#Kriken

[sepublic]

So are they planning to do a new Metroid Prime trilogy with Beyond as the first installment, or is the series merely being redefined as a quadrilogy instead? If it’s the former, we might see Sylux as a recurring antagonist the way Dark Samus was, and that makes me wonder if we’ll even get answers in Beyond, or if that will again be saved for a future game.

And if there’s a new trilogy, then… Why not bring in the Kriken Empire as antagonists, at least for one game? Hunters helped to expand the world a bit more, and if it already used one hunter to set up a main antagonist for a future mainline entry, why not do the same for another? Maybe all of the hunters, or at least a few, were designed and considered as potential future storylines. Imagine a game where we help Spire learn what happened to his people… Come to think of it, a time travel mechanic introduced in Beyond could be used to solve that very mystery. Maybe Spire should show up in this game.

[askelectrochromic]

what is the Krikani language like? i like the description of Cheloan glyphs as analogous to Hanzi or Kanji (being able to identify the ``spicy'' character) but id love to know about the Krikani writing system

(im not expecting you to write a whole conlang of course but was curious if you had a general shape or feeling to it in mind) ^^;

SableGear0: You know, I haven't actually given it much thought yet. I probably should, though. My first impulse was to say "they don't have a written language" (for reasons I will discuss in a moment) but that seems impossible; they're a sapient species capable of space-travel and manage huge military systems, they probably have writing since not all communication can be person-to-person. So, organic rambling solution-finding and some links and images under the cut.

Generally I conceptualize Kriken as a (semi-)eusocial hive organism that are passively psionic, to keep in touch with the greater hive. How much direct communication happens psionically I'm still not sure; whether it can be used "conversationally," or if it's merely a "vibe" they share with local Kriken that's strong enough to pick up on the "vibe" from the core colony sometimes. The fact that they have a spoken language probably means its closer to the latter.

If the psionic communication is powerful enough, then maybe they wouldn't need to write? But then how would you do something like label the controls on a starship or make maps? You might have to devote someone to memorizing what all the labels would be and then telepathically ask them what you're looking at. Which isn't totally unreasonable, if we consider them highly specialized hive organisms. Maybe they do have "librarians" that keep this stuff in their minds and can be asked/accessed on a whim. This would be an extremely alien way of keeping track of information. While I kind of like it, it seems maybe a bit too weird for the Metroid series as we know it. Arguably, Metroid has kept its aliens fairly (socially) tame, giving us a lot of written logs throughout the Prime series. Though the ones we've gotten the most lore on are Pirates and Chozo, which aren't great benchmarks since they were respectively "the bad guys" and "the good guys (mostly)."

Being insectoid, Kriken might also communicate via pheromones? But pheromones and what/how Kriken eat have been stumping me because... well, their heads aren't really attached.

Trace has no neck. And while in some renders it looks like that tiny teardrop of a head is resting on the body, the in-game model and wireframe show pretty clearly they do not touch. Hence why I go with psionic; their heads float for spooky psionic reasons. This also means that while their heads may be a sensory center (headshots still work in Hunters), I doubt it's where they stick food when (if?) they eat, so it being a chemosensor feels a little unlikely, but I digress.

Anyway back to written language. I suppose I have to ask myself, what would a written language look like if it was invented by ants? Or bees? Ants is a tough one mainly because I don't actually know much about ant organization. My impression is that they build and tunnel fairly organically, just wherever is easiest to go and/or smells like it has the most food. When I think about bees, though, I think about bee dances, and how that might be adapted into a written language; a system abstracting the orientation and movement of the body into markings that can be re-read at any time so that worker doesn't have to bust down and dance it out every time she wants to relay some information to someone new.

And thinking about that, I think about Phyrexian. This conlang shows up in the Magic the Gathering universe, and knowing what I know about Phyrexians (an all-consuming hivemind-like culture that take creatures and turn them into half-mechanical abominations to serve their own purposes), it seems like a decent fit.

The shape of these is really what I was going for but the cultural implications match up too. I was thinking of the cross-strokes being similar to the directional facing if you were to write down a bee dance, the extra marks indicating other movements like stops or the frequency of a waggle.

It also looks like something a bug might make if you dipped it in ink and let it walk around on a paper, so that's neat. Scratching marks like these out would be fairly quick and easy for a Kriken, since they only appear to have a crab-like manipulator and a single combat claw, and I've stuck with that design choice in describing them because it's more interesting than "oh and they have normal hands too".

