#mpilot

Concept art:

PTSD scene: It was once called 'The Hands That Once Cradled.' The scene was first drafted much different. Samus's mother, Virginia, hugging her close, before reality seems to warp as the image of her mother quite literally burns into a smoldering corpse.

This was a awhile ago, so I forgot why exactly I changed it to be honest, but it was most likely a script rewrite...and perhaps I felt the scene was a little much and dialed it back a bit.

This is based on an old, old idea I had where Ridley was basically a revolutionary figure amongst the rest of space, and the Pirates were a group formed under him, eager to help him pursue his goals.

Without saying too much, this idea set forth the lore I have for him now, which has changed a bunch since.

There was going to be a scene that explored this, but I felt it might be a too big a topic for an introductory...so, this is to say it will come up in a future project instead

Ah, this is more current! I spent a lot of time figuring out what I wanted the opening scene to be. I kept going back and forth between two scenes, but the aftermath of K-2L won favor.

This was a quick art I did to get an idea for how injured Ridley should be (I think I posted this before cause I signed it lmao)

Deleted content:

This went through so many script changes, most content stayed the same just heavily altered, but I did have to remove parts.

Mauk and Kreatz were written in the first draft..

They served as comedic relief, and as much as I liked the idea of light-hearted moments, when I read it back...oof. I wanted this to have a very dark tone and also focused on a specific set of characters. Which, they were not relevant enough, unfortunately. I had a different idea then though, but of course that is expected to change over time.

Ridley and Kraid's relationship was a lot more...intense (stay with me now)

- In an old script, the scene where they are first seen interacting was them having a massive argument regarding the Metroid operation. The idea here was that their relationship was more of a slow burn, as some would call it, and they actually did not get along at first. Of course, this changed alongside the rest of the lore.

-Their relationship was changed to already being established, and how they got together is a whole big thing and happened way before they became pirates. That being said, I made a tremendous amount of edits to figure out just how gay I wanted them to be within this story (i.e they were going to make out before the computer interrupted them :])

-A deleted scene I had was when Ridley was setting up operations on Zebes, on the phone with Kraid, updating the situation. It was a humorous scene, as pirates in the background would be making fun of him (at high risk, they are very stupid). Due to pacing issues, it was removed, but I guess it could have still happened off screen..

Speaking of, I had a small bit where Samus messaged Adam a picture of the bounty she killed, informing him she is expecting payment very soon. Here's a lil screenshot of script:

I couldn't figure out a decent way to board this part though...so, not necessarily deleted, but happens off screen. A shame cause it was to show the two were still on good terms. Crude humor, but they both have seen far worse.

I had a big scene with Raven Beak and Gray Voice fighting. Intended as a flashback that was supposed to occur after Mother Brain and Ridley's conversation, and also to confirm that Gray Voice was still alive after her massacre, preparing to confront her in the present:

It was removed due to muddying the narrative, there would simply be too many villains involved. This scene better fits in an actual episode that would be further development. Introducing Raven Beak this early would redirect attention from Samus's conflict with the Pirates and Ridley.

I opted to give Raven Beak a brief appearance to give implication of something larger regarding the plot point of Samus being a weapon.

I would like to use this scene still, but in a different project.

Bonus thumbnail/rough board:

Lastly, Samus and Ian once had a brief conversation before the Pirate attack. It also revealed a bit of lore about his family.

ughhhhhh, I hated removing this part cause I liked it a lot, But something about it felt not right. It just was not something the narrative needed...not yet. It also felt this was more about Adam than Ian. This scene was swapped with Adam giving his briefing. He is very firm, but he cares a lot. I much preferred this more grounded character than jumping the gun with saying he has a dead dad as a first impression.

Commentary:

After I finalized the script, part 1 as it was called was pretty much smooth sailing.

Part 2 though was a struggle...

This portion of the script was a lot more emotionally heavy and executing it the way I imagined it was a challenge. Gray Voice's death scene was super difficult to execute, and not necessarily a boarding issue, but an editing issue.

I did something bold and recorded myself screaming, and drew a shot of Samus to match with

The scene suddenly felt much more alive, and her breakdown went more naturally.

Samus and Ridley had lots of parallels in this, a couple more obvious than others. If you know me, you probably picked up on all of them lol. The intention is they are very similar, and I can't wait to explore them more.

I spent a lot of time on little details. My favorite is Gray's last line, lining up with a shot of Mother Brain, as she is also saying goodbye to her 'daughter.'

I think the last thing I want to talk about is Samus's hair as I revealed info about a detail in my design of her.

Her hair had to be shaved in order to stitch up her wounds. Because of the scar tissue, her hair follicles are also damaged, so she can't really grow her hair in those parts. She is attached to her braid hairstyle from before, so she parts her hair, which covers most of the shaved side.