Inspired by various tumblr posts.
Humans quickly get a reputation among the interplanetry alliance and the reputation is this: when going somewhere dangerous, take a human.
Humans are tough. Humans can last days without food. Humans heal so fast they pierce holes in themselves or inject ink for fun. Humans will walk for days on broken bones in order to make it to safety. Humans will literally cut off bits of themselves if trapped by a disaster.
You would be amazed what humans will do to survive. Or to ensure the survival of others they feel responsible for.
That’s the other thing. Humans pack-bond, and they spill their pack-bonding instincts everywhere. Sure it’s weird when they talk sympathetically to broken spaceships or try to pet every lifeform that scans as non-toxic. It’s even a little weird that just existing in the same place as them for long enough seems to make them care about you. But if you’re hurt, if you’re trapped, if you need someone to fetch help?
You really want a human.
hold on a fucking second. delaware is a state?? i thought it was a river? or is the river more important than the state? why don't i know this? (i should mention i don't like in america, i'm just confused)
there is delaware (state) and delaware (river)
both are equally strange
the state is a tiny little cryptid thing
the rive is a monster that spans new york, pennsylvania, new jersey and delaware. also washington crossed it once and that was like kinda a big deal i guess. like crossing the rubicon in rome.
the state tries to me more important with its “im the first state!!!” bs (seriously its even on the fucking license plates) but we all know. its the river.
Thought-to-speech technology that gets hacked by people who want text messages from their pets while they are at work, only to immediately regret it because their pets text them the dumbest things, and the only way to get any kind of a clear image of what's going on is texting the other pets for cross-reference.
Like you get a text from your dog going "END IS HERE DOOM IS COMING URGENT URGENT SEND TEXT G-D HAVE MERCY, HUMAN COME HOME IMMEDIATELY", (you have no idea why the text translator has decided that your dog is jewish, but that doesn't feel important enough to look into or change) and before you do, you text the cat like "what's going on?"
And the cat replies "sunshine is turned off, window is cold >:C" so okay that's a clue. You've got a monitor lizard that doesn't do much monitoring, but will reply with whatever the lizard is feeling right now if you text "?" first.
"hwrmbglhlr the earth rumbles are sexy", replies the lizard. Okay, so dog panic, no sunshine, and the lizard is sensing vibrations. Oh, there's a rain storm overhead. Fuck's sake.
We need to talk about the character designs in Wildstar.
We need to talk about the character designs in all science fiction and fantasy franchises that feature non-humans.
Wildstar is a science-fiction MMO currently in beta, developed by Carbine Studios. The general thrust of Wildstar is something along the lines of Firefly, Star Wars, and Ratchet & Clank; not exactly a grimdark sci-fi thriller. The mechanical features look interesting and the art style, in and of itself, is really vivid—but what they’re doing within the style?
Well.
The NDA dropped on a bunch of Wildstar content and character creation videos are up. You can watch them all, but here I’m just going to focus on the Granok, Draken, and Mechari.
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This thread about anti-indigenous racism in xenofiction is well worth a read (and some reflection).
non-human trans characters who use different gender signifiers from us is sooo underrated. transfem bird person who thinks her colorful plumage means she cant pass only for every human she meets to be completely clueless. transmasc slime person who uses food dye to change themselves to bright orange, leading everyone they know to question how the hell slime gender works.
Hi! I'm trying to write a fic where the main characters, who are normally human, are now animals. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to keep them in character though, since certain things they could do before, they can't now (ie. no hands, can't do certain things humans can, etc.) I'd very much welcome any advice, since I'm close to deciding this story idea is at a dead-end. Thanks!
Is this a fic where humans are suddenly turned into animals and now trying to deal with their new forms? Or is this an AU where the cast just are animals and that’s the world that they live in all the time? I’d write those in very different ways.
If this is an animal AU, and that’s a very doable thing. Just think about animated films. Even though the characters are animals doing very animal things, they also maintain personalities that are familiar to humans.
If it’s a case of humans being transformed into animals, then they’ll need to spend time (and probably get frustrated) figuring out how to do things in their new bodies. No opposable thumbs means they’ll need to find another way to turn a doorknob, for example. No ability to talk means that they won’t be able to utter passwords for electronic locks.
I haven’t written this kind of fic before, so I’ll open up the floor to see who else can add thoughts here. This could be a really interesting challenge for you, anon, so I hope you don’t give up!
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.
Ok, so, as most know hobbits LOVE mushrooms, but what if they love ALL mushrooms, even the poisonous ones. What if a hobbit’s body is able to handle more of the poison and it doesn’t affect them at all. And they love it!