So there's your answer, I guess. Written Krikani probably looks kind of like Phyrexian; branching strokes off a central line that stem from an ancestral system of gestural communication (and I like the verticality so I'll probably keep that too). Simple, efficient, and easy to replicate.

Thanks for the ask! This was a bit of a brain-teaser.

[keitrinkomfloukru]

[autoacafiles]

[sepublic]

To illustrate my point on some Metroid world building I did regarding a whole 'natural caste system' that people believe in and/or struggle with, consider: A lot of pilots have better reflexes and faster reaction times. This makes them ideal for high-speed combat. A lot of pilots are natural fliers, who are naturally evolved to go through the air at top velocity anyway.

Similarly, military leaders and those who have to make split-second decisions are typically species who perceive time more slowly than the average one, which enables them to process events more quickly, and come to more reasoned solutions.

When it comes to retail or the 24/7 news, businesses prefer species who can stay awake for longer periods of time; They don't need to be particularly strong, just capable of constant activity. Likewise, it's better for these species to require less sleep when they eventually do rest.

Actors are all about expression; Species with flexible faces, more moving bits to convey themselves through, emotive colors; They tend to get higher billing as movie stars. Similarly, vocal range makes for better singers, and those more attuned to subtler frequencies and noises are more likely to be on-pitch as musicians.

Species that can adapt to varying environments, and have good stamina, make for excellent explorers; They also function well as an intergalactic military, because it's cheaper to base all your infrastructure and equipment around a specific body type. And if you have to use one species, use one capable of adjusting to a wide diversity of biomes, adequately strong, and capable of outlasting enemies in combat; Hence, Earthians being the primary infantry.

If you work in space, it's so much cheaper if you're a species who can naturally survive in a vacuum. That way, employers save out on having to pay extra for equipment to keep you alive. Jobs can include construction in space, maintenance, exploration, rescue, etc.

Meanwhile, the Kriken believe there are no species who are better at any functions than them; With their Biomorph innovation, they can program individual Kriken to take on select traits for select situations. And if all other species are now redundant, then what use is there for them? Even the Space Pirates believe in exploiting other species, alive, for a purpose; Their issue comes from wanting mastery over those they still need. Meanwhile, the Kriken are truly adaptable and this is one of many factors that makes them such a terrifying military force.

This plays a factor into the Federation’s interest in the X parasites; Their perfect mimicry and ability to remix genomes and traits, enhancing them and improving upon pre-existing life forms, makes them superior to the Kriken’s Biomorph innovation. They are a species the Kriken would’ve never considered; Something better than them at something, something that makes even the Kriken’s Biomorph redundant because it comes naturally to any X, who individually can contain multiple genomes and are considered by some to be the ultimate life form. If the Kriken were to have learned of the X, they could’ve sparked a genuine, existential fear that no Kriken has ever felt in millennia.

Meanwhile, the Federation is used to many species being better than them at some things; The Federation is not a monolithic, singular species after all. They do not fanatically believe in wiping out any they see redundant, and are only made that way by the X, who are too non-sapient to even consider as a superior species to worship; They’re just a tool… And even if one were to acknowledge a species as ‘better’, they would still rightfully want to live and not be subjugated. And that is exactly why many object not just to the Space Pirates, but to this ‘natural caste system’ of species niches that the Federation seems to run on.

[keitrinkomfloukru]

I was today years old when I learned that ‘Netflix and chill’ means something other than hanging out and watching tv.

[sepublic]

It’s all but confirmed that Beyond is about time travel, but the name itself implies we might see some future shenanigans too. If we use time travel to explore different eras of the planet’s history, what if we end up in the future near the climax? Or just at any point and it’s red. Really red. And then you see spindly red aliens who look a bit familiar and

Oh my god this planet will be colonized and terraformed by the Kriken Empire. And maybe you encounter Trace here, as a way to bring in another character from Hunters; Weavel can be present since he’s a Space Pirate and maybe even Sylux’s recommendation.

It’s not super relevant, it’s just Samus trying to survive and get to whatever her goal is; From the perspective of Trace and the Kriken in the future, Samus just inexplicably returned to her classic suit. Though tbf, Dread does imply her Fusion suit has been healing itself, and that eventually Samus will return to her classic look given time… So nothing’s even different at all!

For the sake of Beyond’s storyline, it’s a way the Kriken can be involved without taking over the plot because they’re confined to the future in an adventure spanning the timeline of one planet, and as far as they know Samus is just messing with them, they have no clue and thus no intention of getting involved with the Sylux conflict; Maybe Samus and Sylux even have to team up together to survive and make it back to the present/past.

