#there's definitely been more since splatoon 3

[loolilyumm]

I CARE SO MUCH ABOUT YOUR CAP 3 PLEASE MORE IF YOU WOULDNT MIND???

JUMPING UP AND DOWN IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED I WILL SO HAPPILY YAP ABOUT HIM

THIS IS AGENT THREE! Most of the people in the NSS call him “Three” or “Captain,” but his real name is Reese.

(SIDE NOTE- I really have to do proper character sheets for them. Please stay tuned for that!!)

He was 15 when he was hired by Cuttlefish and 17 during the events of octo expansion. Now he is a mature 20 year old inkling. So so mature.

He mains the E-liter and typically uses chargers or shooters.

Despite his “cool guy” persona, agent 8 brings out a different side of him… the loser baby side…!!! In Splatoon 2 When the two of them fell underground, Reese was actually the one to find 8, and he had to rescue her from sanitization chambers (you know, the octoling selection screen at the beginning of octo expansion?) but couldn’t save her in time to restore her memory. But she was (relatively) okay! And since then he’s been really protective of her. 8 was registered as a test subject and Reese had to stay behind and watch as she went through rigorous testing.

At that point Reese was really descending into a dark place after realizing that he wasn’t really the big hero he thought that he was. But 8 helped him through it and they formed a really close bond deep in the underground. (Cuttlefish was also there third wheeling. LOL) Reese started to feel flustered and shy around her. He’d never felt that way before, and definitely didn’t expect it. And it CONFUSED HIM!! He was like wtf? Why is this happening to meeee waahwaahhhhh ueueueuee

And then y’know……the rest is history! The blender incident happened and it was the scariest moment of his life. Reese was about to lose the only two people he had ever cared about. He has a tendency to throw himself recklessly into dangerous situations, so he just THREW himself at the blender and well. It worked! In my version, he never got knocked out, and he travelled upwards with 8 and cuttlefish until about the 4th phase. Then he and cuttlefish got separated from 8 and attacked by Tartar - that’s how he was brainwashed.

The battle between agent 3 and agent 8 was BRUTAL. Reese harbors extreme amounts of guilt for what went down - he blames himself a lot and thinks he should have been stronger. 8 got really hurt but she managed to save him and THEN save the whole world. #girlboss! Period.

The two of them are working through the events of octo expansion together! If you want me to yap about 8 too I will gladly do that. (Also maybe I should write a fanfic about it. I am cringe but I am free.)

Cut to 3 years into the future - During splatoon 3, Reese becomes captain of the NSS. He doesn’t think he deserves the title but is honored to accept it.

The new agent 3 that they recruited reminds Reese a lot of himself. Her name is Margot. She’s the quiet kid that he used to be. He sort of takes her under his wing and teaches her how to defend herself and her comrades. She is like a younger sister to him. They bicker and bond just like siblings. I LOVE THEM.

I actually haven’t really thought through what happens during the events of splatoon 3. I’m running with the idea that agent 4 and agent 8 go missing during the events of side order. (I know it’s all virtual but like I might add other things to it IDK IDK) I don’t really know yet. But Reese is a good captain and he can find them ☺️☺️

BUT YEA. AFTER ALL THT IS SAID AND DONE - they’re the NSS! And they are all besties.

Thank u for coming to my ted talk.

[squidkidnerd]

Why is everyone so hung up on NoA's use of the word "inkling????" I've seen so many posts lately that are like "it doesn't make sense that the squid people are called inklings since octolings use ink too so it should be a general term and the squid people should be called squidlings!!!" and like. Yeah. That's true I guess. I dunno, I never really particularly cared about it that much, it's kind of a nitpick. And like—something about "squidling" as a word feels super weird and awkward to me and I don't entirely know why? I think it has something to do with the consonants? Or maybe it's my imagination, who knows. Either way I don't entirely get why people have been getting so hung up on it lately.

[sasukeflavor]

tag ppl you'd like to know better!

tagged by @autismsasuke (>⁠ω<)

last song: Lucky Star Opening, ahh it is one of my favorite anime ops ❤️ love the animation and the girls silly dances hehe

currently watching: Vinland Sage, yes...another anime. Its been quite awhile since ive watched anything and Vinland Saga is all i can remember..

currently reading: same as kyro/autismsasuke T_T well ..if you count sasuke fics and some splatoon then yes ���

current obsession: SPLATOON!!! Ahhh its so fun much playing splatoon and esp doing side jobs from grizzo!! My fav things aside from getting spawn killed ^_^ (need them dead). OF COURSE, sasuke is still in my heart no matter what like i even drawn a splatoon octoling of him..

Tags: @cirrusin @hyuuga-neji @sapphic-sasuke

[ardnin]

Finalized Splatoon 3 OST rips

Big update for my Splatoon 3 OST rips!

Now that the game is done with content updates, I made definitive versions of the rip, which includes all the Grand Festival music, a couple of semi-minor tracks I forgot to add in the past (I'm sorry Inkopolis versions of Hotlantis) as well as some bonus SFX.

The track order has been revised since I had to add new tracks chronologically as they came out before which wasn't ideal, so the order makes more sense now.

The Side Order rip has also been updated with a bonus segment of SFX I selected, and lastly, these new rips now each have an ALAC encoded version, which is equivalent to FLAC but should also work with iTunes.

You can download these new versions here!

You will have to delete the old version of the rip though so it will display correctly in your apps.

If you only want to download the Grand Festival and new Big Run music, I also made a final update to the old rip with only these parts, however, the other additional tracks from the new rips will not be added to this.

Below are track lists for the new main rip and Side Order rip:

It's been a long time since I started maintaining this rip and now this may be the final update I'll give. I hope you enjoy this definitive version of the rip!

[rassicas]

Hello Rassicas.

I am working on a video about Nintendo’s lgbtq characters. Of course when it comes to splatoon, there’s a certain duo that comes to mind, off the hook.

The problem I’ve been having is that it seems a lot of the information, wether that be the English/japanese bits of dialogue, interviews and other bits of lore, seems to be completely scattered around.

Considering you describe yourself as the “CEO of splatoon lore” I was wondering if you could help me compile any bits and pieces of those two gay cephalopods.

(My apologies if this is moreso something I should be asking in dms instead)

i think the ask box is a good place for this, i'm not as hardcore of a shipper as other people are (more of a worldbuilding enjoyer), but i know there is so much and I don't wanna dig for all of it. I'll share a few off the top of my head. pearlina fans reading this, please feel free to share anything else in the replies/reblogs. 1. Pearl interview from Octotune: its on my mind since i just brought it up in a previous ask I think the artwork in this interview has the strongest implication that pearl and marina live together. Also the question: Q17: What is the best gift you have ever received? Pearl: The chance to meet Marina. 2. Marina's manga, "Dear Pearl". a manga that, in-universe, is drawn by marina.

genuinely i think this is one of the gayest things there is in canon like theres hearts in that LOVE letter thats directed towards pearl COME ON (i consider it canon as its drawn by seita inoue, who handles splatoon's art direction and a lot of lore/worldbuilding). you can read it here

3. Marina's tagline on Splatoon Base calls her a 恋する乙女 "young lady in love". the word for 'to love' (恋する) is specifically romantic.

4. Off the Hook didn't fight against each other in the s2 final splatfest like the Squid Sisters did because they're on such good terms with each other.

I’ve heard people saying that since the final fest for the last game was a showdown between the Squid Sisters, this time it was bound to be between Off the Hook.

Nogami: I think that’s probably the obvious conclusion, but the development team don’t actually want those two to attack one another. Since the Squid Sisters have their own talents and abilities, even though they are a duo they are also kind of rivals, so we thought we would pit them against each other. Off the Hook, though, are much more of a unit and on good terms with one another, so we didn’t want to force them to fight.

5. Marina has a photo of pearl as her desktop wallpaper. the framing of the photo very much looks romantic and intimate. there is no heterosexual explanation for this

i'll stop here, there's definitely more and I don't wanna be here for hours. I haven't even touched on any in game dialogue. again guys feel free to make additions to this with sources. is there a pearlina masterdoc or something LOL i feel like thats something that deserves to exist (someone please make it because i wont)

[messydoodlesyt]

SMG4 Crew Redesigns Part 1

Finally got them done! I saw some people do redesigns for the SMG4 Crew and I wanted to put my spin on it. So far I’ve done SMG4, SMG3, Meggy, Mario, and Luigi. I'm for sure gonna do the others at one point. But it was perfect timing since I did finally finish all the arcs in order (and the important episodes in between for the most part) so I at least have some better context then all the stuff from 2022+ and all.

So first up SMG4. I’ve seen people incorporate the glitch color pallet so I tried to put a little bit on the shoes and pant legs. That and I’ve seen him associated with stars. I don’t quite understand why people do redesigns with it; maybe it’s something in an old episode I haven’t seen yet or something but I thought it’d be neat to add. Added the number four roman numeral for him too cuz it felt off only having 3 have it. Shoulder strap off cuz vibes idk.

Next up SMG3! I’ve seen so many people give him long hair/ a mullet and dammit it was just too perfect to have. That with some ripped pants and gloves and earrings to add for his redesign. And of course the overall pocket for Eggdog because yes.

