(sorry this is long! but i reference 2 WIPs, sooooo.....) They [aliens] see themselves as peaceful and rational. They compare themselves to humans, saying that humans are born violent. They breed hate, and are generally terrible creatures that take without reason. They hold themselves higher than humans because the feel that they are peace loving and hearts and sparkles and rainbows. That if they MUST use violence, its because it is justified. They believe that if they use violence its because they HAVE to, not because they WANT to. for this reason, they isolate themselves from humans - humans stay in their city, aliens stay in their own city and no one has cause to ever mingle. In my first WIP, the MC is one of these aliens. Despite everything she's been told about humans, she goes to the humans anyway but realizes that her people are no different from humans. She basically blows out the whole notion that "aliens are good, humans are bad." From her POV, we see the violence and hatred carried out by her own people (if she is bad, for example, she is punished by being branded with her "crime" which can be something as petty as "talks too much." Another example was a whole clan of non-violent nomads were wiped out to protect the greater good of everyone else). These things (and more) are justified to keep peace. So if you are punished, its because you deserved it and you MADE them do it to you OR it was a necessary sacrifice. This works well in my first WIP because there are humans living parallel to these aliens and my MC has something to compare her whole race to and shows that there is no such thing as a peaceful existence. The WIP i'm working on now (and am literally at the end of draft 1) takes place about a hundred years before the arrival of humanity on their planet. I've been taking notes of things I want to go back to and refine, now that I'm at the end, and one of the things is... how do I convey to my audience the sentiments of the LAST paragraph in this one? My MC in this one experiences 2 acts of violence... 1 where she sees 2 bothers have a disagreement and comes to blows, and another where a woman slaps her in a fit of anger. She is confused by these things because in both incidents there weren't clear "triggers" to cause such outbursts. Death and violence is a strong theme (hinted, not shown) in this WIP as another character kills people for no reason other than "they were threatening my way of life, so I had to kill them" Which throws my MC into a moral conflict. Violence is always there; everyone has the potential to become violent given the right(or wrong) conditions, with or without reason. Question: How do I let my audience know this? my MC wouldnt just say "aliens are good; we dont do that kind of thing because its bad" because to her, she isnt an "alien." And, she wouldnt need to explain this to anyone in her world because they all have pretty much the same way of thinking.
They're both set in the same story world right? A series I take it. Just making sure, but I'm assuming it's true. At first I was all like "Oh no, not another Humans bad Aliens evolved and All Good story". But suddenly it got really interesting, when she realizes her people are just as bad but they pretend to be holier than thou. The trope is a projection thing—people like to see themselves as better than The Others, and they like to form in-groups and back-pat each other while vilifying the enemy. This means dehumanizing and scapegoating them. I think it's brilliant to undercut the trope the way you are, to show the glaring holes in it. Aliens of that type are an example of over-civilization, which means they've lost touch with their roots in nature and biology, but that's presented as a purely good thing. The most boring people in the world are saints. Actually I take that back—if you would take a realistic look at saints (the movie Andre Rublev does a pretty good job of that) they're constantly struggling with self-doubt and loss of faith. THAT makes them human, puts them in the grey zone where all of reality actually takes place. The all-good/all-bad paradigm is simplistic and unrealistic, based on childish fantasies. If saints were actually what they strive to be, then they would be too boring to make interesting characters. Your MC sounds like the first evolutionary step of that ailen race beginning to see themselves realistically and lose their childish projection and fantasies of perfection.
You need to redefine violence so that it has different meaning in alien culture and human culture or you must do they thinking very narcissistic & projective. Or both. Aliens deny they own violent nature + the violence they do and they observe themselves while being violent. That's possible only if.. 1. Their definition to violence is different than us in a way that makes it possible. 2. Projective thinking. They see their own mistakes and flaws in others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection
Thank you; you're right, it is a series. I have other "books" outlined for this world. ironically, the one that I am finishing now was the very last outline I had written intending it to be a prequel. I had hoped to have the first one written by now so that the world and its ideologies are already established. But for some reason, this one looks like it will be completed first. I've just been having a hard time trying to convey this ideology naturally versus infodumping it because this MC isnt aware of humans. She is from a nomadic, desert clan and find herself living in a mountain village to fulfill an agreement made between her father and the mountain village's leader. She already has prejudices against the people of the village: they live in the mountains (who does that?), they are sedentary (the only clan that arent even a little bit nomadic), they are isolated (at least the other nomadic clans cross paths periodically), and they have more resources (it rains in the mountains). Other than those things, they are still of one race, so she doesnt believe them capable of violence because SHE is not "capable" of violence.
