isisdreamweaver

[isisdreamweaver]

The Phoenix Prophecy: Random Thoughts, There’s No Rhyme or Reason to This, Y’All

First up: I swear I will get around to posting pages of Lamenting City on my writing blog again. College + my game design course I’ve been taking on the side + the fact that the floodgates over my poor, poor Fancy kitty won’t stop... It’s been hard.

Anyway, on to the story stuff!

So I’ve decided to have the group meet at some point in the early to mid-80′s, and then join together in like... 1989 or 1990, probably the latter but it’s still pretty close. I’ll adjust their ages if need be, but with this said I’m unsure if the ‘met over the Internet’ backstory still works here. I must confess to not knowing as much about the Internet’s history as I’d like, but even so I don’t think that backstory is really feasible here? Unless, of course, things are different in this alternate timeline and the Internet grew much faster.

At any rate, I have decided that the group meeting was definitely no accident... But I won’t say any further. ;)

The budding game designer in me also can’t resist taking a crack at creating a concept for a Phoenix Prophecy game to work on when I finally can do that, and I think I’ve finally figured out what I’d want from a series like this. For a story originally envisioned as a cartoon, I can’t think of anything better than an episodic adventure game. It may, in fact, be the closest I can ever get to the original cartoon concept (I would love for it to happen, but I also need to be realistic and right now the only surefire things I know I’m gonna do would be write novels and make games...).

One great thing about this, too, is it allows me to tell more stories with these characters. You know, tie-in video games basically. I’d want them to be canon with the books and reference them, and in turn be referenced by them. This way, I really don’t have to scrap any ideas.

Admittedly, I haven’t played a lot of adventure games (...yet), with most that I have played having been mostly kids fare (like a Scooby-Doo! game, fittingly enough for this), but I definitely will be the time I could work on this. So this is something I will continue to work on in my head.

The final thing I’ve been thinking about it is, of course... Music. Making playlists for my stories gives me life, and since I’d like to make games too, knowing what type of style I want is pretty important, too.

I’m gonna need a bit of help, though.

See, I want to do something here that I haven’t done before: Make a playlist or two that sounds like it’d belong in the era this story takes place in. And, well, I haven’t exactly listened to all the 90′s music or 90′s tribute music out there, so there’s undoubtedly gems I’ve missed.

I am making some tiny exceptions to this ‘90′s only’ rule, though. Stuff like synthwave and vaporwave count if they sound sufficiently 90′s enough. I’ve heard synthwave tracks, such as Michael Oakley’s End of Summer, which I consider to be The Phoenix Prophecy’s theme song anyway, and HOME’s vaporwave music always makes me nostalgic for the 90′s, so they count.

Side note: Synthwave really blurs the lines for me sometimes. Some of it sounds like Sega Genesis music, only with better instruments.

In fairness, though, it did take some time for the 90′s to come into its own culturally/pop culturally, so a bit of 80′s stuff won’t kill this playlist and maaaaaaaybe some very early 2000′s stuff since they were basically a continuation of the 90′s anyway (and I intend for this story to end in the 2000′s). But that’s as far as I’ll stretch the rule.

So I’m open to suggestions!

As for myself, besides HOME and a few synthwave tracks, I’ve also found some OSTs that definitely hit the themes I’m going for. The soundtrack for the 90′s film Hackers is fantastic and fits Adam’s stuff very well, so I’d definitely like to find more of that. And 2016′s indie game, Oxenfree... Its soundtrack is pretty much perfect, honestly? 80′s based to be sure, but I still get a 90′s vibe from it and it has the mysteriousness I want for The Phoenix Prophecy.

So for the story itself, I pretty much want synths, lol.

I’d like to put together a ‘road trip mix’ for fun. Like, music they’d listen to as they drive. This can include movie and game soundtracks since they’d like those, but I suppose this also means someone has listened to Nirvana and omg who should it be ???

The burning question here.

And since I envision End of Summer as the opening theme, I felt I needed to find a closing theme, too. And so I did.

HOME’s Pyxis.

And since I can’t stop rambling (this feels so good oh my god), I’d like to share what I envision the intro and outro as being (and even if the cartoon can’t ever be made, I swear these will make it into the games).

