Boss)

GLaDOS🩷 (Portal)

Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool⤵️ (Marvel comics)

Hilda (Pokémon)

Hiroya (Period Cube)

Jolene⤵️ (Paper Mario)

Juno (Beastars)

Kimiko 5 Tails (Fortnite)

Lillie Aether🔀 (Pokémon)

Linkle⭐🔀 (Age of Calamity, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom)

Midna🔀 (Twilight Princess)

Moana⤵️ (Disney's Moana)

Nagisa⤵️ (Follow the Darkness)

Nezuko Kamado🔀 (Demon Slayer)

Null (Echoes of Wisdom)

Pride/Selim Bradley (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

Red⤵️🔀 (Red Riding Hood)

Rouge the Bat⭐ (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Sarah Miller⤵️ (The Last of Us)

The Titan⤵️ (The Owl House)

Vi🩷🔀 (Arcane)

Violet⤵️ [OC] (Splatoon)

Vivian (Paper Mario)

[sd-lucky]

Pinned post time!!! feel like i should get this out of the way somewhat early so i can lay down what is it and what I'm about here! First and foremost, i go by lucky online, and am trying to run a strictly sfw no k1nk no f3t1sh tk blog! I just think they're a good way for characters and people to bond, also just being able to hear people laugh is a good way to make you smile too, I'm not interested in them for other reasons that other people may be interested in. adding onto that, I'm not keen on interacting with those types of blogs either, so refrain from interacting if you are that type of blog. Other than that!! some fandoms I'm into are -Murder drones -Splatoon -More to come??? I often draw on this blog, i may repost (is that the right word? i think its reblog but I'm not too sure.) stuff from accounts that i like, and in the future i am probably gonna turn on requests so anyone can ask me hcs/do drawing requests/writing ideas! I do write as well, just not as frequently! basically ill write if i get given a prompt i like, so if i don't respond i probably am not interested, I'm sorry '>m< I think that's about it, eager to make more stuff on here and share my silly ocs with you guys!!! ^w^ oh yeah last thing no i don't rp, sorry if that's what you're looking for here Btw im perfectly fine if you wanna draw my ocs make sure its something sfw, and double make sure to at me so i can like and reblog!

[vallahaii]

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I'm vallahai :)

This is my attempt at a pinned post, let's see if I can remember what's important.

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☄️ dms ❌

💫 very bad at responding to dms and prone to worry too much so I have them shut :(

☄️ asks ✅

💫 anything goes, I'm absolutely thrilled to answer anything and everything OC related but other questions are good too! Obviously just be nice :) You can also ask if you wanna dm me ↑ if you'd like I'm just a prey animal

☄️ commissions 💭

💫 i don't have any kind of sheet ready yet, but if you're interested let me know!! i'd be happy to work something out.

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more below!

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☄️ profile picture: a commission of my character by @ maxdei-00 !

💫 The @ works if you type it in without the space I just don't want to bother them with a tag!

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the basics

☄️ val/valla/vallahai

☄️ they/she works for me (generally in order of preference)

☄️ aromantic/asexual

☄️ demigirl

☄️ adult

☄️ Nov 12 🦂

☄️ high likelihood of having ADHD/autism

☄️ cat person and professional robot enjoyer

☄️ just assume that everything I make is in conjunction with @crystaljelly! everything we make is generally interwoven to the point of inseparability

☄️ I read the tags and comments in every reblog 🥹 they all mean a lot to me even if they're silly — y'know what, especially if they're silly 💜✨

💫 In a similar vein, I know some people don't like/will block if people mass-like their posts and such? I don't quite get that myself — if you're inclined to like-bomb me or something then feel free because I'll just be flattered 🥹

☄️ SFW*

💫 *I'll never post anything explicitly NSFW here, but I *will* likely post mildly suggestive or violent/sensitive character art that I'll do my best to tag and "read more"-ify accordingly (for example, if you've seen the Singing Machine piece). I don't think it'll necessarily be too bad, I'll do my best to make it very very clear if a post is a little dicey, but your mental health and online safety should be above all else so be wary!

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posting/fan interests

I'm more of an OC person and focus primarily on my own characters and stretched interpretations of a source material's worlds, so this extends into any media I become a fan of.