Plus, this could be a way to set up the Kriken as full-time antagonists in another Prime game, if Tanabe and/or Retro are interested in that sort of thing. Maybe in a Prime 5, or even 6, we can see follow-up to other hunters like Spire, Kanden, and Noxus.

[keitrinkomfloukru]

Early 20s. That sure would be nice. Nothing hurts, I can walk from the bus stop to the grocer store without breathing hard, and I have enough energy to do hobby things.

the amount of letters in your full name is now your forever age. what is it?

[sepublic]

            A while back, I had this concept of a Metroid fanon, which I typically do for series I really like; Sort of flesh out, entirely in my head with no intention of actually writing it down, maybe just drawing, my own sort of take on the canon. An idea for how a larger story would incorporate and flow between these different games or installments or whatever, stuff that would happen in-between, and stuff afterwards.

         Basically, I wanted to make a unifying storyline out of Metroid. Entirely in my head, of course. And I quickly found that one of the themes I stumbled across, an idea I ended up having a lot of fun with, was this idea of… the Niche, for sapient alien species.

         Think of it like this; Imagine you’re an alien with a body type more akin to Kraid, being huge and massive and capable of hurling projectile weaponry. You want to be an accountant, and so does this other alien beside you, who’s more human-sized. You both have the same skills as accountants and are both paid the same for it, except!

         You have much greater needs. Bigger body means more nutrition needed. Bigger body means more space to occupy, which means greater rent. You need all of your equipment to work at home with specially made for your body type, because sometimes companies prefer to work with a specific range of shapes or sizes amongst alien species. You ultimately make less than your fellow accountant, due to the particular expenses of your existence.

         Of course, a friend brings up to you that some people need help hauling stuff around, and they don’t want to pay a lot for a big crew, or maybe it’s just easier with you. You’re huge and strong, you can help! And you became an accountant, partly because you weren’t interested in physical labor. But you’re clearly the best for it, and will be paid for it, so… You don’t have much options but to do this side job. It’s fine you guess, but you still have to work two jobs to keep yourself alive.

         It’s the idea that some species have certain bodies better equipped for certain jobs, so even if they’d rather do something else, they’d probably be outcompeted by another species, and end up pointed back in their assigned ‘niche’ in society. It’s easier and simpler for the Federation to operate by this more confined system, where larger, bigger body types work labor and are compensated accordingly, while smaller aliens are expected to work in occupations that make the most of their small size, and are also paid accordingly.

         You’re a human, adaptable and hardy, so you’re expected to be a footsoldier in the Federation’s military. You’re a Ceratopsid, time for you to be a leader! Phrygisians are unique for generating ice, of course you’ll have an occupation related to cooling, like a firefighter or even just an ice cream maker! You arguably have a social responsibility to make the most of your species’ traits, to do the job better than any other species could.

         Of course, while the Federation DOES try to find a role and accommodations for every species it encounters… Not everyone fares so well. Some species, like the Urtraghue, are at an inherent disadvantage due to lacking any limbs. They NEED exo-skeletons in order to operate complex tools and machinery, so even if they do have the advantage of breathing in air and water, it’s still a lot harder for them to exist in a society designed around a certain body type.

         So there’s a lot of themes of ableism and accommodation here, I feel. The idea of cities and societies built around a particular definition of ‘abled’ and those outside of it have the onus placed on them to adapt, not the other way around. Most species tend to rely on physical expressions, so for a species that emotes more with scents or sounds or even lights, it’s gonna be harder!

         A lot of this just encourages aliens to keep within their own species. Stay segregated in societies built for people like them, and it’s easy for many to advocate for this. Federation supporters are alarmed because, hey, segregation is kinda terrible and merely encourages xenophobia!

         Some species are prioritized on the job market for certain behavioral attitudes. Others for their physique. Trafficking is a HUGE problem in the Metroid universe, for example Ridley’s species. They’re fairly few and obscure and not represented well by the Federation’s database, which already struggles to provide comprehensive info on every species. So it’s easy for them to fall through the network and be kidnapped and sold, seen as ideal and powerful weapons for their regenerative abilities, flight, fire-breathing, durable skin, etc.

         At some point, Samus has to team up with another member of Ridley’s species, Varyn, to save someone who has been trafficked for this purpose. And as they discuss, Varyn and Samus both have to ruminate on the inevitability of their roles; Ridley’s species feels built for combat, so of course that’s all they’ll be encouraged to do! Maybe that’s why Ridley ended up like that… And, Samus of course points out that people CAN make exceptions for themselves, and it hardly excuses his atrocities and evil. Varyn agrees, but she does bring up the inherent tragedy of it, the biological determinism.