The intro would have to be a dynamic one, as 90′s as possible. To that end, there will be bright colours, there will be fast movements, there will be monsters, there will be driving. The cast will appear, of course, as will the main alien characters.

I can’t really say I have a cohesive vision here, but the intro would start with the van driving down a road with Seattle and a sunrise in the distance, and what would follow is the encounters mentioned above in other cities and states (to that end, the intro would change with each season, probably). The intro would end with the cast standing heroically in front of the van, the title logo shining above.

The outro would simply be the van traveling down lonely roads, towns, and cities, set against a starry night sky. As it goes on, the driver of the van changes, starting with Adam and ending with Misora, the latter of which catches something in the corner of her eye... only for it to vanish before she can get a good look.

Music like End of Summer and Pyxis fit the feel I’d be going for.

Anyways, that’s all for now.

[isisdreamweaver]

Quick Message

So uhhh after I thought I was getting better my oldest cat died and then college started and since then I’m kinda... back to square one.

I’ll still try to post here, just not sure if I can every day, and later today I’ll post some pages on my writing blog.

[isisdreamweaver]

EXALT’s Leader + A Brief Look Into a Shard of Takashi’s Past

Before I begin, I’d just like to say that my hiatus is... well, I’d say it’s over, but I’ve made some decisions now that it is. Namely, that I’m much better emotionally when not on Tumblr 24/7 right now, so I’m going to try to limit my time on this site (aiming to visit once a week to post my novel pages -I’ll get to those soon- and fill up my queue here and on my main blog). I’m terribly sorry for any inconvenience! That said, right now I’m mostly spending my time on pet sites (Flight Rising, Neopets, and Subeta), so mutuals are welcome to ask for those.

I have Steam and Discord, too, but I get nervous talking to people 1 on 1, however I would like to add any mutuals who have Discord (I can’t do Steam right now because I Am Poor and feel bad when I can’t shower all my friends in Steam gifts fjhnkhn). I just gotta... get over my anxiety and ask.

I’m also very active on Twitter and anyone is welcome to follow me there (be warned, though, sandwiched in between video game stuff and memes is politics, lots and lots of politics). Here’s the link.

But enough of that. Let’s begin.

-

So as I’ve established in previous posts, whether or not EXALT actually existed or was just an enemy the Ethereals made up for Takashi to fight in the simulation is something that’s up in the air and I don’t really think I’m comfortable deciding which answer is true unless Firaxis does (because knowing my luck, I’ll pick the answer they won’t).

That said, I’ve been fleshing out the EXALT subplot for The Devil’s Toys in my head and it isn’t satisfying without giving a face to EXALT’s leader, and so I went ahead and did that with the defense mechanism of ‘simulaaaaaation’ in case Firaxis picks up EXALT again.

(please don’t pursue me Firaxis, I am not fast)

Currently I don’t have a name for him, but he and Takashi have a rocky history. I’m still working out the specifics, but more or less he sabotaged Takashi and ruined whatever career she had before she could really start and she’s despised him ever since.

While Takashi, in his mind, wasted away in a small Italian town no one cares about, he climbed up in influence and found himself not only part of a secret yet oh so prestigious society like EXALT, but eventually its leader.

When the aliens arrive, he is eager to claim their knowledge and technology for himself and grow more powerful.

When he hears of XCOM, he considers them little more than a nuisance. When they start infiltrating EXALT cells, he starts to take them seriously and a full-on war begins that inevitably tears small towns and parts of cities to shreds and fuels the conspiracy theories already going around since the aliens arrived.

When he discovers the identity of XCOM’s Commander, he’s absolutely furious at the hand karma has dealt him. Because of course the no-name woman he trashed to get this far would be opposing him (and murdering most of his men with her attack dogs). Because of course.

This prompts him to send a squad to kidnap and kill Takara for the sole purpose of causing Takashi agony.

This turns out to be a fatal mistake. Not only does XCOM send a squad just in time to save Takara, this simple action clues Takashi in on who EXALT’s leader is, and where their base is located. And, in fact, while the rescue team was shooting EXALT soldiers and saving Takara, the Skyranger was flying to EXALT’s base.

