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Returning/Alien (1979) Review
Posted 4 months agoHello again!! For anyone who for some reason cares about what happened to a lil ol stranger on the other side of the internet, I had a moment of taking a long break from open communities and fandoms as a sort of mental health/personal journey break. Between finding my footing in a new job, struggles with my own identity, and lingering pains from issues that honestly have been long settled, continuing to upload little half baked short stories was too mentally draining. I couldn't even find it in me to try and make updates on them /w\;;
I'm not going to suddenly start writing again and say "omg here come read my little thing it's really neat!" because I've seen my own patterns enough to recognize that I'll just fall back into the same loops and cycles on that creative process. Instead I'll treat this as a blog to rant on about things I've seen or done, to share my tiny little piece of experiences.
On that note: I recently watched Alien 1979. Spoilers for one specific scene.
That movie was SO good! I had my eye on it for several years at this point, because the Xenomorph was genuinely such a fun and interesting horror creature. I played a decent bit of Alien: Isolation, and the Xenomorph is my favorite killer to play in Dead by Daylight, so the fact that I hadn't seen a single piece of the original media it came from was bothering me. So after... A C Q U I R I N G it from a very proper source, I booted it up in a discord stream to watch with a good friend of mine over the weekend.
For a movie that came out literally decades before I was born? I honestly could have been convinced it was a modern release on a tight budget. The way that they frame the different scenes and angles is very clever, and give you a good idea of scale and space. These framings are also very good at eliciting specific kinds of fear. The scene with Brett in what I am *assuming* is a wash bay for spare parts, caught me off guard with how they decided to play out that scene. I figured they would do the tired tradition of having something pull him from offscreen, or just having him hear something and then jump cutting to the rest of the crew hearing his screams.
But no: YOU see the Xenomorph first, hanging like a bat from one of the chains, silently. It's so much more terrifying than other horror villains because of that silence, in my opinion. In something like TCM (A movie I have not seen, this take is based explicitly on my bank of secondhand knowledge, take it with a brick of salt) the family is mostly very in your face. The threat is very present, it makes itself known, you are aware of it the entire time because the setting does not let you forget it: It just makes you worry about when it's going to strike. In Alien, that isn't the case. These halls are familiar to the crew, they know where everything is, but now they have a quiet super weapon stalking them in the ventilation shafts. They don't know where it is, you don't know where it is, and it could be anywhere at any time. So when it catches Brett, and you have the short period of time beforehand to know that it's right above him, just waiting to strike, it is TERRIFYING. You want him to run, maybe it hasn't noticed him yet, maybe he has a chance to get away and live: But in the end, he notices far too late, and it costs him.
That scene, among many, many others, speaks to how the directors made careful use of knowledge in the show. The different perspectives, the information we get that the crew doesn't, another specific moment that I won't spoil but I promise it's a VERY good example of what I'm talking about
Multiple moments in the show wouldn't have worked if they didn't frame it how they did. In Brett's scene, if they had just made it a cheap jumpscare, or if all the information you got on the Xenomorph was the few moments before it caught him, it wouldn't have been nearly as scary. But because you know it's there, and you know that for a significant period of time, you have this overpowering sense of dread. You know it's there, you know what's going to happen, but you hope that maybe there's a chance he can get away, if only for a little bit, and all he has to do is look up at it.
The movie also was directed in... the only way I think any horror film should be directed now?? My friend I was watching it with, he told me that for a significant amount of the scenes, they actually didn't tell the actors anything about what was going to happen. The infamous chestburster scene? NOBODY else knew that was going to happen. They were given a vague script to follow, a setting and group to work with, and then let loose to adlib emotions and lines as things played out. THAT'S SO FUCKING COOL!!
On a final note, I want to point out my one and only issue with the movie; something about it strikes too close to the real world for me, which is ironic considering the setting. Ripley was following protocol perfectly. She took all the right steps, she knew how to cut losses if necessary, she was very stern and adamant about her position on things, and never let emotions get in the way of process. And all it took was one jack ass to disregard that to fuck everything up and cost most of the crew their lives.
Horror is another kind of escapism genre in most cases. It follows a similar logic to the grimdark genre, where "As bad as things might be right now, at least my life isn't as awful as this." When Ripley is doing everything she can to stop the problem before it gets out of control, when she's very set in stone on the decision, and she does everything correctly and everything she can, it's for nothing, because someone else decided none of that mattered. That isn't escapism; That's retail.
Okay goodbye goodbye have a great day bye cya bye
I'm not going to suddenly start writing again and say "omg here come read my little thing it's really neat!" because I've seen my own patterns enough to recognize that I'll just fall back into the same loops and cycles on that creative process. Instead I'll treat this as a blog to rant on about things I've seen or done, to share my tiny little piece of experiences.
On that note: I recently watched Alien 1979. Spoilers for one specific scene.
That movie was SO good! I had my eye on it for several years at this point, because the Xenomorph was genuinely such a fun and interesting horror creature. I played a decent bit of Alien: Isolation, and the Xenomorph is my favorite killer to play in Dead by Daylight, so the fact that I hadn't seen a single piece of the original media it came from was bothering me. So after... A C Q U I R I N G it from a very proper source, I booted it up in a discord stream to watch with a good friend of mine over the weekend.
