IM ON A ROLL TODAY. remembered tessarae's weird daughter while going thru my folder for them and respawned her. also jokes

bonus old concept for tali because theyre not much different but i think comparing my older style with how i draw her now is funny

September 21st-September 27th, 2019 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from September 21st, 2019 to September 27th, 2019.  The chat focused on the following question:

How would you describe the target audience for your comic?  Did you intend to aim at that audience, or did it just happen?

Deo101 (Millennium)

My target audience for millennium http://millennium.spiderforest.com/ was and is LGBT youth. Specifically teens. I know when I was a kid reading a story where gay people are just kind of... There? No jokes, no stereotypes, more than one... That would have helped me a lot. So I'm trying to make that for other kids! I think the story has reached a much wider/older audience then I intended, but I know it has helped at least some LGBT youth/young adults and that's all I could ever ask for.(edited)

spacerocketbunny

The target audience for Ghost Junk Sickness is definitely queer youth and young adults! Much like what @Deo101 (Millennium) is saying, basically we wanted something like the cool action scifi comics we read when we were younger with good queer rep that's integrated and normalized in the universe! As it turned out though, the audience we reached has been all over the place ranging from older women to big biker dudes?? Every time we go to cons we can never guess who'll purchase a book because the range is so varied! I'm sure we still reach the original target to an extent but the rest is all over the map it seems! I don't think it's a bad thing, it's just been pretty unexpected

Deo101 (Millennium)

Not bad at all ^^ more like a pleasant surprise!

spacerocketbunny

Exactly!

Deo101 (Millennium)

I think those other, older people are also looking for a story to reach their inner child... And I think that's great

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Lol, I feel the similarly way about my own story. My goal was definitely to make something me as a kiddo would have loved, which essentially would have been shonen stories but with a female majority cast. I think I already figured my target audience would be similar to me, but I've been consistently surprised by how many male identifying folks like it. I guess I do like that they can hang though X) Anyway, these are my floppy, post work out thoughts. Hopefully they make sense.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

The target audience for Phantomarine (http://www.phantomarine.com/) was never super clear from the beginning - I just wanted to make something I'd like as a teen. Luckily (or unluckily! in terms of describing it to people ) the story is a mishmash of a bunch of different genres. It's not quite a ghost story, not quite a pirate adventure, not quite a fantasy epic, but it has elements of them all. And it does seem to have attracted people who like those different genres. It may not be easy if I ever want to publish it properly (it's a little difficult to describe my 'brand' ) but as it is, it's got everything I would have liked when I was between 14 and 18.

My happiest surprise is hearing about the younger kids who have read it, understood it, and really enjoyed it. Knowing that 10-12 year olds can appreciate my work is really awesome. I try to keep the language and scary/questionable content at Harry Potter levels, but I like having some of the depth/maturity of stories like The Golden Compass. If they like Phantomarine now, I really hope they find extra enjoyment with it as they grow up. It's going to be a ride!

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Gosh, I get that feel of being multi-genre and not knowing quite how to describe your Brand X') I feel like I've gotten better at defining it over time but it's still a struggle to briefly describe what my thing even is some days. Also Golden Compass I'm always excited to find other comic folks who were also influenced by that series.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

It's my gold standard for the right blend of fantasy, reality, and maturity. It's just the best

keii4ii

The target audience for Heart of Keol (https://heartofkeol.com/) is extremely tiny, but it does have appeal for people outside of that niche. I make it for myself, and the relevant aspects of "myself" here are: a) Grew up in Korea, is living (or has lived for an extended period of time) in a predominantly English-speaking part of the world b) Bonus points if they spent some time living in rural Korea c) Is into slow burn drama about characters who could be described as being "genuine" and probably "lawful" as well d) Likes the aesthetics of fantasy settings, but is more into the mundane, almost slice of life, side of drama e) Is very much into reading between the lines for more emotional stuff. Reads a lot of heart from sceneries, possibly more than from faces. (I have face blindness and this affects how I experience comics both as a reader and as a creator)

Obviously people who meet both a) and b) are gonna be harder to find! But if one can meet c), d) and e), that's enough to enjoy the comic the way it's meant to be enjoyed, or so I hope.

The reason a) and b) matter is because it affects how the setting/aesthetics come across. To someone like me, the old Korea setting feels homey, warm, nostalgic. It's like a shorthand for "sit down and enjoy this heartfelt slow burn tale." But to others, Magical Asia might feel exciting and exotic, which isn't really what the story is meant to be, so there may be some dissonance.

seetherabbit

I haven't given much thought about the target audience for Vulperra. (https://vulperra.com/) other than then it's probably for people who like adventure, fantasy and cartoony-ish animals

Cronaj

My target audience is kind of all of the place. Initially when I began scripting my comic, Whispers of the Past, I was really into anime and manga, especially ones like Attack on Titan that were a gritty fantasy. However, since then, my style and story have changed tremendously. My target audience now tends to be young women, aged 15-25, who enjoy detailed world building in high fantasy and are definitely into family drama in story telling. Initially, I wrote the story to fit certain perameters that I myself enjoyed. For example, I am particularly obsessed with the idea of the mundane meeting the fantastical and amazing. The quiet lull of ordinary life juxtaposed by the rigor of magical entities. I specifically focus a lot on drawing beautiful artwork for the panels, because I myself am a picky-pants when it comes to selecting comics I want to read. Another one of my obsessions is a fantasy setting so detailed that you feel like if the story ended, the world would still live on. (One of my inspirations was the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini, in which the author essentially wrote several languages, similar to Tolkien.) In reality, my readers tend to be women aged 30+ (probably who watch k-dramas like I do), and a lot of D&D players. It's fun really, discovering how much of my own hobbies bleed into my stories.

