#(well by squid I mean inkling/octoling)

[yesyourstalker]

Octarian superior: alright everyone get up........

Soldiers:........ *Complaining*.........*sleep*......

Octarian superior: Soldiers up now!! Just because it's a low risk mission doesn't mean we don't follow procedures!!!

Inkling caption: oh give it a rest...let them sleep, like you said it's a low risk mission....

Octarian superior: listen. I don't tell you how to run your little"squidbeaks" so I expect you not to tell me how to run the actual military... ON YOUR FEET NOW!!!

Soldiers: .......*complaining*......*complaining*

Inkling caption:.....*sigh*.... Hey fellas we got breakfast ready in the dinner hall hope you like salmon and eggs!........ See colonel all they needed was a little motivation and they're up on their feet. No need for yelling.

Octarian superior:............... Ridiculous...... How did we let you win?

Inkling superior: hahahahaha Don't get your panties in a twist Colonel. They may look like a ragtag team of dumbasses, but they're tougher than they look. Shit they're tougher than our actual military.

_______________________________________________

Warabi: The food isn't so bad I thought you said the food would be crap

Neta: it usually is....

Warabi:...... Hey Neta how come some of these inklings have different ink colors while everyone else is in blue and where are their uniforms?

Neta: those are usually agents or they call themselves squidbeaks........ The Inkling military is around 50 years old, younger than the actual great turf war. Unlike octarians who had an actual army inkling didn't. Their culture is far different from ours. They're a lot more relaxed, didn't think about organization to that kind of level.

Octoling soldier: bunch of fucking hippies if you ask me.

Neta: yeah....... they just kinda do their own thing...... some switch to the actual military when it was formed but they tend to stick with their small army from villages

Squidbeak inkling: that's our little splatoons were formed. Our homes used to be in small villages separate from each other. During hunting, scavenging, guarding or protecting our village small groups of volunteers would do the job. We did it during the war as well, we had small groups from different villages and different islands. They would go off and fight the war together. We didn't need a big military to win we just needed a community.

Warabi: huh....

Octoling soldier: hmph...... you're so full of shit

Squidbeak inkling: beg your pardon?

Octoling soldier: I said you're full of shit! You put on this act of piece and love persona to separate yourselves from the ruthless acts...... It's all community and support when it comes to Inklings but y'all had no problem forcing us underground in the fucking sewers! Where was that peach and love when you pushed us off our land, from our homes! what about our community what about our villages!

Fishling soldier: hey now let's not act like this! The war is over now we don-

Octoling soldier: oh fuck off! You weren't any better!!

Squidbeak inkling: you don't need to act so rash .... that's what caused you to lose in the first place

Octoling soldier: SAY THAT TO MY FACE MOTHERFUCKER!!.... I lost my brother cuz of you agent fucks...........

Squidbeak: you think y'all weren't heartless. I lost my wife.. killed due to your cold tactics...

Inkling Superior: ENOUGH!! YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY VICTIM IN THIS!! WE'RE ALL VICTIMS!! WE'VE ALL LOST SOMETHING AND SOMEONE BECAUSE THIS FUCKING WAR!!! WE ALL HAVE BLOOD ON OUR FUCKING HANDS!! I DON'T WANT TO FUCKING HEAR IT!! NONE OF YOU ARE SPECIAL!!

Soldiers:......................................

Inkling superior:.... The war is over....Stop trying to start another one... understand?

Soldiers: ......Yes ma'am..... Ok.......*murmuring*..... So strict....... This is why I stick to being an agent

Octarian superior: and my panties are in a twist hehe

Inkling superior:. Shut up ........Hit the showers!!...you all smell like shit!!!!........

Warabi:.........

Neta: hmm... Maybe they should have waited for the tension to die down before having all of us in a single Splatoon...... I'm heading to the showers. Sorry about that incident man. If you seem a good guy...*pat pat*

Squidbeak inkling: No worries I apologize as well...

_______________________________________________

Warabi: so do we just all get individual showeeerrrss oh my cod! IT'S JUST ONE ROOM!?!!

Neta: yep.... Pretty nice shower room. Just grab a towel from the rack and just throw your clothes in the hamper they'll just give us new uniforms anyway...... They do provide soap and everything it's actually really- What are you doing?

Warabi: I'll just wait for everyone to leave.... I thought they were going to be private showers

Neta: Oh please. It's no big deal. You don't have anything that these guys haven't already seen before. It's fine.

Octoling soldier: hey boys........oooh cute piercing sweetie. Did it hurt?

Neta: like a bitch. Hahaha

Warabi: They don't separate them by gender?

Neta: not on inkling ships..... Like I said nothing they haven't seen before. Just think of it as old bath house, It's nice! Perfect place to unwind and get to know people.

Warabi:.....*sigh*....... Ok....... Doesn't seem that bad everyone is naked

_______________________________________________

Neta: when I realized I got her pregnant we got married. We didn't love each other.... Honestly, we barely knew each other. We were just both stupid..... She was crying... I didn't know what to do so I kissed her and we... Yeah

Inkling soldier: You guys were vulnerable and young... It happens... At the moment it probably felt right... Can you get my back for me?

Neta: yeah sure........I just don't want my girl to think that she was a mistake...... Or that I didn't want her... I wasn't in her life for a long time I have a lot of reasons why. sometimes they don't feel like good reasons.... Hey this is a weird question. You think you can shave my face..... The mirror is not my friend right now

Inkling soldier: It's no problem....I wasn't prepared to have my kid either. He knows that he's loved deeply. I'm sure she knows it too. You're in her life now, you j-

Superior: everyone get dressed!!We found something on the sonar!!!

Soldiers:.....*murmuring*..... This better be good..... I hope it's actually something this time.....*murmuring*

Neta: alright let's get dressed... Warabi?... Warabi!? Are you falling asleep in the shower did you sleep last night?

Warabi: sorry I tend not to sleep very well when I'm being put in a chokehold........ How does ikkan go through this at night?

Neta: hahah sorry about that. Let's go

_______________________________________________

Warabi: so they just put her clothes on our bed?

Neta: yep new underwear and everything....... Hmm they do mix it up sometimes. ANYONE MISSING A BINDER!

urchin soldier: yeah that's mine! You must be Neta Verns

Neta: and you're Neta Uni.... I like the name, Great choice.

Uni: thank you hehe..

Neta: hehehe No problem kid............*sigh* He's just a baby, around my daughter's age....... He had no business being in the military........He should be in school..................shit....he's around the same age I joined.................. I was a baby................all my friends were babies........ pulpo was -

Warabi: Neta!

Neta: AH! SHIT! Don't do that!!What is it?!!

Warabi: sorry. come downstairs you have to see this!

_______________________________________________

Neta: ok ok what is it.... Wow....it's huge!

Octoling superior: yep, it's a colossal squid around 46 ft in length..... It's a female..... ..Probably around a year old....

Soldiers: ...... Amazing ...* Murmuring*..... Wow ......

Inkling Superior:......look at her........ Could you believe we all descended from these creatures..... Every one of us has an ancestor down here. Even before the dawn of the mammalians we existed... and we're still here.....Let that sink in...

Octoling superior: let's hope we don't end up like them.... Remember this moment.... Remember where we started next time you want to start a stupid fight damn it those stupid

Warabi: so pretty

Neta: danm....... Ma'am, I thought we were heading to a freshwater environment. This is saltwater?

Inkling superior: Yeah it's going to take us another day to get there we're heading to the goldfish gulf.....

Neta:....... goldfish gulf......... I lost my ear there... I lost.......pulpo.....

Warabi: hey Neta you ok?

Neta: yeah..... I need to make a stop though. when we get there. Pay someone to visit...

_______________________________________________

Epilogue

Mizole: this job is boring!!

Mhai: You're the one who wanted the job..

Mizole: I just wanted that old fuck to stop complaining every time I went into the store... 'Mizole go home. Mizole stop loitering. Mizole stop distracting my employees.... Either buy something or fucking leave'..... They got annoying

Ikkan: You can go home.... You don't really do anything anyway.

Mizole: oh shut up! I do a lot more than you! You don't even talk to the customers. In fact you stay in the office all day doing homework! Not my fault you dropped out of college to join the mediocre band!

Ikkan:..........................Mahi

Mahi: ........ sorry... you're fired... babe... You did your best......

Candie:.......not really

Mahi: ...hehehehe.....yeah.....you're not a good employee.. hand me your badge.... Go home....hehehehehahahahaha

Mizole: ................... Fine..... Why are you laughing??

Mahi:.... Nothing. I remembered something funny......[kiss]...bye!...................

