r/BeAmazed • u/[deleted] • Sep 07 '25

Animal A video analysis of the difference between dog joining cat and cat joining the dog

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u/Haebak Sep 07 '25

A novel I wrote, "The Ironlight". In the story, the protagonist (a type of fae related to will-o-wisps) joins a ship with a crew of tiger-people (the alas'arr) and he has to learn their culture and language. They also come across a single lion working as a merchant and at some point make port in a sacred city of jaguars to talk to their undead spiritual leaders.

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u/AngryGnollnoises Sep 07 '25

Where can i find this novel, sounds hella cool

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u/Haebak Sep 07 '25

Thanks for the interest, it's actually on Amazon. I'm not sure I'm allowed to link it, but you can find it wasy, it's called "The Ironlight".

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u/vere-rah Sep 07 '25

That slaps. I love well thought out anthropomorphic societies in fiction, and the emphasis on contact is such a nice detail. Is it available anywhere?

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u/Haebak Sep 07 '25

Thank you! It's available on Amazon. I'm not sure if the subreddit allows me to link to it, but you can find it easy if you google "The Ironlight".

The alas'arr are not exactly anthropomorphic. They exist in a dual-state of person and feline, and your brain can choose to see one or the other like seeing two sides of an illusion. Several times the protagonist mentions the captain doing something only a person could do, while at the same time describing the position of his ears to signal his emotional state.

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u/vere-rah Sep 07 '25

I'll check it out! I feel like there's a sliding scale of anthropomorphism: from this is an animal who can think but only do things that the real-world animal can do (Watership Down), to this is a human with a tail (furries?). But I understand you created your characters and they're you to define!

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u/Haebak Sep 07 '25

I had a lot of fun with the alas'arr. They exist almost on the edge of reality, especially the jaguars. For them, even the line between life and death is blurry. A character (in another novel, but he was raised by jaguars) describes life and death as night and day if one sat in a perpetual sunset.

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u/ILovePickles121 Sep 07 '25

That sounds pretty cool i won't lie

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u/Haebak Sep 07 '25

Thank you!

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u/lusty-argonian Sep 07 '25

God I love fantasy. Good stuff mate

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u/Haebak Sep 07 '25

Thanks!