AntiBunny

Early on with AntiBunny http://antibunny.net/ I was hoping for fans of scifi and film noir. What I got were fans of classic cartoons and furries. Which is fine by me really. Furries are nice people who are passionate about their hobbies (and spend money).

Jonny Aleksey

A superhero audience was always the intention for J-Man (http://jonnyalekseydrawscomics.com/the-undefeatable-j-man/), but specifically, right now, I'm aiming for something all ages. Slightly teen drama, cartoony but grounded. My inspirations were Spectacular Spider-Man and the DCAU so anyone who likes that is the readership I expect. Hopefully I can reach people who are on the fence about superheroes. The all ages aspect is something newish relatively speaking. When I started my webcomic I wanted to stay away from the "deep real edgy" tone I made when I was in high school (shiver). It took me a bit to really get that tone down. I don't use curse words and only mild blood, but occasionally stuff that borders on teen+ go through. (there's one instance in #5 where J-Man's face gets burnt by the villain that might've been a bit much) I don't think the all ages banner is going to restrict me from telling certain storylines/character development. Just means it won't be excessively grim.

Erin/Leif & Thorn on Kickstarter

The target audience for my webcomics is LGBT nerds who want stories that give them strong feelings, and who like SF/F, anime, competent characters that don't have to take turns with the Idiot Ball to keep the plot moving, and cats. Admittedly that last bit might be redundant, since everyone on the internet likes cats.

Ash🦀

I’ll be honest with you, I’m the target audience of my comic. (http://www.fwmgofficial.com/) it’s not out yet (it’ll be out October 31st) but as the writer I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. Mostly, it’s just targeted to young adults and autistic people. I never got to see people like me in comics, so I wrote a comic where an autistic person can be the hero too, even in his own way. For me, I figure whoever likes it likes it and that’s good enough for me. (also furries. Definitely targeted furries)

Kay Rose

@Ash🦀 cant wait to read it!

Ash🦀

QwQ thank you!!

MJ Massey

So far Black Ball is pulling in a mix of people who like the vintage aesthetic (1920s and art deco with some old-school macabre for some reason?) and people who like shonen manga, which is great. Even if Black Ball isn't specifically macabre or strictly shounen (though I myself have made shounen battle manga-esque comics in the past)

DaemonDan (The Demon Archives)

Audience of my comic... Per Google it's 18-35 year old men from the US and Russia XD Which makes sense given it's a pretty hard sci-fi with a lot of military action from dudes in power armor and etc. Though I try not to go too "high octane action!1!" and explore more psychological elements too.

Impromptu media thoughts of the day, two for the price of one: graphic novels by Alan Moore, Watchmen and V for Vendetta. Major spoilers ahead, if people need spoiler alerts for graphic novels from the 80s.

People have written really deep and long essays about both, but here’s my discombobulated twenty cents (in bullet point format because I fucking love bullet point infodumping):

Read Watchmen first, for a variety of reasons included but not limited to:

First heard about it ages ago as if not an influence then for major parallels to The Incredibles, which is one of my favorite movies. I think I was aware of Watchmen's presence at my local library for a good while, but flipping open to a random page and seeing a technicolor old-style comic kinda lost me right off the bat. (I’m still not super partial to the art style in either graphic novel, actually, but they’ve grown on me.)

More recently I watched the 2000 X-Men movie, and not gonna lie, it was actually pretty good. Not stellar enough to warrant a post-movie thoughtdump like this, and granted I don’t go into superhero films with high expectations on the rare occasions I watch at all, but y’know. If I remember correctly this was also an influence on The Incredibles and it sure as hell shows. Also, Rogue deserved better.

You’d think that this means I picked up Watchmen because of an Incredibles kick, right? (Saw that too recently, was good but not as much as the original & with post-movie hype having died down it miiight not stand up to rewatch, I’ll see.) That... might’ve been a factor, sure.

Mostly I just noticed it in the recent return pile along with a note on the back about it being a MUST-READ for graphic novel fans, and since I’m interested in the comic medium and all, why not. Also, work was slow. Funny how stuff works out.

ANYWAY point is I read that one comic with the bloody smiley face on the cover, and you know what? It took about two days and three reading sessions (short one at work, shorter one at home, then a long dedicated few hours within the week) and I was fucking wrecked. You know, the “just read a damn good book/watched a damn good movie/consumed some good fucking media, what do you mean I gotta continue with life as normal” buzz? That, but with a graphic novel.

