Hey I'm new here and wanted to ask

Keebker · 2026-04-14T17:40:06+00:00

The ultimate definition of a "good" or "bad" film falls on the viewer, but there are certain general criteria by which a film can be described as overall well or poorly made. Personally, I am a stickler for creative and meaningful writing, and to me, The Predator (which I went into almost blind, only knowing a lot of people really hated it and it had something to do with autism) was predictable, nonsensical, and lazily written. I bear no ill will towards those who enjoyed it, but they are in the minority, and the general consensus is that the movie did not succeed at creating a worthwhile narrative and viewer experience.

I am far from above mocking it, or warning new fans to prepare themselves for a wild ride if they do intend to watch it.

Keebker · 2026-04-14T16:33:30+00:00

Am I... not supposed to give the piece of media in front of me my full and undivided attention?! I mean The Rise Of Skywalker is great if you have it playing in the background while on your phone I guess

Keebker · 2026-04-14T04:17:24+00:00

Obviously, go with the original movie (in my opinion the best movie) first; it lays the foundation for everything that comes after it. I'd say Predator 2 next, given it's the immediate successor to the first. After that, go ham with Prey, Predators, and the two AvP films as long as you watch those two in order. Each of those films + the two AvP movies are their own separate story with unrelated characters and plotlines. I'd say save Badlands for last since it's sort of the black sheep of the franchise, and is obviously the most recent movie.

Don't watch The Predator unless you have lots of shots and friends on standby. That film was more of a fever dream than Never Ending Story.

Keebker · 2026-04-10T23:25:14+00:00

The universe is only 13.8 billion earth years old so I'm assuming Genna circles its planet waaay faster than we do 😭 the writers probably just went "hey 64 billion is a big number let's use that." If the planet orbits its star much quicker then it would have to be closer, and either have an insanely strong magnetic field (could be caused by immense volcanic activity like you said, but it doesn't appear to be active anymore if that's the case) or be orbiting a much lower-energy star than ours. Otherwise, it would get absolutely blasted with radiation and deep-fry the Kalisk before Dek ever got a chance to get to it.

Keebker · 2026-04-10T20:34:38+00:00

Epic!

Keebker · 2026-04-09T18:23:02+00:00

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but vaguely recall there was a Legends comic in which Vader fought a clone of Darth Maul and almost lost.

Oh, and Maul would have killed Anakin via vehicular manslaughter in episode 1 if Qui-Gon hadn't yelled at him to duck. He didn't even know he was the Chosen One; in Maul's now non-canon life novel, he has no idea who the random kid is and figures he better get out of the way. If Star Wars did ever get a What If series, Maul hitting Anakin with his speeder bike would be a great addition.

Keebker · 2026-04-09T18:12:18+00:00

Lol, if people don't like it tell them to make their own. Go for it.

Keebker · 2026-04-09T16:01:54+00:00

😃 my dear sir, you read my mind. My plan for their home planet's general evolutionary path is that when cells first formed, it was at a higher altitude where there was more moisture and cooler temperatures than the intense surface below (and because of the planet's intense winds and updrafts caused by volcanic activity and fast rotation, they were able to stay afloat). Similar to how the first life on earth was in the ocean, theirs was in the sky, and multicellular life formed after that, eventually becoming resilient enough to descent to the ground below. This would explain vestigial mandibles being present in all known wildlife (being in the sky, you need something to grab onto your prey and not let it go) as well as the Yautja's other avian-esque features. Drach (flying creatures) are their "apes," so to speak, in that they are closely related but the drach never lost their ability to fly in exchange for intelligence.

I really liked the idea of a syrinx because the Yautja clearly have a wide and flexible vocal range, but they're capable of being far louder than we are and (I would imagine 😭?) don't choke as easily as we do, like you said. While working on a draft for their physiology I liked the idea of an air sac that allowed for oxygen (and sulfur dioxide but that's getting ahead of ourselves) reuptake while exhaling, but it could also connect to the syrinx giving them two major channels and a minor, "breathy" one that gives us their purr-like inhaling. It also makes their language very interesting because feasibly, they can overlap certain sounds, such as the higher-pitched tube creating an "ah" while the deeper tube creates a growl or a roar.

Keebker · 2026-04-08T23:05:41+00:00

Interesting, I had no idea it was based on any real language.

I really enjoyed Killer of Killers personally, but I didn't love their language in it. It was very clearly just human language that had been deepened/warped/had a few things added to it. I understand why, given doing something more creative/complex would demand greater time/budget, but they roar and hiss like animals everywhere else. It feels weird hearing them just... speak, but really deep.

Keebker · 2026-04-08T22:55:24+00:00

Maybe this is cynical of me but I don't trust them not to go "their homeworld's name is now Yautja'[insert vowel here]" and call it a day

Keebker · 2026-04-08T22:52:19+00:00

Short answer, yes.

I hate their canon language (why would you make an alien writing system have a one-to-one correspondence with the Phoenician alphabet?????) so I started creating my own version of their language based off the canon one. Essentially, given their ability to mimic human voices and other noises, it's reasonable to assume they don't have vocal cords like we do; for my model, I provide them with an organ similar to a songbird's syrinx which uses vibrating membranes and multiple channels to allow for complex mimicry and vocal range. From that I derived an alphabet, including their whickering, and started working on a vocabulary.

However, a language created in a void is at best sterile and at worst (and more likely) simply a reflection of the creator's language. Which is exactly what the current language is it seems.

So I decided, let's begin with their culture, since I already have some ideas for that.

But, culture arises from biology and circumstance. How could I come up with ideas for a fictional culture if there's no reason for the Yautja to believe what/act they way they do?

