It Occurs To Me Now That I Can Simply Reblog This With Each Week’s Update, So I Think This Will Be

Damn.

my job in the pirate base is to climb up and down the walls

Nerdy the Artist’s Metroid fanfic Spotlight!

I have read a fair few excellently written Metroid fanfics in my short time in this fandom, a lot of which gave me many ideas, as well as possible biases, that I have taken into my own fanfic. Still, with the obscene amount of nsfw fics related to Samus (no shame), finding those engrossing stories with plenty of character development, intrigue, and action is a bit of an annoying task. People have different standards of tagging things, and less tags does not necessarily mean less quality. Use to this, for your convenience, I’m going to be sharing a list of some of my favorite Metroid fanfiction stories, in no particular order.

1. Whispers from Beyond the Veil

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56266696/chapters/142947040

Whispers from Beyond the Veil, by AlexRussoStuff, is still in its early stages, and brand new at the time of writing it. Currently, there’s only 1 chapter, but it’s a really promising one. If this fic maintains the tone and quality in this chapter, I’m all for it. It is mainly a retelling of Metroid Prime, interspersed with flashbacks from Samus’s childhood. The tone is far more brutal and gruesome than the original game, with more in the way of gore as Samus steps over the ripped apart remains of Space Pirates aboard the Orpheon. I am excited to watch this fic develop.

2. The Downfall of Ashkar Behek

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42231552/chapters/106034202

I was pointed in the direction of this fic by @molagboop due to some amazing artwork by the Chozo specialist himself. The Downfall of Ashkar Behek, by Acayl, is quite long, following much of the past of Raven Beak, known in Chozo as the titular Ashkar Behek. The story is long, detailing his past as a soldier of the Mawkin, including his maiming by Ridley, known to the Chozo as Balan dosh Nabular, translated to English: Bring to Dread. The story covers many bases in the tragedy of his downfall, and you never feel he is truly evil until he is utterly consumed by madness, and his belief in the innate responsibility of the Chozo to shepard the Galaxy. He goes from a relatively basic villain in Dread to a well fleshed out antagonist whose world view we can understand, and perhaps sympathize with. While it is very lengthy, it is a wonderful read if you have the time and patience for it.

3. Metroid S

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4156530/chapters/9378699

This fic is also incomplete (Metroid works slow, I guess), but the story is oozing with mystery and intrigue. Metroid S, written by Suribot, sees Samus Aran arrive on an icy world following a contract for a scientist’s rescue, and a separate, cryptic message telling of a Metroid’s presence in the derelict laboratories within. The plot is hard to sus out, and the mysteries hiding within are captivating. There is also a fair bit of monologues from Samus Aran about her past (did I mention this is in first person?) where we get to here about many past exploits and relationships. I still am itching to get questions answered with the next chapter. I think you’ll find yourself in the same boat.

4. Inheritance

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11560101/chapters/25965126

Remember when I said less tags doesn’t mean less quality? This is what I mean. Inheritance, by Cuofeng, was written before Dread came out, but there are many coincidental story elements that are interesting to compare and contrast between the two. The story itself is absolutely amazing, especially in the first act, but does have some problems in the third. The sense of mistrust and paranoia that the first act gives off is unrivaled, even by S. The story follows a mission set after Fusion where Samus is tasked with helping in the fight against a reinvigorated Space Pirate faction, with eyes on some advanced Chozo technology. This might be my favorite Metroid story, due to its amazing atmosphere, great personality, and shear rule of cool excellence.

I do have one major issue though: Where Morph Ball?

5. This Time

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34383862/chapters/85563343

For those of you looking for something more lowkey and feels-y, This Time, by CuratorOfFluff, is a wonderful short fic centered around Samus’s relationship with Old Bird, who is now living on Earth by himself with Samus’s pet rabbit-squirrel, Pyonchi. The care the two have for each other is just adorable, and you can tell the author had a lot of fun with this little slice of life.

