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

[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.