kinda tired of “human” apparently being the endgame goal for all non-human entities. why is calling them “human” the highest praise they can receive in fiction. angels, demons, robots, aliens, etc. becoming literally human or being as close to human as possible is always considered the pinnacle of personal emotional achievement or something. it makes me uncomfortable.
why is there so much fiction that claims angels and robots cannot TRULY know what “human” experience is like until they themselves are human?? why do you think non-human entities can’t be passionate about music or art until they’re human. what part of these activities strikes anyone as exclusive to humanity in the first place. literally what the shit is that entire set of tropes and themes
using non-human limbs to show a character’s expression is fantastic— fur bristling to show anger, big elf ears drooping to show sadness, tails swishing to show joy— but using non-human limbs as the only way to show a character’s expression is even better. a calm, stoic facade, their anger betrayed only by bristling fur. insisting they’re fine, but their ears are drooping. pretending they don’t care for hugs, but their tail is swishing madly.
I truly hate the word "unalive." There are so many other euphemisms that fictional Italian mobsters worked so hard to provide you with and you just ignore them.
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 🌈🐾✨
CHAOS CONTROL!!
- for the Chaos Creators' Enemies to Allies Zine!
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!
I'm obsessed with pokemon doing just. weird animal things. A chatot trying to fight itself in the mirror. Flygon being a large weird lizard. Absol getting its scythe/horn stuck in things and needing to be rescued. Holding a torchic and moving it, seeing its head do the chicken thing. Furret being an absolute menace to society and stealing your socks to nest. Mr. Mime putting barriers around its food as a form of food guarding. Ninetales sleeping with its head tucked under its tails. Zigzagoon snuffling through the trash.
Xenofiction stories that add the negative impact of invasive introduced species and how native animals react and deal with them are an absolute Top Tier for me.