Ask the BellHunters

Hello, I'm Dawn Hunter-Bellwether...er, formerly Dawn Bellwether if you didn't recognize the added surname. And before you ask, yes 'that' Dawn Bellwether. Ex-Assistant Mayor, Ex-Mayor, Ex-Criminal Mastermind (Reformed thank you very much), City Savior, Controversial Author, and Predator/Prey relationship advocate. I'm also, as you probably guess by the hyphenated last name, married, and happily so to my mate Vernon Hunter, a gray wolf. I'm also a mother to three wonderful pups, something I never thought I'd ever have the chance to be! But, lamb sakes, I've gushed enough about myself here without explaining exactly what this blog is for. You see, after the release of my book “Predator Seeking Prey”, our little family started to get a lot of public attention again, and with it came a lot of question from curious mammals and other pred/prey couples from all over Animalia. My best friend and mate Vernon thought it would be a good idea to deal with these questions directly by opening a sort of blog/forum and taking those questions about our lives directly. Since then, I'd like to say our little blog has been quite successful, with even members of our family and friend circle pitching in and taking a few questions as well. So with all that said., please feel free to Ask Away!


Oh, and also, feel free to check our old location for previous asks until we can get a better archive system in place!


The original Ask Dawn And Vern Tumblr! This blog is a continuation/reboot of the "AskDawnAndVern" tumblr, as I am permanently locked out of the Tumblr at present.

https://askdawnandvern.tumblr.com/


(Blog Author Note: This blog is based on the fanfiction “The Rehabilitation of Dawn Bellwether” as well as it's pseudo-sequel “A Lamb Among Wolves”. If you haven't read them, it'll probably help you better understand what's going on here if you do. I'll link both stories below. Oh Also, I'm open to questions as well. Simply direct “Author” emails to “WastedTime” when composing them. And before I forget, I have a Patreon! Five dollars gets you access to in progress fics, Ask priority, and art previews of both SFW and NSFW art. Of course, even a dollar would help. Seriously, it's how I keep projects like this alive.


The Rehabilitation of Dawn Bellwether:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11999389/1/The-Rehabilitation-of-Dawn-Bellwether

A Lamb Among Wolves:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12364172/1/A-Lamb-Among-Wolves


Wasted Time's Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/wastedtimeee


And Finally, Please Submit your asks to this email address!
Submit Asks Here!

If the link doesn't work for you, send those emails to "Wastedtimeee@Askthebellhunters.com"

Monday, February 1, 2021

FOUND AU ask; Marcus' and the Piano

 

Audrey: As I said before, it's just more time spent with my grandpup, so I can't get enough! *Giggles*

Dorian: I mean, of course we love havin' our pups come home to visit. Our door is always open to 'em and their packs, so havin' Marcus visit so often to practice piano with my Darlin' Auddey is always a treat. And o' course I already loved the piano, so havin' not one, but two experts around to play really somethin' else...

Audrey: Aww.... Always so sweet my Suga' Wolf...

Dorian: That said, I hopin' I can find something to share with the boy myself...maybe somethin' like fishin', or archery er' somethin'...

Audrey: Archery!? Don't y'all think that's kinda dangerous what with Marcus bein' so shy and all?

Dorian: I meant later o'course...when he's more comfortable. Besides, Zach tells me the boy is a crack shot when it comes to baseball...

Audrey: A crack shot in baseball?

Dorian: In the same way Wade was a...er...real crack shot at hockey...

Audrey: Oh...OH...Oh my...Now I understand why Zach was sportin' them bandages...

Dorian: That's why I figured archery might be a good fit...somethin' that redirects the boys...natural talents where hittin' a target is the goal...

FOUND AU ask; Marcus' Musical Talent

 


Vanna: I'm actually delighted. It's a great way for him to bound with his grandmother and....again I'm just so impressed with his range of musical talents.

Zach: He's a real musical savant I'd say...I bet he could play the saxophone better than me!

Vanna: Well....to be honest anyone could do that...

Zach: Aw...c'mon Kitten...

Audrey: I know there's a lot o' darkness around how Marcus was trained....that still bothers me, and it's always gonna to some degree. But watchin' him play, he just seems...the boy looks so happy.

Dorian: Serene really...