         Likewise, we have Racklas, another member of Ridley’s species. She’s a judge and when Ridley is captured by the Federation at some point between Samus Returns and Super Metroid, for all his war crimes he’s still entitled to a fair trial. And Racklas is appointed because the Federation reasons that to make a trial as fair as possible, Ridley needs someone who could relate to him, it’s the same idea behind “a jury of your peers” and whatnot.

         Samus obviously does a double-take on Racklas and Racklas can’t totally blame her. But she does make a point that she explicitly does NOT want to be a fighter like her and Ridley’s species are expected, nay destined according to others, to be. But when Space Pirates crash the trial and successfully rescue Ridley, Racklas has to use her larger strength, fire breath, and durability to protect others. She’s hardly a fighter and has no combat experience, but her powerful physique compensates for that.

         And it makes Samus reflect on HER niche in society. She was trained as a warrior, she’s known as the hunter by enemy and friend alike. And then she becomes part-Metroid, a creature designed, meant to slaughter the X parasites. And while I wrote this back in 2019, it goes well with Dread and the revelation of Samus’ Metroid powers, her ability and responsibility to use them accordingly. And Raven Beak’s whole motivations and rhetoric, the Chozo are inherently evolved for war and should embrace that.

         Is that what Samus’ destiny is? Is that what her contributions to society will be? Killing and slaughtering? Sure people can justify she’s doing it to the ‘bad guys’, but she remembers the Metroid genocide of SR388. Is that the only way she can be a hero? Obviously people NEED to fight, people can’t always rely on peace. And theoretically, Samus could always just live a peaceful life, in a world where her Metroid powers weren’t particularly necessary; The X are (probably) extinct and there are other weapons for other enemies out there.

         I actually explored this idea a bit with my fanon on the Kriken Empire, who believe they have conquered these limitations of the Federation’s system through their alt-modes, eliminating any need for other species’ contributions. There’s the idea that individuals end up best-suited for certain roles and occupations, and are expected to dedicate themselves fully, permanently to those roles in the caste. 

        Ideally, the Kriken do not want any niche in their glorious empire to be looked down upon, because we ALL play an important part…! Still, it’s uncomfortable even if that did work out, because what if talent doesn’t correlate with passion? What then? And it’s part of Trace’s whole anxiety and his twisted coming-of-age arc that he and every Kriken goes through. The process to determine who fits where and the potential flaws in the determination, as well as the larger issue of its permanence and even general principle.

         Humans occupy an interesting position in that they’re both enforcers but also oppressed in their own way. Yeah, they have the weapons, they act as the main bulk of military. But they’re the ones sent to the front lines, expected to be the first and most common to die in the grinder… Doesn’t that suck? Some humans are fine because deep down, they still have some power over others! Others hate it, because regardless of how they feel about species lower on the list, they recognize they’re still being bossed around themselves. But most humans don’t want to threaten their guaranteed place in society, either.

         It’s basically an intergalactic ecosystem. A bunch of different species come into contact, and after years of working things out, inevitably sort themselves into certain roles, not exactly by intention. Survival of the Fittest, as it was called by the humans, or other names by other species, because they’re all familiar with the concept, without influence from aliens. Given the idea of predators and hunter, the Chozo’s connection with nature, and the discussion of ecology with the X and Metroids, as well as invasive species, I suppose this is thematically fitting.

         And as I brought up before, this is why some species prefer to isolate and group together, to stick to societies adapted to themselves. So there’s definitely themes of nationalism, community, and belonging going along; Trace’s fervor for his Empire, Spire’s search to find her lost people. Is Samus human or Chozo? What do various Space Pirate species fight for, or members of the Federation? The Mawkin are dedicated to a specific idea of Chozo culture, a particular memory they work to preserve. Can Dark Samus be said to have a ‘people’ she belongs to, what of the all-assimilating threat of the X?

         Obviously this doesn’t quite have its one-to-one parallels with real life; The difference between an Asian and a Hispanic person is nowhere near as drastic as one having wings and the other having echolocation. A lot of this is admittedly a thought exercise, hypothetical, on how different alien species would end up interacting and organizing themselves after a while.