Mizole: see ya babe

Mahi.... here's your 20g Candie

Candie: thank you!..... He even didn't last three days! hahahahaha

Mahi was knife fighting @fish-at-fish-fish-resort in the McDonald's parking lot

[organized-chaotic-disaster]

This might sound dumb but as a chronic pain haver I have a little headcanon that my octoling gets headaches super easily if they squidbag too much

Like I’ll still do it in-game if someone else is doing it in the lobby or after a salmon run win bc it’s not a super serious I must obey this headcanon all the time kinda thing, but idk, it’s kind of… weirdly comforting? For me

[happy-little-worker]

Ain’t nobody gonna see this but I have theory of the Calamari Inkantation. Splatoon 3 Spoilers.

Okay so I was listening to Wave Goodbye, the Splatoon 3 Credits Song, over and over like a normal person, when at some point I realized when they get to the portion that starts the Calamari Inkantation lyrics, there are non-filtered voices singing. Humans Voices. (Pictured is around the point where that section starts)

Then I thought to myself: What if the Calamari Inkantation originated as a song humans made on Alterna? A song to help them continue despite their world falling around them. Then I started looking into the logs and reflecting on past events with the song and..

Let’s just say Sunken Scroll #23 from Splatoon 1 saying: “Nowadays, this song and dance may as well be carved into the very DNA of all Inklings.” ..might be a tiny bit more literal than expected. Let’s take a look at what we know.

The Calamari Inkantation is a literal incantation. Series of words, or a song in this case, that causes magical effects. It has, in many cases, been known to give strength, physical or otherwise, to those who have been in audible range of it. Ex. Giving Cuttlefish the strength to break out of his restraints and Smallfry to temporarily evolve(?) into Hugefry.

With that said, I believe the “Calamari” part could be from the place it was “founded” in and taken on as a traditional song for. Calamari Country. Which is where Callie and Marie come from. Perhaps the Inklings of the area long ago found the sheet music.

Moving on, the part of this that helps this theory’s case is Alterna Log005: Fresh Intelligence Awakens.

After the liquid crystals that retained decades of humanity’s wishes was absorbed by the squids, octopuses, and other sea creatures that inhabited Alterna’s waters.. it imbued them with fresh impulses that “bore a striking resembling to humanity’s passive desire to return to the Earth’s surface”.

Interesting. The desire to return to the surface was slowly fused into their DNA. You may be thinking “But what does this have to do with the Inkantation?” And that’s exactly where I’m going with this.

So if we are to think.. the Calamari Inkantation was made by the humans on Alterna, perhaps filled lyrically with their wishes.. and the sea creatures absorbed the desire and wishes of humanity to return to the surface through the liquid crystals.. and the Calamari Inkantation gives sea creatures the literal strength to move forward..

And the INKADIA-BORN OCTOLINGS, who were SUFFERING in poor conditions UNDERGROUND in DOMES heard the CALAMARI INKANTATION and suddenly their “SOULS WERE FREED” and THE DESIRE TO RETURN TO THE SURFACE AND THRIVE WAS EVOKED INTO THEM AGAIN?

AFTER YEARS OF LIVING A HARD MILITARISTIC-STYLE LIFE WITH BEING INDUCTED INTO THE ARMY AT A YOUNG AGE, THEY FOUND THE STRENGTH TO LEAVE THEIR ENTIRE OLD LIFE BEHIND? TO RISK IT ALL. EVEN THEIR OWN LIFE. TO JOIN WHAT THEY WERE PRESUMED TO BE THEIR WORST ENEMIES ON THE SURFACE IN HARMONY?

After thinking about all this and rewatching the Octo Expansion Surface Cutscene (from that last GIF), I nearly wanted to CRY. They had never seen the real sky before, the real SUN before. They made it. Not only the Octolings but humanity’s final wishes made it too.

That’s my theory. Perhaps I’m wrong but either way I would love to see what people think. Thanks for reading.

Oh and also, since it named the “Inkantation” that means someone knew of its power... This just in, did the Inklings cheat in the Great Turf War?

But that’s for another day lol

[lovewireds]

been meaning to post my designs for these little guys forever. insane splatoon rambling under cut to explain design choices and lore related things ... read my autism boy

btw this is a repost from our art side blog this was written and drawn like months ago <- minorly rewrote some things tho

thx splatoon users drfreeman & drcoolatta for fueling my splatvrai autism brainrot ... i hate u /J

GORDON

idk how to explain this but Theoretical Physicist is inkling coded . maybe its cuz splatoon species social hierarchy

Native ink color is Orange, but he has Dark Brown tentacle roots.

Uses custom weapons to attach in place of his prosthetic; It works best with Splatlings but can be adjusted to attach other weapons.

If the thing above didn't make it obvious, he's a Splatling main. He switches out depending on his mood though.

sighhhhh technically an Agent... stares at the ceiling...Main character...

His arm loss is like pretty much the same as in-canon but it's with the octarian army shrugs. don't ask me why he doesn't just regenerate it cuz hes a squid thats for me to know and you to find out. (get partially sanitized loser)

Born & Raised in Inkopolis pre-splashtags; He wasn't informed of the switch to Splashtags being expected when participating in most activities around Inkadia.

TOMMY

I forgot why i made him an inkling why did i do that. I think it was bc i didnt wanna make them all octolings but i was wrong srry we all make mistakes /hj I ALREADY REDREW HIM ONCE IM NTO DOING IT AGAINNN

Native ink color is orange-brown.

His hat has an eye guard for sensory reasons; He covers up as much of his skin as possible because he doesn't like the feeling of foreign ink on him.

He isn't a specific weapon main, he just uses any long-range weapon to minimize the possibility of getting ink on himself. If he has enough guarding, he prefers to use N-ZAP '89.

Makes his own gear for sensory reasons as well :) It's legal when ur dad's the G-Man.

Exclusively plays in Turf Wars, Anarchy Battles, etc with friends. He hates playing with people he doesn't know.

Born in Splatsville !! He feels like a Splatsville resident. His occupation is resident I cannot imagine him doing Anything

His dad is that creepy curtain in one of flounder heights windows /j

BENR(E)Y

Octoling bc I wanted him to be sanitized :) Other than the visual part of being sanitized, I thought him being clinically dead fits /hj also lore reasons below

Pre-sanitization, his native ink color was blue.

Great Turf War veteran; He didn't do anything in the war itself, he was just enlisted lol. He was primarily security for the Octarian Domes in the years after the war. Yes, that also means he is over 100 years old.

"Raised" (debatably) in Octo Canyon.

E-liter main (4-star Base + 5-star Scope) and avid squidbagger. He also uses any heavyweight weapons (dynamo, tenta, etc)

Absolutely hates working at Grizzco, he only does Turf Wars and Anarchy Battles. He only works at Grizzco during Big Runs. The type of guy that does X battles.

Professional Anarchy / Ranked / X Battler btw. That's literally 90% of what he does.

Got on Gordon's azz over him not having a Splashtag; i wonder what that parallels.

BUBBY

Genuinely don't have a lot to say about his design. He gives off Splatoon 2 Octoling vibes (showoff /hj) also i wanted to make his hair wispy like it should be.

Native ink color is a light blue-gray gradient.

The drawing doesn't give it credit but I swear those are glasses not goggles .. they're opaque-colored slanted oval glasses !! ^_^ u can interpret them as spiked or just eyelashes, both are right.

oh also the text under bubby says "Is Best" in some splatoon font we downloaded awhile ago . i think it was ripped from splatnet

Blaster main. I don't know how to explain this one but it feels right.

helps with the practical Map props (ie ink rails) and with some weapon gear manufacturing ^_^ tech guy

COOMER

Was going to make him an Octoling for the convenience of making his hair curly but i didn't want to make all of them octolings + i think his personality generally fits Inklings more.

Native ink color is an off white gradient.

Slosher main cuz he likes moving his arms. this makes sense to me. Also is a fan of Splatlings and other Shooters.

i felt ill trying to design coomer without making his eyes two lines with eyelids

War Veteran...Stole some octarian tech and got fucked up super limbs. Cyber Inkling stealing from octos !! [inkadia crowd goes wild] /j

anyways outside of the war™ he's a data researcher. just generally. he does shit with splatfests and eggstra work.

If you splashed him with ink he would stand unmoving. He would not shake it off.

DARNOLD

Ok i'll be honest the Octoling choice is primarily bc Octolings have the afro style & inklings have no textured hair styles (i didnt have the energy to design smth that could work) . His personality fits octoling too though :3

Native ink color is red-orange.

