Strangetown: What if?

[strangetomato]

Every now and then, I get to thinking about alternative ways of approaching the Strangetown story, like that version where Ophelia follows in Olive's black widow footsteps, and I've recently been thinking about a good one: what if alien pregnancies were fatal for the men who carried them to term? That would really change the story, wouldn't it? I think I'm going to toy with the idea, and maybe it will develop into a short stand-alone story at some point. I think it could play out into something interesting.








Pretty awful, right? It would raise questions of why the Curious Brothers were allowing themselves to get pregnant, and they probably wouldn't be willing participants in this breeding experiment (though with Glarn's involvement, you'd have to wonder... and why they'd be willing to do it despite the consequences). The whole connection with PT would be a lot more grim too, but that could also be interesting.

I'm really not sure how I would attempt to answer these questions, but I'm enjoying this darker "what if?" scenario.

I got to thinking about this after reading an article by Katura Reynolds called "Birthing the Monster: What if a Bug-Eyed Alien Was Your Baby Daddy?" in the Genesis Issue of Bitch magazine. It was a great read. The Sims 2 wasn't mentioned as a pop culture example of this alien birthing trend in science fiction, but it's definitely following in this tradition.

So, what do you think of the idea? I'll bet there are also plenty of other ways to approach it, if one was well-versed in sci-fi. 



 

Comments

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

That would be a very, very interesting concept. I'm not all that well versed in Sci Fi, but I've seen lots pof movies.

(Although, if Glarn DID get abducted, wouldn't ha have died giving birth to the Twins? And wouldn't that mean that the Curious Brothers wouldn't exist? Who's older? I'm very much into What If Scenarios, btw.)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

The twins are supposed to be older, so I'd have to switch that around to make them the youngest. Otherwise, it wouldn't work.

It would also give the General much more reason to be working to stop the aliens, wouldn't it?

I'm really interested in the impact this would have on the Smith family. PT would have essentially killed Jenny's father.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

*nods* The Curios brothers wouldn't exist, and then Strangetown wouldn't be as... strange.

I doubt Jenny would have married the man who killed her father, so NO JOHNNY OR JILL EITHER. D:

And about The General, I totally agree. Abduction is hostile, but this is murder. They're killing men so that they can bring their hybrids into the world.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I'd like to think up some reason for Jenny to have wanted to do it, and I'm not sure what that would be. Maybe she had no choice, or maybe she wanted to eventually avenge her father's death (that one's a bit intense). Maybe she fell in love with him despite this, and forgave him. Maybe PT gave her their reasons, and she accepted it (also possibly explaining why the Curious brothers would willingly die for the cause).

Imagine how Johnny and Jill would feel about their heritage, and how intense the whole Johnny vs. Tank situation, and his friendship with Ripp, would be because of this.

I think they military has some some good reasoning already, with it just being abductions. They suspect that the aliens could be planning to harm them too, so they want to prevent this from happening, but if it was already hostile, there'd be more direct conflict. Maybe even a war.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

Jenny is sweet and nice, but I don't see her marrying PT if she had no choice. I'm sure she'd think of something. *shrug*

Yeah, i imagine it would be so much more than what it is now. Tank would never, ever forgive Ripp for being friends with him. Or at least in my mind he wouldn't.

And I agree. The Military wouldn't just stand by and let them abduct and kill people. But how would they fight them, if they're on a different planet? (Maybe they use a Sim as bait, and then attack the Spaceship? IDK, it would be srs.)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that would be a tough one to work out, and I'd lean towards something about Glarn really believing in the cause. Like maybe he knows that the aliens are planning to wipe them all out in the end, and at least his family will be able to pass their genes on into the new species (an angle I also touch on in my current story).

I agree. It would be a lot uglier between them. But I also imagine that Johnny would be so much more conflicted in his status as a half alien. It would have to come with so much guilt, and I think him and Ripp would end up just as close, if not closer, than I see them now.

Well, I can think of some ways. I probably shouldn't say too much more about it, but they have a plan for that in my story right now.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It was a great article. I can always count on Bitch for a good read, and this was no exception. It was excellent food for thought.

Yes, those are all issues that would have to be worked out, wouldn't they? I thought about the adoption pool created by single males who get abducted. Would people even want to adopt them, if their birth was that grisly? Would some group of researchers take on the task of raising them, or would the aliens maybe show up to pick up the child after the birth?

