Kraid-soh

Nerdy the Artist’s Murder Drones Fanfiction Spotlight!

Welp, it’s finally here! Sorry if this is a long time coming, or that this is shorter than expected. Nintendo has started to show more of Metroid Prime 4, and so my brainrot over Metroid has been reignited. Never the less, here it is! Following in the footsteps of my Metroid Fanfiction Spotlights, I am now going to be highlighting several fanfictions I have read that I believe are worth your time. I tend to focus on in depth storytelling and character exploration, but there may be an exception to that. In any case, these are in no particular order, though they will largely just be in the order I find them in.

1. Intermission

Link: https://youtu.be/VKzv_3q_b8E?si=8dbsFUpev2taOp5D

How could I make a post about Murder Drones fan stories without bringing up Intermission? This a fan episode of Murder Drones set between episodes 4 and 5, dealing with the aftermath of Uzi’s corruption from the Absolute Solver and further setting up Cyn and the past of the Murder Drones. The video is done as a well animated storyboard, with great sfx work and riveting voiceover performances. It even has its own soundtrack! The story isn’t perfect, but I do recommend watching it between Cabin Fever and Home, as it breaks up the breakneck pacing of that stretch of the show. There is also voice actors in this episodes also do a great job. Their impressions are ok at best, but the amount of emotion they bring to their roles is astounding. V, in particular, benefits immensely from this episode, getting center stage in much of the episode, and the nuanced and varied emotions for her character are delivered perfectly, showcasing her manic and tender sides in depth. If you wish you had more V, look no further than Intermission. I know most of you will have watched Intermission by now, but there for the new people to the series, go watch this incredible project.

2. Forgive and Forget. Forgive and… Forget.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61109395/chapters/156137086

Forgive and Forget is a fic that gyrates between cute and disturbing at an unpredictable interval. As of writing this, the author, Kiwi11, has gotten 9 chapters of this story out. It follows V as she wakes up aboard the Disassembly Drone transport ship. Due to some programming faults, she ends up being the only one in the group to remember their past, the Elliot Manor, Tessa, and a few small traces of memory of a certain fourth worker drone. There’s a lot of tech explanations of the ins and outs of the Worker and Disassembly Drones that I just eat up. There is also a lot of attention paid to the sort of secondary personalities the trio has. The ruthless obsession with company goals isn’t J’s coping mechanism in this or a sincere belief, it’s an intrusive split personality that takes over during moments of stress, making her more ruthless to even the people she cares about. I’ll leave it at that to keep you guys safe from spoilers. While this story isn’t finished, I can already say confidently it is worth a read.

3. Onions

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61979827/chapters/158492584

Onions is, at its core, a sort of What If type of rewrite of Murder Drones, centered around one specific change; what if V found Uzi first instead of N? However, this isn’t just some halfassed excuse to write Vuzi Fanfiction. There is genuine creativity on display from nyhll. Firstly, things don’t play out quite the same as in the show. The changes are subtle, chains of events that wind up causing further changes down the road. One such occupance is from the scene where the Murder Drones find one of their own having gotten past the first and second bunker doors. As V doesn’t respond to the whole company schtick and dangling of trinkets, V isn’t given the “branded peeeeeeeeen” and thus Uzi doesn’t have it for the 2v2, causing the fight to go much worse, as well as the railgun getting destroyed in episode 1 rather than episode 2. Additionally, there are additional chapters set in between the corresponding episodes, adding extra depth to characters like Doll and Kahn. It is absolutely worthy of your time for that alone. But also… the whole vampire romance thing is played up here much more. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it for that as well. You’ll find my partners laughing at me in the notes.

4. Experiment

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63463585

Many of the stories here are rather long (or will be once they are finished), so how about a little one shot for a change of pace? This story, written by Kenns02, tackles a particular oddity of the Absolute Solver; it can regenerate clothes, like N’s hat. This fun little fic display the main cast testing to see the extent of that ability, as well as its imperfections. It’s a fun short thing to read when you’ve got a minute to spare.

