Val went from bachelor to father in a quick turn of events, finding Harue washed up on shore after her tragic experience at Kamabo Corp and the destruction of the facility. He never found out the truth of her past.

The Octarian Army

Valence is an older Octarian who has been serving since they were of age. They've fought Agent 3 personally, earning them their back scar, and were even there to witness the battle between Agent 3 and DJ Octavio. Despite hearing the song, Val couldn't find the courage to leave the home that they had known for their entire life. They always had hope that things would get better for them - Zapfish or not. They were an Elite soldier, involved in not only front-line fighting, but research for alternative resources of energy. Valence was key in negotiations between the Octarians and Salmonids for the use of power eggs.

When Octavio broke free, Valence felt a flare of hope - with their leader back, they could focus on important things, like getting their resources focused and stabilized. Instead, DJ Octavio prioritized revenge and ordered the capture of Agent 1, Callie, and Agent 3. Callie was to be used in 'boosting moral' for their troops and Agent 3 was whisked away for experimentation. Their arguments over the waste of resources were shut-down aggressively and Val could only watch as history repeated itself.

A new Agent came onto the scene, fighting DJ Octavio and securing victory, freeing the Great Zapfish once more as well as Callie. The Squid Sisters are reunited and sing the Calamari Inkantation once more and Val is in the audience, letting the song fill their soul. In the chaos of DJ Octavivo being defeated, the determination finally hits and they toss their glasses to the ground and leave. At the time of their departure they were a high Elite with retirement lined up neatly - being cloned, producing the next generation to ensure the strength of the Octarian army - and none of that was even remotely wanted anymore.

On the Run

Escaping Octo Canyon was easy, though they had no idea where to go once outside of the area they had known. Val avoided Inkopolis out of sheer paranoia and made their way to the coast, dotted with smaller beach ports and fishing towns. They could speak Octoling and Salmonid, but struggled trying to learn Inkling - and they couldn't stay in one spot for long as Octarians were coming to try and retrieve them. The combination of fleeing and trying to look for work put them through a lot of uncomfortable nights sleeping behind dumpsters or on benches.

It wasn't until they found work at the energy plant in the town viewing Marooner's Bay that they began to gain some stability. At this point it had been a long while since an Octarian had showed up trying to drag them back, so they were able to start working and earn enough money for a deposit on a shit-hole apartment in town. They had a roof over their head and were slowly starting to build a life here, even making friends with the rough locals was a pleasure.

The Octarians gave up and Val's hide-out became a shoddy home, able to start earning a proper paycheck and slowly buy furniture rather than stealing it from dumpsters. They worked, hung out at bars, smoked, fucked, and generally lived as they pleased in a bachelor-esque way in their little shit-shack.

Tide Goes Out

Smoking on the docks as they usually did in the chill of the morning air, Val noticed seagulls being particularly annoying further along the beach. They drearly moved to check it out and to their horror, discovered a torn up Octoling had washed up on the beach, tangled in seaweed and crawling in crabs. They scrambled, shooing nature from her and carrying the young Octoling to their place, cleaning beer cans off the bed to get her laid down and comfortable.

She looked dead, pale and lifeless, missing a leg, scarred to shit, chunks of her tentacles missing from the animals - Val had never run so quickly as they got the village doc. The girl was stabilized but barely and after discussion, Val told the doctor they'd care for her until they could figure out where her parents were.

That never happened as once she was awake, it became evident she suffered memory loss to a high degree, only knowing her name and an odd number - 10,009 - whatever that meant. Val had a bad feeling that with the odd clothing she had been found in, she had been part of something secretive, but for now all that mattered was getting her back on her feet - which meant prosthetics. He wasn't comfortable enough in his ability to create a functioning prosthetic for the girl, doing some talking around the village before finding a reference to an Inkling named Wasabi. With her ingenius creation, Harue was able to learn to start walking again and while Val figured she'd be eager on leaving to figure herself out, she instead seemed...quite content staying with them.

Splatsville

Val had never seen themself as a fatherly type or to ever raise a child, yet here they were with a little Octoling girl who adored and looked up to them. They worked harder than ever, finding stable jobs to put Harue into private schooling, teaching her all they could about fighting, fishing, mechanics, and anything else she cared to learn. She was a sponge, absorbing any and all information around her, growing steadily under the ex-soldier's roof.

When she turned 17, she approached Val and brought up the subject of moving to Splatsville - or near Splatsville. She had learned about it in her recent lessons and the more she learned, the more she wanted to see other Octolings and Inklings around her age. The village was smoggy, gross, and dingy and she wanted more. Val was...scared at first, but after a long discussion, they caved, much to their daughter's glee. The two worked on packing up their dingy life and moving closer to Splatsville - a compromise as Val was far too nervous of living in such a city with their background.

The new village they moved to was along the coast, occupied by mostly fish folk and Salmonids, though there was a fair number of cephalopods occupying the homes as well. The train was a ten minute walk from their little house and from there, it was a 30 minute ride to Splatsville. Val settled into the village happily and Harue was able to pursue her wishes, traveling to Splatsville daily to do...well, whatever she wanted. Val didn't join her unless asked to, working instead as the village mechanic and making new friends with the neighbors.

And that's where you can find them - smoking while fishing or while working on the newest request, living alone practically as their daughter kicks ass in Anarchy matches in Splatsville.

• Val is one of my oldest Splatoon OCs, repurposed from another fandom and given new life.
• They are snarky, old, smart, and a bit chaotic - it's a great combo.
• Val really flushed out further after Harue was brought into their story line.
• Their hairstlye is what I imagine the afro would look like without perfect pruning and attention.
• Has only played turf war a few times, mostly at Harue's pleading. Judd did not appreciate their bullying of children with an E-liter.