Hokuto
Inkling Cadet
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2024
- Messages
- 182
- Location
- Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi
- Pronouns
- they/he/ze
- Switch Friend Code
- SW-5561-7608-9695
apparently a species evolving from using hemocyanin to using hemoglobin has (likely) happened before!! this guy. though the wikipedia article itself kinda just goes "yeah these guys have red blood and not blue," the third reference discusses how ramshorn snails likely evolved from having originally had blue blood. to quote the abstract & part of the results:
- Do they bleed red or blue? Blue is more efficient in the environments IRL cephalopods tend to occupy, but at their size and in their location the Inkfish would probably be better off with red blood. (Their complexions also support the red blood idea.)
We also detected expression of an incomplete hemocyanin as trace component. The combined data show that B. glabrata hemoglobin evolved from pulmonate myoglobin, possibly to replace a less-efficient hemocyanin [...]
(Lieb et al., 2006)Nevertheless, the presence of hemocyanin provides convincing evidence that the Planorbidae did descend from blue-blooded ancestors. A co-occurrence of hemoglobin and hemocyanin is highly unusual and has been reported only in the amphipod Cyamus scammoni, in the phylum Arthropoda [...].
Prime is on the left, -92 is on the right.The hardest part of explaining my lore is that three of my four Agents are inextricably tied to the convoluted Gen 8 Pokémon emergent narrative project I accidentally started in 2021. What you need to know, for the sake of this and potential spotlights for other characters (I don't expect to do these consistently), is that my Splatoon 3 save file takes place 92 timelines away from my Splatoon 2 save file. I'll elaborate if I get around to my Agent 8.
Nalu Prime is the Agent 4 I took through Octo Canyon last year (our time). He joined the New Squidbeak Splatoon underage to represent my learning process. Once I got the hang of the mechanics, I decided Nalu aged into proficiency and by extension multiplayer modes. After capturing DJ Octavio with Agents 1 and 2, Nalu Prime chose to stay in and watch over Octo Canyon. When his Inkopolis got destroyed at the end of my Octo Expansion run, Nalu's geographical isolation meant he only knew that his usual supply drop didn't arrive one day. Or ever. A bleak end for an unsung hero.
Nalu-92 is the Agent 4 of another New Squidbeak Splatoon, far away yet not far enough from Prime Time. Most of the time, if I'm referring to Nalu, I'm referring to -92. This Nalu is a bit of a late bloomer, based on the interpretation/mistranslation of an older Agent 4. Everybody goes through life at their own pace; the important thing is that Nalu is going. Unlike Nalu Prime, Nalu-92 chose to leave his post and live a regular life he wouldn't regret. He lucked out; almost everyone is alive and well on this timeline. Marina Iida integrated information from this Nalu into the Memverse.
Fundamentally, the Nalus are alternate versions of the same person. While they have many differences (favorite sport, who raised them, relationship to technology, the little things.), the core of Nalu Aquino remains the same.
wait wait what happened to bricks during the bandfest are they okNaluposting, the addendum:
- As an Agent 4, Nalu is surprisingly disciplined and responsible. I don't know whether he went to high school or technical school, but he got that diploma and currently works to support his tūtū now that she's old enough to need his help instead of the other way around.
- Nalu is very close to my Agent 8. They're basically married, just without any romantic implications. (They would have been superficially compatible, but Eight Problems™ make things... complicated.)
- I realized that I made Nalu babysit Leeroy during the Band Splatfest while Bricks visited urgent care, so now Nalu has a good enough reason to unleash the big brother shenanigans he dreamed of.
- Nalu's favorite video game is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 for the Nintendo GameCube. (See my post in that Splatoon spinoff speculation thread.)
- If he was human, Nalu would be Filipino and Hawaiian.
- Do yourself a favor and Google Hawaiian bobtail squids. They're so cute.
- I learned a small amount of squid anatomy with a bowl of squid sarciado.
- Reminder: DON'T ask for my opinions on Inkfish diets.
