#umlaut snakes kipo

[fruity-phrog]

Genderfluid but instead of wearing pronoun pins I wear a pin with the fictional character that my gender matches that day

[the-trans-dragon]

Kipo happy rambling

Ooooooo I never noticed before that Scarlemange’s Palace is a run down mall!!! :0!!!! That’s SO GOOD TO ANALYZE!!

Some of the mutants have towns they took over, like the Umlaut snakes. The Newton wolves have an entire observatory they use as a house. The Timbercats made their home in trees. But Scarlemange! The guy obsessed with humans (and killing them all) chose a MALL.

What a human place! A gilded palace!! The gold and jewels are fake, because it’s a mall. All the luxury is simply imitation, a snare set by capitalism to gather any extra money people had. The unseen product being sold to everyone: the brand name, the illusion of wealth, of the upper class, sold to you—and its on sale, buy two get one half off!

The piano was there as a illusion of luxury. The glass ceiling, colorful and remnant of church windows. A silly little capitalism machine dressed up like a palace or a cathedral. What a fascinating place for Scarlemagne to live!

A mall is a perfect building to represent the society that existed before. Gilded. A comforting lie. All the glory of capitalism, in all its imitation and flimsiness. What a perfect place, a perfect palace, for the king who wants to finally end humanity!

I don’t really like Scarlemagne because I’m soft and he is Trying To Kill Everyone, and I’m in a very silly overanalytical mood and probably reading way too much into it. But :3 I’m havin fun lol

[jey-draws]

A while ago you did art for a falcon sibling and a komodo dragon sibling for Kipo and every once in a while I wonder if those two would hang out with the hummingbombers/umlaut snakes instead of the timbercats. What do you think?

Yess definitely. I think it only makes sense.

[kipomania]

God I swear I’ve watched Kipo too many times- I’m starting to be able to pin point the exact spots in the city of Las Vistas. Such as where Mod Frog territory is, where Ratland, Umlaut snake, Newton Wolves, and much more places. Even Scarlamagnes palace!

[spacerockband]

if ur not already watching kipo... this is my offering to you.. go watch kipo joan jett voices a gay punk rocker snake

[stellatheknave]

big kipo spoilers after the break so don't read until you've watched the finale (this show is 100% worth watching to the end btw so pls do that)

Billions didn't attack Billions after being reverted, even if he did resist his turtleneck. Brad ran straight into Amy's hands. They are clearly still in there (especially with the two-psyche thing they had going on with Kipo, Emilia and Song, who are the only mutes we get to see inside the head of). "but wolves and rats are intelligent, social animals" you say "they just register as 'friends' to them". a fair observation, but Camille and Boom Boom, a SNAKE and HUMMINGBIRD, do the same thing. If in one night Emilia could make an injection that would turn her into a megamute, the Oaks could easily re-mutate the Cured in five years, especially since there were only a handful and they could probably even get personalized-by-species antidotes

[blueoatmeal]

what do they eat????

the surface culture in KATAOW is Very Strange, and part of that strangeness is what people eat

when there was only one sapient species on the planet, humans, it was easy to draw the line between what was morally okay to eat and what wasn’t. broadly speaking, anyway. Don’t eat other humans; why? because they’re sapient. they’re people. just about everything else is fair game. humans will eat anything

not very complicated. and generally when humans thought about hypothetical other sapient species, whether they be mutants or aliens or whatever, they usually came to a similar conclusion: despite being a different species, the other sapients are still sapient, still people, and so would be off-limits, if they did exist. the What Measure is a Non Human trope does start to come into play here, because it is easier to question a being’s sapience if they are different from humans. But generally speaking, to humans, sapient = not a menu item

Here’s where things get complicated.

In KATAOW, humans are no longer the only sapient species on the planet. Far from it, in fact. I can name about thirteen just off the top of my head.