         But there’s definitely correlations to racial stereotyping, as well as disability accommodations and the lack thereof. The discussions of ableism and societies built around a certain type of behavior, expression, and existence is DEF intentional. So, and forgive me if I’m patting myself on the back here, I guess it still has its applications to real life, as the arts always do beyond just entertainment.

        In the end, I guess I’m too lazy to properly write any of this in the form of an actual story. So I guess that’s why I’m going to write it as such here, better here than nowhere I say!

[keitrinkomfloukru]

I know I already died on this hill so long ago that my corpse no longer stinks, but "throuple" is a DUMB word and the old words for a 3-way relationship were better. Yes, words plural, because they also conveyed more information!

Triad: all three people are all involved with each other

Vee: one person is in a relationship with both of the others, but they aren't involved with each other

[keitrinkomfloukru]

[keitrinkomfloukru]

Elf.

Yes, in 1981 elf was a class

I feel like the first class you played in DND tells a lot about you

Reblog and put in the tags what your first class was

[coldgoldlazarus]

Kanden & Samus: Genetic soup supersoldiers made as such by reclusive alien groups. Power seekers trying to become stronger still to achieve their respective goals.

Spire & Samus: Lonely as fuck. Friend-shaped and generally decent, but still dangerous and ruthless when forced to be.

Trace & Samus: Significant ties to an important precursor race. (If my Kriken/Alimbics theory has any merit, anyway.)

Weavel & Samus: Independent hunters that regardless maintain a connection to their faction of origin. Have a deep grudge against a major figure from the opposite faction.

Noxus & Samus: Driven by a moral code, and a desire to do good by preventing others from doing harm.

Sylux & Samus: Mysterious cryptids to most, (tragic backstories maybe?), using tech far more advanced than typical of the setting. Grudge against a major faction, and deadly and terrifying to the members of that faction. Metroid hatchling companion.

With the possible exception of Trace, I wonder if making the other Hunters externalizations of different facets of Samus's character taken to their logical extremes, was done on purpose. Even if it's not quite as direct and thematically poignant a parallel as the SA-X and arguably Dark Samus are to different eras of Samus's life, (though hopefully Sylux will wind up at that level when all is said and done) it's still an interesting decision that more could have been done with, and I hope more is done with at some point.

[keitrinkomfloukru]

[sepublic]

            I want the Metroids in a hypothetical show to ultimately come across as tragic figures; Beings who were made to be exploited, and that’s what happened to them their whole life as a species between their creation and extermination.

            They were created by the Chozo to destroy the X, they were used by the Space Pirates as a bioweapon; In other episodes, we see additional parties like the Kriken Empire, or Kanden, attempt to capture Metroids for their usage. The Space Pirates set a few loose on the Ing while exploring Dark Aether, and it ends with some of those Metroids being possessed. Not to mention the Phazon corruption, where they end up as vectors of Phaaze, and the Federation’s corruption. We still have yet to see whatever dynamic Sylux might have with their Metroid, which is devoted to them on a self-sacrificial level…

            It’s a recurring thread throughout the story named after them that the Metroids are seen as a tool for others to use, and they’re deeply effective at whatever that purpose is; But they never really get a say in things, do they? There is no real say or agency, they’re being fought over a lot of the time, either by Space Pirates or the Federation, or by Samus against some group that wants to weaponize Metroids, so her responsibility is to destroy whatever Metroids have been captured.

            The only real exception to this is Dark Samus; In a way, she kinda reclaimed autonomy after being imprisoned and used by the Space Pirates. In a way, she brings about a certain liberation for her fellow Metroids, the only creatures she’s known to be sympathetic towards; Under her command, the Metroids are far less restricted, and the Space Pirates live in fear of occasionally being targeted as a meal.

            But Dark Samus is still a vector of Phaaze, as I’ve said; So maybe she doesn’t have so much free will after all, maybe this isn’t the Metroids’ revolution. She took control of Phaaze, and planned to sacrifice it; But that was to create more Leviathan seeds, so what difference would it make for a selfless, hivemind organism like Phazon?

            I’m rolling with the idea that Metroid Prime was THE original Metroid that the Marina’s crew found on SR388 and brought back to the known galaxy; The one the Space Pirates used to breed an entire generation of Metroids that Samus and the Federation systematically hunted down, until they were eradicated from that sector of space. Maybe Dark Samus' last lines in a show are not screams of agony, but... Just a simple confession; That she was happy roaming the wilderness of her home, only to have that taken from her as she was made into a weapon, and then a true monster, by the mis/handling of others who didn't care for her.

