The L Guy

@TheLGuy Honestly it's no problem! At this rate I might as well be a co-writer or something for these stories lol. But all jokes aside I can't wait to see what your explanation might be for their gifts. Granted I'll probably have to wait a very long time for them but I don't really mind.

@Corrupt_Phoenix So I just recently watched the video, and I gotta say, me and Rassicas must share a brain cell, 'cause some of their points are quite similar to the ideas I had in regards to inkfish and their biology. For one, I figured their ink had something to do with osmotic pressure, though not quite to the same extent as Rassicas discussed.
            
            I will say though, everything in the video will definitely help me air out some ideas I had for the sequel stories of "The Octo Bros."
            
            Speaking of the bros, I like the idea you had with Sal and having a slightly thicker  skin compared to most inkfish. While I already had my own explanation for it (that involving it had something to do with... well, I won't spoil, but you'll see in the first story soon enough), I can reinforce the idea by adding that tidbit as well.
            
            I also had a different explanation to Cal's immense strength, however, compressed-ink will also tie in incredibly well to the lore I have on him.
            
            Considering the progress I'm making on the first story, sufficed to say I won't have the time to delve deeper into their gifts. The first story was simply meant to lay the ground work for the series anyways. Not to worry though! The second story will be family themed anyway, which will be perfect to dive deeper into how exactly Sal and Cal's gifts work. Furthermore, it'll be much more exciting than Zero to Hero, that I am willing to guarantee.
            
            Thanks for bringing all of that to my attention and giving me those interesting ideas. They will be incorporated into my AU soon enough! At this rate, I might just have to shout you out for all your ideas, lmao

There are other parts of the video that I really like to highlight too. For example, the ‘death means nothing’ part. The basic highlight is that to the cephalopods, death/being splatted doesn’t matter too much to them because of the respawn points. But because you (as the creator of this timeline) literally created a crisis where that luxury is gone, it literally changed so many inklings to care about the very concept of life. I’m not sure how much you plan to drastically change how the cephalopods view life after this, but perhaps I recommend that many of them even after the energy crisis is resolved, to fear battling as much. Perhaps to indicate how much damage was done to those who lost loved ones due to the lack of a respawn pad. Or perhaps everyone becomes ever more grateful for the existence of them. 
            Next thing is the osmotic pressure topic regarding emotion and specials. Apparently, specials mainly charge up though the inkling's emotions throughout battle. Excitement, anger, sadness, etc. Any emotion channels through them, building their special, but it does overheat them too much when they keep building up. Sometimes though, it can overload to the point where their immediate instinct is to jump into water to cool themselves when they can't use their special in a safe environment. A few things from this.
            One, you can probably implement this into the story by having inklings trying everything to ensure that they don't overload and by proxy, die.
            Two, I just found that fact incredibly funny. I really love when some game creators add this kind of stuff to the lore of a species. It's weird as hell but it can give people a good laugh at how reckless a fictional species can be.
            Three, and I'd really like to see this, but at some point, you gotta add something like this to the story. Like the characters get so incredibly mad they whip out something like a trizooka/inkzooka and air the place out. 
            Regardless, I’d like to know what you think.(3/3)

@Corrupt_Phoenix Thanks bud! Happy new year to you too- cheers to 2025 and whatever it may bring. Hopefully, we both have mostly good things happen to us this year

@Corrupt_Phoenix Merry Christmas to you too my jolly fellow! I've been cookin', one could say. Rest assured, I'm doing well. Hope the same goes for you as well!

@EwanKidner My bad, I've been on that grind so I haven't been checking my wattpad, this response is long overdue-
            
            1. I can see the Splatoon maybe wondering if humans have their own respawn point-type device, which is something Marina would freak out over and be actively pestering you about. Akikta would just be utterly confused. Honestly, I don't think Metta (New Agent 3) or Pearl would care so much (assuming they still dislike you). Agent 8 would be genuinely interested on how you survived, same with Frye. Shiver would act like she doesn't care- but is also curious. The rest of them would just glad you're alright.
            
            2. Akikta wouldn't believe your statement at first, assuming you actually made trash out of some of Atlantis's junk. He wouldn't believe you until you tossed the Manta Maria. After which, he as well as mostly everyone else would honestly just have their jaws dropped. I feel like Metta and Frye would be the only one to give a response. Metta saying something about her still being tougher than you, while Frye would be giddy for a fight and absolutely deluded into thinking she could hold her own against you with your strength enhancement device.

@Corrupt_Phoenix I agree. From the numerous splatoon human fics I read, most of them either make the MC overpowered, or make the MC's adversaries weak/incompetent. That in itself isn't inherently bad, so long as the story is interesting. Honestly, I'm glad those stories are the majority, otherwise I probably wouldn't have gotten the idea to make Akikta the opposite.
            