Now, if they were aliens, they’d have come from their own entirely separate ecosystem. Usually in media there is an unspoken “one sapient species per origin planet” rule. This rule is rarely broken. this wouldn’t be a problem, as long as all the sapient species agreed to not eat any other sapients. The more there are, the less likely this is to happen, but it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine, as humans usually do, that assuming the alien sapients have their own supporting ecosystems already, they could all agree not to eat each other, as a moral compromise if nothing else; a truce of sorts, a show of respect

Well. the new sapient species in KATAOW are not aliens. 

They mutated, or evolved, from existing species in Earth’s ecosystem. In many cases (but not all) they seem to have entirely replaced their ancestors. For example, the Timbercats are the only example of modern ex-domesticated felines. There are no little kitties that can fit in a shoebox. None. None that we’ve seen, and Benson implies there aren’t any.

With birds, however, it’s different. We see examples of wild bird mutes (Beakbeak), and sapient bird mutes (Hummingbird Bombers). Is this distinction based on individual species? I don’t know.

In an inversion of the cat situation, the bunnies, or rather, megabunnies we see, are the only bunnies we see. But is it possible that there is now also a branched-off separate sapient species of bunny that we just haven’t met? I don’t know.

What causes some creatures to develop sentience, and others not to? They all seem to have changed in some way, but only some are intelligent now. Why? I don’t know. Humans seem to have, generally, been exempt from the mass mutation event. As we learn more about the world, this information may change, but this is what we know now.

Regardless, the fact remains that the creatures, the fauna of the world changed drastically, and with that change their needs changed too. Many plants and I would have to assume fungi and bacteria, archea, viruses, etc. have thankfully ALSO changed drastically. Is the ecosystem balanced, then, after such a drastic disruption? I’m not sure. The mutated life survived for 200 years though, so the environment coped well enough not to just kill everything, at least.

But still, food. Balanced or not, stuff definitely changed.

Let’s get the humans out of the way because they’re simpler:

Something happened to drive the humans underground, leaving a lot of food behind. They stay down there, so obviously they found ways to grow and hunt food down underground. If we can do it on Mars, a burrow is no problem. Humans were already eating whatever they wanted, so not much changed. And unless a lot has changed over 200 years, humans would still be averse to eating other sapient species. That’s been our history.

There are a few humans on the surface. Wolf implies that she won’t eat a mute if it’s sapient, when she first catches Mandu. Wolf and Benson seem to live off of old abandoned human food and non-sapient mutes. This works fine because there’s only a few surface humans; otherwise the supply of abandoned food would quickly run dry.

And that’s it for humans. 

Non-sapient mutes will eat whatever, regardless of sapience. Beakbeak doesn’t care that his prey is intelligent. He’s an animal in the traditional sense of the word. Wild animals continue to be wild animals, just like before the mutation. Nothing new there.

But the sapient mutes? The sapient mutes are weird.

Just so we’re on the same page, here are a few sapient mutes we know:

The Mod Frogs, the Newton Wolves, the Hummingbird Bombers, the raccoons, the Dubstep Bees, the Scooter Skunks, the rats, some elephants, that waterbear/tardigrade guy, our insect bud Dave, the Snäkes, the Timbercats, Scarlemagne and his assorted primate gang, and those rodent ppl in Umlaut Valley--prairie dogs? Punk Prairie Dogs? Etc.

Quick note, there are a few that are questionable mostly for lack of information (Mandu, dragonflies, flies) and I’ll touch on them later. For now we’re working with indisputably fully-sapient mutes.

So.

Obviously their diets changed from their wild ancestors’, but I think we can assume that generally, their broad dietary range didn’t change. Strict herbivores are still built to handle plants only. There’s no reason their digestive systems and various feeding adaptations would have changed that drastically.

Herbivores? Probably mostly still herbivores. The Dubstep Bees seem to still rely on plant products, and don’t care for meat. Elephants are also obligate herbivores, and we see some with, what, some popcorn and cotton candy? That tracks.