Audrey: Exactly! I can't help but let him take the lead fer most of our practice sessions cause...just watchin' him beam like that makes my heart swell up with joy.

Vanna: I think music has really contributed greatly to Marcus getting more comfortable around the family. And now that he knows he can just do it all for fun, and we don't expect some sort of...restrictive regiment, I think it's only made him all the more comfortable.

Zach: At least he took to that easy enough, we're still strugglin' to keep him from doin' excessive chores...fer some reason I can't get it to stick that the boy's a teenager, and iffin' anythin' he should sleepin' in late and eatin' waay too much and other normal teenage thangs.

Dorian: Not every teenager was you Zach, ya' lazy pup...

Zach: I wasn't 'that' lazy!

Audrey: Y'all managed to go to high-school on three separate occasions in nothin' but yer pajamas...

Zach:*Mutters* It isn't my fault nobody stopped me...I was too sleepy to notice...

Vanna: At this point, I'm not quite sure I can say what I like more in terms of Marcus' playing. His violin or his piano.

Zach: I think as parents, we can't say. *Chuckles* We just like all of it by default...especially in Marcus' case. Iffin' we say we like a specific instrument, he'd probably drop the other entirely cause he feels he's obligated to make us happy.

Vanna: That's...not wrong...

Audrey: Well...I'm biased. I like his piano playin', but it's more so cause it means I get to spend time with my grandpup.

Dorian: As much as I love an excuse to have him at the Ranch, I'm probably gonna lean more on his fiddle...it's a real soulful instrument, and that boy...he's got more souls in him then most pups his age. He makes that violin sing...

Vernon: I'd rather not discourage my nephew...but I mean...I got sensitive ears...and the voilin is a bit too much fer me compared to the piano...I think you'll find that overlaps with at least half o' my brothers...

Yuri: Basically those of us who ain't got loud instruments as a side hobby. *shakes head* Gods, y'all remember Ully and his tuba? He had half of us screamin' whenever he was practicin'...

Zach: And yet he's the only one in the family aside from Ma I could say was actually good at his instrument. I mean, he was in the high school marchin' band...

Dawn: Luckily my ears aren't as sensitive...so I can enjoy Marcus' violin for the both of us Puppy.

Vernon: Thank the gods fer that...that boy needs all the positive feedback he can get...

FOUND AU ask; Marcus' Private Concert

 

Vanna: Yes I do feel guilty, but I had little say in being dragged into spying on our son thanks to Goofball...*Glares at Zach*

Zach: *Whines*

Vanna: And I mean...I honestly didn't know what to expect when we discovered Marcus was sneaking into the woods at night sometimes...I didn't assume it was anything bad though...

Zach: I mean, I didn't assume it was anything bad either...

Dorian: That may be, but y'all were cookin' up crackpot theories faster than yer brother Ully.

Ulric: I don't get any respect in this family!

Dorian: I'm sorry son, but listen...stories about aliens was real cute when you was twelve, but not so much now that yer thirty-one.

Ulric: *Huffs* We literally have a new species on our paws, but suuuure....aliens are a stretch!

Audrey: Dori, stop antagonizin' yer son. And Ully, just cause we dont' always believe you doesn't mean we don't respect y'all...

Vernon: Speak fer yerself...

Audrey: Puppy...

Vanna: *Ahem*...I don't mean to interrurpt...but I wasn't done...

Audrey: Ah sorry Hon, y'all go ahead.

Vanna: Anyway...I was pleasantly surprised that he was merely sneaking out to practice his violin playing, which was absolutely stunning...

Trenton: I don't think there's a mammal here that'd disagree with that. Marcus' voilin playin' was real purdy.

Qali: Like candy for the ears!

Yuri: Sadly that skill clearly came at a real cost in terms of the abuse he suffered to get to that point, iffin' them scars were anythin' to go by.

Dawn: *Shudders* Lamb Sakes... just seeing those scars gave me flashbacks of my own terrible experience with my father and the flute. I had to do my best to keep from shuddering so Marcus didn't feel like I was disgusted with him or something to that effect...

Vernon: *Hugs Dawn* It's alright Darlin'...

Vanna: The fact that Marcus was crying while he played was...really moving. I know...I was tearing up watching despite not knowing why he was crying...

Audrey: Y'all could see the pain in his eyes...y'all woulda had to have a heart o' stone not to tear up seein' that.

