Lepur Says - Blog Posts

I think for me, the hardest part of writing xenofiction is striking the perfect balance between sapience and animality.

Because really nature is so variable and so strange in its "rules", but many times we are not aware of it. Sometimes we see animals and their worlds as one thing and ignore all their capabilities, all that can be and will be.

The type of story you want to make can also enter a little bit, realism doesn't matter too much if your story doesn't pretend to be one (or in any case go for a more fantastic side than real). On the one hand you have stories of not entirely sapient animals (White Fang, Wild Animals I Have Know, Bambi etc), on the other hand stories that are already entirely fantastic and/or anthropomorphized (Warriors, Redwall, The Jungle Book etc) and those that try to mix both concepts (Watership Down, Gahoole in its beginnings, among others).

For my part, although I have in mind a couple of more fantastic and "cheesy" ideas, my xenofiction is mostly based on the real side of things, I strongly believe that animals themselves create thousands of amazing stories, stories that happen in front of our noses but that we are missing.

So, what I'm referring to with this. It's that we are usually left with only one idea of what animals do. We have those who believe that animals are like in fairy tales where they are all friends where there is peace and love, and then there are those who see nature as a gore horror movie where there is someone dying every second and everything is infinitely horrible and morbid.

And, it is not like that. Animals may not be complete friends all the time, but neither are they machines programmed to just follow an order and be devoid of feelings. It goes far beyond all of this that we as humans have learned. That's why it's so wonderful.

For example, many people know that Capybaras are incredibly calm animals that seem to get along with a lot of wildlife, and they do. But also, among them there is also aggression, male Capybaras fight even to the death just to dominate a territory. They are also hunted by other animals such as pumas, jaguars and crocodiles.

And even with all that, you can see a Capybara enjoying life with his species, passing through the territory of crocodiles without any of them being interested in killing him and even climbing on the back of one to cross streams.

So, you really don't always need to give animals human values or morals in order for them to "get along" or "have peace". They are much more than harems, infanticide and reproduction. They are beings that in their own way feel and think, can fight and at the same time, have peace.

That is all.

You, a lover of xenofiction/animal stories who is truly interested in proper research and natural representation, with projects of your own in mind.

Let me tell you, if you read this, that I love you and will be willing to sell my kidney in order to support you.