For the sake of simplicity, I’ll be glossing over the fact that most carnivores I know do occasionally eat a bit of plant and can thus be considered technical omnivores. That’s not relevant right now. There are plenty of plants and none of the plants are intelligent, so there isn’t an issue.

Omnivores need a bit of both. Raccoons, rats, and skunks are our best examples. They have plants, so that’s fine. There seems to be enough variety of non-sapient mute prey for them too. These mutes are urban too, so just as their ancestors did, they supplement their diets with human food. There is no need for them to eat sapient mutes, and as far as I can tell, they don’t. I’m pretty sure most primates fall under this category too. Insects vary, but Dave seems to be an omnivore. Wikipedia tells me tardigrades go here as well.

There are some animals that are generally herbivores but occasionally eat meat, like Hummingbirds, but again, there seems to be plenty to go around, and no reason for those few meaty meals to be sapient mutes.

Carnivores. Yeah. I’ve been waiting the whole essay to write this part. Who’s left? The Mod Frogs, the Newton Wolves, the Snäkes, and the Timbercats. If they can’t eat meat on the regular, they just can’t survive.

The Newton Wolves, Timbercats, and  Snäkes express their willingness to eat humans. The Snäkes also are implied to be regularly eating sapient prairie dogs. The Newton Wolves are known to hunt and eat Mod Frogs and humans. These are all hard facts.

Little bit more speculative here: The Timbercats, like irl cats, would probably be more keen on eating Snäkes if they weren’t so venomous. I don’t think they’d be opposed to it though. The Snäkes are large enough that wolf could potentially be a menu option. Wolves have historically been known to eat cats and snakes, so their sapient counterparts are probably fair game too. I don’t think the cats would want to eat wolves, though that thought is based largely on size and the fact that irl domestic cats don’t hunt irl wolves. Could they? Sure. I just don’t think they’d go for it when there are other options. Likewise, various omnivores would be considered prey to various carnivores, with practical and historical considerations determining their exact place on the food chain. Snakes and cats regularly eat frogs irl, so that’s that on that.

You may have sussed out my main driving question by now, but before I get to that, let’s take a little detour: humans as prey

No animal specifically hunts humans in the wild. We are not the prime prey animal of any species. Well, besides some bacteria, and a few parasites, but until we see a sapient bacteria or tapeworm, that’s not relevant. But these new mutated species, much larger and more intelligent than their ancestors, seem to see humans as just another prey option. And rightfully so! We are bald primates, just clever little mammals. Heck, even the rats are bigger than us now! If a mute would eat a rat, how different would human be? Different shape, but otherwise? Not much! I’m just saying I get it. Humans have been established as equal to other sapient mutes, and susceptible to the organization of the food chain in a way we’ve never been before. We’re not special anymore. We’re not even in power! We’re in hiding!

Now I don’t know, but I have to imagine that the reason several sapient mutes are okay with eating other sapient mutes is twofold: history and demand. 

All these animals were, before mutation, accustomed to eating beings on a similar intelligence level. That was their normal. So when a few of them mutate and gain sentience, what reason should they have to stop what they’ve been doing for all of history? Inter-species communication isn’t new, just easier.

And demand? Demand is more speculative. All of the mutes are much larger than their animal ancestors. So they need more food. If their main food source grew as well, and wasn’t sapient, there’s no issue... until you keep going down the food chain and run out of what they eat, and so on... But anyway, that could be alright. No moral issue, certainly. If their main food source stayed small (intelligent or not tbh), there’s going to be a food shortage for the predator.

This is all VERY simplified, btw, ecology is complex as hell and I could spend years mapping out all the causes and effects here

Back to the point: if there’s a food shortage, you either find a solution or die. Predators are probably gonna want to hunt prey of an appropriate size. So they either find different prey, change their preferences, adapt as many animals have had to do for ages. Difficult sometimes, and a hassle, but doable. OR... if their prey did grow, but also gained sapience? Screw the morals, which are historically more human-based anyway, and eat them. For both prey and predator, it’s not very different from what they’re used to. It’s not new.

