agendergorgon

[agendergorgon]

Not so much generated as much as voiced.

I got into Worm cos I was looking for Dishonored fic recs on Tvtropes and one of the few ones they had on there at the time was a Worm crossover

It was the first and to date only fandom I've really engaged with online, and I always seem to kind of slide back even after spending a few years away, even if only to check in on my murder blorbos and see if anyone else did anything with the weird just a name and a power description characters that had my interest

I'm embarrassed of my fanfics and of the me that engaged in the fandom in general so part of what keeps me trying to stay apart is not wanting to bug people who'd had to interact with me back then, and part is thinking that I don't really have much to add.

Wormblr Confession Time:

At the risk of inventing Worm Catholicism and generating guilt where there shouldn't be, I'm making a post for myself and y'all to share our Worm Confessions.

Okay, here goes:

I got into Worm because I saw it mentioned on tv tropes.

I got into Worm fanfic because I saw THAT mentioned on tv tropes as well.

As much as I want people to find Brian interesting as a character because he IS interesting and a badass and doesn't get enough credit in general, Taylor/Brian is a boring ship and people were 100% justified in making other ships way more popular.

#wormblr

[agendergorgon]

I feel that many are affronted that the choppy boy's weakness is that his foes must have at least one non-superpowered friend, a thing many wormfic writers find hard to imagine.

It’s fascinating to me that so many people can’t handle the fact that Jack Slash is written in a way where he can’t lose (to Parahumans).

Because this isn’t revealed out of nowhere.

Number Man literally spells it out for us in his interlude:

- Interlude 21

Like, even the weakest of media literacy can understand this. It’s not exactly abstract. Jack doesn’t lose to Parahumans because his power cheats. We even see an alternate Jack Slash as a hero, where Chevalier mentions he can never lose so long as he fights Parahumans.

And his eventual defeat is caused by them taking advantage of this perceived invincibility, using a normal human to sneak past his awareness to trip him up.

This is all very simple.

And yet.

Like clockwork, there are people in the fandom obsessed with the idea of “beating Jack Slash” or offended that the character written to never lose to Parahumans, can’t be beaten by their super special plan/OC.

They make it personal, like it’s an affront that a character has narrative reason for existence and that by denying them (the user) the ability to beat Jack Slash, it’s an insult to them.

Why?

What does it matter?

What does one gain from this? I can understand if one just want to discuss things for fun, but they don’t treat this like fun. They treat it like they need to WIN

So odd

#wormblr

[agendergorgon]

Imagining Amy wanting to play this like Supergirl with her as Lena but she's totally out here acting like Eisenberg, peach tea and all.

Parahumans Discord cooking up some serious cursed Parahumans Cinematic Universe ideas:

#wormblr #snyderverse

[agendergorgon]

Okay so like the Underworld films are very gay despite being painfully straight and we keep having pointlessly disposable werewolves. As I keep telling my transbian mate irl what's been wanting to look like Kate Beckinsale since she were but a wee lad, I feel they need to add some butches. Just one, as a treat.

Gimme a tank top clad woman with a sidecut and heavy eyeshadow there to play that same role of lycan leader, but this bitch is packing the same magic power up Selene pulled last film. Maybe she thaws outta the same magic ice that gave Selene her new hair colour. Give me butch v femme, werewolf v vamp, shotgun v pistols gun kata action.

Bring back the drippy boyfriend lycanpire from the first films or the precocious offscreen kid from the later films as a threat for the third act forcing Selene and Butch to fight together even after their earlier battle was fought to a draw, and their alliance means both let the other go this time, but now Selene has a rival that forces her to train to master whatever new power she unlocked from drinking even morer purerer blood or whatever, preparing for the war between lycans and vamps to break out once more, as ever it has when one side eats people and lives in mansions.

#Underworld #werewolf #vampire #transgender

[agendergorgon]

In lighter The Predator (tm) franchise news, since some sources say The Predator (tm) (or Yautja if you want to sound like you stubbed your toe) biological women are supposedly really big and ripped, so if you see any fanart or 3d print sculpts or videogame skins of a skinny The Predator (tm) with hips as wide as her shoulders and knockers as big as her head strictly speaking that's their society's equivalent of a clocky but nonetheless well fit trans lass such as meself. Makes you think dunnit.

#predator franchise #transgender

[agendergorgon]

Alien Vs Predator Vs Gender TW for SA discussed as it relates to stupid sci fi franchises that we've been stuck with since the 80s.

--- --- ---

Alien Vs Predator is a weird crossover/comparison to me because Alien is about cyclical stories of abuse and predation and control where corporations and governments and a monster with a penis for a head (and a second, smaller penis for a tongue (and a third, larger penis for a tail for when they really need to penetrate someone in front of horrified onlookers)) conspire to control the bodies of women and Predator is a series of films that ask you if you're a bad enough dude to beat up a big sassy lad in fishnets and a skirt with a vagina dentata for a mouth.

