Why some people should have stayed Quiet about part of MGSV

I haven’t played MGS 5 as of writing this. Not because I don’t want to but because It’s my Birthday soon and I have Christmas coming up so I’m presently on a “Do not buy games people need something to get you other than a steam gift card or something”. I’m saying this as I may well make some mistakes about what actually is said in the game.

So a few people couldn’t help keep their mouths shut about how Hideo Kojima was stupid for putting out such a flimsy excuse as to why Quiet was dressed as she was. The whole idea of her breathing threw her skin (and yeh thanks to everyone who I now know this from as you shouted it indignantly from the rooftops). If this had fucking died down and people had moved on I wouldn’t be writing what is essentially this giant fuck you to those people.

So lets start with the basic problem with people yelling about this. You’re pissed off at a woman’s outfit in a video games with a fire whale in it. Just a giant random whale made of fire.

There’s also a person which psychic powers, a soldier with a Bionic arm that’s far in advance of almost anything presently available in the late 1975's to 1980's when the game is set. Not the mention the fact one of the upgrades shoots lightening.

Then to take it further this is a game series where a guy called Vamp could run on water and there are regular giant nuclear capable robot in military hands. Oh and fully functional human cloning and a bandanna which Snake claims gives him unlimited ammo because MGS Logic .

What I’m trying to say is this really isn’t a series based in reality and a with a theme and tone of serious grounded things. Yes it does deal with serious things but writing wise lets stop pretending this is some great Sonnet or some great deconstruction of the military game genre. It’s B movie esc schlock. It’s really good B- Movie esc schlock and for video games yes it is damn good but lets stop pretending this was some great deep thing and not a weird alt history game series with an insane plot if you actually lay all the story out.

BUT I KNOW THAT WON’T BE ENOUGH FOR SOME.

I know that Quiet dressing that way being actually contextually fine in the universe of MGS won’t go down well and you’ll have some kind of quibble at it or how it’s still stupid etc etc even so.

Now Hideo Kojima was right on something. All those exasperated people going “She breathes through her skin. I’m still not ashamed of criticizing her in fact I’ll criticize her more”. Well you should feel ashamed. Really ashamed, not for criticizing her but your fucking ignorance being displayed for the whole “God Thanking” world to see.

So lets actually look into the idea of Quiet breathing through her skin. Firstly we have to understand that breathing through her skin suggests she doesn’t share the respiratory system present in most humans. So when certain people go

“I could buy that excuse if we regular humans needed a thousand tiny mouths and noses throughout our body to breath”

Well you’ve just shown your own ignorance there as Quiet doesn’t have a regular human body. Quiet doesn’t have this system.

You see the Regular Human Body has a respiratory system designed for us larger organism which means the noses and mouths of larger animals are rather part of their specialization. You see we can more actively draw in air. We breath in and out. The diaphragm contracts pulling down creating a larger area in the chest cavity which means there’s a greater space so less pressure in the lungs thus air is forced in. Then to exhale waste gases the diaphragm relaxes, it move up meaning these less space in the chest cavity and so more pressure which forces the air out of the lungs by changing the pressure gradient.

Now why would Quiet be considered a good Sniper? Because she doesn’t breath in the conventional sense. Breathing in the sense most people understand it is taking in air and exhaling waste gasses. The problem being when us humans do this it tends to move our aim while shooting. How do I know this? I’ve shot air rifles on rifle ranges and talked to people who do shoot in clubs who will often say you hold your breath while shooting. Heck I’m a former archery instructor so even in that breathing impacts your aim.

What you first need to understand is Quiet isn’t breathing in the way it’s conventionally understood by most people. She is taking in and expelling waste gasses but not actively by breathing in but passively as in it’s constantly happening. Her body is taking in gas without having in inhale. Her body is pushing out waste gas without exhaling.

What sorcery is this someone who breathes without actively having the inhale or exhale?

You might say. Well yes it does happen in nature.

Meet the wasp, in fact meet almost any member of the bug kingdom and guess what they have all over their body.

Lots of little tiny mouths and noses. They’re called Spiracles. unlike us most insects at best inflate air sacs throughout their body via moving their abdomen or moving round vial muscle movement and many less active insects just passively take in and using a series of internal valves etc they can create internal concentration gradients to bring in fresh air one one area of the body while releasing waste gases from another part.