The fucked up guy that makes those drink effects people never use ( i use them ... )

He doesn't participate in Turf Wars or Anarchy Battles, but he works some gigs at Grizzco for extra cash every once in awhile !

the type of guy that goes after flyfish cuz no one else will . god bles !!!

not a lot to say about his design & his place in inkadia , it kinda speak for itself . he just wants to get by and make his drinks in peace . #autism ... he is pretty much exactly the same as his canon self

[dogtoling]

I know that Inkling societies mirror human ones because of plot reasons going back to Alterna, but I've really enjoyed seeing your 'convergent evolution' takes on the biology, so why not apply that same logic to something like, say, architecture? At a glance, sure, Inkopolis and the Splatlands look recognizable to us, but would for instance an inkling or octoling's home have a layout differently built for their unique needs and behavior?

Thank you! also yes this is a good point! I've been avoiding doing anything too outlandish with the architecture or much of any of the worldbuilding to be honest because we know very little about Splatoon architecture and... well, stuff like this, to begin with. And it's harder to try and change major things about the world itself than it is to work with alternative biology for a creature in my opinion; all we really know when it comes to architecture and city- and building design in Splatoon that it is very similar to those of humans, and a lot of the elements are based on modern day Japan. I doubt the developers are doing that much to differentiate the architecture from human buildings and stuff because granted it would be a ridiculous amount of thoughts and work to sculpt a society and buildings that accommodate like 500 different species MINIMUM.... there's some little things here and there, like the Giant Doorways in the Deepsea Metro, but then there's other things like the freaking escalator in Inkopolis Plaza that's literally the width of maybe 1 Inkling and no other species even fits in that. Hell, it's not even the width of TWO PEOPLE which is at least expected of escalators to my knowledge--- anyway....

my point being I don't like to make sweeping differences to human architecture when it comes to Splatoon, because whether I like it or not a LOT of their stuff is just human architecture a little bit to the left. But that doesn't mean you can't make any changes to it, and it also doesn't mean there aren't any changes, those changes just might not be as visible.

Some random things I've thought about: Modern housing in Inkadia has VERY strong windows. Glass in general is very strong in urban environments, especially buildings near Turf War areas for obvious reasons... you don't want people Super Jumping through your window nor your window blasted to smithereens by a Trizooka shot that missed.

In apartment buildings, if there are mail slots on the doors, there's a container on the other side. Prevents people from slinking into your house through the mail slot. Apparently this is a common thing to have in Japan? We just have mail slots or postboxes out in the yard or lobby.

Also to prevent people from slinking into your house: residential buildings have dense grates, nets or spikes in their ventilation shafts. In some older buildings and non-residentials, these might be missing. But without things like this, any Inkling (typically) can just fit straight through a pipe as long as their beak fits in it, so you would end up having guests you maybe don't want.

Quickly about apartments; they're actually a very popular form of living not just for cost-cutting and because there's a fuck ton of residents in Inkadia, but because inkfish are mostly very social and do better surrounded with lots of people living in close quarters. The two most popular types of apartments are single-person ones that are basically just a single-room hole, and bigger apartments that have several small rooms and a community area that are meant for a whole school of squid (usually a friend group) to live in. People who live in the single-person apartments typically just go home to sleep and maybe cook or something... unless you're an introverted squid, or not a squid at all, and just settle for very little when it comes to space.

Inklings ALWAYS have some type of direct heating in their houses, from space heaters to a kotatsu to heated blankets to sun lamps. This is because Inklings are mostly cold-blooded and become very sluggish if their body temperature falls too much (for example from lack of physical activity or from cold room temperature), so there's a focus on keeping one's living quarters comfortably warm. Most lamps marketed for inkfish are actually heat lamps to the point where finding a lamp that Doesn't Make The Room Hot if it's on for too long is kind of hard.

Inklings are pretty vulnerable to dry air due to their thin skin and dependence on humidity to keep them thoroughly hydrated. As a result, you'll find air humidifiers in like, every house. In some AC units, a humidifier function is included. From a human perspective, the average Inkling apartment feels warm and humid - but to them it feels just normal. Due to the relatively high humidity, it's pretty common for electrical outlets to have covers for when they're not in use.

It's common for Octarian homes to have "sleeping holes" or "dens" carved into the wall. These haven't really become trendy in Inkopolis yet, but they probably will. It's also quite common for inkfish homes to have stacked furniture and interior made in layers - because they can fit in very tight spaces in swim form, maze-like interiors are still fully usable to most inkfish. Though it's rarer to find people who actually want to deal with the clutter.

Most Inkopolis bathrooms have a combined shower-bath. Inkfish showers come with a shower head that only really lets mist through on the default setting. (You're expected to test this BEFORE you take your first shower and replace it if necessary because you don't want to get into the tub and then find out it's a normal cross-species shower head on fucking Jet Mode.) Bathtubs are mainly used for re-absorbing moisture and soaking in ink rather than cleaning (because inkfish don't do very well with actual baths).

Most flooring is specifically made to be ink-resistant and non-absorptive. The combined humidity of the air and the ink that inkfish naturally get everywhere would ruin wooden floors IMMEDIATELY.

Toilets usually have a flap or gate blocking the drain that flips open when it's flushed. There are too many historical cases of people falling into toilets and just fucking dying or going missing forever because it's difficult to get out. (Mostly kids, but also people who fell asleep or too far into thought and just slinked into there. The world is full of danger when you can fit into any gap.) also lots of people accidentally laying eggs there which for obvious reasons is REALLY BAD if there's nothing to catch those.

All modern apartment buildings are required to have elevators. I'm pretty sure this is also just a real-life requirement nowadays. A lot of older buildings in Inkopolis don't have any, though... and while Super Jumping on street level is usually prohibited, most apartments have roof access, so a lot of people still jump between work/hobbies and their house. It is A LOT faster than dealing with traffic or walking (but it's also mostly illegal).

uh probably more things. My brain is empty now but hopefully that's some kind of inspiring ty for asking!

[channel-eclair]

Who is the Luigi archetype of every major Nintendo series? - An Essay

I love Luigi, I love Nintendo, and for some reason I want to go on a mental quest to determine who the "Luigi" of every Nintendo series is.

What does it mean to be a "Luigi"?

Usually the second most important character in a series, but can often be less important. Also works well if they're a player 2 character

Parallels or connects to the main protagonist in a few ways shapes and forms

Could be green. Not necessary but it is bonus points if they are green.

And without further ado, let's begin!

The Kirby Series

This is one that is very debatable. Many might say Bandana Dee, which makes a lot of sense! Often player 2, looks similar to Kirby, not as important as the main protagonist and antagonists..

But honestly? I am kind of leaning towards King Dedede.

When you think of Kirby, the second character most people think of behind Kirby is Dedede. He is like Kirby's shadow, Kirby's parallel.. but he is NOT a villain in modern day Kirby. Dedede is not the Bowser of the Kirby series.

King Dedede being royalty could also have him be compared to Peach.. but Dedede's immense amount of playable roles make him feel more in line with Luigi to me.

I think Dedede is the second most important Kirby character; and with his parallels to Kirby's moveset, I honestly will crown King Dedede as the "Luigi" of the Kirby series

Plus, the best Smash game already knows whats up!

Pokemon Series

It's Eevee. 100%. It's Eevee.

Pikachu is the "Mario" of the Pokemon series, the beloved mascot.

Eevee is the parallel of Pikachu, beloved and different but always second behind Pikachu. The two mirror each other excellently, and Eevee really just feels like the perfect Pokemon to call "the Luigi" of Pokemon.

I will say, Mimikyu fits nicely as a ghostly doppelganger (and I think Luigi would totally have one on his team), but purely from a brand and gameplay standpoint, it is Eevee.

Animal Crossing

This is a bit of an odd one, but I'm going to give it to Isabelle.

In many forms of promotional material, the face of Animal Crossing flipflops between Villager and Isabelle. I geniunely think Isabelle is more iconic and known at this point, as Villagers are so customizable yet the right amount of plain that they're often not seen as a character (unlike say, Inklings, who are super customizable but have such unique designs they stand out a lot)

However, Villagers ARE the player character. Not to mention Isabelle is only in two of the five Animal Crossing games! I would say that despite her popularity, she is only the second most important character of Animal Crossing.

Also she wears green. Luigi!

Splatoon

And now after mentioning Inklings, here we are at Splatoon!

If Inklings are the Mario of the series, I'd say Octolings are the Luigi, I guess? They aren't enemies anymore so Octolings aren't really a Wario (even if DJ Octavio's the Bowser of the series more or less)

However I want so badly to point out that the Squid Sisters are basically a parallel of the Mario Bros. Callie is "Mario" and Marie is "Luigi". This doesn't make sense with the pattern I've established but I wanna throw Marie into consideration here too, as the possible Luigi of this series.

