driftfleet | (no subject)

[She actually scowls at that.]

It doesn't. How would you like it if you saw humans being bred into subservience by some other creatures? To the point where they hardly acted like humans at all. And if you confronted them about it all you got was 'Oh, they've been domesticated', as if that's a perfectly reasonable response?

[ Oh boy, that sure rings a few bells. He frowns, letting her finish. ]

Humans do it to themselves, they don't need any other creatures for it. I understand your position a little better than you think.

[That's what Finn said, and he uh. He admitted to being brainwashed.]

Do you?

For a long time, I was treated like a thing and not a person. They took my name, my memories. Only took me out of storage long enough to do what they wanted me to.

[ It's not exactly information he wants everyone to know, though who would? ]

['Out of storage' sounds pretty serious.]

So you do know.

[She sighs.]

That woman had no desire to listen.

Not after she thought you were trying to hurt him, no. Being aggressive gets her attention, but not in a way that's really good for getting a point across.

[ He's quiet for a few moments before he looks back at Renart. ]

We can't just let them off into the wild on a planet they're not familiar with. They could die if they aren't familiar with hunting something bigger than vermin on a ship.

If she knew anything about foxes she would have known what I was doing. She's irresponsible and has no right to be forcing her will on a fox when she knows nothing about the species.

Obviously not. I'd suggest returning to the planet they came from, but we have no control over that.

I don't think she forced her will-I think Snuggles chose her. Even if she hadn't gotten him, someone else would have. The people on Arslae have domesticated them for so long, I don't know that their instincts are as honed as yours. They certainly can't talk.

Maybe you should make a network post with information for fleet members with foxes. It might be helpful from the perspective of one.

She forced her will by bringing him here, and the rest of the people on that planet did the same when they decided to domesticate those foxes. If they hadn't done what they did his mind wouldn't be brutalized as it is.

[She scoffs.]

The ones who should listen wouldn't. We're all the same to them.

It doesn't change the fact that it did happen, and there's no going back on it. They can't change it any more than I can change what happened to me. The foxes are here and they have a space for their own use and no one mistreats them.

I'm not saying you have to be happy about it, but you do need to try to be civil. If the people with foxes feel like you're a threat, they'll stop using the park, which limits where they can go that's anything like the outdoors.

They're being inherently mistreated by being cooped up on these spaceships or in that park. The only real alternative is one no one would agree to, because god forbid they no longer have something they can own.

I've been completely civil. She was the one who threatened me.

She threatened you because she thought you were hurting him. Tensions have been high for a few months.

You're right, it's not likely they'll agree, so there needs to be a compromise.

Then she should apologize.

[She is totally not expecting one, she just wants to see if she can wrangle it. #Smugfox.]

I'd personally like to not be harassed and treated like a pet at the park. And that place should be more than some fake snow, and it shouldn't be accessible to humans. [She shrugs.] But no one will agree to that.

There might be a way to make something like that. Plenty of room on the Iskaulit. There are enough engineers that they might be able to make a snow machine- they've made plenty of asinine things.

I don't know that humans wouldn't access it to watch the foxes, but a space for them closer than the Marsiva might not be a bad idea?

There would need to be actual earth. Foxes dig, you know. Even the domesticated ones. We like to destroy things.

[She's really hoping they didn't take that away from that fox, at least.]

They'd still want to go in and treat them like pets. And they'd argue that it's okay because they're domesticated.

[So it's sadly a very circular problem.]

I guess I don't know a whole lot about foxes. You'll have to fill me in.

I mean, I am living in close quarters with one.

We aren't dogs, to begin with.

[She cannot stress that enough.]

I knew that much. Easy enough to trick a dog. It's the foxes who are wily.

Good. [She grins a bit, stretching her arms over her head.]

We aren't cats, either.

Of course not.

You'd be amazed at how many people assume we're just a mix of the two because we're canines that can purr.

That must be frustrating.

Like you wouldn't believe.

It's not quite the same circumstance, but I get where you're coming from. People not understanding completely.

It's a relief, honestly. People usually don't, and I don't particularly want to be kicked off this ship.