            Dark Samus had to die, as did Phaaze because like Mother Brain it was a load-bearing component for an invasive life form. Similarly, a lot of the moral justification for killing Metroids was that they were an invasive species; It was not yet discovered that they were artificial bioweapons. Not only was it imperative to protect ecosystems from an invasive threat, but there was obviously a native population thriving where they originally evolved from, and in their true home, Metroids could always live on.

            But then the Federation rediscovered SR388’s location, after the Marina’s Deleter had destroyed that knowledge to keep the Space Pirates from using it. And now the cat was out of the bag, it was only a matter of time before the Space Pirates learned where the Metroid homeworld was, and took advantage of that. The galaxy had survived two Metroid crises, a third was unimaginable. But the Metroids surely deserved to live within their own natural environment, weren’t they entitled to this as living creatures?

            Ultimately, the Federation came to a hard moral conclusion; The wellbeing of the larger galaxy mattered more than one species on one planet, which could still bounce back from their eradication, so the Federation thought. As Adam Malkovich put it, for others to live, some must die; And the Metroids were sacrificed, despite never knowing the situation nor agreeing to it, and how could they as animals who instinctually want to survive? That choice was made for them by others.

            Samus started off pretty unsympathetic, understandably so; She’d experienced firsthand the devastation of the Metroid, barely surviving before coming back to avenge all they’d killed. But as her story continues, and she sees how the Metroids are fought over by others, including herself… Samus begins to develop a bit more pity for them, recognizing they didn’t ask for this and just want to live, which of course means eating as much as they can, whenever they can. But again, she’s someone who loves and appreciates nature, but is also aware of the more brutal, pragmatic reality to it.

            Again, we hearken back to Adam’s quote, because that is the rule of nature. Sometimes you need to kill an animal to feed yourself, and because others must do the same you must kill in self-defense, even if it’s a mother who is poised to recognize any outsider as a threat to her children. Samus doesn’t judge the creature any less for it, nor does she think it should be wiped out, but it’s just the frank material reality of the situation.

            So when she’s commissioned to exterminate the Metroids, a once-unsympathetic Samus has a moral dilemma, considering seriously what the Federation has said. I dunno where the U-Ton arc from Samus and Joey takes place within the larger timeline, but I can see the connections being made at some point; U-ton is not a malicious being and even loving, but when it begins to undergo nuclear meltdown due to its programming, Samus is left with no choice to euthanize U-ton in order to save many innocents from an impending explosion. U-ton itself even agrees!

            And later, Samus finds out on SR388 that the Metroids aren’t natural, but artificial bioweapons; They weren’t just used as bioweapons by the Space Pirates, they were always meant to be bioweapons. And there’s a relief in that, because good! Great! There’s no moral dilemma anymore, the Metroids are unnatural, and inherently invasive to whatever world they come across, including SR388. Samus is obligated to go through with it.

            But in the end, it’s not so simple; U-ton was also an artificial bioweapon, but he was a tragic figure who also wanted to live and grew beyond his programming. Samus would never condemn an artificial sapient being as needing to inherently die. And the Metroids also grew beyond their programming, due to all of the DNA from the various creatures used to create them. The Metroids’ creators DID intend to co-exist with them, they acknowledged that the Metroids did not ask to be created of course; The Thoha did not foresee the Metroids’ metamorphosis, which made them go out of control and start attacking a planet not evolved to withstand them.

            But by the end of the day, the Metroids did exactly what they were made for; But upon shedding their domesticated role by expressing the traits of the natural creatures used in their creation –in essence, the Metroids became more animalistic, more like natural creatures- the nature-loving Chozo chose to abandon them, even attempted to destroy them.

            Perhaps the Metroids are not much different than a pet that was adopted, only to be considered too much of a hassle, an inconvenience to deal with any longer, and abandoned on a street. Put down, even. For creatures so desired, the Metroids are always just not good enough for whoever’s handling them, there’s always some problem to contend with because people don’t unconditionally love Metroids, just what Metroids can do for them.

            Samus recognizes that the Metroids have become more ‘natural’ for lack of a better term, is their mutation not an argument for evolution, for going beyond artificial programming? They become more like the natural animals they came from, shedding programmed control from their creators. Is they any real, inherent difference between natural and unnatural, by the end of the day? The Metroids developed a doting queen, and hatchlings who fiercely love and devote themselves to their parent; That’s an argument for them becoming ‘natural’.