Up next Meggy! She felt like the biggest change to me but I think it’s mainly the hair being the reason. Originally I was keeping the long hair, but when I was watching the arcs and saw her inkling form didn’t have any tentacle things in the back just the front (forgive me idk if that’s what those are called a barely played splatoon) so I felt like after turning human she would first have the long hair but then cut it as a way to cope if that makes sense? Idk she seemed to have struggled for some time just trying to adjust to human form and at least she would have control over her hair. Then I gave freckles which I believe her first human model design did have them but it was so faded it was hard to tell so I tried to make em a bit more noticeable (though now that I’m looking at them maybe I should make em thicker idk yet).

Now friggen Mario. Good lord he was the last one I finished and it should not have been this hard. It’s all minor changed I feel like- I tried to make him still identifiable while still having some differences like the short sleeves, belt, and patches. That and I put his signature M on the gloves too to match SMG4 and SMG3. I was struggling with the mouth (not the cursed one just normal) because sometimes it would look off. Luigi I had more of a problem with though than Mario for whatever reason; maybe it’s the mustache.

Which speaking of Luigi as the final one for the list thing. He definitely gave me turtle neck vibes so I wanted to give him that, plus a belt that has those little bag strap things or whatever you call them to hold stuff like maybe some flower seeds or whatever he needs to. And I only did one of those little drawings with a mouth but when I tried doing it for the others it felt off. Probably for future drawings with these refs I’ll add mouths or won’t depending on the mood.

And yeah those are my redesigns. Definitely wanna do the others like Tari and Saiko for example. But some I know will be tricky because I don’t really know what I could add for redesigns like Mr. Puzzles and Karen for example. But we’ll see.

Part 2 of SMG4 Redesigns

[starshadyy]

what your favorite splatoon character says about YOU!

obligatory “this is a joke” disclaimer, please don’t take offense i’m only being silly👉👈

☆ ★ ☆

callie: you are a diehard squid sisters fan. you have an intrinsic sense for design and are probably super creative. you hate it when people misinterpret her. others wouldn’t assume it, but you actually need therapy more than most others on this list…😔

marie: you’re really intimidating but probably super nice. you’re actually good at the game and are well-versed in the meta. you may not be the best at communication, but you have a strong intuition and are good at reading people

pearl: an absolute feral crackhead who needs to be kept on a leash. definitely queer. nasty majesty is your national anthem. you breathe life and energy into every situation you enter, and others appreciate you for it. you are pearlina’s strongest soldier! 🩷🩵

marina: you are a massive nerd /affectionate. you either wanna be her friend or you have a fat crush on her. you listen to splatoon ost all the time. your room is packed with stuff from the media you like, including mountains of plushies

shiver: you join her team during splatfests even when you don’t necessarily agree with the platform. you’re likely very sarcastic and always speak your mind. oh yeah, and you’re a weeb

frye: you loved her from the start and defended her honor back when everyone was clowning on her design. you’re very talented but humble about your accomplishments. you would bite someone if allowed

big man: you act laid back but are probably filled with anxiety. i get the vibe that you would own an unconventional pet of some kind [turtle, frog, ferret, etc.]. you’re for sure the mom friend. you know nothing about splatoon lore

captain 3: you are the BACKBONE of this fandom and i have nothing but respect for you. you’re probably ranked pretty high in competitive and are likely a completionist

agent 4: you grew up on splatoon 2 and were sure that they would show up in side order only to be… uh, half right? i’m so sorry sweet prince /gn. don’t you worry, your day [splatoon 4] is fast approaching…

eight: you’re very analytical and derive great joy from the story aspects of splatoon. you either write or read fanfiction and maybe cosplay too. you LIVE for the found family trope, and also probably ship them with captain 3. you have amazing taste :]

neo agent 3: you think lil buddy is the most adorable creature to walk the planet. you wish their initial outfit was actually accessible in the game. you’ve probably only played splatoon 3

cap’n cuttlefish: you’re an og who’s been around since splatoon 1 but still know next to nothing about the lore. you don’t main a weapon, and instead prefer to bounce around. you are… an inscrutable crackhead who i want to study

dj octavio: you’re willing to die on the hill that he is not a villain and only did what he did to support his people [you’re right btw]. you’re actually really chill and fun and i have a lot of respect for you. also, i’m liable to believe that you ship him with cuttlefish, don’t you? DON’T YOU?!?

commander tartar: you’re… ME??? villainous characters are always your favorites. you think octo expansion is a masterpiece [and you’re entirely right]. you’re a splatoon scholar and scour every obscure twitter post and artbook note to satiate your hunger for that sweet sweet lore. there’s something deeply wrong in your head.

mr. grizz: you play a lot of salmon run but are actually kinda bad at it [shhh i won’t tell]. you suffered through after alterna just for his backstory log and the bear ears. i’m going to go out on a limb here and say… you have daddy issues

smollusk: you LOVE the idea that marina and pearl are its adoptive moms. you’ve beaten side order with every palette. you overuse the “🥺” emoji. you miiight be a little annoying, but your heart is in the right place… probably

acht: either the chillest person you’ll ever meet or the most insane. probably both. you’re 100% queer and probably neurodivergent too. i bet you listen to will wood and / or tally hall. i wanna be your friend

harmony: you know every chirpy chips song by heart. you’re probably really sweet and i know you make banger fanart. you have an affinity for cute things and i bet your favorite pokémon type is fairy. DEFINITELY neurodivergent.

cq cumber: ???you both confuse and frighten me!!! what can i even say? you’re a cryptid! but honestly, you’re kinda iconic. i salute you, you freak of nature🫡

iso padre: I LOVE YOU. you’re accepting of all people and are just an absolute saint in general. daddy issues, but you’re coping way better than the grizz fans. also, i’m betting that you’re neurodivergent

sheldon: i didn’t think you existed, but turns out that you do? you actually listen to his rambles. splatoon 2 is your favorite game in the series. you’re able to see the value in things that others tear down and y'know what? i respect that [not saying i approve of your character choice though]

judd: wait, why him? ohh wait, i know! you probably just don’t care about splatoon’s story at all and / or love cats. there, that’s totally it, right?

lil judd: you either DON’T know his lore and just like the cute little kitten, or you DO know his lore and you’re unhinged. i’m scared of you

spyke: you’d bark for him without hesitation and DON’T pretend you wouldn’t. you clown. you absolute freak. i know what you are. /j

murch: if i had to bet, you’re probably the shy type who prefers to let others do the talking for them. you might secretly be a little freaky though, and i think you should embrace that side of yourself. you’re safe here. be free.

[badchoicesworld]

hello hello hi ! i hope you're doing well ! may i request a miles!42 and hobie with like a butterfly mutated reader (masc) ? ironically he's more bug than beauty and has alot of features that he tries to hide (antennae, long ears and :3 mouth that opens up to a long tongue to suck up food ? he has teeth too but theyre sharp with fangs in the splatoon inkling way. skin is like a bug's sort of hard and exoskeletonly and bro is just really fluffy. like his wrists and neck have fluff)

reader is a result of like a weird science experiment gone wrong so he sort of feels like an alien trying to fit in whenever his features pop out. he just wants to live an ordinary life but somehow keeps on gettinh pulled in the middle of every superhero fight there is :'). also ! ARTKIDDD

im sorry if the req got really specific to work w aha :') hope you have a good one !

hobie brown and miles42 with butterfly mutated boyfriends !

huge fan of these mutated readers, i am however a tmnt man so (i fuckin see you btw, my most active friend and that tmnt blog)

separate, established relationships

warnings: nah

pairing: hobie brown x masc!reader, miles morales!42 x masc!reader

requests: check out my guide/masterlist

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

we all know hobie’s a massive fan of making a statement, so he thinks that you look absolutely incredible with your mutation

will likely go through a phase of insisting you should embrace it and flaunt it, he’s gotta be told a few times that you just wanna live an ordinary life

sounds a little boring to him, but whatever suits you, y’know?

he’s not the guy to go to however for tips on how to blend in, do not ask

you’ve got a butterfly mutation, he’s got a spider mutation- he calls you the bug boys sometimes when he’s feeling hyped up and you can feel how you wanna feel about that

if you ever tell him about your mutation, about the experiments and such, it just fuels hobie’s habit of antagonising authority n all that

you’re like walking proof of the government taking advantage of the people through the systems they put in place to protect them but in reality are just some form of propaganda to give the public false hope and sense of security

yeah, hobie wasn’t surprised when you told him

not too pressed over it either since it’s been and done, no point in getting worked up over something thats irreversible and apart of you now

feels disrespectful to even feel bad to a degree

of course he feels bad that you were experimented on, but he’s not gonna say anything about your actual mutation

does however have something inappropriate to say about ur tongue im sorry

yknow what hard skins good for ? drawing on, let him please

yknow what fluff around you ur neck and wrists is great for ? hobie and his desperation for contact, ur mad comfy dawg

he likes to wear his studded collars and wrist bands in the same places as your fur sometimes, matching innit

hobie absolutely recognised how badly you want to have an ordinary life, so can honestly empathise and sympathise when you somehow manage to find yourself sucked into every super scrap in the city

he can try diverge the fights, but can’t promise a thing since they tend to be unpredictable

hobie’s plenty happy to diverge from large crowds with you if it helps you stick out less, he’ll navigate for the two of you and somehow come up with insane routes to get to where you need to be

will diy you clothes tailored to your mutation, shirts with holes in the back for your wings just so they don’t have to be uncomfortably folded under clothes n stuff

miles42

i feel like with society going up in flames, standing out is something you generally wanna avoid in earth42, just doesn’t seem so safe

