#the lives of the carnivores

[nemfrog]

Fallout on the farm. 1961.

Internet Archive

[vintagewildlife]

Jaguar cub By: Richard Van Nostrand From: Living Mammals of the World 1969

[queerpiratebrainrot]

I wasn't prepared for the carnivore horse named Google Maps

[little-pondhead]

man i'm on a roll tonight

DP x DC idea:

Bruce Wayne has somehow managed to become the unofficial guardian of at least two more kids. Maybe three. He's not sure yet. Various members of the Batfamily have made new friends recently and have been having them hang out at Wayne manor for extensive periods of time. Now only if he could actually meet the rascals face-to-face, maybe he could adopt them for real.

or

Danny, Elle, and Jazz have all made friends with different Wayne kids at different times from different places. Damian met Elle at school, Danny met Tim while working at a coffee shop, and Jazz met Cass outside the local theater. All three visit the manor separately, and no one communicates that they've befriended people from the same family. Eventually, however, their hangout sessions accidentally overlap and the Waynes have to deal with the excitement of three Fentons under a single roof.

Let's just say there's a reason the three of them live separately.

[cooffeeintheafternoon]

I wanted a little tiny alien boy too, I love yellow as you can see.

Oc for the wonderful comic "Marble Sky" by @somerandomdudelmao, I love how this story is going btw, thank you for sharing it with us ^^

Oh, I also wanted his name to have something to do with space.

Burster: a cosmic source of powerful short-lived bursts of X-rays or other radiation showing sudden increases in brightness. (Wish that's not wrong info)

[eternal-moss]

I also drew some drawings (panel redraws) of the Red Dragon itself!

[prince-liest]

Bought some live sphagnum moss from a guy's personal land on eBay to liven up THE BOG! I am really, really hoping that I can keep it alive through the coming high-90s temperatures in the full sun. To that end, I've got THE BOG fairly well flooded, which should hopefully go a long way towards the moss surviving.

Sphagnum moss actually is the natural companion of many of these carnivorous plants in the while! Technically this bog is full of it: peat moss is just decomposed sphagnum, and there's a layer of dead and dried long-fibered sphagnum on top of that before the final layer of live moss. I'm really doing my best to create a proper environment for them, and I also just think the stuff looks really nice. I can't wait for it to (hopefully) start growing in properly and look even nicer!

[feelingsofaithless]

Carnivores Tour (Camden, 2014) » Crawling There's something inside me That pulls beneath the surface Consuming, confusing This lack of self-control I fear Is never ending, controlling

[arts-by-omar]

Rhinoceros Rex vs Sendai Hakurei 2

[grimark]

drinking the most repulsive cup of instant coffee i’ve had in my life at the meeting of the local chapter of the australian carnivorous plant society. the raffle ticket prize this evening includes a zip lock bag of live sphagnum moss so as you can imagine that is kind of a big deal.

[bluebellhairpin]

I could never be vegetarian bc crispy bacon and a nice cooked steak has literally been what stopped me from ending it all the past few months.

[unhingedlesbear]

Zootopia has done irreparable damage to the perception of beastars bc for some reason people think they're trying to talk abt the same thing when if u actually watch/read beastars you'll know that's not it in the slightest

[vintagewildlife]

Bat-eared fox By: John Markham From: Living Mammals of the World 1969

[squidaped-oyt]

Utricularia graminifolia running absolutely hogwild

[thesnivy123]

Heya! So what headcanons do you have about Masked Kids in general? (Feel free to tell me absolutely everything about them lol)

Okayokayokay i cant get into all the finest details just bc idt i have the energy to write every detail out in one go, so feel free to ask about specific things if u want to know more. But basically: human-mimicking semi-brood-parasitic carnivorous pack-hunting goats. which. Is a lot. gonna break this down a little

start with the simplest one. Goats! They're goats- Or at least, they're goats in the way an aminoguana is a lizard and a mothi is a moth- They're sapient creatures descended from a lineage of goats that developed a specific genetic mutation universal to all monster species- It's tied to heightened intelligence, purple-hued blood that creates a thick gas when exposed to open air, and a heightened proficiency for magic. Humans are actually the only sophont in the setting to NOT have the "monster gene"- They evolved into sapience the long, complicated way.

