Ask the Ruminerds; Sub-Pawtica

 

Vernon: I'm purty sure Gus had been playin' that one. The one with the underwater stuff...right?

Gus: Underwater exploration and crafting survival game. And yes, I do play it.

Vernon: So...er...y'all just explore the sea in it?

Gus: I mean...yeah. It's not a sea on Animalia though. It's like, the game is set in the future, and you crash land on an ocean type planet, and are the sole survivor of the wreck. So you basically have to survive up until you can get rescued or escape the place.

Vernon: Aw, that sounds kinda neat.

Gus: It's really cool, and it's got a great sort of ambiance to it, especially when you play it at night, in low lighting. It's amplifies the game's naturally unnerving atmosphere. It really gives you that feeling of total isolation, and the impending dread that comes from not knowing would could be swimming just beneath you. *Shudders* I should mention the sea terrifies me in general, so it only amplifies the feel of playing the game for me.

Vernon: Oh yeah, I almost fergot you're afraid of the ocean...

Gus: I'm downright petrified. I mean, I don't want to sound like Ulric, but who knows what nightmarish things lurk in the deepest depths of the ocean that we have yet to discover! Sweet Sawgrass, we've barely explored any of the ocean as it is! It leaves so much open to the active imagination!

Vernon: A recipie fer disaster for us BnB types, since we've been honin' or imagination skills since we was pups.

Gus: Exactly. As for the Below Zero expansion, I'm looking forward to it. Especially that land speeder. That's going to be fun...I hope...

Vernon: Hope?

Gus: The trailer was all CG footage, and I know better than to pin my hopes entirely on trailer footage.

Ask Nick and Judy; Mr. Big's Successor

 

Nick: The short answer is... No one? But the longer answer is...well, it's really complicated. Mr. Big stepped down mostly because the birth of his grandchildren caused him to have a sort of...crisis of morals, as well as partially due to the influence of one somewhat well known police bunny.

Judy: I'm glad he reformed. It...doesn't exactly excuse his previous crimes, but...

Nick: Those cases are too old to prosecute at this point. To be honest, much of Mr. Big's really...extreme criminal activities started to die down when Fru-Fru got older. Becoming a parent made him soft, something which happened to Koslov as well...

Judy: I wish that happened with every crime boss...

Nick: Anyway, Big was basically the sole crime boss in Tundra town. Once he stepped down it led to an almost immediate power vacuum. The only problem is, most of the guys who tried to step up to the plate to fill the gap didn't have what it took to stay there. They'd either be terrible at covering their tracks, and find themselves arrested with iron-clad evidence, or they'd meet a grisly end by the paws of one of the other district's known criminal gangs which had all been fighting to carve out portions of Mr. Big's Empire for themselves since he had stepped down. Granted none of them have been able to get a proper foothold on the area probably due to a combination of ZPD efforts, and that the other districts gang's are very species specific, and...aren't suited for sticking their necks out in tundra town for long periods of time.

Judy: So for the most part, Tundratown has remained largely free of any real organized crime efforts. And we here at the ZPD intend to keep it that way!

Nick: Well I mean... Tundratown isn't exactly our primary beat...But hey, at the very least we'll be on top of the Antelonellie Gang in Savannah Square...

Judy: Well...gotta start somewhere, right?

Nick: *Chuckles* Of course Carrots...

Ask the Ruminerds; Jojo's Bizarre Foods

 

Broomie: Not to sound like I'm trying to brag or anything, but...I mean....my family used to live in Italamb. Like, my grandparents did. So my family has always been big on the Italamb cuisine.

Vernon: I remember Broom's parent's place always smelled like a pizzeria. *Chuckles*

Broomie: Needless to say, Tomato and Mozerella salad was a staple recipe in my house, and it's always been one of my favorites. Squid ink pasta? Eh, less so...

Gus: Yeah, that on seems kinda iffy to me...the idea of eating something soaked in 'ink' isn't all that appealing.

Broomie: My granddad loved the stuff. I think he was the only one in the family that did, that's why he made it.

Joel: I like Squid Ink Pasta. Granted I'd be lying if I said I had tried it before watching Jo-Jo. There's this great little Itailian Restuarant in Downtown Zootopia called Ratatioulle's that makes classic Shrewcilian style cuisine for an average sized mammals hunger.

Broomie: An 'Itailian' place? Bleh...

Joel: What?

Broomie: Itailian cuisine is not comparable to Italamb cuisine. Everyone knows their...hygiene habit when it comes to their kitchens is sub-par.

Joel: Ooh, Sounds like someone's being speciest. *Chuckles* What, you're saying just because rats made it, it's unhygienic?

Broomie: Sorry, it's just...y'know. Old blood feuds die hard. We Italamb's are a very proud people, and there's no way Italamb's cast off's could do better than true Italamb's when it comes to food.

Gus: Yeesh, a century since the split at the Ratican line, and a continent away for good measure and there's still no room for discussion eh?

Broomie: C'mon, you guys have all eaten at my parent's place! You know it's better food!

Joel: Hmm...maybe that's why you didn't like Squid Ink Pasta...*Chuckles* Maybe if you tasted some made by the true masters of the craft, you'd-

Broomie: There is not a Plague-Rat alive who could out-cook Grandma Broomie! Hooves down!

Vernon: Yeesh....remind me never to introduce y'all to my co-worker...

Ask World Building; Alpine Glade

 

WT: Ah yes, Alpine Glade is the District that neighbors the North And South Meadowlands on the eastern side, largely separated by a natural border made up of the Alpine Ridge Mountain Range. Unlike the Meadolwands, famous for it's rolling hills and flat grasslands made for farming, Alpine Glade is a rather rocky and mountainous region broken up by a myriad of valley's and fjords. It was the district that was originally settled and governed by the Nor-wulves who accompanied the expedition to the New World, and remains largely populated by wolves to this day. Granted, that doesn't mean it's a strictly 'wolf' district, there are plenty of other mountain mammals to be found who call Alpine Glade home, but much like the Meadowlands is largely made up of sheep, cervid and other caprid folks, so to is Alpine Glade largely made up of wolves.

When it came to Vernon's family, they found their ancestral home absorbed by a redrawing of the North Meadowlands border a century or so prior, in an area where one of Alpine Glade's valley's tapers into the North Meadowlands region.

So yeah, mountains, fjords, pine trees of all kinds. When picturing the Alpine Glade District, I like to try to envision something between the Colorado Rockies and the Fjords of Norway, perfect settling grounds for the Norwulves.