And if the "Mario" of the series is Callie... maybe Inklings are, uh.. the "Yoshi" of the series, since they're a species? Hmmm..

Fire Emblem

So FE is an interesting one because it has SO many different casts. And honestly; there's not really a definitive "main cast". Like Marth is the face of the series, but his OWN game is not that popular compared to other and greater entries. Fire Emblem is a lot like Pokemon where every game is a new cast, but Fire Emblem's first cast doesn't hold onto the series as much as Gen 1 of Pokemon does (except Marth)

For Marth alone, I'd say Merric is the Luigi. He's green, Marth is the Mario, Caeda is the Luigi.

For the Binding Blade and Roy, I'd say Wolt is the Luigi. He's green, Roy is the Mario, and Lilina is the Peach. This one is also kinda funny considering how forgotten Wolt is in this trio, compared to the other two.

For Awakening, I'd actually argue Robin as the Luigi, as Chrom and Lucina really take over as protagonists. Also I just kinda feel like Robin and Luigi have a lot in common. They were both vessels to become final bosses with Grima and Dimentio, they both use electricity, they both kinda sleep a lot with Dream Team, idk! I think they'd be friends

For Three Houses... Claude, maybe? Amidst all the main intensity in 3H, Claude kinda sits back and goes his own path. He's not as beloved as Edelgard or Dimitri but has his fanbase, and if Edelgard and Dimitri are the "Mario, Peach, or someone else" then Claude really just feels like a Luigi to me.

Also worth mentioning is the "Christmas Cavaliers", the pair of red and green knights in almost every Fire Emblem game. I like to joke and call them the Mario & Luigi knights, but they're just not important enough characters to be "Mario" and "Luigi".

Pikmin

Thanks for making this one easy Pikmin, it's Louie

(To properly explain to non Pikmin fans reading this: Olimar and Louie are somewhat named after Mario and Luigi, with Louie being the second playable character in the series!)

The Legend of Zelda

So.. I saved the series thats always by the Mario series side for last. I wanted to do it first, but I saved it for last because honestly??? This one is a doozy

Link is "Mario", Zelda is "Peach", Ganondorf is "Bowser". It is set in stone and easy, that part I got.

But... that's the trio. That's the main part. That's it.

Who, uh, who's Luigi..?

I initially thought Midna or Fi or Navi.. but wouldn't those companion characters be more akin to Cappy and FLUDD and the Luma in Mario's hat?

Beedle comes to mind cause he always shows up, but I dunno- he's just a shopkeeper? Maybe he's a candidate? But that just doesn't sound... right.

Dark Link is "Wario", alter egos. Tingle is "Waluigi", both joke characters more or less.

If I used the logic for Callie and Marie from earlier, then it'd just be Ingo from Ocarina of Time who's blatantly based off of Luigi.. but the issue is, saying Marie is "Luigi" works because its debatable if Inklings are the "Mario" of their series. Here, Link is 100% the "Mario" of the series, meaning that it wouldn't make sense to say Mario is Talon and Luigi is Ingo because then who would Link be????

But.. who is "Luigi".... where is the "Luigi" of Hyrule..?

I looked up anything I could about "who is the Luigi of Zelda" but alas, literally nobody has asked this question nor do they want an answer and so I was left with nothing but more questions.

I honestly consider maybe even like... a different colored Link, like in Four Swords and Triforce Heroes?

WAIT. THATS IT

ITS YOU!!!!!

Allow me to explain: Link is green. Mario is red. Link is the "Mario" of his series. In Four Swords/Triforce Heroes, you have other colors of Link as other players (red, blue, and purple. at least purples in four swords)

But Link is already green.. so what if you put Mario's color ON Link?

Then there we go. Red Link is Luigi by way of parallels.

So there we go: Link is Mario, Zelda is Peach, Ganondorf is Bowser, Dark Link is Wario, Tingle is Waluigi, Midna/Fi is Cappy/FLUDD, we could keep going on like saying Daisy is Hilda since Hilda is a parallel Zelda!

......

....Wait. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT A MINUTE.

THINKING THIS OUT IN MY HEAD I DIDNT REALIZE THIS UNTIL I TRIED TO THINK OF DAISY AND REMEMBERED HILDA

YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

HOW DID I FORGET MY FAVORITE ZELDA CHARACTER (next to fi and mipha)

OH MY GOODNESS

RAVIO IS THE "LUIGI"

THERE WAS NEVER A LUIGI IN HYRULE. HE WAS IN LORULE THE WHOLE TIME. RAVIO IS THE LUIGI OF THE ZELDA SERIES

And yes, I know that Ravio is near identical to Nabbit (even Miyamoto himself commenting on this!) However, I feel like Nabbit still lacks a solid role and story in the Mario series that could really tie him down. On the flipside, Hilda is basically the Daisy of TLOZ due to paralleling the main princess. I feel like the connection of Ravio and Hilda connecting back to Luigi and Daisy gives Luigi enough of a connection to Ravio. If Nabbit is the "Ravio", then who is Daisy's Zelda equivalent?

...I have no idea what I'm saying.

ANYWAYS by all means if Nabbit takes Ravio, I resort back to Red Link as the Luigi archetype.. but for the sake of making it simple, both Ravio and Red Link will be marked down as Luigi archetypes.

...

And there it is. For all 9 of Nintendo's main series (according to My Nintendo's store pages and various Nintendo advertising), there is the Luigi archetype. Luigi lives on in every bit of the wonderful world of Nintendo.

Maybe the real Luigi was the friends we made along the way. Thank you for reading.

---

Final "Luigi Archetype" Summary

-Ravio / Red Link (Zelda), Isabelle (Animal Crossing), Octoling / Marie (Splatoon), Eevee (Pokemon), King Dedede (Kirby), Merric / Wolt / Robin / Claude (Fire Emblem), Louie (Pikmin)

[reserved-system]

Lizzie and Jimmy Splatoon AU

Local artist is normal about their own AU, more at 11

I had a little SplatAU Lizzie doodle floating around and decided to give her an actual design. Usually I'd draw her and Joel together but decided to give Jimmy a go. :] You know the drill! Rambles + bonus context under cut

WHERE DO I BEGIN IDGJDNH

Lizzie is a Range Blaster/Custom Range Blaster main and Jimmy is a Hydra Splattling main mostly but he can use just about any weapon class, just depends on what's needed.

Lizzie and Jimmy are the sorta friends that everything thinks are dating when really they're not, they're just really close friends going back to when they met at Uni. Lizzie and Joel dated for a few years before they eventually grew apart after Lizzie moved to Inkopolis for Uni but still left on good terms. One of those ‘they work better as friends than dating’ moments. But Lizzie does have eyes for this one Octoling that runs a cafe 👀 totally not Cleo WDYMM--

Lizzie went to Uni for a teaching degree and now works as a substitute teacher, but still makes time to splat it up! While Jimmy didn't really know what he wanted to do but settled on a marketing degree and got a job out of Uni as a weapons tester. Ya'know how in game new weapons are teased and showcased in matches before they're released in game? Think of Jimmy as one of those guys.

Like what if there was a company that kinda played around with the weapons and maybe produced and showcased different weapons that haven't hit stores yet. They see what a group of squids/octos would think about a new type of blaster, roller, what have you and take feedback on how to make that weapon either viable or put those ideas into other weapons. Jimmy would be one of these people who're like introducing the latest from [insert company] and try to pitch the weapon to other people. Someone may go hey we like that idea for a weapon, let's make it official! and then a fucking bath tub makes it into the game dbgibdih

Our mate Pancho lovingly refers to Jimmy as an influencer which I think is funny. Speaking of Jimmy, look at those ears! I wanted to give some inkling variations but what if some inklings from Inkopolis had larger than average ears. Like a regional adaptation so to speak. The only real differences that makes is well bigger ears and the tips taking up his secondary ink color whenever he changes ink colors.

Here's a bonus doodle so you see what I mean

I had a lot of fun making and designing these goobers if you couldn't tell :3 Also with Jimmy being from Inkopolis he was most likely living there during the first final Splatfest and that's what his shirt references!! It's the ink colors used during that but in shirt form. I think it's a fun call back because when we were drawing him the Splatoon 1 servers went offline and thought hey, why not. It might be a little loud/have a lot going all things considered but I think Jimmy is just that kinda Inkling.

[worldsewage]

How does Fuzzification and, Salmonification? work in homerun? Specficially if theres any mental changes!

