FB: Care Bear, Scare Bear (Patreon)

The word 'bear' does not refer to the actual animal. Instead, the word originates from the term for "brown" or "wild animal", with the most accurate translation of bear being "the brown one". Ancient humans used this euphemistic expression out of fear that speaking the animal's true name might cause it to appear. Thus the word "bear" is thought to be the oldest known euphemism in human history. 

I was watching a documentary earlier about bears, and it got me thinking about that delicate line they walk between cute and terrifying. Sometimes bears just look like big clumsy dogs, complete with puppy eyes.

(curious polar bear trying to squeeze past ladder slots to inspect the humans above)

Other times....they resemble monsters out of our very worst nightmares.

(curious polar bear trying to break into a glass cage to "inspect" the human inside)

Far be it from me to pretend animals are dangerous man-hungry brutes instead of, well.....animals. But bears can (and sometimes- rarely- do) eat us. And that feeds into centuries of fascination and fear. I think the same attitudes would carry over into FB. Of course anthro bears don't eat the flesh of (sapient) animals, but they're still seen as one of the most powerful, dangerous, and unpredictable predators alive. Cupcake is strong enough to haul a pickup truck and her bite can crush a bowling bowl. And yet....she cute. Cupcake possesses the same duality as any bear, able to switch from cute and cuddly to pants-shittingly horrifying in the blink of an eye.

In the first pic, Priscilla (and an absolutely terrified Victoria) are asking Cupcake to bend down for a selfie with them. In the next, Cupcake ponders who ate the last of her mom-made jam biscuits.