Batblog

Trend Buckin' Season

I've been floored by a nasty migraine the last couple of days, so I've unfortunately not been able to get much actual story writing done (I'm currently working on finishing a Mythryn-related short story called Shattered Gold). I still want to have something to show for today, though, so I figured I'd pump out a blog entry instead.

So, today's topic is another animal story-specific one. As I'm sure you're aware, animal stories tend to draw from popular stereotypes when it comes to the characterizations of all the different animal species. You know; rats are dirty and selfish, cats are snooty, foxes are sly and sexy, crows are creepy and/or thieves, owls are wise, dolphins are cheerful and heroic, etc. etc. These are the archetypes that have been with talking animal stories ever since the days of Aesop's Fables, and - as you can probably see if you've read my short story, Starwake - I aim to move away from those stereotypes with my Mythryn stories in favor of more realistic depictions. There are plenty of reasons for this; it's a good way to differentiate myself from the animal stories have come before, it allows me to perhaps teach people a little about the animal world and garner some respect for under-appreciated creatures, and it should allow me to create more nuanced and believable characters from these animals.

So, in that spirit, here are just a few of the animal species you can expect to see in my Mythryn stories and how my depictions of them will differ from their usual popular depictions:

-Crows: Ah, yes, the star of the story. Crows in fiction tend to be depicted as creepy and evil or thuggish and thieving at their worst, or as bumbling and stupid at their most positive. The reality is that crows are incredibly intelligent and sociable animals. Especially notable is the New Caledonian crow (which is what Mythryn herself is intended to be; New Caledonia obviously doesn't exist in this setting, so this species instead hails from the Crescent Isle), which is quite famous in scientific circles for its propensity for tool-use and problem solving. The talent crows have for problem solving is part of why I decided that I wanted to write a detective story starring one; it just made sense. Crows (as well as other corvid species, particularly ravens and magpies) tend to be the intellectual geniuses of the Mythryn world.

-Rats: In fiction, rats are generally depicted as dirty, vicious, thieves, and downright evil. In real life, rats are highly social and - while not approaching anything close to the level of crows - are still quite decent at problem solving. In the Mythryn world, this translates to a generally jovial, industrious, and family-oriented species, which - while they can understand and use technology - probably won't be inventing a new steam engine any time soon. They're basically the average blue-collar Joe of the Mythryn world.

-Prairie dogs: It's funny how few prairie dogs you see in fiction, isn't it? There honestly doesn't seem to be much of a stereotype to correct, but if there actually were any prairie dogs in fiction, I imagine they'd be billed as very silly, bumbling characters. I mean, just look at them; chubby, goofy-looking little squirrel-things that they are. What other reputation could they ever get? Well, like the rats and crows already mentioned, prairie dogs are far more intelligent and sociable than their appearance might suggest. Prairie dogs have a particular talent for language; they possess a sophisticated system of calls which they use to warn their family members of threats, which is perhaps one of the most complex languages of any non-human animal. In the Mythryn world, this translates to a species which - while not particularly good with technology - are absolute masters when it comes to words; they're essentially a species of poets, scribes, storytellers, songwriters, and scholars. They also tend to be fairly friendly and family-oriented, similar to rats.

-Spiders & mice: Now, not every animal in the Mythryn world is intelligent. There are many - mostly very small creatures, fish, invertebrates, and herding animals - which are exactly as smart as they are in real life. For spiders - one of the most hated creatures in our popular culture - that translates into a fairly docile animal which can make a great pet with the right handling. For mice - one of the most clever and heroically depicted animals in fiction - that leaves them as a mere fast-breeding source of food for the intelligent meat eaters.

-Owls: The wisest of the animal story cannon (owing, of course, to the Greek legends of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and her pet owl), owls in real life are not particularly intelligent. In the Mythryn world, owls (along with most other birds of prey) mostly get by on their strength and combat prowess. Most of them at least operate on some code of honor (as opposed to crows and their preference for logic), and tend to live solitary lives.

There you have it; just a handful of the creatures common to the Mythryn world and how they'll be depicted. Maybe you learned something from some of that, but either way, hopefully you have a better idea of what direction I want to take this setting.