Ramblings under the cut! :

To preface, I’m gonna start off with some Inkling biology: Inklings are designed to transform and explode (splat) and be tricky and swift via means of completely deconstructing their bodies into a bunch of memory holding parts that are capable of reattaching themselves and forming DIFFERENT parts depending on the command given… this is the act of transforming between kid and swim form, and it’s possible to linger on phases between transforming. This makes inklings extremely powerful and vulnerable in the same stroke. Sort of a glass canon species, no muscles, no true bones, just ink that shifts and exists in gooey messes, or in mini pressurized blasts that mimic muscle when needed or condense into super compressed pressurized parts that stand in for “bone”, the only true separate organ that exists outside of the ink blueprint that mimics organs is the membrane outside the skin, and this is only because it is made of a different series of material than organs and ink (which all contains the same cells, the one that allow them to splat / transform / etc). This “membrane” is a super thin organ that holds all of the “ink” when they get splatted, though it doesn’t physically “hold” the cells, in simpler terms it sort of acts as a thin bag that carries the blueprint cells, it is the structure that allows the cells to fill in details…

The membrane functions like … imagine a plastic glove, the glove is the membrane, next to the glove is a puddle of ink, the ink is the organ/transforming cells. The glove has the ability to pull the water inside of it, and the water is always attached to the glove, even if not inside it, and the glove can pull and release the water at will. When filled, the shape of the glove makes it so the water inside the glove will always, even when stretched or pulled, form a hand. If the glove is torn, the shape distorts, or doesn’t fill properly, depending on the tear. The membrane is able to release ink by seperating very very slightly, enough for ink to burst out of the gaps. (I imagine inklings feel like water balloons filled to the brim… like on the brink of popping? Squishy, yet “dense.”)

Sanitization was a means of replacing the membrane with thick scale like skin. (Btw, this was because in the more detailed sanitization designs I made in the past, I made the skin resemble the scale like patterns used in skin grafts on humans. A thing Inklings wouldn’t ever necessarily need.) Tartar’s quest to make this species who he has deemed worthless feel “even an ounce of humanity” , as a torturous poetic revenge, make them “human.” It forces the membrane to thicken into skin, they can no longer splat or transform. Organs still float in ink globs a tad uselessly inside of them, “useless” organs (as in extra hearts) are surgically removed. There are many complications with sanitization, as it is project made by a damaged rouge ai which was— during the development of santization— unable to speak or communicate eloquently, trying to convey the mess of the emotions it feels via commands and actions. And unfortunately, in this case, it’s squid body horror, it’s physically rejecting taking part in this project, and instead is turning squids into something else entirely.

Cycloid Serum works similarly, but rather it burns off the membrane and heals over it with scales, cycloid serum was the science that was attempted to be created when sanitization was developed. Cycloid serum is more effective on Inklings, since Octolings already have a denser skin. The commander could have probably had printed out a more thorough and in depth explanation of the science used in sanitization… But, oh well. “a tragic error occurred in the device used to develop it, leading to the project’s abandonment.”

Cycloid Serum was made using Salmonid Skin parts as an effort to reduce the deaths caused by rising tides for Inklings. It was mostly used on rouge outskirt inklings who are separate from Inkopolis Inklings. It seems most Inkling’s who agreed to the testing were already seeking out greatness, the test subjects all seemed to be talented and well famed— it later proved that this project was to create ink-salmonids that would rule on the front lines, and the reason “popular / famous / talented “ inklings were chosen is because it directly ties into Salmonid’s religious culture regarding home running.

This project was scraped, but the few remaining Salmon-Inklings are very popular for their sleek design— especially among Dome-Salmonids, who have similar beauty standards to New Inkadia Octarians due to growing up AROUND Inklings/Octolings, meaning short muzzles and humanoid appearances are desirable. (Such as Frye, in the Alterna, aka Cat Hell.) Unfortunately, these Subjects still have Running instincts; and can transform.

Fuzzy Ooze was a separate project not related to the creation of the Cycloid serum. The company who funded this project was still the same, though. Fuzzy Ooze is dense and is layered on top of the Inkfish, and slowly melds into the skin, unlike the previous serums, Fuzzy Ooze CAN infect other species, but it seems it works BEST with Octarians, fuzzy inklings tend to not last, and splat and are capable of fully removing the fuzz, but since Octarians contain more MUSCLE and actual flesh compared to the Ink + Membrane species, Fuzzy Ooze works more effectively. I’ll probably make a detailed post regarding the anatomical differences in each species.

Mental Changes: (ie: what the ask was originally about before I went rogue.)

Santization wipes the memory wholly and totally, and the first moments are rough, as they’re completely hollowed out; they need training to re-remember certain actions and behaviors, most Sanitized subjects are nearly catatonic and unresponsive the first week. Usually after that, they slowly remember ‘habits’ they may have had, such as tapping their foot, dominant hand, humming tunes, if is exclusively muscle memory and mostly they are not responsive nor do they recognize the importance of the behavior. Previous traumas or fears no longer trigger reactions.

Cycloid Serum does not wipe the memory, but rather it forces them to inherit Salmonid Instincts; which makes them inherent generational traumas + inclination towards swimming + cravings and changes in diet… ie experiencing desires inklings would NOT desire. (Mostly because Salmonids NEED water, they need to keep their gills moist to survive, Cycloid Serum victims don’t…) Most have a hard time sorting out memories, much like the Mud; but slightly different… mostly due to being aware and alert. They have their memories, but because they are fueled with random instincts, the “importance” or “significance” of events in their mind will warp… leading to what could be perceived as memory loss, they do, mostly, just thier goals are warped. Because they follow Salmonid Instincts, they can homerun.

Those infected by Fuzzy Ooze will have a change in diet + behaviors + and May develop aches or pains that Inklings wouldn’t typically develop as a result of slowly churning their insides into red blood guts. They also don’t experience memory loss, but as a result of a rush of new emotions + instincts, they can come off as if they DON’T know you, because certain memories are labeled as nonsignificant. There are probably certain types of fuzzy folk depending on the DNA used… but ultimately they are NATURALLY non-violent.

Both Fuzzy and Cycloid’d inkfish can transform. Not neatly nor safely. But they can.

[shlubbyart]

May I see the disabled rep lore?

Absolutely!

I'll keep this to disability rep in Suit-Nami specifically, but if you want my thoughts on canon Splatoon characters and disabled representation I'd be happy to delve into my headcanons in a separate post.

This is gonna be a long one so check under the cut if you wanna read my ramblings:

As someone who is disabled/neurodivergent myself, having disabled representation is pretty important to me. It probably shouldn't come as a surprise that Suit-Nami has become a way for me to represent myself, as well as simply exploring the kinds of disabilities I could imagine existing in the Splatooniverse.

I'll start off by going into more detail about Tide's physical disability that I referenced in my previous post.

#1. Developmental Deformities in Inklings/Octolings

In short: Tide has a misshapen ear due to a hiccup in his ability to shapeshift.

I always thought it would be interesting to explore the idea of the squid to kid transformation not always working as intended, and for that to be used in the context of disability.

Here's a little graph to show what I mean:

For Tide, his left ear (or fin, however you want to define it) isn't able to fully morph in his human form, so he's left with a blueish translucent fin/ear malformation.

Being an idol, as well as previous experiences with ableist discrimination, Tide opts to cover his ear by hiding it between his two hair tentacles. He's quite sensitive to having his hair being lifted or his ear being touched without permission, so doing either of those things is a big no-no.

Tide could be partially deaf in his left ear as a result, but that would really depend if you think he'd be partially deaf in squid form too. I think either interpretation is interesting.

#2. Crash and Hereditary Mutations

Similar to exploring the hiccups of shapeshifting, I also found the concept of Inklings/Octolings having disorders that affect their abilities to change colour as something that would be worth diving into. It technically has already been explored in canon too! Yoko from Ink Theory/Gold Bazookas is implied to have some sort of mutation that makes her tentacles split into different colours.

On that note, have you ever noticed that the ends of Crash's tentacles are always red? It isn't just to look cool (even though it does look very cool), Crash can't actually physically change the ends of his tentacles to any colour outside of a red to dark pink pigment.

The reason? Well I'll have to briefly explain how adaptive camoflage in real life squids actually works:

In simple terms, squids and other animals have these special skin molecules called chromophores. They are able to control the pigments of these chromophores through special multicellular organs in their bodies. Think of it as like having a second nervous system for changing the colour of your skin.

