Furry world meat sources?

[John_Owl]

I know the title sounds weird, but give me a quick moment of your time. This is an idea I've been grappling with for a long while. I'm working on an isekai novel where MC and his sister are the only two humans in the world. every other being are furries or monsters. I'm wanting to present it as being happy-go-lucky with dark/grim undertones. Like, on the surface, it seems like a good and happy world. but under any real scrutiny, you realize just how dark it really gets. the world itself is medieval, so no scientific labs that can grow artificial meats.

In such a world, where would carnivores (fox people, wolf people, bears people, etc) get their meat from? So far, I've come up with 3 ideas and I'd like your input, since you lovely folks always give such amazing ideas!

So, my first thought was hunting. the issue here is Residents would be at a major disadvantage. Monsters are inherently magical, while residents are just humanoid animals. Then Funerary Feasting, but that's rather dark and more than just a little grim. But meat plants just seem a little too whimsical. I also considered normal dynamics, but since everyone is sentient and aware, predators killing prey would just be murder.

If you have any other ideas I haven't thought of, I'd be happy to hear it.

Edit: I do want to add, Humans have been here previously. Magic used to exist in our world. Humans would regularly go there. Not enough to have a standing population, but enough to have legends, myths, and rumors. But it's been about 1500 years since the last one. they're known for always having a drastic effect, be it as villains, heroes, or just horny-driven.

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

I've played around with the idea of there being sentient anthropomorphic animal races, and also regular non-sentient, non-anthropomorphic animals living in the same world. For carnivores, eating the non-sentient animals was okay, but not the sentient races.

 

[John_Owl]

the only issue is I already have the world set. There would be a lot of rewriting I'd have to do to include non-sentient animals...

 

[SRB]

Killing monsters for food sounds like a good idea. I doubt Furries will kill animals if Furries think like humans. Humans will not kill creatures that look too much like themselves for food. But if in your story Furries do not perceive the world exactly the same way as people, then other options will look logical.

And meat plants sound kinda boring.
Funeral Feasting can work with scavengers if you want to make a parallel with real animals.

 

[ParticleOfSand]

I could imagine such a world having different cultures and values such that eating the dead is considered respectful rather than grim. Some animals are straight-up cannibalistic when food becomes scarce, so it should only bother the humans who aren't used to it.

 

[BearlyAlive]

Full-on cannibalism! You are what you eat, after all

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

Lion King world. Don't think about it too much. They obey the hierarchy or get the claws.

 

[John_Owl]

Killing monsters for food sounds like a good idea. I doubt Furries will kill animals if Furries think like humans. Humans will not kill creatures that look too much like themselves for food. But if in your story Furries do not perceive the world exactly the same way as people, then other options will look logical.

And meat plants sound kinda boring.
Funeral Feasting can work with scavengers if you want to make a parallel with real animals.

I'd considered that. Dating back to prehistoric times, predators would eat prey without question. so now, in the modern (to them) era, they would have a system in place. Which is where I came up with Funerary Feasting. You could even trade recently deceased like food. Prey settlements could talk to predator settlements like "We have five dead. you've got 30 stalks of wheat. trade?" Larger cities would just have funeral chefs, rather than funeral directors.

I could imagine such a world having different cultures and values such that eating the dead is considered respectful rather than grim. Some animals are straight-up cannibalistic when food becomes scarce, so it should only bother the humans who aren't used to it.

I was thinking it would be the previously visiting humans that gave them the idea to only eat the naturally dead, rather than murder for food. remaining remnants of some of the previous humans that came to the world.

 

[Navillus]

I mean there could be normal animals after all humans are mammals and we don't seem to care to much about eating other mammals so why can't they do the same?

 

[John_Owl]

Thats true, but we don't eat animals that look and talk like us. If there were a cow that verbally begged to not be killed for steak, we might reconsider turning it into that rack of ribs for tonight. We'd go for the non-talking cow.

 

[Heartlock]

All meat goes bro, if it can be consumed, it will be. Just because herbivores don’t gain much nutrients from meats, they still gain energy.

 

[Empress_Omnii]

Then Funerary Feasting, but that's rather dark and more than just a little grim.

I like the idea, but why does it have to be dark and grim? If you do it, try to have a dialogue on traditions, cultures and or funerals.
But my point is, why make it a dark aspect of the world building? From a non furry perspective it can seem that way, but for the furries it should hold either positive or neutral connotations.
I think the idea has a lot of merit if you use it to add something to the story.
(Not sure how readable this is, I've got some mind influencing allergies afflicting me)

 

[John_Owl]

I like the idea, but why does it have to be dark and grim? If you do it, try to have a dialogue on traditions, cultures and or funerals.
But my point is, why make it a dark aspect of the world building? From a non furry perspective it can seem that way, but for the furries it should hold either positive or neutral connotations.
I think the idea has a lot of merit if you use it to add something to the story.
(Not sure how readable this is, I've got some mind influencing allergies afflicting me)

It's readable, not to worry lol. Been there.

And yeah, I meant it would be dark for the reader, not the characters. the thought of eating the already dead rather than killing specifically to be eaten.

The Mc and sister would be grossed out until they decided, "Well... we've eaten meat every day of our lives. If this is how they get their meat..."

 

[Echimera]

the only issue is I already have the world set. There would be a lot of rewriting I'd have to do to include non-sentient animals...

What stops you from adding domesticated monsters to your world?

 

[John_Owl]

What stops you from adding domesticated monsters to your world?

The monsters are still sentient. In-universe, there's a clear and distinct delineation between monsters and animals, and people just instinctively know. they're not at war or anything, it's just "that's a monster. that's an animal."

Meanwhile, the MC/sister/readers will know that animals are IRL animals but humanoid, while monsters are mythological beings, like dragons, chimera, minotaurs, etc.

Edit: I do like that though. They're not at war, but they can use each other... Monsters aren't above hunting and killing animals, while larger animal settlements could have "monster breeding" as self-sustainable meat source...

 

[Vnator]

The issue comes from animal-people eating other (non people) animals, but humans are also animals, so hunting and animal husbandry should be things.

Though I guess for them it'd be like if humans farmer and ate monkeys/apes, which is really weird. Maybe you see minotaur groups not eating beef but maybe milk, and whatnot?

 

[John_Owl]

that's my issue. If an intelligent, self-aware wolf kills an intelligent, self-aware rabbit, is that nature eating or murder? The rabbit could have a family, he could be on his way home, ready to provide a paycheck and some hard earned carrots to his family, and the wolf just eats him.

At what point does intelligence take over, and the need to eat becomes murder?

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Note if the society is primitive or the world is particularly harsh, they WOULD eat their own dead, but otherwise most societies grow beyond that once they reach any level of advancement - so it would either be the top option or not an option at all, depending on the tone of the story.

 

[Empress_Omnii]

The Mc and sister would be grossed out until they decided, "Well... we've eaten meat every day of our lives. If this is how they get their meat..."

I hope you are able to get a deeper perspective for this. Just thinking of it as livestock meat, as we do, in a culture where they eat those that came before them seems very erroneous. There should likely be respect or ritual-like traditions, funeral culture on earth is interesting itself. So if you do have a chance to develop something like this, it'd be great world building to see. Especially since you can bring up afterlife and religion (both of which are relevant in an isekai)

Even so, looks like this choice is losing the poll by a long shot.

 

[Bartun]

Furries