In Predator a big guy killed your mates for fun and now he's here to have an epic 1v1 with you bro because you got 1 hit in on him after he soloed everybody else. Whatever horror there is is from some sort of sexless macho man slasher with something to prove having to face a big sassy lad who is better at the masculine criteria of being an untouchable 80s action hero.

In Prometheus a lady has something slipped in her drink and later finds out she was impregnated against her will. Alien (franchise) is a very different kind of fear of a big strong dude stalking you and your friends.

No Predator is worried about the psychosexual or SA themes of the Xenomorph, they think its cool and they want to kill it and look cool killing it. In Predator (2018) a big cool predator kills a bunch of dudes and then a bigger predator comes and kills him. Predator (franchise) is to me the male fear of a bigger stronger dude. In AVP (2004) a lady has to step up and become the protagonist of a Predator film, by tag teaming a bunch of Aliens with the help of a The Predator. There are nods to the sexual violence of the Alien films, like a lady comparing the to a condom ("I'd rather have one and not need it then need it and not have one.") who then needs said gun to avoid having her face hugged. But the action hero lead ends up feeling like another action dude in the same vain as (in descending order of macho cred and strangely also ascending order of film recency) Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny Glover, Adrian Brody or whoever that dude in Predator (2018) that my brain kept telling me looked like Matt Damon was, just also happening to be a woman, vs Prey being a film that actually makes something of the added friction of being a woman in a Predator film. In AVPR (2007) our lead lad is a pizza boy who watches everyone around him die and has to rise to the circumstances like an Alien film protagonist... but doesn't face any of the same sexual violence. This dude gets bullied, fuck it, make the bullies call him faggot all movie, give him some horrific shower room trauma, there are ways to make this boy go through an Alien story. Holy shit, put a trans lad in an Alien film and the psychosexual horror of the facehugger/chestburster etc ratchets even further as far as the properties of this thing robbing you of control of your body, without resorting to whatever the fuck the writers were thinking with the maternity ward scene (don't google it if you don't know). I think a lot of Alien and Predator stuff is dragged down by the Predator's inclusion, forced to multiply the Aliens so more can get killed at every opportunity and give humans and Predators alike a chance to prove they're really cool. I think Predator and Alien are both about being afraid of a big dude, but the Predator is a big dude that makes you feel inadequate, unable to match up, and ends in the idea that you're cool, you win, you beat him. A Predator protagonist wins. They retire. They don't get another film. An Alien protagonist survives, and thinks she might be safe, and then wakes to find she's in another film, and that she gets to lose everything. She gets to be cut up and taken apart by a man who views her as his property or plaything. I grew up with these films, one's I was shown when I was way too young for it and laughed at gore and glowing green blood going everywhere. I read comics and played games and allsorts and I never thought enough about it until I was going through the wrong puberty and wishing I could look like Ripley and be anything other than the wankers in any Predator film without knowing any words to describe that feeling other than faggot. I worked stuff out and when my family stuffed me back in the closet so they didn't have to have awkward conversations with family friends I watched Alien Resurrection because that stupid film informs half my dress sense. I bitch to friends constantly that I wish I could find fishnets as thick as the ones in Predator so mine won't keep snapping all the time. I think about these films more than I think I do, and in the stupidest ways, and I know I'm going to see them until the end of time because franchises never die. But one of these series is about trying to survive as a woman, and the other is about trying to prove you're not a faggot, and I already made my choice there.

#alien franchise #predator franchise

[agendergorgon]

Love your plot idea at the end there. Very much enjoyed reading through your read on Preadtor and Alien as franchises, but now I'm very much interested in your thoughts on AvP and AvPR, cos those ones are very much of an ilk with Alien Resurrection, or even in AvPR's case somewhat comparable to The Predator (2018), and yet they feel the most telling as far as what the pop culture takeaway from Alien and Predator was in the 2000s after decades of action figures and arcade beat em ups.

Having re-watched Alien (1979) and Aliens (1985), I think I've realized what went wrong with the further expanded film universe on a thematic level (this is not accounting for AVP films, which seem to exist within their own continuity atm).

The main issue is that these films made 2 intertwining mistakes:

Making the Xenomorph too animalistic

Removing the mystery of space

For the first part, Alien and Aliens are quite vague about the Xenomorph mind. Alien treats it almost like a serial killer at times, including a particularly interesting moment where it disregards Jones the Cat entirely, despite making a very easy target, and how it will sometimes meander up to the crew as if it knows it's inflicting terror upon them. This Xenomorph even seems to only flee when Parker goes to kill it with a knife and hides within the evac shuttle when it realizes that Ripley was going there as well.