He, of course, does the logical thing: Gets the hell out of there with his bodyguards, forcing the personnel left behind to fight Torres’ squad. And by fight, I mean die horribly against.

When Takashi awakens from the simulation and begins questioning everything she saw, she does eventually wonder if there was any grain of truth to this. She already wonders if EXALT, Annette Durand, and the Furies were real (and if they find the Furies scan, that will make her question things more), so she can’t help but wonder if he really was EXALT’s leader if they were real, or if the Ethereals just used a person she despised.

She doesn’t like wondering these things.

- - -

I’ll return later today to fill up the queue here and post some novel pages to my writing blog (posting two since I forgot last week’s). See you soon.

[isisdreamweaver]

Brief Hiatus: Will Be Back Soon

Stuff’s going on right now that’s made it hard to focus on much, but I’m not disappearing for a month. Just.. taking a small bit of time off to get my thoughts in order.

See you all again soon.

[isisdreamweaver]

Samus Went to a Bar Once

Once.

At Carter’s insistence, she went to one in a rather sketchy part of space. They say lots of criminals hang out there, you know.

Things were kind of okay at first. Well, the music was unbearably loud and the place was really crowded, but overall, things were fine. Samus quickly learned she didn’t like the taste of alcohol or similar alien-made beverages.

However, that isn’t what ruined the whole thing for her.

Something else did.

Someone recognized her. She had no idea who this person was, but the second he saw her and yelled out who she was, the bar erupted into chaos.

The bar was, of course, filled with a bunch of criminals who wanted to get revenge on Samus for some reason or another, plus the occasional person who just straight up didn’t like such a goody-two-shoes bounty hunter like her.

Either way she activated her Power Suit and a Super Missile went through the ceiling and the entire structure came down and things get fuzzy after that and this is why she doesn’t go to bars anymore.

[isisdreamweaver]

@mightyinvincible

That comment made me laugh!

I read it in Jennifer Hale’s voice which makes it even better.

[isisdreamweaver]

Space Denny’s: It’s Out There

This is it. This is obviously the crown jewel of my Metroid fanon.

Breakfast diners, all across the galaxy, open all hours. Breakfast diners on worlds or orbiting worlds you wouldn’t expect to find a breakfast diner.

It’s always seemingly the same breakfast diner, too.

Due to this, Samus finds herself a frequent customer. In fact the ending of my Hunters fanfic will involve a Space Denny’s (name not final).

Just try to imagine Samus and the other bounty hunters stumbling into a breakfast diner orbiting a small rock planet or something, grateful to be alive.

And the employees? Meh, for them, this is Tuesday.

A brawl may or may not break out. Probably. If Sylux gets mad enough.

Basically, just picture the ending of The Avengers and you’d be imagining something pretty close.

I’m gonna have so much fun with this damn breakfast diner.

[isisdreamweaver]

Storm Dragon Getting Really Mad About Metroid Prime Fanon Stuff

Perhaps not mad necessarily, but some of this stuff is frustrating to me. Plus the name amused me.

To start with, after much brainstorming and agonizing, I’ve finally figured out how to incorporate Kraid’s scrapped cyborg design for the first game into the fanfiction, and it’s little more than a quick cameo that simply says he exists, but it’s all I can do.

Basically, as Samus trashes the Space Pirates lab she stumbles upon the folder for a particular project known as Novus Kraid. Like Meta Ridley, it’s Kraid himself reborn as a cyborg. She saves the location of Novus Kraid to her Logbook.

(she’ll go beat him up in a short fanfic wedged in between Prime and Hunters)

So that’s one source of frustration over and done with.

The other is the Tallon Metroids. I’m still working out what Metroids are doing on Tallon IV, exactly, since they had to have been there prior to the Pirates’ arrival due to the presence of Metroid Prime, so the question is... why?

The Chozo created the Metroids to destroy the X, so why would they be on Tallon IV?

I think I have an answer that satisfies me, but how I’ll make it work with established in-game lore remains to be seen.

My idea is that the Metroids are a lot more ancient than previously thought, and that the ones the Zebesian Chozo created to combat the X Parasites were simply the latest, perfected batch.

