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inkantation-arch · 2 years

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grizzco industries: a fuzzy, off the books nightmare.

a synthesis of ideas from conversations with @lipsyncdripink & @octaling & @jukkumi

a few notes: throughout this, i’m going to refer to real life incidents of advertising to youth, workplace malpractice, and the skirting of, and outright breaking of, labor laws. i will sometimes refer to splatoon 3 spoilers, but never in an overt way. this post also assumes that the fucking splatoon 2 app is canon.* there’s definitions in this fucker. i’m in deep, folks.

summary: Grizzco Industries. is a black company in which workers are hired as gig workers instead of true employees. By exploiting the Inkling and Octoling prey drive, creating illegal weapons that give them a high they can’t get elsewhere, and preying on the unemployable and too young to know better, Grizzco. creates its ‘bright future’ through harm. The life threatening job, the ( definitely below the board ) gachapon payment system, it all goes hand in hand with Grizzco’s ultimate goal.

black company: A black company (ブラック企業, burakku kigyō), also referred to in English as a black corporation or black business, is a Japanese term for an exploitative sweatshop-type employment system. // gig-economy / gig worker / etc: Gig workers are independent contractors, online platform workers, contract firm workers, on-call workers, and temporary workers By classifying their workers as "independent contractors", instead of as "employees", Gig-Economy jobs are not required to provide the full suite of employee benefits.

Though Grizz often refers to the player as an employee, the inconsistent ( or never ending, as in Splatoon 3 ) availability of shifts that are signed up for, rather than having consistent hours, and a lack of actual benefits ( not being paid an actual wage, no healthcare, etc. ) the for the workers seems to imply that the employees are not true employees, but rather independent contractors. The terminology is loose and vague on purpose, in order to avoid the boneless arm of the law.

* a defense of the app being canon: It’s referred to in game as Splatnet, and is presented as if it were diegetic to the game. It also has an in game function ( ordering clothing from Annie for Murch to deliver to you. )

all ages and backgrounds welcome.

This line, and other variations on it, are mentioned in a lot of places - but, most specifically, it’s on the banner for Grizzco on Splatnet 2′s C-Pod. A constant advertisement for Grizzco shifts, right next to Turf War rotations and online shopping. All Ages and Backgrounds Welcome. Turf War is cool with teenagers, and there’s certainly something to be said about that. Grizzco Industries consistently is seen to advertise to the young. On Splatnet, by taking out adverts with Inkopolis News Time, or on Anarchy Splatcast.

Maybe you’ve had a losing streak in Ranked, maybe you just need a few thousand to make it through the end of the month. Grizzco Industries is hiring, all ages and backgrounds welcome.

You know how, in the real world, vape companies were caught actively advertising on websites that were targeted at kids, and then it was found that a significant portion of high schoolers were vaping? Yeah.

Extrapolating this further, it has implications beyond just the cephalopod kids and Turf War scene. When people are desperate, they’ll work wherever. That’s where that ‘and backgrounds’ bit comes in. Much like our real world low paying / gig-economy jobs, it is usually the already trod upon who end up in these positions. ( for my own two cents on who this would entail, I imagine you see a lot of college students, a lot of adults who never finished school, the physically disfigured, and non-verbal people. People who are considered ‘unemployable’ in white collar work - ie, office environment jobs. )

This also sucks in combination with Splatoon 3′s Splatsville, where it’s mentioned that a lot of people do, genuinely, suffer the effects of poverty. Then a nice, shiny company opens its doors, ready to pay the people willing to risk their necks.

As per my previous email, Inkopolis as a whole values independence - kids move out as soon as they can, play in Turf War after school, and provide for themselves. There’s a focus on making a name for yourself. Grizzco certainly plays on that. All one needs to sign up is to be level 4 in Turf Wars. You’re only one capsule away from financial security.

Actually, let’s talk about the capsules.

the gambler’s fallacy & you

As Inkipedia points out, the capsules in Splatoon 2 are reminiscent of pachinko parlors giving away prizes instead of cash in order to skirt gambling laws. These prize windows are outside the business, and usually right next to a pawnshop, so one can exchange the prizes for cash. Now, Grizzco Industries isn’t running a casino illegally; they’re committing the worst crime of all.

Grizzco Industries is dodging taxes.

Okay, Grizzco dodging taxes is like, the lowest sin. In fact, most real world companies dodge at least some taxes all the time. But it’s not just about Grizz’s taxes - it’s about the employees too. In the real world, independent contractors are required to report income over a certain amount, and that income is then taxed.

Now, suddenly, the capsules serve a lot of purposes. Because it’s not pay per hour, not even pay per shift, really, as it’s based on points accumulated and one shift does not evenly equal a capsule, there’s not a wage to report. Scores of employees who don’t have to worry about a percentage of their wages ‘disappearing.’ You just open a capsule, and if you get lucky, you’re set for the month.

