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Xenofiction - Blog Posts
Concept: xenofiction sci-fi where the main characters are different alien beings. It’s all treated and framed as “normal” from both the audience’s and each other’s perspective, even when their behavior is obviously not something a human would do.
Eventually, we meet a human character, whose actual name appears to be “Smith the Human”, and who acts like aliens from mediocre pop sci-fi stories – like, someone goes “Oh, I’ve never met a human before!” and he responds by spouting random (technically-accurate-to-real-life) factoids about human culture and biology in a way that no real human being ever would, i.e. “Humans are social persitence hunters and apex predators – on our harsh homeworld of Terra, we evolved to form hierarchal hives or colonies, like your world’s Zoink-Ants or Frisk-Bees! We weren’t that fast over short distances, and so we caught our prey, not by ambush or by pursuit, but by simply walking, brisk jogging, and tracking our prey until the prey tired itself out, allowing us to catch it at our leisure!” He always maintains the same stilted but forceful tone of voice, devoid of any emotional content, and his facial expression never changes from “we didn’t bother to animate his face”-style dull surprise.
He wears American soldier gear and says “Humans are a Proud Warrior Race™!” without a trace of irony.
Now, one possible punchline would be that the protagonists eventually meet other humans, and it turns out that he’s the only human who’s Like That. However, I think that in order to commit to the whole “xenofiction” bit, you’d need to make every human completely identical, in exactly the same way that members of an alien species in pop sci-fi are identical. The way I personally would do it is,the loud-deadpan-weirdo routine is just an “unreliable narration” due to the perceptions of characters who aren’t familiar with humans; as a group, even if the nonhuman characters are like “Wow, they really are synchronized like a hive of Frisk-Bees!” or whatever, the humans behave exactly how an actual group of humans would behave in that kind of situation, if you read between the lines. (And, y'know, a squadron of uniformed soldiers with a CO in the background is inevitably going to act differently from a similarly-sized group of civilians; the nonhuman characters, and hence the audience, just don’t get to see how they are “normally”.)
The actual punchline is that after the “human” plot is resolved (maybe they’re antagonists, and the prior ramble about their biology proves to be a vital component?), there’s a scene where the viewpoint character is a human, and the whole situation is precisely reversed: humans look more diverse and talk like normal people, and all the nonhuman characters of each species are identical and do the loud-deadpan-weirdo thing.
Pokemon Fanfic Is Xenofiction
Okay that's a bit clickbaity but hear me out.
By "They", I mean "Pokemon" as in the magical animals that make up pokefics pokecomics, etc:
They (usually) naturally love battling
They (usually) love pairing up with humans (usually) in a platonic way
They (usually) don't mind Pokeballs
They (usually) cannot talk to humans using human language
They may have certain traits which makes certain environments hard for them.
Examples:
Frosmoth might have a harder time in summer.
Don't leave your Charmander out in the storm.
Joltiks need to feed off of static
We need more fanfic from the Pokemon POV which emphasizes and treats pokemon biology with the weight they deserve.
animal fantasy NEEDS to be gayer and transer so here are some of my queer xenofiction thoughts
attitudes towards homosexuality and/or transness differing from species to species, region to region; many opportunities to play with various cultural reactions when characters travel. there are some species where the concepts are well established in the culture (apes, dolphins, etc.) and are accepted, tolerated, considered completely normal, or even celebrated
“queer” means different things for different animals. for example, even though bisexuality is indisputably queer by human standards, it may not be by anthropomorphized bonobo standards since bisexuality is a cultural norm for them; meanwhile, exclusive homosexuality and maybe even heterosexuality probably would be considered queer for bonobos
sexually dimorphic species offer up many interesting concepts: transmasculine lion cubs dreaming of growing up to have manes; transfeminine deer experiencing gender euphoria when seasonally shedding their antlers; transmasculine birds gathering loose materials to cover their dull feathers with livelier colors
domesticated/tame animals, especially those that interact regularly with people, having a stronger concept of gender roles than other species do because of how much they’ve subconsciously absorbed from their human allies
please feel free to add on 🌈🐾✨
This thread about anti-indigenous racism in xenofiction is well worth a read (and some reflection).
