#chozo language

[molagboop]

Thinking about language, gender and Chozo society again. Today, we are discussing what level of cultural importance is ascribed to gender as a descriptor, gendered symbolism/literary tropes, and a unique facet of Chozo grammar.

Massive text dump under the cut. Here be headcanons.

Cultural Symbolism

There's not much in the way of significant Chozo cultural symbolism that's "gendered": unlike some human cultures, Chozo literary/artistic symbolism has no notion of stereotypical male protectors or mothers as a symbol of gentle nurturing and care. The Warrior encompasses the meaning of the first symbol, and the Guardian fulfills the purpose of the latter. However, broader Chozo culture does acknowledge the literary concept of parental wrath (Wrath of the [Mother]*): the idea that a mated pair will viciously defend the nest from threat of predation by beasts or destruction by their enemies.

The Wrath of the [Father/Mother/Nest Guardian/Caregiver] is often linked with the Mawkin practice of parents carrying their children into battle on their backs. Tribal tradition holds that a warrior will display exceptional ferocity in battle if granted a defenseless subject to guard. They believe this is true for most soldiers regardless of their parental status, but especially so for those who have had children, and markedly so for those who are currently rearing one.

The last thing you want to see in battle is a Mawkin soldier with a baby strapped to their back. Chances are you'd come face to face with a new mom covered in blood from her face to her breast, and you wouldn't have time to examine the two large eyes peeking out from the ball of fuzz behind her shoulders before the vertebrae in your neck are separated from the rest of your meat.

There's historical precedence for this trope dating back millions of years, before the Chozo had even developed the advanced technology for which we know them best. Back in ye olden days, the Mawkin had a reputation as fierce protectors of the nest: parents and childless adults alike worked together to care for their communal nests. Parents who weren't out hunting or doing some other task relevant to the tribe's survival and general upkeep would sit among the eggs, cleaning them, rotating them, teaching them the ancestral war songs, etc.

Emphasis was put on mated pairs with eggs to perform incubation duties like egg rotation. When the nest was threatened, these caretakers would drive away predators (or sapient invaders) with ferocity unmatched by their neighbors. There are ancient tales that tell of Mawkin mothers slaying beasts or enemy warriors with their bare talons and stringing up their remains around the perimeter of the nesting grounds as a warning. A sort of meat-driven "fuck around and find out" signal. The Mawkin were renowned as fearless allies, and weaker or less well-armed tribes would appeal to the Protectors to lend warriors to guard their own homes.

The Wrath of the Nest Guardian has little to do with the gender of the protector. It is a vessel at once for two purposes: communicating the Warrior's drive to protect, and linking that drive to the bond between children and their guardians: those who watch the nests. Anyone charged with caring for something weak or defenseless is capable of displaying this strength.

The Role of Gender in Language

Gender is not quite as important in Chozo societal structure as one's role in the community. There are "gendered" words, yes, but they are treated flippantly, and occasionally used interchangeably. "Rook" and "tiercel" are usually applicable to "male" Chozo, while "formel" and "hen" may be applied to "female" Chozo. "Hen" is generally reserved for older individuals who have previously laid eggs, midwives and nursery guardians (regardless of gender), or parents with many children. However, it is not considered derogatory to refer to a younger, childless individual as such.* The innumerable gender-irrelevant uses of the term "hen" is just one example of how loose these words are as gendered indicators.

Linguistically, Chozo language puts less importance in identifying people based on their gender, and more on their role in society. Most "gendered words" refer solely to a partner's abilities in the process of making more Chozo. The aforementioned "tiercel" and "formel" can be loosely used to refer to one with the potential to fertilize eggs and one with egg laying capability respectively, but this really only matters to people when they're looking to bolster their tribe's population with new children. A formel's "motherly duty" ends when the egg hits the nest (See Life on ZDR: Vol. iii for elaboration on the societal perception of family).

Put it this way: there will always be a need for more Chozo to fill the tribe's ranks. But when they are not working on increasing the population, they do not think about "men and women". There is only "Chozo". They share the same flesh, the same feathers, the same keratinized protrusions. They think, they work, they care for their communities with whatever skills they can muster. There is no "difference" between Chozo from an objective standpoint.