6: A Swift and Howling Darkness

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42723552

A Swift and Howling Darkness, by Noxshade, is a very different kind of story to most, feeling right at home with Metroid Prime’s method of storytelling. This fic is in an epistolary format, meaning it is told by logs and reports, rather than outright narration. The story centers around Samus Aran, fresh off of her horrifying adventure aboard BSL, encountering a distress beacon sent from deep into the undocumented regions of space, codified as being pre-Federation in make. Driven by her innate curiosity. She decides to investigate this unusual call for help into the dark, unknown regions of the galaxy.

7: We Will Evolve

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54081529/chapters/136920130

We Will Evolve, by Thundamoo, comes hot off the heaps of Metroid Dread, using the loose plot thread of the missing Chozo ships during the escape sequence to tell a story of the X outbreak spreading beyond ZDR’s untamed wilds, and into sentient space. The horrifying idea is compounded on by the realization that what we saw of Samus’s Metroid mutations in Dread were the tip of the iceberg. Furthermore, we get to witness the arrival and spread of the X, known by the Chozo and itself as Eres, from the perspective of a civilian, caught up in the galaxy’s nightmares. The secondary protagonist is a joy to follow along, and Samus’s rage is palpable. Once again, this fic is not yet complete, but it is well worth a read thus far.

Honorable Mention: Confronting Adam (animatic)

Link: https://youtu.be/_hrU1tPZ7R8?si=bkvehOrjTVJsfOfr

This is a wonderful project by a YouTuber known as Galactic Gaming, making an animatic out of the fateful interaction between Samus and Adam where Samus brings out the goodness within the AI recreation of her former CO. The voice acting here is great, and the artwork is nice.

Well, these are some of my favs. I might make a new post with some other good ones, but I think these should be at the top of your reading list. If you have any suggestions for me, let me know in reposts or in the comments. Happy reading!

The Flying Pirates are hardcore

So these Space Pirates in particular are hardcore as fuck. The scans state directly that they have a well known habit of diving into any target once their luck has run out to take the enemy out with them. This kamikaze strategy is not just an occasional occurrence, but standard practice. Furthermore, on Tallon IV, these Pirates can be found in multiple biomes in the game, from the dangerous heat of magmoor caverns to the freezing cold of Phendrana Drifts. They can be encountered in Tallon Overworld, which is to be expected. The underwater variant of them can be found in the sunken frigate Orpheon which doesn’t take a huge leap in environment, just some retooled thrusters and an air tank for breathing. However, their environmental adaptability starts to get put on show in their first proper introduction in Phendrana Drifts. Phendrana is a snow covered wasteland, with almost no flora to speak of. It is a harsh and unforgiving environment covered in snow and ice, and these guys don’t layer up for the weather. Still, given that the Space Pirate labs have buildups of sitting snow, you might assume that Space Pirates just enjoy the colder temperatures. But these guys also show up in MAGMOOR CAVERNS. Samus requires the Varia Suit to step foot in those areas without cooking alive, and the Flying Pirates are in there without any heat protection whatsoever. I think they may be extremophiles.

Thank you so much @coldgoldlazarus!

1. 3 Ships: Samantha Maxis x Elizabeth Grey, Gwen x Miles, (hot take) Samus Aran x Gandrayda

2. First Ship Ever:… I don’t even know what I was into back when I started finding relationships appealing so… maybe Glorybringer?

3. Last Song: Stone Cold (Super Smash Bros Ultimate version by A_A_RonHD)

4. Last Movie: Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

5. Currently Reading: Nothing atm by just finished reading The Downfall of Ashkar Behek (a Metroid fanfic by Acayl on AO3)

6. Currently Watching: Journey’s Ahead by Tspro on YouTube

7. Currently Consuming: Bagel

8. Currently Craving: Dairy Queen ice cream

9. Oh jeez, I don’t even have 9 names to tag on here… @fanaticastrid @z-reblogs55 … I haven’t actually spoken to anyone else on here… at all

So…yeah

9 people you would like to get to know better

Ya know, one thing I like to think of with Metroid Prime is that Samus lands on this planet full of Chozo history that she’s never seen before and starts scanning everything in site like an excited little kid at a museum. She grew up with the Chozo, learned their ways, and lost them all to the pirates. Now, she has a world full of the remains of her home culture. You can just imagine her scanning every single statue of a Chozo to find out this was, why their statue is here, and what they were like. And she wants to know what the people of Tallon IV did. What was life like there? What did the average citizen do there?

