Alchemist
@alchemist64.bsky.social
A black geek who likes anime, manga/manhwa/manhua, video games, visual novels, reading, occasionally writing. He/Him.
Reposted by Alchemist
I do wonder if they kinda see a character being a "mercenary" as a little too morally ambiguous, though
November 16, 2025 at 1:45 AM
I do wonder if they kinda see a character being a "mercenary" as a little too morally ambiguous, though
Reposted by Alchemist
I don't think "bounty hunter that does this to make a living" and "motherly altruist" are like two incompatible things
but frankly I don't think nintendo wants things to be particularly deep
but frankly I don't think nintendo wants things to be particularly deep
November 16, 2025 at 1:43 AM
I don't think "bounty hunter that does this to make a living" and "motherly altruist" are like two incompatible things
but frankly I don't think nintendo wants things to be particularly deep
but frankly I don't think nintendo wants things to be particularly deep
Reposted by Alchemist
honestly I think the interesting thing to do with Samus would be like, starts out idealistic, becomes jaded eventually, just in it for the money, but then pivots into like wanting to do the right thing regarding Metroids
it is funny how "nintendo didn't actually know what a bounty hunter was" ended up having massive ramifications because it turns out "person who goes and kills aliens for money" inherently carries implications about someone's character lol
November 16, 2025 at 1:42 AM
honestly I think the interesting thing to do with Samus would be like, starts out idealistic, becomes jaded eventually, just in it for the money, but then pivots into like wanting to do the right thing regarding Metroids
Reposted by Alchemist
They used the English term "bounty hunter" translated into katakana & not transliterated, probably directly from Star Wars promo material. It was a screwup back then because they never got it transliterated. They thought it meant "free agent", not "catch-or-kill ruthless hardass".
November 16, 2025 at 1:44 AM
They used the English term "bounty hunter" translated into katakana & not transliterated, probably directly from Star Wars promo material. It was a screwup back then because they never got it transliterated. They thought it meant "free agent", not "catch-or-kill ruthless hardass".
Reposted by Alchemist
It's extra weird to me because like, Star Fox are contract mercenaries and in SF64 you literally get paid to go to war and General Pepper at the end asks you to join the military and Fox rejects and sends him a bill for their services, so like, they KNOW the concept, but for some reason Samus isn't?
it is funny how "nintendo didn't actually know what a bounty hunter was" ended up having massive ramifications because it turns out "person who goes and kills aliens for money" inherently carries implications about someone's character lol
November 16, 2025 at 1:34 AM
It's extra weird to me because like, Star Fox are contract mercenaries and in SF64 you literally get paid to go to war and General Pepper at the end asks you to join the military and Fox rejects and sends him a bill for their services, so like, they KNOW the concept, but for some reason Samus isn't?
Reposted by Alchemist
it is funny how "nintendo didn't actually know what a bounty hunter was" ended up having massive ramifications because it turns out "person who goes and kills aliens for money" inherently carries implications about someone's character lol
November 16, 2025 at 12:00 AM
it is funny how "nintendo didn't actually know what a bounty hunter was" ended up having massive ramifications because it turns out "person who goes and kills aliens for money" inherently carries implications about someone's character lol
Reposted by Alchemist
We see this today. People like Gavin Newsom are no true friends of queer liberation but, if they gain power, will only normalize antiqueer and trans politics while making performative gestures and rehetoric towards queer inclusivity.
November 16, 2025 at 12:44 AM
We see this today. People like Gavin Newsom are no true friends of queer liberation but, if they gain power, will only normalize antiqueer and trans politics while making performative gestures and rehetoric towards queer inclusivity.
Reposted by Alchemist
It goes to show - Queerness disrupts the heteronormative, reproductive logic that underlies both fascism and liberalism. Even when fascism falls, liberal institutions still move to normalize the intensified persecution of queer people, because the same foundational assumptions remain untouched.
November 16, 2025 at 12:42 AM
It goes to show - Queerness disrupts the heteronormative, reproductive logic that underlies both fascism and liberalism. Even when fascism falls, liberal institutions still move to normalize the intensified persecution of queer people, because the same foundational assumptions remain untouched.