There are also no "male clothes" or "female clothes" in Chozo culture; there are only "clothes". Clothing can have many functions, but the Chozo have considered the idea that clothing "should" be worn by a particular kind of person and not others on a physiological basis. There is no stereotypical "male" or "female" body type for Chozo because their exterior physiology does not change between the sexes. There are different body types, yes. But there is no "broad shouldered male frame/hourglass figured female" in the Chozo cultural lexicon. Raven Beak possesses an "hourglass" frame: this says nothing about him to the Mawkin, except perhaps that the bridge between his waist and torso is curved.

In the grand scheme of things, Chozo find gender about as relevant a descriptor as whether or not you possess two kidneys.

That is why the Chozo are so indifferent to gendered language, but in what ways does this manifest in the language itself?

The Chozo's general disregard for gender as a descriptor is reflected in formal language: they put less of an emphasis on gendered pronouns to replace the name of a person or thing and more emphasis on what its role, function, or place in society is. They have pronouns to refer to people from different tribes, as well as doctors, scholars, non-military guardians, and community leaders. Scientists, high ranking warriors, respected warriors, venerated warriors,* medical doctors, professors, and the professor emeritus are all roles that the Chozo feel warrant their own descriptive pronouns, among many others.

The Mawkin in particular have specialized pronouns to refer to their Warlord: the leader of the Mawkin tribe overall, who commands the army and represents the tribe in dealings with other Chozo groups among other duties. Raven Beak may be referred to by his subordinates with "cua" (possessive "cuamahar"). Former Warlords (all of which are dead; there is no such thing as a "retired Warlord" in Mawkin culture. A Warlord must be killed in order for a new leader to take their seat) have "cuar"/"cuarmahar".

This is not to say the Chozo do not have gendered pronouns. They technically do... it's just not strictly gendered. "Ninu" is translated as "he" (in canon), but the Chozo do not strictly use it to refer to "one who is capable of fertilizing eggs": it is also used in cases where English speakers might feel compelled to use "she". It should be noted that "Ninu" does not function as (plural) "they/them" in English, for it is a singular pronoun. "Hum" is the (canon) plural pronoun for describing a broad group with no singular identifying feature, as "they" and "them" are used in English.

Most other pronouns that don't describe one's role in the community are some derivative of "of the people", which makes no reference to an individual's identity on a singular, personal level.

One such word is "ne", which is "individual", and is used to refer to a single person (often used where English speakers would expect to use "he" or "she"). This pronoun is derived from "nehasa", roughly "one of the tribe", with "-hasa" being derivative of "hasana": "tribe". There are tribe-specific variations of this word. The Mawkin have "nemawk" or "nemawkin": "of the [Mawkin] people", and the Thoha have "netho" or "nethoha" ("of the [Thoha] people"). Altering these niche pronouns to their possessive form is as simple as removing any obstructive consonants at the end of the word to make way for the appropriate suffix: "nema(w)mahar" and "nethomahar". It was collectively decided long ago that exactly how many consonants should be removed from a tribe's name for their pronoun is a matter of making the word comfortable to say: nobody wants their Elders tripping over their own tongues in polite company.

For the sake of convenience, these tribe-specific pronouns are usually reserved for describing heroes or historical figures. A couple thousand years before Raven Beak was born, Chozo society at large was far more strict about using tribe-affiliate pronouns in regular speech, particularly at events where the different tribes gathered. Nowadays, the Chozo use normal pronouns in place of these tribal indicators for the sake of convenience. This lessens the risk of a nervous speaker accidentally associating the War Councilor of the Hotu with the War Councilor for the Albis and causing tension during negotiations.

"Ne" and "ninu" are functionally interchangeable in many cases, and the matter of which one sees the light of day during conversation depends entirely on which regional dialect is being spoken. Some tribes exclusively use "ne" and don't bother with "ninu", and for others, it's the opposite. Whether or not a Mawkin uses "ne" or "ninu" is determined by their upbringing or the manner of speak prevalent in the subculture an individual is apart of.

