#lynxie's rambles

[shininglynxie]

New And Beyond episode was released! You know how I'll be about The Ink Tank's projects, I will overanalyze them to hell and share all my thoughts on it!

Spoilers for the episode ahead!(obviously) Watch it here first, if you have not already. Though I wouldn't recommend watching this episode if you haven't watched the series before.

So, the Fulmini are 5yl canon now, kinda. Not quite, though, as Horas says that there was no physical evidence left of them, meaning that they could be very different from the Fulmini we know. I guess Kuro truly did open his mind about including Reboot content within the 5yl canon in a tangible way, huh?

This episode has a lot of messed up stuff in it, and the first bit of it is the fact that Cerebrocrustaceans die due to their brain growing too large. Yeah, that's pretty grotesque, but like in a cool way. It's sort of similar to how rats' teeth can grow too long and kill them if they don't file them often.

I like the way that these brain crabs reproduce, too! I think that combining two brains together is a pretty unique and fitting way for them to make babies! This also sort of implies that Cerebrocrustacean children could have more than two parents, which I think is neat!

The juxtaposition of Kusen Encephalonus being this beloved crab man, who just loved science and technology, as well as sharing that love of his to also being someone, who decided to sacrifice his life to create these very unnatural hybrid offspring with the species of other planets of the system, is kinda crazy.

A small detail I wanted to point out is the fact that one of Kusen's descendants became a massive brain tree, which is pretty crazy!

I was hoping that Vicetopus would get a proper scientific name, and I'm happy to see that it did!

We get a proper look at Khyber in his full mutated glory! Like we could infer from the Appoplexia episode, he is indeed mutated with all of the Nemetrix predator DNA. And we'll never find out how he ended up this way.

Everything about Psybot is so fucked up, and I absolutely love it! That metamorphosis animation was incredible! The fact that it is an upside down Horas droid with Ectonurite features is so Zs'Skayr to the core, and I love that about it!

Man, Psychobos, what happened to you? It looks like he might be dying, but the technological augments are keeping him together. It looks like his brain might have started outgrowing his body, which is probably why he's taller now. It is so in character for him to embrace that, though. He would want to prove his superior intelligence by any means possible, even if he's literally dying because of how big his brain is. I also like that his larger robotic claw almost seems to act as a cane, as he rests his smaller organic claw on it from time to time.

D.U.A.R.D.S is an incredibly cool design! It chasing 4oras down was quite freaky, not gonna lie. I did like their exchange with 4oras, too. It was genuinely quite heartfelt for an exchange between two robots. D.U.A.R.D.S almost seemed to show some emotion when it mentioned the plumbers abandoning the Horas units it's made out of on Appoplexia. I also liked the snap back it had to 4oras' comment about it. It was pretty funny! I also absolutely love the reference to O.R.Ash's catchphrase for its final line! That was brilliant!

I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get to know more about the other species and planets of the Encephalonus system. The subversion of the And Beyond format was a fun twist, but it still would have been nice to have that information. Here's hoping that the Drawing Matrix Minis would shed more light on these species. For now, though, I'm going to list everything I could notice about these species so far.

The one we found out about the most - the Paraklept. They're a sea anemone-like species with an extremely paralytic touch. They are based on and directly expand upon the background Undertown citizen known as Sponge Gorb. Their home planet is Encephalonus III, which seems to be a lush forested planet. Horas describes it as colorful and scenic.

The Vailretrac - the sand- based species live on a sandy planet full of beaches. They're probably the species we know about the least. Considering that their bodies are at least partially covered in sand and may be able to control it, I speculate that they might be the species of the 5yl version of Sandbox.

The Limulequus are a seahorse-like species. There's no natural abilities that I could infer from this episode, but they do seem to often use these electrically charged spear-like weapons. They're also notable three-legged.

The story of And Beyond's Zs'Skayr arc has moved on quite quickly! With the whole announcement at the end, it kinda makes me feel like And Beyond is coming to an end, which I hope isn't true. I sincerely hope that the next episode isn't the final one and that there will be more after. I do think that the finale of the current plot will happen on Prypiatos, ending where it all started and everything. It seems like 2025 is gonna be the year of finales for The Ink Tank.

I'm very excited for what's to come as it seems like it's all going to be quite grand!