Ada: Even Yuri was cryin'...

Yuri: How many times I gotta say there was dust in my eyes!?

Ada: Ya's can say it to youse is blue in the muzzle, but that doesn't change the facts.

Yuri: *Sighs* Iffin' yer wonderin' what happened to Ully's tape, don't worry...it never made it online...

Ulric: Because you broke my phone! Seriously, did you have to go that far!?

Yuri: With you? It was the only way I could be sure. *Chuckles* Growin' up with you has taught me that fer as kooky as ya are, yer also a real sneak...

Ulric: It was valuable research! Reasearch you jeopardized over what? Pure emotion?

Yuri: Now who sounds like the 'alien' here?

Vanna: As for Marcus' confession...I err...can't speak for how much it was similar to my...lapse in judgement and subsequent apology to my mother-in-law...

Zach: Nah, it was purty exact...save fer me walkin' in to find ya'll throwin' yerself at my Ma's mercy with her given me a death glare...

Audrey: We have one rule on the Ranch Zach. ONE rule...

Zach: I KNOW! I KNOW!

Audrey: Do NOT take that tone with me young mam', especially with y'all bein' the guilty party!

Zach: *Whines* S-Sorry Ma...


Ask Judy, Dawn, Vern and Nick; Judy's Brother's Mate


 

Vernon: This is fer us too? How?

Dawn: I assume it's because they wanted your input as...you know...I mean you are a wolf who is dating prey.

Vernon: I guess....Well Judy, is it true? D'yall got a brother datin' a she-wolf?

Judy: Well, yes. I mean, I haven't met her yet, but I've heard from Mom and Dad that she's really sweet. Very timid for a wolf...oh, is that bad to say?

Vernon: Iffin' yer askin' if I'm offended, I'm not. I mean, any mammal can be timid er' real quiet. Look at my sister-in-law Vanna. She may be a cop, but off the beat she's always a bit on the skittish side. Afraid of her own strength.

Judy: Kayla, my brother Galen's mate, she was the same way. I mean, part of it was obviously nerves because she was meeting my parents for the first time, but Galen told me she was so nervous about accidently breaking furniture, or hurting onf of my siblings by accident. *Chuckles* Galen actually had to kind of guide her around the enitre first day they were out because she wouldn't move on her own. She was so afraid of messing something up she was practically paralyzed unless they were outside the burrow.

Nick: I imagine she had issue with 'head room' as well...I know I did.

Judy: *shakes head* At least four times she bumped into the top of a door according to Galen. And every-time she was embarrassed to the point of whining.

Vernon: *chuckles* I better check with my brother, make sure Vanna isn't cheating on him and moonlightin' as a wolf, cause this sounds exactly like her...



Ask Dawn And Vern; Robert Wooflow


 

Vernon: Aw yeah, I heard of him...he was a maned wolf I'm purty sure right? So not only was he oversized fer a wolf, but since them maned wolves er' kinda...awkward and spindly lookin', it only amplified the effects.

Dawn: Goodness, yes. Have you seen the photos? He doesn't even look real.

Vernon: The fact that Photoshop didn't exist at the time was the only thing that was keepin' me from callin' it fake fer years. *Chuckle*

Dawn: As for others, I know there was an otter with the condition that reached upwards of about five feet. And a ram that also had the condition and hit nearly seven feet before he died. Both of them of course required leg braces and other devices to due to the nature of their condition, just like Wooflow. There's probably more in the historical record, considering how frequently 'mutations' crop up in mammalian DNA due to the very nature of how rapidly we evolved, and are continuing to evolve.

Vernon: Real bizarre, but fascinatin' none-the-less.

Ask the Ladies; Cutest Mate Traits

 

Dawn: My Goodness...I'm going to have to reach out to a lot of family and friends for this ask. I actually feel a bit bad about it. As for me...well, there's so many things I find adorable about Vernon, and I find even more things almost daily. That said, it makes it really hard to pick just one thing he does I find to be unbearable cute...*Giggles* But if I had to pick just one....well...hmm...I think the way his tail often betrays his true feelings is pretty adorable.

Malcolm: *Laughs* I wouldn't say that's unique to Vernon. I mean, that's a canine trait in general, but with the Hunter Pack, it seems to come through really strong across the board.

