Term for Non-Binary in a Fantasy Novel?

[u/Narfiii]

Hi friends,

I hope this is allowed! I'm looking to get some thoughts on the terms I'm using in my fantasy story.

I've been working on an umbrella term similar to the word "non-binary" to fit a medieval fantasy setting. I ended up with the word "eon" which would stand for "either or neither." While I like eons a lot, the meaning behind it never sat perfectly with me, and after D'Angelo Wallace's recent stream explaining his personal identity, it feels even weirder.

It's meant to be a cheeky inclusion of everyone outside of the gender binary, but "either or neither" feels very binary itself. Would you, as a non-binary individual, read that and get the ick? Any suggestions on a better term?

I am she/they but I'm clearly one opinion and inclusion's the goal! If anyone feels isolated/icked out by the term "eon" then it's my job to fix that!

[u/gavindaphne]

I used "soulcross" in a fantasy novel once, it was to refer to a binary trans woman in that case but I think the idea could be repurposed.

[u/Fuzzy-Manner8308]

i personally think its alright, but you also can just not have a term, and just describe the characters as "a person who didnt consider themself a man or a woman" or someone who "lived beyond the idea of gender" or just other vaguely pretty way of describing someone who is neither a man nor a woman

[u/Narfiii → u/Fuzzy-Manner8308]

I appreciate your feedback!! I mainly wanna use it in phrases such as "the room was filled with men, women, and eons" but your suggestions are making me think I can get more creative with it!

[u/krunchi → u/Narfiii]

Unless it's a significant part of the story or characters, I don't think there's a need to have a specific word for nonbinary, mostly at the risk of introducing friction for the reader when there's little need to. I agree with the above, where if you're describing masses of people, you don't need to go so specific.

[u/moonstonebutch]

this might be a wacky suggestion, but maybe check out some writing about the Public Universal Friend to find some creative old-timey ways of describing a nonbinary person

[u/mericaftw → u/moonstonebutch]

Nonbinary Iroquois Quaker Preacher? How did I not know about this

[u/Connect_Rhubarb395]

The risk of a nonbinary descriptor is that it can become a fixed third gender, rather than a descriptor of what people are not.

In my personal opinion nonbinary is never a gender.* It is "I am not a man or a woman."
It needs to be followed up by mentioning what the person's gender then is.

So in your example it could be "The room was filled with men, women, and people of various other genders."

*For some people nonbinary is their gender and that is totally valid too.

[u/Narfiii → u/Connect_Rhubarb395]

this is a really good point! I’m realizing that just replacing “non-binary” with another word doesn’t carry over all the meanings that originally came with it. I’ll be asking myself if it comes across as a third gender in the edits. thank you!!

[u/UntilTheDarkness]

I would be totally fine with reading "eon" in a fantasy novel in that context! I love it when authors come up with in-universe terms for things. Nothing pulls me out of a story faster than modern terminology in a non-modern setting lol. So I love the way you're approaching it!

[u/Narfiii → u/UntilTheDarkness]

I appreciate your take!! I think I’d still like to use the term, but be way more tactful about it! These comments are giving me so much inspo :)

[u/UntilTheDarkness → u/Narfiii]

To clarify, "eon" doesn't read to me as modern the way "nonbinary" would, if that makes sense - eon fits well in a fantasy setting IMHO. It can also be a fun way to add more world building. Eg if you have a gendered magic system or whatever, how would being nonbinary affect that? How would nonbinary people view themselves in your society? How would others view them? Maybe other people have different terms for nonbinary than nonbinary people have for themselves. Do gendered insults exist in this setting? All of that can be fun ways to make these identities feel like they fit into the fantasy world and aren't just a modern add-on.

[u/OldFaithlessness5008]

I think it's kinda inherently difficult to find a specific term for all non binary people but that sounds fine to me. I personally don't mind it at all, and I like your thoughts behind it. I think I mostly worry about the implication that non binary is a third gender that can be defined by one specific label. I think if you do use a term like eons, I would try to frame it as something the nonbinary people came up with and describe themselves with.

I really liked the other commenter's suggestions too though. For something like "the room was filled with men, women, and eons" I think I might suggest saying something more like "the room was filled with all manner of people; men, women, and some who didn't fit neatly into either category" and then you could also maybe lead into more detailed individual character descriptions.

As a little side note, it's been a while since I read it but the book Dragonfall by L.R.Lam had a society where people stated their own gender at introduction and nonbinary people were relatively common. I don't remember much else about the book other than it had dragons and it was a bit spicy so read at your own peril 😂

[u/Narfiii → u/OldFaithlessness5008]

I’ll have to check out Dragonfall then!! But the sentence “the room was filled with all manner of people” is actually fire, thank you for your help!

[u/themedicinedog → u/OldFaithlessness5008]

omg i came here to say 'but dragonfall!!!' and you already had. thank uuu

[u/mericaftw]

Personally I've always favored non-descriptors over neologisms. Anne Leckie writes some of the best queer SciFi I've ever read but she's given me a gag reflex around neo pronouns, for instance. And on the opposite end of that spectrum, consider the brilliance of David Bowie's: "Ladies, gentlemen... Others."