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The “talking animals that have culture/societies” genre of books

(Edited the original post to include the bigger list)

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

I bet octopuses think bones are horrific. I bet all their cosmic horror stories involve rigid-limbs and hinged joints.

Ok but, imagine a xenofiction story where the main characters are "feral" domestic animals (that have run away from home to live in the wild for some reason), but instead of romanticizing their experience (demonizing captivity in the process) they show all the shit they have to deal with because they are not animals designed to live "free" and how there is no place for them in the nature anymore.

Or I don't know if there is already a story like that, btw.

Whenever I see a post on tumblr suggesting aliens don’t have gender, I always think–‘but what if also the reverse. What if aliens also have some fundamental social construct we don’t’.

Like, they come and meet us and they’re like ‘hey this is an awkward question but what’s your gooblebygark?’

And we’re like what.

‘You know, the… the thing. Your goobledygark. The thing that dictates whether you’re gnarfgnoovles or brubledoopes’

What. What. What the fuck, those words don’t even mean anything??? What are you talking about?

‘Look, your ridiculous human languages don’t seem to have the words for these! But they’re totally a thing, they’re like, fundamental aspects of social life for our species, just… just let us lick you so we can know what verb tense to use when we speak to you.’

What does one thing have to do with the other??? That makes no–

‘UGH, nevermind, you’re totally brubledoopes, I can just tell, I don’t even need to taste your bacterial skin colonies.’

And then another alien overhears and is like ‘holy shit, you can’t stereotype like that, that’s SO NOT COOL’

‘yeaH BUT THEY WON’T LET ME LICK THEM’

This guy nails it right on the head.

Check out his content, folks! He does incredible work and it is criminal he has so few subscribers. 

For aspiring writers of Xenofiction, I IMPLORE you, do NOT write like this. Note Cardinal’s SAGE advice, read from the best writers (Subjective of course, but still) and take a leaf out of their books. 

I have realized that ironically, while the cat is one of the most known and loved animals/pets. The Wildcat still lingers in the shadows and is a very little noticed animal. Especially in the popular media.

We need more wild cat media, not just domestic cats, because those are all I see.

(And I'm referring to the "Felis silvestris", the others at least people can spot them).

And it seems that people have forgotten or do not realize that the cats we know are domestic animals, that have little or nothing to do in nature (I include stray/feral cats, because they are still domestic cats) and that their wild relative/ancestor exists and is still alive.

It's not like with dogs, there are dog media and there are wolf media, people know how to differentiate one from the other. But what about cats, can you locate any popular stories where wild cats are even in the wild (TRULY wild, not feral domesticated ones)?

And it's kind of sad, wild cats deserve to be noticed and recognized. Sadly many of them are in a vulnerable state and are disappearing.

I would like to see a xenofiction story with wild cats living their lives, hunting hares, taking on lynx, living in wild territory, doing things of their species that emphasize how they are different from their domesticated descendants.

Although I doubt that something like this will happen for a long time, it is one of those cases where you just have to say "If I don't do it, no one else will".

CHAOS CONTROL!!

- for the Chaos Creators' Enemies to Allies Zine!

What is 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!