For a movie that came out literally decades before I was born? I honestly could have been convinced it was a modern release on a tight budget. The way that they frame the different scenes and angles is very clever, and give you a good idea of scale and space. These framings are also very good at eliciting specific kinds of fear. The scene with Brett in what I am *assuming* is a wash bay for spare parts, caught me off guard with how they decided to play out that scene. I figured they would do the tired tradition of having something pull him from offscreen, or just having him hear something and then jump cutting to the rest of the crew hearing his screams.
But no: YOU see the Xenomorph first, hanging like a bat from one of the chains, silently. It's so much more terrifying than other horror villains because of that silence, in my opinion. In something like TCM (A movie I have not seen, this take is based explicitly on my bank of secondhand knowledge, take it with a brick of salt) the family is mostly very in your face. The threat is very present, it makes itself known, you are aware of it the entire time because the setting does not let you forget it: It just makes you worry about when it's going to strike. In Alien, that isn't the case. These halls are familiar to the crew, they know where everything is, but now they have a quiet super weapon stalking them in the ventilation shafts. They don't know where it is, you don't know where it is, and it could be anywhere at any time. So when it catches Brett, and you have the short period of time beforehand to know that it's right above him, just waiting to strike, it is TERRIFYING. You want him to run, maybe it hasn't noticed him yet, maybe he has a chance to get away and live: But in the end, he notices far too late, and it costs him.
That scene, among many, many others, speaks to how the directors made careful use of knowledge in the show. The different perspectives, the information we get that the crew doesn't, another specific moment that I won't spoil but I promise it's a VERY good example of what I'm talking about
Multiple moments in the show wouldn't have worked if they didn't frame it how they did. In Brett's scene, if they had just made it a cheap jumpscare, or if all the information you got on the Xenomorph was the few moments before it caught him, it wouldn't have been nearly as scary. But because you know it's there, and you know that for a significant period of time, you have this overpowering sense of dread. You know it's there, you know what's going to happen, but you hope that maybe there's a chance he can get away, if only for a little bit, and all he has to do is look up at it.
The movie also was directed in... the only way I think any horror film should be directed now?? My friend I was watching it with, he told me that for a significant amount of the scenes, they actually didn't tell the actors anything about what was going to happen. The infamous chestburster scene? NOBODY else knew that was going to happen. They were given a vague script to follow, a setting and group to work with, and then let loose to adlib emotions and lines as things played out. THAT'S SO FUCKING COOL!!
On a final note, I want to point out my one and only issue with the movie; something about it strikes too close to the real world for me, which is ironic considering the setting. Ripley was following protocol perfectly. She took all the right steps, she knew how to cut losses if necessary, she was very stern and adamant about her position on things, and never let emotions get in the way of process. And all it took was one jack ass to disregard that to fuck everything up and cost most of the crew their lives.
Horror is another kind of escapism genre in most cases. It follows a similar logic to the grimdark genre, where "As bad as things might be right now, at least my life isn't as awful as this." When Ripley is doing everything she can to stop the problem before it gets out of control, when she's very set in stone on the decision, and she does everything correctly and everything she can, it's for nothing, because someone else decided none of that mattered. That isn't escapism; That's retail.
Okay goodbye goodbye have a great day bye cya bye
Trying to be active again
Posted a year agoWanting to Write Again
I've been in and out of the furry community for a long time, since I was in middle school (which certainly has some concerns). I've always hung out, commissioned, interacted, but never really created, save for a single chapter in a story that I never motivated myself to continue writing.
That being said, writing is a passion of mine, and I would love write a longer story that I'm really proud of. After a long time having not written anything, I think it's about time for me to try my hand at it again, both as a way to express a neglected hobby and a way to try and correct my motivational issues.
As for the story I plan to write, all I know is that I want it to have a real meaning and impact; I don't want it to be a regular overarching plot with a character who's basically along for the ride. I want my characters to feel alive, to feel like there's a drive and a purpose behind everything that they do, and to put them in situations where those things are challenged. But most of all, I want them to be characters that others can identify with and find a similar purpose and struggle in.
I know that's big talk from little me, but I genuinely mean it, and I intend to look into any comments on the uploads (New and old) to see what people do and don't like, to better perfect my story.
For the few who read and liked my old story
The old story will have to be scrapped; I don't know what I was initially intending to write about, and I don't have a passion nor interest in the story it's setting up. Most importantly, though, the main character (My main fursona) has morphed drastically since then in many ways, including but not limited to personality, skills, function, and especially how I view her as a representation of myself. I can't see myself writing a story about a character that behaves nothing like the current vision.
Honesty and my place in the Community (Can be ignored if you're just here for my writing details)
I've always been sort of in and out of the community at large for several reasons. Many of the discord servers I joined were choked up with drama, and sometimes the smaller groups would turn out to have some not so great dynamics. But by far the biggest reason has been myself.
