Saturday, October 21, 2017

Remnants - Behind the Scenes - Chapter 13

So, we dive back into horror full blown here and not the usual zombie or slasher stuff we've sorta gotten used to. We got ourselves Psychological Thrills this time. My favorite kind! Hostel can go screw itself, because blood and guts isn't scary just on its own and I hope I proved that you can be ten times more freaky as hell with out a single drop of blood spilt. So, lets break it down...




The truth of the matter is, Tali is a very flawed character. This has always been true. She's a lovely person, with many admirable, amazing traits that make her a great person and someone we identify with. She's a bit of a tech nerd, she's friendly, she's a huge team player and she clearly has a romantic streak. A lot of people connected with her for that reason, along with her general upbeat and chipper attitude. But, as we've discussed before, she is flawed. She is dealing with her racist issues concerning synths, but that's not her only problem. She's always been self-sacrificing, constantly hurting herself and her own desires because she fears becoming selfish. She can be vindictive and unforgiving. She can hold grudges when she really shouldn't. She is eager to earn affection from some people who don't always deserve it, like her dad, and she constantly struggles with self-esteem and self-worth issues because of this.

It's only natural she would be vulnerable to many a problem in her life, not all that can be as easily fixed as an engine block. Tali's flaws make her an important, fascinating and fun character to be around, as much as her positives. These next few chapters basically look at Tali's flaw amplified, her anger, rage, resentment and hatred pushed out. While she may be past a lot of her racism, she still has many problems aflicting her. Problems she aware of and are building up slowly.

Tying into the horror element, I feel the most effective horror relates to an insular threat. External threats are scary as hell, no doubt there, but something inside, something you can't quite figure out, something within your mind or body that has turned against you, is incredibly scary. That's where psychology comes into play in horror. The scariest stuff concerning HP Lovecraft relates a lot to the inner self. Yes, external unknowns play a role, but the damage within the psyche, the scars within that can't be seen, the parts of the blood that are infected with some unseen evil, that's what brings about the true horror.

Tali herself encountered an otherwordly entity with the Flood. And while she survived, her mind intact, I made it clear she was still scarred mentally. PTSD, another form of your mind and body turning against you, reminding you of trauma, forcing you to relive it. I kinda weaponized that into a power of sorts, warning Tali of the Flood, or at least a specific form. But I wanted to show that there was a downside to that.

Without giving anything away, there is something to her experiences with the Flood and the nightmares she's having here. Speaking off...

I had to delve a bit more into the fabled Precursors and exactly what they did to themselves. A bit of this is dramatized and I can't say much without giving things away, but mostly I just tried to focus on the essence of the precursors as a species. This was a race that, for all intents and purposes... were Gods. They created life at whim. And then, some of that life actually turns against them and overthrows them. What would that do to a species? A culture? How would they use that to justify what they did next? Hitting upon that, and remembering elements of the First Strike story, I decided this was an opportunity to learn more about the Flood, the Precursors and Forerunners in one fell swoop. I couldn't resist it.

I also had an excuse for showcasing some of my favorite icons of horror. I actually am I huge fan of the Friday the 13th films. Unlike Tali who I knew I could never realistically write as enjoying them. Sometimes it helps as a writer to know WHY people would hate a movie you love. It helps you avoid strawmen. I wrote Kasumi a bit as my voice, defending the series as best we could together. But Tali prefers Romantic Dramas and I can't see her enjoying several plus films about a guy in a hockey mask murdering folks. But hey, she gave it a fair shot for four straight films! That's more than most people. Jason was however a good transition from slasher horror to the more cerebral horror of the unknown that is the Precursors and the Flood.

The Twilight Zone stuff was another indicator of that, using a series known for high concept creative horror and sci-fi to illustrate Tali's own fears. Specifically of what is happening to her and reveal more of what the intentions of the thing speaking to her are. Also, I got to play a bit off of the Tower of Terror sequence in Disney World, because damn it, that is friggin amazing pre-show for a ride.

Oh, and expect more Iron Maiden songs. This is my pet peeve with fiction, Maiden is so versatile and perfect and speaks to so many scenarios with so many songs and for some stupid reason no one uses their damn music! Not even for a trailer! Seriously, Godzilla! Number of the Beast! What is so hard about this? Honestly, Legendary better use Maiden soon in one of the kaiju movies they're making and Marvel is long overdue for some damn Maiden in their own franchise. Seriously, Powerslave! It fits the upcoming Avengers film perfectly! Use it!

Well, that's all I can give for no without spoiling anything. Next time I'll probably have a bit longer of a write up for you, perhaps talking more in depth about the Iron Maiden songs, because I could go on for hours about their work. Seriously, it's amazing. If you honestly want to know more about me as a writer, a person and what I value in fiction/story telling, listen to Iron Maiden. Do it.

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