this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
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Worldbuilding

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Xenomorph XX121, commonly referred to as simply the Xenomorph, known colloquially as the Alien, and classified as XX121, is a highly aggressive endoparasitoid extraterrestrial species. The Xenomorphs are vicious predatory creatures with no higher goals than the propagation of their species and the destruction of any life that could pose a threat to them. Like wasps or bees, Xenomorphs are eusocial, with a fertile Queen breeding a host of subordinate castes. The creatures are known for their potent acidic blood and their pharyngeal jaws, although their biological life cycle, in which their offspring are implanted inside living hosts before erupting violently from their chests, is in many ways their signature aspect.

Aside from their repeated conflicts with humans, Xenomorphs have notably been associated with the Yautja, who know them as kainde amedha ("hard meat"). The Yautja revere the creatures as incredibly dangerous and thus highly worthy prey, notably employing them in initiation Hunts that serve to test young members of their society and mark their progression into adulthood

The Xenomorphs' design is credited to Swiss surrealist and artist H. R. Giger, originating in a lithograph titled Necronom IV and refined for the series's first film, Alien. The practical effects for the Xenomorph's head were designed and constructed by Italian special effects designer Carlo Rambaldi. Species design and life cycle have been extensively augmented, sometimes inconsistently, throughout each film.

Unlike many other extraterrestrial races in science fiction (such as the Daleks and Cybermen in Doctor Who, or the Klingons and Borg in Star Trek), the Xenomorphs are not sapient toolmakers — they lack a technological civilization of any kind, and are instead primal, predatory creatures with no higher goal than the preservation and propagation of their own species by any means necessary, up to and including the elimination of other lifeforms that may pose a threat to their existence. Like wasps or termites, Xenomorphs are eusocial, with a single fertile queen breeding a caste of warriors, workers, or other specialist strains. The Xenomorphs' biological life cycle involves traumatic implantation of endoparasitoid larvae inside living hosts; these "chestburster" larvae erupt from the host's body after a short incubation period, mature into adulthood within hours, and seek out more hosts for implantation.

Characteristics

Xenomorphs are primarily solitary ambush predators, although they have been known to adopt swarm tactics when acting in larger groups. Despite their voracious ability to kill, they often seek to take their victims alive to be hosts for more Xenomorphs; victims are taken to the Hive (or simply a secluded location if no Hive exists), cocooned and/or immobilized before being impregnated with a Xenomorph embryo. However, when their target becomes a threat or is deemed unsuitable for harvest, the Xenomorph will not hesitate to quickly dispatch the chosen host.

Appearance

Notably, Xenomorphs will alter their physical appearance during development depending on the physiology of the host in which they gestate – in all likelihood, this incorporation of physical traits gleaned from the host is designed to ensure the adult creature is better suited to the environment in which it will find itself.

Outwardly, they are encased in a tough mesoskeleton, lending them a skeletal, biomechanical appearance, and are usually colored in muted shades of black, blue or bronze. The outer shell is incredibly resilient, impervious not only to the creature's own potent acid blood, but also capable of withstanding some forms of small arms fire. Whatever organism a Xenomorph gestates within, they invariably possess distinctive, elongated, cylindrical skulls, but have no visible facial features other than their mouth. The carapace atop the head has been seen to vary, from smooth and vaguely translucent to ridged and opaque

Culture and society

Xenomorphs operate under a caste system, with groups of specialized individuals performing distinct tasks within the species. It is not clear to what degree these castes are subject to a social hierarchy, although certain Xenomorph types, notably the Praetorians and the Queens, clearly exercise some degree of control and superiority over other more common variations.

While individual Xenomorphs have been known to operate independently, owing to their tendency to reproduce rapidly and in large numbers they are more commonly encountered in groups and often likened to an infestation owing to their tendency to spread and consume all suitable host organisms in an area. As with many other eusocial organisms, Xenomorphs, particularly in larger groups, will create a central nest or Hive in which they will reside, often overseen by an Egg-laying Queen. Raiding parties will be sent out into the surrounding area to search for and capture more hosts, which will then be brought to the Hive and used to create more Xenomorphs. In larger infestations, smaller "satellite" Hives may be created, containing just a few Xenomorphs, allowing victims to be cocooned and impregnated even far away from the Queen herself.

