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Fuzzbutts: Brucie-New, Improved, and Delicious
🕑 Added 2021-09-29 02:13:20 +0000 UTCI decided to fiddle with Bruce's design. His old one was based on his Pandoraverse design, which was initially created to be a one-off unimportant character. Pony Bruce is thus very monochromatic and simple looking, which I think works well when he's standing against my more complex and colorful pandoraverse characters, but in Fuzzbutts, he was left looking drab and unimportant. :<
So! I tweaked his colors and also changed his species. He's now a whiptail wallaby (Notamacropus parryi), also known as the pretty-faced wallaby✨~ They're a small marsupial known for the striking markings on their lovely, doe-like faces. So you have the contrast of Bruce, who is introverted and cranky, burdened by this sort of natural beauty and effortless cuteness. It pisses him off, and what's more, his pretty widdle face has not gone unnoticed by his roommate.
Sunny, to himself: ......interesting phrasing there buddy
Let's get something straight right off the bat....Fuzzbutts is not Beastars. I love me some Beastars, but I feel like as irl people already tend to lean paranoid and tribalistic, any world where part of the population is confirmed to instinctively devour people would just be an absolute shitshow, like no wolves falling in love with bunnies, only anarchy and philosophical horror. Carnivores in Fuzzbutts are not gripped by constant primal urges to maim and consume their friends and neighbors, nor purchase people-meat at illegal black markets. Even irl carnivores are not bloodthirsty monsters with an uncontrollable urge to kill.
But. Predators in Fuzzbutts are still animals. They do still have instincts. Namely, the prey drive. In all predators, the prey drive follows a sequence: Search-Stalk-Chase-Bite-Dissect-Consume. In a civilized society, this drive has been greatly reduced over generations, but it is still present....and it's stronger in some species than others.
Sunny's prey drive often manifests as a strooong fixation on Bruce. Bruce is, after all, a prey animal. Smells like prey, moves like prey. Sunny often finds himself naturally tracking his roommate's movements, the way a cat watches a mouse. He is very aware of Bruce's scent and the sound of his heartbeat, he can track him through these things alone. Bruce finds this....creepy. ("Stop staring at me, you dumb dog!"). He can't help the sinister feeling that underneath that innocent puppy face, Sunny would very much like to eat him.
....Little does Bruce know that Sunny's fixation does not include a desire to do him harm. It's more than he finds Bruce (with his itty bitty paw-hands and pretty coat and hippity-hop gait) extremely cute and naturally wants to protect him and keep him safe. Just like a little bunny~
....Or maybe his canine brain just sees Bruce as his prey and doesn't want anybody else to have him. Who knows for sure? Certainly not Sunny. Dat wallabooty is just too hypnotic (it'd help if you wore pants, Bruce).
stealth edit: fixed bruce's eye markings
Comments
Lopoddity
Carnivores can get protein from fish and insects, as those species are not sapient. They can also buy synthetic egg product/soy milks/fake meat (think Tofurkey) from the grocery store, or buy real eggs and milk off market vendors (hens and cows often sell their excess byproducts). If they want real meat however, their only (legal) option is lab-grown meat. It's produced from animal cells, and therefore said to be ethical, since it involves no slaughter. However it is quite expensive, so most predators can only afford to have real meat on very special occasions, eg. a birthday steak dinner, or an anniversary barbeque.
KaeWolfe
Sunny definitely wants to "eat" you, Bruce 😏 Anywho, Bruce looks absolutely gorgeous! Really love his colors! Never thought of Beastars though hahaha How do carnivores get their meat? Can't remember if that was mentioned.
DragonCookies
I really like that Fuzzbutts isn't a universe of "humans but animals" but more "animals that have the same sentience as humans", because it opens up a lot of fun worldbuilding on how sapient predators might act compared to people. Humans don't have quite the same "prey drive" like a wolf or tiger might, I think it's really cool you're exploring that in Fuzzbutts. I also studied a ton of biology in college so I always love the science aspect of stories and worlds like this. I also think Priscilla and Bruce being friends jive really well with the fact that she's a cat and Bruce is a more quiet and introverted-type person. Cats tend to warm up to people quicker when you let them do their thing and allow them to approach you first, and I could see Pricilla being drawn to Bruce because he doesn't come into her personal space first and lets her approach him on her own. I also just really like the idea of them being able to sit together in silence for hours on end, just reading, studying, or occasionally showing each other funny memes on their phones, which as an introvert I feel is a very fun way to hang out.
