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Help me, oh flist!
First off, I needlessly wasted some of my ANZAC day off work worrying about the doctors' office message. It took me a while to track down who left it and what it was for, but it was all about a temporary prescription I got a month ago for an infected toenail. Dammit, practice nurses, I was thinking it was something serious. I'm not really annoyed though; I'm too relieved.
Anyway.
About this finishathon fic I have to write (which is B7-free incidentally). I need some ideas for aliens who showing their presence fairly subtly and mysteriously in WW1 England as then I can figure out what the characters are going to, you know, do. Hit me with anything you like, no matter how odd - well, the odder the better, really.
[Edit] I have my aliens now and lots of ideas for things they might do. Thank you all, I knew you guys would be able to help.
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(goes away to think some more)
Oh, I just realized this was a stupid idea because you said WWI not WWII.
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They get calmed down by the sound of Gregorian chant and similar harmonic polyphany.
And get agitated by the sound of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver (which, you must admit, can be rather irritating)
(look, you said the odder the better)
They possess people, and thus Sherlock's observations are vital, because he can see the signs of the person's original habits, and see that they have suddenly changed.
The aliens don't necessarily have to be evil, just out of their depth.
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I got so many wonderful suggestions, like these, that I think I'll set it for this week's b7friday topic. :-)
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Weird aliens... How about aliens turning the past into black-and-white, just like the old photos and films? Or at least subjectively so as some alien influence makes people lose the ability to perceive, or even imagine, colours. Subtle clues could be people being confused about anything that requires discriminating between different colours, obliviously wearing clothes or decorating their homes with odd or clashing hues...
What the aliens might be getting out of it... Um. I'll leave that to you. Perhaps camouflage? Or just some strict sense of aesthetics? Heh. (Well, you wanted odd. :-)
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This
http://www.barwickinelmethistoricalsociety.com/8870.html
Gives the whole story of Zeplin bombing and a brief read through says not only London was bombed and yes they did have the Blackout.
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I would have gone for something along the lines of pale, humanoid aliens who feed on pain/misery/human suffering, attracted by the war. But then what they would be doing at Downton rather than elsewhere would be a bit of a mystery. Or maybe they are aliens who are trying to hide out there, out of the way from somebody?
To keep up with today's theme, Evil Giraffes! (However, they are not so subtle.)
Hmm. they could have fashions that are a few years too advanced, or out of date, if they are time-travelling aliens, who did their research not-so-well. Wear morning wear in the evening or outdoor clothes indoors; not know how to eat at a posh meal, such as Downton, or be lacking in knowledge of who's in the Cabinet or something.
I don't know...
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And I think I'll go with post-war Downton since they're more domestic. :-)
eeeeerie
Telephones were still new technology and neither well-understood nor widely distributed. The telephone might ring, and when picked up, there's no-one there, and nobody on the switchboard. Or faint sounds of the war can be heard for a moment, followed by silence.
You could also mess with the electricity -- that would be another eerie phenomenon with fine implications for drama. I think older houses still had older forms of lighting, so you have the chance for that to vary by location.
Unexpected odours, shifts in temperature, half-heard sounds, odd impressions in the peripheral vision -- if there's someone in your human cast who believes in ghosts (which was very common in the UK in that era), they'll think it's ghosts and not aliens.
Another very eerie event would be if an alien-passing-as-human had specific information about the war that didn't come through normal channels. "Your brother's fine. He wrote you a letter yesterday, and it will get here tomorrow."
Re: eeeeerie
Re: eeeeerie
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People who have the not-quite-right 'voice' for their class or station, as if they've been copying someone but haven't quite learned it right, but it's JUST wrong enough to grate on someone who lives then and knows...
People whose skin is just that little too cold and too clammy... even through gloves.
People who make excuses never to eat or drink (not even tea)....
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The aliens are fascinated by the every day objects everyone takes for granted.
Fingers are elongated, slight points to ears, in spite of purportedly being English their accents are off, eyes more oval than round.
Have an odd sense of humour? Or they can do the Midwich cuckoo thing, what one knows they all know.
Pity it has to be WWI, aliens posing as evacuees would have been fun. :¬D
However I suppose you could have "strange children", especially if no one wonders where their parents are as they are using mental influence of some kind.
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How about aliens who seem to fit in but are always asking questions that a child might, such as 'why is the grass green?', etc.
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