I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, and while I have no reason to really bring it up it what's supposed to be a "I want to be active again" journal, I think it's important for people to understand going forward that I'm not the greatest of people, and I won't pretend to be. For all of the things I've done, by far the worst was back around October-November, and it shocked me straight out of the community for fear of consequences and for shame of myself.
Since then, I've made it a point to be more mindful of who I am and what I'm doing, and to understand that I'm not a teenager hanging out with teenagers anymore; I'm an adult now, and my words hold more weight, and my actions have more meaning. I can't write off my mistakes as youthful misunderstandings. I have to actually think and learn from the past. And I think that so far, I've done a pretty good job with all of that.
All of this to say one thing about my place in the community - I will NOT be a part of any large groups or join any smaller communities. I have no confidence yet that I've truly learned from the past, and I don't want to risk making the mistakes I've made before. I don't believe I'll ever have that confidence again. I may be willing to befriend individuals, but no more than that.
What to look forward to
In the interest of ending on a good note, I'll talk a little bit about what to expect in the future.
I want to write a story chapter by chapter, for a long period of time. Every time I finish what I consider to be a full arc, I want to take a large break from writing to enjoy real life and spend time with the people around me.
Eventually, I would like to open up to writing stories for other people as a sort of commission thing. I haven't looked into it, so I don't know if other people also do this kind of work, but I'm hoping it'll be a welcome service to the larger community.
Lastly, once I figure out what the hell went wrong with my cable for my drawing screen, I'd like to use my (admittedly untalented) drawing skills to make short little comics about the sillier things in the world of my story.
That's a lot to put on my plate considering that this is supposed to train my motivational skills, but those are the things I would like to try my hand at. Thank you for taking time out of your day for me I will now go plan my opening act
I've been in and out of the furry community for a long time, since I was in middle school (which certainly has some concerns). I've always hung out, commissioned, interacted, but never really created, save for a single chapter in a story that I never motivated myself to continue writing.
That being said, writing is a passion of mine, and I would love write a longer story that I'm really proud of. After a long time having not written anything, I think it's about time for me to try my hand at it again, both as a way to express a neglected hobby and a way to try and correct my motivational issues.
As for the story I plan to write, all I know is that I want it to have a real meaning and impact; I don't want it to be a regular overarching plot with a character who's basically along for the ride. I want my characters to feel alive, to feel like there's a drive and a purpose behind everything that they do, and to put them in situations where those things are challenged. But most of all, I want them to be characters that others can identify with and find a similar purpose and struggle in.
I know that's big talk from little me, but I genuinely mean it, and I intend to look into any comments on the uploads (New and old) to see what people do and don't like, to better perfect my story.
For the few who read and liked my old story
The old story will have to be scrapped; I don't know what I was initially intending to write about, and I don't have a passion nor interest in the story it's setting up. Most importantly, though, the main character (My main fursona) has morphed drastically since then in many ways, including but not limited to personality, skills, function, and especially how I view her as a representation of myself. I can't see myself writing a story about a character that behaves nothing like the current vision.
Honesty and my place in the Community (Can be ignored if you're just here for my writing details)
I've always been sort of in and out of the community at large for several reasons. Many of the discord servers I joined were choked up with drama, and sometimes the smaller groups would turn out to have some not so great dynamics. But by far the biggest reason has been myself.
I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, and while I have no reason to really bring it up it what's supposed to be a "I want to be active again" journal, I think it's important for people to understand going forward that I'm not the greatest of people, and I won't pretend to be. For all of the things I've done, by far the worst was back around October-November, and it shocked me straight out of the community for fear of consequences and for shame of myself.
Since then, I've made it a point to be more mindful of who I am and what I'm doing, and to understand that I'm not a teenager hanging out with teenagers anymore; I'm an adult now, and my words hold more weight, and my actions have more meaning. I can't write off my mistakes as youthful misunderstandings. I have to actually think and learn from the past. And I think that so far, I've done a pretty good job with all of that.
All of this to say one thing about my place in the community - I will NOT be a part of any large groups or join any smaller communities. I have no confidence yet that I've truly learned from the past, and I don't want to risk making the mistakes I've made before. I don't believe I'll ever have that confidence again. I may be willing to befriend individuals, but no more than that.
What to look forward to
In the interest of ending on a good note, I'll talk a little bit about what to expect in the future.
I want to write a story chapter by chapter, for a long period of time. Every time I finish what I consider to be a full arc, I want to take a large break from writing to enjoy real life and spend time with the people around me.
Eventually, I would like to open up to writing stories for other people as a sort of commission thing. I haven't looked into it, so I don't know if other people also do this kind of work, but I'm hoping it'll be a welcome service to the larger community.
Lastly, once I figure out what the hell went wrong with my cable for my drawing screen, I'd like to use my (admittedly untalented) drawing skills to make short little comics about the sillier things in the world of my story.
That's a lot to put on my plate considering that this is supposed to train my motivational skills, but those are the things I would like to try my hand at. Thank you for taking time out of your day for me I will now go plan my opening act