[lynxy-binxy]

GUYS

GUYS

ITS ALMOST 1 AM AND I JUST GOT A GENIUS IDEA

ALBUMS/ALBUMS COVERS AS CHARACTERS

PLEASE UNDERSTAND MY VISION

[jangelorum]

I'll look forward to it, if you ever do 😆 (cause same, I'm a newbie at commissions too and busy all the time)

Either way, I really like your art, it's the purest thing and it's a common topic of conversation amongst my friends cause it's just so good💜(cough, botw Link, c ou g h)

Also the weather where I live is stupid inconsistent, don't worry 😅🤣

I'm here hoping that if you ever open commissions I'll be that one crazy motherfucker that logs on and screams "FIRST" and doesnt even type it right. This is what I strive 2 be, son. Your art is bomb and really educational to us that only draw cheekbones capable of poking eyes out, thank u my dude, greetings from Mexico~

NFBSNKDKQBN THANK YOU. Maybe someday I’ll do commission when I have time, strategy and willpower :’^)

And thank you! I was also one guilty of the pointy cheekbones (like super guilty like dang). Keep practicing and the cheekbones will become one of the easiest things to draw!! And hello from The US! Stay dry, if I remember correctly it’s rainy season down there 🤔

[shininglynxie]

OK, didn't want this to be my first post on this account, but I just really wanted to share my thoughts and analysis of the Grand Festival announcement.

I knew they were going to place the new venue near the Crater - the first place we saw all the way back in 2021, when Splatoon 3 was first announced. It was even teased in the Sizzle season 2024 trailer with the jellyfish walking by this same Crater backdrop with merch of all three idol groups.

The Pearlina plane walked so that the Now or Never Seven bus could run. It's just great to see something like that plane again!

The golden replicas of the animals from all the hub worlds that represent each idol are a great touch, too!

Now, to analyze the idols' new outfits! Their shared theme feels very orderly and gives off bleached coral vibes. I wonder what's up with that. Most of them also seem to reference non-cephalopod sea creatures, but I don't know how intentional that is.

The outfits always have to be matching with these two, and I love it! The cut on their skirts point inwards on Callie's and outwards on Marie's. Callie's gloves reveal the base of her arms, while Marie's gloves reveal the ends of her arms or her hands. Both of them are also wearing urchin-themed head accessories.

The way they animated Pearl and Marina's interlocked hands being pointed right at us. It's like they're yelling at us: Yeah, they're gay, dammit! They've been giving us quite a bunch of great Pearlina content lately, and they just had to give us more.

Anyways, their outfits. I love Pearl's big hat! It fits her vibes very well! There's also an Off the Hook logo on it, which is neat. As some people have pointed out already, this is the first time Pearl's showing off her midriff, which is cool to see!

I absolutely love Marina's outfit ,though. It's gotta be one of my favorites of the Grand Fest idol fits! That bra/top paired with the jewelry, the laced pants with the boots, and all those rings combine to create such an awesome look to me! Also, something else of note is the fact that Marina isn't wearing headphones here and showing off her ears. It's uncommon for her to do that, and she's mostly done that outside of the games, and, I think, this is the first time you can see her ears in-game, which is really cool and showcases her personal growth! (Btw, I love the pose Marina's making in the shot on the second pic! It's so cute!

Deep Cut, my beloveds!

This is probably among the weaker fits Shiver ever had, but it's not bad by any means. Those pant boots are kinda weird, and I don't know how to feel about them. But I do like that top she's wearing! It kinda mimics her headdress, which also looks neat! It kinda reminds me of seaweed, dunno if that was the intention. She's also rocking that Deep Cut logo temp tattoo, which is dope! From afar, it looks really similar to the octopus tattoo Callie had when hypnotized by Octavio. The bangs on her in-game model seem to be pushed away a little bit, so you can see her other eye, which is an interesting detail. The expression she has on the official art feels a tad unusual for Shiver. She always acts so cold and aloof, so it's strange to see such an expression of genuine surprise from her.

Frye's outfit is great, but there isn't much to say about it. The buns she's wearing kinda remind me of sea slugs, I don't know if that's what they were going for, though. The ear tie thing she's wearing is also a nice design touch! It's an accessory that utilizes her long ears in a very creative way! I love the way she's grabbing Shiver's waist in the official art, it's so Frye!

Big Man's fit has got to be my favorite! He's absolutely slaying in that fin-like headdress and those spikes, and with that makeup around his eye! It feels very Kiss-inspired. The patterns on his fins look claw-like now. This is something that kinda makes me wonder how Big Man's outfits work in the first place with the various skin patterns he took on during seasonal splatfests. He also seems to have something wrapped around his tail. The best shot I could catch of it is this screenshot below.