Reposted by Alchemist
Many queer people were also denied restitution after the war because they were not considered victims of fascism - as only those targeted based on racial, political or religious grounds were considered.
November 16, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Many queer people were also denied restitution after the war because they were not considered victims of fascism - as only those targeted based on racial, political or religious grounds were considered.
Reposted by Alchemist
When the US liberated Nazi concentration camps, many queer people stayed in prison because they were seen as having broken the law. Indeed, Paragraph 175, which criminalized gay intercourse in Weimar Germany & had been expanded to include intent by the Nazis, was not abolished by the US after WWII.
November 16, 2025 at 12:32 AM
When the US liberated Nazi concentration camps, many queer people stayed in prison because they were seen as having broken the law. Indeed, Paragraph 175, which criminalized gay intercourse in Weimar Germany & had been expanded to include intent by the Nazis, was not abolished by the US after WWII.
Reposted by Alchemist
A man?? winning the Booker prize????? Is that even possible? It hasn't happened since the far-flung days of 2023. Our legends say that a man also won it in the ancient, prehistoric era of 2021, but surely that is just an old wives tale meant to frighten MFA students before bed.
The Guardian view on the Booker prize winner: putting masculinity back at the centre of literary fiction | Editorial
Editorial: David Szalay’s Flesh breaks from a decade of female-centred interiors and reopens a genre many thought closed to men
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:18 AM
A man?? winning the Booker prize????? Is that even possible? It hasn't happened since the far-flung days of 2023. Our legends say that a man also won it in the ancient, prehistoric era of 2021, but surely that is just an old wives tale meant to frighten MFA students before bed.
Reposted by Alchemist
I can't wait for the shitshow that's gonna happen when Nintendo tries to produce a Metroid film.
The entire fandom’s (and Retro Studios) initial assumption: “Oh she hunts down the baddest monsters in the galaxy and gets paid for it, right?”
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
November 16, 2025 at 12:31 AM
I can't wait for the shitshow that's gonna happen when Nintendo tries to produce a Metroid film.
Reposted by Alchemist
Like, consider that a fairly key moment in Super's climax is Samus/the player going out of their way in the midst of a countdown to a planet exploding to save the few peaceful and friendly creatures they've encountered in their journey.
November 15, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Like, consider that a fairly key moment in Super's climax is Samus/the player going out of their way in the midst of a countdown to a planet exploding to save the few peaceful and friendly creatures they've encountered in their journey.
Reposted by Alchemist
My interpretation is that Samus is perceived by the developers as a classical "hero" archetype, who arrives in alien environments to explore the world and fight the evil infesting it. The Star Fox team can't really be read with that same framing, since the games are *just* combat.
November 15, 2025 at 9:47 PM
My interpretation is that Samus is perceived by the developers as a classical "hero" archetype, who arrives in alien environments to explore the world and fight the evil infesting it. The Star Fox team can't really be read with that same framing, since the games are *just* combat.
Reposted by Alchemist
Let's be real, it highlights how weird Nintendo Japan are about women. Remember the first NSMB with four players, and they did two toads instead of the classic SMB2 US line-up? And when Miyamoto was asked about it he made something up about dress physics being an issue?
November 15, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Let's be real, it highlights how weird Nintendo Japan are about women. Remember the first NSMB with four players, and they did two toads instead of the classic SMB2 US line-up? And when Miyamoto was asked about it he made something up about dress physics being an issue?
Reposted by Alchemist
That especially highlights how weird Nintendo are about Metroid. It's not that they don't understand the concept. There are tons of bounty hunting space adventurers in Japanese media, and even a bunch in F-Zero, I believe?
They just act like the entire writing/lore team are concussed for Metroid.
They just act like the entire writing/lore team are concussed for Metroid.
November 15, 2025 at 9:32 PM
That especially highlights how weird Nintendo are about Metroid. It's not that they don't understand the concept. There are tons of bounty hunting space adventurers in Japanese media, and even a bunch in F-Zero, I believe?
They just act like the entire writing/lore team are concussed for Metroid.
They just act like the entire writing/lore team are concussed for Metroid.