On ZDR, "ninu" is common planet-wide, but diplomats who travel off-world to meet with other tribes, construction workers, miners, and the fast-talking rural cliff fungus cultivators all have a tendency to use "ne" in everyday speech. "Ne" rolls off the tongue far quicker than the two-syllable "ninu" (which is partly why "ne" gained use in old cliff fungus farmers in the first place).

The major difference here is that "ninu" can sometimes be translated as a gendered pronoun, and "ne" has absolutely no potential to be. It's easy to translate "ninu" as "he" in a sentence that makes no explicit reference to gender, but you can't do that with "ne". "Ne" refers to an individual and is almost wholly nondescript on its own. Think of it this way: every time "ne" is used, picture the speaker gesturing to who they're talking about and referring to them as "this one" or "that one". You know who it's referring to, but the word "ne" in and of itself offers no description of the person it's referencing.

The nondescript nature of "ne" is almost comparable to the English "it", but "ne" isn't used to mean "it" in Chozo: the Chozo "ne" refers to a person, while the English "it" refers to a thing. In English, if you use "it" too many times in a paragraph and make no reference to what "it" is, somebody could get lost and ask "what's 'it'?"

You can elicit the same kind of response by using an English gendered pronoun too many times without referencing who you're talking about, but in that case, the gendered pronoun has a description, unlike "it". Excessive use of "him" doesn't tell you who "he" is, but you know the perceived gender of the person in question despite not knowing his identity: you have some form of information.

The Chozo "ne" offers the same amount of descriptiveness as the English word "it" (which is next to none), though they don't mean the same thing. "Ne" is like the "it" of the Chozo pronouns that are used exclusively to refer to sapient people. "Ne" and the Chozo word for "it" are entirely separate: we don't have a canon word for "it", and I don't feel like making one up right now, so I'm going to leave you wanting more on that.

The ne/ninu dichotomy doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but it's an interesting cultural phenomenon. Linguistic rules can bend to the will of the speaker: hence why the Chozo throw "ne" and "ninu" around seemingly wherever the heck they want. And descriptive pronouns, which the Chozo put more cultural emphasis on than any form of gendered language, are largely considered a part of formal speech. You use descriptive pronouns in writing and when it's considered respectful: you wouldn't dare refer to the High Priest of the Ancestors with "ne" during the sunset rituals, but you don't always need to refer to your best friend (who is also a doctor) with their set of job-specific pronouns while you're just hanging out. Referring to your friend Jon Doe as "the venerable Dr. Jon Doe" while you're out for drinks sounds a bit stuffy. "Ninu" is a less loaded way of gesturing to someone without using their name.

Why is this so complicated? Why can't they just make it easy and use words we can reliably use to say "he/she/whatever"? Because the Chozo are long-lived and care immensely about acknowledging one's experience and expertise. The Chozo want you to refer to their doctors as doctors in the appropriate situations because these individuals have spent many years accumulating comprehensive knowledge of their field, and the Tribes believe that is worth acknowledging. The doctor's gender is not an accomplishment: their vast knowledge of pulmonary systems and their contributions to society are.

If you want an easy way to say "this person" without worrying about fancy honorifics, just use "ninu" or "ne".

* Terms nestled within square brackets are loose translations of a Chozo phrase. In the case of the Wrath of the [Mother], the word within the brackets is fluid and context-sensitive. The trope is not always referred to as Wrath of the Mother: the last word is either replaceable or the closest English equivalent of the original Chozo.

* There are no gendered insults in the Chozo language. Instead of having countless different slang words for genitals to sling as profanities or words used to define "a disagreeable [man/woman]", many insulting words and phrases in the Chozo language revolve around failing to perform at one's task or being a disgrace/dishonor to one's tribe. If I continued, I could branch out into a connection with Mawkin death/funeral-related lore, but that is a topic for another day.

* These different categories of warrior are not considered the same; the Mawkin are especially pushy in differentiating between them. "High ranking" is an army thing (think officers and special ops with a public face), "respected" is a matter of martial skill and reputation, and "venerated" refers to old warriors with an emphasis on those who are "retired" (i.e.: no longer serving the tribe in a combatant role) or recognized as highly decorated war veterans. The pronouns used for non-Warlord high ranking military officials are also used to refer to highly specialized (usually smaller) arms of the Mawkin army, like the subterranean ops, whose training revolves around scouting/securing locations such as caves and tunnels on foreign planets and such. They're the ones who go into these enclosed environments before researchers or soldiers from the greater army. In this case, the pronoun isn't used to refer to any of the individuals within the branch, but rather referring to the branch itself in conversation.