Aliens forgoes this in favor of showing how terrifying their numbers are even in the face of superior (if greatly mislead) fire power, but then pulls the rug under our protagonists by (seemingly) cutting the power and testing the endurance of the auto-turrets. While the drones are not individually as intelligent as the original xenomorph from the first film, this is instead given to the Queen, who understands not only the danger Ripley poses to her Hive but hostage negotiations of the most blunt variety. And, of course, incredible spite and vengeance when Ripley burns her eggs.

Basically, the two films do a good job of making you wonder... how sapient and sentient are the Xenomorphs? Do we take Ash's word and think of them as simply Hostile Weapons or do we see them for the adaptable and complex - if instinct guided - parasites just trying to protect their hive? This is further food for thought when we learn that one of the cut endings would have had the Xenomorph kill Ripley, tentatively use the shuttles control panel, and speak into the intercom with Dallas voice (ala Predator).

Imo, that goes too far into making them human, but we'll circle back to that later. The point is that the Xenomorph is never clearly one thing or another, but rather, something that constantly foils our attempts to understand them completely.

Aliens 3, Alien: Resurrection, Prometheus, and Alien: Covenant fail in that regard, because they take the firm stance that the Xenomorph is... an animal. A very, very, dangerous and hostile animal but an animal nonetheless. It's not some vague horror that we struggle to comprehend and reason with, because all the facts (as they are for now) are laid out: the Xenomorphs are weaponized animals that just kill, reproduce, and kill etc etc.

Nothing is entirely new about the Xenomorphs in these movies (beyond the forms and one part of Covenant, but we'll circle back to that as well), but rather trying to recapture the formula of Alien and Aliens. And even when the film isn't necessarily about the Xenomorphs like Prometheus, it still goes out of its way to copy the play by play of Alien to an almost hilarious degree (except, somehow, having a cast entirely of stupid scientists).

The Xenomorph is used as a toll for the films to talk more about the human threats who would use them, which is fine, except the same message of "Weyland-Yutani wants Xenomorphs, They Failed" over and over again (except I guess for Alien: Resurrection, but that had Walmart as a plot point so...) gets tedious. It's not longer about the folley of mankind, but rather this one company led by a man (or Android?) who keeps fucking up.

Ditto goes for the second part: removing the mystery from space. Alien and Aliens treat the Space Jockey and other (non-Xenomorph) alien life at an arms distance. They are large, grand, ominous, and vaguely defined. We don't know much about WY in either movie, nor how much is them knowing versus independent people within the company (Burke mentions cutting out his own bosses for profit for example, and Bishop the company Android is heroic and horrified at the situation they are all in, a big difference to Ash). The Xenomorphs having a Queen was a huge reveal, because we literally had no idea until then if those were actual eggs or simply pods artificially created.

Aliens 3 tries to add some mystery with the prison colony, but it's also hamfisted and given a lot of exposition to explain the situation they are in, but I will give it kudos for making Weyland (???) look like Bishop as a twist. Aliens: Resurrection... yeah, no.

Prometheus and Alien Covenant gave us a plethora of seeming mysteries, but also gives us really super simple answers. Basically, Space Jockeys are just super humans seeding life across the planets and they wanted to bomb Earth into oblivion because we killed Jesus Christ (who was a Space Jockey). And one of our androids then - possibly - goes to their home planet and bombs them to oblivion thus wiping out the human race. And they made Xenomorphs yadda yadda.

Prometheus in particular seems to despise the idea of space being a mystery, with the conversation David has with a scientist being plainly spelled out as the theme of the film: "Sometimes, humans/space jockeys just build shit, and it goes wrong I guess. No gods or mysteries here, just hubris."

Which, if handled well, is still a fascinating idea (I think it's a pretty interesting 'take-that' against the stupidity of Ancient Alien Conspiracy Theorists)... but it's not handled well. At all. And certainly doesn't work well when trying to write Xeno-Horror.

So, what COULD work?

Well, I think we need to look at how Alien and Aliens made the Xenomorphs, Space Jockey's, and Space itself all work.

For the xenomorphs, I think back to one scene I actually thought was interesting in Alien: Covenant; as a chestburster is born from a hapless scientist, it lays its eyes (???) on David and replicates his movements, mimicking the first living thing it witnesses. Nothing is ever done with this (of course), but think about the potential that could be used! Plenty of animals like crows, ravens, dolphins, octopi, killer whales etc etc can use mimicry in voices and actions, and that includes things like tool-use! And of course, the fact that they take on new forms from hosts helps with that.

For the Space Jockey's: scrap them. They had their time, the mystery is basically solved. Show us new and different alien civilizations long past. Were they also victims of the Xenomorphs? From some other threat entirely? Surely, there are extraterrestrial predators out there that don't follow the Xenomorph formula. Why not have them share the splotlight, with just as little explanation?

For space itself: stop with trying to recapture Alien and Aliens. Alien: Isolation is the only successor specifically because of the format of the medium. Alien and Aliens rely heavily on the shock factor of sudden reveals. Remove that, and you are given "bug hunt" games and movies ala discount Starship Trooper. Focus more on making human space feel almost alien and beyond our understanding as well, but just enough that we can recognize the purpose that we would have them for our society.