so miles definitely goes the extra mile (ha) to make sure you’re not gonna stick out too much

if you’re smaller than him he’ll for sure lend you certain things to wear if they cover you up well enough, he knows just about every nook and cranny in the city to hide in whenever your features decide to make a guest appearance

like if you’re ever just walking down a street then your antenna poke out, he’s very fast to act and doesn’t make a big deal out of it

now you either just chill in an alley together or start making your way home through the intricate backstreets miles can effortlessly navigate

he appreciates your mutation though, it’s one of them things that he can silently admire and daydream about instead of worrying about the future

realistically ? you could be a result of a really shitty human experiment gone wrong at oscorp, god knows they can take advantage of the people without a spider-man to protect them

if you ever reveal this to miles, he’s obviously upset, but it’s probably predicted at this point

i imagine in his universe that they’re a force to be reckoned with

asks his mum to make things for you sometimes, to help you feel better about your appearance and to help hide certain features that you wanna

can completely understand your desire to want an ordinary life, he does too

he’ll help you achieve it, it’s one of his dreams and he can only hope to share it

your mutation takes time to get used to but it gets to the point where miles simply won’t bat an eye at your mutation, he treats you like any other person in the world except he loves you- wants so badly for you to feel normal if that’s what you want

in the least condescending way he will insist from time to time for you to stay home, just for your own safety if he starts to notice a particular rise in stats

he completely understands your desire to just blend in, but it’s not worth it if you’re genuinely at risk

he gets into the habit of doodling butterfly features on scraps of paper, on the back of his hand during classes- you’re on his mind a lot

says that he’s indifferent towards ur fluff but then he’ll fix it up for you after putting a shirt on and it’s a lil outta sorts

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

sorry this is kinda brief and not great, i’ve been out of it for the longest time but i’m tryna provide 💪💪

[pocketmania]

So I managed to catch covid despite my best efforts and with it on type of my other chronic illnesses I feel like shit and am somewhat delirious.

As a result I am humbly requesting some illness comfort hcs for splatoon. Your choice on characters but I'd like it if you at least include Dedf1sh. Gender neutral or nonbinary reader please.

Thank you for your service 🫡

Man, that sucks. I'm so sorry you've been feeling so icky, anon. I hope you make a speedy recovery and feel better <3 !!

I'm gonna do all of the idols (including Big Man) because I don't wanna leave everyone out + I feel like they'd all have some unique way of going about your illnesses. I'm also so sorry for the wait! I've been busy recently, so I'm sorry (to everyone) if posting and responding is slow!

Now onto the thingy

‎‧₊˚✧[ The Idols W/ a Sick!Reader ]✧˚₊‧

(🎨🔫👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨💭) - splatoon headcanons

(reader type) - gender neutral

‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

- - - - - - -

Callie

♨ Callie is the type of person to follow all those clichés you see on T.V.

♨ Shrimp soup, ice pack on the head, thermometer in the mouth, absolutely no moving or leaving your room whatsoever, all that stuff

♨ She's not a doctor but she thinks she might be able to help

♨ The MILLISECOND she hears you sniff or cough, it is straight to bed with you

♨ If you throw up or something she'll be there to hold your tentacles back (if they're long enough)

♨ If she sees you out of bed other than to go to the bathroom she will throw a FIT and drag you back to bed

♨ She will do all the chores in the house and will cook for you, regardless if it's just a common cold or not

♨ You got sick around the time Grizz was defeated, so she had a lot of free time other than the occasional acting gig and the release of Wave Goodbye.

♨ Checks up on you every second

♨ Cuddles with you despite knowing she'll get sick too

♨ ❝ Quit it, you idiot! You're gonna catch a bug!

♨ ❝ Guess who doesn't care! ♪"

♨ She shares all the drama and gossip she's heard when she gets home if she has stuff to do

♨ Keeps you company while you rot in bed <3

Marie

♨ She's a lot more lenient than Callie, let's just make that clear

♨ Marie believes that, as long as you're not on the brink of death and it's a simple symptom, you don't have to be bedridden.

♨ You got sick around the time Grizz was defeated as well, so she had a lot of free time, too

♨ Except Thursday nights, because that's when she has her podcast "Marie After Midnight"

♨ You're allowed to help with chores, but she does all the cooking

♨ Mutualism, y'know?

♨ Also shares drama and gossip with you that she's heard while out and stuff as she checks your temperature n' all

♨ ❝ So then she said that she broke up with him-oops, you've got a fever-but then she was seen kissing him, like, an hour later!"

♨ She's still physical with you. She just keeps her distance a lot more

♨ She may not be a doctor, but she's certainly your personal nurse

Pearl

♨ The moment she found out you were sick it was a direct trip to MakoMart for medicine

♨ Her diagnosis was that you hadn't been treating yourself very well

♨ Pearl definitely isn't experienced with taking care of people medically since she grew up rich and didn't really have to do any of that stuff

♨ She knows about medicine and bandages and that's about it

♨ Buys literally all the medicine in stock

♨ Only the best medical care for her pookie wookie

♨ She does all the cooking and cleaning. She doesn't give a slug's ass what you came down with. You are not overworking yourself on her watch

♨ You got sick just before Off the Hook went on tour, so it threw a small wrench into the plan, but that was alright!

♨ She could make it work! (With the help of time management from Marina)

♨ Pearl isn't too good at cooking by the way, so it'll just be fruit or something that doesn't require more effort than a microwave and boiling water

♨ ❝ Okay, so I accidentally set the water on fire, so it'll just be fruit instead of noodles today.

♨ ❝ You what???

♨ But yeah give her a chance she tries her best </3

Marina

♨ Marina is probably the most medically trained person on this list

♨ Becomes a professional mother

♨ You also got sick around the time Off the Hook was going on tour, so that made her a bit busier since she had to work on the tour, the memverse, and make sure you didn't die

♨ So what did she prescribe? Love, it was the only medicine! That and prednisone

♨ She's almost as lenient as Marie but as caring as Callie

♨ Since she was in the military, she learned a bunch of ways to treat sick people, so she's a wiz at this

♨ She doesn't want you completely immobilized, so she lets you help with chores and cooking

♨ Will check in with you every once is a while, but when she does she asks a gazillion questions at a time

♨ ❝ Hey, (N/N), are you feeling any better? Are you hungry, thirsty, do you have a headache? Do you need medicine? Are you too hot, too cold?

♨ ❝ Just trying to process everything you just said.

♨ Makes songs dedicated to you and sings them at concerts (which always make you feel better)

Shiver

♨ Shiver, being the youngest of the Hohojiro family, doesn't know all that much about medicine

♨ But she tries her best, especially for you! Is that a lie? No!

♨ She definitely gets advice from Frye and Big Man. They even help take care of you sometimes

♨ She makes a bit more of a deal about it than she should

♨ You got sick around the leader splatfest (that goes for all of Deep Cut), so of course Shiver was all over you during the halftime break

♨ ❝ (N/N)? Please tell me you're okay! You haven't thrown up, right? Do you have a fever? I could get you some water and a fan if you do!

♨ She asked when all you wanted was a Crabby Cake.

♨ Shiver, no matter how much she loves you, will never admit that she had to get help from someone else

♨ Takes you everywhere just so you're in her sight, even while she's out banditting

♨ Orders Master Mega (or one of the Deep Cut members) to carry you around everywhere

♨ She mostly cooks you spicy food, even if it's mild

♨ Shiver is always cold (as her name kinda suggests) so she'll hug you when you get too hot

♨ Will buy you anything and everything you want, just like Pearl would

♨ Basically your gremlin helper

Frye

♨ Frye's family has a bunch of remedies that probably aren't safe to the public

♨ Big Man has repeatedly told her not to use these remedies as a last resort

♨ ❝ Just take 3 of these a day, she says as she holds up what is possibly the most toxic food known to inkling and octoling kind

♨ Other than that, she's good at treating people. Like i said before, she's got siblings, so she kinda had to be

♨ Frye's like Marie when it comes to stuff like this because she also believes that, as long as you're not on your death bed, you'll be fine

♨ With that said, she will not hesitate to carry you around and do everything for you

♨ ❝ Oh, yeah, no, straight to bed! C'mon, I'll carry you! You can work, but don't overwork yourself, man! I'll finish cleaning the dishes, just don't die on me!

♨ ❝ Frye, all I said was,'I feel kinda hot'.

♨ Just like with Shiver, the rest of Deep Cut helps out with taking care of you, too

♨ She mostly cooks you sweet food

♨ Frye is a human heater (as her name kinda suggests), so she'll hug you when you get cold

♨ Trust me when I say she'll barely treat you any different from when you weren't sick

♨ She'll still throw her banter-punches and lean on you and shake you and all

♨ Just be ready to take care of her when she gets sick from that :,]

Big Man

♨ Probably the most caring person on this list next to Marina

♨ He is a LOT more normal out of the other two members of Deep Cut

♨ And since he's a naturally caring person he makes a great caretaker

♨ Big Man's family definitely has remedies they use, too. Except these remedies are actually safe to use on people

♨ Mostly cooks you sour food, even if it's mild

♨ He is always prepared; he's got tons of medicine and tissues for when you guys go out together (and barf bags..)

♨ Big Man believes you're a capable person, so he'll also let you help with chores and cooking until he sees that you're tired/dizzy

♨ Then he'll send you right back to bed and spend the rest of the day caring for you

♨ ❝ Ay? Ay ay. ((N/N)? Do you need anything? More water, or more blankets?)