            Isn’t Samus herself technically unnatural? A hybrid, not created through natural means, and she wasn’t even a hybrid to begin with, having Chozo DNA implanted a few years after she was born human. Samus and the Metroids were both created by the Chozo to be destroyers, or the ‘Ultimate Warrior’. That’s what they’re good for, maybe that’s all they’re good for. Does Samus deserve to die for being unnatural? Or does that whole dichotomy have no bearing on that decision, instead it’s just a matter of whether they pose harm that cannot be reduced without killing them?

            Did she remember the Ing in deciding yes, and then when Samus hesitated? The Luminoth had to be chosen over the Ing because there simply isn’t enough energy, both will die if one doesn’t. And Dark Aether and the Ing are violent and considered unnatural, so it’s okay right? The Luminoth were there first and are far less of a threat to society. But the Ing still had a culture, had begun to make a civilization; People prioritize civilization as proof of sapience and sapient lives always matter more, but isn’t civilization also unnatural? So which is it, then? The more animalistic Ing or the industrial Luminoth? The Ing are so alike to the Metroids in tragedy, doomed to either starve or take, doomed to be demonized for wanting to live.

            On a meta level, there’s also something to consider: Many criticized Samus Returns for losing the environmental storytelling of the original when it came to the Metroids’ lair. In the original game, it became more barren the closer Samus got to the queen, implying and justifying the Metroids as an invasive species, even before the reveal in Fusion of their artificial nature. By contrast, Samus Returns kept the wildlife thriving within Metroid territory.

            But maybe this does work out, with an adaptation; The Metroids found a way to survive and co-exist with other species, technically, by fitting into the larger ecosystem. There’s a bit of a Jurassic Park “Life finds a way” element to the Metroids’ origins, how they manifest suppressed traits from the DNA used to create them. Fittingly, the Jurassic Park franchise also discussed the right for its dinosaurs to live, acknowledging them as unnaturally brought back, and themselves technically hybrids anyhow, an invasive species displaced from their natural time AND habitat.

            This led to the government agreeing to let them be wiped out in an imminent eruption, which the protagonists fight against, only to find themselves roped in with those who want the dinosaurs to survive so they can be exploited. The Federation gave the order for Samus to kill ALL Metroids, and the ones they bred for their own use came from the infant that Samus was supposed to destroy, per the Federation’s orders; The Federation is not a monolith, hence Sakamoto intending for the perpetrators of Sector Zero to be a rogue faction.

            But I digress; The point is that the Metroids could’ve found a way to survive, in fact the desolation from the original game could’ve merely suggested it as their territory, and not that Metroids threatened all of SR388 itself. The Federation could’ve found a way to keep the Metroids alive, is that not what Ceres ended up doing? And what it would’ve kept doing, had the Federation not succumbed to its own greed.

            Samus destroys all but one Metroid, and sees herself in it, but with Samus in Ridley’s place now. Of course she spares the Metroid… But in the end, the Space Pirates DO capture it, and do use it to begin breeding other Metroids hostile to Samus, that she ends up having to destroy. And Mother Brain kills the infant.

            But it doesn’t end there, because then Samus becomes part-Metroid through the infant’s own DNA herself, and it’s what allows her to destroy the X. Everyone clamored for the Metroids to die, but it was only when they were murdered, that suddenly people clamored for them to be brought back; Only when the Metroids are wanted and needed, it’s only when they’re convenient that they’re allowed to live. But Sector Zero is destroyed and Samus is the last Metroid.

            Is this her penance for her crime, or is this her reward for not committing to it? Unlike the Metroid, Samus is a sapient being who can understand and adhere to morality and the law, so she can temper her own appetite for the sake of others; She isn’t even cursed by it, unlike the pure Metroid. Maybe the Metroids could’ve been able to co-exist with at least the Federation, who could’ve found a way to control them like Mother Brain did; Metroids technically co-existed with the Space Pirates under her control. People have made preserves for artificial creatures and even bioweapons abandoned by their creators.

            But in the end, as seen with Mother Brain and the Space Pirates; If they can be tamed or at least controlled in some degree, then they can be weaponized. No power like the one the Metroids wield should exist; And alas, the only way to remove that power is to remove the Metroid entirely. There will always be bad actors, hence the phrase, “This is why we can’t have nice things.”

            And the Metroids didn’t even want to misuse this power, nor ask for it; It was just given to them by the Chozo, and then that power was taken from them and given to someone who could control it. Meaning the Metroids were abandoned again, after being asked for again, once the Federation and even Raven Beak realized Samus could perform the same purpose against the X.