Alright. That all makes sense to me. So what’s the problem? What’s that big question? I’ll tell you what’s been bugging me:

What the fuck are the Mod Frogs eating!?

“Well Blue,” you might say, “Just big insects and stuff, right? There are dragonflies and flies in the show. Why should the frogs be any different from the other predators in the show?”

They shouldn’t be any different, by the logic of this whole essay, but they are.

All the other animals, I’ve been able to find reasonable food sources for. But then the frogs subvert the whole thing by having dragonflies and flies working for them. The two most obvious and recognizable prey animals for frogs. So, are they in some kind of weird servant-prey Stockholm syndrome relationship?

Okay, possibly. I don’t have any data to disprove that. But it doesn’t fit with the rest of the kataow vibe and also I don’t like it. Like, the predator and prey stuff I can understand, but that is a special kind of fucked up, sapient or otherwise.

So if not that, then that’s gotta mean the frogs aren’t eating them, right? Okay, that makes some sense, I mean, they use the dragonflies for transportation and the flies are?? Also transportation????? Or assistants??? Its unclear. How that arrangement came about, I don’t know. 

Are the flies and dragonflies sapient? I’m not certain. The flies wear suits, so that’s a point for Probably Sapient. The dragonflies are largely treated as non-sapient but intelligent animals, like a domesticated horse. So maybe they’re like Mandu? Only they can speak. Dave knows and speaks their language. You don’t say “oh I speak a little Horse, lemme talk to them.” That’s not a thing. So the dragonflies for now are Probably Sapient, But It’s Complicated

Alright, alright, enough of that nonsense, there are plenty of bugs! Large ones too! And small mammals, irl frogs will eat those too! If they can get it in their mouth and it’s an animal, an irl frog will be willing to try and eat it. There’s no problem! What’s the point of this! They just eat big bugs! Just not flies because they’re sapient and--

Ah. Aha. No; see, that’s just it. Because they’re sapient. But hang on, didn’t I just say I wasn’t sure about the flies’ sapience? Yeah, I did, and I also said they probably are sapient, and even if they’re not, I have more.

ALL of the obligate carnivores in kataow reacted to Kipo’s gang in the same way; “Oh, that’s food.” And then only later, even if just a minute later, and usually reluctantly, “But maybe friends instead?” All the obligate carnivores EXCEPT for the Mod Frogs.

“That’s because humans are too big and--” Bullshit. Humans are the perfect size for mute frog prey. Sorry, that’s just a fact. And not only that, but they treat Dave and Mandu the same as the humans. Why? Why? Dave is a freaking insect!!! And the perfect size!!! And Mandu would be a great snack! Wolf almost ate Mandu, and she’s got a strict “if it talks it’s not food” policy.

Alright so I don’t have an explanation for Mandu besides “their sapience is uncertain and maybe that’s enough.” Maybe they’re too focused on the humans? I don’t know.

But Dave?????? When they captured him with Benson in the beginning, why didn’t they at least threaten to eat him??? Huh?? My proposal: because he’s sapient.

...So ...what?

So, if we go with this logic, the Mod Frogs are the only carnivores who care AT ALL about sapience of their prey. The omnivores and herbivores have the privilege of way more options, so they don’t get an opinion.

Why do the Frogs care? Why? And why is it just them?

This is where I run out of answers.

And yeah, there are probably other sufficiently-sized non-sapient prey animals for the frogs. There was a big spider and that’s probably enough proof for that point. They’re fine. They have stuff to eat.

But that doesn’t take away the fact that while they seem to choose not to eat sapient animals, none of the other carnivores do. 

Why.

Is.

That?

Jamack caught a Dubstep Bee in his mouth and what did he do?? He spit it out! Why would he do that if sapience wasn’t a factor? Why?