Basically, Samus getting brain rot over her own culture’s history of which she’s been deprived of information about until now.

I think that another big part of Raven Beak’s pitch to Samus is this idea, misplaced as it may be, that the Chozo are the arbiters of morality in the universe. Under their watchful guard, the Galaxy was kept safe, prosperous, and free. They safeguarded species to carve their own path, forge their own destinies, and ascend to the stars on their own terms. We know, from various carvings, that the Mawkin have fought and defeated the Space Pirates in the past. As the Chozo receded, they left this responsibility to the Federation, a system which, in his view, has failed. They need, in effect, the last Chozo to attempt to solve all their problems. Yet, she’s just one woman. Indeed, she can do what many would think impossible. She ended both the Metroid Crisis and the Phazon crisis, defeated the unkillable Ridley, and so much more. Yet, she can’t be everywhere at once. She cannot solve the galaxy’s many injustices. To restore a golden age to the galaxy, the Chozo must return to impose it unto the dysfunctional Federation.

Is this the whole truth? No.

The Chozo were no stranger to crimes against the people they watched over. Hell, Raven Beak is known to execute members of his own Hasana. He himself is so enamored by past glories that he doesn’t see that the Chozo were never perfect. Perhaps they got a head start on the galaxy, achieved space travel a little early, had one or two less extinctions in their evolutionary development, achieved their power ahead of others, but they simply are not perfect. He doesn’t even see the crimes he commits as anything other than necessary steps on the path to a full return of the Chozo dominion. He believes in a return to the days when the Chozo fostered species to pursue their own prosperity and advancement, but he is too ambitious and self righteous to relinquish any of his power. After all,

Hadar sen Olmen.

Power is what will bring the Chozo back to prominence, power is what will dismantle the failed Galactic Federation, power is will eliminate all the threats to the good people of the Galaxy, power is what will see individual races achieve prosperity on their own. Power… is everything.

Hem ili Metroid mar Hadar.

The Project Golem mechs function quite similarly to Samus, even plugging their arm cannons into interfaces to receive data, operate devices, etc. From a Doylist perspective, the developers probably wanted to make a Metroid multiplayer based around Samus’ gameplay; But Samus is only one individual, how does this fit into the canon? So they made some Federation lookalikes to explain it. These mechs still act very Samus to appeal to the Metroid iconography.

From a Watsonian perspective, you know how one of the signs of improving technology is the ability to make it smaller, and more efficient? It could be that the Federation was a little humiliated by having to rely on one bounty hunter the whole time, and attributed a lot of her success to the tech she wore. There’s obviously so much more to what makes Samus such a great warrior than that, but still.

Project Golem was a way to ensure the Federation was prepared for any Space Pirate attack. And if the Aurora Units are any indication, the Federation has already emulated Chozo tech with their own weaker knock-offs before; More quantity to make up for a lack of quality. Because look at how enormous the mechs are, they’re Omega Pirate-sized! Both the Aurora Units and Project Golem were revealed in the Prime series, in two successive games involving an increase in Federation presence within the story and gameplay…

My point is: During the Dread arc, Raven Beak goes on a whole tirade about how the Federation is comprised of weaklings who have to depend on just one Chozo warrior to survive. Imagine how helpless they’d be against an army, surely at this point the Federation has made it clear they’ve given the reins to Samus in general; May as well just get it out of the way, take initiative but who can stop them? It was meant to be… It doesn’t matter that the Federation is trying to be more independent by making their own Samuses, because

The Federation knows it’s weak, that’s why it’s been scrambling so much to imitate its superiors, and pitifully too. Besides, they mistake the technology as the only part of Samus that matters; But Raven Beak knows the person, the Chozo training and philosophy inside, is just as important. Maybe moreso. He has no shortage of Chozo tech to work with, so what Raven Beak lacks, he’ll work with.