Overall, I think the idols' outfits are cool, but they don't wow me like Pearl and Marina's Chaos vs. Order outfits did.

The performance of their new collab song will be so cool! It's gonna feel like a proper big concert!

Speaking of concerts, I might be seeing things, but some of the choreography we see the idols perform in their usual outfits seem to be from the songs other than each idol group's day 1 and 2 songs. The third Splatoon 3 concert just might be held in-game. Which is a great idea and makes a lot of sense! Since most Splatoon fans probably never had the chance to see the idol concerts live, it only feels fitting to create an immersive concert experience inside the game! It's a lot more interactive than a video recording, and it will ensure that a lot more people can see it compared to the in-person concert. Plus, all the idols are in one place already, so they can easily perform the collab songs too! If that does end up happening, I hope that the performances do use the concert versions of the songs, as they're almost always better than original, in my opinion, plus that way they won't overlap with the songs that play during gameplay.

Almost forgot about the theme. Which is most important to you? Past, Present, or Future? With each idol group representing a team, rather than a Deep Cut member each representing a team. I think this quite a solod theme for the final fest, if a bit predictable. The fact that each idol group picked a team for themselves also makes this like an idol fest in disguise, but I'm not bothered by that. I wonder how this fest's outcome will affect a potential Splatoon 4, though, as there's no one clear way how I can see it affecting the game's development.

All in all, I'm very excited for what Grand Festival will bring! By the time it rolls around, this account will, hopefully, be properly active. I'll absolutely have some art to post for the occasion!

[shininglynxie]

Alright, the 5yl motion comic's new chapter just came out, and it was absolutely INCREDIBLE! I want to share my thoughts and observations with you because I have a lot of them. I know this isn't exactly a topic I covered here and that most people who follow me would be familiar with, but I absolutely love 5yl, and I really wanna talk about this incredible series!

Spoilers for 5 years later, its 11th chapter specifically, below. Go watch it here first, or read my whole post. Maybe I'll convince you to watch the whole thing.

Sorry for the weird crunchy collage images. I needed more than ten images to illustrate my points, so I had to compromise.

As usual, the motion comic manages to enhance the original comic version with the voice acting and other visual additions. Rob's direction and animation work, his and Crystal's visual effects, Noximation's score and everyone's voice acting under the direction of Xander and Kellen are all amazing and on point, as always!

I like the little changes they did to the intro with this and the last episode, too! It makes me feel like I'm watching a TV series with an evolving plot. Really reminds me of watching Omniverse as a kid with all its altering intros. I absolutely love this detail!

I don't know if that happens in the og chapter, but I like that the fact that Portaler was able to warp from Divinity's hold is emphasized here. Hell, Ben even acknowledges this feat himself in the very next scene. This, along with his ability to create unstable wormholes, as showcased in the previous episode, really showcases why Ben put Portaler in the powerhouse playlist. Which is a really important detail to set up, as this is an alien we've never seen before and don't know what he's truly capable of.

Seeing The Void animated was really cool! I'm not sure how this was done in the original comic, but I love the sheer sense of scale they showcase in the top scene here! It really emphasizes how absolutely massive thus alien is! I also love the twisting effect they gave to his dark matter when it's absorbing Big Ben's arm! It's just like I imagined it!

After watching this episode, I realized that I didn't really remember this scene at all from the time I read this comic. I'm glad I was able to properly appreciate it now, as it's quite a nice scene.

What Future Fenton says here is interesting. Obviously, their goal is to help Ben and Danny take down Divinity to rewrite the awful future they come from. With this outcome resulting in Future Fenton's erasure from existence. According to this plan, their fate is predetermined. Or is it? It just makes me wonder what will happen next. Btw, Rob has been absolutely killing it as Future Fenton! He isn't really a voice actor, and he's pulling off some very clean line deliveries! It must be some solid voice direction on Xander's and Kellen's parts!

I really like the exchange that Lula, GoTro, and Crawnch have here. It's a nice scene for them. I like that they discuss their reasons for being plumbers, have a bit of an argument, and in the end decide to help Ben. I like how this scene showcases their characters.

This scene also gave us some incredible surprises!

Just like with the revamped Albedo's ultimates sequence in episode 8, they decided to give us an unnecessary but very welcome Ben 10-themed surprise with all these omni-chimeras. I'd love to break these designs down, but I fear it would be adding way too much text to an already long post. I might do a breakdown of their designs a separate post later. Omni-chimeras are one of the funnest concepts to come out of 5yl, in my opinion, and this scene is definitely making me want to draw some.

