#its interesting that splat1s was 1 year and splat2s was 2 years is the only reason im sayin that

[vamqiredove]

giving the timing of when the successor of the switch is coming out, i hope splatoon 4 will be an early-system game. i'm excited to see what direction they go in now that they're finished with the current story trilogy

[pad-wubbo]

Very sweet post.

It makes me think, "how has it been between Splatoon and me?"

* I've been following Splatoon's world since day one. Splat1 came out and I followed it religiously since the Global Testfire. I thought it looked really cute, and its central ink mechanic felt similar to the gels in Portal 2 (I was 12 and had just recently marathonned the entire Portal series). I had a major crush on the Squid Sisters, too.

* I never had a Wii U. I never played Splat1. I only watched it. Still, though, I felt there was something special about it. The way the Inklings had their own bands, fashion, language, history, everything. It was a world. It wasn't just a video game level floating in the middle of nowhere. It was alive.

* My Splatfest picks (EU) for 1:

* Rock > Pop

* Eating > Sleeping

* North Pole < South Pole

* Singing > Dancing

* Messy > Tidy

* Cats > Dogs

* Zombies < Ghosts

* Pineapple on Pizza is Delicious > Disgusting

* Get Fit < Get Rich

* Play Like a Barbarian < Ninja

* Pokémon Red < Pokémon Blue

* Hoverboard < Jet Pack

* SpongeBob < Patrick

* Black Tie Event < Fancy Dress Party

* World Tour < Space Adventure

* Callie > Marie

* I played as the Inkling Mii costumes in Smash Bros. 4 a lot. They looked weird without the black line between their eyes.

* Of course, I was making the "white ink haha" jokes.

* I kinda forgot about Splatoon after FinalFest 1.

* I didn't have a Switch until 2021. As a result, I didn't care that much about Splat2 when it came out.

* I still vaguely kept up with it though.

* I at least knew that Callie defected to the Octarians, the Calamari Inkantation was now Spicy, there was an Agent 4, and Off the Hook were the new idols.

* Octo Expansion comes out. My interest is piqued by how much its plot copies Portal (you're a test subject in an underground lab for a shady company, the AI promises a reward but wants you dead, you escape and destroy it).

* I once again become interested in Splatoon lore.

* I never kept up with the Splatfests for Splat2, though, unlike with Splat1.

* So, have my retroactive input:

* Cake > Ice Cream

* Mayo < Ketchup

* Flight < Invisibility

* Toilet Paper on the Front Roll < Back Roll

* Warm Breakfast > Cold Breakfast

* Film < Book

* Action < Comedy

* Gherk-OUT > Gherk-IN (on burgers)

* Chicken < Egg came first (objectively correct)

* Sweet > Salty

* I know nothing about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

* Pulp < No Pulp (in orange juice)

* Squid < Octopus

* Adventure < Relax

* Retro > Modern

* Trick < Treat

* Eat It First > Save It For Last

* Hero < Villain

* Family > Friends

* Pancakes > Waffles

* Knight > Wizard

* Hare > Tortoise

* Time Travel > Teleportation

* Kid > Grown-Up

* Chaos > Order

* Super Mushroom > Super Star

* Come 2022, Splat3 comes out, and I play it. My God, it's fun. Seven years of being a Sploon fan up to that point and this is the first time I'd actually played it.

* This is what the Animal Crossing team abandoned New Horizons for, and it was worth it.

* Anyway, here's my Splatfest choices for 3:

* Rock / Paper / Scissors

* Gear / Grub / Fun

* Grass / Fire / Water (in Pokémon)

* Spicy / Sweet / Sour

* Dark Chocolate / Milk Chocolate / White Chocolate

* Nessie / Aliens / Bigfoot (which is real?)

* Power / Wisdom / Courage

* Vanilla / Strawberry / Mint Chip

* Money / Fame / Love

* Shiver / Frye / Big Man

* Zombie / Skeleton / Ghost

* Handshake / Fist Bump / Hug

* Friends / Family / Solo

* Friday / Saturday / Sunday

* Drums / Guitar / Keyboard

* Baby Chicks / Li'l Bunnies / Bear Cubs

* Same Ol' / Bucket List / Save the Day

* Palace / Theme Park / Beach

* Bread / Rice / Pasta

* Past / Present / Future

* Now, I had only been playing the game on and off until this year.

* Side Order really, really, got me hooked on it. Permanently.

* Since then, I have been absolutely dedicated to Splatoon. I'm on a crusade of sorts to 100% all the single-player games now. I've finished OE and will finish the rest shortly before and after Grand Festival.

* I've become obsessed with marine biology. I've become an Inkling in real life thanks to a certain hat.

* I've started playing many fangames and reading many fanfics, designing my own characters, and whatnot.

* Coming to think of it, I realise now why I love it so much.

* It's a world, a community, a culture.