How I would write an Alien Story:

(This would all be backstory and setup for the actual story)

I would set it within a colony satellite with an explicit task: a skyscraper ecological time-capsule for deep space experimentation of wildlife.

It would have levels, with humans situated at the second uppermost and an AI as the manager at the top level of the satellite, with all the other animals in different levels fit for their habitats (including some non-earth, non-xenomorph aliens). It's a religious sponsored and run organization, offshoots of [Insert Church Here] that is trying to get good press with cutting edge AI and biological research.

The prize is an alien lifeform that looks like a cross between a crocodile and a panther. Usually docile when fed, it has been growing more and more agitated, harming several workers on the job. Most assume it may be some late-stage degenerative disease within it's brain.

Not all things are as it seems, as at the bottom of the station, a location no one but a select few faithful engineers are sent to maintain, a pod is damaged. A young attendant watches in shock and horror as a bloody and maimed chest burster crawls out of the pod, possibly having injured itself to burn through the lock. The creature is mewling in pain, but the young attendant makes a choice: leaving food, water, and blanket for the creature. Watching as the creature watches them, before going to feast. All under the gaze of a camera.

The xenomorph grows and grows, eating more, getting bolder and allowing its "caretaker" to feel more comfortable. Soon it begins to recognize certain sounds as they pray when he feasts, and association occurs. One day, its hiss sounds suspiciously like "Lord".

This is when the young attendant reaches out to higher, but trusted, priests to share this miraculous revelation. The first one is shocked, terrified, but intrigued as the creature mimics words like "Lord" and "Mighty". Barely audible, some would say hallucinatory, but they believe they can here this humanoid creature speak their language.

The second is equally shocked, terrified, but listens and becomes a believer.

The third one does not believe. Rightfully horrified and full of questions. Their arguments in front of the beast escalate into violence and when the young attendant shoves the priest to the ground, it is the Xenomorph that pounces. Blood is shed. the creature rises in front of it's faithful, and the Xenomorph uses the same sounds it heard over the fight. Lord. Mighty. Here-tik.

They can't be delusional or driven by guilt! This is a sign... right? This creature is speaking to them!

The faith grows. Never large. Can't risk word getting out or people noticing too many missing priests. The satellite is just barely large enough that people can excuse going missing for a few days between objectives.

But key individuals are brought in. The creature is worshiped. Animal offerings are delivered. It's changing, slowly. Growing larger (not a Xenomorph Queen, it's too maimed, but adapting to a steady diet).

Things might have escalated, had one of the priests killed not had an estranged sibling/spouse/loved one who had the pull to make a formal investigatory complaint.

The investigator arrives with his repertoire, this supposed garden of eden in deep space, none the wiser to what he would uncover. (Again, this would be the backstory, not revealed except through character investigations and evidence found during that. Defeats the purpose if it's spelled out like this).

It would play with the idea of how sapient/sentient the Xenomorphs are (do they care? do they understand? if not, why act like this? if yes, what does this mean for their continued slaughter), how much one puts into faith versus delusions, and leaves lingering questions: who put the xenomorph on the ship, why is the AI so complicit with the deaths and disappearances, and why is the one non-xenomorph alien acting so dangerously agitated despite being far away from the xenomorph's quarters?

#alien franchise

[agendergorgon]

The Predator 2018 read to me as a weird attempt to make a Predator film for the "showing your son Predator at age 9" crowd. As a lady who was shown Predator at age 9 myself and now loves fishnets and injecting healing fluid into my thigh I can say it probably did no lasting damage.

Lets Talk: The Predator Franchise

About two months ago, I put my thoughts into my feelings on the Alien Franchise, and why I felt that they've been faltering so much.

It felt only fitting that I do the same for the Predator franchise, but I ran into a very curious thing... there's only one bad Predator movie.

A shocking statement, I know, but I'm not counting the AVP movie series (that's it's own separate thing). The Predator (film) is easily the only bad film in the entire series, but I'll get to that later.

First things first: lets talk about Predator (1987).

It's an all time classic, a great deconstruction of the 80's action film, with insanely quotable dialogue and memorable characters - not just the Predator itself, but all the human characters are easily recognizable.

Unlike the Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), Predator is not predominantly a horror film, nor is it emphasizing a tough topic such as sexual assault. It does HAVE horror aspects (the first time they find the skinned corpses is intensely unnerving, especially when they realize that this group of marines apparently lost all self-control and fired in all directions), and it does touch a bit on how the US government is using its own soldiers as cannon fodder to destabilize third-world countries.

But it's not really built to scare the viewer so much as to present a simple idea: what if these action heroes met a bigger, stronger, more advanced version of themselves? And the result is a near total party wipe.

