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

[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.