This helps explain why the ‘classic’ Metroids and the Tallon Metroids have such radically different evolutions/life cycles (Metroid Prime is probably the Tallon Metroid equivalent to the Queen Metroid).

So the Tallonese Chozo more or less created older versions of this ultimate predator. And as for why they did that, my idea is it was an attempt to combat the Phazon corruption. An attempt that went horribly, horribly wrong.

They hoped their Metroids would consume the Phazon and bring an end to the devastation, but unfortunately the Phazon proved stronger, even infecting and mutating their only Prime.

Pretty sure this clashes a bit with the in-game lore, but I’ll make it work.

[isisdreamweaver]

...What Dreams May Come

So, as previous posts have probably made clear, dreams are a big part of my Metroid fanon, in particular the dreams of Samus herself (fitting, since she is the main viewpoint character for most of the series, both its ‘canon’ and Legends fanfics -yeah I’m calling my not-canon-to-my-fanon fanfics Legends because 1: Star Wars, and 2: It kinda works and is easy to remember).

Samus’ dreams are, well, often incomprehensible, as dreams are. They’re filled with distorted memories, deep desires and fears, things with no meaning whatsover, and even scattered glimpses of the future thanks to the psionic power she was born with (said power boosted by becoming part Chozo).

It’s a tangled web she can never make sense of, and on most days she dreads going to sleep (the nightmares are never far behind).

It’s through her dreams that she discovers the Phoenix, the Wolf, the Velociraptor, and the Dragon, and realizes they are connected to her in ways even if she doesn’t know how. They are a few of the reoccurring elements in her dreams.

Ridley and the charred, mangled corpse of Virginia are also common elements of her nightmares. For added flavour, sometimes she hears Solomon crying for help but can never find him. Space Pirates appear occasionally, but not as often as Ridley, the main source of her trauma.

The Chozo city she lives in being abandoned or littered with corpses is another common nightmare, especially when the former when she’s young, because in the back of her head, she knows. She knows the Chozo will be gone one day.

And then in the Zero Mission fanfic, she gets to actually see the old city littered with the ruined skeletons of the Chozo she once knew. A nightmare made tragically real (and this fuels her hatred of Mother Brain and the Chozo).

Later Ian Malkovich gets added to the roster of people to haunt her nightmares, and then much, much later Adam starts appearing.

So basically aside from Ridley, most of the people who haunt her dreams are people she loved who died (or in the case of Solomon, believes died).

Sleep is her most hated thing.

[isisdreamweaver]

The Cradle of Life: A Look Into What Might Be

So in my last post I mentioned that Samus’ Kintypes I mentioned I was planning a unique fanfic that would make use of them in a particular, special way.

And well, I’d like to talk about that fanfic a bit.

Essentially, the plot of it is that anomaly has appeared around the edge of charted space, and a small Space Pirate fleet went missing around that area. And then a Federation military vessel went missing soon after.

The obvious solution? Hire Samus Aran to investigate, apparently.

Naturally, she goes missing, too. Well, to the galaxy she left behind, anyway.

Turns out the anomaly is in fact a wormhole that sent the Pirate fleet, the Federation ship, and Samus to a galaxy very far away from the Milky Way.

Even stranger, the star system Samus finds on the other side is full of abandoned Chozo colonies, colonies that aren’t in the Zebesian database (just how far did the Chozo reach in their heyday?).

She traces the missing Federation vessel’s signal and lands on one of the planets, and from there things just continue to go wrong. She loses her Zero Suit and then the Power Suit itself, and finds herself helping the locals: A race of reptilian, humanoid wolves (they aren’t the only race on this planet, but they’re the first she meets and help kick off the main plot).

What follows is a story inspired by Star Fox Adventures for like... 90% of it, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the other 10%.

Specifically, the other 10% involves areas that, due to various seals and other things cast upon them by ancient Chozo mages, physical beings cannot enter, only spiritual beings.

So in other words Samus gets transformed into the Phoenix, the Wolf, the Velociraptor, or the Dragon for these areas.

But wait, there’s more! Solomon was on the Federation vessel, and the only survivor (that he knows of), which of course means sibling teamup and drama when he runs into Samus.

Far as my fanon goes... I don’t really think this can fit into my canon. I’ve got several unique Metroid fanfics planned that, while the rest of my fanon is canon to them, it doesn’t go both ways.