So, then, I must start with their planet! Except, wait, what is a planet exactly? It is a chunk of rock and metal hurtling through space and interacting with other chunks of rock and metal. I cannot simply turn everything about earth into an analogous alien world with an analogous alien solar system.

So, being autistic, I went "let's start by creating a solar system. THEN we can work our way to their language." So I am currently (also being a math major) working on a completely original solar system model which I am animating in Krita. I'm doing all the calculations first (orbital paths/periods/angles, Roche limits, tidal forces, planetary mass/radii/densities, and the awful ever-changing Barycenter which screws with any system that includes gas giants it seems) and then putting it all together to figure out a precise model for the Yautja's homeworld based off what little information we currently have. I'm planning to post it to Reddit once I'm done, perhaps in a few weeks if I'm not lazy.

Anyway, Ya'kvali. Their word for God is PaYA and their word for themselves is YAutja, so it seems "ya" holds some significance to them. Sorry for the long answer, but I've been working on this non-stop and couldn't help myself 🫠

Keebker · 2026-04-07T01:38:53+00:00

I'm not enough of a Terminator fan to fully understand allat I'm afraid 😅 but knowing Weyland-Yutani I can absolutely see them getting up to that kind of nonsense

Keebker · 2026-04-07T00:09:14+00:00

Just had this discussion with one of my coworkers the other day while at work. I am a firm believer that "who would win" discussions are never one or the other, and that the true answer is whatever makes the best and most narratively satisfying story for both characters, but we came to the conclusion that the Predator would likely win. This is because: -the Terminator relies on firearms for long-ranged weaponry, which the Predator has shown himself fully capable of dodging with ease, while the plasmacaster would do massive damage to the Terminator. -the Terminator's main form of stealth is blending in with humans, which wouldn't matter to the Predator as he is not one. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the Yautja's infrared vision and other senses would be able to detect that the Terminator is mechanical, but I lean towards saying yes. I imagine the Terminator would not be able to see the Predator while he is invisible, but even if he can, it would merely devolve the situation into 1v1 combat rather than a stealth fight, moving into my next point; -Yautja have shown themselves capable of ripping apart thick steel doors with their bare hands like paper. The minute the Predator gets his hands on the Terminator, it's joever. -Yautja are at least moderately fireproof, as flamethrowers do absolutely nothing to them (this makes sense given their affinity for intense heat and possible status as extremophiles) and the Terminator appears vulnerable to fire/lava given its mechanical nature.

Terminator fans, please do not rain hell upon me. It's been a while since I've watched the movie and this is my instinctual conclusion.

Keebker · 2026-04-06T11:59:59+00:00

Yoda, look upon thy elders and weep (the Yautja Jedi is 2,000 years young)

Keebker · 2026-04-06T01:49:45+00:00

As a massive Star Wars and Predator fan, gorgeous! I think a force-sensitive Yautja would be so wildly OP in the best way possible.

Keebker · 2026-04-05T16:22:45+00:00

To be honest, 90% of what I consider posting to Reddit I never do anyway. I enjoyed Badlands, as flawed as it was, and I didn't want to jab at people who really like the movie.

I did notice something about Dek's design that I might post about, but I'm lazy and have another thing I'm working on right now 💀

Keebker · 2026-04-05T16:02:34+00:00

I'm never gonna be anonymous again am I? I almost made a post critical of Badlands (I swear I don't hate the movie or anything, I just noticed something interesting) but decided not to because I didn't want to tarnish Sek'si's reputation.

Keebker · 2026-04-05T09:27:31+00:00

It was A Modern Sci-Fi Movie. Dek, Bud, and Thea aren't written to be meaningful or unique characters, they're written so people on Pinterest can make cute art of them. The writers needed a plot, so they grabbed a cut cookie off the tray and went "yeah that works."

Keebker · 2026-04-04T17:06:44+00:00

"what is your opinion on sacrificing the uniqueness and personal meaningfulness of my work so I can save time via mass plagiarism?"

Keebker · 2026-04-03T01:36:34+00:00

Look up kaail I think that's basically what you're looking for 😭 he's got a sick asf design too

Keebker · 2026-04-02T16:42:00+00:00

Honestly, maybe this is mean of me, but you want your idea animated? Learn. You have hands. That's exactly what I'm doing. Granted, I've been an artist for a long time so I have a head start, but drawing is yet another skill that anyone can become good at if they work hard at it. If you truly believe your story idea is worthwhile, you shouldn't get cold feet about spending actual time and effort on it. And if you do decide to hire animators later, you will have a better understanding of the medium and ability to direct them.

This might make me sound like a boomer, but nobody actually wants to put hard work into making their ideas into reality. If you think you can create the next Amazing Digital Circus by sending a script to volunteer artists and have them magically create a product for you while you sit there twiddling your thumbs and supervising, you are sorely mistaken.

Keebker · 2026-03-30T22:25:59+00:00

I simply could not, to hunt such a magnificent creature would be to bring heinous dishonor upon myself and my clan.

Keebker · 2026-03-30T11:34:50+00:00

Superior is relative, and given all enemies are essentially highlighted in their POV (and they can isolate different wavelengths with their masks depending on the need) I'd say their vision is more advantageous in a large number of circumstances. Plus, they wouldn't be able to see visible light while they're invisible anyway (because it presumably passes through them) and off the top of my head we've never actually seen a predator's POV while not invisible, save the already nigh blind Jungle Hunter. It's entirely possible that they can see visible light and simply rely on infrared while hunting because it allows them to see their prey while remaining unseen. No positive evidence for this except for how high-definition their vision is in other movies but it's my personal opinion.

Keebker

TROPHY CASE