* It is optional to refer to Raven Beak with cua pronouns; they are considered formal. It's a bit like using usted instead of tú while speaking Spanish. Some Warlords care more about the address than others; Raven Beak takes it fairly casually, except during occasions when formality is a necessity. In contrast, High Lord Stone Breast would take offense with people using anything other than cua to distinguish him during his reign.

In fact, the usted/tú comparison can also be made with every fancy job-related pronoun. A student refers to their professor with the descriptive pronoun for her title because she is respected and they are in an academic environment.

[zovis]

And that's all for repostober.

Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. :)

[bearborg]

Heya, I saw that rb on my Metroid logo - I appreciate the insight regarding the Chozo glyphs! 👍

After your comment I did a bit of additional searching, and it doesn't seem like the interchanging is absolutely consistent across the Dread media, is that correct? More for tessellating opportunities than an exact rule, perhaps.

Either way, I don't necessarily mind this logo being 'incorrect' in that regard - I've had in mind that the Chozo sometimes use a 'simpler' form of their language specifically for ease of translation, so maybe this can coincide with that as a happy accident on my part. Plus, I have an alternate version of the logo which the interchanging glyphs would work better for, so I may apply it to that one and use both logos! Nonetheless, it's a cool detail about the language I hadn't noticed :o

Glad to know you've been digging the Samus design so far :)

it doesn't seem like the interchanging is absolutely consistent across the Dread media, is that correct?

I'm pretty confident that it's 100% consistent. What you might have seen is an example like this, where characters on the same row aren't tessellated:

But the tessellation is still being applied here, the text is just written vertically. You could argue that the tessellation is actually even more important here, since it indicates the direction that the text should be read in.

I've had in mind that the Chozo sometimes use a 'simpler' form of their language specifically for ease of translation, so maybe this can coincide with that as a happy accident on my part.

Definitely plausible! The square glyphs seen in Zero Mission (and several other games before Dread) are essentially just a blockier non-tessellating version of the Dread glyphs, which could be a modernization or an attempt at making them more legible to other species. Prime 1 also has a separate, scratchier looking alphabet of rune-like symbols (sadly untranslatable), so there's clearly diversity in the Chozo's written language.

Nonetheless, it's a cool detail about the language I hadn't noticed :o

Dread has quite a lot of those! If you're interested in diving all the way into Chozo language research, I'd highly recommend checking out @ChozoCourse on twitter, where you can find a nicely-packaged fan document detailing everything we know about the language right now.

[limitiz-nk]

I suddenly realize one thing: metroid are the pariahs of Chozo.

Once they must be something resembling hope, since their given name is "Ultimate Warrior" in chozo language. They are created to eliminate the terrifying X Parasite, but they were just abandoned by chozo after evolution. Indeed, they did become violent and even attacked their creators, but I still see it was somehow chozo's fault -- didn't ever consider the circumstances.

In manga, Old Bird and other thoha chozos once viewed metroids are their valuable children like Samus, which turns out to be so ironic that they were now treated like the X parasites, waiting for the doom as well as SR388.

The other creation--Elysian are much luckier than the metroid:They are faithful and stable. They also carried the mission from Chozos, but they had independence as a new species after chozo's leaving. Metroids were just innocent, and somehow born as a mistake. Even in Elysian Chozo's prediction on Tallon Ⅳ, they were described as "Parasite".

Finally we come to Samus-- the one who is granted the name "Ultimate Warrior". Personally, I think Samus somehow replaces the metroid's role, which is a reason complicates relationship of them.

At last the pariahs were doomed by the Newborn, except one small hatchling.At least it is comforting metroid regained a chance to get back to the "chozo", and the real Ultimate Warrior will born from both of them.

[kajira-kreations]

Quiet Robe and Raven Beak in the style of the Duolingo mascot.