I’ll need to think of a name to refer to these fanfics as so I can easily separate them from my actual ‘canon’.

[isisdreamweaver]

Kin and the Elements

One strange that emerged during NaNoWriMo 2015 was that my version of Samus Aran is, apparently, Otherkin or close to it. Specifically, Phoenixkin. I didn’t plan this, it just... happened. A happy accident, because it helped add another layer of depth to her.

I’ve since decided to expand this discovery a bit and tie it into some of the Chozo lore I’ve been cooking up.

To start with, Samus is Kin with more than one creature, but the Phoenix is the ‘main’ one (I only recently discovered you can have more than one Kintype? more research on this subject is needed).

‘Course, I’m not sure if I’d call Samus Otherkin, because I’m not sure that’s exactly it, and I definitely wouldn’t call these spirit animals, either (I’m not Native, and neither is she). Until I can find a more fitting term, I’ll just call her Otherkin.

The Phoenix, I think, is very fitting for Samus as a whole. Her life itself could be considered a tale of death and rebirth, and indeed she did rise from the ashes of her old life to seize the day as someone entirely new. Even the people around her die and are reborn in various ways, some for the better, and some for the worse.

The Phoenix is Samus’ hope and kindness.

The Phoenix, a golden crow, also represents the element of the Power Beam. For the Chozo, the basic element all Power Suits start with is considered to be one filled with infinite possibly. It is energy, it is warmth, it is strong, unyielding, and courageous.

The element of the Ice Beam is represented within Samus as the Wolf, white as snow with piercing blue eyes and a howl that strikes fear in the hearts of evil beings. Samus has always been a lone wolf since becoming a bounty hunter, despite the yearning in her chest to connect to people and have a family again. But she knows those close to her always end up hurt, and so she isolates herself from the world, appearing cold and distant.

For the Chozo, Ice represents patience and quiet reflection. It is wise but stern, never straying far from its path however harsh it may be, and it offers the secrets it holds to those deemed worthy.

The Wolf is Samus’ loneliness.

The element of the Wave Beam is represented within Samus as a Velociraptor, energetic and chaotic. Her life is, of course, a bundle of chaos and more, but she does her best to keep up her spirits (doesn’t always work, but she tries). She’s easily excited and, as all her caretakers when she was a child learned, filled with boundless energy.

For the Chozo, the Wave element speaks of both happier times and uncertain futures. It represents the zigzagging river of life and gives the suggestion of going with the flow when fighting against it isn’t possible. Wave is an element of change and growth, of shedding away the old self to be reborn anew.

The Velociraptor is Samus’ seemingly boundless energy.

The element of the Plasma Beam is represented within Samus as a creature that might seem surprising given her history: A Dragon. Granted, not one like Ridley but instead a more traditional Western Dragon with shimmering red scales and glowing yellow eyes. The Dragon is destructive, as is Samus (whether she intends it or not), and very wrathful.

For the Chozo, well, Plasma is indeed a destructive, wrathful force. It is the element that spares none, chained to darker desires. It is the element one calls upon when all other options have been exhausted.

The Dragon is Samus’ desire for vengeance, a trait she tries to ignore.

The Phoenix appears in Hatchling a few times, while the other three have not made an appearance in any way. For the moment, they’re really just... background lore.

I intend for these facets of Samus’ self to have a prominent role in a unique fanfic I have planned, but I’ve got no idea where to put that one in the timeline yet so that’s quite a ways off.

[isisdreamweaver]

Metroid FC: Diamond Crest

Here we go, another Chozo that appears in Hatchling.

Like Silver Tongue, he’s a jerk.

So named both for his beauty and arrogance, Diamond Crest has pretty much no wisdom to offer Zebes or the stars beyond, too concerned with himself to care much about other people, with the sole exception of Silver Tongue (who he finds quite attractive and there’s a pretty decent chance she’s used that to manipulate him before).

He is the son of Platinum Chest, Great Elder of Zebes, but their relationship is quite distant, mostly because only the Council of Elders is capable of seeing the Great Elder every day, and Diamond Crest isn’t worthy to be an Elder. Platinum Chest loves him, however, in spite of his flaws. Diamond Crest, meanwhile, just uses his status as Platinum Chest’s son to make himself look better.

