Thank You So Much @coldgoldlazarus!

So in the Phendrana Drifts area of Metroid Prime, you explore various areas in the snowy region of the map. There are various sealed courtyards, underground Space Pirate facilities, Chozo temples structures, and ice caves. You also see various creatures, such as various adaptations of other creatures to this cold environment. The most prominently featured of these creatures is the juvenile and adult Sheegoth, a massive predator that dwarfs even Samus. Naturally, these creatures would require copious amounts of food. However, the areas we find them in are sealed enclosures, offering no way in or out besides doors which are too small for even the juveniles to fit through, and which often require specialized beam types to open. So how do these titanic creatures survive in Phendrana Drifts.

While I imagine they are adapted to going long times without food, I imagine these creatures stalk the frozen wasteland above the crevices of Phendrana, delving in to feast on the various micro ecosystems formed in those contained environments. Sometimes, these crevices prove too difficult to escape from, so they enter a hibernation state to conserve energy, waiting for any signs of prey. This explains the accumulations of snowfall that they shake off when Samus approaches.

Additionally, I believe the juveniles tend to stay together until they reach a certain level of maturation. They never seem to appear without another close by. They even seem to use pack hunting tactics to overwhelm prey. Though, this raises a serious question. If the juveniles, big as they are, need to travel in groups and form ice shells over their backs, what else is in Phendrana Drifts?

Damn.

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

Metroid Prime 4: Ruins looking niiice.

I rarely reblog stuff but… I suppose I can start somewhere, yeah?

REBLOG if you have amazing, talented WRITER friends.

Because I certainly do, and I love every single one of them and their work.

Can someone explain to me why the first Murder Drones post I make here is a meme about an AU? I did not expect this to be how it goes. Eh. @ddwhaleshark here ya go.

So Metroid Prime has a scan or two where the Space Pirate command issues orders to “increase bombu patrols”. Bombus are those floating energy beings that can shock you if you get to close and home in on you if your beam is charged. Given the only thing that seems to move them is a draw to powerful energy sources (they don’t even respond to damage) how do the Space Pirates put them where they need them? Do they just send some guy out with a Tesla coil on a stick in the frigid cold until they’re in position and just turn it off? If so, that’s hilarious.

“Gotta go. Command has ordered an increase in Bombu Patrols.”

“I’m new here. What does that entail?”

“Running around with a ball of energy on a stick and trying not to get caught.”

To add a little fine detail to this, I like to think that Gandrayda’s whole shapeshifting ability needs a not insignificant amount of sourced energy. She would need to, say, tap into a ship’s power grid and siphon some energy out before transforming.

So imagine that scene aboard the Mothership where she reveals herself to Samus happening soon after a power flicker that cuts the lights out for a second, then it happens again as she leaves. Could be a really interesting tell for when she’s present, having a mini power outage.

Of course, with the PED equipped, that energy can be sourced from the Phazon growing inside of her, making her all the more deadly and capable. There’s no tell any more, no indication that she’s in your midst.

Headcanon that Gandrayda's been employed by the Federation as a spy for a long while; Specifically, to keep tabs on the Space Pirates. She was the one who reported that Mother Brain was responsible for controlling the Metroids, and with her destruction, the Metroids would turn on the Space Pirates, hence why they're used and prioritized a lot less in Prime and Echoes, and have a tendency to turn on their 'owners'.

(As for why we see Metroids feeding on Space Pirates in Zero Mission, it's because Mother Brain is a cruel entity who rules through fear and needs to feed her bioweapons; She doesn't mind disposing of lesser pawns, especially if some of them doubt her authority.)

If Metroid were to have a story adaptation... During the Zero Suit portion of the first game, Samus would find herself cornered at one point by Space Pirates; Only for one of their own to turn on them, shooting them down. Said Space Pirate reveals themselves as the spy the Galactic Federation alluded to, the one who dropped all of this key intel regarding the Space Pirates' Metroid operation.

Gandrayda isn't explicitly identified, not yet; But her wink, the way she calls Samus 'Sammy' and her leitmotif at the end; These hint to that. Plus, maybe she can take the form of an Urtraghus Space Pirate, adding to the implication and to allude to how Gandrayda debuted in Corruption and did take such an appearance there. Maybe the Space Pirates would have a more mixed army pulling from all the species we've seen, or they'd operate separately and in their own sectors, requiring Gandrayda to imitate a Zebesian idk.