I’ve mentioned before that I have a weird habit of spoiling myself before I even get into something, whether it means reading the Wikipedia plot summary or reading a sentence in the middle of a book, even skipping to the end of a book and skimming the last paragraph if the middle sentence hooked me. For Watchmen this translated to knowing right off the bat that some big weird scifi thing was involved, and there was a Moment between two characters right before then that packed a punch even without context. It took the longest time for either of these to become clear as I read proper, and once I realized who those two characters were... oh. O u c h.

Somehow I managed to not do this with V for Vendetta. I kinda wish it’d been the other way around, in retrospect, but oh well. Both were solid reads, though I liked Watchmen more.

okay personal anecdotes/context aside NOW for the actual review-y thoughts

Despite the Incredibles comparisons, I didn’t actually find Watchmen very similar, nor would I call Incredibles a retelling. In Watchmen, “superheroes” are outlawed and all, but there’s like... two characters with actual powers. One of them is just “I am really smart (and have remarkable reflexes, but then so does Vendetta guy and there’s no supernatural influence in that story).” Instead it’s an alternate history where something something Vietnam and Nixon and it’s the 80s, and jesus christ was the Cold War “we could literally blow up any day now” atmosphere palpable.

There were definitely a few moments where I’d read a scene and be like, “shit, was this really what the 80s were like?” both because A) hey, we almost DID blow up the goddamn planet, and B) general fraught “everything’s fucked, world is ending” atmosphere still rings too goddamn true today. The ending also leaves me with a distinct sense of dread, like that’s the shit that’ll need to happen for us to get our shit together, if only for a little while.

It’s not a happy story, no. Having read a few of the aforementioned scholarly articles on Watchmen, I guess this kicked off the current generation of gritty superhero comics--even though when Watchmen came out, it was revolutionary in NOT being a technicolor happy-go-lucky hero-always-wins moral romp. (Again, superhero comics ain’t my forte.) That said, Watchmen is clearly not being dismal and cynical just for the heck of it. It conveys this with the subtlety of a sledgehammer at times, but an overarching narrative judgment is thankfully absent, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions. Love me some moral ambiguity.

On that note, characters are well-drawn (both in terms of psychological profiles and actual illustration), and while I wasn’t inspired to get too deep into any of their motivations or the like, Rorschach was... something. His identity reveal was a little anticlimactic (as were... lots of the backstory exposition sections, in retrospect), but necessary. Twenty bucks says he’s autistic. I feel like there’s something to be said about Irish-American discrimination and Rorscach but that is by no means my area of expertise, so just throwin’ the thought out there.

Between this and V for Vendetta, Moore really likes social rejects turned masked vigilantes, huh? Vendetta frames V (Guy Fawkes mask dude) as more a symbol than a character; he has a backstory too, but not once is his face shown, and it works.

That said, I just found something kinda... lacking, about Vendetta. Maybe it’s the fact I couldn’t tell half the characters apart and spent most sections not focused on V and Evey wanting to get back to them. Like Watchmen, Vendetta is set in an alternate history (or, er, near-future given when the comic was actually written/published), but whereas Watchmen scatters historical details throughout the narrative via character development and intriguing tie-in snippets, Vendetta kinda just dumps them unceremoniously when needed. It’s... meh.

Well, at least I can say I know what the Guy Fawkes mask as a revolutionary/counterculture symbol originated from. And I did like the little identity twist at the end, much as I saw it coming. (By the way, is that “reports of my death were exaggerated” line from a different piece of media? I could’ve sworn I heard it before but heck if I know where; Google suggests Mark Twain but that doesn’t ring a bell.)

Also, while it could be total coincidence, I kinda wouldn’t be surprised if this influenced Naoki Urasawa’s Monster somehow. (Monster spoilers ahead.) For one thing my first impression of Evey was “fuck, that’s Nina Fortner in dystopian Britain,“ but both stories are set on a backdrop of genocide and feature a character who went through extensive... examination & later broke out in a plot that encompassed the deaths of nearly everyone involved. Said character also has a fucked up relationship with Nina/Evey that involves psychologically screwing with her in an attempt to make her see things his way. (Or, uh, I think that’s what Johann was up to? It’s been a while.) Fun stuff!

Watchmen ends with a very, VERY bittersweet reflection of humanity, and Vendetta draws the curtain on the spark of revolution. Both are impactful in their own rights but the first seems much more relevant today, at least to me as a contemporary American. Also, I can kinda see why Anonymous picked up the Guy Fawkes mask even though vigilante justice isn’t quite what V was going for.

Art-wise, though, Vendetta wins. Rather than cleanly outline everything it makes copious use of negative space and bold inks, foregoing outlines where color contrast will do, and I might mess around with a mimcry some time because got dang does it get that dramatic, noir-esque mood cross. (Watchmen does too at times, but not throughout the whole book. It’s also a matter of clean flats vs semi-blotchy watercolors.)

They are both firmly on my hypothetical list of stories to revisit a few years down the road, because why not, but even if I never get around to that I’m glad I read ‘em at least once.

I end this bulletpoint text wall by saying you should check both graphic novels out if you have a few hours to spare and are game for some challenging psychological thrillers; they earned notoriety for a reason.

