lev-splatoon

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Why I think we’ll get a Splatoon 2 Version 5.0 Update

As always, everything below is entirely theoretical. I have no substantial proof of anything that’ll happen, I’m just connecting dots where there might actually be no connections at all.

There’s a couple of factors that make me think we’ll get a Version 5.0 Update in the near future:

First of all, the Sheldon’s Picks announcement. A whole new set of weapons that will get released at a later date with no additional details. Additionally, the Sheldon’s Picks weapons are not in the game files as of the 4.4 update, but something that was included...

...Is the Salmon Run gear for the month of March, as datamined by Leanyoshi on twitter, in addition to the Japan-only (>:[) Koshien promotional gear, which is scheduled for release in early March. All of this indicates that we are most likely not getting another major patch until mid-late March. This leads me to the next part.

The Japanese twitter recently announced a trial period that is set to start on March 26th and end April 1st. It seems weird to me to announce something so specific so far in advance unless there is something major being planned for that date. Additionally, this announcement hasn’t been mirrored by any official Western social media accounts, which indicates to me they are waiting to bundle it together with a larger announcement (or it’s Japan-only, but let’s ignore that possibility).

Lastly, and perhaps least substantially, a 5.0 Update in late March would fall into the general timeslot that Nintendo has maintained with their major updates so far. 2.0 came out in November, 3.0 came out in April and 4.0 in September.

All of this seems to line up to indicate that something big is coming up in March, which seems likely to be a major update. Who knows what more would be included in it. Maybe the oh-so-coveted additional Octoling hairstyles perhaps? They already broke their promise of no more weapons, maybe a new stage is a possibility, too? Some new gear doesn’t seem impossible to me, either.

But we’ll know in time, I suppose, after all, everything above is conjecture. Correlation does not imply causality, after all. (Though, if I’m allowed to flaunt just a bit, I did predict 4.0 and was only off on the date by about two weeks. I was less accurate on the features of the update but hey I can’t always be right)

Also, I really hope there are some more Sheldon’s Picks that they just haven’t announced yet, I’d love another kit for something like the Explosher or the Hydra.

[lev-splatoon]

A completely nonsensical theory on the identity and agenda of Mr. Grizz

I apologize in advance for the poor formatting here, as I’ve really just screenshotted a wild theory I shared in a Splatoon server I’m in, and I thought it was fun enough to share here too but it’s too late over here for me to rewrite the entire thing.

[lev-splatoon]

If I may add a little theory of my own, I also imagine that both Inklings and Octolings can mold their tentacles into specific shapes. Kind of like those shaped watermelons that exist in Japan.

This is probably not something the average cephalopod spends their time doing, but it seems reasonable to me, and you could probably combine it with cutting to get all sort of crazy shapes, like the spiky mohawk hairstyle Inkling boys have, or the octoling tentacle afro!

how do you think inklings keep up those hairstyles where the ends of their tentacles are cut off without them growing back into full tentacles?? do they just keep trimming them? (also, what do you think about that one concept octoling hairstyle where they had bangs?)

Heat or special gel!

Once a tentacles is cut and exposes the ‘whites’, its only a matter of hours before the shin begins growing over it to heal the chromatophores over it so it can begin growing back into a normal tentacle shape. 

However, the one thing that will prevent their signature quick healing is heat. Burns or cauterized wounds will heal, but they won’t re-grow flawlessly like they’re supposed to. This applies to entire limb/tentacle loss, or just normal burns. Using a Hot Knife (and by hot I mean like, Really Hot. Can burn you kind of hot) to cut the tentacles can ‘cauterize’ it and make it so it doesn’t regrow there at all. However, this comes with it’s drawbacks!

If you’re not careful you can ‘burn’ the tentacle, causing it to warp or get discolored. You don’t want to cook them, just give em a quick cut. This also means that, if you want to grow your tentacles back out, you have to cut them shorter so the cauterized buts are cut off and the new bits can regrow. 

If you don’t want to, you can also use specialty gel! It’s applied to the cut parts of the tentacles that sort of seals it and tells it not to grow. It’s easier to apply at home than the heat method, and also not permanent- if you stop applying it regularly, they’ll grow back out!

