#i rlly like the small little things in the dialogue through out all the games... they r weirdly comforting with vagueness

[zyk1ng]

I was gonna make this post way way earlier but I forgot lol but Uhm

I have played through the splatoon 2 story fully and am replaying it (for a future post bc a lot of the dialogue is rlly funny) and honestly while I absolutely loved it it makes me even sadder that splat 2’s story mode was kinda tossed aside (for valid reasons ofc) because it’s so Cool.

Excluding the gameplay, I think they did marie so well, because she sells the desperation of someone who’s got nobody she knows by her side. While she of course keeps the sassy attitude of sneak dissing her best friends (agent 3) and also telekinetically telling you to fuck off if you talk to her too much it’s very clear she genuinely cares so much about agent 4 and is so grateful they’re doing what they do.

these are only two screenshots of 8(?) of Marie randomly being really sentimental to 4 because this stranger chose to help her in her time of need rather than just ignore this GROWN WOMAN hanging out on a sewer drain

It’s like heavily emphasized multiple times that Marie could not be more grateful for 4’s help in retrieving not just the zapfish but also her cousin.

But then revealing that 4 knew about Callie the WHOLE TIME (I have a lot to say about this part but it’s mostly hc so) which is so KIND OF THEM???? this random woman recruits them into a secret military agency and hides the fact she rlly misses her cousin but they help anyway bc they WANT TO. (They didn’t even know either of them were famous btw) Marie shows a lot of gratitude toward 4 ESPECIALLY after the big reveal.

(You could make arguments for 3 being similar bc an old kook made them do it but this isn’t about them..)

And it’s not just being grateful for the one time, she genuinely enjoys 4’s company and wants to be better friends with them and chat after the zapfish and Callie are saved 😭😭😭

It’s so cute too, because 100%ing the game and even just being a little nosy is something that Marie picks up on, and remembers way later in the game. (More abt this later)

god I love this socially inept squid woman and her adopted child soldier that likes finding pieces of paper

Speaking of said soldier! I think the way they characterized 4 via the actual gameplay rather than art/statements/whatever is so cool

4 doesn’t have many illustrations besides the chaos splatfest and that one group photo where they’re being funky in the corner (and the apartment) but I feel like the reason for that is the fact that a lot of Marie’s dialogue as well as how splatoon 2’s hero mode is structured/designed speaks a lot about how they wanted to represent 4.

From a realistic standpoint, of course splatoon 2’s story mode has to be more creative both prompt wise and secret wise. But it feels like the reason its that way is because both 4 and Marie are separate types of people from Craig and 3.

The bosses help a lot with this too, being more gimmicky and weird (subtracting stamp.) Octo shower and samurai being bosses where you have to either react well or change your positioning to effectively beat them. (Octo shower is my fave btw I loved fighting it the first time)

The level design also shines in this aspect because if I’m honest I remember none of the splat 1 levels significantly besides the few octoling ones. Splatoon 2’s levels are very detailed (and also insanely pretty) and have some rlly fun puzzles in a handful of them and even the more fast ones are a blast to play through

And then all the little extras (sardiniums and scrolls alike) are hidden so well and you usually have to go out of your way to find them and even the secrets that aren’t either of those things have substance

Small note, a lot of extras are also made so that it flows well with the levels design (like the first dualie request mission) which is also extremely fucking cool.

the way marie touches on those little discoveries is so smart too because it (as I said before) characterizes 4 as someone who loves to look for things even if it’s on a whim especially since the sunken scrolls in the game are so much harder to find than in splat1.

And the fact that unlike splat 1, you can (technically) 800% the game by playing EVERY SINGLE LEVEL WITH EVER SINGLE WEAPON TYPE. to me it feels like it deepens the fact that 4 likes to be really thorough. marie goes “you have a problem.” When you break like two hidden egg crates in this one level and it’s so great.

I love what they’ve done with 4, whether it was intentional or I’m over-analytical.

Nothing gets past them, looking in every nook and cranny whether or not there’s secrets to be found. They’re too nosy and thorough and they like to be around marie after completing missions, they don’t know who the squid sisters are, hate balloons, may or may not be ok, have impulsive secret finding, partake in many extracurriculars, can be needy at times, go with the flow and they apparently smell better than agent 3.

Agent four, of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

[quotidian-oblivion]

Wouldst THou be okay with questions???

What’s your favourite thing to do at 2am (follow up question, fic recs??????)

Love

'Course! I has puts blanket permission it on le pinned post.

Read/write fics. Unquestionably. And eat junk food (like ferrero rochers *cough cough*). If i was alone in the house at 2 am, i would probably be singing out as loud as i could.

But *sigh* I end up doing schoolwork half the time. The other half I'm laying in my bed, and sleep-deprived me takes over and magically produces a fic and its outline leaving daytime-me to write it out and expand on it.

Fic recs... hmmm... Lemme go visit my bookmarks and link the links here.