♨ ❝ I'd like for you to just be with me, if that's okay.

♨ Starts gushing over the entire thing and spends the rest of the day with you. Chores can come at the end

♨ At that moment, you thought you were cured

Acht

♨ There are a lot of people on this list who let you fend for yourself holy hell

♨ You got sick just after the Side Order DLC would've been completed, so Acht didn't have anything better to do than hang out with Marina or make music

♨ Acht seems like a "tough love" kinda character (that's also very caring at the same time), so that's why I feel like they'd be another character like that

♨ Though they still cook and clean for you from time to time! Albeit they're.. not the best cook..

♨ (You're better off ordering out.)

♨ Sometimes, if they think you've worked enough, they'll throw you over the shoulder and carry you

♨ Acht doesn't know medicine as well as Marina (considering they're a dropout) so they go to Marina for advice

♨ Acht might fuck up the procedure once or twice, but it all works out in the end! They try, trust me

♨ Also keeps you company while you rot away in bed

♨ Lets you suggest music for them to make (and its always good)

♨ Not always prepared but always ready to seek out the things you need

♨ ❝ Hey, you need tissues? Alright, lemme see if I have some.

♨ The combination of their personality and the way they care for you makes you oh-so-happy

♨ Even after you've gotten better, you still think you're sick.. sick with love that is

♨ Corny, I know, but it's true

- - - - - - -

‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅

[zaptap]

i kind of wonder if, when they say the four seasonal splatfests will rerun, that means they'll do so continually until switch online shuts down

like it used to be that splatfests were unique events and so when they stopped adding to the game it meant we stopped getting splatfests. we've all been assuming this would continue this time as well.

but due to covid they decided to rerun a few splatoon 2 splatfests a year or so later, and suddenly they weren't unique anymore. still, they were limited and soon splatfests were over again, but since they'd already moved on from splatoon 2 and were definitely focusing on splatoon 3, it made sense to do that. that might not happen again this time--splatoon 4's probably a ways away still

if they approached splatoon 3's development with the precedent that splatfests can just be rerun later... what if they're setting it up so that just happens indefinitely with the seasonal ones? kind of like how in animal crossing there are seasonal events that loop each year (the two series have common devs, after all)

s1 and s2 both made changes to account for the absence of splatfests by their final updates. there were other ways to get snails, and in s2 you could do splatfest stages in private battles and you got a splatfest tee replica. none of that is in s3. is that because they're saving it for after reruns end? or because they never will end?

definitely would be a positive if they kept going. it helps the game retain more of its value (since you know nintendo will be selling s3 for $60 right up until the shop closes, just as they did with s1 and as they'll probably do with s2 as well) and it means the tricolor/10x badges won't be missable (same with the big run badges and at least some of the locker decorations)

other thing that occurred to me: all of these seasonal splatfests were in the middle month of the season (splatoween in october, frostyfest in january, springfest in april, summer nights in july). big runs are always the first month of the season. eggstra work doesn't follow as consistent a pattern, but half of them have been in the third month of the season--going forward, they could possibly always be in the third month, which would mean we'd get a splatoon 3 event of some sort every single month (and there's also gold salmon run rotations, which are already always in the third month of the season even if eggstra work doesn't fill that spot)

[dogtoling]

probably an unpopular opinion but i still think Splatoon 1 has the best graphics style in the series

the graphics were so much moodier and darker, shadows were really prominent giving it a much more gritty and realistic feel

The far-off environmental elements had a nice blur that gives them a bit of a dreamlike quality IMO.

I know the top picture is a sunset level, but; seriously is it just me? Why is everything in Splatoon 2 SO CRISP AND BRIGHT AND NEON? I talked about (probably 2 years ago at this point) how Splatoon 2 feels like it's an evolution and commercialization of Turf Wars into a product and a brand rather than how in Splatoon 1 they had a much more backstreet, discreet, shady feeling. And I feel like the graphics carry that over weirdly enough.

But most importantly, the ink and the Inklings themselves; ever since Splatoon 2 came out and people started going "omg the ink looks so good now!" i. literally never agreed with that. even with Splatoon 3 i STILL THINK the ink looks the best in Splatoon 1. In Splatoon 2 and 3, they have really been leaning into making the ink extremely neon and super saturated, and I don't think it looks great. I can't really even pinpoint the difference here (especially not with the Inklings themselves, but).

(Splatoon 1 above, Splatoon 2 under)

The Inklings in humanoid form don't stray away from having dull or dark colored tentacles in different lighting conditions, and even the ink itself is nowhere near as saturated as it is, leaning more into quieter or pastel tones. Again, it makes it look nice paired with the darker graphics of the game, and somehow it feels really at home and pretty natural? The difference in the model of the Inkling itself is also a mystery of me, it might be a case of less shading or less specular making it look flatter and that's more pleasing to the eye than how shiny they are nowadays, ESPECIALLY in Splatoon 2. The ink is notably flatter than it is in newer games, and if it wasn't obvious I definitely think it still just, looks the best? Don't ask me how. (The squids also look amazing. Like gummy.)

just thought about putting that out there. Anyone else's thoughts on the games' graphics?

[aviivix]

IMPORTANT EDIT MAY 18 2024

A lot about this has changed since I originally wrote this up, especially around act 3 since while right now it’s still up in the air between a few different ideas, the act 3 in this post is cringe-tier and I’m embarrassed for having wrote it. Another significant enough change to mention here is that old Agent 3 and Agent 8 now join Off the Hook as antagonists, and recruiting “enemy” Octolings is now a core mechanic that the story anchors around more heavily. Also, Cy actually looks good now.

I’ll do a revised writeup of this at some point, but for now, take most of this with a grain of salt! A lot has changed. Now, flashback to about a year ago!

Soooo... I’ve been dead for a while and that’s because I’ve been fixated entirely on Splatoon 3 basically since it launched and all this time I’ve been working on an AU/HC/Fanfic/Something Like That called Culture Shock.

Given this has been something I’ve been working on for a LONG time, and given it’s entirely tied to Octarians, I figure I might as well make a big post about it before Side Order totally invalidates it! (Though I’ll keep working on this as an AU even if I don’t like how it interacts with Side Order.)

Details and more art under the break! (Though the quality will vary greatly as, again, I’ve been doing stuff with this since Splatoon 3 came out.) This is an extremely long story concept and if you read the whole thing I officially owe you my soul

There's a LOT to this (as there is with any hyperfixation concept like this) but I'll try to keep it somewhat light on details. Of course, it’s subject to change, and the exact plot progression is still kind of in the air. A big part is whether the climax of Act II should actually happen at the end of Act I... But here’s what I’ve developed so far.

The Story

Prologue

Culture Shock is designed as a DLC story mode set a year after the end of Splatoon 3's main story. The Squid Sisters have disappeared at some point in that time (a familiar situation), and ol' Cuttlefish has called in all of the agents-- plus Pearl and Marina-- to join forces against the Octarians that are undoubtedly behind it. Rather than going into stages alone, the levels are designed for you to do them with CPU teammates.

It's pretty quickly made certain that Octarians were involved, and thus the group is airlifted by Off the Hook into Octo Valley to find Callie and Marie. Upon landing, the player is ambushed by a group of Octolings -- that is, until one member in the backline pulls down her mask and excitedly calls out. It’s Callie? And though she doesn’t immediately unmask, Marie is definitely next to her.

After some confusion and accusations from both sides, the Squid Sisters assure the Squidbeak Splatoon that they’re not brainwashed, and offer to explain everything. Though Marie warns that it’s a long story, so the group settle down by ol’ Cuttlefish’s shack for a massive flashback played from the perspective of the Squid Sisters.

(Gameplay-wise, this whole setup is to allow the player to interrupt the Squid Sisters’ sequence at any time, and then pick up where they left off. It being a flashback also means it’s easy to replay missions or go for 100% by just asking Callie to repeat something.)

Funny title card, and the real story officially starts. I’m gonna skip through things a lot more, since at this pace it would take WAY too long to summarize every little scene and there are a lot of things not really settled on. I’ll be keeping detail for the introduction, as well as some key scenes, but for any less important/in-between type stuff, I’ll be summarizing what happens. Even doing this it will be extremely long, though Act I is far bigger than Acts II and III because it’s primarily setting up the world and motivations.

Act I

Introductory cutscene, in which the Squid Sisters find themselves stuck in purple ink, locked in an Octarian vault. The Octarians who squidnapped them keep their distance, though one particular Octoling does try to chat (to the annoyance of the others).

She claims that the Octarians will let them go in time, and that they won’t be hurt - though the Squid Sisters are suspicious at best. And, after noticing their discomfort in the Octarian ink, she offers them her Octoshot to paint the ground their own color. As the Octoling goes back to standing guard, Callie inks the floor and the two slump over, one of them idly singing the Calamari Inkantation under her breath.

Fade to when the Octoling swaps guard duty with another Octoling, who leans up against the wall and, after the first Octoling leaves, promptly falls asleep. Callie realizes she still has the Octoshot from before, and suggests slipping through the keyhole in squid form. With help from Marie, she’s able to get out on her own, and sets out to find the key to the vault. (This serves as a tutorial for stealth missions - though the guard will not wake up even if you fail.)

