#i’ve never posted anything like this before ok . splatfest just makes me really emotional ok? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gnomefreak · 8 months

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Splatfest Blues

Frye looks across the open lobby. The Splatfest is bustling, bubbling and boiling, all words indicating a successful Splatfest. Out of the corner of her eye she spots Shiver, in a tense Tableturf battle. Frye squints, trying to clear the ink from the last Tricolor Battle out of her eyes to better see her bandmate.

Wait a second. Is she looking at that kid’s cards?

No, it can’t be. Shiver is a talented Tableturf player, she wouldn’t cheat-

“Is Shiver looking at that kids cards?” A deep voice booms behind Frye. The aquatic version of Judd stands tall behind her. Despite Big Man’s massive presence, Frye knows not to fear his size or volume, he is a gentle nonjudgemental giant.

“Oh my judge, she is looking at that kid’s cards!” Big Man maneuvers his way past Frye to the table covered in cards. Frye can’t believe her eyes. It’s almost as if her eyes feel… wet? She blinks hard, thinking there might be some ink still in her eyes.

“It’s not cheating, it’s knowing the rules, and sleight of hand-“

“Shiver I saw you looking at his cards. Frye saw it too.”

A cold chill rattles Shiver’s metaphysical bones, her ears ringing loud as she turns to meet Frye’s line of sight.

Frye knows that look. It’s a look she’s seen Shiver use to get out of sticky situations. Frye has taken that as a sign before to evacuate Shiver from the premises. But a Tableturf battle? That is ridiculous.

Shiver holds her look at Frye, her eyes staying wide, the shining of her eyes begging and pleading for Frye to help her out of this spot. For a brief moment, Frye can feel Shiver’s panic.

Frye blinks hard, and looks away. Why do her eyes feel like this? It feels as if her world is shaking around her.

“Frye? You saw right? I would never cheat!”

Liar.

“I don’t play with cheaters.”

Frye looks back to Shiver. Her expression has completely changed, a mortified look paints her face. Her mouth hangs open and it looks like she’s trying to think of something to say, but no words come out of Shiver’s fanged jaws.

“Frye lets calm down… it’s just a game.” Big Man whispers to Frye.

“It’s not just a game!” Frye fires back. Her iconic loud recognizable voice carries through the room. The lobby goes silent and the crowd waits to listen to their favorite Frye speak. If a pin were to drop in someone’s locker, you could hear it over the low hum of the speakers in between songs. There does seem to be a collision glitch happening in someone’s locker, but that’s a typical and tangential observation. The octoling sitting across from Shiver sits unspeaking, a polka face Shiver still can’t read through. Why hasn’t he said anything?

Everyone is looking.

Shiver is visibly chilled. Big Man’s eyes dart around the room. “Let’s wrap this up, okay?” He says to Shiver and the other octoling at the table. Shiver nods and she silently rises from her seat, quickly shuffling to the green room. Big Man comes towards Frye, mumbling something Frye assumes is to calm her down, but right now she refuses to hear any of it.

Frye makes a break for the green room. She enters to see Shiver sitting on a padded chair, still shaking.

“What was that?”

“Frye, listen, I can explain-“

“No! There is no reason to do what you just did!”

Big Man squeezes himself through the green room’s door. They’ve gotta make that thing bigger. “Guys, lets just calm down first-“

“No! You disrespected me! You disrespected my family! My grandfather taught us everything we know about Tableturf and told us to always play fairly! He said if you just believe in the heart of the cards you would never have to cheat!”

“Frye, we’re thieves.” Shiver states, unable to deny she was caught red handed.

“Yeah, we steal TREASURE, not wins from kids in Tableturf during the Splatfest!” Frye’s fingers curl into fists.

“Big deal. You tried to fame-bomb me! You know how bad that would be for my image? And during the Splatfest?” Shiver sits with a wide posture, holding onto the arms of the chair as if it were her throne.

“Fame bomb you? Fame didn’t even win last Splatfest, and it’s all gone to your head!” Frye wiggles her finger at Shiver as if it were one of her eels, a dangerous move, considering Shiver’s tendency in the past to bite people’s fingers off. Shiver snarls and her teeth poke out from her lips, her hands tightly gripping the arms of the chair, her jaw clenched tight, refusing to take the literal bait.

“Guys…” Big Man tries to get the attention of his band members, his voice shaking timidly. The two ignore him.

“You know what? I’m starting to see how it is. You’re all obsessed with this money and power! Then you have all these people that adore you and you won’t even respect your own friends!” Frye slinks closer to where her seated duelist stares. Shiver shakes, the emotions changing the color of the ink keeping her hydrated, flashing red and white, an ancient warning telling Frye to back off. Shiver bares her pearly white megalodon teeth at Frye, shivering in rage. Anyone else would have had their head bitten off by now. It’s not like Frye couldn’t cook Shiver alive, she thinks back to the last annual Fry-cook game, and how Shiver didn’t stand a chance. This situation is getting hotter, and Frye knows the heat like the back of her hand.

