Aim for the Stars
is a sci-fi webcomic by MoringMark.
Doomed to grow up and die on a colony spaceship in the middle of nowhere, 14-year-old girl Kate is trying to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a space pilot, and explore the Universe.
Tropes:
- After the End: In the universe of the show, the Great Offscreen War destroyed Earth and rendered Mars all but uninhabitable. The S.S. Heart was built to try and ferry some of the survivors to a new solar system to rebuild.
- Alternate History: In-Universe example. The Earth-Mars War lasted 30 years instead of three years.
- Animated Actors: There's an "actor-verse" that runs on the assumption that "Aim for the Stars" is an in-universe show that the characters are all actors in.
- Bizarre Alien Biology:
- Venusians can swap brains due to a powerful Healing Factor and their whole bodies basically being bundles of neurons, allowing them to exchange knowledge and memories.
- Plutonians all sleepwalk due to their ancestors needing to hunt constantly for food, and can eat anything above 40 Kelvin. They also have three brains but tend to only use one at a time, a camouflage ability, spit radioactive acid, and are, like certain species of Earthly jellyfish, immortal via the ability to revert to their embryonic stage.
- Hedge's species is from Enceladus, and they're basically Rock Monsters that not even neutrons can penetrate, and they seem to get all their energy from sunlight, with their "faces" being something they draw on. They also have what appears to natural features similar to ties or bow ties on their necks, which seem to be distinct between individuals.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Kate's parents were pilots who apparently died when they investigated an extrasolar object. Kate obviously misses them very much.
- Extreme Omnivore: Plutonians can eat anything above 40 Kelvin, and have a particular fondness for eating rocks.
- Generation Ships: The S.S. Heart is this for its human passengers, though the Martians are apparently Long-Lived enough that this isn't so much the case for them.
- Great Offscreen War: One between Earth and Mars in the backstory. In the "actor-verse", it lasted three years, but in the show's universe, it lasted thirty years.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Grumpy's uncle refers to Dr. Frank as a Venusian when Grumpy tries calling him for help, when Grumpy had never mentioned his name or species, cluing Grumpy in that he's behind the attack.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: Dr. Frank’s actor is nicer than his character. He even does standup!
- Resurrective Immortality: Plutonians are immortal through the ability to return to a younger stage in life, not unlike certain species of Earth jellyfish.
- The Unsmile: Martians cannot smile and Grumpy's actor produces one of these trying to make a smile.
- Too Fast to Stop: The S.S. Heart is powered by an Earth-mass artificial black hole, and it moving through space is basically due to its gravity pulling it forward. They once had to nuke a rogue planet into oblivion because it was in their way and they couldn't really change course.
- What Could Have Been: Mentioned a couple of times In-Universe for the "actor-verse":
- The original premise of the show was called "Scoot!", and would have had Grumpy and Kate traveling through time to Set Right What Once Went Wrong throughout Earth's history on a scooter, but the two Martians behind the show realized that they didn't know enough about Earth history for it to work.
- Kate's twin brother Kit was originally going to be part of the show as well, but he had to leave the project due to being too busy. He still shows up in "actor-verse" strips now and then.