Me when my favorite Tumblr users infodump Metroid fanons.

Please, I need more. It sustains me.

(Art by @tsproart )

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!

Batta, the Culture of the Zebesian Space Pirates

The Metroid Prime series has introduced the internal workings of the Space Pirates and expanded on it in subsequent entries. However, it is largely agreed upon by groups with the Metroid community (myself included) that the Space Pirates are a faction made up of many species. After all, the biology of the different enemy types in the Prime series alone is wildly different from game to game, aside from a bipedal, hunched posture. It can be assumed, therefore, that any discrepancies from game to game when describing the inner workings of the Space Pirates to simply be the culture of those individual species. For instance, the Urtraghians have far more brutal forms of punishment than the forces seen on Tallon IV. Now that then begs the question.

What about the culture of the Zebesians?

This exploration will, admittedly, be full of conjecture and fanons that I enjoy, but I hope you will enjoy either way.

The name Zebesian seems a bit strange to those who know the inner workings of Metroid lore, specifically about the Chozo, who were the residents of planet Zebes before the Space Pirates stormed the planet. The two big schools of thought as to the name from a Watsonian perspective are either that the Zebesians were driven off of Zebes in years past during the Chozo’s warlike past or that the name comes from their settlement upon Zebes that essentially became the way most of the Galaxy thought about the planet.

While I prefer the latter explanation, the former explanation does have some basis to it. Some of Dread’s many murals depict Mawkin soldiers coming into conflict with the Zebesian Space Pirates and defeating them. It is certainly possible that this is how the Chozo first settled the world. There was once a time when the Thoha Chozo were on good terms with the Mawkin.

Still, from both a Watsonian and Doylist perspective, I prefer that the Zebesian name comes from their takeover of Zebes, likely the latest conquest of many. From throughout the series, the Chozo are not seen to have been particularly active in galactic politics during the age of the Galactic Federation, mostly being relegated to advising more public figures. They are rarely mentioned after their demise, outside of their ruins. Therefor, with the Chozo mostly being dead and buried, their world conquered by the feared Space Pirates, the limelight would then be cast onto that world as the source of the Metroid threat, thus leading people to call them the rulers of that world. It’s not exactly how I will be situating things in my own rewrite of the manga, but it does fit better from a purely canonical perspective. Furthermore, from a Doylist perspective, there is evidence to posit this same position. (Special thanks to @sepublic for pointing this out) The internal data for the Zebesian sprite refers to them as Batta, the Japanese word for grasshopper/locust. While this can be attributed to their hopping behavior, it also fits to see them surrounding a planet, consuming its resources, and leaving barren rock behind, with Zebes being their latest, and most successful, operation. The manga displays them descending onto worlds, massacring populations, and enslaving the survivors. The origin of Samus Aran’s adoption into the Chozo comes from them massacring the population of a colony in order to steal its main export wholesale.

The individuals we see in the manga are spiteful, remorseless, and cruel, happy to kill a child for fun. They also show fear and cowardice in the face of armed resistance from Federation officials, and Mother Brain describes them as inclined to capitulate to the highest power present. This cruel, despotic leadership style appears to be an inherent trait to Zebesian culture. Furthermore, the Space Pirates are displayed as having genetically altered themselves to withstand Zebes’s environment very soon after securing the world, suggesting an avid fascination with genetic manipulation, a trait that gets taken to the N’th degree in the Prime series, along with a fascination of mechanical augmentation. From Meta and Proteus Ridley, to the grafted metal implants of the Tallon IV pirates, to the exoskeleton apparatus used by the Urtraghians, the Space Pirates as a whole seem to love cybernetically augmenting themselves and their underlings.

One of my favorite fan interpretations of the Zebesians comes from @dappercritter and the fanfiction piece “No Other”. Quite frankly, I have to include the paragraph wherein the description of the Zebesian race lies.

