Archive of Our Own ^beta

As always the final story of the month is a thank you to all those who have given their support. Your continued support and comments mean a lot to me here on ao3, tumblr and reddit. For those new this is a story where I tell everyone my plans for the future and thoughts on the characters.

In the ongoing saga of the stupidity of Icecreamlover2000 we can add promising a novelization, before really doing the math as to how much work that would be. Initially I was like this will be maybe a hundred chapters, but no, this story is probably ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY CHAPTERS. 

See we got the prolouge of two chapters, every stage has five chapters and there are three games so that’s seventy-five chapters, there is the epilogue of each adventure which has five chapters, the warp up arcs for Kamaboko and Alterna, the three final fest arcs, the Four romantic relationships that have to be set up, the building the team arc, the dating arc, the winter holiday arc, the lieutenant’s exam, the Grizzco investigation arc, the wedding arc, and the Four coming out of the closet arc to get through. (I’m planning twenty arcs for the five year gap) 

Suffice it to say I have a lot of work ahead of me. On the plus side with Agent Eight August done, I’ve got Squid Sisters September, Neo November, and Mechanic March (if the game is out by then) and the novelization and then I will be done with Splatoon fanfiction until Splatoon 4.

If my calculations are right and I write one hundred and eighty chapters and release one chapter a week, I’ll be done in four years. 

While I look at the gapping abyss that is my life, you should turn your attention to my character analysis. 

EDIT 

I did not realize that August had thirty-one days, not thirty, so on top of editing, writing stories, and preparing for Squid Sisters September I also had to create a new story in five days to make up for my mistake.  

P.S. This also means Squid Sisters September has one extra story because I thought September had an extra day.

Starting with the lady of the hour Agent Eight. She was a lot easier to write now that I get her character. My Eight is the middle point of her two wives. She’s Four’s friend which means she’s kind of a chaos goblin, but whereas Eight thinks of chaotic things to do, Four actually does them. You buy that they are friends because of how they instantly click. As for Three while Three rises to Four’s challenges, Eight is also just as competitive as they are; she just hides it better, wanting to be on Three’s level. 

This month also revealed how cathartic it was to let Eight and the other girls be TEEN GIRLS. We often have the agents as young adults or older teens, but this month was so good to let them be actual kids again. I think it was necessary to give Eight and the girls an actual childhood. While I do believe being in the Splatoon is not a happy experience I also think that I should show that there are bright spots. 

For a character I didn’t like to write before, I now have three paragraphs all about her. Eight’s home life was very interesting because thinking about when the mission is over where the girls go home. Three goes home to Cuttlefish, Four goes home to her dorm alone, and Eight goes home to two parents. In the entire cast Eight had the closest thing to a nuclear family. This was a dynamic that was new and very fun to write. 

Speaking of very fun to write, Pearl was my breakout character. Like I thought Pearl being a mom was really fun to write. I think supportive parent Pearl is something that lets me really chew on in terms of content. 

As for the other parent Marina’s dynamic was fun and a total accident. With Pearl and Marina not dating in Octo Expansion that left Marina as the outsider. Eight grows used to Pearl’s lax parenting so when Marina (who should be Eight’s closest caretaker) tries to be strict there is more pushback. This means Marina is on the back foot and Eight gets to be a bit of a disobedient teen. I also love writing Marina as a tiger mom, with her being strict about curfew and grades. Marina is a genius so for her she doesn’t understand why Eight struggles in school. This was a real treat getting Mama Marina and Papa Pearl. 

Callie was a fun thing to write because of her poem. I like the idea of the girls getting to have crushes on others before their ot3s. That’s why Acht liked Marina, and Pearl mentioned liking a girl before, and Four got to be a bit flirty with Kuo. I want to show that the girls did not just marry the first girl they dated. Back to Callie getting to have that mini arc over the years where Eight realizes she doesn’t love Callie was great.

Marie was a problem because her stories were often too dark for what I wanted from the series. I want these stories to be fun, I want them to be dark, I want them to treat relationships seriously, but I don’t want to write about Marie having prejudices towards Eight. Thus there was a lot of cut content when it came to Marie.