When the first European settlers started moving into the New World the natives Americans would refer to them as "The people who beat their children". Something simple like that, just a condemnation in one brief phrase, an immediate reaction on seeing them in action, can encapsulate it all. We don't know about a thing until we also know about its opposite. Ask a fish "How's the water?" and he'd say "What's water?" unless he spent some time flopping on a beach struggling to breathe. If it never got dark we wouldn't know about light or have a word for it. Maybe her people have no concept of violence until they meet the Humans, and then the idea starts to proliferate among them like a meme rippling across the internet. But the first impression they all have is "Those are terrible beings, they're so brutal and violent, unlike us". This is their introduction to the concept of ethics and morality. And she's among the first to get beyond "They're totally bad and we're totally good" and start to see the shades of grey in between, because she's moved among different cultures (mountain and desert dwellers) and can see subtle differences between them already. It started her down that road, but she didn't start to really wrestle with the concept until seeing the starker contrast with Humans.
I also wanted to say, it might be a good idea to hold off on writing the prequel until you've at least drafted one or 2 other ones, because the overarching story might take a different shape than you expected.
And following on what @Alan Aspie said, violence among her people might take a more subtle or subliminal form, maybe verbal or emotional abuse, or powerful social shaming and outcasting of those who fail to conform. But they don't use physical violence. Of course, the results of outcasting someone from the tribe are extremely brutal, but if they refuse to contemplate that then they don't see it that way.
in this world (post human invasion), humans invaded their world not because they had to, but because the wanted the world for themselves. One of the human characters actually says that the planet is useless to humans. The only reason they set up shop there was because they could. So to the aliens, this equals brutality for no reason. Pre-human invasion is a different story (and one i'm currently working on)
Interesting. Seems like a lot of trouble for very little reward, but I'm not familiar with the story or context, so I'm not sure.
humans have gotten greedy since Earth went caput. Lol, any oxygen rich, habitable planet is fair game. They gotta have back ups in case "new earth(s)" also go caput But honestly, I based it loosely off of Alaska. When the US bought Alaska from the Russians.... we didnt have a NEED for Alaska (until much later). It literally sat as unused land for over 30 years before someone realized the land was useful in terms of natural resources and even longer before it was seen as a military strategic advantage. unfortunately for this planet and its human inhabitants that moved there with the hopes of this planet turning into the next best thing, its advantages have not popped up yet.
I'm confused. Is the planet a back-up Earth that humans have got to have in case of problems, or did they take it for no reason? Why have some humans travelled all the way to live there?
Context: Earth has been gone for centuries. Humans dont have a set "planet" anymore but colonize where ever. They COULD just colonize 1 planet and call it "new earth" and be happy with that. But they dont. The new government is centralized to 1 planet, and they send out scientists and military to find other habitable planets just to have it. Some of the more "exotic" planeta have become resorts for the rich. Some have become training zones for the military. This planet (the setting) really has no strategic advantage other than it has oxygen and a livable atmosphere. Humans flocked to it hoping that they'd find their fortune there.
A running joke in the first WIP is that the planet is "in the boonies" and "useless". My human MC is in the military and his ship gets stranded in orbit. He and its crew are annoyed at having to live there on the planet until the ship is repaired because the human city there is basically rusty, run down dust bowl in their opinion.
No backwater planet is completely useless, at least not as far as I can figure if it has intelligent life on it. Granted they don't need a military, but can ally with a neighbor planet that will gladly fill that role. Surely yours has some kind of trade to offer, be it in services or goods?
It does, but i've gotten off point. The WIP I'm finishing up now takes place before the arrival of humans and the complications that humans bring. This WIP you see the planet, though it has its issues, isnt useless.
