#finalefest retrospective

[shininglynxie]

Next up on my splatfest retrospective is the first proper splatfest of Splatoon 3: Gear vs. Grub vs. Fun.

When this splatfest was first announced, I chose team Gear because it is the smartest and most practical choice, in my opinion, and it can also technically account for the other two options.

Ceph is generally a somewhat practical person, so his reason for choosing team Gear is largely the same as mine.

Ceph's outfit for this splatfest plays off of the stuck on a deserted island idea that this theme proposes, as such it is made up of broken pieces of gear that Ceph likely took with him to the island. His hat is made of a broken umbrella, his top is a torn fishing net, and he has some rope tied around his right arm. He has also fashioned his Splatfest Tee into shorts. Ceph's weapon choice for this fest is very fitting for the team he chose, too, as Tenta Brella is probably the most useful splatoon weapon in a situation like this, as it can actually serve a purpose aside from the one it was designed for and provide you with shelter.

[shininglynxie]

The Grand Festival is coming to a close, as I'm writing this, and here I am with a drawing to commemorate it at the last minute anyway. This was supposed to be one of the final drawings in my Splatoon 3 splatfest retrospective series, which I have finished, but I don't have the time to post the rest of it right now, I'll be doing that later. Classes have started back up for me, so I haven't had the chance to catch up on it, unfortunately. I had to prioritize the most relevant splatfest, as it is a special occasion: a grand finale of sorts for Splatoon 3 and the splatoon trilogy as a whole.

I wanted this drawing to reflect my older splatfest drawings on a spiritual level while also trying something new that I might want to utilize in my art going forward. This piece is actually kind of like a collage of separate drawings layered on each other. I actually scanned all the pieces separately before gluing them together. You can see those separate drawings below. I came to this idea because I had a bunch of black paper laying around, and since I don't have anything to draw on it with, I opted to use this technique instead. I already have plans for other drawings like this, so be on the lookout for that.

So why team Future? It's imple, I just wanted to represent my faves: Deep Cut. This is a decision I was certain of for a while, even before we knew that each idol group would represent a team of their own this splatfest, as I planned to pick a team of my fav Deep Cut member - Frye. Having all three of them be on a team together made it easier to choose, of course. There are other reasons I picked it, too, like the ink color and team logo.

I won't be talking about Ceph in this post. I'm leaving all the context for his choice for the Tableturf style post.

I'll probably give more detailed thoughts on the Grand Festival in a later post, but for now here are a few words about it to close this post out.

Overall, the Grand Festival has been a truly incredible celebration of Splatoon as a series, its past, the present moment, and whatever is in store for this series in the future. It was truly a one of a kind experience. No matter what the outcome might be, I'm convinced that what we get as a result of it will be great! I hope that anyone who had watched or participated in this massive event has had a grand ol' time because I sure did!

[shininglynxie]

Today's splatoon 3 splatfest retrospective drawing is dedicated to the Dark Chocolate vs. Milk Chocolate vs. White Chocolate splatfest.

My choice for this fest fell on Milk Chocolate. Like I mentioned in my team Sweet post, I like sweet things, so I picked the chocolate that is both sweet and still has that chocolate-y flavor to it. The same reasoning goes for Ceph here.

The outfit this time around has a concept that doesn't quite come through in this art style. The idea is that, considering that team Milk Chocolate's ink color is brown, Ceph's abs end up kinda resembling rectangular pieces of chocolate, and, with that jacket he's wearing, his torso ends up resembling a chocolate bar in an open wrapper as a result. It is quite a silly but fun idea that would definitely come through better in my usual more detailed style, but due to having limited time, I could only depict it in the style you see here. Additionally, his hair also looks like pieces of chocolate. He's also wearing his Splatfest Tee as a band around his right arm.

Ceph's weapon of choice for this splatfest I Carbon Roller Deco. Why? It kinds resembles the presses they use to make chocolate at factories. I dunno, there weren't any particularly good fits for this splatfest among the weapons added in Chill Season 2022, besides the one I've already used for a previous splatfest.

[shininglynxie]

Didn't post this yesterday cause I didn't feel like finishing this drawing and also wanted to take a break. It kinda works out, though, as it manages to tie in thematically with the other drawing I'm actually supposed to post today.

With that said, for Spicy vs. Sweet vs. Sour I chose team Sweet. This was the obvious and only choice for this splatfest for me and still is, as I'm quite a sweet tooth irl. Ceph's reason to pick this team aligns with mine, as he likes sweet things, too.

For this fest, I chose to dress Ceph up in a cute sweets-themed outfit. Let's start with the head. His top hat resembles a cake, he has lollipop earrings, and his hair is shaped like gummy worms. When it comes to his clothes, his top is frilly and supposed to resemble a candy wrapper. His pants have a pattern reminiscent of stereotypical popcorn buckets. His shoes are also supposed to resemble gummies. The bowtie he has on is fashioned from a Splatfest Tee and resembles a candy. He's also wearing a donut bracelet.

From this slplatfest going forward, all of Ceph's weapon choices are going to be weapons added in the same season during which a given splatfest had happened. But I'm making an exception to this rule for anniversary splatfest for reasons you will see in the future. For this splatfest, though, Ceph's choice fell on the Custom Splattershot Jr. because, when filled with this pink ink, it looks like a candy. Additionally, this is the weapon I gave to Ceph for team Wisdom last year(I will show you that drawing alongside my new team Wisdom art when the time comes). Since that was the first drawing to ever feature any version of this character, I wanted to pay homage to it and draw the modern version of Ceph with that weapon. However, due to the rule above, I couldn't use it for the same splatfest as befroe. Luckily, it worked quite well for team Sweet, as it was a Chill Season 2022 splatfest, which was the same season that Custom Jr. was added in.

[shininglynxie]

The splatfest I'm covering today is Grass vs. Fire vs. Water. It was a bit of a dream come true theme for me, honestly. It used Splatoon 3's splatfest format to ask the age-old pokemon question of: "Which starter will you choose?", which is something I was absolutely thrilled about.

When it comes to my choice for this fest - team Fire - I kinda regret it. While my starters of choice in the three most recent generations have been fire types, which includes Scarlet and Violet, the games that this splatfest was a tie-in for, as a whole I like more water starters than I do fire ones, with my favourite pokemon being a water starter even. Besides that, my decision was also driven by a desire to be on each of the idols' teams back to back. I know that it's easy to say that you would've chosen the winning team in hindsight, but my slight feelings of regret are quite genuine nonetheless.

Well, unlike me, Ceph is someone who wouldn't regret this choice, as he does actually like fire starters the most. His favourite one being Cinderace, as Ceph quite enjoys and relates to its energetic and sporty personality. The fire type in general matches Ceph's personality quite well.

Ceph's outfit for this splatfest is pretty straightforward - it is a cosplay of Mela - the paldean fire type specialist. This outfit works quite well retroactively, actually, as Mela was one of the characters revealed during Scarlet and Violet's pre-release promotional campaign. This cosplay is generally quite faithful, with the only difference being the fact that the team Star symbol on the boots is replaced with the team Fire icon. Ceph's weapon of choice for this fest is the obvious choice - Range Blaster. It was literally depicted in promotional art for this splatfest it's that obvious! It also manages to tie back into team Star even. The Range Blaster is made up of motorcycle parts, which is a vehicle just like the starmobiles. Not to mention that I just really like the updated design they gave this weapon in Splatoon 3, and I wanted to draw Ceph using it.