Considering Inverted Bowl Fluffy story - would like help on concept design

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Was contemplating a potential story but I wanted to discuss the concept a bit so I don’t suddenly find myself running into a wall mid writing cause I didn’t consider something.

Wanted to discuss the idea of the bowl fluffy and the advantages/disadvantages of inverting the design so that the Bowl is on the back instead of the front (naturally with water resistance stomach but a soft back fluff).

Pros - (compared to either normal fluffy, or normal bowl fluffy design)

Additional leg power for swimming in addition to tail.

Not having to switch between back and stomach when carrying foals and needing to enter/leave the water.

Constant ‘perspective’ ie - no shifting between right side up/upside down visuals while swimming/walking etc.

Cons (compared to either normal fluffy, or normal bowl fluffy design)

Higher drowning risk due to muzzel being water level.

Either a bent spine or spine that lines the bottom of the bowl exposing a vulnerable spot from above.

Likely low belly clearance due to dip with a wide/squat stance.

Legs, Soft belly, genitals/tits exposed to attack from water while swimming. Unable to feed while swimming.

Danger of bowl filling during rain and getting stuck on their back (if it doesn’t have a shell/pouch that can support the weight without going flat to allow them to roll over on their own)

Feel free to submit your own pro’s and con’s in the comments as well as potential differences you’d suggest.

ex: Suggestion - Make them more akin to turtles then otters and give them a soft leathery ‘shell / pouch’ (that has fluffy on it) that isn’t that tough but provides shade / concealment for the foals in the summer and insulation during the winter.

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maybe they have slightly longer legs then the normal fluffies to keep their head out of the water?

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Imagine what would happen when it rains. They would fill up, and due to their shape they would likely be unable to right themselves should they flip over.

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Once they reach the point that their feet no longer reach and are swimming / floating on their stomaches that wouldn’t really help.

But it might certainly help counter the likely dip from the blow on the back so i’ll take leg length into consideration.

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True, definitely in the con if they dont have the shell/pouch cover that I mentioned as an example suggestion. They’d need cover from the rain otherwise their bowl fills up and they have to lay on their side to drain it.

Also correct on becoming helpless if flipped onto their back if they dont have the pouch/leathery shell to maintain a general curve/support so that they can eventually self right themselves. Would potentially be more dependent on their special friend / bestest support baby to help right themselves in such a scenario.

Thanks for the input.

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Bowl on the back is more useful and practical.
Bowl on the front is more pathetic and miserable.
Choose based on the kind of story you want to write

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It’s more a story from a different point of view.

A ‘what if they had been made like this’?

Still deciding if it’ll be a mutation, an alternate timeline or a new product variant in testing.

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Well I doubt that fluffies have a stable geenome, so it can be anything you want

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Unless the bowl fluffy was SPECIFICALLY made to traverse water By a corporation, I would steer clear of the back bowl. It would be much more reasonable, at least In my opinion, to have a mutation for the fluffy to float on its back. I would generally avoid bone structure changes for a mutation as that is a drastic change.

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Bowl fluffies were indeed made my Hasbio to traverse fresh water (at least still / slow moving water). It’s why im comparing the ‘what if’ where they might have done a back bowl.

But if it was a mutation then a semi exposed spine along the bowl isn’t unreasonable (in that it’s covered but sticks out like a welding seam).

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Maybe instead of being literally bowl shaped, their back is covered in a dome of fat. The fat is so soft that when the babies sit on it they sink in and create a divot/crater like shape making it look like a bowl (kinda a bowl of fruit with the way the foals are colored).

The dome of fat would help with buoyancy and keeping the foals warm

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I can see it now.

Lifting its head from a sudden jostle a colt begins to yawn before noticing they are unable to move. “Mummah hewp! Babbeh am stuckies. Nu wan’ back huggies nu mowe, wan pway!” The other quiet foals up to this point begin to either murmur similar things or awaken.

The mother sighs and shifts her legs slightly as if preparing for a fight and begins to flex her back and shoulder muscles as each of her foals slowly but surely ‘Pop’ out. Their bodies and legs now raised above the back line and to a standing position on top of her squishy back before crawling down to the ground.

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I was thinking the baby fluff-pile would form one big indentation but I do like the idea of the mother being able to flex specific muscles and “pop” the babies out like bread out of a toaster.

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Certainly more secure when moving fast then the standard fluffy just nestled into hair/holding on with hooves/teeth. ~chuckle~

I kind of picture ice cubes from a tray / muffins from a tin since it’s many things at once but yeah your analogy involves something supporting the base that lifts them so it’s better.

But yeah I get what you mean now that you explained it.

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Since they’re technically chimeras, give them a swim bladder that can inflate on a whim like a puffer fish.

That buoyancy would allow the fluffy to remain upright on water and in emergency situations could completely balloon up to flip itself or scare predators.

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Perhaps some background would be helpful.

Bowl fluffies are an offshot of the typical fluffy. Having appeared in the fandom around the same time as the Sea Fluff they are also an aquatic variant. However unlike a sea fluff the bowl fluff is not fully aquatic or even amphibious. Instead it mearly has adaptations that allow it to interact with water. These adaptations are as follows

  • Denver oily fluff to resist water saturation.

*Slightly wider and stronger tail to provide thrust and control in water.

*A depression in the stomach region typically as wide as the chest accrost and the same length vertically with a depression of 2 to 1 inches making it more of a shallow dish then a true bowl.

*An instinct to flip on to their backs when in water and use their tails to provide forward locomotion.

*An instinct to put fluffies in to their “bowl” to provide transportation accrost bodies of water.

*A greatly reduced fear of water.

*The restoration of the mammalian dive reflex, allowing them to hold their breath when submerged for a brief period.

These adaptations have been explained by a number of authors in a number of different ways but they tend to fall into one of two camps.

*Natural development - evolutionary forces combined with a rapid reporduction lead to the natural evolution of the bowl fluffy traits.

*Lab gown - a product produced to sell for fun aquatic fluffy play because normal fluffies drown easily and cannot fill the role.

Typical narrative:

A river is a deadly threat to Fluffies. Something anyone who maintains the water intakes of any number of industry can tell you as they clear nearly 23 million dead fluffies annually in america. However their is one type of fluffies for whome water has lost its threat, the bowl fluffy. Here we see a mare and her 3 foals at the edge of this slow moving river. The water here is slow an calm.

“Babbeh wait for mammah hehe.” The mare giggles as she walks in to the water till it’s nearly 2 inches in depth. She lays down and rolls over quickly before calling her foals to her. Happy and care free, and with no fear of the water they splash in and quickly climb their mothers tangled fluff, with a little help from mammah of course and get situated into the small depression on her belly.

“Otay babbeh nu weab mammah boww.” She reminds the foals as she begins wiggling back and forth towards the deeper water. Within minutes she is behind the shallow and finnaly able to float. With a giggle and a flick she paddles her tail back and forth propelling her at a slow but steady speed across the water.

“Mammah wub babbehs, babbehs wub mammah, mammah swim fow babbehs su can fine mow nummies! Nummies make miwkies! Babbehs wub miwkies, gwow up big an strong!” The mare sings to her babbehs who coe and hug their mother as she swims.

As she reaches the other side the process seen before plays out in reverse before the mare and her babbehs disappear in to the tick brush again.

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I knew I was forgetting something.

Meant to link examples. Ugh~ i’ve been out of it lately.

Thanks.

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I thought that the only evidence of their existence, that has survived to this day, is the comic made by @gr1m_1 in REDUCTED B.C. I would like to be wrong tho
P.S. Grim, if you are reading plz repost it. That one was my favorite

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