Watching the original film, you realize that the Predator is depicted as incredibly unfair. The majority of its kills are it sniping someone from afar, rushing them when they aren't even looking (while cloaked), and doing a combination of the above. It would have killed Arnold while his back was turned, if the net trap hadn't been set in place.

Hell, it even kills a wounded soldier that Arnold is carrying, after Billy's "last stand" (that lasted mere moments at best, implying the Predator didn't give him the time of day).

(Also, speaking of Billy... he's psychic? Apparently?)

But yeah, the Predator depicted is not the honor clad warrior that some fans may stan (and some writers believe) but more like the equivalent of Counter-Strike hacker. The fact that it takes Arnold untold amounts of traps, ingenuity, and willpower for the Predator to finally face him man to man, no tech, no weapons is meant to be a testament to how impressive Arnold is.

Likewise, the Predator decides to blow himself the fuck up while cackling manically like a supervillain as he tries to finally kill Dutch, also opens him to showing that as alien as it is, it's remarkably human. A spite filled asshole of a human, but humanish nonetheless (amplified by him copying human speech on prior occasions).

It's a really great film about how alien life, if more advanced than our own, might see us as lesser people or outright livestock to hunt (keep a pin in that).

Predator 2 (1990) is often divided amongst fans.

Some hate the fact that it takes place in the "modern day" LA, instead of sticking to the blazing heat of the jungle (as the lore of the first movie implies that the Predator or a Predator visits at the hottest time of the season to create the local bogeyman figure), but this film does a fine job justifying the LA heatwave and honestly... the idea of keeping the Predator to one type of biome is pretty limiting. So I don't mind that.

As one can tell already, I don't think this movie is bad. As good as the first? No, it rehashes a bit too much for that. But it's still a fun and good movie.

And, notably, scarier.

But for context, Predator 2 is set in the far future of... uh, 1997 LA, where there has been open warfare between the LAPD and the Jamaican and Colombian Cartels. Like, not drug busts or stings, but actual warfare with armies of gangs and shit.

The late 80's and early 90's loved to depict LA as a dystopian hellscape where "law and order" was the only defense from total anarchy (as anyone who has ever lived in LA can tell you, racial tensions, especially between the public and police have not been good to say the least).

This entire setup is like a D.A.R.E nightmare or wet dream depending on who's asking.

(Also the Jamaican drug leader, King Willy, might also be psychic? This is the last time it's brought up, but man, I sort of wish we could see future plot lines where people are randomly psychic in these films.)

Anyways, the situation is certainly perfect for this Predator (named City Hunter to differentiate between Jungle Hunter), who takes to the city with a gusto. The difference in how the Predator is portrayed is fascinating, because the bare bones remain the same: he hunts people who are deemed as sport with alien technology.

Fitting with the ultra-violent theme of this film however, this Predator feels like a legitimately horror movie monster. Unlike the Jungle Hunter, City Hunter doesn't prefer to attack from afar, but rather ripping and tearing in close quarters combat, and when he does use ranged weaponry, it's stuff like spears, bladed discs, and nets that shred people into bloody messes.

And he's 110% a bigger asshole that Jungle Hunter: when the City Hunter decides to focus on our lead man, Danny Glover, he doesn't just hunt the man but psychologically torture him. He murders his partner - who is probably the least threatening human in the entire series - just so he can taunt Glover with his necklace at his own grave. He then copies the innocent words of a child just so he can use it as a creepy catchphrase when he decides to hunt Glover's other partners.

The iconic subway massacre perfectly exemplifies both aspects of the City Hunter. He interrupts a massive stand-off between armed civilians, gang members, and the police, just wading in and killing everyone indiscriminately as people frantically scream and claw over each other trying to escape.

(Speaking of, this film does have a LOT of fun having the Predator on modern sets. The above subway scene, City Hunter investigating a meat locker, and him performing emergency surgery in an apartment bathroom are all really cool).

Also, for being so divisive, this film creates a lot of Predator lore: the Predator won't kill (unarmed) children, he won't kill pregnant women, and he WILL kill the elderly if they are packing heat.

And this includes the trophy wall (with xenomorph skull - actually funny because we never see a Predator collect a xenomorph skull in the AVP films) and that the Predator tribe will honor and respect those who defeat their kind with a reward.

It does include that the government is aware of the Predator existence and tries to capture them, but this won't be a major plot line again until The Predator (2018) though it gets some tongue in cheek reference in Predators (2010).

Anyways solid film, lots of cheesey scenes and very tropey stuff that hasn't aged well (or aged in a way that makes it amusing). It's also that last movie that actually tries to be true horror, in my opinion. The rest of the films stick to Action with Gore, but Predator 2 is truly the last film where you feel like this was written to be a horror film.

Also, this film will be the last to really play into the world as being an overly dramatic action movie earth. It's all realism from here.

And then the film franchise will go quiet until 2004 and 2008 for the AVP films (that I won't cover here).

