https://www.reddit.com/user/SpacePaladin15/
https://www.reddit.com/r/hfy/wiki/series/the_nature_of_predators/
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheNatureOfPredators

The Nature of Predators was a science fiction web serial novel by SpacePaladin15 hosted on the /r/HFY subreddit. The main series consists of 283 chapters split into two "books" and posted to Reddit between the 11th of April, 2022, and the 4th of January, 2025. The author has also written supplemental canon one-shots and miniseries set in the same universe for patrons on Patreon, the first of which can be found for free here. A paperback book, containing revised versions of chapters 1-40 and several Patreon side stories, was released on the 11th of December, 2023. The Nature of Predators is also notable for its rather prolific fanbase that has generated hundreds of fan spin-off stories over 13 thousand separate entries. Most of these can be found on the /r/NatureofPredators subreddit.

"There were two known instances of a predatory species achieving sentience in the galaxy."

In 2136, humanity is recovering from a tumultuous 21st century, marred by war and natural disasters. The United Nations, now the leading authority of Earth, commissions the first interstellar spacecraft, the UNS Odyssey, to explore the Gliese 832 star system. When the crew arrives, they encounter the Venlil, who are initially terrified of the humans' predatory traits and meat diet. Humanity soon discovers that the Venlil are members of the Federation, a coalition of hundreds of species - all herbivorous. The Federation had been in a centuries-long war against the Arxur, a lizard-like race of carnivorous aliens, known for eating any sentient life they find. In turn, the Federation refuses to see predators as anything but monsters and have adopted the policy of exterminating all known predators from the galaxy, including humans. Now, humankind's survival hangs in the balance as they face extinction from both the Arxur and the Federation.