☄️ OCs and OC worlds first and foremost! (🪼→ @crystaljelly is the original world host)

💫 Interstice

💫 Elaryan (🪼)

☄️ Pokemon

💫 Divinity (🪼)

💫 Games, don't know anything about the anime

☄️ Lobotomy Corporation

💫 I'd say Project Moon in general, I've just only actually played and have characters for Lobcorp so far

☄️ Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons

💫 The games themselves, not any attached SMPs or content creators

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💫 Characters are generally in one large world conglomerate that includes mods like VaultHunters (oh god iskall why), Valhelsia, and the Aether, as well as other games in the franchise like Minecraft Dungeons and Legends (I know, I know)

☄️ Moonstone Island

💫 frowns. I'm cringe, chat

other interests

not in any particular order; I'm largely a games and music fan above all else

☄️ Hades

☄️ Hollow Knight

☄️ Splatoon 3

☄️ Stray

☄️ Rainworld

☄️ Outer Worlds

☄️ Vocaloid/UTAU

☄️ Deep Rock Galactic (+Survivor)

☄️ Subnautica

☄️ Risk of Rain 2

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☄️ Astroneer

with all that out of the way,

hope you enjoy your stay!

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[melon-official]

🌙🌏 (lily, amy) 🌌 (ramen water, lily, sunny, atlas, dolly) 🪤 (sunny, isaiah) and 🚆 (lily) :dancing_man:

(cracks my knuckles so hard i break them off

🌙 MOON - what is your oc's greatest wish? how far are they willing to go for it?

-hmm.... i think lily has given up wishing. she doesn't do wishes anymore, besides "i hope we still have garlic powder in the kitchen cabinet", "i wish there was a choral cover of my favorite song on youtube already"... there's a deep-rooted desire in her for security and safety and stability, and she's always grasping for that. (and yet, at the same time, she can't ever trust it when it's right in front of her. you know how it is)

-amy's greatest wish WAS to leave kamabo with all her memories intact, and she has, to the best of her ability! nowadays she wants to experience the whole world and love all of it, decide what she doesn't love, and she wants her own opinions and as many real experiences as she can make. it's more of a goal than a wish but she makes it work

🌏 EARTH - will they give up the world for someone they love? is this decision easy for them?

-lily already shares her world with those close to her. if she were ever in a position to lobby the stake of the actual world for someone in danger, she'd act rashly and try to protect/avenge the loved one when she sees the opportunity. i wrote this after writing the trolley problem answer and i think it's funny that theyre so similar

-amy gave up her world for someone she loved. and i think she would do it again. that counts, right?

🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

-ramen water (the name and general concept) has been in my head since january + when i was vaguely thinking about splat 3. it's my sworn duty to put a character in a situation! here's some fun stuff about his name though

(after that ramen water became a subtle nod to him being 25% japanese. oops!)

-lily and sunny appeared out of the ether when i first started getting into splatoon; there are vague agent 3 headcanons on my blog that pre-date them being around as characters, but lily, sunny, and amy kind of manifested with each other. sunny's squee-g phobia was one of the first things i decided about him, and there were running jokes about amy being like a vsco girl because that stereotype (?) was popular at school at the time. lily's always been lily..... i remember associating her with the corocoro shirt since forever ago, so that must have been one of her first design choices :]

interesting fact about lily is that i used to be adamant that she not have post-sanitization heterochromia, and then forgot. so when i retconned that, her right eye color fades back to blue over time as the sanitation in her system flushes out

-atlas was created for the express purpose of a now-disbanded agent trio, and the first things in existence about them were their name (it was one i was considering when i was transitioning) and them being a little brat. they're awful by design. also the acne, that was very important to me

-dolly was first inspired by buds of mine who were interested in a zine about splatoon ost gijinkas, so she was first and foremost a gijinka of #14 crush. and i wasn't originally interested in making a song oc of my own UNTIL she came to me unprompted during a road trip! showing up loud and unannounced. dollycore

her character development arcs came later. after touching base with an oc or two who weren't mine, and creating this whole "hypothetical, of course" offshoot of their original dynamics

🪤 MOUSE TRAP - what will always lure them into certain danger? a loved one in danger? a promise of something they are always searching for?

-that kinda happened for sunny.... she was assigned to a task that was too much for her at the time, but she didn't know it, and then misinterpreted her companions' cries to retreat as an indicator she wasn't doing enough. so ig the answer is that it depends on circumstance, but it's her own overconfidence that gets the better of her

-it's a tough one for isaiah because i don't think he's been in actual, real danger yet. i'm hesitant to put a 15-year old through anything like that*, but i think i'll have a better answer for this once splat3 comes around; im planning to make him a major player there

🚆 TRAIN - what is their answer to the trolley problem?

HAHAHAHAHH the trolley problem drives me bonkers nuts so im giving that to lily too! her answer: she'd do whatever it takes to save everyone on both tracks, likely endangering herself in the process.

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*blatant lie