“The chimeric splice-junkies who had the nerve to call themselves ‘Zebesians’ she wasn’t surprised by. Those ‘settler colonists’-a term which they use to feign altruism and keep the GDF from assaulting their new base, had always been a thorn in Samus’s side since they tried to take her and the Chozo’s old home by force. Of course, they’d come back for more at some point, even if they deserved every other beatdown.”

The Zebesians are described as “chimeric splice-junkies”, a term which I absolutely love for its descriptiveness and color. These guys love to juice themselves up on whatever science team has cooked up. They love genetic modifications, cybernetic implants, and anything to make themselves stronger and give them an edge in combat. The main villain of this story, Ganzer, is the apotheosis of a Zebesian. He has replaced his lobster claws with metal claws, he has wings on his back, chainsaw blades grafted to his arms, a shoulder mounted cannon, a visor in place of his eyes, extra armor over his exoskeleton, and even a reptilian tail. Additionally, there is an explanation here for the name of these Zebesians. These galactic jerks are not just genocidal maniacs, they are something far worse: lawyers. They have lawyered their way into exploiting the Federation’s rules of engagement. After all, orbital bombardment on a colony is illegal. So, as any good lawyer would do, they have designated their most valuable planet as their residential colony world. Doesn’t matter that they breed Metroids, produce weapons, and store their fleets there, cuz that’s where the children grow up, at least on paper.

Furhermore, given their distinctly crustacean design, I can imagine that their “splice-junky” lifestyle comes into play during a specific recurring period of their life; molting. When a crustacean molts, the new shell is soft and malleable for a time, in which time they are extremely vulnerable. Defensive claws and stingers are effectively useless, leaving them defenseless until their body hardens. This time could be perfect for Zebesians to how in the infusion tank to get ‘roided up on whatever DNA infusions they choose/have chosen for them, or to have cybernetic implants grafted into them, where the shell will then solidify and seal the implant on. You can just imagine some excited Zebesian chittering about how they ordered the new model of targeting armature, lamenting that they have to wait until the next molt to get it installed. It honestly opens up some room for a bit of downtime in their culture which I think could be explored further some time.

Hope you all enjoyed this one! I may make a similar post for some of the other Space Pirate varieties. I do have some unique fanons for the Urtraghians that could be cool to share. Let me know if you have any suggestions or fanons of your own!

I have a (baseless) hunch as to why that may be. MercurySteam, the studio behind it, and subsequently Dread, first pitched Sakamoto on a remake of Metroid Fusion. Sakamoto turned the concept down, as he thought that Fusion needed no improvements at that age. Instead, he proposed that a remake of Metroid 2: Return of Samus would be more needed. Thus Metroid: Samus Returns was made. I am not too knowledgeable in game design so this may be fairly baseless, but I suspect that part of the initial pitch involved concepts and ideas for a Neo Ridley boss fight. If that were the case, it stands to reason that they may have attempted to utilize the work that they were proud of and Sakamoto liked in the game they ended up actually making. So they gave him a couple of cybernetics, sent him after the last Metroid, and called it a day. It would make the third phase of his boss theme, which has the tempo of Neo Ridley’s theme, a fun callback. Once again, I could be just way out there and overstepping.

what a weird way to end an otherwise great game. that ridley fight was there for no reason and makes super really weird, the metroid baby gets kidnapped by the guy samus killed like 20 minutes ago. samus returns is a really good game apart from that.

I’m so glad Seregoss got brought up here. Reminder that he made a cover of Sylux’s theme right away when the Prime 4 trailer came out. Metroid’s fan soundtracks are absolutely amazing. I’ve gotten so many writing ideas from his music.

I’m planning on narrating my Metroid fan stories, similar to @tsproart has done with his own original story, Journey’s Ahead. Because of the vast array of incredible existing tracks, both in game and from fans, I want to edit in some title cards featuring the song name, artist and source. I’ll do this in the video itself, as opposed to the description, as I’m not animating this or anything. All of those amazing people deserve to see their name in some of the scenes I’m proud of, so they can be proud in turn.