“Frye… slow down… let’s not superjump to conclusions…” Big Man manages to interject.

Frye snaps her head to meet Big Man’s line of sight with her eyebrow furrowed, frustrated at him using puns at a time like this, then her gaze softens as she realizes his distress.

“This is just like what happened during the Callie and Marie Splatfest so long ago… I told you guys this was an awful idea…”

“Listen we don’t make the Splatfests we just announce em, okay?” Shiver says to him, hoping to avoid some blame. Frye’s anger heats up in her chest, wondering how Shiver who she thought was her friend could say something so heartless, and before Frye can think of the nastiest thing to say…

“Well… what are they trying to do then? Break up our band?”

The green room goes silent. Frye unclenches her fists, and Shiver’s grip on the arms of her throne loosen. The sound of the Splatfest current outside is low, only the bass from the speakers barely leaks into the space. Big Man is gazing down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with his bandmates. He’s missing the look of heartbreak on both of their faces. The love that they won so long ago. Shiver’s ink stops flashing colors, her tone returning to her usual deep purple and her eyes gloss over. A shining in her eyes so bright only Toni Kensa could see through.

“Maybe Big Man was right. Maybe… love was more important.” Shiver says quietly, her tone sheepish. She wonders what a sheep is, and why she sees white spirals in her vision.

“Did you just admit you were wrong?” Big Man bellows.

Shiver’s face flushes. “M-maybe! I said maybe!” She sputters in response. The corners of Frye’s lips curl up into a smile, and she can hear Big Man let out an aquatic purr.

“I’m sorry, Frye. I shouldn’t have cheated. You and your grandfather taught me the game well. I was having doubts… I stopped believing in myself… and I forgot what was important. Please, let me redeem myself.”

Shiver looks up to make eye contact with Frye. Instead of the look Frye’s seen Shiver use to manipulate her way out of situations, she sees true shame. The sparkle in Shiver’s eye beats with the heart in her chest. Frye feels her eyes are wet again, the feeling similar to falling into the water during battle, and she’s losing, hard.

“Frye? Are you okay?” Big Man gazes in Frye’s direction.

“Yeah, yeah, I just got something in my eye.”

“Yeah, I can see it.” Big Man swims over to her. “The whites of your eyes are like, red?”

“Red?” Shiver stands from her throne, now just any other empty chair, and walks to the aide of her partner. “Hopefully you don’t have conjunction-itis.” She cups Frye’s cheek with her hand and uses the other to push the tentacles out of Frye’s face to clearly look into her eyes. Shiver smiles, and Frye can’t help but smile back. Through the shines in their eyes, Frye knows Shiver truly meant what she said.

In an instant, Frye shoots forward, arms wide open, before latching onto Shiver. “Oh, I can’t stay mad at you!” Shiver laughs, and hugs her friend back tight. She looks to Big Man and smiles. He lets out a big sigh of big relief. Crisis averted, once again, Big Man thinks to himself. Splatfest is almost over, and no matter who wins, he knows none of them are truly in charge.

Theres a knock at the door. Before any of the three can answer, the door opens. The door to the green room usually stays locked, but in the frenzy of the moment, it was left unlocked behind them. Before any of them can sweat if they are in any danger, Big Man steps up to plate. “Be not afraid.” the visitor says, his blank expression unchanging. Shiver swears she hears bells, but there is no where they could be coming from. She wonders if Frye can hear bells too.

Though Big Man might not be a Judd traditionally, he retained the ability of being a good judge of character. He takes a look at the stranger, and knows they are in no danger. “Uh, can we help you?”

At the door stands the octoling Shiver was just dueling in Tableturf. He wears a Big Man Splatfest shirt and a pair of Grizzco shades from several seasons ago. Frye can’t help but notice he’s wearing the freshest kicks out of Crush Station. “I hope so. You promise not to freak out?” Shiver notices his voice… is missing something. He doesn’t sound like a kid, his voice is… dry… or no, horse? Shiver doesn’t know what a horse is, but she envisions it’s similar to a Reef Slider, or maybe even her Meg.

Shiver smirks. “They call me Shiver for a reason. I ride sharks without fear.” Her previous opponent grins at her, not caring about her attempt at cheating in Tableturf.

“Good. Then maybe you can help me.”

He takes off his Grizzco glasses, his pupils stare back at the trio in slits like a cat, and fuzzy ooze pours from his eye sockets.

Shiver shrieks in terror so loud, the world shakes with her.

#splatoon 3 #frye #shiver #big man #splatoon #splatfest #fanfic #my writing #i’ve never posted anything like this before ok . splatfest just makes me really emotional ok?#splatoon deep cut #toni kensa #mr. grizz #fuzzy ooze #grizzco

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