Finally, we get to Predators (2010), and obvious title call back to Aliens (1986) and I have to say, a pretty good trio of ideas: The human targets are actually kidnapped and dropped on a safari planet, there are multiple Predators with their own unique designs and gimmicks, and there is a internal war between the Bad Bloods (aka the Predators who break the "honor code") and the 'normal' Predator clans.

(It should be noted that Bad Bloods have been a thing for years in comics and books, but not really in the mainstream until this film introduced it to movie audiences)

I have to say, despite having a fondness for the film and loving the new ideas, this film is not as enjoyable as Predator or Predator 2. It unfortunately suffers from what I call 2010ism, where there's a lot of CGI blood/gore, a lot of lighting/shadows aren't natural in a horror sense, and the dialogue isn't memorable because it wanted to ditch the action movie dialogue.

The last part isn't necessarily too bad, and it even works with how Adrian Brody is portrayed as a cynical asshole who is purposely meant to be the opposite of Arnold in every way. But the most memorable dialogue is definitely from Walter Goggins (including his highly disturbing "bitch raping time" speech).

Also, it really wastes Topher Grace, Laurence Fishbourne, and Danny Trejo, along with the whole idea of a gang of multinational killers/soldiers/enforcers forced to work together. Not nearly enough time is given to them to bond as a team and have a moment where they show off how cool they are like Predator and Predator 2 did.

Coupled with the safari world being just... a jungle, it feels like a lot of good ideas with "safe" execution.

I don't mean to rag on the film, it's still very fun, and a lot of that is due to the Bad Bloods.

The idea of a particular group of Predators being so evil that they are even warring with their (smaller) counterparts is a great idea, imo, and these Bad Bloods are memorable for their gimmicks.

You had one who used drones as "falcons" to scan and scout out large tracks of terrain, another who employed alien "hounds" to harass humans like a fox hunt, and the leader who had a rapid-fire plasma caster that was overpowered as hell. They also employed other tech like alien bear traps, net traps, and voice decoys.

This movie definitely had the most advanced Predator tech seen on film at the time, making the Jungle Hunter and City Hunter look low tech by comparison, and I think also served to try and force the idea of the Bad Bloods being really "unfair" compared to others.

And of course, we get our first Predator vs Predator fight, which was suitably graphic and badass. Also, I liked that one Predator died by a human pulling a suicide vest attack. Idk, I thought it was pretty ironic considering that's what predators do when they are about to lose, and thought it was neat.

Ultimately, there isn't much else to say about Predators (2010), even though the film ends on a cliffhanger with more people (and aliens) being dropped on the planet. I enjoyed it, it had a lot of cool ideas, cool tech, and cool lore... but if the prior films could be compared to novels, this one felt more like a guidebook.

And now... eight years pass and we get The Predator (2018)

Where do I begin with this movie.

I guess I start with the obvious: it's bad. It's a genuinely awful movie with few redeeming qualities. I'd say it's on the tier of Alien: Resurrection, except this movie is actually offensive because of autism ableism (turns out that autism is actually the next step of human evolution and makes you naturally predisposed to using Predator technology).

And don't get me started on the sex offender controversy.

Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. It's just that this movie... jesus christ, I rewatched it for this post, and it feels like a fever dream.

The Predator (2018) ultimately, is a film that looked at everything that came before it and said, "What if we did it all on a grander scale? And make it bad?" The plot is that a Predator is being hunted by an even larger, more powerful Predator, because it plans on harvesting humanity. You see, in this movie, some Predators use the genes of animals they hunt to improve themselves. The Super Predator as he is called, is a massive 10 foot tall monster that has turned his body into a super weapon, with technology built directly into his biology.

The Good Predator arrives on Earth to warn humanity and deliver a "Predator Killer" suit of Iron Man armor that will help humanity defend the Earth from the oncoming invasion force. The Super Predator wants humanity harvested because... autism makes them super geniuses.... and he declares that a 12 year old boy with autism to be the greatest Predator he's ever met... just because he has autism...

Look, I don't know how the fuck I'm supposed to describe the plot of this movie. It's just bad. It's stupid. At one point they turn a Predator hound good by giving it a bullet lobotomy.

It feels like this movie hates everyone. It hates the Predators, literally killing off the Good Predator not even halfway through the film. It hates the cast, because all of them are forgettable except for Olivia Munn and Super Predator, and it kills the mystique of the Predators because it has Super Predator monologue like an actual supervillain.

The dialogue is genuinely awful, the actors have no chemistry, and the comedy (oh yes, this film acts like a comedy on several occasions) is the definition of cringe. I would call it "ChatGPT writes Predator" but honestly, ChatGPT could do it better.

Let it be known that my words do not do how awful this movie is justice. You can only understand how bad it is by watching it, but it's absolutely NOT worth the time.

Is there anything good about this movie? Besides the Holiday Special on home release?