- Working on the second write-up made me realize that Nalu is a no lore, all vibes character. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I have a pretty good idea of who Nalu is as a person, which could help me fill in some of the gaps.
- "Sk8er Boi" has one of the greatest plot twists of any song from its decade. You cannot prove me wrong.
Hi! Thanks for asking? The Bandfest happened very close to when I finished Return of the Mammalians. Bricks developed an immune response to Fuzzy Ooze I can only compare to a jacked-up dander allergy. They can't even talk to Judd anymore without getting itchy for several hours. This is the kind of lore I write, where even I have a hard time deciding whether what I wrote is funny or stupid or sad. Bricks is fine as long as they're smart about how they handle themself. (They're not very smart, though.)wait wait what happened to bricks during the bandfest are they ok
ohhhh that's fun (as a lore thing. probably less fun for bricks). love thinking about the Implications of Fuzzy OozeHi! Thanks for asking? The Bandfest happened very close to when I finished Return of the Mammalians. Bricks developed an immune response to Fuzzy Ooze I can only compare to a jacked-up dander allergy. They can't even talk to Judd anymore without getting itchy for several hours. This is the kind of lore I write, where even I have a hard time deciding whether what I wrote is funny or stupid or sad. Bricks is fine as long as they're smart about how they handle themself. (They're not very smart, though.)
Second verse, same as the first. Prime is on the left, -92 is on the right.I have a hard time introducing Skipper the squid without first bringing up the character who inspired them, Skipper the sqid. Sqid Skipper (mollusc-like eldritch alien from niche sci-fi webcomic Freefall) was designed in 2020 for a group project that never took off. Three years later, I tried to fill the role of Captain in my near future New Squidbeak Splatoon. I remembered this goofy little alien and thought "hey, 'skipper' is a synonym for 'captain'!" Fast forward another several months and Sqid Skipper got an updated design based on decisions I made for Squid Skipper, which were in turn determined by the original Sqid Skipper. They also got to torment ArtFight users and an AU Echo who lives on a continent colonized by sapient dragons.
Anyway, despite (or because of?) their origins, Squid Skipper is simultaneously one of the funniest and most depressing characters I've ever written. I'm rethinking their lore for in-universe logistical reasons. Assume that nothing I have written here is fully accurate so much as lightly filtered brainstorming. The gist of it is that Dana-92 (see the Nalu Squidpost) didn't want anything that happened to them. (I don't talk about Prime.) The plan was to mow Cap'n Cuttlefish's lawn and call that their school mandated community service project. Instead, the Cap'n made Dana a key component of the New Squidbeak Splatoon's operations. Dana didn't mind leaving their hot garbage home life behind, but any ambitions they might have developed doing what normal Inkopolitan teens do never crossed their mind.
Two years later, Dana got squidnapped by an unknown assailant, along with the Cap'n and a certain Octoling, and dumped in the Deepsea Metro. Dana ditched the group and had the time of their life exploring the Metro. (I don't have a smooth segue. Autism.) An emergency signal from the other captives interrupted Dana's fun, and then they find between lapses in consciousness that the stranger they saved is the same one they beat the ink out of not that long ago. As much as I love the scene, I have a hard time buying in to "Into the Light" when a badly wounded Dana is rapidly losing brain capacity and my Agent 8 can't decide whether helicopter turbulence or crushing guilt over nearly killing an ally is making them sicker. That interim between Splatoons 2 and 3 is, as concisely as I can say it, awful. Dana seriously needs medical attention, which saddles them with equally serious medical bills. Recovery is slow, painful, and unable to return them to "normal." I'm not sure how Dana lives during the interim since they really shouldn't be living alone anymore. (This is one of my biggest logistical holdups at the moment.)
