#dunno if my computer is in a place to affect that really... I also don't intend for it to stay in this exact spot forever either

[neganium]

turns out that there is an update. I didn't see anything about fixing this specific problem, but then, maybe I didn't recognize it. or again, it could be a computer limitation, especially with firefox open (but I can't really work without distractions, strangely enough... I need some form of a break every now and then or I can't focus on what I'm doing). oh to have a house with wiring that isn't shit, and to be able to afford to update to a machine that is as powerful as I need it to be...

[galaxyseclipse]

OKAY

so I went through the Side Order trailer a gazillion times, so it's disorganized thoughts/theories/opinions time!

we're just gonna put a cut here in case folks don't want to read a quite long post lol

----------

okay, so I think the whole thing of this campaign is that it's not real. nothing that happens is actually happening to Eight, Pearl, and Dedf1sh. I mean obviously it's happening to them, but it has no affect on the real Inkopolis Square

so, I think it's either (1) a simulation/virtual "what-if?" scenario(probably created by Marina) that got corrupted or (2) that "world of order beyond comprehension" Marina mentioned that probably also got corrupted

either way it's gonna be weird, and is probably connected to computers somehow

my main reasoning for that is that every time we(as in the player) enter an area it literally loads us into the area(bringing in essentially an LoD model, then becoming the player/weapons), which most likely wouldn't happen if we weren't in some sort of virtual world

as well as this trippy glowy matrix-lookin' room thing

also the fact that Pearl is literally a drone clearly designed to look like her, and it doesn't appear as if we see her normally at all in the campaign. so my guess is that the drone is Pearl's "avatar" in this virtual world. this is further proven by her description on the Japanese website

this is a janky translation, but still, interesting wording

but why a drone? and why does it look like her? my only guess is that Marina made that avatar to look like Pearl, so she could be safe in this weird environment? I have no idea otherwise

why do Eight and Ded look normal then? why is Ded here in the first place? I have no idea, other than Ded saying they and Marina "go way back" and Eight maybe choosing to have an avatar that looks like themselves?

obviously a lot of that part of the theory relies on this world being something that Marina created and/or has/had some level of control over. I saw a theory somewhere(unfortunately I don't remember exactly) that was "maybe Marina's being controlled by whatever is all that black stuff and what's controlling the robot fish." which like, that'd be pretty dope ngl, and it'd tie into the "Marina made/discovered this place and it got out of her control" theory. and we've seen Marina precisely one (1) time, and it was in concept art that kinda made her look all glitchy and stuff

so like, I dunno guys, I think 'rina might be in danger...

sidenote: I don't really like the "Marina's the antagonist/villain" theory. it just doesn't feel in character for her to do something like that on her own will. I'm down for puppet Marina, but I just don't think she'd cause this herself

----------

something that I've seen bounced around a lot is "you can play as either an Inkling or an Octoling!" using this as proof

my honest opinion? this is a reused text string for the Run Speed Up ability. I don't think we're playing as anyone other than Eight, who is canonically an Octoling

which sucks because I'd be down to play as Agent 4, but whatever, guess they don't get adventures anymore >:(

----------

we're gonna go back to Dedf1sh(or, Acht, I guess) for a second:

this line is weird

sucked into what? the simulation? how? why? did Eight and Pearl get "sucked in" too? or is she referring to the metro?

and how does she know so much about the tower? like the color chips and whatnot? have they been here a while?

SO MANY QUESTIONS AND SO FEW ANSWERS!!

----------

also, the color chip they hold out in that cutscene appears to say "AGNT" on it

it could also say "ACHT", but I don't see why

what does this mean? does it mean anything? who knows!?

wait I got another picture of it in Eight's hand:

it kinda looks like it says "AGNT 7" on it? I dunno maybe I'm just reading things I wanna see lol

it does more strongly resemble the Latin alphabet than the other scripts in this series though, so it's definitely worth pointing out imo

----------

gameplay opinions: looks fun!

folks are saying it looks like a rougelike, and even after looking it up multiple times I still have no idea what the fuck that means

skill tree thingy with the chips and stuff looks cool, hopefully it's implemented well, or at least not in a way that makes it more inconvenient to use it than go without

a bit of a bummer that it doesn't look like you can attack while flying around with Pearl though lmao. but I do like how she looks like she can use bombs(folks have pointed out a hyperbomb in one shot too :3c), and even (maybe, the shot's kinda weird) a singular killer wail speaker

also the design of the drone is fuckin' adorable

like lookit this thing

----------

aesthetic-wise, not bad, I like the muted, pale tone of everything

...except for Acht for some reason?

like, I love Dedf1sh, and am very excited for their inclusion, but also:

octo kinda sticks out like a sore thumb

maybe that's the point, maybe that's why she's helping us, to restore the colors to this simulation or whatever it is, hence the color chips and the soundboard looking thing....

hey wait a second am I onto something?

whatever, anyway, I like how it looks, and the small portions of soundtrack we've gotten so far sound great

----------

also, something pointed out in the comments on the trailer and I thought was morbidly interesting:

those appear to be meat grinders.....

uh, yeah

not sure what kind of substance is coming out of them, but uh, yeah those strongly resemble meat grinders

Eight's gonna die because they were unable to use any small kitchen appliance and starved lmfao

----------

alright, that's all I've got for now I think lol

I wouldn't be surprised if we got one more trailer in like January or something with the release date maybe a Splatoon direct? probably not

[hopefully-hellbound]

Been thinking about STDs in our beloved town and now i have some random theories. When i say town, that includes the farms, forests and islands nearby.

