#salmonids.pdf

I think one of my biggest thoughts about them is how much of a shame it is that a lot of people either don't know or refuse to acknowledge the fact that Salmonids are an intelligent race with their own culture, religion, art, societies, and customs, rather than "just animals". If you were to keep a Salmonid - such as a Small Fry - that wouldn't be like taking a stray animal off the streets. It's more analogous to finding a lost child, and deciding that that's your kid now.

I think a lot of that has to do with the way Mr. Grizz refers to them- him and Cuttlefish are pretty similar in the fact that they work their hardest to try and make you forget that the people you're killing are people. They both seem to see their respective "lines of work" as a form of Pest Control, with Grizz in particular being rather overt about this.

They're a fascinating species, really, especially when you pay attention to them. If memory serves, Salmonid society is quite comparable to the pop culture perception of Sparta- it's chaotic, largely based in the idea of being a warrior, and dying on the battlefield is considered a high honor... Topped only by being eaten after experiencing that warrior's death. There's a lot of importance placed on consumption.

Oh, boy. Lil Buddy is... Well, they're definitely a fun companion from a gameplay perspective, but lore wise their presence is an absolute fucking disaster. The whole affair is rather uncomfortable to think about once you process the fact that Lil Buddy is a lost child, not a dog.

Lil Buddy, throughout the Story Mode, is treated the same way one would treat a particularly strange dog. Adopted as a stray, will eat anything, et cetera... But the reason that Lil Buddy is able to eat so much of the Fuzzy Ooze is because they're being brutally deprived of nutrients, and thus everything they eat essentially goes right through them. It's outright stated in the Sunken Scrolls that Lil Buddy is starving due to separation, and probably will not be able to mature properly without being returned to their home.

New Agent 3 has, at age 14, taken in a child of a species they're rather ignorant of, and alienated them from their peers and those who could properly care for them entirely. Lil Buddy is slowly starving to death, no matter how much they eat, and will most likely die of negligence if they aren't taken back to their home. They're not being cared for properly whatsoever, no matter how much New Agent 3 loves them. It's tragic.

This isn't an attempt to villainize New Agent 3- again, they're about 14, so these kinds of fuck ups are pretty understandable. A lot of kids have had that "Can I keep him?" moment at least once in their lives, unaware of the dire responsibility that come with taking care of another life, especially a rather high-maintenance one. It just so happens that most kids tend to say this about a cat they picked up off the street, and not... Again, an entire child. It's entirely plausible that New Agent 3, having been fed Anti-Salmonid Propaganda their entire life, has made the mistake of perceiving Lil Buddy as an animal. Even if it's a misconception made in earnest, with no intent to harm- which I do fully believe- it's still... You know, a pretty harmful misconception in universe, and it's leading to Lil Buddy undeniably getting hurt. As I said, it's tragic, and the possibility that this situation was brewed by the climate New Agent 3 lives in is extremely high.

... Also, if you personally believe in the theory that Lil Buddy is a Goldie, the whole ordeal gets much worse. Goldies are an incredibly rare mutation, so Lil Buddy potentially being one has much more of a sting to it.

Oh god, right though?! It's not a pattern, it's only happened once! This is only the third game, and the framework isn't even there for this to be a viable plot line!! Also, if you don't mind me rambling for a moment... It would truly defeat the whole point, the whole concept and mentality behind their character designs, and it would deeply strip the individuality away from the Salmonids. At that point, they wouldn't even be their own race anymore. I don't understand why some people have such a hard time processing Salmonids as sapient outside of the concept of "Salmonlings".

The first thought is always "Is it because they don't look humanoid?" When, like... That can't be the case, because most people don't have an issue processing the Jellyfish as people, or the Sea Angels, or most of the Shopkeepers, for that matter. If you have to make something humanoid for people to process it as not being an animal, that's just a disservice, and it's never been a problem before except with the Octarians. Some people just really take the bait of the in-universe racism. Mr. Grizz's words are accepted as fact, and so are Cap'n Cuttlefish's, and Marie's, et cetera. It fucking sucks!! The Salmonids are so genuinely interesting, and they're so overlooked because Mr. Grizz's propaganda is extremely effective, and there's no "cute girl" subspecies of Salmonid for people to fawn over. I really hate it.