Behind the Scenes

The script for the 1979 film Alien was initially drafted by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett. Dan O'Bannon drafted an opening in which the crew of a mining ship are sent to investigate a mysterious message on an alien planet. He eventually settled on the threat being an alien creature.

Prior to writing the script to Alien, O'Bannon had been working in France for Chilean cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky's planned adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic science-fiction novel Dune. Also hired for the project was Swiss surrealist artist H. R. Giger. Giger showed O'Bannon his nightmarish, monochromatic artwork, which left O'Bannon deeply disturbed.

Giger conceived the Alien as being vaguely human but a human in full armor, protected from all outside forces. He mandated that the creature have no eyes, because he felt that it made them much more frightening if you could not tell they were looking at you

A cultured Alien

O'Bannon's original concept for the Alien was that it was a member of an advanced civilization, an idea ultimately dropped in favor of a more simplistic, animalistic take. In his initial vision, the final form of the adult Alien was in fact part of a peaceful, cultured race who first had to pass through a period of adolescence, at which stage they were consumed with ferocious violence and aggression. The creature's incredibly complicated reproductive cycle would form the basis of a religion the species followed, involving the use of sacrificial hosts to breed more young inside ornate, ritualistic pyramids. After birth, the violent adolescent creatures would be tended to by the more docile adults, but when those adults were wiped out by an unknown event, the unborn children were left dormant for thousands or even millions of years, waiting for more hosts to arrive.[48] It would be one of these hyper-aggressive, untended adolescents that would stalk the crew of the Nostromo.

Aliens: Dead Orbit

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago (10 children)

New Megathread Nerds!!!

biblically-accurate-kitty

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Remember nerds just like in the old site, no current struggle session discussion here on the new general megathread, i will ban you from the comm and remove your comment, have a good day/night :meow-coffee:

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Wow im early - Have a meme

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Now YouTube has paid comments that get sent to the top

We are entering an inversion of the attention economy where instead of people paying to see you

You pay to be seen by other people

The mainstream internet is going to get drastically shittier in the next few years

Shit for the enshittification god

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

you can see income disparity on google maps by searching "amazon" and noticing which parts of the city have all the amazon lockers, and which parts have all the amazon warehouses thinking-about-it

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Office is doing a Harry Potter-themed group costuming for Halloween pain

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago

Getting cancelled for dressing up as a goblin banker.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Pretend to be a die hard Christian who's against witchcraft

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Honestly I'm thinking of reaching out to the very nice woman organizing it and be like this is not a politically neutral choice

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (11 children)

Pointed out in /r/DeProgram during a discussion about the Romanovs that rules lawyering about the kids ages echoes of creeper libertarian-alert libertarian-approaching shit and someone actually said that 16 year old isnt a kid and talked about age of consent . Fucking disturbing to see communists say that shit.

Like to be clear. I think killing the Romanovs was an unfortunate necessity under the circumstances I was merely protesting the rules lawyering about their ages.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (4 children)

A 16 year old boy is physically equivalent to 25 year old man in almost every way.

???

The type of shit cops pull out to rationalize brutalizing or even shooting teenagers.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I've never met a farmer who wasn't just at much of a petit bourgeois shithead as a landlord or "small" business tyrant. By the third time you get cornered hearing the same talking points about how no one wants to work anymore, but it doesn't matter anyway because your land is worth 5.5 million dollars now, you start getting a little annoyed. Modern kulaks.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

yeah farmers are in many ways the platonic ideal of a small biz tyrant. as someone who (a long time ago) used to work with them a lot, it's hilarious the disconnect between what they're actually like and what the squishy libs who frequent farmers markets conceive of in their heads.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago

I like the ones that are like "oh so you want big agro to..." yeah I don't give a fuck. Doesn't make a difference to me which of you rich assholes gets the cut fuck off

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Yo!

I’m recording this weekend! Send vibes!