I also wasn't expecting to get such a glimpse into the time Future Fenton came from. It seemed to me that Rob wanted to keep their future ambiguous and shrouded in mystery. I love Vlad's tastefully extra ruler outfit with that elegant black and red color scheme and the flaming ctown. (Also, I like how Divinity's outfit references future events)

Getting all these other crossover cameos in such a substantial way is pretty crazy! Especially crazy is the fact that we got proper non-silhouetted cameos of Rex and his brother Caesar, too! The fans have been asking for this for so long, so it's a little hard to believe that their pleas have finally been answered.

Not pictured here, but I love that we get a look at the complete Orion Knight. From what I remember, either the original description of the incomplete Orion Knight concept art on The Ink Tank's website said something about us, maybe, seeing the complete one someday or it was Rob who said it on a stream once. So, this kinda leaves wondering if it was a tease for the motion comic or something else that's still coming later.

A small yet neat detail I noticed here is that Big Ben shoots a strong sonic blast from his Stick n' Slide leg, which matches that alien's abilities. I'm pretty that wasn't in the original chapter, so it's really cool to see!

Now, Full Stop. It was awesome to finally see this fan-favourite alien in motion comic format. I like Aj Beckles' performance for Full Stop! t gives him a very appropriate cool guy vibe. I like how well his powers were showcased here. Everything he holds truly comes to a complete halt. It's great!

Danny's "nightmare sequence" is what i was excited for the most, and I had every right to be. It was AMAZING! The motion comic brought it to a whole new level!

The transition into it was perfect! The drowning that fades into a jarring awakening. It's so good! But it keeps getting better! The beginning of the sequence was also very well done! That part in the og comic wasn't that great, and I always thought it would be better with proper voice acting, and I was totally right about that! Now, I'm not a Danny Phantom fan, but I assume that there were now heart-to-heart reconciliation scenes between Danny and his dad like here in the actual show. I think the fans might appreciate a scene like that, and it's a very nice and tender one in general. I absolutely loved seeing Ash's nightmare Jack creature animated! The zombie Sam scene was so nicely done, too! It was gross eerie in the best way possible! Paxton's delivery during the Ben part was stellar, too! Also, fun fact, but all the aliens Ben erupts into here are ones that Danny had actually seen Ben had used so far. On the topic of voice acting, it was absolutely on point for this entire scene! It truly elevated it to a whole new level! Can you tell that this is my favourite part? Anyways, moving on.

I don't think this scene was in the original comic. I really like it, though! This is some real funny banter between Vlad and Ben!

I absolutely love how Fury Danny's emergence was handled here. I don't remember if those Orion Squad lines on top were there in the og, but regardless, they really helped establish the insane speed at which Danny was flying here. His sheer new might is conveyed perfectly here! That ending scene was perfect, too! The line delivery was very on point once again! This solidifies it as a perfect spot to end this chapter on for me!

Whew. That was probably the longest I've rambled about anything here so far. I just can't help but gush about this project sometimes. I just love it so much, and The Ink Tank always does such a great job with it and their other projects, too! All in all, after all this, I'm extremely excited for episode 12 and the two final chapters! I know, It's going to be something spectacular!

[shininglynxie]

OK, quick thoughts on the new Splatoween theme.

It's really cool that they actually gave us a new theme! I hope they do that for the rest of the reruns, but my hopes are not very high.

I do find this theme very strange, though. It is a combination of two previous splatfests: Splatoon 1's Pirates vs. Ninjas and Splatoon 2's Knights vs. Wizards. What a strange combination. It makes some sense, I guess. Both of these splatfests were pretty big and are, probably, among the more memorable ones to the community, with the first of these two also taking place on Halloween. It's just that Ninja feels like an odd option to add to the other two. It's supposed to be like a stand-in for a rogue, like a dnd class, I think, but it just ends up feeling out of place. It also isn't a very halloween-y theme, y'know. There's nothing about it that screams spooky season to me. Besides the fact that all three of these options can act like halloween costumes, I guess.

I'm also kinda surprised that team Ninja is Big Man's team, as he's the lasst member of Deep Cut that I'd imagine being a ninja. He lacks the necessary qualities of a ninja. He's big and not nimble at all. Despite all this, I don't hate this decision. If anything, I find it interesting and kinda unique.

These were my dumb thoughts. I'm not hrowing any shade at this theme. I do like it, and I like the fact that it's unique from the previous one we had. I just wanted to share some things that I found a bit odd about it.