Dawn: *Giggles* To explain for those out there who aren't all that familiar with canines, what I mean in this case is when Vernon's tail starts wagging even if he doesn't want it to. Like he's trying to hide that he's excited, or if he's trying to downplay how much he 'loves' it when I scratch his neck fluff or behind his ears. *Snickering* Despite his best efforts, his tail wagging is a dead give away every time that he doesn't mean what he says. *Giggles* my absolute favorite is when he's trying to appear stern or stoic, to stand his ground on something. But when I start trying to convince him otherwise, and get all soft and sweet with him, his tail is the first thing to falter.

Malcolm: My favorite thing Xavey does is when he just starts prattlin' on and on in legal speak without realizin' nobody understands. *Chuckles* He gets so excited, and then immediately he get's all embarrassed after he realizes what he's doin'. Granted I'm the only mammal who's too bust thinkin' it's adorable that it don't put me to sleep. *laughs*

Ada: Mookie is...a hard nut to crack. *Laughs* Yous know how's he'd never, evas want to be seen as cute or adorable. It only makes him madder. Of coarse, I'm da only one who finds him getting' flustered and upset adorable. *Cackles* Da more he tries and fails to be intimidatin' or actin' tough, da cuter it is!

Val: I don't do...cute. That's not my style.

Dawn: Well I wasn't asking if you did anything cute...although I'm sure Kodi has a laundry list of things he finds cute about you...*Mumbles* Not that any of them would make sense to sane mammal.

Val: Well I don't find anything he does 'adorable'. He's just a dork, so you and him have that in common.

Dawn: The act was already worn out back when Vernon first introduced us, it only gets more tired each day you keep it up. Come on now, we're sisters now...technically...There's gotta be something your willing to spill.

Val: Oh now when you're desperate to fill your whole 'podcast' quota I'm your sister? Convenient. I guess I shou-.

Ellie: She's brought up a few times how Kodi kind of...nibbles on her ears when they are cuddled up.

Val: ELLIE! WHAT THE HELL MAM'!?

Ellie: Eep...

Val: I told you it was annoying not cute!

Ellie: Y-you did say that...but your tone...

Val: I had no tone!

Ellie: And you brought it up so often...

Val: Cause it's annoying!

Dawn: Looks like we have another one for 'Things Kodi will find adorable about Val' list...

Val: Oh rut me you fuzzy little fascist...

Qali: Sometimes...when Trenny's asleep and he's snuggled up to me...he'll start licking me...*Giggles*

Ada: Wait, lickin' yous like how? *Cackles* Was we allowed to get x-rated wit dis one? Cause if so's I wanna change my answer.

Qali: No! no...it's not a rutting thing...*Giggles* It's like...okay, so he'll be sleeping, maybe his chin will be nestled up on top of my head, right? And his tongue will kind of pop out a bit, and he'll just sort of...lick at my fur without realizing. *Giggling*

Giselle: Wait? Like he's um...what do they call it online? He like...is 'Mleming' you?

Qali: That's it! It's not like full licks, like he's grooming me. It's just this weird little...tic he has. *Giggling*

Melanie: You want to talk about tics? *Laughs* Gussie has no shortage of those. But I do find just how self conscious he is cute...I mean, I do feel bad for him. I know his horn bothers him, and his fainting, and all his other health problems. But I love him anyway...and so it's cute to watch him get flustered when I tell him that after he's been complaining about his insecurities...*Giggle*

Giselle: I don't think Wade specifically has a...neck fetish....

Ada: Debatable...he's datin' a giraffe after all! *Cackling*

Giselle: *Giggles* Oh hush. I just mean when we are sleepin' together, he's end up wrapped around my neck since it makes up the most of me body. But he clings to it so tightly...like for dear life. It's kind of adorable...

Ada: Sounds like he's tryin' to choke you. *Laughs*

Giselle: *Giggling* He couldn't choke me even if he wanted too. Do you know how strong a giraffe's neck muscles are?

Ada: Nope, but I'm sure Wade has given da rest of da Hunta boys a first pawed account.

Giselle: Fresh! *Laughs*

Vanna: Zach's terrible jokes...

Ada: *Cackling*Hard to tell you like dose considerin' how much you roll your eyes at dem!

Dawn: We...all do...*Giggles* Sorry Vanna.