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)

My aunt just told me that if she wasn't related to me she would be hitting on me

What the fuck how do I even respond to that

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Lmao ok so back like a decade ago I had a close internet friend I met through Survivor message boards who was a hardcore liberal, and arguably more to the left than me at the time. He had better thoughts on Israel than me for example.

Thing is, when 2016 happened he was all in on Hillary and absolutoly could NOT cope with the loss. He ended up going "can't beat em join em" and becoming a hardcore Trumpist. Last I had heard of him he texted me to say "I kinda like AOC though...".

But nope. He just got in touch with me and not only is he more right wing "nutjob" (his words somehow???) then ever he's moved to Utah and converted to Mormonism michael-laugh

Did i mention he's gay??? I asked him if he's praying it away lol.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No matter how improbable any political journey is, at least one American has gone through it lmfao

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's a good thing they never expanded on the origins of the aliens. That's so good, because revealing their origins would have undercut their incredible alienness and the "nothing is scarier" aspect of this horrible thing that emerges from nowhere to spread death and terror. So it's good we know nothing about their origins!

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Two communist nerds arguing about philosophy in a Star Trek meme community to the point where they're issuing personal insults and reporting one another is the most insufferable thing. Five day time out to both parties so they can touch some grass.

i feel seen by this star trek mod

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I made a meme once. I showed my dad, I said "Dad, look, this meme is about you, I drew you as a Chad! People all over the world are going to see this meme!" And he looked at it, and I noticed he started to get all misty eyed. And I thought that it was just pride welling up in him. But he shakes his head and just mutters "I don't get it, son." And I said that's okay, dad, most of my students don't get it either. But he just kept shaking his head, starring down at the meme and repeated "I don't get it." And that look of defeat in his eyes, that's what meme-illiteracy does to someone.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

The millenial dream: being on the spectrum enough that you get an r-slur pass.

Also, I got over saying that word by my early 20s but twitter is teaching me that a bunch of millenials are still acting like Bush-era teens lmao.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Fucked up to wake up and something that was really tricky on guitar last time you practiced just seems plain easier than before.

Im getting better? That doesnt sound legit.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Practicing anything for 10 minutes and sleeping is equivalent to like 9 hours of practicing without sleeping

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

If your car alarm is going off for no reason I think people should be allowed to break your windows and take whatever’s inside

Actually though car alarms should be fucking banned and forcibly removed from every car on the road, fuck you thinking you have the right to ruin my day with your loud noise on the off chance someone might maybe decide to take the radio out of your 2002 Camry.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Another meme in spirit of the season

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Another hour of work until I get to spend an hour getting home yes-honey-left

Then I drink some tea, make burnt chocolate covered pretzels, and dick around big-cool

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

my grandparents, whose diet is like 90% meat and potatoes, just complimented my tofu

sicko-wholesome

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Horrible, sad news: boy has to get out of the soft warm bed even though they're so, so comfy

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Note to self: Cook up some okonomiyaki sometime. that shit sounds delicious

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

how tf is "brouhaha" a real word

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

So another update on my dad, the problem is his kidneys, he's retaining water in his lungs which hinders his breathing. This is nothing new, it's a problem he's had for a while but it flared up again. So now he has to get another test done today and hopefully he'll be released tomorrow. Thanks for the good karma comrades.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Love it when people think they're being rebelious and tolerant for letting bigots have "free speech"

No my dude, you're letting bullies run your world.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Onion Article Headline: New "Snitches Get Stitches" program rolls out in some American cities allowing Americans to have their medical bills paid by doing police informant work

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I remember one of my friends in high school showing me a 4chan thread that was nothing but CP. He just kept scrolling and then looking back at me to see how shocked I was by what he was showing.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Saw a video of this twink car mechanic trying to get the lug nuts off a car with a wrench and just not being strong enough. Shit like that is just too darn cute top-use-words

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

everytime i see nineteeneightyfour I think it's robert downy jr in his iron man suite

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Critical suppory to Commander for biting secret service agents, but German Shepherds are still demonic Nazi dogs.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (6 children)

The dog who would've been a xenomorph in Alien 3

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