The social implications really are enormous, so it would be quite a project, even for a short story. I'm going to let it stew in the back of my head for a while, but I would love to see someone else's take on this story idea.

[nessa-seragon.livejournal.com]

Someone like the Beakers would. I imagine the Beakers would love to have some aliens to experiment with.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Also, I'm laughing at your icon, because I always overuse the word "interesting" when I'm grasping for a more descriptive and appropriate term (I just noticed I did it twice in two consecutive sentences below *snicker*). It's a bad habit.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

I love the picture. Very chilling, with the birth "waters" all over the floor. So sad. :(

I do agree it might not make sense in current-Strangetown, but a friend of mine (mutual LJ friend of ours) wrote a concept rather like this about a year and a half or so ago on TSR (Melody, was it that long, lol?)

If she comes on here she can correct me if I'm wrong, but in her version the female of our species assisted the males in some way with the pregnancies and birth, and the aliens tried to only abduct married males for this reason. Pascal was an accident, and if I remember, he was in dire straits and in danger of losing his life in her story because he was unmated.

I loved that idea. Sort of a reverse Couvade syndrome, but more than that too... since the females *gave* something to the males.

Melody can explain it better, lol... it was her idea after all. ;) But it seemed to make sense since Glarn was mated (we assume to Glabe) at the time of his abduction, etc.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's interesting. It's not exactly the same idea, but an interesting variation on it.

I think it could work in the current set-up of Strangetown, with some reworking of a number of facts. The whole Curious family tree is difficult to figure out on the best of days, so that could be used to the storytellers advantage here.

Also, Glabe isn't necessarily Glarn's wife, right? It's left pretty open. We know she has the same last name, but she could have been his sister. I tend to buy this version more than them being married. This pic supports that idea for me:



It looks like Glarn arriving on his sister's doorstep to give birth to the twins (or maybe he was crashing on the couch), but he's in his everyday clothes, while she obvious just got out of bed. The neat sheets on the other side of her bed indicate that Glarn wasn't in that bed.

Maybe Glarn was trying to hide his pregnancy form Kitty. This would explain why the twins have memories of Glabe raising them. Maybe she kept them, for a time. I figure that Kitty eventually found out what happened, and this eventually resulted in her leaving Glarn (for some reason, I see Kitty leaving, which isn't detailed at all in the Maxis backstory, but the opposite isn't indicated either).

[akatonbo.livejournal.com]

I've assumed for some time that she was his sister, too -- never thought it'd make much sense with her as his wife, unless he was the one who freaked out about it, or unless they broke up for reasons having nothing to do with alien babies and she ended up with the kids even though they're not even hers.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree. There had to be a good reason for him to leave them with her, and the failing marriage angle doesn't really work, since you'd assume the alien children were the key issue there (unless he didn't want them, which could be another way to take it, but he's later shown at the telescope again, so that's sketchy).

I think that's why I always get back to thinking that Kitty had a problem with it. It seems like he made an effort to please her by having his sister take them, or he tried to cover it up entirely. And Kitty doesn't have to leave him. The twins could be completely off on their own and then they come back to get to know the family at a later time (which explains why they're back in town with roomates).

For some reason, though, I'm more drawn to the idea that the family embraces the twins and whole alien thing (supported by Jenny's marriage to PT and the activities of the brothers and alien children) and they come back, and then Kitty tries to accept it, but is unable to. Kitty could accept them, over time, but having her leave him works better with all the Strangetown drama for me.

[admiral-aeris.livejournal.com]

I had been thinking much the same thing re: Glabe, mainly because the timeline makes little to no sense if Glabe was indeed Glarn's wife (either the twins would have to be older than Jenny or Glarn would have to have been involved with Kitty sometime before the twins were born). Making Glabe Glarn's sister allows for a more natural timeline IMO.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

The twins are supposed to be older than Jenny, I believe. They aren't in the game, but I think that's because they are bin sims, and they all come set at the beginning of their adult stage.

Or am I wrong about that? I should double check the memories, I guess.

A lot of the details don't match up in the game, especially between the photos (made from early versions of the characters, so there are inconsistencies all over the place) and the memories. The relationships are not marked correctly in all cases either, such as the way the Curious brothers don't recognize the Singles twins as relatives.