Seriously though if you have answers PLEASE share them with me, I am absolutely bewildered

[virovac]

Umlaut Snäkes

You know...I just realized the Umlaut snakes being easier to win over than the Timbercats (if you don’t count the fight) fits because they are the only large-scale gang besides the frogs made up of multiple species., while also lacking the others seemingly rigid hierarchy.

I aint counting Scarlegmagne because as he would say they arent a gang, and didnt really start as one. More a crew.

[sanktpolypenbourg]

Look I am the first to say that I love cartoons as an artform

but please imagine these giant snakes in life action for a second. Same behaviour, same dialogues, but actual giant föcking snakes. And no, you would have to do better than those odd awful disney remakes.

Tell me that wouldn’t be the cutest and funniest shit ever.

Also how precious is it that their tribe is specifically referred to as ‘Umlaut Snakes’ because you write them “Snäkes”-

Alos how PERFECT is it that for once, the Umlaut actually makes sense if you wanted a german to pronounce it correctly.

[maroisedot]

Idk if anyone else has already pointed this out but in German the letters ä, ö & ü are called an "Umlaut".

So the fact that they called them "Umlaut snäkes" is extremely funny to me

[sven-hates-antis]

The Umlaut snakes have huge hex girls energy

[fruity-phrog]

I’ve decided my beloved blorbo from my show for KATAOW will be every single umlaut snake.

[noooowhyyagainandagain]

KATAOWxBNHA AU

Ok so probs done before but... KATAOW AU! With Kipo as Todoroki and Wolf as Midoriya!!! I also have ideas for Kipo!Izuku and idk for wolf as well as Kipo!Kirishima and Wolf! Bakugou.

For Kipo!Shouto I want Bakugou as a Newton Wolf(even tho Hummingbomber could fit him..)

Excuse the bad art still fivuring out how to do digital

[lemonsweettea23]

Sorry haven’t been posting much art- but for now, have a 5-second made KATAOW character. Her name is Kewe!

Pronounced as “kiwi”

She loves the beach (and flowers. But mostly anything tropical. And is afraid of flying). But what keeps her grounded is her small cafe called “Sweet Treats and Drinks”. She lives in present day (Kipo)Umlaut Snake Teritory too

Sorry for the bad quality. I drew her in a small pixel count on a huge canvas

[sepublic]

Kipo Season 2 Thoughts!

-Wolf smiles a LOT in this Season, at least moreso than usual, and I’m living for it! Maybe one day I’ll make a “Smiles I want to protect” montage, but it’s just every shot of Wolf smiling...

-I have to wonder, is Fun Gus a result of the lab experiments as well, or did he just sort of move in after the place was blown open by Song?

-Emilia though... Ugh. Not really much else to say about her. She talks big about humans having built an empire or whatever, but she also seems to conveniently forget that it was humans who also brought it down. Or, not- Maybe Mutes deliberately had an uprising, but still. I wondered if we’d have Human characters who are very pro-human, but at the cost of Mutes as a result... I guess we got them, and in the form of a genocidal jerk!

-The Rats were my favorite Mute group followed by the Umlaut Snakes, so OF COURSE the show had to mess with me by having Scarlemagne attack them! Thankfully, Brad and Amy made it out alive and good, but I’m still depressed over them! Ratland was THEIR dream- Which confirms they were in charge, but also we saw other background rats? WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM??? But hey, at least Brad and Amy are okay, I just wish they got their Goat Cheese! Maybe they can make a NEW Ratland from the ruins of Aurum, that’d be fitting! Also the Umlauts are fine, although I didn’t see one of them... I think she was the one voiced by a famous celebrity? That’d explain the absence, guest voices can be hard to reprise. However...