The effects are pretty good. We see a lot of high tech Predator stuff and that's always cool. I think this had the highest budget of any of the films and it shows.

There's an action set-piece where Good Predator escapes from a government facility and uses an M4-Assault Rifle which is badass. One of the best action scenes in the movie and a neat tie-back to the government investigating them.

The Super Predator is a cool concept and I actually enjoyed him for a large part of the film. I liked that he could just pick up a human like a toy and gut him like a fish before tossing him aside. I love the idea of a Predator that isn't a hunter, but rather a soldier sent in to fuck shit up, showing off the different tech. Really gives the impression that their society has different roles and tech for Predators beyond hunting.

I wish they gave him a helmet and didn't let him monologue like a supervillain.

And that's it. That's the good stuff. Nothing else matters. It says a lot that I don't think Super Predator or the autism plot has been accepted into lore in comics or books.

It's even been argued that this film was deemed non-canon because of how abysmal the reception was.

Suffice to say, after this awful film, fans were pretty low spirit. Which made it all the more surprising when Prey (2022) was released 4 years later.

There was a lot of drama about this film: the franchise is dead, why is the film so woke for including woman and minorities, how can any human expect to beat a Predator with a bow?

This drama is stupid and should rightfully be mocked.

Prey (2022) was a breath of fresh air for the franchise and I'd argue the best film in terms of quality.

It quite literally goes back to the roots of the series and does something that really elevated the film: it made the Predator symbolise something!

This film takes place in the 18th century on the Great Plains, following Naru the Commanche healer who dreams of being a hunter. Meanwhile, a young Predator - known as the Feral Predator for his aggression - is dropped on the planet for his first ever hunt.

Obviously, you can see the parallels between the two as Naru learns to use tricks and tools to handle her weaknesses, while Feral uses brute-force and high tech equipment to slaughter the animals and humans of the planet. The Bear hunt scene, where Naru is forced to flee from a bear and helplessly watch Feral kill the creature with it's bare hands (haha), thus condemning her in his eyes as not a threat is perfect character foil.

Also, he's such a piece of shit, cheating the moment he feels like his prey has the better of him. But in a good way that makes sense for his character.

But on the grander scale, the Predator represents colonialism. A secondary antagonist of the film are the French fur trappers, who have been skinning wild buffalo and depriving the commanche of their food source, openly compared to the Predator skinning animals/humans for trophies instead of resources.

It's actually a lesson Naru has to learn from her brother and mother, that to become a true hunter is about doing so to support a community, not just for ego and idolization.

Its no accident that the Fur Trapper leader dies when Naru sabotages his gun and Feral dies when Naru does the same to his gun as well, with both of them trapped and crippled without any means of escaping their demise.

This film finally moves to make the Predators feel like evil villains who are supremely selfish, much like the first 2 films emphasized (and the third film did to a lesser extent).

But talk of how amazing Naru is as a protagonist and how great the Feral predator is as an antagonist, the film is just good. The cinematography is gorgeous, the actors are great, the Predator effects and costume are terrifying, and lore wise, it does a lot to show that the Predator society is not stagnant.

They evolve over the years and it shows.

And my god are the action scenes incredible. The Predator vs Fur Trapper fight is probably one of the most iconic scenes in the entire franchise now, and for good reason.

Or Naru's knife fight massacre

All in all, this film really shows that the Predator films can be more that action films and... whatever the fuck The Predator (2018) was trying to be.

These films can be used to explore the history of humanity and symbolize concepts that deal with oppression, bigotry, and dehumanization.

The title of Prey - the focus on making the protagonists human - versus the Predator title is incredibly fitting.

While a sequel is left up in the air, we do have confirmation that a new standalone film - titled merely Badlands - is set to come out soon.

I can only hope they learned the right lessons from Prey and we can leave the horrid past of The Predator (2018) behind us for good.

#Predator franchise

[agendergorgon]

They think they be like When we all know they just

the thing that bothers me about dragon riders is that the dragon absolutely does not have to let you climb on its back. your ability to 'ride' the dragon is entirely dependent on the dragon allowing you to do that. it could fly just fine without you sitting there. which means you are not a dragon rider, not really. that beast is not your pet. you're the dragon's pet. you're its trophy wife.

#dragon #magic the gathering

[agendergorgon]

Ooh, that'd be jawsome. Which one's Blood School? Assuming piranha theme?

Animal Cape Challenge!

No more dog or cat or bird capes! We are getting weird, we are getting freaky, and we are getting downright turbulent!

Rules:

Cape name and costume has to reference the animal or an animal phrase (ex: blood in the water for sharks)!

Parahuman power DOES NOT need to be 1:1 with the animal (ex: Butterfleet does not turn into a hoarde of giant butterflies, but he does control a giant butterfly mech with disposable drones. Triumph has a lion costume but his power is sound based as a canon example).

No dog, cat, or bird capes!