However, it also has it drawbacks. Getting it on your hands is less than ideal, because if you get a scrape or paper cut, then it won’t heal. So you have to be careful when applying it and use a brush or rag or something. Also, some cheaper brands can leave a film or crust, or even cause discoloration to the chromatophores. It’s also a regular thing, so you have to keep up maintenance on applying the gel daily or every few days depending on brand.

As far as the octolings? I’m sure they can cut their tentacles, but it hurts, and isn’t something done regularly. I’m sure theres numbing agent for those more adventurous cephalokids!

[lev-splatoon]

Also, here’s the full list of third variants stats that I compiled:

Third variant spread in Splatoon 1: Shooter: 6 Blaster: 3 Roller: 2 Brush: 1 Charger: 3 Splatling: 2 Slosher: 1

Third variant spread in Splatoon 2: Shooter: 4 Blaster: 1 Roller: 2 Brush: 1 Charger: 1 Splatling: 0 Slosher: 1 Dualies: 1 Brella: 1

Main weapons that have third variants in both Splat 1 and Splat 2:

Splattershot

Splattershot Pro

Splat Roller

Dynamo Roller

Splat Charger

Main weapons that had third variants in Splat 1 that have yet to receive any in Splat 2:

Aerospray

N-Zap

Sploosh-o-Matic

H-3 Nozzlenose

Range Blaster

Inkbrush

Bamboozler

Squiffer

Mini Splatling

Heavy Splatling

Slosher

Main weapons that got third variants in Splat 2 that did not get third variants in Splat 1 (excluding weapons that didn't exist):

Splattershot Jr

L-3 Nozzlenose

Luna Blaster

Octobrush

Sloshing Machine

[lev-splatoon]

Alright, so the weapons for November got announced by the Japanese twitter, and it’s another set of Kensa Collection weapons. This time, it’s the Splattershot Jr., Octobrush, Undercover Brella and L-3 Nozzlenose.

If we assume that we get the alternative kits for Explosher/Bloblobber/Ballpoint Splatling/Nautilus 47 in December and that weapon updates end like Nintendo said they will, the final spread of third variants will look like this:

Shooter: 4 Blaster: 1 Roller: 2 Brush: 1 Charger: 1 Splatling: 0 Slosher: 1 Dualies: 1 Brella: 1

The fact that there is no third kits for any Splatlings at all, combined with the fact that Nintendo is releasing yet another new Sub Weapon makes me convinced that weapon releases are not going to end in December.

Something’ fishy about the Splatoon 2 weapon update schedule

Alright, this isn’t the kind of speculative in-universe content I normally do, but I want to talk about the way that content in Splat 2 is currently going and why I think something’s up. I’ll try and keep it succinct, so let’s start with the facts.

Nintendo announced in September that new weapon releases stop in December.

They additionally announced one new Sub weapon and two new Specials, two of which were released in October and the last of which is being released in November.

The current schedule gives us four weapons a month, for a total of 16 weapons over the period of September to December.

There are four weapons (Explosher, Ballpoint, Bloblobber and Nautilus 47) that do not have a variant yet, guaranteeing that they’ll take up four of those remaining slots.

Alright, with all of that said, I think it should be obvious that a couple of things are weird, but let’s go through them. The first one is that if the weapon updates follow the current schedule, Splatoon 2 will have fewer weapons with third variants than Splatoon 1. Splatoon 1 had 16 third variants from the Sheldon’s Picks bundles (17 if you count the Splatterscope as its own weapon), while Splatoon 2 will end up with 12 third variants (or 13). Considering Splatoon 2 seems to be made to be bigger than Splatoon 1 in every way, that seems a bit weird to me, though it could be that the developers think the larger variety of Main Weapons make up for that.