So what if the chromophores or multicellular organs were to not function in the way that they should? Like for instance, chromophores not having enough pigments to shift to certain colours. What are the implications of inkfish being unable to change colour in the context of things like Turf War?

Crash's red ends serve as a sort of base-level exploration into the idea of inkfish having some kind of hereditary complication that effects their abilities to change colour. The reason why I chose hereditary specifically is because he has another mutation that is also genetic: his heterochromia.

I think instances of discolouration in the Splatooniverse could be easily explained through how heterochromia and vitiligo occur in the body. I know for certain there are other Splatoon fans who have OCs with vitiligo or other instances of unique colouration, so maybe it would be comforting for them to know that there is theoretically a grounded explanation as to why it would exist. Not that I think representation has to necessarily be grounded in reality to justify existing.

#3. Tide and the Autism Spectrum

While Tide's lucky ear has been a pretty recent addition, what hasn't been a recent addition is the fact that he is also canonically autistic. Just as a handful of examples, he...

Sometimes misunderstands or doesn't pick up on certain social cues (namely sarcasm and flirting)

Is very passionate and knowledgeable about cats (ie: a very common special interest for people on the spectrum; including me)

Did not start speaking until he was in his preschool years (a common sign of autism in young children; also including me :P)

Has a unique speech pattern and uses a lot of uncommon phrases and words.

Stamps his feet or plays with his hair when he is in a good mood (ie: stimming)

Tide being autistic is 100% a self-indulgent decision on my part, even if I don't completely relate to his experiences. I do play up some of his quirks for jokes, but he is nonetheless an earnest representation of the fun and frustrations that come from being on the spectrum.

#4. Tide and far-sightedness

I'll keep this one short. Tide wears glasses when reading, which while it may be pretty innocuous, is still technically a disability.

I also wanted to share Tide wearing his glasses because he looks like a dork (affectionate) when he has them on.

I'd love to keep exploring disability representation in Splatoon, be it through my fan characters or through headcanons. I think with such a weird and wacky world that Splatoon exists in, it serves as a great canvas for portraying disability in a positive light, and even in ways not fully applicable to humans. If nothing else it is a ton of fun to write about. :P

Sidenote, but despite my position as a disabled person, I don't consider myself an expert in disability. So if I got anything wrong or said something misleading or offensive please let me know!

Thank you for reading ☆

[starscape724]

Why Splatoon means so much to me - a longgg post by StarScape

About a day ago, it was Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion's anniversary, so I'm gonna yap about how I feel Splatoon has really redirected my life and inspired, and still keeps on inspiring me.

In 2018(I think), I got my first ever Nintendo Switch for Christmas and my parents had bought Splatoon 2 along with it. My sister and I BEGGED for Splatoon before this since we both found it cool and intriguing. We played the campaign, loved it, and then learned about Octo Expansion.

Octo Expansion was the turning point for me, and a lot of other players. Truly learning about how Splatoon dives into darker themes and complex characters without fear. Throwing you into a different perspective in a war, making you think: "Who really is the bad guy in this scenario?"

Splatoon 3 then came out, when I tell you I FLEW at the announcement and got on my hands and knees asking my mom and dad to buy it day 1, which was a success, by the way. I sped through the story mode, maxed out my weapon, explored every crack and crevice of the Alterna, and completed After Alterna. Had a friend try it out during this time as well, and was super stoked to have an interest of mine be a shared one.

The way Splatoon, by itself, is simply just a funny, cute, E for everyone game where squids shoot paint at each other, but then the more you look beyond the surface, the more it feels more alive and real. The Splatoon universe is our universe, but changed, evolved. The Inklings and Octolings are clueless to the darkness of the world and focus on turf wars and fashion, just as we are until we study it for ourselves.

Splatoon has REALLY stood out to me among any other franchise, and I never get bored over the little world Nintendo's created, and keeps on creating. The art, the different genres of music, the characters, I fall more in love with the game everyday. The way it represents different people, different cultures, and clashes them together in harmony.

I may sound like a nerd, and it's probably true, but I will never forget about Splatoon. Because of Splatoon I feel motivated to draw more, because of Splatoon I feel less afraid to make friends and be myself, because of Splatoon, I open up to new ideas and try them out for myself. In the end, art, music, passion, it's what makes not only Splatoon's world, but our world, so vibrant.

It's really, REALLY, late as I type this, and I'm sorry if it doesn't make any sense or says the same thing over and over again lol. TLDR; I love Splatoon and it drives me to create more. For me, for you, and for everybody.

[ratspaguetti]

Splatoon headcanon- Fuzzy inkfish

Okay so! In splatoon 3, return of the mammalians, I was sorely disappointed when said mammalians where just...hairy and brainwashed, literally that's it, which had let me down so bad, given the fact that slight alteration of character model and brainwashing had already happened before (sanitization) and genuinely, the occasions haven't changed much behavior wise, so this is how I have headcanoned what should have actually happened in splatoon 3!

Behavior

Given the fact that the fuzzy ink fish are now mammalian, depending on the inkfish, they might hiss, scratch, bite, and attack like a wild animal, really depending on the type of animal they are based off of, I imagine most would be bearlike because it is Mr Grizz that made this happen, but imagine, a fuzzy inkling with Spirulas growing out of their head like sheep horns, completely ramming a another inkling a good couple of feet away! Making interesting gameplay! And given Japan seems to love cat girls (can't blame them) give a octoling some cat ears and very agile and bam! Happy fans- (I will probably talk more about behaviors in a different post)

They also do not use weapons! Given the fact they are mammals, they use their animal like features instead to fully attack [this is what will be explored in a different post]

Body

I need bullet points for these because there is a lot I wanna go through

Mammals aren't just fluffy creatures, they also have these cool nest things called bones and warm blood

So fuzzy ink fish will first experience "fever" like symptoms as their ink slowly heats up, and over a long period of time (depending on how much furry goop they have been exposed to and how long they have been a fuzzy inkfish) and go into a hibernation like state, when they come back to, their body will have had the changes, first, they are not hot blooded and have furr in their tentacles

Later on, their body will slowly shift to a more animal like appearance, like hands slowly enlongating and growing large claws, more hunched like posture to more easily run in four legs, growing new teeth that are more mammalian in nature (could be herbivore, could be carnivore) some will grow more furry along their extremities as well, some will even grow more animal like ears and eyes

At this stage, most of these bodily changes are still reversible with enough medical equipment, as the ink fish are still majorly cartilage and ink, so they can be reformed (kinda how they can still change into a squid or octopus)

Yet, when their bones start to grow, these changes are mostly irreversible, bones will form after a good couple of months, this will make fuzzy inkfish tanks compared to normal ink fish, the skeletal structure has downsides however, like the inability to turn into a squid/octopus anymore, given the fact that you can't really shapeshift into something as small as a squid, where would all those bones go??

But their inability to shapeshift smaller does not mean they cannot shapeshift at all, by or consuming the fuzzy ooze or ink, their body will grow in size, and they take a much more animal like shape, like how a human where to turn into a werewolf, in this form, they do high amounts of damage by the swings of their claws

Their bones and thicker skin would also do that one think most inklings and octolings can't do, get in water, cuz let's be honest, unless the oceans are actual acid, having a body with thicker skin, bones and muscle tissue, probably makes these Fuzzy Inklings/octolings able to actually swim!

Also, when their skeletal structure is growing, they will likely also grow tails (you can't have tails otherwise, yah need the spindle bones to make it, no-?)

I'll continue all this later- it's just my ideas I've been thinking of-

[marketableplushieenthusiast]

Team Past Propaganda

Because I started thinking about it again and now I'm all emotional-

I want to convey in words why I chose Team Past and why I don't think it contradicts the themes of the Splatoon story modes, because while the Squid Sisters do a great job of describing my basic reasoning in the Splatfest introduction, I understand why the story modes might feel like Present or Future are the "correct" answers.

(Spoilers ahead for all story modes, including Octo Expansion and Side Order)

Nearly every Splatoon villain is stuck in the past or heavily influenced by it in some way.

Mr Grizz and Tartar are the obvious ones: Grizz wants to see the return of mammals, and Tartar is disgusted with the current ex-sea life running the planet and wants to wipe it out and start over in favor of creatures more like his beloved humans.

In a way, being born of the regrets and desires of some escaped Octolings to return to their more orderly roots, Order/Smollusk can also be described as being motivated by the past. Even DJ Octavio does much of what he does because of the outcome of the Great Turf War and old grudges.