After freeing Marie, the two of them head towards the door, whispering about how crazy it was that the guard slept through all of that. The guard then dully tells them that he wasn’t asleep. The Squid Sisters prepare for a fight, but the guard barely has his eyes open and has not moved. After some back and forth with Callie, this Wendy’s employee of an Octoling just assures them that if he could beat them, it wouldn’t have even gotten to this point, and tells them to do whatever they want - just warning them that the other Octarians wouldn’t be so lenient.

An Octoling watches them come out, but just looks around frantically before running up to meet them. Marie declares that they’re breaking out, and prepares for a fight... but the Octoling starts freaking out instead, first worrying that they’ll get hurt trying to escape, and then worrying about what the rest of the Octarians are going to do with the Squid Sisters gone.

Before either Inkling can interject, a much more stern Octoling calls out while angrily marching up to the group. Through this conversation the Squid Sisters learn that the worried Octoling is named Aris, the tired Octoling is named Oregil, and this new more angry Octoling is named Cy. What originally seemed to be a jailbreak quickly turns into some (rather silly) negotiations with Cy, the Squid Sisters trying to convince her that Aris didn’t do anything wrong, and that Oregil totally did all he could to stop them.

Though Cy clearly doesn’t buy it, she lets it go, returning Aris’s Octoshot but also warning the Squid Sisters that their squadron’s mission is of utmost importance, and if the rest of them won’t do their jobs properly, she will. That said, the two of them just broke out of the only vault they had. So now, the Squid Sisters have to just stay in camp under Cy’s supervision.

With no more weapon to brandish and a clearly blown cover, the two of them kind of have no choice but to agree. Though Marie alludes to how dysfunctional this squad appears to be, and how easy it will probably be to escape.

Though before the conversation ends, Aris asks if “Tetra” will be okay with this. There’s a sort of tension in the air immediately upon mention of the name, immediately pierced by an intimidating voice asking what was going on. This was an Elite Octoling, apparently Tetra. After a recap from Cy, Tetra turns to the surrounded Squid Sisters, and tells them in no uncertain terms to always remember that they are prisoners - they are not one of them.

From here on out, the rest of Act I is a sort of slow burn. At the start, it’s purely the Squid Sisters looking for ways to escape. But as time goes on, they learn more about these Octarians by sort of living their life, and through learning about the octo squad themselves.

Aris is kind, possibly to a fault. While she’s committed to the squadron and their goals, she’s also the most both-sides-ist of the bunch. She wants to think that everyone is trying their best, and does everything she can to avoid conflict, but as a result she doesn’t speak up as much when the Squid Sisters make faulty assumptions about them, and she uninentionally hinders their growth at the start by letting them hide behind her leniency. Over the course of Act I, she eventually has to realize she can’t just hold everyone’s opinion equally - the Squid Sisters are making judgements off of bad information, and she realizes that her enabling that is making it harder for everyone.

Cy is the opposite. Cy is deeply passionate about their situation, and takes any opportunity to show the Squid Sisters what they get wrong. She especially butts heads with Marie, having little patience for the various non-solutions to their problems, or for the ignorance about Octarian culture. She’s extremely well connected among Octarians, even having worked with Octavio himself, although she doesn’t seem thrilled about it. Thus, despite coming across as very headstrong and aggressive, she also is the source of a lot of information about Octarian life.

Oregil is a self-proclaimed realist - in actuality, a doomer. He doesn’t say much, but what he does say is not particularly hopeful. When put in charge of something, he doesn’t tend to have a lot of energy behind it, as he’s become convinced that, in the end, Octarians cannot be saved. That said, it would be wrong to call him fully complacent. He still sticks with the team, even if he doesn’t have much energy to contribute, and would rather go down with his sinking ship than abandon his friends and family. Though he always seems to be napping on the job, he never actually does, though not for lack of trying. He has insomnia, and it’s rare to find him asleep at all even when laying in bed.

The Elite Octoling Tetra rarely shows herself. The only things the Squid Sisters have seen of her is that she’s intimidating, and not to be reckoned with. But the way the others talk about her and interact with her betray a different story. Oregil is flippant about her commands and doesn’t actually give anything his all. Cy goes along with Tetra’s commands, but seemingly only due to her own reasons aligning with Tetra’s rather than out of any respect for her authority. Aris obeys, but the way she acts and talks about it makes it almost feel like she’s obeying out of pity.

Lastly, there is also a fifth mysterious Octoling that the Squid Sisters will occasionally grab a passing glimpse of. They don’t know who this Octoling is, and whenever she’s mentioned, the others assure them that “she’s nobody”.

As the act goes on, Callie especially pries deeply into the hows and whys of a lot of Octo stuff. She had been in Octarian territory before in Splatoon 2, sure, but she was being brainwashed by DJ Octavio himself and held up as a superstar. This time, she was fully aware of herself, and living the life of the average Octoling soldier in the time between Octavio’s Zapfish heists.

The two of them wonder why the sun hasn’t come up, and learn that without the Great Zapfish, the kettle’s “sun” cannot shine. It’s a land of eternal night. The Octolings seem to live on a diet of mostly power eggs and salmon, which they learn is because without light, most crops don’t grow. Many little things like this illustrating just how resource-starved this nation is.

There are a lot of assumptions made and corrected. A lot of complaints put into perspective when the things they find uncomfortable or annoying are things these Octarians have had to deal with every day. But one of the biggest things is their ideas of resolution. An early question being, “Why don’t you just leave? Inkopolis is a stone’s throw away.”

There are a lot of answers that are given to this, but to some effect, they all boil down to “culture”. Inkopolis isn’t the same as Octaria. It has different people, different history, different fashion, different food, different expectations... it’s just a totally different place.

Oregil’s lived in Octarian society his whole life - it’s his home. Cy is an artist, she makes distinctly Octarian music and sees firsthand how it connects those in Octarian communities. Aris knows Octolings are “accepted”, but only insofaras they appeal to Inkling expectations. It’s hard to express their culture without being seen as weird or other. Even little things like how they look - Octolings in Inkopolis tending to make their hair slimmer, straighter, adding patterns and minimizing the amount of visible suckers. Plus, how many non-Octoling Octarians do you see in Inkopolis and beyond? Maybe an Octoling can fit in, but what about an Octotrooper?

The most impactful realization for the Squid Sisters as well, is just how few Octarians are even there anymore. Between the exodus in Octo Valley, the bigger exodus in Octo Canyon, the horrors of Octo Expansion, and just recently the similar horrors of Alterna... all stacked on top of the nation itself being less and less hospitable year by year? Since the events of Splatoon 1, so many Octarians have been lost. Within the squad they’re in, pictures and murmurings from the rest of them tell the stories of at least four other Octolings that were previously in their squadron.

So then the other aspect of the Squid Sisters’ arc is... if they don’t think Octarians should be stealing the Great Zapfish or dealing with Salmonids or anything like that... what should they be doing?

Because so far, nothing has worked for them. Negotiations fail, because Inklings don’t know enough about Octarian society to understand why they need so much support. They don’t know enough about the history of Inklings and Octolings to realize that Inkadia is largely the reason they’re suffering. The average Inkling doesn’t know enough to realize there’s a problem, and the average Octarian doesn’t have a loud enough voice.

All this compounded onto the fact that now, the only Octolings Inkadia sees are the ones who decided that Octarians were oppressing themselves, to the point where they abandoned everything they knew to live in the nation that started this in the first place.

Though, it’s hard to blame them when life in Octaria is practically nonexistent. Losing so many people, living in such horrible conditions, led by an egomaniac whose awareness of his people is performative at best... but most Octolings can’t let that take away from who they are as a people. They don’t let it tear their communities apart, or sever the bonds they have with people. Their lived experiences show them that it’s worth fighting for. Well... except in one scenario we’ll get into later.

The final important thing that comes to light over this period... This whole time Octavio has barely come up, because he doesn’t even know the Squid Sisters are there. The squadron are a real squadron in the Octarian army, but this whole mysterious operation involving the Squid Sisters is entirely outside Octavio’s control. In fact, it becomes apparent that the Octarians at least in this squadron or associated with this squadron, hate Octavio and everything he’s been doing to their society as a whole.

They’ve always seen the Zapfish heists as a horrible, horrible ego trip. An extremely hollow, expensive move that only plants targets on the backs of Octarians. But even in feeling that way, Aris and Oregil both admit that there isn’t much else offering them hope. If not for Octavio stealing the Zapfish for those couple days of “sun”light, what would they be doing? Though Cy has a much more strong opinion there, asserting that doing nothing would have put those resources into survival rather than gambling it all on a fool’s errand.

Needless to say, the Squid Sisters get a bit wrapped up in this stuff. Talking to these Octolings, learning about their life, living it, offering to help (gameplay sections), and all around having a lot of beliefs challenged. It’s a lot of stuff that they are only able to wrap their mind around from actually knowing what it’s like to live through it, without the option to just leave when it gets too rough.

While at the beginning they were just looking for an opening to escape, by the halfway point they aren’t even really being watched anymore, let alone trying to break out. Tetra may call them prisoners, but by that point they’ve had so many opportunities to just walk away. The only thing keeping them there is the fact that if they leave, what will happen? And can they confidently say that it’s the Octarians’ fault for it happening?

By the end, their primary objective is to find something they can do to actually give them a shot. And for that... they’ll need more than just the two of them. The idea of bringing in the Squidbeak Splatoon is immediately dismissed as insane by Cy - especially the idea of bringing in THE Agent 3. But after a little while, with Oregil indifferent as always and Aris on board, she comes around, though warning that Tetra will not like it, and they could be accidentally luring Agent 3 into a death trap. But it’s a risk they decide to let the Captain decide for themself.

