This is a relatively new addition to the BFM-Verse but it’s been rolling around in my head and I wanted to set everything straight since I’m not sure if I could find a way to explain it all properly in-universe.
I’m going to explain my headcanon differences between cannibalism and cannibal-Fluffies, and how that relates to Crimson and Scarlett.
Cannibalism occurs when a regular Fluffy engages in eating another Fluffy, this is primarily done through desperation and almost always when the other Fluffy is already dead. It’s very rare but has been documented, most explicitly during the winter exodus of Sandy & her herd.
A Cannibal-Fluffy is a Fluffy who actively enjoys the taste of Fluffy Flesh and will go out of their way to murder and cannibalise other Fluffies as their primary source of sustenance. Cannibal-Fluffies have a dormant gene that unlocks after the Fluffy’s first taste of blood and can be passed down family genes, however not every Fluffy born from a Cannibal Fluffy will have the Cannibal Gene, usually it’s 1 per litter, sometimes 2.
Crimson was a Cannibal Fluffy, as was his mother Ruby, his sister Florence and his daughter Scarlett.
It’s important to note though that the Cannibal Gene is NOT what made Crimson into a psychopathic monster, but that confusion over his enjoyment of eating his first Fluffy, combined with the psychological torment of what Josef put him through, that’s what melded together to create the Crimson Psyche.
By contrast, Ruby was a feral who had been trained by her father on how to handle her cannibalistic instincts before being captured by the breeding mill. She sated her instincts by eating stillborn foals or foals she knew would be discarded y the breeders due to their ‘ugly’ colours. With the breeding mill caught fire and Ruby was trapped with Florence and Florence’s stillborn litter, she taught Florence about the necessity of cannibalising to survive and instructed her daughter to eat her once she was dead.
This was a traumatising time for Florence, but the soft heart of Ruby helped her survive the incident with her mind in-tact, Crimson had no-one and was actively pushed into a worse situation, thus ensuring his trauma was complete.
When it comes to Scarlett though, her cannibalism was unlocked far too early, a frightened kick from her mother Violet due to her matching colours of her rapist father meant that Scarlett tasted blood before she even tasted milk. As her psyche was formed around this confusion, she latched onto stories of her father, finding a kindred spirit in this outcast stallion and began to form her nature around his violent ways. Like Crimson she was alone when trying to understand why she enjoyed the taste of blood so much, but unlike Crimson, she had no traumatic incident in which to destroy her primary personality. Scarlett grew up as an outcast Cannibal but she also grew up learning and understanding about ‘huggies’ and ‘wub’, even if she rejected the notions she is still conceptually aware of them, thus why she has been known to show mercy at times where Crimson did not.
I’m still working out how this headcanon can work its way into my other stories, so it may change on some levels. For starters Crimson’s family is not the only one with a Cannibal-Gene, they’re just the most prominent in this area of the world. If anyone has any questions I’ll do my best to bullshit an answer.