Three didn’t change, I really like the story Never Again because I got to show Three as a walled off loner trying to isolate herself from her feelings to being the paragon hero she is. I always love writing paragon Three. Also I feel bad for Three because she didn’t get a lot of screen time.

Four got a cut story. In Agent Four You Idiot it had to be redone because I didn’t like the way Eight’s feelings for Four were coming through. Eight was supposed to feel guilty because she never felt like that before, but it wasn’t until Four said she had feelings for her that Eight actually started to see Four in that light. 

Moving on to Agent 96. The dynamic of agent 96 was great in A rose by any other name and A Love of the Game. I love writing the three of them together. They work so well as a trio. The thing I am really grateful for was getting to show Eight being shitty towards Three. I want the girls to each have stories where they are angry at each other. I do that with Three, Four and Eight, so that they are real characters in a real relationship, not dolls living out a polyamorous fantasy. Agent 96 shouldn’t just be seen as a horny pairing meant to write smut, but a real relationship with real care put into it.

Neo was a fun character to throw at Eight because they both fought their people so we got to see how they handled that. I really need to start Neo November my characterization for Neo is all over the place.

I learned what a pibling is because of Acht. A part of Marina’s story is that she thinks she failed Acht, so raising Eight is her atonement for failing her friend. Getting to have a scene where Acht is welcomed into the family was a nice thing for my punching bag.

Shiver got a story with Eight because of HoneyRocket blame her and her story Apple Trees with Too High Branches for that. But seriously getting to show the difference between Inkadia and the Splatlands is always nice especially from the octoling perspective.  

Finally Cuttlefish, this was the first time being in the splatoon 2 era for a long time so I got to establish Cap’n is Craig and Cap is Kaori, it’s a small thing, but important for me.

Quickly I just wanted to add the last thing about Eight’s characterization, Eight disassociates herself from the octoling that got sanitized as far as she’s concerned that’s a different octo. (Again blame honey rocket for that idea.) 

Also sorry Eight’s language comprehension was all over the place. I kept jumping through time so it was hard for me to remember where she was in her journey to understand Inklish, in the novelization that will be sorted out.

Finally, Traumaink asked for a story so I will be writing a prequel to the story where Four cut off her own arm and will be bothering asking Flamingskull28 to help with the Agent 96 page on shipping wiki.

Thank you the_wizzmaster, Bronyficent, Violetstarr24, ProfessorHawke, Ferretbox, thegaypipe, EikaPrime, and RoNiN222 for kudos on A dream For today.

Thank you Mistrile, Cyndline, the_wizzmaster, Ferretbox, uis, EikaPrime, Laura_Star, ProfessorHawke, thegaypipe, RoNiN222, and Darkdragonknight for kudos on an offer made.

Thank you Cyndline, EikaPrime, the_wizzmaster, Ferretbox, Bronyficent, zer0_26, and RoNiN222 for kudos on first of many.

Thank you DJ_tgam55, MemeRepublic, Meepmeep1212, MarioSonic, Naerwallboy, Ferretbox, Dennis_The_Phil, EikaPrime, the_wizzmaster, ProfessorHawke, Traumaink, Bronyficent, and RoNiN222 for kudos on silent friendship.

Thank you Bronyficent, Meepmeep1212, EikaPrime, the_wizzmaster, ProfessorHawke, Darkdragonknight, sunFISHangel, thegaypipe, and RoNiN222 for kudos on Raison D’etre.

Thank you Mistrile, uis, HoneyCurl, Bronyficent, LilacLumineer, Meepmeep1212, sloshed, DJHyperfreshLW, Ferretbox, EikaPrime, anoldredkettle, ProfessorHawke, and RoNiN222 for kudos on A place to stay.

Thank you Mistrile, DJ_tgam55, NeneSimp, Bronyficent, Ferretbox, EikaPrime, RoNiN222, anoldredkettle, and ProfessorHawke for kudos on A pleasure to meet you. 