Act II

Acts II and III are far less elaborate, because this is after all the characters have been established, and the world has been largely explored.

Act II kicks off with there being a lot of reactions. (As a note, the Octolings with the Squid Sisters at the present time are Oregil, Aris, and Cy. In their own ways, they’re uncomfortable in the presence of Captain 3. Cy and Oregil also seem to have an attitude with how they look at Marina.) A lot of disbelief, but also, to some degree, understanding. Naturally, Captain 3 is skeptical, taking a moment to contemplate what they’re being asked to do.

But around this time, Marina cuts in, asserting that regardless of the cause, Octarian society is inherently a problem. That’s why she left. She accuses the squadron of perpetuating DJ Octavio’s oppressive rule, and that they could have their cake and eat it too just by moving to Inkopolis.

The group go back and forth, with escalating emotions and accusations, until Pearl declares that, whatever they’re plotting, Off the Hook and the Squidbeak Splatoon will put a stop to it. Silence falls over the group, until Marie retaliates saying that she doesn’t think she can in good conscience fight against people who are only trying to exist.

The other agents start taking the Octarians’ side, even Agent 8 who, despite hesitating given their trust in Off the Hook, still resonates too strongly with the plight of the Octarians to turn their back on them fully. Pearl is taken aback, but after a glance at a very betrayed Marina, declares the Squidbeak Splatoon their enemy too, Marina locking eyes with Agent 8 before Off the Hook take their leave.

Cy remarks that it’s a shame, but she understands exactly why Marina is acting this way. Callie asks why, but Cy just assures her that Marina isn’t stupid, so if everything goes right, she’ll come around. Aris tells the player where the kettle’s entrance is, and at their leisure, they can join the Octarians there.

Upon entering the kettle as the player Cy assumes you know how things work, and there are a few filler travel stages to break the story up a little, before eventually the group return to see Tetra emerge for the first time, locking eyes with Captain 3, removing her goggles for the first time, and immediately going on the attack. Captain 3 drops their weapon and holds up their hands, but Tetra still rushes them down, holding both Dark Tetra Dualies up to their face.

After a long moment of them staring each other down, Tetra narrows her eyes, throws her arms down in a burst of anger, and leaves without saying anything else. After a few sighs of relief across the group, the tone lightens up, and Cy guesses that Tetra won’t be bothering them - which is a relief.

The bulk of Act II itself is actually fairly underdeveloped story-wise and is a lot more gameplay focused. It reinforces a lot of the character stuff from Act I, but a big ongoing theme is repeatedly clashing with Off the Hook in various places, and getting more glimpses of the strange fifth Octoling and getting more hints as to what it really is that the squadron is planning, and why they’ve kept it hidden.

While their convictions are still the same, there is a growing level of uncertainty among the group as they feel less okay with being kept in the dark. Eventually, the Squid Sisters, Cap 3, and Agent 8 catch a glimpse of the mystery Octoling leaving, and watch them enter a building off the edge of the camp alongside the other Octolings. The Squid Sisters take the opportunity to snoop around the building, which appears to be a laboratory of some sort.

As the group search deeper within for answers, strange, distorted music can be heard - with oddly familiar vocals. It turns into a full stealth mission, until eventually towards the end you’re spotted and confronted by all four of the squadron members. Tetra warns that they were not supposed to come here, Cy is quiet for once, Aris is quiet as usual, and Oregil... actually looks motivated to stop you.

Of course this is a video game and you win that horrible 4v4, breaking through into the room ahead to find that fifth Octoling in a room full of synthesizers, speakers and computers. She calls for Cy, before turning around and realizing who it actually is.

Marie asks the obvious question, of what the hell this is, and the fifth Octoling who introduces herself as Sock, answers that this is a studio, actually. Well, a lab and a studio. Maybe it should be called a studyo. Weirdly lighthearted for what the group was expecting.

Cy, having respawned and entered behind them, is audibly defeated as she guesses an explanation can’t be avoided.

The studio was used over this entire period to study the effects of a song whose influence is as potent as it is destructive... the Calamari Inkantation. It’s the song that spawned not one, but two mass exoduses. It has an undeniable impact on the cephaling psyche. And, as they know, it’s one of the most important songs to not only the Squid Sisters, but Inkadia as a whole.

The fact that the Inkantation can grab the mind so easily when it isn’t being actively fought, and cause such extremely psychological changes... it was, and still is, one of the biggest problems Octaria has had to deal with. And up until recently, there was little you could do about the Inkantation besides actively study its influence.

What they found, was that it was able to simply cloud out your own lived experience. It would walk you down mental shortcuts, take advantage of the simplicity of certain ideas, and corrupt experiences that contradicted it. Causing Octolings to simply leave their struggling communities, their memories twisted with the idea that they’ve somehow invented their own struggle, corrupted only to enable the Octoling to gravitate towards assimilation without dissonance.

The only Octolings welcome in Inkadia are those who have listened to and internalized the Inkantation... those who, consciously or not, allow it to twist their memories and reshape who they are as people.

It’s a lot. Some Octolings are more resistant than others, and some, like Sock here, have managed to reverse engineer it and escape that way. Sock, an Octoling raised in Inkopolis, raised with the Inkantation, and only later exposed to its flaws - without memories of Octaria to have been twisted by it, she was only able to create new ones, to learn from those who live Octaria every day, rather than being stuck behind a layer of cognitive dissonance.

Of course, other Octolings simply could not leave. The new experiences formed after the Inkantation constantly falsify the old, corrupted memories, and reinforce the reality. But many Octolings, upon being swayed by the Inkantation, simply left and assimilated into Inkling societies.

The idea that the Inkantation is not only not good, but actively a corrupting force, was not something Cy nor any of the squadron were confident the Squid Sisters or anyone else exposed to the Inkantation would be able to process. And without that, how else would they understand the importance of their mission - to reverse the effects of the Inkantation using the strange, distorted song the group have been hearing.

Taking a lot of voice samples from the Squid Sisters was the only way they would be able to relpicate the sound that originally entranced those under the Inkantation’s effects. That’s why they needed to go for broke and resort to squidnapping. The Inkantation being a strong corrupting force meant that it was unpredictable how they would react to learning the truth behind the song, while still at least partially under the effects of it.

And that’s also why Cy said of Marina that she understands why she’s so hostile - Marina is one of the most deeply Inkantationed Octolings.

A lot of the breakdowns of how the Inkantation affects Octolings also resonates extremely strongly with Agent 8 - who, despite how prominent and overpowering the Inkantation was, was still able to hold onto friendly feelings around Octarians, and frustrations around their place in Inkling society. So many weird, dissonant feelings, are starting to make sense. But also, a lot of really awful feelings are starting to surface as well - traumatic feelings, now that they’re starting to think back on their life, and counterbalancing that to the horrors they witnessed in the Deepsea Metro. Horrifying, but... real. So, so, horribly real.

This is their last shot. If they can reverse the Inkantation across Inkopolis... who knows what it would achieve. But the plan, at the very least, is unity and community. Cy admits that in all likelihood, most Octolings will stay in Inkopolis even after the Inkantation is cleared. That’s their home now - they have new friends, new commitments, a new life... and there’s not much of a home to return to in Octaria.

But, maybe, some Octolings come to visit. Maybe some Octolings come back. Maybe those that don’t, can at least use their new life in Inkopolis to raise the voices of those suffering back home, and create a real partnership - no egotistical DJ required. And not just turning Octolings into Inklings with funny hair.

Act III

Well, once this whole reveal happens, there is a lot of internal conflict, but on the face of it, there’s really nothing to argue. There’s the disgust and to a degree personal insult felt at the idea that this song that was so important to them, that became a cornerstone of Inkadia, was harmful. That they the Squid Sisters enacted that harm onto tens of thousands of Octolings.

But it’s all there. Their minds want to deny it, but there’s nothing to stand on.

At the very least, they have a rare opportunity to set things almost entirely right. And so, they take it.

The plan is simple: Do what the Inkantation did. Blast the song out to as many Octolings as possible, and then... maybe overthrow Octavio for fun just as a bonus lol

The Squid Sisters are already popstars - they can just take the song into the Inkopolis News Station, perform it live, and get it playing all over, such is how Inkopolis is with its new music. Or well, that’s how it COULD work...  if there wasn’t a sudden “NEVER GONNA HAPPEN” and muffled “Pearl--!!” coming from Agent 8′s earpiece, that they forgot to take out.

So... the easy walk-in walk-out strategy just turned into a big climactic final battle for the station. The specifics of which........ are still being ironed out, sORRY!

But generally, Pearl and Marina get backup in on the situation, and it’s a lot of small missions in one building, split across multiple teams, some stealth, some just battle, some objectives, and the final battle being a survival section over the Squid Sisters performing the song (playing as the squid sisters is cool but its not quite a Splatoon Final Boss if the Squid Sisters aren’t singing some variant of the Calamari Inkantation over it except that one time) including Pearl and Marina themselves getting in on the battle.

I’m not musical enough to think of how this would work, but it would be kinda crazy for it to sort of be objective-based by whether the Squid Sisters’ reverse-Inkantation or perhaps even Off the Hook singing the normal Inkantation is playing for more time - like a dueling song of some sort

After it’s over and you win, there’s this sort of both relief and confusion since it feels like not much happened - but it affects Marina. Like, god, does it affect Marina after everything that happened to her after the Inkantation. A lot of what she knew, the people she was close to, her life in general, all just flooding back. Suddenly realizing that these were not shadowy monsters that were out to get her, they weren’t evil clones trying to destroy the world. They were people she knew, old friends, family even, that were just trying to get by as best they could without leaving their friends and family in the dust. And then she let herself be swayed by a song, and then suddenly... how could she have just left them like that? What did she do to them? What did she do to herself?