Vanna: It's fine...I realize I'm the...minority here. But I mean...there's something cute about his bad jokes and puns...endearing I guess.

Ada: Sounds like Stalkholm Syndrome to me... *Cackle*

Honey: When Ulric is unexpectedly thoughtful...that's my answer.

Dawn: Ulric can be thoughtful?

Honey: I know it seems like he's all...dedicated paranormal investigator 24-7, but he can be...semi-normal. Sweet even... *Chuckles* Just last week he bought me this really nice computer chair because I mentioned once or twice off paw that my old chair was digging into my back a bit. He didn't offer me a chair, or even mention it. Just showed up with some fancy desk chair with massage stuff built in, after assembling it himself. It's like...is it's weird to say that's how he expresses he cares? Like through weird off the cuff things he does?

Dawn: No that's rather sweet...*Chuckles* Some of the best, and worst things Vernon has done have been off the cuff things...Seems to be another...shared Hunter trait. Thinking with their heart for better or worse...

Audrey: *Giggling* I'd say that's all from my side, but Dori can be a sweetheart too. He's just better at puttin' up a tough front then the rest of the boys are. Y'all know he can be purty stoic and a calm, cold customer. Unlike Vern though, that ol' wolf has mastered control of his tail, so their ain't no dead giveaways there...unless I'm the one plyin' at him. *Giggles* That's where I have my fun, meltin' down them defenses of his. When he's grumpy, and don't wanna talk, I'll snuggle up close and start plantin' lil' kisses on him. And I'll know it's workin' when he starts lettin' out them soft, adorable lil' whines while I'm doin' it. *Giggles*

Ada: Ooh...dat's good. I wonda's if dat would woik on Yuri?

Judy: It's very rare...as Nick has always been quick on his feet in terms of keeping up with a snide conversation, but every so often I can get him flustered enough to slip up. *Laughs* Like I'll catch him off guard enough that'll he'll try to fire off a comeback before thinking it through, and it comes out incomplete gibberish...

Dawn: I can't picture Nick doing that...the way you two...I mean the conversations you have...I can't keep track most of the time I'm around you.

Judy: I was like that too...I had to get better at it by virtue of just being around Nick and that silver tongue of his. But watching him botch a comeback, and then get immediately flustered over it is probably the most adorable thing he does. It's one of those rare moments where his usually confident demeanor falters, and gives you a look at the real Nick hiding underneath.

Bonnie: This is gonna sound a lil' mean...but...Stu's Naivete can be as adorable as it is frustratin'. He can be so weirdly innocent about the strangest things, and completely oblivious to others...

Judy: Like how you were able to pick up on how I felt about Nick, but Dad had to be told?

Bonnie: Exactly...*Chuckles* I can't tell you how many times that's happened with your brothers and sisters and their mates. Oh gods, and the first time one of yer sister's came out as a lesbian...goodness...he thought her and her long time partner were just 'real close friends' fer the longest time. Not that her sexuality was an issue of course, Stu just...he couldn't pick up on it at all until it was spelled out for him.

Mrs. Wilde: Nick's father was very much like Nick in the way he...tried to put up a front. John was very suave, or at least tried to be. Always a gentlemam, always trying to be sophisticated when it came to 'wooing' me. But what won me over was every time he 'flubbed' his attempts, revealing the actual dorky fox hiding underneath his 'suave' persona. *chuckles* He was such a sweetie...

Colleen: The way my Dear Dommy gets so excited about history. Honestly, I've...never been a massive history buff meself, but, his zest for historical stuff is adorable. I could listen to him go on for hours about ancient history, and while I may not reatin a portion of it', I never get tired of seein' that smile of his.

Clover: Cameron talks to himself...*Giggles* A lot...

Val: That sounds like my Dad. He likes to call it 'thinking out loud.'

Clover: He hates that he does it, especially when he's caught doing it. Of course, that just makes it more adorable to me.

Sharla: I feel bad saying this...I think Giddy's chunkiness, and his self-consciousness surrounding it is the cutest thing. *Giggles* First off, let me say I've always liked my males on the hefty side, so Gid's weight has never bothered me. But the way he frets over it...it's really cute.

