I Loved Side Order, I Wish Lesbians Were Real

?????? NATIONAL HERO???

Sorry for the long post and the rough, off-model sketches. But post-apocalyptic ROTTMNT has its talons deep in my heart and I have to get it off my chest. There will be more. And it will be painful. I apologize in advance. Also FYI: this is is when they’re in their early 30’s.

NEXT

i made the restaurant scene from chapter 7 of @mutantninjamidlifecrisis because i couldn't stop thinking about it :')

begging you to read the fic

bow kid octoling ft more bow kids! so many bow kids!

A new mode of production arises out of the newly networked masses.

So. I've Cracked The Code On The Appearance Changes in Side Order.

Wall of photos and such incoming.

After a lot of testing, I've discovered there are 7 different little lights and doodads that are added to Agent 8 via upgrading certain chips, each with a basic 1st tier and and upgraded 2nd tier. The 1st tier of upgrades appear after picking up two of the same chips in that changes pool (ex: 2 Homing Shots chips), with the 2nd tier appearing after picking up five of them (ex: 5 Homing Shot chips). There is no further visual indicators added for maxing chips that go beyond 5, such as Splash Damage or Rush Attack.

Full disclaimer: This is the result of researching a LOT of my own runs, so I can say this is true with about 95% certainty. If I labeled an ability chip in the wrong visual pool, please let me know!

Let's start with the basics - our control group. No Teal upgrades provide any visible changes to Agent 8 (or Pearl-bot for that matter), so I ran an all-teal palette to demonstrate.

First is likely one of the more requested visual changes - the Headset. The 1st tier sports a basic metallic earpiece, with the 2nd adding an antenna and eyepiece that match your primary ink color.

Maxing Splash Damage, Sound Wave Damage, Splash Radius, Special Charge Up, Turf Lucky Chain, Rush Knockback, and Homing Shots all provide the headset!

Next up is Ink Bubbles. The 1st tier shows transparent, slower bubbles flowing in 8's ink tank, with the bubbles being faster and more opaque in the 2nd tier.

Nabbing Poison Ink, Splat Ink Recovery, Ink Saver Sub, Ink Recovery Rate, and Sticky Ink all provide Ink Bubbles.

Following that is the Fins. The 1st tier shows the base shackles being added to 8's boots, with the fins themselves being added for the 2nd tier.

Picking up Run Speed, Swim Speed, Rush Attack, Mobile Ink Recovery, Mobile Special Charge, and Mobile Drone Gauge all provide the Fins.

Now, moving on to the weapon upgrades!

First we have the Muzzle Lights, which appear at the muzzle of most weapons, and the sides of the brush and roller nearest the base. The 1st tier shows a circle and squares circling around the muzzle, with the 2nd tier being more exaggerated, with alternating squares and rectangles forming a hexagon pattern in the center.

These are exclusive to the Ink Damage, Main Damage (Close), and Main Damage (Distant) chips.

Next up is likely the most common visual one can see on their run - the Arrows. The 1st tier shows a circle with three arrows pointing down the weapon, with the 2nd tier adding some blowback markers behind the circle.

These are on a whopping TEN upgrades, being Splatling Barrage, Main Firing Speed, Horizontal Slash Speed, Main Range, Main Piercing, Main Ink Coverage, Rush Ink Coverage, Quick Charge, Shot Spread Reduction, and Ink Saver Main.

Last of the weapon upgrades are the Dots. The 1st tier is 3 large dots and a circle spinning at the bottom of your weapon or around your wrist, with the 2nd tier adding another circle around the dots.

These can be found on the Hindrance Damage, Ink Attack Size, Charge Storage, Moving Ink Speed, Extra Dodge Roll, Brella Cooldown, Knockback, and Explosion Knockback upgrades.

And finally, my favorite little knick-knack, the Shrimp Hook. This little guy appears on your ink tank after picking up 2 matching Luck upgrades (ex: Lucky Bomb Drop, Canned Special Drop, etc), and begins to glow after picking up 5. However, the glowing effect is not visible in the post-game screen. 😔 (I would totally buy one of these if someone made one, btw)

By the way, 7 visual upgrades * 5 chips needed to max each visual is 35 chips, which is just shy of the 36 total chips you can have on one palette, which means, in theory, you could. Have every maxed visual indicator on in one run.

