Archive of Our Own

Note: On occasion, chapters will overlap and detail the same events from a different perspective. These chapters will be on the same line, so you can choose the order to read them. By default, they'll be listed in series-order, of Unlived, Unexamined, Undivided, Unplanned. If the order varies, then the events overlap and they can still be read in any order, but the first listed chapter may start a few minutes earlier, or the last chapter end a few minutes later, and are therefore slightly 'before' or 'after' others.

1. Broken—Unexamined

2. Forever—Undivided

3. Popular—Unplanned

4. Power—Unexamined

5. Cover—Undivided. Priorities—Unexamined.

6. Remembrance—Unlived

7. Sensible—Undivided

8. Sleep—Unplanned

9. Nature—Unexamined

10. Fear—Undivided

11. Support—Unplanned

12. Design—Unlived

13. Home—Unplanned

14. Show—Undivided

15. Help—Unplanned

16. Music—Unlived

17. Isolation—Unexamined

18. Obligations—Undivided

    SPLAT 1, HERO MODE, COMPLETED

19. Sight—Unlived

20. Sound—Unlived

21. Work—Unlived

22. Escape—Unlived

23. Prepared—Undivided

24. Team—Unplanned

25. Red—Unlived

26. Caught—Unlived

27. Recognition—Unexamined

28. Hope—Unlived

29. Nature—Unlived; Stranger—Unexamined

30. Chance—Unexamined

31. Fresh—Unlived

32. Pride—Unlived

33. Keep—Unexamined

34. Teach—Unexamined

35. Sacrifice—Unlived

36. Camp—Unexamined

37. Apart—Unexamined

38. Jobs—Undivided

39. Octivus—Unlived

40. Celebrate—Unexamined

41. Agent—Unplanned

42. New—Unexamined

43. Splat—Unlived; Enemy—Unplanned; Expect—Undivided

44. Calamari—Unlived; Fangirl—Unexamined; Deserter—Undivided; Fan—Unplanned

45. Truth—Undivided

46. Image—Unexamined

47. Against—Unplanned

48. Belonging—Undivided

49. Callie—Undivided; Marie—Unplanned

50. Turf—Unlived

51. Sisters—Unplanned

52. Proper—Unexamined

53. Importance—Undivided

54. Serendipity—Unplanned

    SPLAT 1, FINAL FEST, COMPLETED

55. Subterfuge—Unplanned

56. Chances—Undivided

57. Fame—Undivided

58. Plans—Unlived; Wealth—Unplanned

59. Presence—Unplanned

60. Begin—Unexamined

61. Try—Undivided

62. Courage—Unexamined

63. Fairness—Unplanned

64. Outfit—Unlived; Confidence—Unexamined

65. Faith—Unplanned

66. Family—Undivided

67. Performance—Unlived; Price—Unexamined; Perspective—Undivided

    MARINA AND PEARL OFFICIALLY CHOSEN AS NEW HOSTS

68. Act—Unplanned

69. Standards—Undivided

70. Memories—Undivided; Memory—Unplanned

71. Prison—Unplanned

72. Shift—Unplanned

73. Nostalgia—Unlived

74. Magic—Unexamined

75. Risk—Undivided

76. Adjust—Undivided

77. Begin—Unplanned

78. Familiar—Undivided; Treat—Unplanned

79. Relative—Unplanned

    CALLIE DISAPPEARS; SPLAT2'S STORY BEGINS

80. Security—Undivided

81. Differences—Unlived

82. Love—Unexamined

83. Friends—Undivided

84. Contradiction—Unplanned

85. Rest—Undivided

86. Squidmas—Unlived; Octivus—Unexamined

87. Routine—Undivided

88. Reassurance—Unplanned

89. Acceptance—Unexamined

90. Family—Unplanned

91. Knowledge—Undivided

92. Family—Unlived; Security—Unexamined

93. Cost—Unplanned

94. Family—Unexamined

95. Denial—Undivided

96. Brand—Unplanned

97. Care—Undivided

98. Performance—Unplanned

99. Bombs—Undivided; Out—Unplanned

    SPLAT 2, HERO MODE, COMPLETED

100. Inkantation—Unlived; Responsibility—Unexamined

101. Fake—Unplanned

102. Comfort—Undivided

103. Control—Unplanned

104. Sisters—Undivided

105. Certainty—Unplanned

106. Moment—Unexamined

107. Trust—Unlived; Depend—Undivided

108. Precious—Unlived

109. Maybe—Unlived

110. Peak—Unlived; Normality—Unexamined

     SPLATOON 2, OCTO EXPANSION, BEGINS

111. Privilege—Unexamined

112. Dreams—Unlived

113. Failure—Unlived; Identity—Unexamined

114. Reflect—Unplanned

115. Camaraderie—Undivided

116. Secrets—Unexamined; Pearl—Unlived (overlaps 117 as well)

117. Pearl—Unlived (overlaps 116 as well); Marina—Unexamined

118. Friends—Unlived; Fly—Unexamined

119. Free—Unlived

120. Future—Unexamined

     SPLATOON 2, OCTO EXPANSION, COMPLETED

121. Strength—Undivided

122. Forgiveness—Unplanned

123. After—Unlived

124. Separate—Unexamined

125. Hero—Unlived

Whenever I finish a big project, I like to take a moment, look back on it, and reflect. So... here's the note to end all author's notes.

IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ALL 4 SNAPSHOTS, I PLAN TO FREELY DISCUSS AND MAYBE SPOIL THINGS FROM HERE ON OUT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Back in January 2020, when I was trapped at work in a snowstorm with little to do and unsupervised access to a computer, I was thinking about splatoon and fanfic and weird canon details and wondering how hypnoshades worked, and remembered the Chicken VS Egg dialogue and decided, hey, maybe anyone wearing them is in complex VR. And before I knew it I had four or five disconnected little scenelets written, each not long enough to bother spending time on, and a sense that this was something I should come back to.

My instincts were simultaneously 'these things are way too short' and 'these things are too disconnected to be a story'. I tried to make them longer. I tried to add connecting scenes. I failed. So I dubbed them snapshots, glimpses of a character's life that could fit in just a moment of time, and decided to open each one with a poem, or a song, or a conversation, hinting at the wider world and backstory, and posted it because stories are meant to be shared, it's not like anyone's gonna bother with anything this short.

Go ahead and laugh.

Once I finished that, I walked away, content and satisfied in having done a good job and a unique thing, with a niggling idea in the back of my head: how could I write Marina without writing Pearl. The two are a set, they support each other, you can argue Marina wouldn't be who she is without Pearl. But how was I—how was anyone supposed to write Pearl, she was rich and had everything, she was completely unconnected to the world of Octarians and Agents...

So let's connect her. Her family's rich because of zapfish, they run Inkopolis power. And I started crafting Pearl into the sort of person who'd take in a stranger who offered to be in a band... why? Who took someone homeless in off the street... why? Whose internal goals and motivations were... what, exactly?

I'll tell you now: that was HARD. The Pearl Marina saw, and the Pearl in her head and heart, were sometimes very different. I had to do a fair bit of gymnastics making them work together, when I couldn't go back to rewrite what Marina'd said—it was, after all, already posted. For scenes like Pearl getting Marina off the streets, and especially Pearl discovering Marina's secret, well... I did my best. And no one called me on it sounding awkward, so I must've got it right.

And then I dusted off my hands and walked away, satisfied, because I'd done Marina and Pearl, together, there was no reason to... oh who was I kidding, that confidence didn't even last until Unexamined finished being posted.

When thinking about Callie and Marie, well, this would be easy, wouldn't it? We know about Callie and Marie! They do SO MUCH STUFF: agent work, and splatfests, and concerts. But Callie was going to get squidnapped. Callie was going to put on the hypnoshades. And by this point, I'd figured out one very key detail: absolutely NO ONE ELSE had the same idea for how Callie got the shades as I did. (look, it seemed obvious to me!)

Callie and Marie, Marie and Callie, share an apartment and share the news and are close as sisters. I knew there would need to be many moments where I'd do the same scene from different sides for them. And one image kept coming in my head: a simple conversation where the dialogue was different for one character depending on whose view you were looking at.

That conversation is chapter 24 in both Undivided and Unplanned. The only way I managed it was by doing both chapters at once, alternating between two word documents every few sentences, saying the sentences out loud to see if the conversation made sense on both sides.

I wrote the entirety of both stories for that one conversation. Much more awesomeness came from it—their changing perspectives on octoslobs into people, an examination of who they were and who they portrayed themselves as, just SO MUCH—but that idea, that scene, is why you got it at all.

I'm not big on themes and symbolism. But in these stories, I know it's there. I won't examine it here, I won't go big into the worldbuilding I did and details that never made it in (if you wanna ask in the comments, go for it). But I do want to point out...

Unlived uses 'Pearl' as a chapter title.
Unexamined uses 'Marina'.
Undivided, Callie.
Unplanned, Marie.

'Tidal Rush' is the song played in Splat 2's hero mode: 'tide' from Tide Goes Out in a different form, 'Rush' from Callie's song. Their chapter titles for the event make a different song: Bombs Out. Looking back, several other chapters that cover the same events from different perspectives have complimentary titles, but those were by mistake. These were deliberate. In addition...

Family is the only chapter title used in all 4 snapshots.
Marina and Pearl share the chapter title Octivus.
Marina and Marie share the chapter title Friends.
Marina and Callie share the chapter title Performance.
Pearl and Marie share the chapter title Security.
Pearl and Callie share the chapter title Begin.
Callie and Marie share the chapter title Sisters.

While some may be similar ('memory' and 'memories', for example) all other chapter titles are unique.

On a more personal, selfish note... thank you all for reading this. Posting that first bit with Marina was an act of why-not, but I expected to be ignored or torn apart. I'd read a LOT of splatoon fics, but never seen Marina characterized the way I had, as primarily a non-combatant; I'd never heard of Pearl's family working for a living, or her having Adult Responsibilities outside of music; I've never seen Callie have panic attacks. I have started to see some of the things I did with Marie, but only after I started posting Undivided.

I feel like I've touched, or changed, the entire splatoon fandom somehow by doing this. Which is silly and selfish and definitely not, there are bigger stories with more world-building and vastly different and improved takes... but maybe, just maybe, I have. Which is an awesome feeling.

To those of you who are telling me to take a break and care for myself: thanks for your concern. I have over-the-counter wrist supports I wear for computer work and gaming, and have dabbled off and on with night-time supports as well. I also do regular stretches. No regular wrist pain since I stopped working at McDonalds in 2016. But I've been writing, or editing, or brainstorming, or thinking of things to put down, on pretty much a daily basis since I was... 12? Maybe 13? I don't know how not to, and writing makes me happy and helps me think. I promise not to overwork myself

I have one more tiny thing planned—something one awesome, very observant, person noticed, oh, back on December 6th, a whole six weeks ago, when they left me a very excited comment. Something a few of you observant people may guess about before it happens in a day or two, just from what you notice in this...

But for now, farewell.

May darkness hold you safe, everyone.

-EikaPrime