Hi!! I was thinking, what's your opinion about inktolings? Like I'm 99% sure they'll never be properly canon (due to various reasons including biology), but I wondered if you had any specific thoughts or headcanons about them. I'd love to know :')

in general, personally not a fan of the concept of hybrids in the splatoon world. if it were possible for stable hybrids to happen in a society comprised of so many species that have been intermingling for generations, i dont think we'd see the level of speciation that we do. it makes for messy worldbuilding.

inklings and octolings have had peaceful relations with each other for millennia and with how similar they look, i have zero doubt that some have tried for kids. but biologically speaking squids and octopuses as distant as cats and dogs (maybe even more distant than that, at least cats and dogs share a taxonomic order, squids and octopuses only share a class). the only way id imagine an inktoling to exist would be nothing short of a miracle, and would be sterile, likely with some kind of health issues. the sapient herrings in splatoon can produce hundreds of children and this likely applies at least to other species of fish too. for couples of different species who want children, i think there would be no shortage of children to adopt.