So apply this to quiet and she could be taking air in through her back and releasing waste gases through her legs.

Each cell gets Oxygen directly in an insect however in larger animals this is highly inefficient unless Quiet’s own body also has a modified human circulatory system such that she can take in air and have Oxygen diffuse through into her circulatory system and be carried to cells round the body and deeper tissue as happens in normal humans.

But is says Quiet is like The End and he has a photosynthetic system.

Except he could speak and make sounds of a kind thus he has a photosynthetic path to store up energy and then a human respiratory one to use up said stores to create energy. Infact it’s mentioned in metal gear Solid 3 that The End’s ghillie suit was made from a form of natural moss and if he was hurt or near dead it would change to brown. In essence The End was breathing through his entire Ghillie suit. Not to mention the claim early on that the medical staff haven’t got a conclusive verdict on how she does it. AKA she’s like The End but not exactly like him.

But you can put her in clothes later thicko stop acting all nerdy and smarty pantsy you stupid thicko I got you now

Not quite. You see lets go back to the analogy of thousands of tiny mouths and noses shall we. Have you ever worn a mask? You know like one of those Halloween gorilla masks or the like

Well you could breath while wearing it right? Except you know they’re slightly uncomfortable to keep wearing for long periods and a it gets a bit stuffy inside there. That’s the reason why on most character suit used by actual entertainers there’s more breathable material and in the case of some costumes a large breathable material / mesh like section.

For Quiet wearing clothes is like breathing through a mask the whole time. Sure she can do it, it is entirely possible for her to do it. But also it’s damn uncomfortable to breath while wearing them as unlike us she does need thousands of tiny mouths and noses over her body to breath comfortably. She essentially has to take in the same volume of air but spread out over her body rather than being able to take in air as we regular humans do and have it go into two big specially evolved lungs that are full of airsacs. If Quiet did breath into two lugs it would be require a large network all filtering down into her lungs and would take up more room due to the volume required to actually work a system like that. Instead she most likely has a network of far smaller tubes either going directly next to her blood throughout her body or lots of smaller lung like airsacks throughout her body. From one clip I’ve seen of her reaction to salt water it suggests the former as large amounts of sodium entering the human body and cells unchecked would be dangerous.

In the end the argument that Quiet breathing through her skin was a nonsense excuse designed to hide behind making Quiet into wank matter. Well that argument is highly intellectually ignorant if not downright dishonest to make. Quiet breathing through her skin and not in through her nose and mouth into lungs is entirely possible to actually suggest with a little bit of actual science stretched a bit to make it science fiction. As while it’s predicted that the system wouldn’t be efficient enough to support larger organisms, that is using a system that delivers oxygen straight to the cells itself requiring lots of of tubing but if it delivered it in through the skin and it then went into the blood. A Hybrid system of the human circulatory and the insect breathing through in essence it’s skin, well it’s not outside the realms of possibility.

So to those of you out there saying how Quiet is “problematic” or the explanation of her is not thought provoking. I’ve just written a huge piece here working out how Quiet would actually breath. I’ve thought through the possible science and realities behind it. So those criticizing Quiet for her clothing. YOU CAN DO BETTER. Hell MOST OF YOU HAVE DONE BETTER than the vapid surface level examination and dismissal of the idea of Quiet breathing through her skin. So this is me calling you out, demanding better of you. Yes you Jim Fucking Sterling Son and anyone else who decided to morally grand stand about this one. Oh and that Fantastic Four thing, him being black wasn’t the problem. Sue Storm being white while he was black was as they were always built up and close biological brother and sister and the director came up with a half assed re-write to allow his black friend and actor to take the role without actually auditioning anyone else for the role either.

You say looks are important, well the only way Quiet becomes lessened is if you actively see a display of female sexuality as lessening to a character or person. By saying she is lessened by this you reveal that you somehow feel women’s sexuality undermines any possible strength they can have. That it’s somehow a weakness to them. Man it’s almost like sexual empowerment never happened.

So no this wasn’t a limp narrative reason invented from thin air. It’s one that actually has a fair basis behind it. enjoy voting for Trump now Jim. So if you’re still seeing sex as a negative trait or undermining to a person. Please just grow up or fuck off.

So please dear read who got this far. Don’t thank a non existent deity for this. Thank science and nature itself for just how strange and weird the world can be.