The Omega Metroid having the time of its life when the BSL’s gravity generators fail.

In the original Metroid 2, all stages of Metroid could fly, except the Queen, and even that example might’ve just been limited by a cramped room. The same could’ve applied to Fusion’s depiction of the Omega; But by Samus Returns (and I guess Other M), the Metroids have been retconned as losing flight capabilities past the Gamma stage. And even the Gamma’s flight has become limited; Presumably because its weight has become too cumbersome for its propulsive force, which hasn’t increased with each stage, to support.

In other words, gravity. But this makes me wonder; Could the Metroid’s method of propelling itself still exist, and it just isn’t strong enough anymore? Could the Queen still have that trait, vestigial as it is? And what if gravity was not there to tether a Metroid down to a surface?

We know Metroids can survive in the vacuum of space, so imagine seeing a Zeta, Omega, and even Queen Metroid flying there. They’d still be much slower than the preceding stages, but they’d still be able to move and navigate at all, just like in the original game. and that terrifies me. Imagine the Omega Metroid in Fusion escaping the BSL through the open hangar; Though it’d probably be stranded in space and if SR388’s explosion didn’t reach it, it’d have starved before finding a food source because space is vast. But man imagine the Federation employing a Metroid space fleet…!

And part 5 to cap things off! I had a lot of fun with these. It’s always great to flesh out things I haven’t given too much thought to before, as well as sharing the things I’ve mulled over for a while. Truly, this has been an awarding effort. I am posting these a night early as I have a fairly busy day tomorrow, so I’m not sure if I’ll have the energy to remember about posting this then. Without further ado, the final set of entries.

Day 29: Neo

Scan of Contained Bioform

“Subject is of the same unknown species as Ridley. However, other than the marked similarities in morphology, there are significant differences between it and the late pirate commander. Fat levels exceed all of Ridley’s previous appearances, and his skin’s color is a more colorful shade of indigo. His eyes also have vertical slit pupils, unlike Ridley’s own eyes. The lack of scars and grafted weapons is also in stark contrast to Ridley’s stories history. All things considered, this is not Ridley.”

Day 30: Victor

Scan of Defeated Mother Brain

“Life signature of Mother Brain indicates several areas of tissue damage. Blood clots and hemorrhaging has already begun to occur. Death is 100% certain. Fluctuations in brain activity are causing random activations in equipment due to interfacing equipment interpreting various power spikes as neuronal action potentials. Such aberrant activity will surely cause catastrophic failures in multiple systems. Immediate departure is advised.”

Day 31: Mission Complete

Mission Debrief Report: Zebes

“Mission completed. Metroid cloning facility on Zebes has been eliminated. However, 2 Space Pirate Research Frigates by the titles of Siriacus and Orpheon has escaped. Several Metroids were captive aboard the Orpheon during its departure for distribution to Pirate cells across Federation controlled space. Recommend efforts be made to track it down before cloning operations can be restarted.

Total confirmed enemy losses: 285 footsoldiers, 1 adult Kridilian, 4 Space Pirate Interceptors, 2 Revenant elite units, 1 Space Pirate Research Frigate, ‘Mother Brain’ ACI central unit, Commander Ridley.

Cleanup teams requested to eliminate remaining Space Pirate presence on and around Zebes.

Personal Notes: Zebes isn’t their’s. Zebes belonged to the last of the Chozo. Please treat it with dignity.”

Maytroid 2024 is here!

I am so excited to get to work on these new prompts. Last year, my entries for each day were fairly sloppy, and I was new to the series, so I was lacking a fair bit of information. Now, I’m armed with more knowledge and am eager to use it.

For those who haven’t seen what I did for Maytroid last year, what I’m going to be doing instead of art is something more writing focused. These little text entries are mostly styled after the scans from the Metroid Prime series. Matter of fact, this new set of prompts actually lends itself much better than last year’s, as I have a lot more leeway to play to my own strengths than last year (I still don’t know what the fuck I’m gonna do with Gorea). These are all canon to my own Metroid AU currently, though as things change in development, these may become out of date. They will give the vibe my stories are going for, but these shouldn’t be held to as the absolute canon for them. I’ll be posting these week by week, around 7 at a time, starting today.