Inspired by The Shinesparkers podcast episode where they brought in the folks that created the Chozo language course and there was talk about Duolingo.

[average-transdalorian]

Okay one more thing before I go to bed

The lack of “Samus Aran Becomes A Mandalorian” fics I have seen is a travesty

Like. First of all, the parallels between Samus experiences + Chozo culture and Mandalorian culture in general are. Very present. Samus is an orphan who was brought up by a warrior people and given a set of armor that is both better than most other armor you’ll find and spiritually significant (at least, from what I could gather), and taught how to fight to a BREATHTAKINGLY competent degree in part so she could get revenge for her slaughtered maan’aliit (original/birth family).

Add onto that what it takes to be Mandalorian: following the Resol’nare

Bajur (education): Samus has been shown to learn a LOT of different information throughout the Metroid series. From scanning shit to watching and mimicking wildlife to just being an information sponge, Samus Aran is always willing to learn. We don’t know if she’d be willing to teach a protege yet, but given how she acts about the baby Metroid (specifically in the remake of Samus Returns and in Super Metroid, I am trying to not learn more about Other M than I already know), it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that she would be willing to teach a protege.

Beskar’gam (armor): Samus’ power suit looks more similar to modern beskar’gam than some ancient sets do. Like. Some sets don’t even have a t-visor, which she *does*. She also has some variation of most Mando’ad armor technology in her power suit at some point, and like I said before, it reads to me as spiritually significant. All it’s missing is a check by a Goran to make sure it’s still in good shape and counts as beskar’gam

Aliit (family/clan): she’s gotten vengeance for her maan’aliit AND killed her dar’buir (no-longer-parent, which I most certainly class Raven Beak as), who was implied to have killed her Chozo aliit. She seems to be a clan of one now, but signs certainly point towards her taking care of her aliit when she has one

Aranov (self-defense): she is Samus fucking Aran, I do not need to elaborate

Mando’a (language): not applicable, she hasn’t had a chance to learn it

Mand’alor (leader): she’s willing to both follow and question orders, iirc. We don’t see her having a sole leader (Other M isn’t real and can’t hurt me), but I don’t think she would find following a Mand’alor to be too objectionable

TLDR: some author(s) send Samus to the GFFA and make her Mandalorian pretty please

[codylabs]

not sure if you've already described it somewhere (I discovered you very recently) but I seem to notice a chozo conlang in one of your latest posts. as a conlang enthusiast, I'd absolutely love to hear more about it! if you feel like sharing, of course

(awesome work on the comic btw, the little that i've seen so far is amazing!)

One hundred percent of the credit for that goes to @chozodian! He made an entire conlang for Zebesian Chozo, including an alphabet in both digital and handwritten forms, and I was honored enough to get his help for that page of the comic. (I've got a small brown rock instead of the part of my brain in charge of learning new languages, so I wouldn't dream of doing something as grand as this on my own!)

Chozodian isn't terribly active on his Tumblr and I don't know where else he is, but you can shoot him a message there!

-> https://www.tumblr.com/chozodian <-

[somechubbynerd]

If you had to change any of your blog URLs, which would you change? I nominate the Samus one

I want to use the Chozo language :P

[drem0raman]

Hello, uh... bird-humans? How may I address you..? I'm Pipsqueak and I'm curious about your world! - Pip

greetings little one, i am sageling phoenix & this is my twin sister, honored maiden, we are both called chozos, a rare sentient species that is rarely involved in events of the multiverse unless evil rises. my sister is half & color blind, she is skilled in translating alien languages using her psychic powers. we are a mix of chozo/human/bird hybrids from different backgrounds of secret families

[saintofpride201]

https://youtube.com/jk0-KoKWcjE

This is very interesting to me honestly. The integrity of the linguistics here is amazing. And there's a few things I've noticed as well that separates the Chozo language from being a complete relex of English.

When referring to planets, they seem to use Nalima as a suffix, possibly their word for "planet". In full, they seem to say "ili ___ Nalima" or "The ___ Planet". SR388 was a Galactic Federation designation, as was ZDR. Possibly as Identification codes. The planets' native names might have been Agar and Tari.