Sunday, January 31, 2021

Ask Dawn; The Reign of Aster Bellwether

 

Dawn: My grandfather Ash Bellwether was elected the Mayor of Zootopia in the 1976 election. At the time tensions between predator and prey were starting to rise at the time due to a grisly series of murders that had thought to have been the work of a large predator. Several prey politicians used it to re-enforce their own 'predator' prejudice, and feed the rhetoric into a dedicated voter base. It was that sentiment that my Grandfather rode into all the way into the Mayors office in 76', and he continued to spout that rhetoric during his tenure. Pushing for all sorts of 'suppressive' policies for predators that were 'for the good of the city'. This included predator only curfews, screenings of predators coming into and out of largely prey populated spaces, and of course most infamously, the 'Tame Collar' system. Of course, out of those he had only ever successfully gotten the curfew last in a few districts, and for only a few weeks before the...'scandal'.

As you probably know by now, Tame Collars were already in heavy use over at the Cliffside Asylum to keep both predator and prey patients 'under control'. While my Grandfather pushed for the collar, and a lot of the he stoked into fearing predators did as well, the public hadn't actually seen the extent of how the collars work. So when an expose by ZNN exposed the horrible practices being conducted by the staff at Cliffside in 78', it gave the public a look at just how awful and unmammalian the actual collars were. It was an expose so explosive, and so stomach churning to most Zootopians, that it caused the rising anti-predator sentiment to shift dramatically practically overnight, evaporating the base politicians like my Grandfather had been grooming in the blink of an eye.

Although the collars had been in use at the asylum under multiple mayors, the fact that the current Mayor had not elected to clean up the asylum, but worse yet had pushed to enforce one of their torture practices on the citizenry spelled doom for Ash's political career. Actually, pretty much any career. He was ejected from office within days, as well as his Assistant as a safety measure, and the next in the line of succession were placed into the roles. I'm pretty sure that was...Mayor Greenly, and Assistant Mayor Mustlee. Yes, yes that was the replacements. Sorry, I've been out of the political sphere for a while so I've started to forget all the names.

At that point, the Bellwether's still had a family fortune to coast of off, so my Grandfather was able to spend the bulk of the 80's in the old family mansion in the North Meadowlands until the money finally ran dry. After he was voted out and publicly shunned, he never left the premises, opting to send my father out for supplies. Despite being blacklisted though, he still groomed my father to take up the mantle of Mayor eventually, hedging his bets that the public scorn would be limited to him and him alone. But as you well know, my father never succeeded in gaining political office in any capacity. He had always been more of a science mammal according to my Mother, socially meek....which is hard to believe considering...how he treated us. It was that failure, as well as the fact that my Grandfather had lost the family home, and had to die in a shabby two story town house was what probably prompted my Grandfather to curse my father on his death bed, calling him a 'miserable failure' before passing away. My mother often cites that at my father's...breaking point.

Vernon: Was that the Apex killer case? The one where it turned out it was some prey mammal who wanted desperately to be a predator?

Dawn: Yes, that's the one. Ironically caught about a year after the whole “Cliffside Asylum” expose, and showing the public that prey could be just as capable of the same brutalities they feared of predators.

Vernon: Amos Horeamnos, the Apex Killer. I remember Yuri tellin' me he watched a special on that guy once. Apparently this mountain goat had first like, sheared off his horns and tried filin' his teeth into points. He ended up making false pred teeth and claws to commit his crimes with.

Dawn: That's what had made him so hard to find. The anti-predator sentiment clouded the investigation to some degree, and because of that they were looking for a mystery predator rather than prey. One of the biggest issues of the case was that the claws and teeth marks didn't match any style of predator on record, which, of course they couldn't because they were custom parts dreamed up by a mad mammal.

Vernon: I remember Yuri talkin' about the 'trophy room' the cops found, and how it turned his stomach. Turned mine too, and I didn't even see the photos.

Dawn: Yes...if I recall he liked to take portions of his victims back to turn into furnishings....*shudders*. What a monster.

Vernon: I know Cliffside was a terrible place and all...but Sweet Sawgrass...I think a place like Cliffside woulda been too good fer a mammal like Amos...


(WT: Warning, some of this content will more than likely be covered in “The Family Vulpes”, That said, don't get too married to this answer...it may change when it's infused into the story. As I say, the Ask Blog is what I like to call 'soft cannon'.)