Second Contact / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page Second Contact.

Oboebandgeek99 04 Sep 2019 03:24

They say be afraid
You're not like the others, futuristic lovers
Different DNA
They don't understand you

You're from a whole other world, a different dimension
You opened my eyes
And I'm ready to go, lead me into the light

—E.T. (Katy Perry)

Seriously I made a gay alien romance playlist months ago for completely unrelated reasons and I was torn which song to use.

Edit: why didn't I just use the song that's obviously about having sex with an alien? anyway enjoy this link to a non katy perry version of the song

This started as "What are the politics of fucking aliens in ad astra?" and became… this. I hope you like it. As an easter egg, try and find all the space related names.

Edit:
Note for translators:
I never thought this would be translated so I never thought to explain alien gender so specifically, but seeing as there is a translation for this now, I might as well.

Throughout this tale, I refer to Zhetsvan, Exiald, and Yttilier using the English pronouns "They/Them," which are gender-neutral singlular third person pronouns. The reason for this is to express that whatever the aliens are in this story, they have a completely different conception of gender to us as humans that "man" and "woman" would not fit cleanly into whatever conception of gender their species has. This is (supposed to be) further illustrated by Orion's initial conversation with Beetle, who alternates between asking if Zhetsvan has an "alien puss" (i.e. vagina) and asking if Orion dating Zhetsvan makes him gay; they have a rough idea of alien biology but not in how it applies to sexual orientation. Nobody is quite able to figure out how to apply human gender to the aliens in any human language, and in my mind ortothan as a language does not have gendered language that translates into any human or alien language cleanly.

I understand this aspect makes translation difficult, as gendered pronouns across language are not universal, and neither are gender-neutral pronouns. For simplicity's sake, if you're translating into a language with incompatible pronouns, I'd recommend choosing one for each of the characters at your own discretion and maybe including a footnote or a comment in your translation post explaining the situation. Or, if you want to get the ambiguity of alien gender across, you could choose to switch between whatever pronouns would fit and make a note of that in a footnote or author's post.

If you have any questions regarding translating this article, please feel free to ask me!

Translations:
第二接触 on SCP-CN translated by Chen XX with help from Rachud
Segundo Contato on SCP-PT translated by L200

+ show meme

7:37 PM <Dyslexion> I can't believe the foundation is the fuck police

Last edited on 16 May 2020 02:02 by Oboebandgeek99 Show more

Rabes Opinion

Einer von Rabe 15 Sep 2019 06:36

I like it. +1
I had fun imagining all the scenes, especially what the alien family looks like.
So, are they not only the first interspecies, but also homosexual couple?
I like that the impression was created by Beetle’s naive question that is not clear where to put. Not that it is important/possible.

P. S. That this is the "second contact" makes total sense to me.
P. P. S. Now I want to write about space love to.

---

Gruss
Rabe

Re: Rabes Opinion

Oboebandgeek99 17 Sep 2019 01:30

I'm really glad you like it and took the time to tell me so! I left the alien species vague for many reasons so it's really up to the reader to decide what species the aliens are or what they look like. The tale in many ways is somewhat allegorical to historical and even present-day (ugh) discrimination against couples (interracial, lgbt, etc), but it's hard to say if they're a gay or queer couple because in my mind alien gender doesn't really map onto the human gender binary, and maybe how sexuality is typically spoken about would be completely different (but for the record, Rion would probably identify as pansexual).

And you should totally write about space love too, take it from me, it's a lot of fun!

Re: Rabes Opinion

Einer von Rabe 23 Dec 2020 19:24

I really liked the fact that it wasn't clear. This forced the reader to concentrate on the characters and plot. The beauty of SCI-FI is that you can address these issues by changing the situation without changing the question. (Eeh, it sounds so two-dimensional, but I hope you understand what I mean.) Also the point that our culture and the way we treat our bodies does not automatically apply to other life forms is very real and makes it more interesting to see how we interact. This reminds me of "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet", a fantastic book that I only recommend to you.

I'm sorry I'm so late replying, but I swore I wouldn't write a reply until my story was finished, which it is now after more than a year! I'll try to translate it and put it in INT and maybe EN.

---

Gruss
Rabe

Last edited on 31 Jan 2022 20:08 by Einer von Rabe Show more

ADream 17 Sep 2019 07:19

This was a very enjoyable read, with good characters and an enjoyable narrative. The idea itself is also quite interesting and I feel it was explored well.

Also, I really liked the smaller-scale focus of this tale, in contrast to the grand and bombastic feel of many other articles in this canon (which are still very fun). Wouldn't mind seeing more of this kind of content in Ad Astra.

Lunardog15 10 Oct 2019 00:28

I never thought I would read a story about alien romance on this site, then again, this community is super creative.
Pleasantly surprised :D
+1

fireBranded 18 Jan 2020 00:40

Quite beautiful, I really enjoyed it!
+1

DrSteveCampbell 25 Oct 2020 02:58

Damn ethics commitee.
+1.

Jakelope13 13 Nov 2020 23:41

Really enjoyed the story, especially the presentation of…. confusion? which would surround either the first, or one of the first, inter-species romantic relationship. While I'm not a fan of how the Foundation are presented, it's entirely believable. After all, all the Martian Ethics Committee head wanted to do was prevent a potential diplomatic incident. And she succeeded in doing so, by creating a different (and much, much thornier) diplomatic incident.

+ One question, though

Was Valentina acting on her own? It felt like she was attempting to head off what she though would be a potential nightmare, but in reality was completely overstepping her authority in not conferring with the rest of the Ethics Committee on this matter. Part of what was reinforcing the idea was what the Foundation Agent said to Orion. After all, you'd think even the average agent would be at least smart enough to not speak like that to someone who would become the center of social attention in the extremely near future.

Firm +1 from me.

Oboebandgeek99 11 Dec 2020 02:51

Yeah, the Foundation tends to be a bit darker/less ethical in aapa overall, so i decided to play with that a bit.

+ with regards to your headcanon...

You're getting close to what I intended. I didn't discuss this with nat bc I wasn't sure if I'd revisit these characters, but I have some opinions on what the deal is with Valentina.

Isn't it kind of weird how they never saw any other members of the ethics committee? Even the voice that called the parents into her office was specifically described as being inhuman.

What a weird detail to point in a collapsible for no reason.

Thanks for the upvote and thoughtful commentary!

(account deleted) 29 Mar 2021 20:21

Staff notice: this user has been permanently banned for sockpuppeting and ban evasion.

Last edited on 01 Apr 2021 06:42 by Zyn Show more

penultimateApogee 07 Aug 2021 19:25

this was SO good! huge huge fan of your navigation of gender and sexuality and messy young adult relationships. +1, +20 if i could. will be recommending and probably rereading for a while :)