Huh, I wouldn’t say that animals that live in groups make better protags than solitary animals, it’s more like the average writer doesn’t really go that far out of their comfort zone even when writing xenofiction.
it is time once again to think about Par%l:
the non-binary alien in Immortal Hulk in the next universe, who is the very last being in their universe and dares to ask the unspeakable horror who murdered the universe to explain why, and perishes to fling a desperate hope into the past to prevent it all from coming to pass
what we see of their species is genuinely very alien and they would make an EXCELLENT xenofiction protagonist; the whole chapter is, in fact, xenofiction, as they have never seen a humanoid form. you see them, in the narration, struggling to make sense of a bipedal figure, describing an arm being pulled back as an act of incomprehensible strangeness. The sadistic grin of the One Below All is equally unfathomable to them (as Par%l’s people do not have faces to emote with), and you get a real sense of dawning horror when it realizes that the monster that did all this… enjoys the suffering and pain it has inflicted.
what we hear described of their species is apparently reproducing in trios, in a fashion heavily suggested to be completely nonsexual; part of their story involves them trying to reconnect with a former lover, both of them affected by the loss of the third, that is heavily laden with the sense of hopelessness and despair that pervades the issue as all the stars in the sky have, literally, been broken.
they’re deeply inhuman, and drawn to be completely unrecognizable by any human standard, and nonetheless they are people in a very obvious way, and its a terrible tragedy what happens to them, and what they end up doing is hoping that something prevents this all from happening
A preamble to the live reading of Hunter’s Moon/The Foxes of Firstdark by Garry Kilworth
As a work within what I’m going to be calling the mythic subgenre of naturalist animal xenofiction (as coined by YouTube user Cardinal West on his excellent video detailing the history of the genre), mythic NAX for short, one of the primary appeals of a book such as Hunter’s Moon/The Foxes of Firstdark should lie in how the author incorporates real biology and behavior of the animals he’s writing about onto the fictional human-like society he’s constructing.
Thus, before we dive into the live reading on the blog, I thought it’d be good for us all to be more aware of actual fox behavior so that we may better appreciate the bits of real animal behavior incorporated into the text and recognize the artistic liberties taken by the author. I’m writing a short distillation of my preliminary research done on the following four webpages:
https://www.nwf.org/educational-resources/wildlife-guide/mammals/red-fox
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/red-fox
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/understand-fox-behaviour/
https://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/animals/article/red-fox-behaviour-the-social-hierarchy
Obviously, as a Warriors fan, I’m not too demanding about biological accuracy in my mythic NAX novels, but I still expect the authors to incorporate it in some way. The Erin Hunter team’s portrayal of a feral cat colony may not be completely accurate but it shows in places they are at least aware of the basics of how they operate.
I’m also not a biologist nor do I have any particular knowledge of foxes, so I’m doing all this preliminary research from scratch. Obviously, I’m not going to go super in depth or go into super academic sources. This is, afterall, being done for fun.
Distillation of my research unde the cut:
Keep reading
Nix Reviews: Legends of the Guardians: Owls of Ga’Hoole
Summary: A young barn owl and his brother fall from their nest and are kidnapped and enslaved by Nazi in all but name owls. The barn owl befriends a similarly enslaved young elf owl and the two escape and befriend a young great grey owl and burrowing owl and set off to find a nigh mythical group of owl nights to stop the owl nazis.
Based on the first three books of the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series by Kathryn Lasky.
Rating: 6/10
Sexual Assult Drinking Game: N/A
(+) Holy fucking hell is this beautiful animated and designed. They deserved the award that they won.
-those fight scenes! Pure excellence
-the music fits very well
-Owl City has a song in it and frankly, I like puns
-I generally don’t like high fantasy but I loved this
- War is bad but under certain circumstances, the right thing to do is to fight
- White Tyto supremacists and slavery is bad
- Snakes are good guys
- the visual worldbuilding is just lovely
(-) dear gods the pacing. Way too fast.
- We do not get Twilight or Digger’s backstories and their characters are exaggerated
- Glyfie doesn’t get her time to shine since much of the St. Aggies stuff just isn’t in the movie
-Bats are bad guys
- The movie hits only the most important plot beats of the books outside of the fights and doesn’t linger long enough to let emotion settle in
-The film is set in Australia and not N. America
Overall: It’s a beautiful, absolutely lovely looking film. But you’d probably like it better if you didn’t read the books and don’t pay much attention to ecology stuff. The pacing really does the whole thing dirty and would have made a better mini-series than a film. I recommend it purely on the visuals.