Alright, I need to throw some more shit on here because once again, Metroid has an iron god damn grip on my brain.

If there is something I truly wish nintendo would accept for once in their lives, its bringing in some fan talent to work on metroid - much like how sega has brought on fan talent for sonic.

Because jesus fucking christ, there are some music artists out there that make some genuinely good covers and original tracks.

Take for example, Seregoss - This absolute mad lad makes some high energy remixes of metroid alongside his own tracks for some original projects, and they slap SHIT!

Like this S.E.R.R.I.S remix he's made. holy FUCK IT FUCKS HARD.

Or one of my absolute favorites, SynaMax

He does more than just make original tracks, he has straight up gone into the rabbit hole of finding the source of EVERY SINGLE SYNTH INSTRUMENT EVER USED IN THE PRIME TRILOGY.

NOT ONLY THAT, he has made MANY tracks with this library, and even released the information on the sources to the wide web as well as most of the samples that can be used! Now the downside of course is that he hasn't published ALL of these found samples yet, and I really hope he does, cause god dammit

Metroid Prime has such a unique soundscape that no other franchise has ever managed to captured, even with later metroid games as well, and I NEED MORE PEOPLE TO MAKE MUSIC WITH THIS SHIT.

He nails the vibe, so much so that I wish Retro picked him up to make music for Prime 4 cause god damn, it fits REALLY well.

For those aspiring musical artists out there, sincerely take a gander at the sample library of the Prime Trilogy, this shit needs to spread further out on the internet cause it is CRIMINAL that a lot of these samples had nearly become lost media in their own right.

That also leads me into the second portion of this blog, god fucking dammit I just love the Trilogy's music. I could go on, and on, and ON about my favorite tracks in the entire series - from the Chozo Ruins and Overworld of Prime 1, to fucking EVERYTHING in Prime 2 (Yes, Prime 2 is my favorite despite the keyhunting bullshit, and the music is peak to me), and Prime 3's mix of orchestral instruments alongside those classic synths we've come to know and love.

The highest peak of the trilogy if you ask me is Sanctuary Fortress.

No matter what, I always remember the first time reaching that area and hearing that techno-like, harsh yet almost spiritual vibe of the Fortress, and GOD - seeing that skybox on the outline, it always made me wish you could go down there to explore the Luminoth city that was abandoned so long ago, yet remains lit and functional to this day.

Prime 2 if you ask me has the better soundtrack in the trilogy just due to the sheer amount of original tracks, but also torvus bog and the flooded temple area too, its just too god damn good.

God, I really hope Prime 4 keeps to the tradition of god tier music, and reincorporates some of the instrumentals that the trilogy is known for.

As an unabashed lesbian and Samus x Gandrayda shipper, I knew I had to make this. Thanks to @Hoshizoralone for allowing me to use these adorable art pieces.

Had this sped up audio of my friend ranting about Lunchly for a while now. Someone brought up the idea of this being Uzi ranting about JCJenson and I just had to draw it. She went a little obsessive in the bunker. Also N likes his oil drippy, brah.

Hanging an led screen with this on it as I dip into the hotel room with my girlfriend.

My Personal Art Refs for the Galactic Federation’s Soldiers

So I’m in my early 20’s these days, but one thing I remember from back when I was a kid was my obsession with Mega Bloks. Mainly I was a Halo fan, but I also fell into liking a thing called Dragons Universe. It had these wacky spaceships, sci-fi dragons, spring loaded launchers, all the stuff a kid like me would love.

These days, I’m into Metroid, and am trying to flesh out a story I’m working on. The Galactic Federation’s own military forces don’t get fleshed out a lot, but we do at least have designs for their soldiers. Now, remembering back to Dragons Universe, I’m realizing the designs for the human soldiers are actually rather similar in some ways. I think I’ll likely use them as inspiration for some more specialized units in the Federation. So for anyone else who wants to do the same, I’m gonna toss you a couple images.