            I like Akikta being weak since it means he can't brute force his way through objectives like Sake. Plus, him being stronger than most of the people in the new world wouldn't make sense. He's a child, granted, a very smart one. I think he shows his intelligence more in the last story, but he's always been like that. But he never liked applying himself, so it's a shame the circumstances he found himself in basically forced him to "mature" more quickly. Even then, that didn't stop him from making stupid mistakes. It's human nature to do so, after all.
            
            As for Nakji and Inka, I gotta admit, aside from Sake, Nakji might be my fav OC I've made thus far. There's a lot I have planned with her in the future, but if we're just talking about SoA, I mainly made her as a way to show the audience that, even though Akikta lost everything, there's nothing stopping him from building a new. The thing is, he's mentally stuck in the past and still craves human interaction, which pushes him to do the things he does. It's also why he's dense towards Inka.
            
            Granted, I initially had no intentions of even making a love interest for Akikta, since I felt plenty of splatoon human fanfics already did that. Though, to me, I saw no other way for Inka to just willingly uproot her whole life for two people she just met. Love is blinding, so if she did it out of that, it'd make perfect sense. I'll admit tho, regarding Inka's love, I might've ended things off a bit more tragically than needed.
            
            Regardless, yea. I wanted to do something different from the norm, and while I don't think I nailed it, I hope it kept you and others entertained

@TheLGuy Then, there is of course Nakji and Inka, the two that stand next to Akikta. I'm going to admit, even thogh Nakji has the clingy sister trope (or something similar), I feel like it does very well, espeially considered how they develop throughout the story. She had nothing, or seem to have anyting even while being a pirate, but one decision to travel with him, and she felt a genuine bond, as both wanted to protect each other and support each other like family. Of course she wouldn't want anything happening to her brother. Even though they don't even share blood or race, they were family, thousands of years apart, united.
            Then there is Inka, the love interest of Akikta. Another person that was lonely, didn't seem to have anything or anyone, especially since Astro spent most of his time in the metro. Akikta ended up being her light, and after Akikta showing his emotional side, she fell in love, despite him admiting his lies. She helps him despite the very obvious risks. She likely categorizes into the type of person to fall in love very easily, but again, it feels so nicely set up that it isn't obvious or worsens her character. She's rational, even knowing when she is to emotional herself as seen with her confession to Akikta. Or at least, thats how I see it, probably glossing over other details. Like Nakji, she cares for her friends/crush, she has what I think is unique character, something I don't see in other fanfics.

@TheLGuy You're welcome man. But yeah, part if not most of what gets me so hooked on the major Splatoon fanfic storyline, or specifically SOA was that the main character, Akikta, had actual flaws that don't seem to be present or weren't presented well in other human splatoon fics, and that their choices and mistakes actually impacted everyone's lives and continue to still affect others.
            For example, Akikta's first mistake: unleashing Aku. In a desperate attempt for human interaction, he woke up an artificial creature that eventually killed so many inklings, octolings, etc, meaning that he has inadvertently killed so many due to his mistake. Then there is trusting Sake/believing he is human, in which his consequence was that he had the whole Squidbeak after him, not to also mention that he was clearly weaker than most of them, really only being able to beat Neo 3/Metta and occasionally 8 when she didn't plan on fighting her. There was also the other consequence of finding out the truth after blindly following him. Of course, I can talk on and on such as him poisioning himself due to hunger, protecting Marina, fusing himself with Aku, etc. Point is, his flaws and actions led to actual consequenses that didn't just go away, it just led to more and more problems, changed others. 
            While this rant isn't probably my best analysis, the main point I'm trying to say is that the storyline doesn't feel as cliche, or follow similar tropes that I feel are way too present in other fics. Akikta isn't overpowered, even with his and Aku's fusion. He's lucky, but it doesn't feel like he's lucky to the point to where he wins through plot armor. It feels like his luck is borrowed, and that he actually pays the price for it later, potentially ending in a cycle of being blessed then being cursed and so on. He feels genuinely human, he makes mistakes, he wants to amend those mistakes, he connects to others despite being a different race, and he actually acts like many others would.

@look_under_there69 I am as well, but it is not likely to be the case, at least in Zero to Hero. Unless the subject of Akikta is important later in the book, we likely won't hear anything important/new of him. However, I am also curious for the reactions of each one of them, especially Sepia's (if she is included in that discussion) if Aku is also mentioned, since Aku did kill those close to Sepia. 

@Corrupt_Phoenix My bad, I definitely missed this. But yeah, I can say the same. I had a fun splatfest

@Corrupt_Phoenix The salmonids used to do us dirty, now we're the ones doing them dirty 

@TheLGuy oh and also, I just realized, the recent big run could also be part of the reason in your story (if the salmonid population decrease is mentioned more in detail) why there is such a decline. We got like 1.5 million eggs, 3 eggs for every boss, also not accounting for any missed uncollected eggs, players for sure decimated the salmonid population.

@TheLGuy well I'm team present, but if you do pick future, I wish you the best of luck, and I hope you give it your all