* Splatoon is all about self-expression in an ever-evolving world of no status quo.

* If all the official games and their staff simply vanished, there would still be endless games, music, art, stories, characters, and expression in their world. It would live on, as an organically-mutated culture.

* It encourages this. Splatoon, with its central theme of expressing yourself, actively encourages the creation of your own stories within its world, and that makes it feel alive.

* It's the anti-Nintendo Nintendo game. Hisashi Nogami was recommended to make a "Mario Paintball". Nothing was stopping him. He had access to the Mario brand and guaranteed success, and chose instead to express himself, to make this wonderful world of squid-people who live and love. The player-generated posts, and the final Splatfest influencing the next game, add to this level of personality and sincerity.

* It's not sanitised and corporate in tone. Its understanding of fashion, music, and sports is genuine. It features dark themes and relatable characters that open the door deliberately for angsty fanfic. It features sexual innuendo, suggestive character designs, and sometimes swearing, deliberately leading into naughty fanfic.

* Because it's designed for self-expression, to refer to it as merely an "IP" erases this wonderful aspect of it.

* This is what makes me so ambivalent. I love Splatoon more than anything in the world, possibly, yet I despise Nintendo.

* Nintendo is a megacorporation that systematically lobbies to kill privacy, freedom of speech and consumer rights for its own profit. It sends agents to stalk and ruin the lives of those who reverse-engineer its consoles. It consistently shuts down harmless fan projects (betraying Splatoon's whole point of encouraging expression in its world). Its most major stakeholder is Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman, a murderer. I have nothing but respect for the developers working under it, but no respect for it as a corporate entity.

* Loving Splatoon has made me happier as a person. There are some things that make me sad about it, though.

* Since it's a world unto itself, not just a game, I very much did participate in its world from 2015 to 2022, yet having not actually played it until Splat3's release makes me feel like an imposter, not worthy of being so invested in it.

* Since it's "owned" by Nintendo, a company I now refuse to support beyond its online subscription, being a Splatoon fan makes me feel like a corporate bootlicker (although I know that's irrational, like how I can love Star Trek and not give two shits about the Paramount Picture Corporation).

* Its living, breathing world and themes of moving on, especially as emphasised by "Three Wishes", reminds me that time is rapidly slipping away from me, whether I'm ready or not.

* That fills me with existential dread. The series still feels new to me, as it came out 9 years ago and thanks to my strange brain experiencing a traumatic event and changing 9 years ago, every one of my memories constantly plays back to me. There is no past or present to me. Only constant, melting existence. That's why 9 years ago feels like nothing. I still feel 12. There was a longer time between 2013 and 2015 than between 2015 and now, to me.

* Three Wishes reminds me that 9 years have indeed passed, and that is surreal to me.

* One last thing, I never vote based on the idol. You love the Squid Sisters the most, and I do too, but I'm with team Future.

* Think about it. These games are about moving on and living. Team Past doesn't make sense.

* Team Present is boring.

* Future is the logical way to go, then.

* Just like how Chaos was the logical choice last time, in a game about making a mess and being unapologetically you.

* Callie vs Marie was the only FinalFest without an obvious logical choice.

* So that's a history of Splatoon and me. I want to be a squid in real life.

* Where do I get a Callie plush in the UK, other than on Amazon? I don't trust Amazon.

Getting sappy about the Squid Sisters....

The Squid Sisters being the ones to start and end Three Wishes genuinely broke me down and made me feel the most amount of emotion out of anything in this whole franchise.

They embody the past, present and the future of this series and it's world. They have made an impact in the past as they were the ones who started it all, they sing and dance in the present, and will plant the seeds for the future. Them getting the opening and final lines of this grand song is just... it's so smart.

These girls are so important to me on so many levels it's not even funny. I genuinely don't know what my mental health would be like without having these comfort characters by my side. I love them so much and they helped me get through the worst mental period in my life back in mid 2023. If they didn't help me see the light and comforted me, i don't know where i would be.... They also helped me get comfortable with my autism as well and made it less of a curse and more of a difference in how i see this chaotic world.

I remember getting my Callie plushie in October 2023 and once i held her... i teared up. This is not a joke. I'm not playing around. A 19 year old me actually cried holding a cute little Callie plush. She helps me sleep at night and helps silence the stupid thoughts in my brain that is just trying to rest.

I've been in love with this series since 2017 and it's done so much for me since then. I am gonna continue to love and adore this series until my heart finally stops beating. I've made so many memories i hold near and dear to my heart and some of the best gaming experiences I've ever had.

And getting the chance to share it with you all is just... I'm so happy. I don't feel lonely anymore in my thoughts and this series helped me make wonderful connections and it will continue to do so...

I love the Squid Sisters... I love them with every piece of my heart.

Sorry for getting all sappy LOL! (It will happen again in September.)