Random shower thought occurred to me...in one of the latest chapters of Lois Lane's Night out ( https://chyoa.com/chapter/Xenomorph-Egg.422150 ) she's about to have an intimate encounter with a xenomorph. Didn't occur to me until just now, but would this break the site's rules on bestiality (in which case I shall have to write around that), or are facehuggers okay as long as there isn't any gore?
Harkness test time! Do xenomorphs possess human-level intelligence? Not at this stage. Do they have the capacity to consent? Not really, they can't talk. Is it an adult? Not really. Facehuggers are, what, a larval stage? Test results: Probably bestiality, possibly pedophilia. Write around it. More fully-developed xenomorphs may be okay, though.
Facehuggers are kind of ovipositors on legs, which is where it gets weird. They're definitely sexually mature (the whole point of the facehugger form is procreation), but not sapient. So I don't think pedophilia applies, and normally consensual sex would be out the window (they're nature's little rape machines)...but yeah, I'm on the fence.
If they're just ovipositors on legs, they're not intelligent enough.The question (no matter what Nemo would say) is not "is there consent?" but "is there capacity to consent?", and given the lack of intelligence or ability to speak, the answer is no.
I'm not at all the ultimate authority, but I'd put them in the same category as tentacle monsters (which is a creature type that I have specifically seen approved by admin). They are designed for sex/egg laying. There's not really enough intelligence to molest/rape as there might be with an animal, no issues of consent or unequal relationships on their part, they are a fictional sex object doing what it is designed to do.
Point. Robots should be fine. If they're built with human intelligence, there's no problem, and if they're not, they fall into the "sex toy" category.
In case it wasn't clear, I was saying its probably, as far as I can tell, safe to write in facehuggers. Ask an admin, though. I'd imagine robots of all kind are fine, simply because... I mean, maybe I'm being robo-prejudiced, but is bestiality a concern there? I don't think so.
Do they procreate themselves? Is it "sex" if they don't? plants or animals? Does rule 18 apply to the Harkness test as well?
Facehuggers would have to be sexually mature because they lay eggs. Also. Wasn't like the entire franchise the director doing a metaphor for male rape or something? I know I read that somewhere and he was quoted on it. By xenomorph standards, consent isn't necessarily a concern of theirs. But by Harkness test, whether or not they can consent is different. That being said, if you are dead set on it, I think it's possible to take some artistic liberties with them.
So, the basic solution I came up with: https://chyoa.com/chapter/Cunthugger.429041 is that the "aliens" are actually biomechanical drones designed and built by Lex Luthor and piloted by Mercy Graves...but for what nefarious purpose? To get into Lois' knickers, for one thing. So, a bit of a headfake, but avoids the bestiality angle, since it's a human-piloted robotic sex toy. I might do something a little different for the other option.
Solution number two: https://chyoa.com/chapter/Black-Goo.455813 No xenomorph == no bestiality. Of course, it means the Daily Planet's star reporter just jumped naked into a bunch of mutative goo, but that has its own inherent possibilities.
Yeah so the, "It's a robot," and, "It's a shapeshifter," workarounds were already posted. Or you could just simply write, "It has sapience and consents."
