Headcannon Post (Artist: OtherCoraline)

I realize I’ve done a lot of comics, but I’ve never really gone indepth with my headcannon and why people feel the way they do about fluffies. He’s a FAQ for some questions.


Note: Cute Aggression exist for the humans in my headcannon, and fluffies pass that threshold for many many humans. That’s one of the reasons neglect, abuse, and harm against fluffies are justified in many people’s minds. Had Hasbio lasted long enough they would’ve removed some of the more “cutesy” elements such as the baby talk and lisp to make fluffies more palatable for the general population.


Q. Does Hasbio exist?

  1. No. After the rampant ecological destruction caused by fluffies, the US government used Hasbio as a scapegoat. Jailed those responsible for research and development of fluffies as well as those in marketing and decision-making positions. The company was forcibly shuttered and all research into fluffies and other forms of “bio-toys” is now banned in America.

Q. What is the timeframe of your headcannon?

  1. It takes place years after the initial novelty and appeal of fluffies has worn off. Fluffies have devastated the American ecology. Many local flora and fauna are extinct. Cats and dogs are pets only for the wealthiest. Most Americans can only afford fluffies for pets. Upper-middle class can afford mice, rats, and reptiles. The damage has been done and life has returned to a sense of normalcy. Many people resent fluffies for the irreversible damage they have caused to the landscape. Looking a few decades into the future: late 2030’s-2040’s

Q. What is the legal status of fluffies?

  1. Depends on where you live. There are 3 classifications in regards to fluffies:

  2. Kill-on-Sight: Fluffies are illegal to own, breed, care for, or for any utility use. Fluffies are seen as an ecological blight and need to be killed or reported upon sighting. This is the harshest legislation against fluffies and originated in Cleveland, the ground zero of the fluffy problem. This is seen in agricultural states where fluffies have caused the greatest damage.

  3. Right-to-Own: Fluffies can be kept as pets or for utility purposes. Fluffies are bred and/or sold by mills, breeders, shelters, and stores. Overlaps with the below 3 subcategories. Seen in the majority of the country.

1. Right-to-Breed: It is legal to own a non-sterile fluffy. Fluffies can be bred without a license. No limitations on uses for bred fluffies (food, toys, companions, abuse) unless overridden by one of the below subcategories.
2. Right-to-Hug: Abuse is outlawed. Almost impossible to enforce. Real effect of this legislation is to allow veterinarians to care for fluffies as they would animals. Additionally, abuse paraphernalia such as shock sorry-sticks and spiked-lined sorry boxes cannot be sold in these regions (technically cannot own either, but again, too hard to enforce).
3. Right-to-Abuse: Abuse is explicitly NOT outlawed. Abuse paraphernalia can be sold in these regions. Veterinarians are NOT allowed to treat and care for fluffies as they have training to treat animals and fluffies are not recognized as such in these regions. Despite the name, hugbox is not discouraged
  1. Fluffy Sanctuaries: Sections of cities have been given over to fluffies. They are seen as a sovereign people and interaction is kept to a minimum. It is illegal to own a fluffy in Fluffy Sancturary, even if the fluffy wants an owner, as this would be akin to human trafficking. Fluffies govern themselves (poorly) with aid given to them in the form of food, medicine, and supply drops from the local government. This is the closest to herd formation that occurs since they are left autonomous but are still provided for. Death, starvation, and suffering are rampant, but due to fluffies trusting nature, naivety, short-sightedness, and general stupidity. Not due to any “Lord of the Flies”-esque scenarios where a smarty rises up to rape everything.
1. Portland, OR
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Central Park, Manhattan NY
4. Austin, TX
5. Seattle, WA is considering

Q. Was the employee in the comic correct?

  1. For the most part, yes. It’s an open secret at this point (like Google collecting your information) that fluffies were designed as a platform meant to sell consumers additional products over a prolonged period of time. A hyper aggressive ad campaign as the advertisements come from a “member of the family”. In fact, future iterations of fluffies would be able to receive new “cravings” and “interests” updates remotely. This would allow Hasbio to cash in on seasonal and holiday flavors of kibble and sketties as well as toys and entertainment.
  2. The employee was wrong in that fluffies are incapable of finding fulfillment and joy without Hasbio. While Fluffies will always be slightly disappointed when presented with non-Hasbio products, they are programmed to find joy and fulfillment in making humans and other fluffies happy. A sterile fluffy adopted by a loving family can find a fulfilling life full of meaning and purpose. Fluffies love making other fluffies happy. Fluffy companionship can be rich and rewarding even without babbehs. So despite what common knowledge may say, a mare and a stallion can be special friends even if babbehs are an impossibility. 3. It is true that many people refuse to face the scary reality that humans have created sentient life, so they rationalize their distaste, neglect, and abuse of fluffies by convincing themselves that fluffies are “only toys with no real intelligence”.

