Originally, they were called "Sea Bass" and were an idol group for a Splatoon 3 concept of mine.

Tiffany and Gerald are scrapped characters originally intended to be friends of Simon and Moonair. The two would've appeared on Fishyfest theme art. They were also going to be romantically interested in each other. (There are still emojis named after them in the discord server)

Simon, Sara, and Sam being siblings was decided in the middle of the story's development. Originally, Sam was going to be the crybaby little brother of Simon and would've appeared in Chapter 7.

The Final Fishyfest's theme was planned since the beginning. For months, I thought about it. I realized the theme was kind of flawed, but I felt that only made it more interesting. In the end, I actually didn't like the theme that much! Justice and Compassion aren't even mutually exclusive. The nonsensical and divisive nature of the Final Fishyfest will be a large focus point in future stories.

Lastly, here's some QnA stuff from discord.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!