Noone in town has any STDs. The town is incredibly cut off from the rest of the world, my theory is that theyre on an island so it would be only accessible via boat. They have no tvs, almost no phones and only computers seem to be owned by police and Leighton, Mickey is a hacker yes but that's obviously not legal. It would make sense for townsfolk to be able to travel but it doesn't seem like anyone does. They seem completely self sufficient with the farms, a hospital, a school, even their own asylum which you dont see in many small towns. In conclusion, noone ever really leaves the town so they can't track in STDs

But what about the visitors? I'm sure they have to have some, the town is definitely on some map. Perhaps sometimes people get jobs there and move to it. I'd imagine they would be required to go see Harper, if not willingly, some accident that'd put them in the hospital could certainly be arranged. Harper performs the tests and if they are clean, they're free to continue roaming the town. Harper also informs Quinn of the newcomer's temper and Quinn (or some other more important people) decide if the person is allowed to stay.

I can absolutely see a council of some sort, most important townsfolk working together on one thing and one thing alone, and that's keeping the town's secrets intact, making sure nothing gets out or in that shouldn't.

Quinn is 100% in the council, so are Harper, Leighton, Briar, Remy and Bailey - they run the most important locations of the town if we suspect Briar runs the underground Brothel. I could also argue that maybe Jordan is there too, but i'd want more of their background to be sure. Perhaps he'd want to keep outsiders out to make sure they stay uncorrupted by the town?

But back to outsiders. If they come inside and don't pass the vibe check? Well... It's easy to get lost in the sea, isn't it? Waters around the island are just sooo dangerous... Briar, Remy and Harper definitely have ways to make people disappear.

But what if the people who are gone had kids? Well, this is where Bailey comes in, takes the kids and shows them the new way of life, the way it is in town. No love, no affection, hardships only. Bailey protects them until they're adults and thats when the actual hard life starts. It'd also explain why such a small town has so many orphans.

Who gets to stay in town? People who are agressive, for once. Who indulge in the depravities and become one of their own, as long as they're not too dangerous. I dont know why but i could see Briar and Darryl being not born there, they made names for themselves. Darryl fits in the same category as Mason imo, people allowed to stay because they can turn a blind eye to the abuse, even if they can't help. And the other teachers are just... They're kind. But they know their place, do what they can without rocking the boat too much.

Speaking of the council, i'd like to argue that Eden and Morgan were both once in on it, but Eden couldn't take it and chose solitude, and Morgan... Maybe threathened too much. Maybe his child didn't leave him willingly. Maybe someone... Took care of it.

I dunno tho these are just my theories, but i really like the thought of all the town's assholes having one thing where they'd work together, so im gonna go with this and write something in this setting

[system-of-a-feather]

hii, i hope i'm not too late for the system ask but 14, 19 and 28?

you don't have to answer them all unless you're comfortable— i want to hope that they weren't too private :<

thanks in advance and i hope you have a wonderful day!

Oh nah we are all good XD As long as we can still find the prompts its never too late XD Thanks for the reassurance about boundaries and all though - its much appreciated.

14) do you have an inner world? if yes, can everybody access it freely? if no, do you plan on working towards building one?

We do have an innerworld, but not everyone can access it freely. There are parts some parts can't access, and then there is me who is literally trapped in the front void and occasionally the Cathedral if I try.

Honestly though, at this point a lot of the parts don't really do much in the innerworld other than kind of "take a break" from the front and go into a kind of stasis in their area where they can just... rest I guess? Most of us don't really do much in there otherwise since staying in there for large periods of time is just a like... really weird timeless feeling. Its peaceful but its also weird to be in a place detatched from time.

The only real "active" areas where people ACTIVELY front and exist and interact with eachother is the "void" which is hardly any inner world and much more an endless white void with a shitty computer and desk with two couches and it serves as the front. And I also think Ray just kinda is active everywhere and is not affected by whatever weird time pausing / stasis shit goes on in there XD Oh and the cathedral. Pretty much we only really do the cathedral and the void since they tend to be places of meeting and discussion

19) anyone with a size way different than the body? do they bump into stuff, etc?

Nah not particularly. Our little forgets they're adults but it doesn't really result in much issues.

28) how do you guys deal with switch headaches, blurry days, etc? share some tips!

Die. Accept our fate. Complain. :v

Okay though, a lot of the time we just kinda really try to positively trigger SOMEONE out if we are blurry and/or focus on trying to move the body and "figure it out" since when we are blurry our body tends to be kinda just like... REALLY hard for any of us to move.

If I'm closer to the front rather than part of the complete blob, I usually try to open up like one of my "safe routine things" that I can use to maybe stimulate my part of the brain like, I dunno Pokemon Showdown or my drawing software or something. Maybe put on one of the stupid youtube thigns that I don't even really like but its good back ground noise and everyone else just can't tolerate XD

Blurry days pretty much just end with us being like "OKAY lets try to get SOMEONE out cause this ain't working and is uncomfortable"

But we also like... complain a shit ton to our fiance and friends who know about it XD

For switch headaches and switch side effects, we just kind of like.... deal with it to be honest. There isn't much you can do about it in our experience. Wait for it to pass / just focus on grounding and hope it goes away.

We actually don't really have switch headaches too much unless it was a trauma-related / negative trigger-related switch from a triggered EP to another part. Our day to day switches are considerably subtle beyond maybe a bit of dizziness, loss of information, and fogginess.

-Riku (Host)