Good morning from the studio. Today, I finished up a picture that is near and dear to my heart called "Samus and Friends". Let me walk you through it if you're not a dyed-in-the-wool Nintendrone like myself.

Samus (the lady in the power armor) is a bounty hunter from the Metroid game series. She was orphaned as a child and raised by an enigmatic race of bird people known as the Chozo. She has essentially always been alone and never had a friend. A Metroid hatchling - a space jellyfish of sorts - that imprinted on her at the end of Metroid II sacrificed its life for her, and I think she has always had a profound sense of loss as a result.

At the end of Super Metroid for the SNES, Samus is able to rescue a few animals from the planet Zebes before it explodes. Those are the Etecoons (the antennaed creature on her right shoulder) and the Dachora (the large green bird). When they reappeared in Metroid Fusion, the Dachora had had a chick (labeled in this picture's files as Dachora Junior), who is snuggled up in the hammock on the left.

Pikachu was introduced as being something like a friend to Samus in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The two formed a fast partnership, and I like to believe that they remained friends after that.

Slippy Toad is the team mechanic from the Star Fox games. People have never particularly liked his personality, and while a valued teammate, I think he stands apart as a result. If Samus's gunship needed repairs, perhaps she encountered Slippy and the two became friends.

Rocket the gorilla is from Animal Crossing. She's a newcomer to my little fanfiction world. She has the "big sister" personality type and is herself a member of a Power Rangers-esque team. The idea of her becoming a bossy sister character to Samus amused me, especially considering she's probably only about a third of Samus's height.

With this, I have established within my artistic world that Samus has found a family of friends. Her gunship, normally her solitary abode since the loss of the baby Metroid, is now bustling with an array of energetic and irritating characters. I think her heart has started to heal, and as you can see by the smile on her face, I think she is content.