The way it's set up, it really gives you the freedom to put your own spin on it, since the "official" version is pretty unclear.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

Yes, soooo many inconsistencies! O_O

I've thought about Glabe being his sister too... although the picture doesn't really seal that for me. Glarn could have been sleeping on the couch due to a failing marriage. :P Glabe could have been infertile and jealous of her husband's offspring, hence the crying. Besides, if you look reaaaaaaly close you can just barely see a glint of a wedding ring on Glabe's left hand. Not that it means she's married to Glarn, but her name might not be Curious if she was married...

The story I've settled on was Glabe was Glarn's first wife, and they had marriage troubles, likely centered around Glarn's obsession with aliens. Whether Glabe was infertile or not I'm not sure (she could have just been crying because OH CRAP I CAN'T BELIEVE YOUR OBSESSION WENT THIS FAR!!!!) ;) but I think she loved the girls and took them with her when she finally left Glarn... either because she wanted babies of her own or because she felt Glarn would neglect the girls due to his obsessions (He's still on that darn telescope in the family picture with Kitty and the other Curious kids later, lol!)

There's another photo of Glabe lecuring the girls as they sit on the couch and listen, and it has a thought bubble of Glarn in it. I'm thinking she's telling them what a no good, unfit father he was, and that's why they're with her and not him. Perhaps they'd expressed some interest in finding their Earth father... and Glabe was saying, YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL I TOOK YOU WITH ME. YOUR FATHER DOES NOTHING BUT STARGAZE ALL NIGHT AND SLEEP ALL DAY!!!111!!!

I have always felt Kitty was more forgiving of Glarn's hobbies, but you're right... her story is vague as well. We know she's still around when Jenny is a teenager, since she's serving dinner in one of the pictures while Jenny's yakking on the phone and the boys are playing. But after that we just don't know. We know she and Glarn didn't ever get divorced, but that doesn't mean she didn't leave him at some point.

I love thinking about what the backstory for these characters could be and trying to fit it all together (as you can tell, lol!) Sometimes I wish we could corner the Maxis Strangetown developer and threaten him or her with a hot poker until we get the REAL story. :D :D

But you're right... the ambiguity does leave it open for lots of different interpretations!

[admiral-aeris.livejournal.com]

The twins are not at the beginning of their adult stage (at least Lola isn't) but they don't have the memories either way (older or younger).

From what I can gather, the real evidence regarding the twins' age comes not from the Curious household but the Beaker one. Erin is around the same age as at least Chloe and Loki's memories clearly state that he is older than Erin.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, that is true, but I don't give much weight to the ages of the Singles girls, even if they aren't at the beginning of the adult stage (they seem to be fairly neglected by the game designers, what with the lack of family ties, etc.). The fact that the photo of Glarn giving birth to the twins come before the rest of the children in the Maxis story is what I go by, since those are always in chronological order.

Then again, the next photo shows the other children as children, so they could have been born at around the same time, really. Either way, I think it's a minor detail, and one of those things that people are free to spin it either way. I'm stuck with them as older in my story now, since I've already said that, but I don't imagine them as being a whole lot older than Jenny.

[showercapfrog.livejournal.com]

I always thought that Glabe was Glarn's sister, and it just wasn't indicated properly in the family ties. I very much agree with this interpretation that you've given here, and that he wanted to hide his pregnancy from Kitty.

I'm thinking about using that in my story, and that the other Curious relatives don't know about their relation to the Singles girls, but I'm a little undecided as to the direction it would go from there...

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

You know something I just noticed about that picture -- and forgive me if it's already been pointed out -- He's given birth to twins there but he's still pregnant. Still in manternity wear and still big-bellied. Was there a third baby??!! If so where is it? Could it be Stella?

Heh. I know it's just more Maxian weirdness but really, the picture raises more questions than it answers.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I know. It's such an odd picture. I've heard people point out the "still pregnant" thing before.

I choose to go with Maxian weirdness, and the fact that the meaning would be difficult if he wasn't in maternity wear. People might assume it was Glabe's baby instead. I also think a lot of the story pics are from real early beta versions of the game, since some characters look completely different, so we might even suspect that pregnant sims kept the shape for a while after the birth in an early version of the game.