Masked Folk are unique among monsters, however, for their entire evolutionary history being inseparably intertwined with that of humans. See, the Masked Folk quickly established themselves as apex predators upon reaching sapience. Not many animals want to mess with humans, not many animals want to mess with large ungulates, and so, it stands to reason that VERY LITTLE would mess with large HUMANOID ungulates... That is, except for humans. Though they typically didn't compete for territory- humans preferring open fields, the Folk preferring dense forests- Masked Folk live off basically the exact diet humans do (plus a little extra meat, being obligate carnivores). They were in direct competition for resources. This led to conflict, which led to humanity now being one of the sole drivers of their evolution... Which, thanks to the wonders of the Monster Gene causing more mutations, happened to work faster than you'd expect.

In raids on Masked Folk villages, humans were far less likely to directly harm their young than the adults- Beyond the moral aspect of this, they shared a lot of traits with human children. And, over generations of conflict with humanity, these traits got amplified- When your one remaining predator is more willing to spare you when you look like their kids, you're gonna eventually start looking like their kids.

Eventually, we ended up with the Masked Kids we see today. Highly shortened muzzles, tiny horns, big eyes- all coming together to vaguely resemble a human child's face. This... Doesn't fool anyone on it's own, though, aside from looking cute.

That, of course, is where magic gets involved.

See, Masked Folk- as adults- have a natural knack for magic, compared to other monsters. This has nothing to do with it's usefulness to them in adulthood, and everything to do with its function in their youth. Young Masked Kids- from birth until around 16- ambiently radiate a powerful "illusionary" magic, making humans perceive them as being a human child.

"Illusionary" is in quotes, because it has no effect on their physical appearance. No, it's closer to a weak sort of mind control, if anything. The magic taps right into the facial recognition part of the brain, a few other places too, and just... Spins a few things around. Makes it so that, so long as you're within range of their aura, when you look at a Masked Kid, you consider them to be young of your own species. Even if you factually know they're not, you know how it works, it just... You can't really follow the train of thought that goes "that's something else". The thought might still be there, but it slips through your mind like butter, you can't hold on to the idea that this isn't A Child Of Your Species. "Your Species", because it isn't human specific- just... deeply ineffective on any other species. Really just counters humans. Either way, the masks they wear amplify this, giving the human mind a plausible excuse for why the features dont line up, and letting this mimicry go unquestioned.

This mental defense, combined with the odd growth rate of the masked folk, allows them to go relatively undetected in human civilization from any age up until their late teens. A masked kid will grow at around the same rate as a human infant until the age of ten- At which point, they very suddenly stop. They remain "ten years old" for years, not growing an inch- at most, gaining a little weight as their bodies stockpile energy, but even this is rarely noticeable, as this phase of growth is HIGHLY optimized to make as few stages as possible (there's actually a pocket of previously unused space within their chest cavity that fills up with a condensed fat deposit during these years- this goes away when their body structure changes in adulthood). Their mimckry aura works to ensure nobody questions this halt in growth, of course. Theyve got to remain cute and sympathetic for as long as possible.

Then, at around 16, they hit a growth spurt. A very, very big one. Within a couple years, they'll grow several feet in height, their torso and snout will elongate, and their tail thickens out as a counter-balance to their front-heavy posture- This is when the mimicry aura shuts down, because, as powerful as it is, there's only so much it can hide. That deep well of magic is now freed up for personal use, with some amount of knowledge on its use being instinctual, for at this age, they're bound to be shunned from human civilization.

That is, if they haven't left for the woods already. Though Masked Folk are just as sapient as humans, they've got some pretty strong instincts in their younger stages, to keep up the ruse- Don't stand out, avoid crowds, do what you're told, and, once the growth spurt hits, Leave. Even those who are still welcome in their home- more common than you'd think, for many reasons- often follow the call of the woods eventually. Those ones come back if they can't find other Masked Folk. They still go out, but still.

... All this, of course, is only relevant if they find themselves in a human settlement. Most Masked Folk never even see their mimicry come into play- If all goes well, they're raised peacefully by their parents and siblings in small communities in the woods- usually consisting of a few family groups and any stragglers from human civilization. See, they don't WANT to be brood parasites, it's not their plan A. No, that's all a last resort. A tactic to survive if the worst came to worst. Ideally, they raise their own kids safely within their own species- or, occasionally- a mixed-monster-species group.

The Hero Cycle and Stitched Castle have... complicated things, of course, in the regions surrounding the Chestnut Kingdom, but in other parts of the world, Masked Folk still live pretty traditionally. Often in better relations with humans, though- Agriculture makes the competition for resources a little less of an issue, and now, they've got a reputation far different than most monsters. Something a little surprising, actually. Something that's earned them a few different names, in different places.

The Forest Dwellers. The Fair Folk. The Other People. Changelings.

The Fae.

[mintesprig]

I must emphasize that when I think of Midst penguins, they are sabertoothed.