Similarly, I'm the least sure of how Skipper gets along with my other Inkfish. The Danas went to middle school with their respective Jettas and Stones, but those two would only remember them as "that weird quiet kid who chewed their claws and spat them on the floor." Nalu wouldn't have worked with Dana, but he'd probably hate them for reasons I'm about to explain. Somehow, Dana and Echo meet again and break each other apart with the force of a point blank Range Blast. My Very Strong Opinions about Agent 24 (hint: I don't ship it) inform the direction I want to take their relationship in. Too many interesting parallels to ignore, though. Speaking of interesting narrative parallels, Eight is next on my list once I can be bothered to do their little drawing and obscenely long write-up. You thought this was long? I could write WALLS about Eight.
Finally,Skipper's stint as Captain. They can't hold down a regular job, but the Splatoon still wants them around. They accept a paid position from the Cap'n without wanting to take his title, hence "Skipper." Although Skipper is technically the alias of Dana's functional worksona, they respond to Skipper off the job, too. Heck, I tend to use them interchangeably. Skipper spent 90% of their Alterna camping time browsing ORCA's library of human music, 9% staring listlessly into the distance (usually to avoid talking to Bricks), and 1%mowing the lawnclearing Fuzzy Ooze. I think Skipper would like camping too, just somewhere that wasn't filled with the ruins of a long-gone civilization and an inescapable layer of chemical snow.
Wait, I forgot to explain my DJ SANGO. Skipper has this elaborate psychological power fantasy where they become rich and famous mixing music in the Deepsea Metro. In my personal canon, the Low Water Party is merely a particularly lucid daydream, enabling all the implausible convergences of the event while hand waving away the inconveniences.
Jetta is on the left, Stone is on the right.Jetta and Stone are my Splatoon OCs from before I played Splatoon, first conceived of in either 2016 or 2018. (I also have a BNHA OC; I haven't seen a single episode of BNHA from start to finish.) They had no lore whatsoever, just Mebuika icons, because High School Hokuto wasn't thinking about who they were. I remembered them again in 2023 and wondered if they could be my Agents 3. ("They must be," I thought. I have an AU where they are, but I don't really think about it besides Captain!Jetta and her eyepatch.) Still, I remember them fondly enough not to ignore them.
As unrepentant troublemakers, neither was qualified to volunteer with the New Squidbeak Splatoon. For the Fallout: New Vegas fans in the chat, think Vikki and Vance, not Bonnie and Clyde. Inkopolis didn't benefit from Jetta and Stone's presence. Jetta and Stone were bored out of their minds. Suburban monotony, yada yada, the two turned to petty crime. This is Splatoon 2 era stuff; I never even bothered to think of what they're doing in Splatoon 3 time. I want to know what kinds of shenanigans they get around to, or if they can turn their lives around and become better people.
Fun facts:
- Jetta and Stone are partners, objectively terrible people yet perfect for each other. What kind of partners is up to the reader.
- Jetta's primary hobbies are painting by numbers and connect-the-dots. She'll throw a fit if she screws up, though.
- I need ideas for silly Stone hobbies.
- Jetta was named after the Clifford character and also squid puns.
- Stone hates his first name. He could have shortened it to the socially acceptable "Zander," but he passed GO, collected his 20000 Geso, and calls himself by his last name.
- Jetta's favorite musician is Quinn/Ikkan, formerly of Squid Squad, currently of Diss-Pair.
- Stone's whole thing is being uncool in a world that prioritizes and emphasizes cool. (Vanity is not a personality trait, Stone.)
- Both of them went to middle school with Dana. They strike me as the sorts who would have made fun of Dana behind their back. (Over what? I don't know, probably something stupid and unimportant like being freakishly large for a squid their age.)
I was messing around with stylistic choices, namely trying to adapt cephalopod beaks into something similar to a human nose, kind of like what happens to the Rito from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. I'm a furry, so I tend to want to preserve the non-human elements of species like Inklings and Octolings in my art. Not that long ago, maybe in the past few months or so, a Tumblr post about potential similarities between cephalopods and avians (the furry term for anthro birds) caught my attention. That post inspired these experiments. I don't think it works the way I write them, unfortunately. (Yes, I write! Look out for another squidpost in the near future, job permitting!)So all the characters have gray noses are they injured or is it just your style? It looks good btw