Q. So Fluffies and Humans are the same? Meaningless sacks of life?

  1. Whether their lives have meaning is up to personal interpretation. But yes, fluffies and humans are similar in this regard, either they adhere to an innate programming they can’t control (Hasbio programming vs. evolution/instinct) or they have something that transcends their environment and they have what is known as free will.

Q. If they are the same, why are fluffies treated so poorly?

  1. Because that’s the point of sadbox. If fluffies are abused because they are evil, that’s just justice. Fair punishments for fluffies (such as a sorry box for bad poopies) is also justice. Justice and abuse can exist together. Justice and hugbox can exist together. Justice and sadbox cannot exist together. It is the injustice against harmless, pure, loving creatures that makes it sadbox. If fluffies could deserve the suffering inflicted upon them then it is not sadbox.

Q. But why Sadbox? Why not another Box?

  1. Because sadbox is the only box I’m good at.

Q. Do Smarties/Hellgremlins Exist?

  1. Smarties do, but they are very mild compared to most headcannon’s smarties. Angelica is a smarty. Probably the most aggressive one I’ll make. Smarties are brats that will threaten sorry-poopies/hoofsies/peepees. They will try to pin the blame on other fluffies. They will steal toys and food meant for other fluffies. Despite using sorry hoofsies, they are not strong enough to actually hurt other fluffies. It’s more a psychological tactic. Smarties cannot tear other fluffies apart, maim one another, nor rape. Hellgremlins just don’t exist.

Q. If stallions have such a strong sex drive to create babbehs, why isn’t there a rape problem.

  1. Hasbio did not want the stallions harming the mares, so stallions are unable to become erect without the presence of a specific mare pheromone. The mare will only release the pheromone when she ‘wan babbehs’ and is feeling safe. If a mare feels scared or stressed she will not emit this pheromone, then the stallion will go limp. This means stallions can’t rape each other or babbehs either. The pheromone CAN be collected and used on stallions for abuse purposes, though.

Q. Without Smarties how do herds work?

  1. They don’t. Fluffies rarely go beyond a family unit: a stallion, mare, and babbehs. Occasionally a family will survive long enough to take in another feral/runaway which will pair up with one of the younger generation. Multi-generational families are rare as fluffies, for the most part, do not survive very long without humans caring for them.

Q. How durable/strong are fluffies?

  1. They are toys. They are meant to played with and not hurt their owner. As such, they are fairly durable. Falling off a kitchen table is (edit:) NOT a guaranteed broken bone, though any human determined to break bones would not find it too difficult. Their teeth are not soft. They are normal teeth. But the jaw muscles are exceedingly weak, meaning fluffies can really only eat soft fruits and vegetables, fluffy kibble, and sketties. A fluffy bite breaking the skin would be extremely rare. Their hooves are soft and leathery with frictional texturing for gripping. Think of the material your steering wheel is made of. Fluffies strength : durability ratio prevents fluffies from doing any real harm to another. Fluffies cannot crush each other, nor tear with their weak jaws. A fluffy could push another down a flight of stairs, though, for example. Smarties do not need to actually hurt fluffies to assert dominance. Simply giving sorry hoofsies will cause most fluffies to cower and cave to the smarty, despite only mild pain with no broken bone or even skin. It is more the psychological aspect that another fluffy would resort to violence.