Reposted by Alchemist
Meanwhile, the Star Fox team are mercenaries to the core, to the point of providing General Pepper with an itemized invoice for every piece of enemy hardware destroyed over the course of the game
If you're really optimizing your score (which includes creative accounting on multikills) he freaks out
If you're really optimizing your score (which includes creative accounting on multikills) he freaks out
The entire fandom’s (and Retro Studios) initial assumption: “Oh she hunts down the baddest monsters in the galaxy and gets paid for it, right?”
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
November 15, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Meanwhile, the Star Fox team are mercenaries to the core, to the point of providing General Pepper with an itemized invoice for every piece of enemy hardware destroyed over the course of the game
If you're really optimizing your score (which includes creative accounting on multikills) he freaks out
If you're really optimizing your score (which includes creative accounting on multikills) he freaks out
Reposted by Alchemist
I think what's funnier here is that Samus operating as a Third Party Contractor (which IS true, she became a hunter to work outside the restrictions of the federation military) causes fans in the west to default their thinking to "Boba Fett". Samus doesn't go around busting anyone for a payout lol.
The entire fandom’s (and Retro Studios) initial assumption: “Oh she hunts down the baddest monsters in the galaxy and gets paid for it, right?”
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
November 15, 2025 at 9:47 PM
I think what's funnier here is that Samus operating as a Third Party Contractor (which IS true, she became a hunter to work outside the restrictions of the federation military) causes fans in the west to default their thinking to "Boba Fett". Samus doesn't go around busting anyone for a payout lol.
Reposted by Alchemist
remember when the team ninja game came out and everybody assumed it was team ninjas sexism that made samus seem so weird? nope, it was nintendo's sexist vision all along.
The entire fandom’s (and Retro Studios) initial assumption: “Oh she hunts down the baddest monsters in the galaxy and gets paid for it, right?”
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
November 15, 2025 at 11:26 PM
remember when the team ninja game came out and everybody assumed it was team ninjas sexism that made samus seem so weird? nope, it was nintendo's sexist vision all along.
Reposted by Alchemist
The thing about Nintendo is that a lot of upper ranks have very conservative & downright misogynistic views & have been forcing them onto their franchises especially since the Wii.
And yet their fanbase is somehow so loyal that even if it's blatant stuff they should revolt against they run defense
And yet their fanbase is somehow so loyal that even if it's blatant stuff they should revolt against they run defense
The entire fandom’s (and Retro Studios) initial assumption: “Oh she hunts down the baddest monsters in the galaxy and gets paid for it, right?”
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
November 15, 2025 at 4:37 PM
The thing about Nintendo is that a lot of upper ranks have very conservative & downright misogynistic views & have been forcing them onto their franchises especially since the Wii.
And yet their fanbase is somehow so loyal that even if it's blatant stuff they should revolt against they run defense
And yet their fanbase is somehow so loyal that even if it's blatant stuff they should revolt against they run defense
Reposted by Alchemist
They were still under this mistaken impression until Metroid Prime 3. Which was a 2007 video game. They used the term for literal decades without knowing what it meant, lmao
November 15, 2025 at 2:08 AM
They were still under this mistaken impression until Metroid Prime 3. Which was a 2007 video game. They used the term for literal decades without knowing what it meant, lmao
Reposted by Alchemist
nintendo: actually samus is really fucking boring
November 15, 2025 at 10:54 AM
nintendo: actually samus is really fucking boring
Reposted by Alchemist
Anyway, this misunderstanding is the reason why everyone was so taken aback by Other M. Nintendo and the fans have always had near-opposite impressions of who Samus is as a person, but the different takes only came into conflict once Metroid games started featuring other humans
November 15, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Anyway, this misunderstanding is the reason why everyone was so taken aback by Other M. Nintendo and the fans have always had near-opposite impressions of who Samus is as a person, but the different takes only came into conflict once Metroid games started featuring other humans
Reposted by Alchemist
The entire fandom’s (and Retro Studios) initial assumption: “Oh she hunts down the baddest monsters in the galaxy and gets paid for it, right?”
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
November 15, 2025 at 2:01 AM
The entire fandom’s (and Retro Studios) initial assumption: “Oh she hunts down the baddest monsters in the galaxy and gets paid for it, right?”
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...
Nintendo: “What? No. She’s like humanity’s motherly guardian. What are you talking about.”
www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/04...