#vid squids

[the-vid-squids]

Sorry for the sort-of repost, but I realized I jumped the gun the other day, and uploaded these too soon when I was still unsatisfied with them!... So here are the updated versions with some more colors+contrast!

[dalfonsino-doodles]

I almost forgotten that this work-in-progress side blog existed. To commemorate this discovery, here is some fanart of the Blur Bombers’ unlikely meeting with a similarly-colored squad, @the-vid-squids ! Sorry for not posting this earlier, but I could never catch you online to send it in a message.

[the-vid-squids]

The Vid-Squids colored with the original NES color palette!! 

Also, fun fact: Each of them are posing in the shape of the first initial of their respective names! (which wasn’t intentional, I noticed it midway through working on these??)

[the-vid-squids]

Kind-of, not-really references of the Vid-Squids’ faces... I was thinking of using these in my (unfinished) character page, since the drawings I have there are old, but there’s something I like about how their weapons (and bodies haha) are included in those. If anything, these more clearly show the subtle differences in their features, from their ear shape to their nape “hair” (notice how much curlier Austin’s is). 

[the-vid-squids]

vid-squids, whats it like to play turf?

For the Vid-Squids, every round of turf war is a wild ride… here’s one at a glance:

Will these guys ever get it together? Stay tuned…

(Sorry for the super late reply on this! Thanks for the ask, I had a lot of fun with it even though I couldn’t make these fully colored!)

[the-vid-squids]

A more in-depth look at the Vid-Squids’ story

What a week for Splatoon!! Now that we know a lot more about the world of Splatoon 2, I feel more comfortable “finalizing” the environment in my story. As Splatoon 1 will inevitably be phased out soon (sadly), I figured now would be a good time to talk about my story’s environment, since it has a lot to do with 1. 

This gets pretty long, so I’ve put my rambling under the cut! However, I’d highly recommend anyone who’s been curious about the story or just my squids in general to read it, it’ll give you an idea of my intent as I move forward with them! 

I’ve sort-of mentioned the Vid-Squids’ story takes place long before the events of Splatoon 1... about 10 years in fact! As seen with Splatoon 2, we know that inkling society advances quickly, so I imagined the change in culture and technology would be quite drastic even within a decade, making the environment of my story something like a 1980s-equivalent of Inkopolis. (which explains why I’ve been drawing a lot of inspiration from that era haha) 

Since this story was built around how things were in Splatoon 1, it will mostly resemble the environment featured there as opposed to Splatoon 2′s. Specifically, I’ll be keeping 1′s weapons/specials, Inkopolis Plaza as the hub, and most importantly, the original two boy/girl hairstyles (a significant part in the story! I explained the reason a while back in this post on my main blog). Splatoon 2 describes the new hairstyles as “customized”, so I’ll be assuming that the ability to change an inkling’s “hair” was something that became more accessible between 1 and 2, and that their “natural” hairstyles are the ones we had in the first game. I know custom hairstyles were hinted at in the first game since some of the band squids had unique “hair”, but I’ll say it was rare to have overall (especially in the past where my story takes place), and that it was only something that celebrities or wealthy squids could do.

However, to not completely make this irrelevant, Splatoon 2 elements will still be incorporated into the story! This includes things like gear and locations/stages, since I figured those things could have existed before even though they weren’t seen in the first game (bringing back old trends anyone??). Maybe a few other things too, I’m looking forward to what more we’ll find out once it’s released.

So you might be asking, if the environment is that close to Splatoon 1′s, why not make the story happen around that time? Why 10 years before? Well, certain aspects of the story are reliant on it being further in the past, but it also gives myself a time frame in between to work in before Splatoon 1′s events happen. I’ll admit, it’s been a little weird trying to figure out how things would work in Inkopolis without all it’s modern technology, but it's been a fun exercise haha. But! I am also aware that I don’t want this to become a distraction either, so I’m striving to maintain the same feel of the actual game(s) at the same time. 

To elaborate a bit on what the environment of my story is like, inkling society is still like how we’ve always seen it, at the forefront of modernization for its time, and enamored with materialistic pursuits. But here’s where I added in a few details!: 

Though inkling culture is progressing as trends begin to develop, it still maintains a strong sense of tradition, particularly in terms of their image and themselves as a species. The Great Turf War between the squids and octopi had occurred several decades before, but animosity against the Octarians has only increased, with a growing fear that they will some day strike back. As a result, any octopi that may have remained on the surface after the war were gradually chased out, or removed by force. Since then, the squids have kept a vigilant eye to make sure no Octarians are present in society, so none have been seen on the surface for several years. Though the threat of the Octarians isn’t as “real” to younger inklings, it has become ingrained in their society that they are the enemy. But despite this tension, inkling society is thriving more than ever, and there is a sense of comfort and peace with what they have. 

I know that me elaborating on this might come off as strange, as I’ve only shown team shenanigans here and not much about octos (...or anything serious for that matter haha), but this actually plays a large role in the story. Maybe some attentive squids are already making connections with all this! (But just something I wanted to add: With all the octo negativity described here, it makes me super happy that we have an octo popstar in Splatoon 2! What a change!)

Sorry this ended up being really long, but I felt I should explain things before I keep going! Hopefully this all made sense, I wrote most of it in the middle of the night. lol

Keep in mind, none of this is meant to be my opinion on what the Splatoon environment should be seen as, it’s just meant to provide background on how I interpreted it in my story, and what to expect from it moving forward. Though the main storyline is mostly set, there are aspects of it that can change! I expect to still make some tweaks here and there.

[the-vid-squids]

Hi! If you don't mind me asking, how exactly is the vid squids story going to be told? Like is it going to be a comic or a written story or something else? (Also I'd totally understand if you don't answer if it's something you might not want to tell us yet, but I was just curious. Either way, I'm still looking forward to it!)

Hi there! I don’t mind at all, I’m happy to answer! (it’s a well-timed question too actually) The Vid-Squids story will be a comic, which is why I’ve been making a few of those more recently as practice. This will be my first comic, so it’s pretty exciting for me, but also a bit scary too since there’s a whole lot to learn (and draw)! 

I’m glad to hear you’re still looking forward to it, and sorry it’s taken so long to start it! However, progress has begun! Stay tuned…

[the-vid-squids]

I really don’t show much of Jordan, so I thought I’d change that! It’s sort of been intentional, since her part starts later in the story, but I’ve been trying to hash out her character a bit more recently. Here’s a quick thing I did in the process! (pretty rough though) It’s not much, but I just wanted to show a bit more about her, one thing being that she loves photography! 

I was experimenting with different lighting and shading here, but sadly it didn’t really come out as planned.