Watchmen will take your faith in humanity and hold it over a pit of rabid dogs, but it’s up to you whether or not it drops. It has its gentler moments, but you’ll probably be reading for the themes and mystery above all else. Also, comic people take note--there are some great choices in the imagery and paneling. It probably is worth reading just for the visual storytelling.

V for Vendetta is almost more of a superhero story than Watchmen, hooking you on the identity of its central character but leaving on a universal political moral. Don’t let the smiley mask fool you--this one might not challenge your goodwill as much, but it will throw demoralizing events at you one after the other, for a payoff that holds greater meaning in the bigger picture than anywhere. Again, wasn’t my favorite, but you too can finally understand why Guy Fawkes masks seem to be a symbol of Chaotic Neutral (or Good or Evil, depending on political leaning).

Anyway, what do you think of my desktop?

11, 14, 17, 18, 20, 23

11- What do you envy in other writers?

The ability to write several scenes in a chapter without going off on tangents. I write way too much with too much detail and its an issue. Some writers can portray so much emotion in so little space and its simply not a talent I have. 

Also, everyone that doesn’t have dyslexia is a god to me, and I envy that greatly.

14 - At what point in writing do you come up with a title?

It varies, sometimes its the first thing I have, sometimes I’m scrounging up at the last minute, but as a general rule I usually have a concept and a few scenes - enough to establish the vibe - and then I’ll put a title to it. I’ll usually have a working title which doesn’t make the cut (ie. pas de deux was originally called “the dance of the sugar plum fairy” and soon or never was, for a while, “maybe, again” when the backstory was more important) 

17 - Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?

Yes. Even I perceive my work differently to me, because what it is in my head is very different to what it is when I go back and read it after I’ve had a lot of breathing room from it. Because I write so much - a lot of which ends up on the cutting room floor - I often don’t even remember what has been published into the actual story, so things people might think are probably more accurate than my memory of them. Though sometimes I get comments that make me go. that is incorrect. 

I also think people would be surprised how much exists around the stories and how much work and time I spend on things that are never seen. I have a lot of google docs and editing and story notes that will never see the light of day. I made a whole map for LA in MMIYB and for New York in pdd. I did a full painting for pdd the other day and create a lot of playlists. 

Another thing is that what I’m trying to say is often very deliberate within or without the framework of the story. 

18 - Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.

Yes! Many of them! 

A few of my favourites are: 

At the end of MMIYB, Christen and Tobin do NOT end up together. Tobin returns to Portland and Christen stays in LA, though a lot of the life changes outside of Tobin she makes still happen. The last scene indicates that Christen may go to Tobin’s last game in Portland, and therefore that they may still have a future together- but you don’t ever get to see them together. Figured people would kill me for that lmao 

An AU of pas de deux has Tobin go to the Paris Opera Ballet as a guest artist instead of Christen coming back to ABT, their history is still the same and so tension erupts

Another AU of pdd is that Christen is still at ABT when Tobin suffers the injury leading up to the beginning of the pdd that exists on ao3. She’s only a soloist and their history is not the same, but Tobin still has to tutor her. Its all around a much less weighty use of the ‘enemies’ part of enemies to lovers. 

There’s many scenes missing from the final version of soon or never which I’ll probably eventually posts as drabbles including - blow out argument over Christen keeping secrets, reveal of whats in the angry notes jar, Christen looking through her text messages with Tobin pre accident, Christen returning to the school she teaches at, more exploration of the state of their only alluded to economic issues. 

20 - Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

Thank you thank you thank you for asking this!!!! 

Something I hid in Soon or Never that made me feel very smart is that the way Christen regains her memories is foreshadowed in chapter three when they first return to their house. Tobin is mentioned as having a keychain with ‘John 14:26’ engraved into it. In the new international translation of the bible, this passage says: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

Christen’s memory is regained by remembering phrases and conversations that she had with Tobin - and the glimpses of memory she has in the last chapter, where she has an impression of someone speaking and, as the extremely unreliable narrator that she is, attributes the words to herself, are all moments when Tobin is the actual speaker. 

Other little things I’ve done that I’m proud of: 

Christen’s lipstick shade in This Christmas Is Ours Alone is called “one step ahead,” because Christen is one step ahead of Tobin in planning her proposal, and ultimately one step ahead in executing it

In Tobin and Christen’s heart to heart on her couch in MMIYB’s - which changes the course of their relationship entirely - Christen is eating the ben and jerrys ice cream named ‘unfudge our future’, because, you know, they’re unfuding their future 

Christen wears the shirt Tobin bought her to their dinner at the beginning of MMIYB, and Tobin is very aware of this, even if Christen isn’t 

In Soon or Never Christen describes the sheets as being “sort of coconut smelling. A tinge of spice.” and sleeps on the side of the bed that has the strongest smell of spice, because its comforting to her and so she assumes its her side. She later describes Tobin as smelling “like coconut sunscreen, her breath warm and spicy.” ie. Christen slept on Tobin’s side of the bed. 

There are a lot of clues for futures scenes in pas de deux, but since those scenes aren’t published yet I can’t talk about them much, but the openly passage in particular - and its last line - are something to hold in your memory. Christen’s cat Nurse is also named after a significant literary figure for a reason.  