But there’s something else, much stranger going on, and that’s in regards to the new Specials and Sub Weapon. With Fizzy Bomb and Booyah Bomb only being on two weapons each right now, and there only being 8 more weapons to release, both of these, plus the still-mysterious Hammer Special, would be extremely limited in availability. By comparison, most of the pre-4.0 Specials are available on around 9 to 13 different weapons (counting all Bomb Launchers as the same Special, as they’re all variations of each other), with the two rarest ones, Bubble Blower and Ink Armor, being available on 8 weapons each. It does not make sense to introduce such substantial content like new Subs and Specials when the number of weapons they’d be available on is so small. Even if all the remaining weapons had Fizzy Bomb and the Hammer or Booyah Bomb, they’d still be the rarest by a country mile. It could be argued that this is intentional on Nintendo’s part, but I just don’t see them putting in the effort to make all of this so late into the game’s update cycle in that case, it just doesn’t add up to me.

So what do I make of this? Well, I think there are three possible outcomes of this:

The first one is that things continue as they do, with 4 weapons released in November, 4 more in December, and then the weapon well’s dry. Even though this seems to be the case the right, I don’t actually think this is how it’ll go, as I just don’t think it makes sense for Nintendo to do it like this.

The second one is that they’re lying about weapon updates ending in December, and are planning to keep going further. This would not be surprising, as this is something they’ve pulled several times before.

The last one is that one or both of the last two weapon bundles are going to be huge. I think this is the most likely outcome, personally, and I could easily see them doing 8 or maybe even 12 weapons in October and December, or maybe even more in just December since that’s Christmas and all.

Of course, all of this is speculative, so I urge you to take anything I’ve said here with a pinch of salt, as these are conclusions I’ve drawn myself. 4.2 is just about a week away, and I’m personally very excited for what’s in store for the future, regardless of how quickly updates come to a halt.

[lev-splatoon]

Something’ fishy about the Splatoon 2 weapon update schedule

Alright, this isn’t the kind of speculative in-universe content I normally do, but I want to talk about the way that content in Splat 2 is currently going and why I think something’s up. I’ll try and keep it succinct, so let’s start with the facts.

Nintendo announced in September that new weapon releases stop in December.

They additionally announced one new Sub weapon and two new Specials, two of which were released in October and the last of which is being released in November.

The current schedule gives us four weapons a month, for a total of 16 weapons over the period of September to December.

There are four weapons (Explosher, Ballpoint, Bloblobber and Nautilus 47) that do not have a variant yet, guaranteeing that they’ll take up four of those remaining slots.

Alright, with all of that said, I think it should be obvious that a couple of things are weird, but let’s go through them. The first one is that if the weapon updates follow the current schedule, Splatoon 2 will have fewer weapons with third variants than Splatoon 1. Splatoon 1 had 16 third variants from the Sheldon’s Picks bundles (17 if you count the Splatterscope as its own weapon), while Splatoon 2 will end up with 12 third variants (or 13). Considering Splatoon 2 seems to be made to be bigger than Splatoon 1 in every way, that seems a bit weird to me, though it could be that the developers think the larger variety of Main Weapons make up for that.

But there’s something else, much stranger going on, and that’s in regards to the new Specials and Sub Weapon. With Fizzy Bomb and Booyah Bomb only being on two weapons each right now, and there only being 8 more weapons to release, both of these, plus the still-mysterious Hammer Special, would be extremely limited in availability. By comparison, most of the pre-4.0 Specials are available on around 9 to 13 different weapons (counting all Bomb Launchers as the same Special, as they’re all variations of each other), with the two rarest ones, Bubble Blower and Ink Armor, being available on 8 weapons each. It does not make sense to introduce such substantial content like new Subs and Specials when the number of weapons they’d be available on is so small. Even if all the remaining weapons had Fizzy Bomb and the Hammer or Booyah Bomb, they’d still be the rarest by a country mile. It could be argued that this is intentional on Nintendo’s part, but I just don’t see them putting in the effort to make all of this so late into the game’s update cycle in that case, it just doesn’t add up to me.

So what do I make of this? Well, I think there are three possible outcomes of this:

The first one is that things continue as they do, with 4 weapons released in November, 4 more in December, and then the weapon well’s dry. Even though this seems to be the case the right, I don’t actually think this is how it���ll go, as I just don’t think it makes sense for Nintendo to do it like this.