A recurring overall theme of these story modes, started in Octo Expansion and then expanded on (heh) in Rise of the Mammalians and Side Order, is that you can't turn back the clock, and you can't escape change. Even if Tartar and Grizz had "won", nothing would have brought back Tartar's scientist or the old mammals. In fact, their plans would have, ironically, destroyed humanity's last remnants. (And don't get me started on the thematic symbolism of Mr Grizz becoming biologically more fuzzy ink monstrosity than actual bear-)

I don't think it's a stretch to say that Grizz at the end of RotM is speaking with authorial intent in his final moment of clarity: "The times have changed. The world can never be as it was. Moving forward...is the future."

So the point of these story modes is that you can't move backwards. You can't rewind time; what's done is done, what's past is past, and obsessing over it and trying to revive it at the cost of the present and future isn't healthy (and doesn't work anyways).

But that doesn't mean you should never look back.

Rise of the Mammalians, like every other story mode dating all the way back to the Wii U, has optional lore, and it dropped an absolute bombshell for us lore nerds: the current ex-sea life of the Splatoon world didn't just evolve after humanity fell, their evolution was influenced by the desires of the last humans in Alterna. The species grew to leave the water because the Alternans' last wishes were to see the sun again. (And it was somehow transmitted through crystal detritus, which is some interesting sci-fi, but sure, why not?)

And this, in my opinion, is a pretty emotional reveal, and is treated as such.

Suddenly, all the significance given to Calamari Inkantation over the series pulls itself together - the fact it is an old, practically ancient folksong, described as being part of Inklings' very DNA, yet with the power to compel Octolings to seek the surface as well, and even transform Smallfry? If all that isn't enough to spell it out for you, the Inkantation is sampled in the credits' theme Wave Goodbye... Chanted by human vocals. The song that's been an Inkling battle anthem and the inciting moment of so many Octoling character arcs was passed down by humanity. Those scrolls from Splatoon 1 casually dropping that our colorful squid-kid world is a post-apocalyptic one come full circle.

Rise of the Mammalians tells us not to get so obsessed with the past that we try to turn back time... But in the same breath, reveals the past of the Inklings and Octolings and sea creatures we love so much and uses it to tie them together in the present.

Even Marina, a character who can "take or leave" her past and continually, consciously chooses to focus on the present (and to a certain extent, the future), goes out of her way to create the Memverse to help sanitized Octolings regain their memories of the past. She's also happy to reunite with Acht, who she shares a lot of history with. An exclusively present focused view could theoretically tell those Octolings that they don't need their memories to be whoever they want to be now, or could bristle at someone showing up from a problematic past, but Marina clearly doesn't hold to anything like that. She values the present the most, but she doesn't scorn the past.

And I think that's what I like about this Splatfest so much, and why it made me think about my choice for so long. Like Chaos vs. Order, (where they're careful to make clear that Pearl doesn't hate the status quo, and Marina doesn't necessarily want nothing to ever change), I feel they were careful to try and be clear that there isn't a definitive "correct" answer to this one. Callie herself points out at the start of her defense that all three of Past, Present, and Future are important, and I agree.

Splatoon as a series emphasizes living in the Present and not being afraid of a changing Future, but I believe it also values the Past. It loves to show where its characters and world came from to inform a little more about who they are today. (Just look at each member of Deep Cut getting a dedicated Sunken Sea Scroll about their family history!) I believe it takes a similar stance I do, that while your Past doesn't entirely define you (again, see Marina), it is nonetheless important - crucial even - to understanding who you are.

And someday, as you move onward through the present towards a brighter future, you'll look back at today - at the past - to see how far you've come.

So, uh, yeah. This cephalopod game makes me emotional and I love finding excuses to blab about it, so might as well get it in words before the actual Grand Fest starts.

If you read this whole thing, thank you so much, and whatever team you pick, I wish you the best!

[salmonthaart]

hihi uhhm. sorry if this comes off as creepy but i scoured both your blogs for info on pop and lock but unless i suck at looking for stuff i didtnt find much. you should totes tell me more about them

that's not creepy at all don't worry!!! i've never really posted any oc lore publicly because i'm not sure if people care, and boy do i apologize you having to look through my sideblog because Wow Is There Nothing Important On It, but i'm BEYOND elated to answer any questions about them!!! literally thank you so much for asking, you made my day 😭

i have a looooot of stuff about them written down on places like google docs, a discord server i infodump in, and also In My Head so there's a HUGE amount of previously untapped info about them just around, but i'll stick to their main things for now :)

(i also have a toyhouse, but i never finished setting it up, so i'll also probably post more oc stuff on that when it's done)

pINK Lemonade Official Lore Post™ under the cut!

_________________________________________________________

POP:

Pop is an Octoling based on the Flapjack octopus. They are genderfluid, and thanks to the benefits of the cephalopod form, change their physical appearance regularly just for the hell of it. They vary between masc-leaning and femme-leaning, but usually look some flavor of GNC. (Their physical build remains the same, think of it like how the player characters in Splatoon change their gender and hairstyle. Pop just does that whenever they feel like it.)

They are fruitily charming, outgoing, unserious to a fault, and smug. Pop is a lot more sociable than Lock, often chatting people up or making friends at unexpected times. They are well aware of their charm, but make an effort to be the more likable of the two. They like to introduce themselves first, leading to many close relationships with a lot of people that otherwise would never have talked to them. However, when they dislike someone, they make it VERY known. They are unable to hide their distaste towards anyone they regard as too annoying. They can get aloof at times, but are generally a very peppy and easy-going person.

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LOCK:

Lock is an Inkling based on the Whiplash squid. He is the composer and instrumentalist of the duo, and is very talented on the keyboard.

He likes to put on an off-puttingly brooding, "cool guy" persona, but when you get to know him, it becomes clear he is often neurotic and overly sensitive. He can be very visibly depressed, though he tries to play off his inability to take care of himself as part of his uncaring attitude. He pushes people away instinctively, but gets very attached to the people who love him despite this. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to healthily express his emotions and can get rather sulky and mean, leading his closest personal relationships to be... rather strained at times.

He also has a toxic and ultimately doomed relationship with Tide of Suit-Nami that both Shlubby and I have agreed is very fun to watch as it slowly burns. Sorry Lock, you're fated to lose the best boyfriend you'll ever have :')

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There's a lot more to both of their backstories, but for the sake of keeping things simple, here's a condensed version.

Lock was a trust fund baby pushed into idol culture that got shunted off to boarding school once he was deemed more trouble than he was worth by his parents. In a petulant attempt to be acknowledged by them, he regularly commits petty crimes and acts of vandalism, but is bailed out from afar every time to avoid his family name getting bad press. It's a real sore spot for him.

Pop had loving parents who encouraged them to explore their love for music, but after they got older and started posting their music to HueTube, they got relentlessly mocked for being cringe and were devastated. They went to boarding school in an attempt to escape their reputation and worked past their trauma by pouring it into their work and reclaiming their identity.

Pop and Lock were placed together as part of an idol internship program during their last year of school. Pop felt bad for Lock, and specifically requested him as means of lending a hand. Lock had previously avoided them for quite some time, but once they were forced to pair up he realized he had found his first genuine friend.

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and, special one-time deal, two extra characters! i literally have never posted (or. ahem. finished) any art of these two, but they fill out the gang behind the scenes and they occupy my brainspace just as much as pop and lock do :)

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MONA:

Mona is a halfmoon betta fish and handler-turned-posse-member of the group. She's an underpaid and overworked employee of the idol agency Pop and Lock are employed at, and was assigned to pINK Lemonade to keep them in check after they were involved in one too many incidents (read: PR nightmares)

She has a bit of a temper, as most bettas do, but over time has formed a real relationship with Pop and Lock and does not blow up at them as much as she does others. Their friendship has also helped her loosen up and not let her job consume her soul.

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CILAN:

Cilan is a calm, easygoing, tall inkling and the oldest of the four. He has long purple hair and seemingly permanently closed eyes. He's the group's resident eye-candy and secretary/flunky. There isn't a whole lot to his personality that I can say right now. He's just hot... sue me...

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Thank you so much for asking about my ocs!!