Q. How are abusers viewed?

  1. The novelty of fluffies have worn off. Nobody cares about them anymore. Most fluffy suffering comes from industrial/breeding/store settings and those out in the cities (runaways or discarded). Imagine walking down a street and seeing a rat. Nobody would consider it rude if you ignored it rather than giving it something to eat. Now imagine the rat is small-dog sized, can speak, is persistent, cannot get away quickly, and is very annoying. People may think you’re rude for giving it a piece of your mind and yelling and/or cussing at it. But nobody would really care. Kicking? Eh, everyone has a bad day, plus that fluffy was REALLY annoying.
  2. As for actual abusers. They exist. Some stores cater to them. Most employees of fluffy stores/shelters do not care if the adopter is a hugboxer or an abuser. Mostly they just want to move units. In places abuse isn’t illegal, it is not even really seen as immoral. But it is frowned upon. It would be akin to having a furry-diaper fetish. It’s not something you’d speak of in public, and may be embarrassed to have family/coworkers learn about it, but it’s not illegal. More of a social faux pa.

Q. What how does fluffy lifecycle (i.e. timeframe from chirpehs, to talkie babbehs, to foals, to filly/colt, to mare/stallion?) and pregnancy time work?

  1. Inconsistently.

If you’ve ever had any questions about my headcannon or needed some clarification, this is your place to ask them. :slight_smile:

Real questions only, please.

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I don’t really have a question, I just have two comments: one, that I’m really glad you posted this as the comic is excellent and the headcanon description is well done. And two, that I agree that fluffies are equivalent to humans in regards to taking a position on their own existence and being self-aware. I will refrain from discussing the implications here, other than to say that they’re cosmically horrific.

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Cute aggression to the max here! It’s always interesting to see different ideas, especially so developed and thought out.

I also love the Hasbio no longer existing headcanon; I’m adopting it.

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There’s nothing sadder than reality and awknoladge how little and insignificant you are knowing you are just a bag of meat walking and pretending to be something else when it’s just the universe screaming and trowing a tauntrum about wanting to be another reality.

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Gracias, te amo uwu

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I like this headcanon, That fluffies are naive and loving creatures only wanting to spread love and joy,

So what happened to PETA in this cannon? Hasbio was raked over the coals forced to shut down, but PETA were the ones to release the unfinished prototypes into the wild causing the ecological disaster.

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I dub thee: Logicverse.

So for questions:

  1. Horrorboxy supernatural? Afterlife? Not from in-universe knowledge, but the omniscient narrator perspective where you can definitely rule on it existing or not.
  2. An idea I like is they begin life with the Hasbio programming plus some random instincts, which intermingle with some intentional randomness on Hasbio’s part to produce Talkies with distinct personalities. But the longer they survive the more an actual free-willed personality develops, and they rely less on stereotypical phrases. Do you have a similar rule?
  3. Rival companies? In original Fluffy lore there was more than one company. Most folks now simplify it to Hasbio only, and now it seems like there is interest in saying Hasbio created more lifeforms than just living MLP plushies. Do you go with any of that?
  4. Ideas on how programming works?
  5. Evolution, environmental pressure and natural selection?
  6. Alicorns having any value? Specific colors or qualities?
  7. What about variants beyond the core four? Jellens, Anthros, Seafluffies, Gardenfluffies?
  8. Underground/illegal/amateur biotoy production?
  9. How much human DNA do they have, and how much of a food source are they used as? Do they have any actual equine genetics or are they reshaped from other animals to resemble horses?
  10. Are they comedic shit factories that can’t hold it in, spray feces without even knowing, spray as a weapon, and have to eat constantly because they absorb almost no nutrients but are fucked by Hasbio programming them not to eat their own shit like a real animal?
  11. Do they hate Munstah Fluffies, cripples, and earthtone colors? Have Bestest, Dancie, and Worstest babies?
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Yessss cry so more you useless nu weggie dumbass
2021-05-01-10-29-07

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Wow, that fluffy is totally like me.

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Nah bro. You are good at abuse as well! FLuffies having a modular design and being abel to swap out parts was a stroke of genuis! Keeping living ones in dark room on hooks for extra parts is a great example of industrial horror. Sadbox may be your bread and butter but everybody mixes in a little of other boxes. A little abuse makes the hugbox all that more sweeter. THough no hugboxer will ever admit it.

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Not since the days of ginger_fig has such a verbal beatdown been delivered to a fluffy.

Although I’m unsure how that foal understood all that. Perhaps it just cried from what I can imagine to be the extraordinarily contemptuous and verbose tone of the employee’s voice

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It’s so soul crushing. How delicious :heart:.