Humans Are Weird: Growing Up
You know how must animals don’t look that different when they are infants to adults? Yeah, that. But then we get to animals such as insects and frogs. As you may (or may not) know, bugs start out as these worm-like things called larvae and when there’re adults, they become what we know them as. Same with frogs, but instead of being worm-like, they start as the fish-like tadpoles. What if the aliens we encounter work just like that? What if they start out as puffballs, worm-like, or something else and become a humanoid or something. And when we show them out young, they might be surprised (Assuming all life on their planet works that way).
So a xeno and a human male where in a bar talking about their species and looking at each other‘s photos.
Human: “And that’s my niece, Holly.”
Xeno: “She’s pretty small for an adult.” “Never knew your kind can get so small.”
Human: “No, no, no, she’s still a baby.”
Xeno: “Really?”
Human: “Yes.”
Xeno: “Well, that’s interesting, I thought your kids looked way different.” “Just look at my kids.”
The xeno then showed a picture of two light green, round, fluffy orb-like cretures with no showed facial features.
Xeno: “These two are my children, aren’t they cute?”
The human then looks surprised.
Human: “Ah… I guess…” “Can’t believe your kind looks like that.”
Xeno: “I’m just as surprised as you are.” “Now can I show you more of ‘em?”
Human: “Sure, why not…?”
(Yeah, I know the “Xeno and human talking and stuff” part isn’t the best example of writing, but hey, I tried. Please give me feedback so I can improve.)
If you guys have an hour or two to kill, I highly recommend these two videos by Cardinal West on the Xenofiction genre. I have a far greater appreciation and understanding of the genre and it’s sub-categories thanks to him and his videos. These and his other xenofiction video essays are all so well written and entertaining and such a great resource for people wanting to get into reading or writing the genre.
When you hear about something that sounds like xenofiction/has critter characters but then you look into it and they're at most just humans with extremely minimal allusions in their designs to being bugs/foxes/cephalopods
(This isn't about anything in particular btw, I just love xenofiction and have previously been disappointed when hearing about media involving non-human characters, which I've then looked into and are disappointed to find said non-human characters still act like humans and never or very sporadically appear in a critter form smh)
God Animal-Episode 1: Our Friend Rebirth Horse (1st year anniversary)
A year ago today, I finished the first episode of my webcomic, titled God Animal.
It is a xenofiction-adjacent story about a pair of close fox friends, named Cat and Dog, attempting to survive the hostile world left behind after a cataclysm, from which a mysterious and destructive force is devouring all that remains. When it seems that all hope of survival is lost, the pair of foxes meet a strange deity-like being, who may hold the key to their survival…
You can read it here (do heed the content warnings before proceeding). Episode 2 has been in the works for a bit, a lot happened to myself and those close to me this year, so it will be done when it is done.
Regardless, I feel happy to have completed the first episode and commemorate the first anniversary of Episode 1. :3
Little alien worm design I did ages ago and forgot to post— whoops
I couldn't agree more, it's just worse warrior cats and the average person is not going to enjoy
Mini review of Clouded moon
I was curious about the story, but I just can’t find the right words to explain it.
The writing felt dull, relying too much on telling rather than showing. For example, the explanation of the character’s tragic backstory lacked depth—it was just handed to the reader instead of being woven into the narrative.
I also couldn’t connect with most of the relationships, like Wildfur and Spottedshadow. They constantly talk about how much they love each other, yet their bond never truly comes to life on the page.
As for the deaths, they were painfully predictable. Instead of feeling sad, I was just frustrated—it all felt like forced emotional manipulation rather than natural storytelling.
Their world is barely explained. Sure, it’s like Warriors but with different names, but if I knew nothing about Warriors, I wouldn’t feel invested in the story.
I shouldn’t have to pay for your Patreon just to understand the story you’re trying to sell me.
Tenelle, I love your artwork, but writing novels just isn’t your strong suit.
Avalon, seriously, man—why didn’t you say anything about the prose?