Or, Agar and Tari might be descriptors. As the phrasing of "ili ___ Planet" or "The ___ Planet" implies, it could very well be something like "The Dirt Planet" or "The Research Planet". I personally believe the first one tho, because it ties in well with my next point.

"X" was also a name designated by the Federation. The manga says that the Chozo gave it its name, but in game canon it was a Federation name. Quiet Robe refers to it as "Elis", or the original name for the X. A lot of words, specifically ones about certain elements of the game, are given different words with important pre/suffixes and important distinctions. Especially ones that have been given identification names by government forces.

God, the writing that goes into this game is fucking amazing. If you just look at it surface level you're gonna miss a lot of stuff. They did a really good job with this game.

[381181]

In Metroid Dread, Samus Aran is pronounced in the Chozo language as "Tamus Arlan".

I've seen a lot of people assume this is because of limitations on Chozo pronunciation. But this could not be the case.

Chozo does not have the same vowels or r sound as the English pronunciation of this name. So, some changes to those sounds are to be expected. Let’s get that out the way.

But changing “s” to “t” is odd, as is changing “r” to “rl” (rather than just using the equivalent r sound). After all, several Chozo words have “sa” and “ara”, including one with both:

saral "eradicate"

sarin "stand"

salima "destiny"

maradis "robe" (as in Quiet Robe)

If all of the above are valid, pronounceable Chozo words, then "Samus” and “Aran" should both be valid as well. With a different r sound and vowels, but otherwise intact.

In fact, "Arlan" is the only Chozo word (that we’ve heard so far) that has "rl" in it. Sticking with "Aran" seems like it would be the less weird option!

So, why?

...Well, there are a variety of possibilities, including a mistake (unlikely, the conlang is otherwise well-considered - “mathroid” was a little surprising but much more explainable), maybe to sound cooler, an in-universe mispronunciation that stuck (Samus would have been pretty inarticulate at the age when she introduced herself - but it’s spelled right...?) And so on.

I think some of those are reasonable possibilities, but I do have an explanation that I like most. Perhaps "Tamus Arlan" is a Chozo-style descriptive name, which was chosen first for its meaning (which I won’t speculate on) and second for its resemblance to her birth name. A localized nickname, of sorts.

Which, if true, would be rather sweet. Who knows though!

(Big thanks to the Chozo Cipher Club for painstakingly documenting and transcribing everything.)

[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.

[pickledturnip80]

With the release of the Metroid Prime Remaster, I want to share a Metroid/Kid Icarus headcanon I have. In Kid Icarus: Of Myths & Monsters, there's an NPC that is a robed crow-man who is found in the hot spring rooms. I like to think they were Chozo, similar to how Komaytos are like Metroids. The hot springs of Angel Land are apparently popular with the Chozo, and they and the angels seem to get along great!

I also believe Samus has the same ability to break the 4th Wall as the KI:U cast do, but she's a lot more subtle with it. She does acknowledge the player's existence more than once in her games.

A Metroid-Kid Icarus crossover game is something I would LOVE to happen though I know that's unlikely to ever be. I love the idea of Samus and Pit having a very special bond or friendship because of their games' shared history. Pit learning how to speak the Chozo language from the Crows and being able to communicate with Samus in that way would be awesome and adorable.

[professionaljester]

anyways distracting myself with researching how to write the chozo language

[nerdy-the-artist]

Maytroid!… sort of?

So contrary to my name, I don’t actually do a whole lot of art. It’s quite rare in fact. What I do more often, though, is write. I made a previous post about some tidbits about my own Metroid AU I’m working on. So naturally, for me, I wanted to do something similar for Maytroid. However, I felt like prattling on about the different characters and creatures for each prompt would get old pretty fast. So instead, I’m gonna style these like data logs that Samus Aran might have scanned throughout her various missions. There will be some areas that may change in the future, especially where I’m approaching the topic for the first time, like with Z-57. To avoid spam, I’m going to group these into weeks, releasing a group of these “scans” every Friday up until the end of May. Without further ado, let’s begin. 