(when Platinum Chest dies he breaks down and is truly remorseful for how he treated his own father)

Diamond Crest’s feelings on Samus are nothing but negative. Like Silver Tongue, he’s insulted that Gray Voice and Old Bird would let Samus live on Zebes and learn the ways of the Chozo.

Unlike Silver Tongue, however, he’s not in the ‘A Human could never be one of us’ camp. Rather, he’s in the ‘Assimilate or be cast out’ camp.

He outright refuses to use Samus’ name, only calling her Entrusted One when she earns that name (albeit with a very spiteful tone, as he finds her identity as the Chosen One absolutely disgusting because how dare the Chozo gods give a member of another species that honour). Any uniquely Human behaviors she displays, he frowns upon and when no one is around to stop him, shames her for.

So really, what insults him the most is that Gray Voice and Old Bird had the audacity to tweak Chozo customs and apply them to Samus rather then forcing her to 100% conform.

He does not apologize to her for any of this.

[isisdreamweaver]

One Random Detail About Silver Tongue

My mom actually read the very rough draft that I wrote in NaNoWriMo 2015, and of course gave me her thoughts, which I’ve been using to write the finished product.

Her feelings on Silver Tongue?

She despised her.

In fact Silver Tongue’s speech to Samus prompted my mom to walk up to me and say: “SILVER TONGUE IS A JERK I HATE HER”

Good. Good...

[isisdreamweaver]

Metroid FC: Silver Tongue

The Chozo are often thought of as wise and kind people, and indeed many Chozo fit that description.

Silver Tongue is not one of them.

I haven’t exactly picked a god that she serves, and honestly I might not because her appearances in Hatchling are pretty few as it is, but we’ll see (side note: I should probably look into making a proper list of all the Chozo gods I’ve added... All canon seems to have is War and that was only confirmed in an interview so I’ve had to make stuff up).

Silver Tongue, as her name implies, is a fantastic speaker and negotiator. As it happens, she’s also a very successful liar. Generally speaking, she’s very good at getting whatever she wants or needs and tends to have no regard for the people she manipulates.

Needless to say, she’s not very popular among the rest of the Zebesian Chozo, and she in turn resents them (the only one who can tolerate her is Diamond Crest). What good is honesty and kindness in a universe that sees fit to make them disappear?

She’s also offended by Samus’ presence. How could Old Bird and Gray Voice bring a Human to Zebes and give her Chozo blood and secrets? Humans are selfish, weak-willed fools, they don’t deserve anything the Chozo can offer.

Samus, however, starts out blissfully unaware of how much Silver Tongue hates her and ends up easily manipulated by her time and time again.

In case you’re wondering what Silver Tongue does? She tends to be the reason Samus goes to Crateria and the caverns and such around it. Plus the Wrecked Ship.

In fact Silver Tongue all but dares Samus to go to the Wrecked Ship to prove her bravery... But does so in such a way that she can’t really be held responsible.

Silver Tongue’s crowning achievement in Hatchling is to give Samus a detailed speech on what a waste of life she is and how she would never, ever be a true Chozo.

So uh.

Silver Tongue is... kind of an asshole.

[isisdreamweaver]

The Galactic Federation Military: Enlist Today!

Ah yes. The Galactic Federation military AKA the local Red Shirts or corrupt officials, depending on the game.

As it happens, they are seemingly impossible to ignore in my fanon. Recruitment ads are everywhere, and a lot of Federation media is dedicated to glorifying the military. Curiously, such depictions always involve Humans in the leading roles.

Poverty is rampant, even in such an advanced future, which makes joining the military even more appealing for many people (Adam Malkovich technically falls into this, as losing his job as an officer left him with few options and he was fortunate the military wanted him).

Solomon Aran does, in fact, join the Federation military for this exact reason. He’s tired of living on the streets, and if he’s going to risk his life almost daily, he’d at least like a warm bed and three meals a day.

In this fanon, Samus never joins the Federation police or the military, and cannot stand the propaganda machine. She respects the soldiers to the best of her ability and genuinely hopes the best for them, but she hates the higher-ups, specifically.