Just a thought. : )

Bodyguard

Navia:Aether? I’m sorry in advance but can I trouble you with something?

Aether:It’s you asking so no trouble at all. What’s wrong.

Navia:It’s just…there’s a really important meeting I have with some other business individuals in Fontaine in order to Poisson. It’s pretty normal for the heads of the business to take a guard with them for protection. Not only that but because of the state of Spina Di Rosula is in…I fear people may think now is the time to walk all over us.

Aether:So showing up with a guard isn’t just for security, but a display that you’re still going strong? I’ll be honest, sounds like you should be hiring Clorinde more than me.

Navia:She has her own job to deal with. Being a champion duelist means someone wants to hire you for one reason or another. I’d rather not bother her with this. Not to say I’m okay bothering you! It’s just…

Aether:I get it. No offense taken. So I’m being a bodyguard? Sounds easy enough. Of course I’ll help.

Navia:Thank you. I’ll be sure to pay you accordingly…

Aether:Hmm? Why would you pay me? It’s just a favor between friends. If I’m gonna ask for anything, then it would be for more macarons when you get the chance. Paimon still talks about them.

Navia:Heh, alright then. I’ll be sure to make an entire batch afterwards. The meeting is tomorrow at noon.

Aether:I’ll be at Poisson to escort you a couple hours early then!

Navia:Sounds like a plan. See you then, and thank you again. Seriously. *walks away*

Aether:….(Alright, guess I should take this seriously.)

xxxxx

Tomorrow comes in a blink of an eye. Not gaining much sleep, Navia does her best to appear well rested. It’s not that she didn’t try to, but moments like these were never her strongest. And now that she was doing it without… No, she mustn’t think about that right now. Right now her efforts need to be on rebuilding what’s left and not missing all that was lost.

A knock on her door came the moment she put on her out. Talk about punctual. Maybe Aether didn’t get much rest either? There was plenty of time before departure. Navia walked to the door and opened it so he wouldn’t have to wait in the dreary atmosphere. She didn’t expect what waited on the other side. Sleepiness was pushed away from her gaze as her friend stood before her in a black suit, gloves, and fedora just like her men.

Navia:How did you…?

Aether:I asked around a bit yesterday and got myself fitted. I don’t think Melus and Silver would ever forgive me if I didn’t try my absolute best. So- Navia?

The girl had the biggest, warmest smile on her face, but it eas accompanied by a well of tears. Even she didn’t know if she going to laugh or cry.

Aether:H-Hey!? I’m sorry. Was this too much?

Navia:Hehe..no, Goodness, no. I’m just a little overwhelmed is all, but so happy too. *sniffles*

Aether:..*bows head* I’m ready when you are.

Navia:I’m curious, do you plan on calling me Demoiselle as well?

Aether:My pronunciation is not up to par with all that, hehe. Sorry.

Navia:It was just a joke. Even I might find that a little much. Please, raise your head. There’s something I want to give you.

Aether looks up to see her run towards her vanity mirror and run back holding two pairs of shades. She opens up one and slides them onto his face.

Navia:Perfect.

Aether:Now I’m really part of the group.

Navia:Haha, what are you going on about? You’ve always been one of us. *puts shades on* And don’t you forget it.

Aether:*smiles* Well then, ahem! Shall we go get breakfast before we start today’s affairs.

Navia:Hehe, I believe we shall.

So I’ve seen a few people go over the AU idea of Vaggie being found by Carmilla after she falls, and I thought what if she was rescued by Rosie instead?

Like after the Extermination the little boy she spares tells Rosie and the other cannibals about this Angel that let him run away, and insists on dragging them back there because he heard her screaming from his new hiding spot.

They find Vaggie passed out and back and face soaked in ichor, but instead of eating her Rosie brings her back to Cannibal Town and patches her up as a way of saying thank you for saving that little boy (though the towels and rags used to clean her wounds and her old clothes get heavily fought over because everyone wants to know what ichor tastes like).

Vaggie of course is very disoriented upon waking up and is incredibly uncomfortable with the whole cannibalism thing, but she also really doesn’t want to piss off the people who could rip her apart.

redraw of this one scene