23 - What’s the story idea you’ve had in your head for the longest?

If you go off last edited dates in my google drive, its called “decadence is a four letter word,” which I started in early September, which is the art curator/heiress/artist AU i’ve mentioned in passing before. Its actually being corralled into two different stories. The original concept of it is going to be put into an scify esque parallel universe story thats currently plotted out to be around 200k words that is on the list for after pas de deux, and the version of it that was inspired by an anons prompt a few months ago for a guerrilla girls/art curtator fic is becoming its own thing. 

Writing Questions!

These SciFi Writers Ain’t Loyal (to Science)

Taylor McCauley

22 February 2017

Gender, Race, and Science Fiction

These SciFi Writers Ain't Loyal (to Science)

“The important thing about the ‘science’ part of ‘science fiction’ is that it is a discourse built on certain logical principles that avoids self-contradiction; that it is rational rather than emotional or instinctual. Scientists sometimes like to assert that they deal in ‘facts’ and ‘truth,’ where fiction deals in ‘imagination’ and is a form of lying …” (Roberts, 9). Science Fiction writers often take advantage of the fact that they are writing about another world, and skip out on other important details that allow for explanation or constancy for the audience. Going without these key details confuses the audience, and leaves plot holes where there shouldn’t be any. In James Cameron’s Aliens and in Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien Resurrection, there are a surplus of inconsistencies in science: things that should have happened that didn’t, situations that should have had more explanation or more depth added, and information that is never given to the audience making certain situations seem too fantastical, even for a Science-Fiction film. Sandra Jackson and Julie E. Moody-Freeman define Science Fiction as follows: “Broadly defined, Science Fiction…as a genre is subsumed under the umbrella of speculative fiction, that which includes science fiction, fantastic fiction, horror, supernatural fiction, magical realism, alternative history, apocalyptic and postapocalyptic fiction, utopian and dystopian. According to Shade (2009), in speculative fiction the ‘action of the story can take place in a [society or] culture that never existed, on a world we know nothing of, or an earth that might have been or might be’” (Jackson, 2). However, even in a world we know nothing of, in a society that hasn’t existed yet, on an Earth that might be, we should see some roots of reality, some semblance of a foundation in science that matches with what the audience knows and understands. Through an analysis of Aliens and Alien Resurrection, it will be demonstrated that there are many things missing that must be filled in in order for the Alien quadrilogy to call itself science fiction.

The directors of the Alien movies focused too much on what they wanted to represent, and not enough on giving the audience much needed information. In her piece “You’ve been in my life so long I can’t remember anything else,” Pamela Gibson quotes Amy Taubin: “If Ripley is the prototypical upper-middle class WASP, the alien queen bears a suspicious resemblance to a favourite scapegoat of the Reagan era – the black welfare mother, that parasite on the economy whose uncurbed productive drive reduced hard-working taxpayers to bankruptcy” (Gibson, 40). One of the major examples of this relationship is in the fourth film, Alien Resurrection, when the Queen is giving birth to the new hybrid (Alien Resurrection, 1:34:45). Gediman knows that the Queen has human DNA and says that the Queen is giving birth for Ripley: “That is Ripley’s gift to her: a human reproductive system. She is giving birth for you, Ripley…” However, while the audience can understand and interpret that the only way they were able to perfectly clone Ripley was to include Xenomorph DNA (given the scene in the lab with all of the previous experiments), the film never once explains how it is that the Queen was able to survive, or possibly be cloned. The audience is left to guess at that, but they shouldn’t have to, unless 20th Century Fox is planning on making an Alien V, more than twenty years after Alien Resurrection came out, to explain clones more in depth. We can also clearly see how the Xenomorph DNA has impacted Ripley: she’s more erratic, more agile, and she is in-tune with the other Xenomorphs, able to smell them, sense where they are, and know what they’re feeling (all to an extent). The only resemblance of humanity that we see in the Queen is the birth of the hybrid creature. All other behavior (such as learning in Gediman’s seemingly Pavlovian experiment with the cold air at 32:10) seems to be innate.

In the first three movies, the Xenomorphs are more than just parasites: they have feelings, reasoning, they are calculating, and much more. For example, in Aliens, the Queen has been sitting attached to her nest for a period of time of which the audience is unaware. Then, once Newt and Ripley shoot, bomb, and set fire to the eggs, the Queen seeks revenge. Before that, though, Ripley is able to silently negotiate with the Queen and the other Xenomorphs: she looks at them, points her flamethrower at the eggs, and they back up. She lifts the gun, she and Newt back up a few steps, and they do not follow (Aliens, 1:59:45). Then when Ripley decides to set fire to the eggs anyway, the contract is broken. This is a very human reaction: it is not uncommon to hear of humans doing things they otherwise aren’t capable of doing to save their loved ones due to adrenaline, but the Queen here is not human. Despite her lack of humanity, she is able to rip herself off of her egg tube and chase after Ripley and Newt. That said, she is walking too easily for a creature who has been sitting for that long. We do not know enough about Xenomorph anatomy to make sense of this, as any human legs would have atrophied a bit, or at least would need a nice stretch before running. However, the Queen jumps up and races after the mother-daughter-esque pair immediately, her encumbrance seemingly only due to her size, rather than to her lack of movement. This could be due to something we are unaware of in the Xenomorph anatomy, but it is more likely laziness on behalf of the writing crew when it came to making sense of things: having the Queen chase them right away was made for a more convenient plot, and opened up for not only another fight scene, but also the possibility of Ripley’s “pregnancy” in Alien 3.