If you get lucky. And if you don’t, well, you can always work another shift. Bring in more Golden Eggs, and you’ll reap even bigger rewards. And if you’re farming for chunks for better abilities on your gear, Grizzco’s got you covered too. Even the company store has its own currency, the scales, which require even more and more shifts to get the different kinds of scales. One more shift means you might get to a fight Cohozuna.

One of the art books ( I believe Haikara Walker ) refers to Salmon Run as particularly addicting, the feeling of power and the fantasy of defending the city, like a real hero, but there’s something subtler too. The comparison to a Pachinko Parlor isn’t random. Grizz is using the allure of bright colors, the thrill of suspense, to perfectly replicate the feeling of gambling.

( in the real world, it’s just good game design, allowing the player to feel rewarded without the rewards becoming stale. but hey, we’re taking things to the logical extreme, right? )

rare weapons - the logical extreme.

So like, what are the Grizzco Weapons? Powerful, illegally modified weapons, yes, ones that are implied to have been placed in rotation by a ‘tentacle error.’ ( from splatoonus’ post, “If you happen to come across it, don’t even think about stealing it or go blabbing to the media about it.” ) But... There’s just something about them. Maybe it’s the prescription pill motif that all but one of them have, but combining it with the statement that the job has an addictive quality, well...

I do not think that Grizzco Industries is actively drugging its workers. Rather, I think the nature of the job, ‘cooperative’ team job that involves killing scores of enemies that are seen as feral* and using incredibly powerful weapons, with the thrill of randomness, is designed to exploit everything about Inklings and Octolings, particularly the teens.

( * We know this isn’t actually the case, given that they have trade agreements with the Octarians, music, and their own culture, however wether or not that’s public knowledge is debatable, given that the Sunken Scrolls are only ever seen by the player. )

They have high prey drives, thus the high contact sport of Turf Wars. They don’t know better when it comes to labor laws - kids are rarely taught about the kinds of protections afforded to workers. ( Even above the board, as legal as can be business benefit from their workers not knowing their rights. Join a union. ) And when it comes to trying to band together against Grizz.... Well, it’s so much easier to blame the low performers, than it is to give up on what seems to be the perfect job.

pitting workers against each other - for fun and profit!

( I owe this section very specifically to octaling, so, shout out to them. )

A Salmon Run ends in defeat - wether a crew wipe or a quota unmet, you’re brought back early. It’s explained that any excess from the collected Golden Eggs are used for extraction, as the Run itself hasn’t actually ended, and the employees are still in danger. Sure, you brought in your quota’s worth of eggs in the two waves preceding, but Grizz barely gives you 10 points towards a capsule. Upon returning, you’re shown everyone’s statistics,

And you see someone didn’t pull their weight.

It is one thing to be in a competitive environment. In fact, it can be really healthy to be in a competitive environment, where people work together to better each other and themselves. Actually, Turf War would be a great example of that for the Inklings and Octolings. It’s just a sport, after all. If someone doesn’t play well, it’s just a game. Some people might take it too seriously at times, but unless you’re seriously playing in the upper levels professionally, it’s not personal.

But Grizzco Industries is a job. And that kind of competitive, bonus-driven employment is designed to prevent people from banding together. Grizz has perfectly designed a job where forming a union is antithetical to the job.

After all, you can get docked for someone else’s poor performance. If that poor performer complains, the perfect response of “you didn’t die.” sits there waiting for you. Anyone talking about exploitation, about the lack of compensation for injuries, they just didn’t know how to do it right. The gambling-like hooks are already in the top earners, and to walk away now would be stupid. To risk the retaliation would be stupid. A captive work force, in many, many ways.

All this, in service of Mr. Grizz’s fuzzy future.

#【００Ｘ：WORLD BUILDING.】#and as a reminder my world building posts are free to use for anyone who wants 'em!#um. enjoy???#this is so much i am so sorry #yes i AM taking the funny squind game seriously. i AM a loser. thank u <3

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bookofjudith · 1 year

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what I should be saying to my boyfriend and loved ones: the stress of starting a new job that deals exclusively with the emotional well-being of terminal and chronically ill children while also navigating applying to grad school, considering moving states away, the stress of both pre-grieving my actively dying grandmother and dealing with my batshit insane extended family who are already getting into cat fights about her will and end of life care, and having to take on a very active role in household managing and childcare while my parents are dealing with her while also having a four day long stomach virus that made me so ill I considered the emergency room, is getting to be so much that I’m sinking into permanent fight or flight and am not feeling very many emotions other than “sad” “angry” “sleep” “coffee” “food” and “murder”