            In the end, the Metroids’ existence was simply deemed too much of an inconvenience to tolerate; They did not choose to survive and evolve this power to do so. Everything about them has been in the hands of others. Even their one ‘savior’ in Dark Samus was an entity so far-removed from them. The actual Samus herself would become essentially Metroid Plus; All of the DNA that went into the Metroids, plus hers and Gray Voice and Raven Beak’s. Suddenly, the Metroid itself was eclipsed by someone else, and discarded for a newer, shinier toy.

            Maybe that’s what happened to Samus, too; The Chozo of Zebes raised her, then fled when Mother Brain betrayed them, and never came back for her. But then Raven Beak comes back, as someone who initially helped create Samus, and then left her behind; But suddenly he decides he wants to rule the galaxy, and that’s when he conveniently comes back into her life to use Samus against her will. She is often mistaken for Metroid on a meta sense, and then became a literal Metroid from an in-universe stance.

            But that might be more fitting, in the end; There’s not much of a distinction between Samus and the Metroid and it’s blurred first by a doppelganger called Dark Samus, and then by Samus herself. The name Metroid means Ultimate Warrior in Chozo, and that’s exactly what she was raised to be as a child; And can children really decide for themselves? Samus did not choose to lose her original family, nor did she choose to be found by the Chozo.

            Did she choose to stay on Zebes with them, instead of being taken to a human foster family? Could Samus really be said to have chosen being their champion, their sole warrior, or was she actually groomed into a weapon? Is what Raven Beak had planned for her much different than what the Chozo of Zebes intended; The only difference being the scope of what Samus was supposed to fight against? Gray Voice gave Samus DNA too, not just the Mawkin warlord.

            And when Samus proved an inconvenience to Raven Beak because she would not obey his commands, like an animal she was meant to be put down; Samus by the Mawkin, the Metroids by the Thoha. She would have clones replace her, domesticated ones, just as the Marina’s Metroid from SR388 was to be isolated, having already imprinted on the queen, while the Metroids created from it would be used to serve Mother Brain; History would repeat itself with the Infant, too.

            What choice was there for the Metroids; To be either destroyed, or live in servitude to others who would throw them against any obstacle, ready to be replaced should they somehow die. What chance did they have, discarded for doing too well what they had been expected to do? Maybe with the Chozo they could’ve lived had they failed their purpose, but the ones after them who would be made to rectify that? The X’s bane was destined to die with them.

            Maybe Dark Samus’ crusade was the Metroids’ revenge against the galaxy, for both what had been done to them and would later be committed; She would be their spite against all who defined them only by their usefulness within a society. A way for the Metroids to take down their enemies with them… So what about the X, who end up briefly ignored by a Metroid created by the Federation, from the DNA of the infant that Samus kidnapped; Instead, it will go after that very Samus.

            As Ishiro Honda put it: “Monsters are tragic beings, they are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. They are not evil by choice. That is their tragedy.” The Metroids just wanted to live, but the way they were designed made them incompatible with life, including against a parasite that could resemble any life, and thus needed to be destroyed in any of those forms. Fittingly, Honda’s quote was about Godzilla; A natural creature irradiated, mutated, aggravated by humanity’s need to create stronger weapons so they could control others.

            The natural creatures the Metroids came from were put to together to create the Ultimate Warrior, and many were left endangered with SR388’s destruction, necessitated only by the X who spread unchecked because the Metroids were wiped out. The Metroids were irradiated and transformed by Phazon, made addicted to it because it was the nearest food source, and of course they’d go for that.

            They were defined as weapons meant to be useful for others and that’s all they’d be recognized as, despite showing a capacity to be so much more than their creators intended, so much more loving and deserving of their own existence. And only one just like them would recognize this, yet be cursed with the inability to convince everyone else the same, as she bore a similar reputation before and especially after carrying on the Metroids’ life through her. Samus IS Metroid, and the real twist isn’t that she isn’t, or becomes that; It’s that she’s always been. It’s hard to trust that others want to know the real Samus beneath the armor weapon, and especially after the mutation.

            But there are those who do, and those who love and care for Samus as a person could be doing the Metroids the justice they’ve always been cheated out of but deserved. And maybe Samus can rest easier, knowing that whether or not she should bring back the Metroids if she had the chance, if there was a way to protect themselves and the galaxy from that power, that at least something lives on and even thrives; That’s how she felt when she left SR388 with the Infant.

[keitrinkomfloukru]

The A-Team. Mom said it was too violent.

reblog with the tv show ur parents wouldn’t let u watch when u were younger in the tags i’ll start mine was married…with children