One of the Alien quadrilogy’s major faults is its lack of imagination with air locks and suction from space. It is rather convenient that the Xenomorphs stop bleeding acid before they hit the bottom of the ship. In the first film they reference that the acid eventually stops, and in Aliens, they even show the holes becoming uneven and eventually tapering off (Aliens, 40:30). However, at 41:00 in Alien Resurrection, they do not show where the acid ends. They simply show the many floors with seemingly equal sized holes. There should have been more damage to not only the clearly non-acid-proof room from the Xenomorphs’ fight, but also to the floor, and we should be able to see that. Instead the camera gives a view that makes it seem like the damage goes on forever, but that’s not so, as there is no large space vacuum at the bottom of the ship. That would have made for an excellent plot twist, but they ignore it altogether and never explain what happened to the rest of the acid or to the Xenomorph’s body. This is not the only example of them neglecting the ability of Xenomorph blood. In Aliens, dissecting the Facehugger does no damage to Bishop or to the dissection utensils, with Bishop’s short and insufficient explanation of “The molecular acid oxidizes after the creature’s death, completely neutralizing it” (Aliens, 1:20:00). While the science checks out for the most part (Chemistry LibreTexts, Figure #3), it doesn’t explain how they were able to dissect living Facehuggers and put them into glass tubes with water without doing damage. Later, Vasquez is shooting at the Xenomorphs in the vents without the vents being damaged much. Either she was missing every single shot (unlikely, and there was no visible damage from the gun, either), or James Cameron decided it wasn’t all that important to cause damage to the vents from the Xenomorph blood (Aliens, 1:42:20).

When it comes to air-locks and vacuums, one could easily write a thesis paper solely on the Alien movies and the illogical ability to breathe or do anything when there is a broken window or open door within the Earth’s atmosphere, let alone in space. To cite one specific example, at 1:45:15 in Alien Resurrection, when Ripley throws the blood from her hand at the window, even a hole that small should have created a vacuum strong enough to rip out the entire window. Instead, it only enlarges slightly once the Xenomorph-Human hybrid has hit the window and is being sucked out through it. Ripley is forced to watch this painful moment for what is a painfully long time for the audience. After the hybrid monster is shredded into pieces and is little more than Space Waste, there should be significantly more turbulence from the back of the plane than there is. Then, upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, there should have been many more problems than there were, as a result of the hole in the plane. When entering any atmosphere, there is so much turbulence and speed and so many issues adjusting to gravity that spaceships catch fire (Alien Resurrection, 1:47:15). There should have been some exchange of air upon entering the atmosphere, and much more issues breathing for Ripley the Clone than there were. Not only that, but upon steadying within the Earth’s atmosphere, all of the wind in the back of the ship from the window stops completely. This is not what happens. Broken windows and open doors are what causes planes to crash- even the smallest bit of turbulence from within a plane causes the plane major issues with balance, and the same would happen with the spaceship. Going fast through the air would cause at least a little bit of wind to enter in through the window, but nevertheless, none does.

While there are many more examples of inconsistencies and holes from these two movies alone (such as timing of travel, Newt being called “Newt” by Timmy at the beginning of Aliens even though she claims he’s the only one that calls her “Rebecca,” the transition (or lack thereof) of the Xenomorphs from looking for hosts for their parasitic offspring to mindless killers, the non-explanation of acid-blood in water, how fast Ripley learned to speak and comprehend sentences, how cryo-freezing works, etc.), it simply cannot all be gone through. The directors and writers of the Alien quadrilogy left out major pieces of information and missed some pretty important things that would allow for these films to be considered science fiction. Instead, they seem to have skipped over the science almost entirely, and focused on the fiction. Adam Roberts says of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, “Kafka never explains how his hero turns in to a bug: the metamorphosis is literally inexplicable, a physical impossibility. Indeed, Kafka isn’t interested in the change as such, which is why he does not feel any need to explain how it has come about. He is interested in the alienation his characters subsequently suffers, the reactions of his family to his new monstrosity” (Roberts, 4). Similarly, in Aliens and Alien Resurrection, Cameron and Jeunet seem to care more about the plot than about the “how” and “why.” As Roberts quoted Lance Parkin, “[Science Fiction] is a notoriously difficult term to define, but when it comes down to it, a book appears on the SF shelves if the publisher thinks that they will maximize their sales by labeling it as such” (Roberts, 2). The Alien movies made a lot of money as a Science Fiction series, and opening up the universe of Alien has more than likely resulted in much Box Office revenue for 20th Century Fox. However, had this been any genre other than Science Fiction and this little attention was paid to the details, these movies would have been a flop. Pamela Gibson says that “Alien Resurrection was almost ignored within filmic scholarship. There seems to have been some unexpected rupture between Aliens and Alien 3” (Gibson, 38). It is likely that this is because there was so little care with the science of the last three movies. Because of this lack of attention to detail and scientific/realistic possibility, it is difficult to justify calling the Alien series Science Fiction, but rather something along the lines of a “Fiction set in Space.”