-DANG, I did NOT expect the Mod Frogs to die like that! After Brad and Amy got away fine, I just... YIKES. I knew Scarlemagne was going to be upset at them for messing with his family, and in his own house no less, but... OOF. RIP to those frogs, they shall be missed- Really, I was just thinking about how much I enjoyed the designs and vibes of them before, y’know... Jamack really dodged a bullet there, huh? And talk about MESSED UP... The Mod Frog Boss got to choose her own place in Aurum, and that’s why she and the others were there before everyone else! That blessing by Scarlemagne led to a Butterfly’s effect of their horrific execution, I just... It’s messed up, especially knowing that their bodies are forever buried under who knows HOW many karats of gold?!

-I realized that the Goats adopted a reverence for Cheese because Goats have their milk used to make cheese (as well as other culinary purposes), but like... It didn’t really SINK IN that it was their milk until Dave asked. Brilliant way to end THAT episode, I tell you!

-Back to Wolf... WE GOT TO SEE HER SING! We saw her make Stalky! RIP Stalky... hopefully she makes a new one- Possibly from that same Death Stalker she beat, though I’m not sure if it’s still alive? Regardless, it was a TREAT to see more backstory for her, and how she learned to fight off the Death Stalkers, and then chose to attack one for its stinger! Anyhow, I need to hear her sing Heroes on Fire at least... TWELVE more times after this!

-Did NOT see that twist over the masked figures being the ones to put the collar on Song, not Scarlemagne! One might say that the show is ‘predictable’ in some ways, but in those ways that predictableness FEELS good and proper! Like how an actual story should go... At the same time, KatAoW still saves its genuine twists for what really matters!

-Love the usage of Mulholland by the way, glad to see the friendships made along the way have paid off! I wonder if he’ll be used to help Song speak to Kipo and Lio more! Also, it was weird to see some Fitness Raccoons boo Kipo and Co. while at Cappuccino’s place, but I guess the animators just needed some background variety.

-And, hey! Cappuccino has a fun design, although it feels awkward since I’ve just recently eaten shrimp... Although I HAVE recently visited some brunch places, so I can still appreciate her cafe!

-Did not expect the potential plot thread of Kipo losing control and hurting others as a Mega-Jaguar. I was legit concerned when she almost went for the kill on Gerard, and I love how Wolf, who is very much survival of the fittest, still respects and admires Kipo’s compassion to save her from doing that!

-Good for Jamack, by the way, getting the fame he also desired with those The-Otters! On a small note, I love the gag of the whole gang being unmasked, before we see one Otter, because then you remember that there was that one dude who was also in a costume! Pretty surreal seeing the gang play caricatures of themselves, in COSTUMES of themselves...!

-Zane and Greta are himbos, they’re total Kronks. Not much else to say, I just like that about them! I’ve seen TWO buff, himbo ladies working for the bad guys by Dreamworks -Scorpia and Greta- and I’m down for more!

-It was ADORABLE seeing Mandu try to mimic the tusks of those Boar-Mutes, and how they low-key were encouraging Mandu as well?

-Also, will Kipo’s community NOT LISTEN TO EMILIA SHUT UP YOU’RE THE WORST CHARACTER NOW I WAS WILLING TO GIVE SCARLEMAGNE A CHANCE BUT THEN YOU-

-Dave is apparently so immortal that he can survive being blown apart from the inside? Those Bats made a point that I’d become desensitized to, but... He really IS the weirdest character now that I think about it!

-Poor Kipo, each season ends with her thinking her journey is over, only for someone else to come in and change the current objective after the previous one was fulfilled! Give Kipo a break, dang it!

[alpha-liveblogs]

Pretty colorful. Most are generic, but the one in the middle has some fun markings and one is fuzzy, which is fun.

Wait does the fuzzy one have a-

Okay, so I thought they were called Umlaut Snakes because of something we’d see in their design maybe, and that it was tied into the umlaut in the name of the episode, but now I realize how blind I was! It’s a joke about the metal umlaut!

Will Kipo broker peace by singing the song from the intro? Will we get a metal cover of that song? Will the snakes already know it, or some other song that they learned from hearing her dad sing it, meaning that he’s alive and that they’re on the right track?

I don’t know but I am living for whatever is about to happen.