Okay, so Repletion by sardnoic-sprite is rlly good. Actually lol, im providing analyzations + some minor info and ideas on the 2.0 version of the fic to sprite rn. In this one, Uncle Edward does exist and is a certified asshole and abuser. He tries to control Tim and keep him away from the Bats and threatens to hurt Tim real bad if the Bats try to contact him.

Zugzwang by sardonic sprite is rlly good too! Very hurty. Much angst. Ra's captures the batfam and challenges Tim to a game of chess. Each move is dangerous. A small mistake puts any of the Bats at risk. And Tim has to predict which batfam member will get hurt depending on which chess piece he moves.

And the whole series of Celebrity Batwaynes by sardonic-sprite is rlly good too! It had me cracking up so much. But ofc there's angst there too, but mostly crack and i adore this series with my life. It's about the Gotham vigilantes, some rogues, and the Waynes doing internet challenges like Buzzfeed quizzes and other stuff too.

My Mummy Has Tattoos by I_is_a_fangirl_yee is v v angsty. And yes, im being prejudiced rn but what im not being prejudiced abt is the fact that i screamed out loud in class while beta-ing this fic.

Now, The Dream Of Flight by A_Canceled_Stamp is an excellent fic I will never stop yakking about. The plot is literally just Tim falling off a building. But the writing? The emotions captured within the writing, the pure act of storytelling through actions described by text is something out-of-the-world.

I adore Instead Of All The Colors I Saw by SilverSkiesAtMidnight. It deals with Tim dealing with the aftermath of Titans Tower and his relationship with Jason and oof- the angsty dialogue is PEAK.

All of Vamillepudding's works. Well, at least the Batman ones, those are the only ones i've read. But they are all. Just. So. Good. The writing and oh- the ideas especially. Definitely some of the greatest Tim joins the batfam early fics to ever have existed.

Living Dead Boy by Terranphuem. *SCREAMS*. This fic. Let me tell you, this fic. It reached into my heart, grabbed it and teared it out then bandaged it and put it back in again. It's about Tim encountering Jason from when he just rose from the grave. And Jason's catatonic and everything and Tim helps him all by himself (with special help a little later) to make him "good enough" to return back to Bruce. SUCH A GOOD READ ISTG.

untitled titan's tower fic #89268439 by Ashynarr. It's, as the title says, a TT fic, but in this one, Jason finds Tim's old fanfiction account and tortures him by rereading some stuff from there to Tim XD Doesnt get the attention it deserves imo.

come back home please by PurpleHeartsOne. Gosh, the writing in this one... it is Up There with the Greats. I love how the emotions is captured so well here and also how smoothly the progression of chapters goes! The character development and- oh! The character reveal! Ahhhhh! Please do mind, it is still incomplete 8/10 chapters rn.

sipping the piping hot tea by BlueTee. In this one, Tim sips tea and destroys Jason instead of Titans Tower happening. Gosh, i loved the nonverbal reactions so much 😂

Conference Room 2B by motelyfam. It's part of a series, but it's so good, it deserves its own special appearance. Big bro Jason Todd! And theater kid Jason Todd! They're both in here!!

of crime lords and literature by adelfie. Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! The writing! The fucking- *slams table* THE WRITING!! It's a TT AU where Tim asks help from Jason for English h.w. There's more obviously, but that's where the plot starts. It is. so good.

don't drop the baby (i'm the baby) by Ms_Trickster. I will never ever ever shut up about this. I read this twice and both times I teared up. Both times. This fic means a lot to me on a personal level. Basically, Tim accidentally time-travels and meets a baby version of himself.

Late Night encounters by paperxcrowns. Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh! I adore this fic! Not only is the writing especially good, but the story line, the slow and smooth and excellent progression of events and character! Ahhhh! It's about Tim meeting Jason accidentally at a cafe and him somehow accidentally helping Tim with his homework and becoming friends.

just be there by TaraLaurel is so so good. I wrote a fic inspired by it (it's Shiver btw, the title of the inspired fic). Heck, I love all the batfam fics written by them (I haven't read the other fandom fics). This one is touch-starved tim drake and who doesn't love touch-starved tim drake! But more particularly, the writing. The fucking- writing. I'm like, the person who reads fanfics, but the ones with good fucking writing become my favorite cuz then i can kinda read it again and learn from it yk? It's like, looking up to people. And I look up to this author. How they describe emotions through nonverbal actions and verbal actions and subtle actions but also the inner monologue as well. Love it all.

Lastly, I've been saving this for the end. Rebel Without A Clause by DangerBeckett. This fic covers topics like classism and has Deep Stuff in it which is so so fun to read! I started commenting from the third chapter. Then by the fifth chapter, my two-sentence comments turned to two-page comments. As did with so many other commenters. I love the author and their writing. It is truly top tier. I love the character development going on too and the retrospection of topics and events through fiction and fandom. Truly excellent. Honestly. I can go on and on. And I have! It's about Tim meeting the batfam through galas and slowly getting adopted by them. It's in-progress still.

Those were too many fics probably lol. But I kept going through my bookmarks like "Oh! I forgot about that one! It was so fun". Happy reading! Thanks for the ask! ^^

[tomatoart]

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