Day 1: Ridley

Transcript of Security Footage

Several individuals in this footage cannot be identified at this time. They shall be identified as Pirate 1, Pirate 2, and Pirate Major.

Ridley: What I want to know… is why he is not in custody.

Pirate Major: I gave them their orders, they knew he was to be brought in alive, and instead they killed him.

Pirate 1: You told us to take care of him! We thought you meant an execution, not milk and cookies!

Pirate Major: Insolent Wretch! You say such things about your orders in front of our Commander?! You know how we handle that sort of insubordination!

Pirate 2: Cool it, we’re already in hot water.

Pirate 1: We’re in hot water because of the life of some winy little nobody that begged for his life with money he didn’t even have.

Ridley: While your insolence is… aggravating… I am willing to forgive this misstep.

Pirate Major: What?

Ridley: He was an insignificant pawn. We can always find another. As I was saying, I am willing to forgive this on one condition. Did he die in pain?

Pirate 2: Yes. He did suffer before he died.

Ridley: What methods or torture did you employ?

Pirate 1: Waterboarding. Works wonders on humans. I always liked how they sound when they cough and gasp for air.

Ridley:Mmmmm… was blood shed before his end?

Pirate 2: Yeah. My partner here has… quite the way with knives.

Ridley: Do tell.

Pirate 1: Slashed his wrists. Those arteries gush lots of blood from humans. And we started pulling teeth when he lied.

Ridley: Delicious. You have escaped capital punishment, but you will still be serving as guards for the Metroid containment units. For further forgiveness, you will need to be more creative with your implements. I find Revine’s death, by your account, to be quite dull. Your are dismissed, unless you wish to enlighten me further.

Day 2: Fiery

Scan of Pipe System in Norfair

“These pipes appear be delivering superheated magma into the Norfair region. Given the proximity to Ridley’s personal quarters, likely explanations include terraforming the area for Ridley’s own comfortability, additional protective measures, or the intentional destruction of Chozo artifacts not deemed useful. The latter is most likely, as the immediate area was once a Chozo burial tomb. It is now completely submerged in magma, disintegrating much of the artifacts within.”

Day 3: Winged

Scan of SA-X Mutations

“This X-Parasite copy has suffered some form of destabilization of its copying abilities. Abnormalities include a malformed, beak like structure around the mouth, several atrophied fingers, several hypertrophied fingers, small patches of feathers, and an extraneous structure protruding from its back resembling a Chozo wing bereft of feathers. These unusual deformities could be the result of DNA infusions during childhood complicating the process of anatomical replication within X-Parasite offspring. This individual seems to suffer great stress from its predicament, but it is unsafe to assume that its combat functionality is greatly hampered. Adaptation is this species’s main trait.”

Day 4: Pirate

Scan of Space Pirate Elite

“Subject is a member of an unknown species known only from individuals working within Ridley’s special operations group, The Revenants. This group acts as Ridley’s personal enforcers and assassins, fanatically worshipping their commander as a literal God of Death. They wield melee weapons personalized to their unique fighting styles. Each weapon is charged with electricity, giving them an additional ranged attack capability. They have operated since before the Galactic Federation, making a name for themselves in fighting Chozo warriors. Their endurance, agility, and strength cannot be overstated, in spite of their gaunt appearance.”

Day 5: Mecha

Scan of automaton codenamed Mecha Ridley

“Subject is a battle ready drone, seemingly created by Ridley’s fanatical special forces, the Revenants. Mecha Ridley is heavily weaponized, as there could be no altar to the God of Death without the ability to take a life. Weapons include flamethrowers, guided munition launchers, and superheated claws. Mecha Ridley’s armor is highly durable, but greatly hampers mobility compared to its inspiration. Additionally, as a cult idol of worship, advanced artificial intelligence was not prioritized during production. Mecha Ridley displays average combat intellect for a war drone. Recommend staying moving and outsmarting the automaton.”