Thank you Muffinhead_shit, Traumaink, dynamiteghost, Bronyficent, Ferretbox, EikaPrime, and anoldredkettle for kudos on The lost girl’s club

Thank you Traumaink, uis, Darkdragonknight, Ferretbox, thegaypipe, sunFISHangel, anoldredkettle, RoNiN222, ProfessorHawke, EikaPrime, and Bronyficent for kudos on A love of the game. 

Thank you Mistrile, DJ_tgam55, luckyworms, EikaPrime, Ferretbox, sloshed, anoldredkettle, HoneyCurl, and RoNiN222 for kudos on What she deserves. 

Thank you Darkdragonknight, Ferretbox, EikaPrime, thegaypipe, Bronze_Bookwyrm, RoNiN222, ProfessorHawke, and dataEcto for kudos on the tide has gone out.

Thank you luckyworms, thegaypipe, Ferretbox, EikaPrime, ProfessorHawke, Bronyficent, and RoNiN222 for kudos on into the dawn.

Thank you DJ_tgam55, Ferretbox, EikaPrime, ProfessorHawke, thegaypipe, Traumaink, and RoNiN222 for kudos on second best.

Thank you squishyAuri, DJ_tgam55, EikaPrime, Jeake15, A_loser_rat, Ferretbox, anoldredkettle, Decimesh, Flamingskull28, thegaypipe, Bronyficent, Traumaink, and RoNiN222 for kudos on Agent 4 you idiot.

Thank you EikaPrime, Ferretbox, Darkdragonknight, Bronyficent, sunFISHangel, and RoNiN222 for kudos on A work in progress. 

Thank you Mistrile, Bronyficent, thegaypipe, EikaPrime, and ProfessorHawke for kudos on the check in.

Thank you Ferretbox, anoldredkettle, EikaPrime, HoneyCurl, Bronyficent, and RoNiN222 for kudos on Agent 8’s Teenage Rebellion.

Thank you Wsp_my_mammals, Wolfslick6007, silliegutzzz, Ferretbox, EikaPrime, ProfessorHawke, Bronyficent, anoldredkettle, Masterette, and RoNiN222 for kudos on Home is where the Heart is. 

Thank you Mistrile, Bronyficent, EikaPrime, Traumaink, and RoNiN222 for kudos on Agent 8: Into the Memeverse.

Thank you Traumaink, Ferretbox, ProfessorHawke, Bronyficent, and RoNiN222 for kudos on A Rose by Any Other Name.

Thank you anoldredkettle, Bronze_Bookwyrm, Ferretbox, ProfessorHawke, RoNiN222, thegaypipe, and Darkdragonknight for kudos on Realignment

Thank you thegaypipe, Ferretbox, EikaPrime, Bronyficent, anoldredkettle, and RoNiN222 for kudos on It's Not Fun For Me

Thank you Miss_A_M, thegaypipe, anoldredkettle, LazurisVIP, Ferretbox, Cyndline, ProfessorHawke, Bronyficent, Feeling_Mellow, sunFISHangel, EikaPrime, RoNiN222, and Bun_with_hope for kudos on Can I Keep Her?

Thank you EikaPrime, thegaypipe, DJ_tgam55, Ferretbox, Anxioushornfrog, anoldredkettle, RoNiN222, Traumaink, and Richard_Nixon for kudos on Who are you?

Thank you EikaPrime, thegaypipe, sunFISHangel, ProfessorHawke, and RoNiN222 for kudos on Lessons Unlearned.

Thank you EikaPrime, thegaypipe, DJ_tgam55, Ferretbox, RoNiN222, ProfessorHawke, and anoldredkettle for kudos on Never Again.

Thank you anoldredkettle, EikaPrime, thegaypipe, Flamingskull28, Vorev, DJ_tgam55, Ferretbox, Naerwallboy, Traumaink, and RoNiN222 for kudos on A Good Soldier.

Thank you Mistrile, Ferretbox, anoldredkettle, EikaPrime, thegaypipe, DJ_tgam55, Traumaink, Cyndline, Flamingskull28, Vorev, and RoNiN222 for kudos on I've got a date.