[t00nyah]

so. i was very bored. and on character ai there's an alternate timeline ai that can come up with things that could happen and such. so i was like. okay let's go wild let's make an au were octarians won the great turf war. so there it is, an au created with ai deciding what would change in characters' lives, what would they end up doing, and, of course, me finilazing it with my headcanons and adding some flavour to some of ideas.

so. yep. octarians won, and, just like in original series, the losing side, inklings, are living in the domes. in my head they still have the great zapfish, while octarians go into a more sci-fi direction and make their own power sources. inklings are...kind of almost erased from their history. i don't know why it clicked in my head, it just did, maybe there's a better way to implement things, okay. x)

onto the characters...

callie and marie didn't form a duet without contest and end up having the most ordinary jobs. i know, right?

callie is a teacher and marie is a journalist! i personally really loved callie as a teacher and i'm just. yeah. marie. you know. marie had me suffering.

i would have design notes here but there's not much to tell so if there's something catching your eye that you think might mean something - it probably does. idk.

i took pearl's money. that's right. now she's forced to work as barista. by me. i want you to know that it was VERY hard to decide what would pearl do now that i stole her money but holy fuck coffee shop aus got to me. (i'm also very proud of the logo i came up with hehe)

alright. so. there's a hard one. and by that i mean in my headcanons three's family is ... one of those traditional families ... you know what i mean. so... here goes kaori, using she/her and having a big identity crisis she's not really able to solve. a little hard when you're not so sure what to make out of it and don't know if you can tell anyone how you feel. kaori does not like when adults make the distinction between girl things and boy things, she's not that into skirts honestly, she's just wearing it to please her parents. kaori is studying to become a scientist to work on improving life in the domes. that's good, right?

speaking of scientists, of course there's an extraordinary - marina ida. we all know marina, she's too smart for all of us. she's helping in multiple researches and is very widely known. (and also gets lots of MONEY for that). *re-reads ai's entry on marina and looks away* UMM okay i totally forgot that part where she's also a professor in university. WELL NOW I KNOW the context to something else. maybe.

so, eight... nana in this au *looks at coroika*, is a student (idk, highschool maybe...i dunno i dunno i think i messed up) who got a bit carried away with a project. and started her research on inklings, because there's a theory going among the historians that the inklings still do exist... so nana, as a very passionate when she has interest octoling, goes to explore on her own! she gets into the domes and meets kaori eventually, who's...got a good eye on weird features and recognises nana as an octoling. not exactly friendly at first, but what can a squid like her do anyways?

eventually they kinda get stuck along because nana wants to KNOW. kaori just desides to go against her better judgement and give her a tour. and leads her to the best coffee shop she knows. they bond with each other eventually and become friends :) and nana works hard to get heard and get inklings to surface somehow maybe, though it doesn't seem like they want it THAT much? i mean, they're established their society already, why would they? they be chillin'. (but yes kaori gets to see the surface FOR SURE.)

i REALLY didn't want to leave four alone on her introductory pic poor lonely squid</3 so there she is! surume, that one school student who's drawing on each lesson(me). she's also *looks at ai's statement* is popular on social media for her art.

she doesn't really meet kaori that often, but when their class goes to see a college where kaori studies, you know, to show their possibilities, where they could go after school or something like that, so they sort of...know of each other? very awkwardly and formally have met each other? kaori will probably die of embarassment when sees surume again because thinks she made a bad impression? lol!

if you follow me you may have noticed that i'm projecting my gender crisis on three hard and usually the one they're consulting with is four... and it stays true to this au, i really want kaori to talk things out and, ay, it's way easier to open up to a stranger sometimes. so yeah. i think it will happen in my au. surume explaining kaori all the stuff about gender identity and sexuality because there's a little more of society pressure in this au... they'll get there eventually.

bonus: ref for marina in her regular clothing! she's so pretty...

another bonus: marina meeting a pretty barista...

so yeah. yeah. marina gets into the domes because nana has caught her interest with her project, so she meets pearl. because if pearlina doesn't happen the universe will explode and we all know that.

also there were doodles i made on our first wbf that you now know the context for :]

thank you for reading this far! it was... a long one... yep. i also really want to thank everyone who's following me fr fr i'm very happy to get feedback and to know that you enjoy my art! love ya'll<3 /p

separate versions under cut

[duckapus]

Thought up a few interesting things for the Squid Memes AU

1- Desti was an Elite Octoling back during Splatoon 1, and she and her squad (the three other Octolings that would go on to become the Octoposse) were among those who defected after the battle. Though interestingly, she didn't actually hear Calamari Inkantation like the other defectors, seeing as she was recovering from injuries she sustained fighting Agent 3 and thus wasn't present for the battle/concert. She just found out that her teammates were running away and was like "not without me you're not."

She's fully aware that Paige is Agent 3 (once she finally runs into them on the surface at least) and thinks it's honestly kind of funny that the so-called "Scourge of the Domes" was a freaking kid when they tore through the place, and that of all the people she could've gotten into a rivalry with it of course just had to be 3's big sister. She doesn't tell Meggy both because she's not about to out the kid like that and because it amuses her a little that Meggy doesn't know.

2- Axol and Pearl have been friends since they were kids, partly because I figure it would make sense if the tiny angry rich girl who sings too loud and the otaku who figured out fucking magitech and built a pen that could bring his drawings to life because he was lonely got lumped in together as the Weird kids nobody likes. Plus Marina canonically reads manga so even if Pearl doesn't like anime stuff herself we know someone else liking it isn't a turnoff for her.

3- So for this one I'm also pulling from Spongebob Squarepants canon because I needed an explanation for Heavy Squid and all the other Squidwards we see.

Okay, so we've seen in a few episodes of Spongebob that there are a bunch of squids/octopi/whatever Squidward's meant to be that look almost exactly like him. Obviously there's Squilliam but there was also that town of Squidward lookalikes he moved to once. Well, in this that's because they're not Squids or Octopi, they're instead a fourth (yes, fourth. we count Salmonids in this house) type of Inkfish that I'm tentatively calling "Schnozlings." In terms of abilities they're sort of a halfway point between the playable Inkfish and Salmonids, where they can live underwater thanks to having the right kind of respiratory system and thick enough skin to not get splatted by the ink-eating microbes, while also having Swim forms (which unfortunately aren't microbe-resistant like their humanoid forms).

Their swim forms are round, with six tentacles that all look similar to the long tentacles of an Inkling's swim form, while their humanoid forms are...well...Squidward lookalikes. Complete with four "legs," no fingers, a long droopy nose (hence the name Schnozling) and in a few cases the ability to grow hair on their heads like a human. As a side-effect of their microbe-resistant thick skin, most of them don't have any way to display their ink color in humanoid form, while their Swim forms are color coded just like Inklings and Octolings.

(And yes this means I'll have to redesign Heavy Squid to look less like Heavy and more like Squidward. But still big and muscular because that's his Whole Thing.)

[dogtoling]

Your hc with the humboldt squids being stereotyped as violent/aggressive always makes me think about how that probably expands to other species especially ones evolved from large/apex predators

it absolutely extends to apex predators (sharks, most notably, which eat like everything). With Humboldt squid it extends to real life, where the mainstream (well, however mainstream you can call an obscure squid species) conception of Humboldts is that they're horrifying, aggressive, deadly and cannibalistic squid that are known to attack divers and drag them into the sea. (And humans REALLY DONT LIKE IT when an animal is rumored to kill us!) I don't actually know the validity of the claim that they'll attack divers or how frequent that kind of thing would actually be... I mean you can approach a Humboldt squid safely enough to make it wear a coat.

If an animal is a predator with giant claws and urban legends and it's the size of a person, it really doesn't take a lot for it to get a bad reputation lol. In the Mollusc era, this reputation is probably worse for the fact that Humboldt squid prey on other squid and are generally much bigger, so they're somewhere in the top predator group (which is not super popular in a world where the food chain still exists, although we still don't know what that MEANS).

It's worth noting that Humboldt squid are local to the Americas, so they would likely be rare in Inkadia. That makes it a bit weirder still to run into one in especially turf war (oh GOD WHY IS THAT GUY SO BIG). Though aside from the negative press, I think Humboldts would get their fair share of adoration for how undeniably cool they are. As a type of flying squid and a very social one at that, they probably have a lot of natural talent in ink battling, boasting both strength and agility. Super jump-wise, they might very well rival japanese flying squid in their ability.

Anyway off to sharks. Sharks absolutely have a bad reputation. They already have a bad reputation in real life, where they don't even consciously TRY to eat us, and the amount of actual shark bites that occur is grossly blown out of proportion to cause mass hysteria. In the Mollusc era though, sharks are apex predators and there's a LOT of sharks, and we know Mollusc Era sharks evolved from wild sharks that very much WERE AND STILL ARE APEX PREDATORS that eat all the other guys. That includes inklings, octolings, like all the fish... you get the picture. I think there's still a lot of people especially low on the food chain that see a guy with a giant mouth full of flesh ripping teeth and go "Uh, no thanks". This is kind of a whole discussion about species in the Mollusc era and what kind of relations they would have based on past, and maybe even current food chain placements; there's a lot of species that don't vibe with inkfish either for sure. After all, they're also predators, and active at that.