Awhile ago I was watching a let’s play(?) Podcast(?) using the Aliens tabletop game system. During one of the sessions, the players and GM joked about a keyboard being in Fly Agaric, like it was the Dvorak keyboard from hell you’d have to sit and really think hard to remember how to use. Wanting to know what they were talking about, I stumbled into this typography blog which did explain the history of that keyboard prop, but also goes into detail on any prop with text on it, some subtle foreshadowing, and even some translation issues that might be plot-relevant. It also talks about references to other films and ways Alien influenced scifi movies that came later.

Talking about Space Sweepers recently got me thinking about Alien/Aliens props and that reminded me of this. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

By the way, which Alien stuff do you consider cannon? There’s enough of it that most people I’ve talked to seem to pick and choose. Personally I go: Alien, Aliens, Alien Isolation, then these two tabletop podcast/video series.