The main reason why the Federation didn't notify Samus of Gandrayda is that she wasn't supposed to be on Zebes during the Zero Mission; She was stationed on the Space Pirate Mothership, which was locked in battle with Adam's fleet elsewhere (as shown in the manga). But when Ridley received news of Samus' infiltration of Zebes, he immediately flew the mothership back to that planet; Hence why in-game, he arrives about halfway through. Gandrayda stayed with the Space Pirates she'd infiltrated.

Otherwise, the Federation would've notified Samus of their spy on Zebes; Because they wouldn't want her to accidentally kill such a key asset. Plus they'd explain to Samus that the spy will introduce themselves as Gandrayda, since the Space Pirates don't know about her yet, but may suspect a spy; This is to play it safe so Samus knows she can trust whoever she comes across, because communications with the Federation are cut off on Zebes due to Mother Brain's monitoring and ability to intercept (This required Gandrayda to get off-planet to report intel).

But Gandrayda was supposed to be on the Mothership, which Adam was supposed to destroy after she fled through an escape pod, so none of these instructions were required at the time. So after saving Samus, Gandrayda leaves to maintain her cover, not bothering to elaborate on her exact identity. It's only in a future episode, somewhere between the games and before Corruption, that this Space Pirate spy is elaborated on to be a shapeshifting bounty hunter.

Gandrayda ends up playing a key role in saving the galaxy, acting as a turning point for the Federation's victory, much in the same way Samus herself did; Unlike other hunters like Rundas or Ghor (no offense), Gandrayda and Samus were both responsible for key, specific actions that nobody else could've done. And these actions shifted the tide drastically, changed the playing field definitively.

As a result, Gandrayda considers herself just as much the Hero of Zebes as Samus is to the rest of the galaxy; She can literally be the 'Hero of Zebes' herself by turning into Samus. And this helps drive her one-sided rivalry with Samus, especially since... Gandrayda can't take credit the way Samus does.

Not that Samus tries to; But in the end she's recognizable, she's a unique bounty hunter with iconic armor that anyone can see at a distance. She CAN be stealthy but she's also just as capable at blasting her way through an entire planet. Being well-known helps her career, it creates a bogeyman to terrify the Space Pirates, and a symbol of hope for the galaxy that the Federation can always remember if they're out of all other options.

Gandrayda can't be that; She's best suited as a spy, an infiltrator. Someone people don't notice, someone most of the galaxy, and even the Space Pirates, don't know about; So they can't suspect that someone they know they can trust has actually been impersonated by Gandrayda. She's meant to lurk in the shadows, she doesn't go the big and explosive, glamorous work. Her entire gimmick is being unrecognized, what is she without that?

And this feeds into this deep-down inferiority complex and resentment, including towards Samus. Not that she ever externalized it... Until Corruption, when Dark Samus took control and brought out the worst of Gandrayda through Phazon. That was when she actually revealed herself to the Space Pirates, many of whom still feared Gandrayda as secretly fooling their god into believing she was on their side; Not that they'd ever openly doubt Dark Samus' own evaluation of using Gandrayda. And it turned out they had nothing to worry about, alas... But the fear was in a way a form of recognition, validation even, for Gandrayda. She was otherwise a secret even to most of the Federation military, with only the upper echelons knowing of her.

I don’t talk about it much here, but I am a huge Halo fan. I have been since I was fairly young, and it’s the first… uh… first first person shooter I ever tried. I absolutely love the gameplay, the lore, the designs, the music, so much about it. For those of you who are new to me, I’m also a huge fan of Metroid. That interest is much more recent, but is still as strong currently.

As many might expect, the Halo TV show is, what some might call, Halo’s Other M. For the Halo fans who don’t know, Other M was a game in the Metroid series that made a lot of serious errors in its storytelling, gameplay, acting, and art design. Its story is downright abysmal, and a travesty of the Samus Aran that many Metroid fans know and love. The Halo TV show has a fair few of the same problems with unlikable characters, baffling plot decisions, and and a general misunderstanding of the source material

However, one thing I can still give unironic praise to is the animators, specifically for the Elites. They are so immensely expressive and provide a fascinating spectacle. Honestly. The Covenant sections are probably the best parts of the show.

If I were looking for an animation team for a Metroid movie/show, I would love to get the people who animated this scene on board. Imagine the Chozo animated with this level of prowess and realism. Imagine the Space Pirates. Imagine Ridley! I would absolutely KILL to see that in action. Don’t involve the writers, of course. Please do not involve the writers of the Halo show. But these animators know what they’re doing, and they’re damn good at their job. As a Metroid fan, I would love to see this sort of CGI used for many of the aliens in Metroid.

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.

HANDS OFF!!!! So glad I got to be a part of this nationwide event. And thank you to the guy who let me hold this flag!