What I do say to my boyfriend and loved ones: im tired :(

#i am okay in a sense if you catch my drift. but I probably should not be #this is so much I am so sorry #vent #tw child death #tw death #i am so tired

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cozylittleartblog · 10 months

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@staff if you [change] the [design] of the fucking [dashboard] i will kill you

edit. i want it on the actual post that i am not actually making a de-th threat against the staff. that's shitty. the caption quotes the fucking costco hot dog meme, which i originally said in the tags. if any staff member sees this please do Not take it personally

#dashboard #staff #tumblr update #comic #art #doodles #costco ceo about the price of a hot dog.png #i refuse to believe this is a real problem that site owners think people have #frankly i refuse to believe people had this issue with deviantart before eclipse #i am sorry you have to put about 15 minutes of effort into understanding a new website. feel better soon #my main blog doesn't have it yet but i logged into here to make this post and. i have it #this is fucking terrible. it would ahve been really really funny for april fools day but not as a permanent change #i hate it a Lot. i hate it so fucking much. oh . my god.#edit - guys i amnot actually sending de*th threats to staff it's the costco hot dog meme

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spinaholi · 1 month

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sandra lynn’s dating history now includes:

the most red-flag, gaslighting, married guy who became a world renowned insidious televangelist and ruined her perception of love and self-worth

the saddest, wettest, cardboard-box-living, yogurt covered man with an ancient hereditary curse of bad luck

the arch devil of gluttony and living embodiment of insatiable desire and hunger

a former drug addict, high school student councillor, werewolf, who’s probably the most mentally healthy person to ever exist

sexy pirate

#sandra lynn if u have 0 fans i am dead i love her so much #also sorry to garty o’brien they r more than just sexy pirate i just thought it was funny to end it like that #dimension 20 #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #fhjy spoilers #d20 #fhjy #sandra lynn faeth #spina speaks

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bizarrelittlemew · 2 months

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i can't wait to be 30+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 40+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 50+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 60+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 70+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 80+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 90+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to look back on my life and know that i loved things deeply and passionately and was inspired to create and was part of communities with incredible people from all over the world brought together by the stories that touched us

#and still be mad at shithead executives for unfairly cancelling my pirate show #also imagine what my ao3 word count will be like. gonna be writing my little fics in the nursing home #sometimes when i get frustrated over my writing i have to remember that i've only been doing it for a little over a year #and not in my native language #there is still so much time and so much to learn and try and discover and explore and i am EXCITED #there is something so ancient and beautiful about humans being brought together by stories #storytelling is what humans have always done and will always do and what will always connect us #to our past to the future to each other #sorry for the 1 am ramblings #fandom #🐭📓

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dailymanners · 3 months

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Always use "excuse me" if you have to get into someone else's personal space.

Someone at the store is standing in front of the shelf where there's a can you want to grab? Don't just reach into their personal space without warning, say "excuse me" or "pardon my reach" first so that they at least have a warning that someone is about to reach into their personal space, and most importantly, so that they have a chance to move before you get into their space.

Or if someone is standing on a walkway or in a doorway you need to get through, don't just silently shove past them or squeeze past them, say "excuse me" so that they have a warning that a someone is about to squeeze or shove into their personal space, and they have a chance to move out of the way before you do you.

People deserve a fair warning if someone is about to squeeze or shove or reach into their personal space. A lot of people are not okay with having someone, but especially a stranger, randomly shove or squeeze or reach into their personal space without warning. They also deserve a chance to move out of the way first for the sake of their comfort.

Try to avoid just staring at people who are in your way and expecting them to read your mind that you want them to move. Most people cannot, in fact, read minds, so having someone stand in front of them and stare at them often only leads to making them feel uncomfortable and frustrated.

But also more importantly, if you are standing somewhere someone needs to get to, and they say excuse me, you should move aside for them even if just temporarily, so they can avoid the discomfort of having to reach into your personal space or squeeze past you.

If someone is saying "excuse me" it's because they would like you to move because they don't want to have to get into your personal space, whether it's out of respect for you, or just because they themselves are not comfortable getting in your personal space.

All of this goes double for people with trauma and/or people who are neurodivergent. If someone has trauma related to abuse or assault they may find it more upsetting or possibly triggering to suddenly have someone shoving or reaching in their personal space without warning.

Or, many types of neurodivergence can make it especially disturbing and unpleasant to have someone else in your personal space, especially without warning.

You can never be 100% sure who is and isn't traumatized and/or neurodivergent, so always practice respecting other's personal space by giving them a fair warning with "excuse me" or "pardon my reach" before getting in their personal space, and moving aside when you hear those magic words. Or, even if someone isn't traumatized nor neurodivergent, it's still fair to not like someone in your personal space without warning and not being given the opportunity to move first.