Also thank you very much for the FAQ. As a lorehound I gorge on the amount of worldbuilding.

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Honestly, I haven’t given it much thought. It’s much harder to shut down a spread out organization based on an ideology than a legal entity like a corporation that needs permits and whatnot.

I’m not planning on creating any comics involving PETA, so I guess those who committed the break in got caught and punished, but they were never able to legally tie it back to PETA as an organization. So PETA exists, but has shriveled to a practically non-existent form due to public backlash.

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I loved ginger_fig. His fluffies were as helpless and pathetic as Wolfram or EgorAlexeev’s fluffies but they were hated with the intensity of SchaferAraks foal rapists and hellgremlins. I loved the amount of abuse (verbal and otherwise) the received for how utterly benign they were. :hugs:

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  • Horrorboxy supernatural? Afterlife? Not from in-universe knowledge, but the omniscient narrator perspective where you can definitely rule on it existing or not.
    Same as Humans. So if you believe in human heaven/hell, reincarnation, whatever, same holds for fluffies, since they are actual sapient creatures despite being manufactured.

  • An idea I like is they begin life with the Hasbio programming plus some random instincts, which intermingle with some intentional randomness on Hasbio’s part to produce Talkies with distinct personalities. But the longer they survive the more an actual free-willed personality develops, and they rely less on stereotypical phrases. Do you have a similar rule?
    Yes. Fluffies are beyond sentient. They are sapient, like humans. They can learn and grow to an extent. A limited extent. I don’t want to put a human age-level on it, but a fluffy that could speak properly without a lisp would be like a human having a full understanding of the 4th dimension or grasping fully supernatural concepts (i.e. things you need to study outside of the physical universe, since being in the universe does not provide a proper vantage point for unbiased study). It’s not something that can be learned. It’s beyond the ability of an individual regardless of their individual potential.

  • Rival companies? In original Fluffy lore there was more than one company. Most folks now simplify it to Hasbio only, and now it seems like there is interest in saying Hasbio created more lifeforms than just living MLP plushies. Do you go with any of that?
    Fluffies were completely unknown prior to the PETA raid. They were a complete surprise to everyone outside of Hasbrio/Hasbio (Hasbio wasn’t even officially recognized until after the raid). No other company was working on creating human-made organic life or “bio-toys” and any attemps after knowledge went public, we crushed when research into such topics were made illegal by the US government.

  • Ideas on how programming works?
    Hasbio secret. Tied into the genetic template. Hasbio somehow tied instincts into the genetic code so fluffies are born just “knowing” things. A foal-in-a-can that has been isolated from birth will still hit all the milestones (open eyes, chirp, speak, etc), and still know how to speak English and all the fluffy things (love and huggies, need for mummah or daddeh, etc).

  • Evolution, environmental pressure and natural selection?
    Hasbio actively worked to prevent this. All fluffies genetic code come from a genetic template which is reset every generation in case of mutations. Meiosis and fertilization does not occur with fluffies (no sperm or eggs), rather mares comes with “pre-viable” ovum. Special huggies does not provide genetic material from the mare or the stallion. Rather it triggers the transport of the ovum to the womb as well as random allocation of certain gene sequences. This means fluffies can have different fluff/mane/eye colors without inheriting it from parents. It prevents fluffies from being clones of one another and is the way Hasbio got away with labeling fluffies as non-living bio-toys. They aren’t inheriting genetic material from their progenitors. Rather sections of the fluffy genetic template is randomize to provide diversity. This mean fluffies cannot evolve as any “non-approved” genetic combination (mutation) is considered non-viable and is aborted before it implants in the uterus.

  • Alicorns having any value? Specific colors or qualities?
    In as much as SUPREME brand swag has any value. i.e. Among annoying tosspots. Most people don’t care about fluffies to give value to one simply because it has a horn and wings.

  • What about variants beyond the core four? Jellens, Anthros, Seafluffies, Gardenfluffies?
    No anthros. Currently on the fence with seafluffs, gardenfluffs, micros, etc. I love the idea, but I’m trying to figure out how they would come about with the no evolutions rule mentioned above.