Thank you DJ_tgam55, Ferretbox, anoldredkettle, Traumaink, EikaPrime, ProfessorHawke, Flamingskull28, and RoNiN222 for kudos on Meeting of the mind redux

Thank you Naewallboy, Bronyficent, Traumaink, Flamingskull28, and RoNiN222  for kudos on Eight's Bad Day.

Individual Thank Yous 

Thanks the_wizzmaster for the five kudos. I hope everything is alright, you were liking the first five and then went silent.  

Thanks Bronyficent for the kudos and the comments. Your presence and the comments really helped me through this month. They remind me I have people who like my writing. Thank you so much. I’ve got a story for you in September. 

Thanks ProfessorHawke for the nineteen kudos you’ve been a constant fan and supporter. I’ve always remembered seeing your name pop up.

Thanks Ferretbox for the twenty-five kudos but also for supporting me these past few months. Honestly you liking so much of my work makes me question what was wrong about the five works you didn’t. It’s got me sweating.

Thanks thegaypipe for the seventeen kudos. I can’t pin down what you like but I’m glad you liked so much of my works.

Thanks EikaPrime for the twenty-seven kudos. As we both know you are a much more popular and better writer than I am, while I might not catch up with you I do endeavor to do my best and to grow as a creator. It makes me happy to see you like my work and comment on so many of them. 

Thanks RoNiN222 for the twenty kudos. I like that you enjoyed the agent 96 stuff and the Marina stuff that was what I was really hoping to nail.

Thanks Mistrile for the seven kudos, I’m glad you liked all the Agent 8 family stories, I was worried how I would handle them, I’m glad someone liked it. EDIT: Okay, so it’s 6:45 am this story gets uploaded in five minutes when I get an email about my kudos for the day so your analysis is out of date, sorry.

Thanks Cyndline for the four kudos, I take it you liked the agent 24 stuff?

Thanks uis for the four kudos if I had to guess I’d say the family stuff was the stuff you liked?

Thanks Darkdragonknight for the two kudos, but I have no idea why those two stories, was it because they had Callie and Marie? I can’t make any real comment.

Thanks DJ_tgam55 for the ten kudos, especially for liking my agent agent 4 and agent 8 stuff for this month.

Thanks Meepmeep1212 for the three kudos with so few and all in the front I can’t imagine what you like.

Thanks Naerwallboy for the two kudos, but more so for the funny comments.

Thanks Traumaink for the thirteen kudos and loving my Agent Eight being angsty, seriously all those stories you liked were about Eight grump’n.

Thanks sunFISHangel for the five kudos I hope I do right by you and do a great Neo November. I love your name and remembered seeing it in the past. 

Thanks HoneyCurl for the three kudos. I appreciate that you liked the Hohozuki-Iida family stories.

Thanks sloshed for the two kudos. I take it you liked the Eight and Pearl stuff.

Thanks anoldredkettle for the sixteen kudos. You liked a lot of stuff. I'm glad you liked a lot of my works, but I can’t figure out what you liked the most. Thanks for the support on tumblr. I can't thank you enough for that. 

Thanks luckyworms for the two kudos, I’m glad you liked two of the heavier stories.

Thanks Bronze_Bookwyrm for the two kudos on the Callie x 8 stuff.

Thanks Flamingskull28 for the five kudos in my agent 96 stuff and again thanks for the reblogs on tumblr. I try so hard to get my stories in front of people so reblogging helps because I know someone cares enough to share my works and help me grow. 

Thanks Vorev for the two kudos thanks for liking my agent 96 work, having any support for my ot3 is really meaningful.

Thanks, Animelover385, Freya_grace, DJHyperfreshLW, zer0_26 for your comments this month. Zer0_26 you had the best comment this month.

Thanks for the likes iintotheabyss, I wish I could tell you what you liked, but I can’t, you were all over the place.

Thanks localmaiden for the support.

Thanks jaidens-ghost for the support I hope you like my agent 24 stuff.

Thank you for you support pugqueenstardew I’m glad you liked the family stuff and the agent 96 stuff. 

Thanks lil-gravestone for liking the first two stories of the month.