She hates how they’ve manipulated so many young people to see them as modern superheroes instead of being truthful about the death and terror they actually face.

But when you’re up against threats like the Kriken Empire and the Space Pirates as well as other, more alien menaces? You’ll do anything.

Sometimes she wonders what hopes and dreams the crew of the GFS Valhalla had. She can’t help but wonder what futures were stolen away from them, and who they were stolen from. Who mourned them?

She can’t handle it.

[isisdreamweaver]

Chozo Names

In most Chozo cultures, such as the Zebesian one, Chozo children aren’t named until they reach ten years of age and gain the blessing of the deity that will guide the rest of their lives.

As such, the names they receive tend to be linked to their gods and personalities in some way.

For example, common names for Chozo that worship the God of Art include Stone Feather (a stone carver), Emerald Talon (a painter), Star Melody (a singer), and Diamond Crest (beautiful but vain as hell, so this Chozo basically got insulted by his own deity).

Gray Voice’s name, gifted to him by the God of Science, speaks more for his personality and visions than his scientific talent. His name essentially signals to other Chozo that he is a very grim being with an equally grim outlook on the universe.

Old Bird’s name, gifted to him by the God of Wisdom, signaled that he was wise beyond his years (a ten-year-old Chozo isn’t exactly old, after all...), and that he carried himself in such a way that he was almost always at peace. He was seemingly born to be an Elder.

Since all the Chozo are linked together psionically, this works out because they don’t need to know each other’s names, and when approached by one of their children, they know who it is without needing to ask.

Samus, however, is a bit different for them. They’re still linked to her, but not as strongly as they are with each other so as to protect her privacy (Humans are so particular about that), and while a few disagreed, she is allowed to keep her Human name (Old Bird was very much in favour of not tearing what was Human away from her).

When she meets the God of War at the tender age of ten, she’s not sure what to expect. Ultimately, the God of War grants her a Power Suit and a proper Chozo name that is rarely uttered except in prophecy.

Entrusted One.

[isisdreamweaver]

Samus Aran and Mother Figures

So since I made a post talking about Samus and the father figures in her life, it’s fitting I do a post for the mother figures, right?

Things are bit different here, since Samus’ relationship with Virginia was actually good and as such she’s felt no desire deep within to ‘replace’ Virginia. She simply can’t move on, but that doesn’t stop her from finding some motherly comfort in a few people.

In a lot of ways, much of Samus’ character development in Hatchling and probably beyond is linked to Virginia. Samus’ decision to become the first Chozo warrior in many centuries is partially influenced by Virginia, and her first fight with Ridley in my Zero Mission will have parallels to Virginia’s fight with Ridley. Among other things.

As for other mother figures?

Technically, all Zebesian Chozo had some hand in caring for her and raising (it takes a village, after all), with Old Bird and Gray Voice handling most of it, but still. So Samus did bond with a few of the female Chozo there, and others... not so much. One in particular comes as close to a mother figure as possible.

Before I continue, quick message here: I took Gray Voice, Old Bird, and another Chozo, Platinum Chest, from the old manga (although I thiiink Old Bird appeared earlier in a comic? not sure at the moment). Can’t say how they resemble their manga counterparts as I didn’t read the manga, but still. All other Zebesian Chozo are thus created by me.

The aforementioned close enough to a mother figure Chozo is Crystal Eyes. She’s one of the few remaining doctors on Zebes (she was the only one to appear in Hatchling, but I digress), and her entire personality is a type of... dry boredom. She keeps to herself mostly, and once when a Chozo she didn’t like showed up with a bloody beak her reaction was “Your face looks better that way” so she’s not exactly the nicest person in existence.

She is, however, sort of nice to Samus. Well, as nice as such an apathetic to all existence person can get, anyway. Their usual interactions tended to consist of her treating Samus’ injuries and giving her the occasional life lesson. Since Samus was a foolish child who always did dangerous stuff, they saw each other... a lot.

When Samus leaves Zebes? The closest she has to a mother figure is a hologram of an ancient Chozo philosopher that she often consults when she’s feeling uncertain of things.

I think that says a lot about how incapable she is of letting Virginia go.