The second one is that they’re lying about weapon updates ending in December, and are planning to keep going further. This would not be surprising, as this is something they’ve pulled several times before.

The last one is that one or both of the last two weapon bundles are going to be huge. I think this is the most likely outcome, personally, and I could easily see them doing 8 or maybe even 12 weapons in October and December, or maybe even more in just December since that’s Christmas and all.

Of course, all of this is speculative, so I urge you to take anything I’ve said here with a pinch of salt, as these are conclusions I’ve drawn myself. 4.2 is just about a week away, and I’m personally very excited for what’s in store for the future, regardless of how quickly updates come to a halt.

[lev-splatoon]

The significance of the Octarian jingle

Alright, we’re heading into some deeply speculative waters here, so bear with me for a bit. We were recently discussing theories in @lesbian-octoling‘s discord server when someone brought up the reoccurring jingle that pops up several times in Octo Valley and Octo Canyon, asking if there was any potential significance to it. As much as I love to read into things looking for deeper meanings, I initially brushed it off as just a fun thing the devs kept returning to as an easter egg.

But then an idea struck me. I remembered the concept of 0451.

If you’re unfamiliar with 0451, Errant Signal has a very good video detailing its history and significance here, but I’ll give you the lowdown: 0451 is a bit of a recurring motif within a certain subset of video games, starting out as a key code for the first locked door in System Shock that, in itself, was just an easter egg as it was the code for a door at the developers office. The number sequence has since come to be repeated and referenced in many games, some which were developed by the former members of the System Shock team, some which were games trying to build on the ideas first presented in those games, and some which just referenced the code because they thought it was something cool and meaningful.

So what does any of that have to do with this jingle? Well, I think it might be that the jingle represents something similar for the Octarians. I did say this was going to be deeply theoretical, didn't I?

I think it might just be that the jingle is Octavio's creative watermark of sorts. A little self-reference he plants into his songs like a flag that over time has become co-opted by his underlings as a symbol of his influence and his power

And that last part might just be a little bit more sinister than it seems at first. Let's break down the jingle's appearances bit by bit. To start with, I think the least interesting cases of the jingle are in the Hero Mode songs Eight Legged Advance and Octo Eight Step. These songs are not made by Octavio himself, but by his direct underlings, Turqouise October. The members of the band might, just like some developers did with 0451, reference this jingle just as a nod to someone who influenced them greatly, but since the Octarians have been explicitly stated in an interview to use music to give out orders to their soldiers, the presence of the jingle becomes a reminder of Octavio's power over his troops

After that comes the jingle in probably its most prominent form: The two variants of Zapfish Get! This is an odd case, since in this situation the jingle is something that is celebratory for us, Octavio's enemy, but it could be that the presence of the jingle marks the idea that we are taking away Octavio's power. its meaning is subverted, a reclamation of both a literal and symbolic kind

After that comes I Am Octavio and Bomb Rush Blush (feat. Callie), the themes of the dastardly DJ himself, and this is the part where I think my idea holds the most water. The presence of the jingle is self-explanatory, in fact, it could theoretically be its origin. I Am Octavio is a statement and a threat, a proclamation of power and the promise to wield it, so naturally he'd feature the jingle in his own theme song.

The jingle being in Bomb Rush Blush, however, is probably its most cruel application to date, because that song belongs to Callie. If the jingle is a musical flag, it is being used in this situation as a banner of conquest. By remixing Bomb Rush Blush and placing his own watermark in it, Octavio is metaphorically claiming Callie's work as his own. Brainwashing the artist herself wasn't enough, he had to put her art under his control as well. It's very telling that Callie is the one 'featured' in this version of Bomb Rush Blush.

Finally, let's talk about the jingle as it appears in Marina's Ebb & Flow demo. In this scenario, the jingle was put into the song by Marina herself, something she probably did without thinking too much about it, just a short familiar tune that fit well with the cadence of the song. But in this case, the jingle represents control, Octavio's control over Marina. Even though she's escaped the Octarian military, Marina is still metaphorically chained by her former leader's influence.