  • Underground/illegal/amateur biotoy production?
    Breeding where legal. But no new products in development secretly by other companies. Demand isn’t there as even without Hasbio, there are enough fluffies to piss off the average citizen.

  • How much human DNA do they have, and how much of a food source are they used as? Do they have any actual equine genetics or are they reshaped from other animals to resemble horses?
    Technically no human DNA since the genetic template was made from scratch. So they actually aren’t a chimeric mix and match of animals. Hasbio used their understanding of proteomics to reverse engineer the DNA that would create the proteins (i.e. lifeforms) they wanted to create. Can’t really think of a real-life equivalent to compare it to. Stuff that can’t really be achieved at least for another century. As such, fluffies are used as the main source for meat and animal by-products. Along with pet animals, fluffies caused most domesticated stock animals to go extinct. Cows, sheep, etc are extremely rare. There is a stigma against eating fluffy meat, since they can talk, are disgusting, and as annoying as hell. So only the poor eat fluffy meat. Most eat synthetic meat (think the Beyond Burger) or have cut out meat from their diet considerably.

  • Are they comedic shit factories that can’t hold it in, spray feces without even knowing, spray as a weapon, and have to eat constantly because they absorb almost no nutrients but are fucked by Hasbio programming them not to eat their own shit like a real animal?
    Kinda. People use “they are incomplete products” to justify hellgremlins and rapists and such. In my headcannon, fluffies were pretty much shelf-ready. The final touch was tweaks to the digestive system (Hasbio wanted to ensure that they could sell lots and lots of Hasbio Brand Kibble and Sketties). They aren’t explosive with their shit. But unlike real animals that tend to eat mostly plant and fiber based meals, they feces is unfortunately runny and non-solid. This obviously creates issues. But most fluffs that survive to adulthood learn to hold it until they get to the litter.

  • Do they hate Munstah Fluffies, cripples, and earthtone colors? Have Bestest, Dancie, and Worstest babies?
    They fear alicorns. This was programmed into them so as to alert Hasbio workers to the birth of an alicorn. A mare will cower from from an alicorn foal and scream bloody murder. This would’ve been the signal for an employee to collect the rare unit and place it in the alicorn unit. Fluffies were never meant to breed outside of Hasbio facilities. The idea was to only sell gilded stallions. Different colors would be sold as stallions or mares. All real mares would be kept as dams, feeding/training mares, or disposed of. Mares do not choose favorites, but Hasbio did program them to prefer brighter colors and healthy non-cripples. This was to ensure that the better units received the most nutrition and grew up healthy and strong. Mares will not exclude poor-colored foals or runts or cripples, but they will tend to them last. This means that poor colored foals and cripples tend to die with more frequency in the wild when food is scarce and tend to be cannibalized to provide milk for the other foals. This is not quite the same as choosing a bestes and wowes babbeh, but the fluffy version of triage. Good colors and non-runts/injured are given the most resources because in the mare’s mind, they are the most robust and healthiest, with the highest chance of survival (false, but fluffies are idiots). When resources are plentiful, a mare will never deprive it’s foals of milk and attention regardless of color or breed (except alicorns, as they literally fear them and will relocate to get away from them).

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So why give male Fluffies a sexdrive at all? There functionally are no male Fluffies, given the genitals need not exist at all. They could just produce young on a schedule like laying eggs. You just create offspring that either need to mount something like a chihuahua or mourn lost genitals. You’d be better off just not having males at all, so every pre-fertilized “clone but random traits and colors” egg is just a Mare or a sterile Mare. Its not like they have to exist, given the source material is a female cast.

So Alicorns basically cannot exist in the wild? Mares are incapable of overcoming the fear?

What about mutations or brain damage during life rather than birth? A mother losing some of her programming, or radiation?
What about genetic drift? Nothing including DNA, even digital data, can be copied perfectly forever. At some point the copied template ought to have changed enough for all mothers to reject their young like reverse-Hapsburgs.

No hobbiest genetic manipulators? Presumably Hasbio didn’t do things so far beyond the rest of the scientific world, and people build nuclear reactors in their backyards just to see if they can. Could be the source of the other variants.

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Love the first two panels its cute and cuddly :heart:

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So why give male Fluffies a sexdrive at all? There functionally are no male Fluffies, given the genitals need not exist at all. They could just produce young on a schedule like laying eggs. You just create offspring that either need to mount something like a chihuahua or mourn lost genitals.