But cutting through it all is Pearl’s voice, asking if she’s okay. Despite what she was worried about... it’s still Pearl. It didn’t make her hate Pearl or not recognize Pearl or change anything about how she felt about Pearl. It just, cleared the fog around the other people she cared about, that she had been convinced she didn’t.

So.... yeah!! Once all is said and done, Marina assures Pearl that she’s still her, that all these fears she had, didn’t happen. Plus, some minor panic over how close she got to keeping these thoughts down forever. But she didn’t, and now that it’s all over, she can let it out to Pearl and the rest of them.

Epologue

Other Octolings throughout Inkopolis start feeling similar things, though minus the Deepsea Metro trauma, and as anticipated, some of them do return. Some come back temporarily, some just have a lot to think about. Many who come back in some form or another will also sadly realize how close Octaria is to just crumbling to the ground. But over the following days, weeks, months, and years, both Octolings and Inklings work together to both raise awareness and to help reconstruction efforts.

It’s the start of a much, much, much larger social shift - that kind of also passively involves removing Octavio from power, but that’s easy enough at this point. And of course, Pearl and Marina come up with some shenanigans to get the squadron and the Squid Sisters... off the hook.

And that’s Culture Shock, the entire story exists for that one throwaway pun at the end thank you for listening you’ve been a great audience and even if this FINDS its target audience NOBODY will be able to read this before the direct that will inevitably have Side Order content which means NOBODY except ME will have the knowledge of this before their expectations are shfited by the existence of Side Order

Okay but seriously if you somehow finished all of this like, DM me on Discord @aviivix or something because we will become best friends

Also... if you can believe it... this is like maybe HALF of like all the story stuff I’ve got in Culture Shock - each member of the Octo Squad has an arc (especially Tetra she has the biggest arc but I barely mention Tetra here) and there’s big ass history with the dead Octos and a lot of specifics I didn’t touch... if you ask me about any of it I will be your best friend no questions asked.

TYSM!!!!!!!!!

[luigiblood]

F-Zero 99 - 1 Year Anniversary and the Future

F-Zero 99 is the best thing that happened to Nintendo Switch Online.

I'm not gonna say it any other way, it's been a bit more than a year, and I have 153 hours. This game is top 2 of my most played games (just under Splatoon 3 which has 253 hours).

I was one of the people who was down for this idea since the moment Pyoro teased it and when Nintendo announced it in the September 2023 Nintendo Direct.

This game received 6 content updates since its debut, and most of them are major updates, and as of October 2024, the latest update was 1.5.0, with the addition of the Ace League, making it the first time that Nintendo has ever rereleased Satellaview content in any way, worldwide.

I gotta be honest here, this game keeps on giving, Nintendo Software Technology, the team behind this game, not Arika anymore, is doing a great job.

I'm gonna talk about how I felt about this game, but also a bit of an history of datamining, about the game's future, but spoiler: I don't think this game will die anytime soon.

Happy One Year Anniversary to F-Zero 99!

Oh, and, to everyone saying this game is pissing on F-Zero's legacy as I've definitely seen a few: Go f**k yourself.

Online Quality

To anyone who loves to mock the online quality of Nintendo, you cannot do it to this game, or even any of the games of the "99" series. If you have online problems, the problem is on your side. 100%.

Either your connection's terrible in which case I cannot do anything for you, but most of the problems that I had with the game, it was all solved with either a fix of my internet connection setup (cables, Wi-Fi setup, etc), or by rebooting the Switch system entirely, this is most likely what you need to do the most.

It's not entirely perfect of course, but for the entire year of its existence, I have legit no serious complaints to make to the game.

Datamining The Future

Now... let's go over what we originally datamined at first.

I'm not gonna go over what was clearly experimental content such as a 3D Mute City I map or other things like that.

Extra Modes

We found code and references to 2 modes that have yet to be added to the game since launch:

Arcade Mode It is believed to work similar to old arcade racing games, where you have a limited time, and you go through Time Gates (also datamined) to add more time to your counter to let you either finish the course, or run out of time and rank out.

Survival Mode We found some references to it for the schedule file, but also what is feeling like to be a circle plane. I speculate it to maybe work like a battle royale where the playable place reduces in size, but it's hard to fully understand how it works at this point in time.

I have no idea when these modes would be added, if ever, actually, it's still subject to interpretation.

Extra Courses

We also found references to 4 placeholder course files:

Sulfur Swamp

Volcania

Fungus Swamp

Forest

Three of them uses recolored Mute City I and a custom but clearly placeholder background. But the inclusion of Forest placeholder was definitely an odd one.

It was actually hard to say what it could have been, but Forest is actually the name of a course in BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2 on Satellaview, and more to that, it's the name of a course that we never actually had recovered until the recent BS F-Zero Deluxe hack that used tons of tools in an attempt to reproduce them. We still don't have the original data yet, though. The bounty for that is still up, by the way.

I did definitely get my chances to suspect that maybe, NST was looking into Satellaview tracks, alongside brand new tracks, but maybe that Forest was just also a placeholder name.

But considering the inclusion of Ace League now, I doubt it is a coincidence. Especially when they bothered to have pretty creative names for the others, Forest just sticks out from the rest for being a pretty generic word, an argument that I had already used back then.

But I also noticed something odd, though, on this one I will DEFINITELY give an update if they ever fix this, but the Ace League's best machine ranks are not saved in the stats. This is odd, I don't know if it's a bug, or if it's actually voluntary... because IF it is, then I think the Ace League will change in the future to include the rest of the Satellaview tracks alongside a new Joker (?) League.

UPDATE from October 16th: F-Zero 99 1.5.1 update just released, and they did fix this so I was just doing copium. Not that I didn't expect it, it was a very shaky thing.

In one of the updates, before the inclusion of Secret Tracks, we had seen what was named Death Wind I Remix, which was the Death Wind I + White Land fusion. It's not unlikely that in the future, we will receive what would be called Remix tracks, for possibly entire leagues, but we might need to wait a while before we get those.

Incoming Event?

As NST is definitely aware of datamining attempts, they have been actually pretty busy scrubbing every unused files related to future content especially.

But then they missed a file in the latest 1.5.0 update that added Ace League:

It seems they are looking into doing a Mario VS Donkey Kong Festival Event in the future, including a Mini Mario League, and 4 Star Rivals called Mario, Mini Mario, Donkey Kong and Toad.

There's not much else to it, as it is just text. This text was not localized in most languages from English.

If I had to guess though, I don't rule out that this event might happen for the anniversary of the Mario VS Donkey Kong remake in February 2025. Mario VS Donkey Kong was also the baby of NST, ever since the first of the series on GBA, so it might just be meant to be a fun thing they wanted to do.

I would expect the Mini Mario League to contain either brand new or modified existing tracks to a newer style related to Mario VS Donkey Kong, new music, possibly new machines, and, definitely to me, new emotes to unlock. I expect that to be a limited time event like the others, though what you unlock will definitely stay to your workshop, like previous events, and possibly Training mode if there's indeed new courses to play that they care enough to let us play after the event.

I wouldn't be surprised if we have to collect Mini Marios or something like that, but either way, it seems NST is trying to be a little more daring to F-Zero 99 and possibly follow the footsteps of Tetris 99's themes.

Depending on the situation of the Ace League machine stats, I might have to update this post if I really somehow went too far with my suspicions. (UPDATE: Yes I went too far, they fixed the bug with 1.5.1.)

I do expect more updates related to Ace League for sure, as I do think we'll get Classic versions of the Ace League tracks, and possibly Mirror versions too.

...but oh my god though there's freaking Satellaview tracks in F-Zero 99 omg omg omg we just need the 5 left now

[averageartistamber]

My Thoughts on the possibilities for Splatoon 4

Alright, with the Grand Festival currently going on, I thought I'd chip in with my thoughts on what the next entry in the franchise. So prepare for a decently long yap session.

So, first of all, we have that point made in the Nintendo Direct about 3 being "the finale of this Splat-tastic Saga". What I believe is meant by this is that 3 is the last game with the Squids Vs Octopus conflict as the throughline for the story. Splatoon 4 is going to shift it's focus on a different part of the lore/world and have a very different main conflict in its story mode.

A lot of people were saying its the end of Splatoon as a whole, but I find that unlikely given how successful the franchise is. I also see folks saying that the next game won't have any of the old characters, which I also think is unlikely. I feel like we'll definitely still see the Idols again, they will just be more in the background (ie. You won't have Callie and Marie as your Mission Control in Hero mode...But you might get the new idols doing that.). They could drop the New Squidbeak Splatoon (ie. the Agents), but I think they'll be refenced somewhere.

They're not gonna get rid of all the old characters. We'll probably still have Sheldon running the next hub area's Ammo Knights, for example.

I do hope they do more with Deep Cut at some point, and it would be nice to see Agent 4 again, since all of these characters were underutilised in 3 in my (and many others) opinion.

Second point, the Splatfest itself: Past v Present V Future. Since Splatoon's "present day" occurs in real time, I don't think we're gonna have a huge time skip backwards or forwards in Splatoon 4. I think like with 3, the winning team is going to determine the setting and "vibes" of the next game.

