Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), a large pinniped found in the arctic and subarctic.

created for the first @polarlightszine

My take on the walrus vs fairy thing:

Right now, when I am not face-to-face with either, I do consider a real, magical fairy to be more unlikely than a walrus at my door (although the walrus would also be exceedingly unlikely).

However, in the moment?

In the case of the fairy, my first thought would be (depending on the appearance of the fairy): person in a costume? Hummingbird? Large insect? Trick of the light? All of those are much more likely (and less alarming) than either a fairy or a walrus, and would have to be ruled out before the true strangeness of the situation could really set in.

But a walrus? I would know immediately what I was looking at, how unlikely it is, and how dangerous it is.

In short, a fairy would make me blue-screen, but a walrus would make me scream and slam the door. Up to you which you would define as "more surprised," I guess.

I have no idea how this started but the fairy and walrus meme has brought me so much joy after several days of intense depressing stress. It's made me laugh. It's made me smile. Its made me feel like this world is still worth living in. The op of this should be so freaking proud. I have no idea who they are but they made a beautiful thing.

Thank you, Walrus vs Fairy OP. <3

maybe I'm more inclined to be surprised by the walrus than the fairy because how would the walrus even know to knock?

No one should care but ive been thinking about it and my take is that the root of the walrus/fairy question is one specific word used by the original poll: "surprised". The question is not which would change your worldview or which is more/less possible to really happen. The question is which *surprises* you more. To me, this means which causes a stronger immediate surprise reaction in you upon opening that door. In essence, how bad do you flinch?

This, to me, is why so many people (including myself!) choose Walrus. A walrus is an immediate situation! That's an animal larger and stronger than you are, one that I would say is potentially very dangerous, that many people have never seen in real life. And now it's your responsibility and on your doorstep! A walrus on a doorstep is a novel idea, at least to me. I don't think I've ever had an animal just appear at my door, and certainly never knock. Sure, after the gut reaction dies down, the mundanity of the situation is certain; a walrus is a real animal and the perpetrator is likely nearby, laughing at the world's weirdest ding-dong ditch prank. But for a few seconds, it's just you, your expectations upon opening a door, and a pinniped of unusual size.

Now let's examine the fairy; The term can be vague, but I think most people imagine a generally humanoid but very small creature with insect wings. First off, by being small, the fairy will likely not trigger a defensive response, unlike the walrus. This thing is not an immediate threat, at least to your subconcious. Also, by being humanoid, usually with a very human face and features, this changes the situation from "strange beast on my doorstep" to "strange person on my doorstep". Obviously this may be different from person to person, but I think "strange small person on my doorstep" would illicite much weaker response from my flight or fight reflex than a large, strange animal. This is nothing to say about the familiarity most people have with fantasy and fantasy ideas, and the lack of familiarity most people have with walrus' in general, but I think those are also factors.

also the walrus vs fairy debate is funny but I feel many people miss the spirit of it. It says walrus OR fairy. By saying the walrus is a fairy you are ultimately trying to create a middle ground that does not exist. The spirit of it is to assume that your options are a genuine real walrus, or a genuine real fairy. It would be equally wrong to try and say "well the fairy could just be a person in a costume". You lose the spirit of the question.

one thing vis a vis the walrus/fairy debate which was at least a large contribution to my own choice when i voted was the word surprised

if i find a fairy at my doorstep, im probably going to blue screen. like holy shit. first thing im gonna ask myself shit is this real or an elaborate hoax? and presuming i can get past this and conclude the fairy is real, im now gonna have to have a crisis regarding magic being real and my whole worldview being incorrect. i would seriously be going through it at that moment.

but in terms of surprise? i open the door and the whole doorway is blocked by a giant creature with tusks and a mustache and SHITTTTT! i slam the door, panicking.

its not about the plausibility of either scenario. i can invent a zoo mishap that results in a walrus at my doorstep, it's unlikely but possible. ill get over it. the emotional fallout of the fairy encounter is gonna be waaaaaay bigger than the walrus.

but in terms of pure shock factor, in the moments BEFORE i think everything through? my gut just says walrus.

I’m in love with the fairy vs walrus because while I do agree it is more surprising to find a walrus, there is an insane amount of people assuming that the walrus would show up of its own accord specifically to your doorstep.

I saw a drawing, but I can't find it again, of a fairy and walrus, where the fairy says, "I'll try these doors, you try those, and maybe we'll find someone who can help."

And I love it, because it makes me wonder, on a level where my life makes no sense, if walruses are also fae folk.

The fairy has come from the fae realm to rescue the walruses from zoos and such, but he's tiny, so he needs help. He gets one of his walrus friends from his realm to start knocking on doors in one neighborhood, while he knocks on doors in another neighborhood, not knowing that the sight of the walrus will, in fact, shock people to their core.

They also fail to realize that humans do not speak walrus, so there's a lot of miscommunication when the humans call animal control.

(if anyone can find the picture I'm talking about, please reblog it. I wanna keep it. It's adorable.)

it's a sunday afternoon, you're not expecting company and you've got no plans or you might be nude depending on how you interpret the phrase "you've nothing on" and you suddenly hear a knock at the door

I tried to explain to my non-tumblr-using housemate why so many people would be more surprised by a walrus knocking on their door than a fairy, and he immediately posited the idea of the walrus having an accomplice who could knock for them. Because that would make the walrus so much more likely.

Bold of that walrus fairy post to assume anyone would ever answer the door in the first place