But the Ebb & Flow demo is just that, a demo. A test, a first pass, inherently incomplete. The song could not be completed without Pearl's help, and together the two of them made a song that shot them into stardom. A song that, in its finished form, no longer features the Octarian jingle. Marina could not free herself from the mental burden of her past without Pearl, and she could not find herself as an artist until she did. The jingle's removal is both a literal and metaphorical freedom cry.

Well, that was a whole lot of words on something that probably doesn't mean a lot. But that's fine, honestly, To me, the value of speculation lies more in the speculation itself than the prospect of being right. Writing this was fun, and I hope it was fun to read! Until next time: Don't get cooked, stay Off the Hook!

[lev-splatoon]

Octarian society, and what’s the deal with all the DJs?

Following up on my previous post on my theories on octarian biology comes my theories on octarian society. I will just like last time stress that all of this is theoretical and as such should not be taken as fact.

That said, let's start with what is perhaps the keystone of my entire theorycrafting here: I think that Octavio is the sole ruler of the Octarians. I believe this to be the case based on the way he dresses both in his octopus and humanoid forms, as he seems to be wearing a kabuto-style helmet alongside traditional Japanese dress (as well as samurai armour in the artwork featuring him from Octo Expansion). Since there has been nothing to support the idea that there are any other people calling the shots, I believe Octavio to be some sort of shogun, a military dictator.

A common theory is that the reason Inkling culture is the way it is comes from them being influenced by documentation of human culture, absorbing ideas of fashion and aesthetics from our legacy. This is something I think is reasonable to believe, and I'd like to expand that theory here by saying that I think the Octarians were similarly influenced by the remains of human technology. This is where the seemingly natural knack for tech stuff that octolings have come from, and it's influenced them in more ways than is obvious, but more on that later.

So let's talk a bit more about Octarian society. Dictatorship aside, I believe Octarian society to be a meritocracy at its core. This is primarily based on the fact that from what we see, Octotroopers seem allowed to live regular lives and even hold positions of authority, despite their status as cannon fodder. This makes me think that they can climb the ranks like anyone else with enough hard work and dedication.

Most important of all, though, is the engineer. Octarian society deifies the mechanic, and it's easy to see why, as they are utterly reliant on technology. With limited resources and a spiteful leader at the helm, they are constantly striving for more efficient, more powerful innovations. As such, even the everyday civilian knows their way around complicated machinery, and pursuing a degree in engineering is a surefire way to secure your future in this tech-savvy society.

But things aren't well in Octarian society, even for the engineer. Energy concerns aside, I keep coming back to that one quote from Marina in Octo Expansion, where she states that no one can live with the oppression of Octarian society after hearing the Calamari Inkantation. I wanna reiterate that just the act of hearing a song was all it took to realize just how miserable she really was. That is basically satirical levels of dystopic.

Another thing pointing to the rather unsavoury state of Octarian society is their propaganda. Splatoon 1 has two such examples in the Sunken Scrolls, one describing inklings much in the same way you'd describe an animal, noting their "simple and hedonistic" brains and their eyes, which can "spot prey from 100 yd." The second one is an art piece featuring two octarians in a way that is clearly meant to mimic typical depictions of Adam and Eve. What is most damning about the latter piece, though, is that the biblical snake is substituted by an inkling. This art piece literally equates the inklings with the devil.

Sheesh.

I'm almost out of ideas so I wanna end this with a little note in regards to DJs. Most Octarian musicians seem to be DJs, for some reason, and I've got a couple of things to say about that. The first and perhaps most mundane explanation is ease of access, they simply have an easier time getting their hands on hardware compared to functioning musical instruments. The second explanation is a bit more interesting though: I think Octarians favour DJing because their culture trains them to approach art in the same way they approach technology. To them, music is a puzzle to be figured out, interlocking parts to be fixed, replaced, refurbished, edited until all the gears intersect. This way of approaching music, unorthodox as it may be, is the most intuitive to a mind trained since birth to understand machinery.

And well, that's all I had to say on that. Thanks for reading!

[lev-splatoon]

My theories on Octarian biology

I will start off by stating that a lot of what I am going to say is my theories and that alone. I may be basing some of it off canonical information, but the facts are so sparse that I have to make some logical leaps in order to form a cohesive theory. That said, here is my take on Octarian biology.