Word Count: 2036

Works Cited

Aliens. Dir. James Cameron. Perf. Sigourney Weaver. 20th Century Fox, 1986. Film.

Alien: Resurrection. Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Perf. Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. 20th Century Fox, 1997. Film.

Gibson, Pamela. “You’ve been in my life so long I can’t remember anything else.” Ed. Matthew Tinkcom and Amy Villarejo. Keyframes: Popular Cinema and Cultural Studies (2001): 35-50. Web.

Jackson, Sandra, and Julie E. Moody-Freeman. The Black Imagination and the Genres: Science Fiction, Futurism, and the Speculative. Ed. Sandra Jackson and Julie E. Moody-Freeman. Peter Lang (2011): 2-6. Web.

Reusch, William. “Reduction & Oxidation Reactions of Carboxylic Acids.” Chemistry LibreTexts. Libretexts, 21 July 2016. Web.

Roberts, Adam. “Defining Science Fiction.” Science Fiction. Routledge, 2002. 2-9. Print.

In Bloom—Seasons of Taekook Prompts from Google Docs

{• Prompt –Ratings –Notes (for Genre, Remarks, etc.) –Tags (Optional)}

• Pilot Jungkook falls for new flight attendants Taehyung en route to Paris –Mature –not too much fluff and a little light angst –side Yoonmin

• I don’t want to fall in love with you in this life. –Mature –Angst

• based on black mirror’s Fifteen Million Merits. a story about an age where we’re strapped to our machines. jeongguk and taehyung find a way to beat all odds? maybe. –Mature –the genre would be scifi-esque?

• 19 days!au –Mature –Tae as Jianyi and Jeon as Zhengxi in an alternate 19 days universe (manhwa by Old Xian)

• Jungkook & Taehyung fake-dated for some reasons only both of them knew and their goodbyes were easy, no blinking-back-tears, and there were no hard feelings. That is, until they meet again in a stupid college party, with Taehyung looking like a Hotshot and Jungkook is just,,,, 😍 –Teen and Up Audiences –College!au pls –PLEASE MAKE THIS VERY FLUFF

• they’d been best friends for years - and maybe jeongguk had also known for a while that his feelings for taehyung were more than that, but he would never admit it. not even when their long friendship was on the line - 10 yrs stripped down to a 7 day roadtrip before taehyung leaves him for uni - a few cities away from him. but a lot can happen in 7 days. –Mature –OT7 go on a roadtrip and make some final memories together before they separate for different unis, and jeongguk doesn’t know how he’ll say goodbye to taehyung, scared of drifting apart from his best friend whom hes been in love with for years. –Roadtrip AU, Pining, Angst, slight HYYH AU from the run and butterfly prologue mv verse

• jeon jeongguk, the heir to his family’s corporate business, ends up in the shady parts of korea after his now ex-girlfriend broke up with him after refusing to join him to his family’s business party. lost and frustrated, he encounters escort kim taehyung, who he may or may not be falling for after he hires him to be his “boyfriend” for a week. –Mature –Basically a slight Pretty Woman AU with rich!Jeongguk and escort!Taehyung

• Alpha Jungkook was a delinquent in his previous school, he did all the bad things a badboy always do. His parents sent him to a religious school. Pissed because he always gets punished by the priests because of his rebels, Jungkook takes his revenge. He took the high priest only Omega son’s, Taehyung virginity and impregnated him. Taehyung gets severely punished, because pregnant without a mate is taboo. But abortion is not an option. –Explicit –Angst, Hurt/Comfort –top jungkook, bottom taehyung, alpha jungkook, omega taehyung, a/b/o dynamics, high school alternative universe, mpreg, male pregnancy, badboy jungkook, innocent taehyung, hurt taehyung, jungkook is bad at feelings, angst with happy ending, broken vmin, jimin is taehyung’s supposed to be mate, vmin is engaged since kids, but a jungkook happened

• Jungkook, a criminal, falls in love with a cute college student named Taehyung who had saved him one day after almost getting caught by the police. Jungkook doesn’t know what to do to get close to Taehyung, so he kidnaps him? –Explicit –Romance, Comedy –top jungkook, bottom taehyung, clueless jungkook, even more clueless taehyung, jungkook is bad at feelings, taehyung is dense, dumb couple, kidnapping, smut and fluff

• Taekook Planetarium AU One or both of them work at a planetarium and they meet during one of the shows. –Teen and Up Audiences –Fluff? Really open for anything… slow development? maybe 1 is interested in astronomy and maybe 1 just needs some cash during college? Anything sweet pls

• Taekook coffee shop au!! https://twitter.com/taegukkei/status/749102612067127296 –Mature –Coffee Shop

• Stripper! Tae or Jungkook while the other is an artist or photographer mesmerised by the beauty of the dancer on poles and lyras and slowly falls in love with him with every visit, every time the dancer looks him in the eyes, each time the light catches on his skin making him glow –Not Rated –Taekook pls~ and whatever rating you want it to be i would absolutely not mind some body appreciation while they do the do –Beauty appreciation