Day 6: Fang

Scan of Rundas’s Necklace

“Rundas appears to have begun collecting Metroid Fangs as trophies since last he was approached. Assuming one fang was taken from each Metroid he has eliminated, he has defeated 15 Metroids in the two months since he was last seen. Unfortunately, his ego has grown with his kill count.”

Day 7: Cunning

Scan of Abandoned Home

“Old Bird and Grey Voice’s abandoned home has been left mostly in tact, minus the usual signs of neglect. However, there appear to be a plethora of traps lain around the home. Various grapple snares have been detected, alongside explosive charges, beam emitters, and microphones. Much of these systems appear to be inert, and once reported directly to Mother Brain. It is clear she anticipated you might return here before confronting her. Given her destruction, several trap systems remain completely dormant. Still, any approach must be made with great caution.”

I had a similar idea for a side game called “Ridley’s Rage” where it’s about him conquering worlds and causing more destruction nets you a higher score.

Anyways, similar to Halo Wars, you could have different commanders with different capabilities, such as Ridley, Weavel, and Mother Brain for the Space Pirates, against Castor Dane, Adam Malkovich, and Alex Miles in the Federation. Perhaps Castor Dane would be good for air support tactics while Alex Miles would be good for mechanized warfare, and Adam would be sort of an all rounder, Jack of all trades. For the Space Pirates, Ridley might focus on heavy explosives that would cause a lot of collateral damage, Weavel could focus on swarms of weak troops, and Mother Brain could be more strategic and mobile, requiring some more thought and foresight.

Maybe the story mode could be Dane vs Weavel, but a vs mode could feature those other commanders.

Metroid spinoff idea, RTS focusing on Caster Dane

In my head I’m imagining a real time strategy game like halo wars focusing on caster Dane as you command federation troops, vehicles, etc in a prolonged conflict with the space pirates over a planet they’re trying to conquer. While also being able to send in bounty hunters like spire or noxus as special units, or if it’s set before prime 3 maybe rundas, gorr, and gandrayda. Or even introduce new bounty hunters to expand the world further.

Meanwhile the chief rival to Dane in command of the pirate forces would be weavel. Perhaps getting some help from trace or kanden

I have no idea how this would work and it probably only appeals to me specifically so I highly doubt Nintendo would ever do it, but what do y’all think? Deep down I think really I just want a game that expands a bunch on the GF and the space pirates and their abilities and tactics.

So… scope creep, huh?

For those of you who may not know, I do have a rewrite of the Metroid Zero Mission manga, as well as most of the games in the series, in the works. However, the manga rewrite in particular deals with some very heavy and intense topics, topics that need time and care to get right. So uh… yeah, I don’t think that’s coming out before Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, save for some massive delay.

However, there is a story in the works that will meet your eyes, and ears, far sooner. This story is based on a premise and the music works of the YouTuber Seregauss. This is the story of his latest album, Metroid Prime: The Great Hunt.

YouTube

Metroid Prime: The Great Hunt

an album for a concept metroid prime hunters sequel

Taking place after the events of Metroid Dread, this story follows up on some of the loose plot threads left by Dread, Fusion, and Other M, and operates as a sequel to Metroid Prime Hunters.

Far from the homeworlds of the lost Alimbic Civilization, the secret technologies of the Alimbics, left buried for millennia, have been reactivated, spurring on a new hunt for long lost power. Samus Aran, now wrestling with her Metroid powers and distrust in the Galactic Federation and Chozo, must put an end to the anomalous rifts running rampant throughout the Collidus Star System. In her journey, Samus will face deadly wildlife, familiar faces, and sinister new foes, all while uncovering secrets new and old.

This is a story I am very hyped to be working on. Seregauss has a lot of my favorite Metroid covers, and The Great Hunt might be some of his best work yet. In addition, I am privy to some inside information as to artwork and designs which will be implemented into this story. I will be posting some of my own artwork soon, including some artwork of a redesign of the Space Pirate Bounty Hunter, Weavel. Stay tuned, and happy hunting!