If past wins, the hub area will be a historic, traditional town, maybe it'll be set in Calamari County, from the Squid Sister's backstory? We could them see what Craig Cuttlefish gets up to in his retirement (and if he's still stuck in Squid Mode).

If present wins, I think Splatoon 4 might be set in Inkopolis or Splatsville again, but maybe for the latter things have improved a bit thanks to Deep Cut's adventures? (the story mode could play into this and give them some much needed focus).

Another possibly for present could see one of the Octarian domes as the setting if present wins, and the story is about helping the people out and making the place liveable again. This could form a very nice conclusion to DJ Octavio's character, if they want to fully commit to him being redeemed and improving things for his people.

If future wins, we might arrive in a high tech, maybe very wealthy city. This location would very likely be completely new, maybe even in a completely different part of the world. So who knows what'll happen here.

Third point: Plot foreshadowing that is in the games.

Okay, so we know that Lil Judd is likely going to be a Big Bad at some point, highly likely the next game. It's heavily implied that he's the new owner of GrizzCo Industries, taking over in Mr.Grizz's absence. I wonder how he could use the company...They did say they'd "find good use" for the 1.5 Billion Golden Eggs we stole collected during the Grand Festival Big Run.

Which you'd think is disconnected from his plans to overthrow Judd, but I'm sure Nintendo can cook up something. Even if it makes no friggin' sense for the character (side eyeing RoTM), it's at least be cool.

The Octarians seem to have made peace, Kamabo Co. dissolved with Tartar's destruction, and Mr.Grizz the Capitalist Space Bear is...Probably chilling on the moon now (although there is potential for GrizzCo to get involved, see above.). Overlorder and the Jelletons are contained to a VR game, and the former seems to be slowly rehabbed by Agent 8 kicking their ass over and over again.

The Salmonids on the other hand...

We also know that the Salmonids have been given much more importance in Splatoon 3, with Big Run and all that jazz. Our beloved Gremlin Fish are also the only big "villain" faction that still exists as of Splatoon 3. (Well, until Nintendo makes another new one.) They have, like, organisation, and ramping up their war efforts and have Full On Goddang Kaiju in their ranks. Plus the numbers done on them in the Big Runs.

Just saying, I'd be pissed too if my population was decimated because some Boneless Teenagers care more about seeing some celebrities sing songs in a desert than respecting another race of people that are different from them.

Something very Fishy will likely be going down in Splatoon 4.

Of course, at this point I also think there's a very good chance that the next Splatoon game will be a spin-off. Pretty much anything goes. A lot of people want a game about the Great Turf War. Maybe Squid Beats will become its own dedicated game (very likely a phone game.). Pretty much anything could go here.

Anyways, I might not play the game that much (and even then exclusively Salmon Run), but I'm invested enough in the world and characters to be excited about what happens next.

What do you guys think?

[fishsprout]

SPLATOON 3 NINTENDO DIRECT SIDE ORDER ITS HAPPENING ITS HAPPENING OH MY GOD

okay. analysis time

MY GIRL AAHHH SHES BACK!! okay SO. inkopolis square. but dead. its a bleached coral forest basically. there seems to be this sorta of,, electricity thing going on throughout the trailer that we can see on the lobby tower. overall looks dope as hell

WE HAVE THE FULL FIT!! FOR BOTH GENDERS!! okay first of all what are those ink tanks? sorta looks like those IV bags. same with the outfit,, the shoes sorta look like casts and the clothes look like some sort of sensory deprivation tank suit. a lot of medical vibes going on from the white color and everything. i love it

PEARL BOT! no questions about it, marina definitely made this for her (the wives :D) its interesting that pearl isn't actually there (marina isn't either, ill talk more about my theory later) but she can still talk to us through this robot. also love how marina added the sliding eyebrows to make it more expressive LMAO

i love how we can ride pearl bot as well. i think this will be an important feature, wonder if we can control her when this happens :O

okay what are these? i think the first one on the left is a mem cake, not really sure what the others are though

okay im seeing a theme of electricity and we can see in the background it sort of glitching, so i think side order might a simulation or something. the huge orb in the middle is definitely some fucked up zapfish (where you end the level im assuming), but its glitching and then a ton of the skeleton creatures come out of it

it looks like a ton of dead fish (dedf1sh...?),, we havent seen any octolings that you need to fight yet so these seem like the new enemies replacing them for side order. though i do wonder if we'll ever encounter an evil octoling (or inkling or salmonid, who knows) also are these an entire new species? or just some simulation creature

i also love how instead of ink, its the same electricity we've been seeing used to summon the weapons. this whole realms creation definitely has something to do with marina since its side order and its super technologically advanced

okay WOA numbers. definitely something marina would implement. i don't have much to say about this but yea, im loving the tech-y themes going on. it also seems like pearlbot is helping you fight these guys since she is shooting lasers at them. if she's sorta like small fry, i wonder if we will ever get to use her as a bomb, or if she is automatic

also its confirmed that the octoling is indeed agent 8! i was like 90% sure but im glad its definite

okay the biggest thing about this trailer, DEDF1SH!!!!!!!!!

"just another bystander who got sucked in." what sucked them in? my theory is that marina somehow trapped them in a simulation she made of a world thats orderly- maybe she made it after the final fest?or is this an already existing place? maybe some whirlpool was created after octo expansion and this place exists under inkopolis square?

SHE HAS A NAME!!! ACHT!!!! also i am so glad all of the fan theories were correct and she isn't evil, just still partially sanitized. i wonder if that will be a factor in the story? more dedf1sh lore?

her glasses are different! since she doesn't have the hypno shades anymore she prolly has much more awareness now since she isnt being brainwashed, though she is still sanitized- but i think the music is counteracting the effects of that since shes a dj and shes always wearing headphones

also why is her arm bandaged? what happened to her? also all this time i thought she was wearing a tshirt LMAO

i am a huge dedf1sh fan and i have quite a few theories about her, so i hope she is an important character in the story of side order and we get some backstory

ESPECIALLY ABOUT HER HISTORY WITH MARINA!! they are both djs so that probably is important, but i am really excited to learn more about them. i think marina mightve gone missing and we are looking for her too?

the color chips seem to be like, stat boosts? and also 8 started to gain color once you add them! its sorta like deep cut's colored fingers. wonder if this will be a new feature after the dlc! i loveee customization options

this seems to be the respawn animation which !?!?!? IS SO COOL!?!?!

i have no idea what this is but. oh my god. i am so excited for this. its happening.

[rassicas]

idk if this is the question box )scratching my head) but thank you for translating that interesting tidbit about the ink tank! It had me thinking.. How is the ink refilled in their tank? I kind of assumed a tube was connected somehow to their sacs like an iv lol.. I think im actually lost on how the mechanisms of the inktank work for the inkfish. Ik this game's logic and biology isnt meant to be taken apart like this though it's fun to ponder bout it. Id love to hear your thoughts! Thank you kindly

I'd definitely give this post a read as to why the "ink tank drains ink from the inkling" idea doesn't make a whole lot of sense. all we really have in terms of words from the devs is that the weapons are not hooked up to the ink tank and that ink comes from the wrist. it seems like itd be pointless strain on the inkling to drain more of their ink into the tank... which they would swallow back into their ink sac?

I think the way the ink tank is filled is just as simple as it being filled from the pressure of outside ink going into the tank, like putting an open bottle underwater. this would explain why your tank refills very fast when going under the ink. in the case of hi-tech turf war tanks, the flow of ink into the tank could be more controlled, and have filters to keep it clean. The speed that outside ink flows into the tank depends on your ink recovery ability. (I think abilities are like digital tags that interact with the ink tank) Limited ink challenges would just be disabling the function of the ink tank that allows it to take in ink from the outside.

As for agent 3, their ink tank is literally just a soda bottle held with rubber bands. refilling it could just be like. opening up the cap a bit or poking a hole. maybe cleanliness is less of an issue since this homemade tank is just for their scrap hunting adventures where they would just be swimming through and taking in their own ink, rather than playing a team sport that involves using ink that others have used. Also with how an ink tank THIS low-tech can exist, as well as how turf wars started out as a back-alley street sport played by kids, and how many thick items of clothing you can wear, that also pushes me away from the idea of ink tanks requiring medical equipment like needles and tubes directly into the ink sac through the back (though this was what i initially imagined too) Unfortunately, No matter if you view it as inkling->tank->weapon, or tank->inkling->weapon, or how the ink goes in or whatever, there's gonna be contradictions somewhere. i feel like these things have not been thought about in depth on the developer side, or at least are not wholly reflected in game, like how some of the visuals seem to point towards that it's inkling->tank->weapon somehow, like the way the ink tank passively refills when you stand. but I'm going to chalk that up to being a gameplay thing. Because after all, gameplay takes priority and Splatoon Is A Game, and this leads to things like subs and specials coming from seemingly nowhere. (I don't recommend thinking too hard about how a realistic in-universe turf war would work, unless you like headaches)

...Final note, the ink tank needing to drain from the ink sac to function also is a problem for say, if a non-inkfish wanted to play ink based sports, which is mentioned to be a Thing that happens in-universe. Since non inkfish dont die in water and can't respawn, i belive they'd have to play under a different ruleset.... for those who cant produce ink on their own, I think it'd make sense for them to play with the ink tank hooked up directly to the weapon.