#manners #politeness #courtesy #good manners #etiquette #I'm so sorry I really tried to make this one shorter I really did #I trimmed the fat as much as I could but this was as short as I could bring myself to make it #Where I live most people will just shove into your personal space without saying anything #or just stare at you until you get the hint and move #and I hate it so much #Especially because I am both neurodivergent and have PTSD so I really hate people staring at me and/or shoving in my personal space

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stoopidstapler · 10 months

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SO IVE BEEN GOIN INSANE SINCE THIS TRAILER DROPPED. JUST. SIMON. SIMON. SIMON.

#simon petrikov #fionna and cake #adventure time #goin insane over him #thers no words to describe how im feelin #i wish i could draw somehtin better but i am goin INSANE #FINALLY. AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. we are being FED.#ALSO?? HOW THEY SHOWED HIM EXACTLY WHEN THE LYRICS GO ''WHATS WRONG WITH ME'. LIKE HELLO???????#ive seen so many good theories PLEASE GOD WRITE FICS I AM BEGGIN I LL DRAW U FANART BLS HEL P #IDK WOT IM GONNA DO FOR A WHOLE MONTH #SOMEONE KNOCK ME OUT TIL THE 31ST. HIBERNATE ME. HELP.#also i need to put it out there the first thing i thought when i saw this trailer was simon is tryina rewrite fionna and cake #which is why their world keeps changin so much? idk idk #ive seen so many different ideas and they are all so good please help #ALSO GOD. THIS MAN IS JUST GOIN THRU IT. AND ITS ONLY BEEN A QUICK TRAILER.#im sorry for so many tags idk where to put these help #maybe i should make an actual blog for like. whatever. n reblogs. help.

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babydarkstar · 3 months

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honestly no wonder harrow forced ianthe to lobotomize her so she could save gideon. listen…LISTEN…if i was a secret-war-crime cult nunlet princess worshipped by my entire planet and the only person that (barely) kept me in check was my childhood nemesis—a butch a year older than me, towering over me in stature and physical prowess, and so hot it made my teeth hurt from how hard my jaw clenched in her presence, who wielded a two-handed seven-foot sword and had irritatingly huge biceps and told very lewd stupid jokes and also learned how to wield an entirely new weapon and be my bodyguard with startling accuracy in three months—only to have us finally learn to trust each other because we got invited to a magic murder mystery and then before the bubble burst i spilled the worst secret about myself that i was born because my parents murdered an entire generation and tried to Kill Her along with them and she just wouldnt die, and i told her this expecting a swift death i believed i deserved, only for her to fucking cradle me in her big butch arms and kiss me on my forehead with her soft butch mouth and just. forgive me for a shameful weight ive carried my entire life and then MAKE AN ACTUAL NECRO/CAV VOW with me despite every evil thing i have done to her……to have her tell me, in the end, bleeding and broken after putting up the most beautiful and glorious fight of her life, that she understands purpose and she understands duty and she knows loyalty more fiercely than ever now, that she knows who she is to me, that there is no her without me….to have her backed into a corner and make the ultimate sacrifice…..for me…..to recite scriptural wedding vows of eternity to me in her last wisps of soul-consciousness…..if i thought there was even a snowflake’s chance in the pyre that i could save her by turning myself into her very own locked tomb, i’d be begging ianthe tridentweirdius to crack my skull open and turn me to mush too, goddamn. i understand you harrowhark girl you don’t have to explain a thing to me. god said you couldn’t undo the lyctor’s bond bc it’d kill you. you told god and his angels that not even a lyctor’s bond could outshine the power of female spite and lesbianism and they didn’t listen. they didn’t believe you. but i heard you loud and clear and i was 17 and hormonal and hopelessly romantic not too long ago unlike those fucking dinosaurs and i’m saying it’s valid it’s what i would have done and really everyone should be thanking you for not being worse and more wretched about it, all things considered

#i think about gideon nav every day #she makes me want to eat drywall #shes so jesus shes so her own thing shes so god and savior It Is Finished divinity of love and sacrifice #honestly so much of harrow is so so relatable to me shes so real for everything she does #her little griddlehark meetcute au her little divine highness au #ive already waxed poetic about the harrow nova au #sorry to keep waxing poetic about this but i really am rotted about them #like im going insane. tamsyn muir when i get you tamsyn when i catch you #griddlehark #tlt spoilers #harrowhark nonagesimus #i am you as you are me we are one and two and two and one #i cannot conceive of a universe without you.#should i forget you let my right hand also be forgotten; add more also. if aught but death part me and thee.#I FELL INTO THE WATER AND NOW IM FREE

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