• Soulmate au inspired by “summer blue by batman on ao3” in which soulmates can be chosen by giving the other an object. And have some sort of power that’s shared between them too PLEASE just make me hooked on the story make me breathless –Not Rated –Make my heart bleed, happy ending , make them love each other to the point it hurts and make it as long as you want like i don’t even mind 100k stab me. And you choose the rating whatever is comfy for you

• Weightlifting Fairy!! –Teen and Up Audiences –Fluff & Drama

• Stan Twitter! AU Jeongguk is an idol and has an acct for other idols he admirers and Tae has one for him & they become mutuals but Tae doesn’t know it’s him. –General Audiences –Fluff or Crack maybe??

• you're my sister's boyfriend even tho everything about you screams gay af and no she's not home right now but you should totally come in and play with me that video game we both like do you want homemade juice i make killer homemade juice why yes that is a tattoo on my hipbone that says roses are red my name is tae this poem makes no sense microwave (note: taken from the internet) yolo y'know  – Teen and Up Audiences – strangers to friends to lovers i guess? also kinda angsty but with a happy ending. fluff. PINING SO MUCH PINING. god pls anything but pwp of mcd. humor-ish? hope you have fun ! kisses (esp to dara lu jesse case mae if they're reading this) xx 

• "Something went wrong during a surgery/procedure and when I come round you’re angry at me because I nearly left you"  – Not Rated –  Angst, Fluff, preferred if taehyung is the one getting surgery

• one character gets possessed/loses control of their powers and then another character - heedless of the danger - rushes forth to embrace them to try and snap them out of it – Not Rated –angsty and fluffy

• Jungkook is the emergency on-call doctor and taehyung is accident prone – General Audiences – fluff and ANGSTTTTTT but a happy ending

• “i’ve finally rescued you from that science lab that those scientists brought you to after they kidnapped you and oh God what have they done to you”  –Not Rated  –spy!au –kidnapped!taehyung

• jungkook proposing to taehyung and emotional smut afterwards – Explicit – just a cute imagine

•  taekook having their first fight/argument maybe?? – Teen and Up Audiences

• taehyung is a rich kid/celebrity and jungkook is his newly assigned bodyguard after saving him from a car accident! guns and fighting! bulletproof vests! jungkook being hella badass! smart taehyung getting kidnapped but managing to escape even b4 jungkook saves him!! yada yada, they fall in love! some angst here and there too with some sexy smut too ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) –Not Rated  –fluff? crack? smut?

• jungkook has the ability to rewind time and uses it to save taehyung's life, with subsequent consequences; a life is strange au, with changes to the plot – Not Rated – feel free to deviate from life is strange's plot, i'm just fascinated by the main concept

  • when jeongguk was a baby, he was gifted with obedience. ever since then, when someone gives him an order he's unable to refuse; a modern day ella enchanted au, set in university – Not Rated – please no dubious sexual consent/noncon 

• Vampire Taehyung is searching for his lost love and finds him reincarnated into teenage pop idol Jeon Jungkook – Mature – Romance – Reincarnation, supernatural au

• reincarnation au where they live through a few separate lifestyles but they never end up together happily !! – Mature

• a fic based off the little mermaod where either tae / jeon is a mermaid and comes up on land, falls in love etc etc but perhaps sth happens and they don't end up together ! – Mature – thank you!

• 'I accidentally ran into the hottest guy in school while he was flirting with the cheerleader and now he hates me for ruining his chances of getting laid but now he won't quit staring at me what the heck' – Explicit – college au – smut, dominant/top Jeon

• Taehyung swears he doesn't have a muscle kink- he has a Jungkook-muscle-kink and now he deeply regrets getting a gym membership with his best friend because he constantly gets awkward boners, and prays Jungkook doesn't notice – Explicit – Top/Dominant Jungkook, Submissive Taehyung,  Smut

• Taehyung, a merman, meets Jungkook, a human in line for the Throne. – Mature – Romantic with a lot of fluff, descriptive smut scenes, angst but with a happy ending – Smut, angst, dominant jungkook, fluff

• After 5 years of marriage Jungkook and Taehyung plan to adopt and discover the joy of being parents – General Audiences – Taehyung is super excited to adopt while Jungkook is nervous Have them interact with different kids until they meet one just as nervous as Jungkook and instantly click. Show bits of Taekook parenting from the child's early years till the day of the Child's wedding. A bit of comedy would make it even cuter – Established Relationship, Fluffy Couple, Parents, Comedy

• Kim Taehyung is a famous actor who's films have consisted of mostly melodramatic movies. (So basically he's kind of really soft???) He's looking to expand into other genres and he's offered a role in an action/crime movie as a detective/vigilante. For some reason the director is friends with real-life detective Jeon Jeongguk and asks for his help/consults him for his film. That's basically how they meet. Although other ways are ok too. They don't hit off well at first because JJG's kind of a jerk and KTH is just a little stuck up. – Explicit – (this prompt is actually inspired by something i watched on a drama called Goblin – movie!au, detective!au