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

Very true, and I was just throwing out speculation for fun. I'm sure its purpose is to convey that Glarn was the carrier of the twins, not Glabe. I just like the idea of him popping out baby after minty green baby, like a Pez dispenser. xD

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Heehee! Pez dispenser.

I'm sure the Stella idea could make for a good story. She's described as a full alien in her bio (or was it the sim story from the neighborhood view?), saying she's a LONG way from home (XD), but I'll be the last to protest some creative jazzing around with the facts. People are always writing her as a half-alien, anyway.

[nicepoint.livejournal.com]

I think Octavia Butler had a concept similar to this in one of her stories. I can't quite remember it, but it seems like something she would do- her novels deal with a lot race, sexuality, gender, religion and social progress WITH ALIENS. I think you would like her.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

She was one of the examples from the article, and I'm very interested in looking into her writing, based on that. I think I'll definitely check some of her stuff out.

[oracular-rufio.livejournal.com]

Well, it would certainly kill the whole "aliens tend to abduct single people who wouldn't procreate anyway" thing - they wouldn't want to have the hybrid's only parent die right after they were born. Jayne wouldn't be around, so there wouldn't be any of the arranged marriage drama (or at least not with her). Ripp would probably be significantly less interested in alien parts.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it wouldn't work with the angle I'm taking on it now. I'd have to formulate a completely different set of "rules" for the story.

Ripp would probably be significantly less interested in alien parts.

Yes, for sure, if he knows what's good for him. Or maybe he has a death wish? The sex would have to pretty darn good to be worth it.

[kin-thalas.livejournal.com]

I asked me the same from time to time. Would be interesting to work this out.
And poor Pascal! The pic almost made me cry!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I find the alien storyline so interesting just because there are so many directions it could be taken in. This one's a lot darker, but I think it could make for a great story (and I like dark things, from time to time).

It's a sad image (and it could have been worse, if I had gone with blood instead of green goo, but that seemed a bit much to me). It would be a huge shame to see both Pascal and Vidcund wiped out like that, but then I think of the interesting story of having Lazlo left all by himself with his brother's children. It's a bleak setup, but I think there could be some humour in there too.

[kin-thalas.livejournal.com]

Some kind of bitter humor. But drama is what "sells" ;)

[leskuh.livejournal.com]

I love when you twist things around. I wonder if Ripp would still be able to be friends with Johnny after knowing all that. And I imagine the Smiths would be a much darker family.

Would you put it in the same universe as the Phi's black widow one or a different one entirely? If you keep it in the same universe, you'd have a very dark Strangetown setup.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It's fun to twist, and I enjoy the opportunity to explore some darker angles, while I probably wouldn't go that far in my main story. I enjoy the drama of it, and a harsher approach to things does appeal to me, but I'm also too enamoured of the characters to be so cruel to them in my main story (though I suppose I have gone there, in a number of ways, with the death count as it is).

I see plenty of darkness in Strangetown as it is when you load the game, so I think these versions aren't really that out of place. I find it harder to imagine the neighbourhood as a completely happy place, quite frankly. There's a lot of animosity between neighbours and plenty of evil doings in that town.

I think Ripp would still be friends with Johnny. I imagine that Johnny would be less accepting of his heritage because of that, and the two of them would relate even more to being born into a situation that they resent being in. I think they'd be closer, if anything.

[muslemura.livejournal.com]

This "what if?" scenario makes a lot of sense to me. Awful, but definitely a possibility. It would of course make the story a LOT darker and the "alien plot" would have an even more prominent place in the story. I'd love to see what you'd make of it when/if you get the time/feel like it :)

Also, I have to look for a place in Norway that sells Bitch magazine :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It would be a very different story, but I think it would be fascinating to explore. If I ever settle on a scenario, I'd love to try a short story with this concept.

You can order issues to be shipped internationally from their website. There's also a book, Bitchfest, which compiles articles from their first 10 years. I highly recommend it.

[hamwad.livejournal.com]

Whoa. Not my cup of tea.

Although it would be interesting if you were to take a more epic twist, where some of the fatherless half-aliens resent the methods of their creation, and eventually join with other anti-alien orgainizations against the abductors. Although I might be thinking on too grand a scale here.

Very interesting thought, nonetheless.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Heheh. Yeah, I can see it being a bit much for some people, but I'm pretty difficult to disturb, and I do enjoy darker stories from time to time. I don't think I'd be interested in writing a serial about it like I am now, but a one-shot could be fun.

