#br'er

[boisterousfifty]

“Well landsakes... where the heck even is I?” this sure didn’t look like his Briar patch. In fact, it didn’t look like any kinda place he’d been to before. Too many lights for that. Scratching behind one ear, the rabbit thumps his foot in thought for several moments before noticing someone nearby. Well... they at least looked friendly.

“Pardon me, strangah’ but um... what is this here place?”

[everbayou]

Have you ever heard of Br'er (Brother ) Rabbit or what he has to do with Laura Plantation and Disney? Maybe not, but this trickster rabbit has a very interesting history. Alcee Fortier grew up on a plantation neighboring Laura, and would visit and listen to the workers stories as a child. When he grew up he became a folklorist and recorded those stories. Br'er Rabbit is a trickster rabbit whose tales originated in Sengal, Africa and were brought over by slaves. These stories were passed down orally from generation to generation until the late 1800s when they were recorded by Fortier in Vacherie, Louisiana. Now what does Br'er Rabbit have to do with Disney? Walt Disney heard the tales and adapted them into a 1940s cartoon called "The Song of the South". Br'er Rabbit was used a few more times throughout the years and is considered an original Disney character akin to Mickey Mouse. You can even meet him at Disney parks where he walks around as an interaction character. One of the most widely adored and well known attractions at some Disney parks is Splash Mountain. This ride is a direct manifestation of a scene from Br'er Rabbit's "The Song of the South." I highly suggest reading the tales which are freely available online.

[boisterousfifty]

@coffeebuzzcd

“Well now! How do ya do?”

[gemscales-and-tea]

📚 — reading Brer Rabbit.

Oh, Br'er LOVES to read. He loves books and picking up a new one if he can. It gives him something to do during the rainy season, since he hates getting wet so going out in the rain is a no-no.

[gemscales-and-tea]

👊 — fighting Brer Rabbit

Br'er is a buck rabbit and as such, he's pretty decent at fighting and scrapping. He's not very strong, again because he is a rabbit, so he can't really fight animals or people bigger than him-- like Br'er Fox or Br'er Bear-- but he can scrap with other rabbits and creatures his size or smaller.

[gemscales-and-tea]

🍀 — luck Brer and Jim.

Some say Br'er is lucky but the truth is he makes his own luck. Mostly because the scrapes he gets into are his own fault a lot of the time. A sort of 'he got himself into this mess and now he has to get himself out' sort of deal. Any 'luck' he has usually comes from his quick wit and fast thinking.

Now, Jim, on the other hand, has had moments where he's been incredibly lucky. A lot of it was his own hard work, like finding the circus on his own through sheer determination. But he has moments of luck. He considers being able to see an elephant in a tree was pretty darn lucky. Who gets to see that every day?

[gemscales-and-tea]

🏊 — swimming Brer Rabbit.

Br'er HATES getting wet. Hates it. He's like most rabbits where getting wet actually isn't good for him and could lead to him freezing to death if he isn't careful. Such a thing is a little more slim considering he lives in the South and can stretch out in the sun to quickly dry himself off.

But he's gonna be mad for at least an hour or two after, as wet fur is always such a pain in the tail. He CAN swim if he has to but, generally, he doesn’t like to.

[boisterousfifty]

“Pardon me, but do y’all need a spot o’help? Ya lookin mighty lost.”