You may have read @lesbian-octoling 's post on Octarian biology, and with all due to respect to Rhi, who is a very dear friend, I strongly disagree with her interpretation of the Octarian life cycle. It is my personal belief that there is a clear distinction between Octolings and other Octarians, with the name "Octarian" itself being a name of the culture and society which spawned them both. It is my belief that Octolings are the "natural" state of Octarians, with the other tentacle-based variations being artificially created lifeforms. This is not something there are any hard facts to support, but I believe the existence of Octolings themselves makes the assumption that they function similarly to Inkling a very logical one. One thing that could support this is the ten-year-old Octoling DJ of SashiMori, whose physical appearance is very similar to that of an official drawing of a pre-teen Inkling (as well as the design of young Inklings in the Splatoon manga, but I'd hesitate to use it as a source of canonical information) which could point to my theory being correct.

The problem is an official statement saying that Octarians cannot reproduce normally, and therefore procreate by cutting off their tentacles. This is not something I disagree with, but I believe it to apply only to non-Octoling Octarians. That said, let's get into my theories on the Octarian sub-species specifically.

Real-world octopi are pretty weird creatures. Their arms more or less have brains of their own, and as such, can continue to function for quite a while after being severed from the rest of the body and this in itself is pretty obviously the concept which inspired the Octarians to begin with. That said, we do see the Octarians use regular, non-sapient tentacles in the form of the tentacles used to power the Octoweapons. This is, I speculate the first-ever application of cut-off tentacles that the Octarians invented, sort of using the tentacles as biological AI to operate their great mechanical menaces.

The Octarian sub-species came after that. I believe it's reasonable to assume that unless something is done with it, an Octoling tentacle would just die after a while if it is cut off. My theory is that in order for a tentacle to become an Octarian, it needs to be kept in ideal conditions while also supplemented with growth hormones, which keeps the tentacle alive through the process while allowing it to grow the necessary bodily functions to become a separate entity.  Additionally, I believe the Octolings use different 'moulds' of sorts in order to facilitate the Octarians growth into different forms, which is how we get variations like the Octotroopers, Octocopters and Octoballs. One theory I have that I must admit there is no basis for, but that I am very fond of all the same, is that an Octarian could eventually become an Octoling, though this would require a very extensive process that involves, amongst other things, organ transplants, in order to sort of "trick" the Octarian body into believing itself to be an Octoling body, and growing accordingly. It might not be unwise to assume that this is how the Octolings we fight in Octo Valley and Octo Canyon was created, or that Octo Samurai is in the midst of that process.

The question that remains, then, is "where do they get that growth hormone from?" and the answer to that taps a bit into my theories on Octarian society as a whole, and is also the reason I believe we see so Octoling soldiers as a whole in spite of them posing a much bigger threat than the tentacle-born Octarians. It is my belief that the necessary materials needed to grow Octarian soldiers in the sheer number they are produced require them to be supplied by Octoling civilians. This is the only theory that makes sense to me, because if all that was needed was tentacle cuttings then there is no reason for them not to produce enough troops to overwhelm Inkopolis by sheer force of numbers. Something's gotta give, and I believe that sacrifice to be in the hands of the ones not doing the fighting.

I don't believe civilians to be killed in the process, of course, quite the opposite. With both space and electricity heavily limited in the underground, there is probably pretty strict population control going on in Octopolis (or whatever their home is called) to ensure there are enough resources to go around. With this in mind, it makes sense to turn to a more numerous and expendable source for field troops, which is the role of the Octarians, with Octolings serving either leadership or backline roles, like the enemy Octolings and Marina did. Civilians simply regularly donate blood and/or tissue samples and get to stay out of the fighting, which on paper sounds like a pretty fair deal.

It's worth wondering, then, if the influx of Octolings escaping to Inkopolis would have an impact on Octavio's war efforts. Hard to tell, honestly.

Thank you for reading, and if this was interesting to you then stick around for next time as I divulge my theories on Octarian society as a whole.