I'm not sure how skillfully I could carry off the epic thing. Some of the more epic parts of my current story are daunting to me (I'm sure I'll still give it a decent effort, but I feel more comfortable on a smaller scale). If I do write this story, I think I'd focus on a small interpersonal scene, which makes reference to some of the bigger issues... much the way I write Stranegtown, HWC.

[melody-curious.livejournal.com]

Yep, Cindy's right. I did look into the angle of fatal male births. It was the first thing I ever wrote really... and looking back at it, boy does it show.

The brothers had researched abductions and realised all those that were to single males resulted in death. Thought they couldn't figure out why the male/female couples survived. Vidcund and Lazlo nearly loss Pascal when he gave birth and this drove vid to attempting sucide rather then bleed to death in agony.

Now can someone explain to me why that one wasn't banned from the forum? *shrugs*

But it's an interesting concept and I'll be fascinated to see how it pans out in your realm.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

I loved that concept you had! It was a bit morbid (hee hee, but we all like to wax morbid every now and then, lol!) but sweet at the same time, with the role the females played in it. :)

Ah good old TSR! It's nothing if inconsistant, lol!

[catladymeow.livejournal.com]

What a dark idea. I love it and would be very interrested in seeing how you deal with it. It would mean a lot of sadness and anger too on the part of the survivors.

I feel sorry for Pascal in that picture. Poor guy.

[hannahspring.livejournal.com]

I think I'd like to see "dark" Phi, this would seem really interesting to me. She's so good and well... good that I can't imagine her being evil or mean. That's why I'd like to see your interpretation of her being like that. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I've already written a short story with the darker version of Phi and her boys:

http://strange-tomato.livejournal.com/101051.html

The concept is more or less that Olive's condition was hereditary. I feel like the Phi in my main story would maybe worry about that too, since she's prone to worry (from her Maxis bio), but I can't see her worries being founded. That story accepts that she's right.

[hannahspring.livejournal.com]

I almost forgot about that short story! I really loved it! Anyway, I still can't imagine her being evil. She and her flowers (and boys!) is the best combination. :)

(about the idea and few comments...)

[aledstrange.livejournal.com]

Very interesting idea. It made think about Mel's old story at first as well. That was great one! :)

I'm sure none of the bin-sims that come with Stown actually are on the beginning of their adult stage. All of them have different ages, including Loner.
Lola is much older than Chloe too, and if you check on their memories it looks like she has always been, therefore they couldn't be technically twins. lol

I've always think Glabe was Glarn's sister too. There's too many details that imo can say that, starting for the similarity of their names, but she doesn't show on the family tree :P

Long time ago i wrote a story (never finished) about all that. About many of the town's families in the past, including the Curious of course. For it i made a big effort to make the best of the storielines as shown on memories and such.
It was .... impossible! lol but a fun project to attempt.

I don't even remember the plot in full, but my take with Glarn was that Glabe was in fact his first wife, and had to endure a horrid period on Glran's life in which he was abducted several times, only to loose all the babies and way or another (either they died or were taken away few hour later or something).
Then over time they divorced and he married Kitty, but on the side he was still friends with Gable who was the one who always suffered the most with every lost.

Then while he was married with Kitty, got abducted a couple of more times, once after Jenny was born, then again at some point between Vidcund and Lazlo, (there was an explanation for that too), but every time the only one who knew about was Kitty, not his children, and as soon as the pregnancy started showing he would move out for a while (with work excuses or something) back with Gable who ended raising the alien offsprings <3

Anyways, i love scifi. It my first hobby, and what brought me to St in the first place. I love that concept you're working here, tho its kind of shocking to think about it! Just that picture with Pas is sad enough *sobs*

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

WOOT, Bitch shout out!

(my new issue just arrived, I'm saving it for my bus rides--and is it just me or is Bust getting kind of blah? The last issue wasn't so hot.)

And 0_o at the fatal alien baby thing. Very "Alien". That would tie in with Buzz's hatred toward PT, too. Perhaps he had a relative offed by aliens? Or just doens't take kindly to deadly m-preg.

[80sfiend.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's a cool angle :) I like it. Definitely would love to read whatever you decide to do with it :)