- https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/v6a1kv/another_reason_why_tumblr_is_the_best_community/
- https://i.redd.it/oldulxttm1491.jpg

== prokopetz ==
I've seen a lot of videos going around of urban-dwelling critters
coming to humans for help with various problems, ranging from boxes
stuck on their heads to young trapped down a storm drain, and it's
gotten me to thinking:

On the one hand, it's kind of fascinating that they know to do that.

On the other hand, setting any questions of how this sort of behaviour
must have arisen aside for the nonce, does it ever strike you how
*weird* it is that we've got a whole collection of prey species whose
basic problem-solving script ends with the step "if all else fails, go
bother one of the local apex predators and maybe they'll fix the
problem for no reason"?

== roachpatrol ==
well, come to think of it, we're at the top of the food chain but we
almost exclusively hunt and kill prey _out in the country_.

raccoons and possums and foxes and crows all succeed in an urban
environment because they're opportunistic and observant, and almost
none of them would have observed us pounce on one of their species and
then start eating it, you know? a lot of them would have observed that
we scream and chase them out of wherever we don't want them to be, but
other animals are territorial too. but there's a number of situations
where humans feed whoever's bold enough to take them up on the offer,
and we _do_ tend to pull garbage off of other animals as soon as they
slow down enough for us to catch. 'a human got me but nothing bad
happened' is a much more frequent thing than 'a human got me and tried
to eat me'.

anyway like, we're masters of our environment, we make weird shit
happen all the time, we have lots of great food and sometimes we share
and we almost never eat someone. it makes sense for urban animals v
over the last century or so, to just keep an eye out for opportunities
to use us, and to pass the habit on to their kids.

== tsfennec ==
It really is weird, funny thing. Like yeah, technically they're
predators, and they get pretty screamy, especially if you try to take
any of their stuff... but given the chance it seems like they'd rather
help us out and sometimes they'll just randomly give you food, so???

I mean, I guess in fairytales and myths we've got our fair share of
stories about dangerous people/creates who might well kill you or
otherwise ruin your life, but to whom people nonetheless turn for help
in desperate circumstances. So it's not like the perspective is
exactly a foreign thing to our own mindset, really... It's just that,
y'know, we can't _actually_ go make a deal with the faeries when
there's something we can't figure out.

(Which brings me to an interesting thought about the ubiquitous rule
about never eating the faery food lest you find yourself forever
unsatisfied with anything in the human world - and the potential
parallels to the dangers of feeding wildlife _human_ food lest they
become addicted and too tame and dependent to be safe for either
themselves or us. Hmm.)

== sapphicaquarius ==
Okay, but that last bit with the Fae...makes almost perfect sense

Of the stories I've read, the food of the Fae, its origins and
effects, are often strange and/or obscure.- Just like our food to most
animals.

The Fae are strange beings that seem to know weird things that give
them power or an edge over us.- Just like us to animals.

The Fae work and live by strange rules also often nonsensical or
obscure to us.- just like us to animals.

The Fae can easily obtain vast amounts of things we consider
rare/precious/desirable, and have no problem with dishing out wantonly
for no other reason than amusement.- Just like us to animals.

The Fae sometimes are amused by having us around, but only on their
terms and IF it amuses/intrigues them.- Just like us to animals.

GUYS, I SENSE A PATTERN....

== roachpatrol ==
-they have arcane social conventions and the punishment for not paying
the respects right is banishment, if you're lucky, and death if you're
not.

-they have wild and unexpected parties where you'd least expect to
find them. but if you're bold enough to entertain them they'll feed
you and caress and you and play with you all night.

-time runs strangely in their realm. their homes are summerlands: warm
and bright, no matter the season. there is always fruit on their
tables. but not everyone who comes in from the cold is let back out
again.

-their games are cruel and complex and unfair, but if you can beat
them by their own rules you will access riches beyond imagining.

-sometimes they just fucking fuck with you, the fuckheads.

-they will absolutely steal your children away. when your children
return— if they ever do— they will come back strange. they will know
things they shouldn't. they won't know things that they should. your
strange children might survive, might even prosper, might take wives
and husbands and have children of their own. butthey will always be
marked by their time away from you world.

-the price for pissing them off is always death. sometimes just you.
sometimes you whole community.

-if you are very good, and very smart, and verybrave, they will grant
you wish.

== oceaxereturns ==
My eyes just got wider and wider the further down I read.