Day 1: Ruins Test

Chozo mural transcribed and translated

“The greatest warriors of all peoples and all walks of life are not measured by their capacity for violence and destruction, the power to end life. A weapon does all of these things. What a warrior is, what a warrior is attuned to, is his moral compass. Without it, a warrior is simply a weapon, pliable and controllable as the blade, or indifferent and rabid as a roaring flame. To be a warrior and lead warriors relies on your ability to take life and preserve your mind, conscience, and convictions. Of all the wonders that we, the Chozo, bring forth, none are so valuable as the absolute attunement of the mind. And yet, it is one we cannot give. It must be found.

Find it.”

Day 2: Omega Pirate

Scan of Glaxamore data terminal from operations on Tallon IV

“Subject 42 mental acuity has experienced minimal degradation. Upon numerous tactical exercises, carefully trained to minimize subject’s innate advantages brought about by Phazon, tactical prowess has been measured at 40/35, well within expected parameters for standard soldiers. Subject has been agreeable and eager during testing, needing minimum coaching to enter suspended animation, surgical procedures, or live fire interviews.

However, there have been questions and concerns regarding the possibility of sudden and catastrophic mental deterioration. Subject 42 has multiple times reported hearing whispers and visions when inert. Subject has additionally reported dreams of planets completely enveloped in Phazon. While the possibility of locating such a deposit of Phazon would be invaluable to securing Glaxamore’s supremacy, and the study of Phazon Parapsychology is still burgeoning, such dreams have been deemed too unreliable to warrant the resources necessary to locate such a planet.”

Day 3: SA-X

Ship log: Presence Queries

Subject: Samus Aran

23:04 (Landing bay)

23:28 (Medical ward)

06:45 (Facility Lab Entrance) (Medical Ward) Addendum: Triangulation Error

06:47 (X-Parasite Containment) (Medical War) Addendum: Triangulation Error

06:53 (X-Parasite Containment) (Nautalis Containment) (Medical War) Addendum: Triangulation Error

Multiple triangulation errors detected. Location data deemed unreliable by Aurora Unit.

Day 4: Spire

Intel Scan

Individual appears to be a Diamont. Galactic Federation records list the species as extinct after the destruction of their star. Biological scans indicate individual is 572 DY, making him middle aged by Diamont standards. Hormone and body language readings indicate he is experiencing immense and repeated emotional distress.

Day 5: Experiment Z-57

Battle Scan

Creature appears to be Corpius specimen with heavy biological modification. Immediately identifiable modification include various flesh grafts, four bio-prostheses, poison glands, and a low intensity plasma cutter. Scarred into the creature’s flesh are the Chozo words “Hadar sen Olmen”. The end result of the modifications is increased speed and dexterity, heat resistance, a poisonous bite to unarmored bio forms, and a powerful ranged attack. Log will be updated with further data upon availability.

[spectrum-studios]

When you were watching your childhood replay in real time infront of your eyes.

For context: I'm a Metroid fan and from a ridiculously young age too. So I would watch my father play all the GameCube metroid games (yes that means Metroid Other M too..) and I did help my dad with puzzles too (I was pretty good at that.)

And probably a few weeks ago my dad bought Metroid Prime Remastered and I watched him and then attempted to play alone... failed to do so and then tried again with mom by my side and got into the game.. this is my first time actually playing a Metroid game (well I attempted Dread and got too scared in my first e.m.m.i room).

Right now I'm going for a 100% casual difficulty run. I'm super close, and then I'll do another run in a harder difficulty.

But these past three days I've fleshed out 2 aus and I'm going to just show one off.

Metroid - [System Hatred]

And this is Marana Aran. The forgotten younger sister of samus.

She genuinely hates samus for getting all the glory and is one to like what crimes space pirates did- to the point she learned their language and murdered a entire human facility with all this high tech, with only a damn kitchen knife, when space pirates find Marana Aran, speaks to them and convinced them to let her join. And soon she stands by Ridley's side just as strong as Samus Aran...

Bonus info:

Marana Aran is 7 years younger than Samus.

Marana is Ridley's favorite and even calls her a daughter..

Kills anyone (except space pirates) that is after Samus, because she wants to kill her, herself.

She got space pirate, metroid, and choso (chozo) DNA infused with her blood to have a chance against Samus.

She's short. But space pirates respect her.