Animal Inspiration: Some examples you can use

Hippo

Rhino

Elephant

Gorilla

Monkeys

Chimps

Tardigrades

Capybara

Platypus

Sharks

Sheep

Donkeys

Meerkats

Iguana

Frogs

Jellyfish

Plankton

Mites

Don’t be afraid to use the lesser used classifications like striker or blaster!

[agendergorgon]

Alass, not anymore. I was well into it back in 5th and 6th, got tabled turn one every game I played of 7th and 8th ed, I got back into it for 9th only to get hired at my local games shop and that was its own mess and nowadays I appreciate it from afar while painting up Marvel Crisis Protocol minis (and homebrewing Worm characters for the same). Byeah he's totally named after that charcharadons lad.

Animal Cape Challenge!

No more dog or cat or bird capes! We are getting weird, we are getting freaky, and we are getting downright turbulent!

Rules:

Cape name and costume has to reference the animal or an animal phrase (ex: blood in the water for sharks)!

Parahuman power DOES NOT need to be 1:1 with the animal (ex: Butterfleet does not turn into a hoarde of giant butterflies, but he does control a giant butterfly mech with disposable drones. Triumph has a lion costume but his power is sound based as a canon example).

No dog, cat, or bird capes!

Animal Inspiration: Some examples you can use

Hippo

Rhino

Elephant

Gorilla

Monkeys

Chimps

Tardigrades

Capybara

Platypus

Sharks

Sheep

Donkeys

Meerkats

Iguana

Frogs

Jellyfish

Plankton

Mites

Don’t be afraid to use the lesser used classifications like striker or blaster!

[agendergorgon]

"Don't you know who I am?" Got commissioned again by same lad to paint Juggernaut for their horror movie themed Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. I suggested making the big guy into a frankenstein's monster. Happy with how the stitches came out for something that's just lil zig zags.

#marvel crisis protocol #marvel #painting

[agendergorgon]

One more for one more, with a gator theme. Log is c53 brute/stranger with heavy scales and ragged jaws.

Stranger power akin to prop hunt, letting them mimic innocuous objects that might fit into the environment around them, like a log floating in the water. Exiting the stranger state grants a burst of durability and strength that weakens over time. The longer spent hiding, the bigger the burst of strength.

Animal Cape Challenge!

No more dog or cat or bird capes! We are getting weird, we are getting freaky, and we are getting downright turbulent!

Rules:

Cape name and costume has to reference the animal or an animal phrase (ex: blood in the water for sharks)!

Parahuman power DOES NOT need to be 1:1 with the animal (ex: Butterfleet does not turn into a hoarde of giant butterflies, but he does control a giant butterfly mech with disposable drones. Triumph has a lion costume but his power is sound based as a canon example).

No dog, cat, or bird capes!

Animal Inspiration: Some examples you can use

Hippo

Rhino

Elephant

Gorilla

Monkeys

Chimps

Tardigrades

Capybara

Platypus

Sharks

Sheep

Donkeys

Meerkats

Iguana

Frogs

Jellyfish

Plankton

Mites

Don’t be afraid to use the lesser used classifications like striker or blaster!

#wormblr

[agendergorgon]

[agendergorgon]

Okay, I got one

Red Wake, a sleek and shark themed cape with thresher shark esque tail to the costume. Fast running mover who can leave jetstreams/streams/tunnels that follow his motions. Moving with the stream grants a speed boost, moving against them causes slowed movement and an abrasive effect that starts at cheesegrater and ramps up the longer you go against the flow. A brief hero career under the name Current was cut short when a battle with recurring local villains ended in the degloving and flaying of capes on both sides. Red Wake's power remembers where it was already ramped up to on a person, and the erosion only ever gets stronger. Blah blah blah trigger stuff blah blah blah the longer you don't do things his way or go along with him the harder he makes it for you.

Animal Cape Challenge!

No more dog or cat or bird capes! We are getting weird, we are getting freaky, and we are getting downright turbulent!

Rules:

Cape name and costume has to reference the animal or an animal phrase (ex: blood in the water for sharks)!

Parahuman power DOES NOT need to be 1:1 with the animal (ex: Butterfleet does not turn into a hoarde of giant butterflies, but he does control a giant butterfly mech with disposable drones. Triumph has a lion costume but his power is sound based as a canon example).

No dog, cat, or bird capes!

Animal Inspiration: Some examples you can use

Hippo

Rhino

Elephant

Gorilla

Monkeys

Chimps

Tardigrades

Capybara

Platypus

Sharks

Sheep

Donkeys

Meerkats

Iguana

Frogs

Jellyfish

Plankton

Mites

Don’t be afraid to use the lesser used classifications like striker or blaster!

#wormblr

[agendergorgon]

[agendergorgon]

Adore these versions of them, lotta flavourful touches

Annotated Undersiders fashion and costume headcanons

Compilation Version here

#wormblr