Sorry if I was unclear. Fluffies don’t really have a sex drive. Stallions get erect in the presence of the mare pheremone. For fluffies; the sex drive → reproduction cause and effect is reversed. In nature, sex feels good because creatures that enjoy sex end up reproducing often thus increasing their chances passing on their genetic code. For fluffies, the goal is to “hab babbehs” which then makes the mare and stallion “ready” for special huggies. In the absence of mares, stallions would have no sex drive which is a feature, not a bug (I think most dog owners would agree that your dog getting randy and humping everything is not a positive) and would be gilded so young that they would never realize they had genitals to mourn the loss of. As for WHY mimic sexual as opposed to asexual reproduction? Confusion and subterfuge of information. A big key to fluffies success is that they are not labeled living things. Otherwise Hasbio would have been found of animal abuse and never allowed to market their bio-toy product. There’s a lot more about Hasbio’s background and secrecy that I didn’t touch on. But essentially think Bond Villain over-the-topness.

Why is this part of my headcannon so over-the-top and elaborate? The tl;dr version is that my major was biochemistry and my headcannon/interest in fluffies literally began with the question “Which of the core tenets of life could Fluffies not adhere to that would allow them to still look and act the way they do and still be labeled as a ‘bio-toy’?”

So Alicorns basically cannot exist in the wild? Mares are incapable of overcoming the fear?

Not really. Alicorns are supposed to be rare. Why would they need to exist in the wild, unless you want a “stumbles upon an alicorn but shows integrity in the face of adversity by refusing to sell a ‘true friend’ for money” story? Only other reason for alicorns is for bad mummah stories and white-knighting. Which isn’t sadbox. Protecting an alicorn from other fluffies is justicebox. And I can only do sadbox

What about mutations or brain damage during life rather than birth?

Meaning mutations can’t occur during life. Mutations occur in gametes of already living organisms for their next generation. Otherwise it would be nigh impossible to ensure that each cell would remain identical. Remember, each of the trillions of cells in your body contain the same genome. For a mutation to occur after birth, every cell would need to have the same genetic alteration almost simultaneously. We have Spider-Man and other super heroes to thank for this common misconception. :grin: Brain, damage, yeah. Things have brains, can get damaged.

A mother losing some of her programming,

There’s literally a disease where people’s muscle tissue get calcified once damaged so their bodies are slowly turning to skeleton statues. So yeah, a fluffy’s programming going weird is definitely in the realm of possibility.

or radiation?
For destroying ovum? Radiation just messes with your DNA, killing cells. Again Hulk and Spider-Man have really confused us on how radiation and mutation works :grin:

What about genetic drift? Nothing including DNA, even digital data, can be copied perfectly forever. At some point the copied template ought to have changed enough for all mothers to reject their young like reverse-Hapsburgs.

You’re right, no data cannot be copied forever perfectly. But in evolution, all that’s happening is changes that lead to death before reproduction/less fertility → not passed along → change disappears or becomes a rarity. Changes that decrease chance of death before reproduction/increase fertility → passed along → the change becomes more common or becomes a norm.

Hasbio added a bottleneck of check for change → if change exist → then change no longer exists.

Eventually this control will fail, but that’s far enough in the future away that it’s safe to say fluffies will not change without human intervention.

No hobbiest genetic manipulators? Presumably Hasbio didn’t do things so far beyond the rest of the scientific world, and people build nuclear reactors in their backyards just to see if they can. Could be the source of the other variants.

It’s possible. But people are still debating on whether fluffies should even be considered alive or intelligent at this point. There’s def a small community of people trying to crack fluffies, but I’d imagine they haven’t made much progress yet without access to the source code, so to speak.

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There is another use for Feral Alicorns, which is “this Fluffy has an unusual amount of common sense/cleverness/recognition of danger and don’t want it to come across as super special”.

I didn’t mean radiation giving them powers, I meant more in terms of mental and internal disorders that a Mare wouldn’t recognize in Foals.

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I’ve definitely had some thoughts like this about Fluffies before. Glad to see it be out to art through! Some of the best sadbox I’ve seen in a hot second.

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