Ask Wasty; Animalia World Map

 

Wasty: I'm sorry for the slight delay on this one. Had a bad health...couple of days. However, I thought this would be a nice treat for everyone what with the ask, and the fact that I kept mentioning I've been meaning to do a proper Animalia map. This version of the map has a majority of the territories I've name-dropped in Asks and Fics. I didn't take the time to pen in every single country for two reasons. One, because it was a lot of work to do on the fly, and two, because I wanted to leave the map open to accommodate for future ideas as they strike me, both parody names for other nations, or entirely new and fictional ones. 

Still, you can see that Animalia is both quite similar and different from out own world. As you can see, North Mammalia seems to be quite broken up on its eastern coast, and both it and South Mammalia are tilting back to a degree. South Mammalia also has a more flooded Amazon basin. This is due to the fact that both continents were more aggressive pulled apart during the continental drift. You can also see in North Mammalia that I've have blocked out and named the different 'united regions of states'. There are still individual states inside each one, but they aren't all the same names as their IRL counterparts. Especially in the regions marked 'territories', as they are more populated than tribal and native mammals than colonists. 

You can also see that North Mammalia owns less of Alaska in this universe...or rather the "Klondike Region" As well as a 'Mammoth Territory' that swallows the Northern Territories and Nunavet, and it is largely populated by surviving species from the ice age, and considered their ancestral homeland.

Over in Roarope the major differences are the fact that Most of Sweden and Norway have been converted to Greater and Lesser Norwulff, or rather just 'Norwulff' as the teritories are united in modern times. Alceland represents Finland. You can also see the north/south split in italy caused by the rodent exile.

Afrikat is the least changed in geography, aside from the fact that Madagascar hasn't fully separated. You can also see the pride lands, and Ada's species home nations of east and west hyenya. The Pridelands is a little bigger than South Africa and bleeds into more of the northern nations due to its former size. Egyipt is also much larger than it was in our universe, as the ancient egyiptian empire never truly died out and expanded into its present-day size. 

Ursa has more border changes than geographic changes. Grussia still has a somewhat unified nation, still holding Ukraine, Georgia, and other assorted countries within its empire. Much of the middle east has been combined into two empires, New Purrsia and Dromidari Arabia. Bindia has a coastline more closely resembling India's pre-ice age one. And there's a bit more land available in Indonesia. You can also see that enough of a remnant of Sibearia's land bridge has survived the ice age that both continents remain connected, which is why Russia maintains more land control of what would be our Alaska.

Thanks to the presence of an inland basin, Austailia's outback swallows significantly less of the content, allowing for more agriculture than exists in our world. Of course, that's a significantly smaller change compared to the additional continent that has cropped up in the form of 'Sealandia', a version of New Zealand taken from the ice age but never flooded as with ours. A lot of that land is a big mystery for me, and lends itself to a lot of fictional lore building.

And I think that's about everything I can say about this map for now. In the future I'll add more to it, so that makes it a perpetual work in progress. Still, I hope this is enough to sate your map nerdiness, and I hope this is a halfway decent drawn ask for this week. Thanks for your ask!

-Wasty

Ask Wasty; The Gods and Goddesses of Symbology, Bambism, and Preyganism,

 Wasty: This feels like a question I can more easily answer out of character I guess. In terms of Symbology, the title of God or Gods would fall to Scar and Mufasa, with Simba being a sort of Jesus allegory. When it comes to Saints and Apostles in the religion, you'd have Sarabi (Simba's mom) and Nala occupying the Saint, or holy lady roles, and Simba's Apostles being Timon, Pumbaa, and Zazu. In later, reformed Simbology of course, other mammals would be added to the list of Saints for their great deeds, and example being Robin Hood and Maid Marian, as Simbology would be the orthodox religion of Great Kitten.

In Bambism you'd have a similar structure but framed more toward prey mammals. With the King of the Forest filling the primary god role, Bambi's mother acting as the holy lady, and Bambi himself acting as a Jesus analog. His mate Faline would also occupy the role of a holy lady, and in terms of apostles you'd have characters like Flower, Thumper, and friend Owl filling said roles.

Capridism and preyganism are different in that not only are they not based on any Disney properties, but they also aren't basically a form of monotheism or mutated catholicism/Christiantiy. As the name implies, they are largely based on Paganism, more specifically Celtic Paganism. As for gods and goddesses I haven't really fleshed the whole pantheon as there are quite a few Celtic Gods and Goddesses, so I only really worked on establishing the primary roles, that being Hornunnus and Cervidwen. Hornunnus being the god of knowledge and wisdom, and Cervidwen being a goddess of bounty and fertility. If it does get explored later in the fanfics, I'll probably expand the pantheon accordingly.

Ask Wasty; Religions of Zootopia and Disney Properties

 

Wasty: No, not every god and goddess or religion is a direct reference to a Disney movie. Really, I've only tied two series to being full-blown religions in Zootopia, Simbology, and Bambism. Both because it's fun, and the narratives of said films have a tone that works very well with being molded into a religious context. Granted I did borrow 'Bambism' from one of my backers, Toonophile (or Vulpinator). As for other characters referenced, such as Robin hood or Cim'mareon they are either characters that are deemed sainted or knighted in an already existing religion or an individual pagan god or rather (preygan) god.

Other religions in Zootopia, such as Capridisim or Norewulff Volking are analogs to actual pagan religions and mythology in our world. With the Norwulff religion heavily aping Norse mythology obviously, and Capridism taking largely from pagan and Celtic religions. Of course, these aren't one-to-one, I've modified and added to them accordingly to better suit the world and characters, or make them more uniquely fit a species.

Ask the Hunter Girls and Vernon; Dilf Status?

 Vernon: Y'all think I know? A mammal picks up a pair o' glasses and suddenly I gotta hear I'm a DILF all the sudden. *chuckles* Makes me feel old.

Dawn: Probably because you've heard the other girls refer to your father as a Dilf... and honestly, it's not a bad thing.

Vernon: Just the other gals huh?

Dawn: *Sweats slightly* W-well...I mean he is... rather handsome...

Vernon: Okay, first off gross. And secondly, what makes me a 'Dilf' anyway?

Dawn: Well, you are a father now. I mean, that's the entry-level requirement for Dilf status.

Vernon: Is that all it really takes?

Dawn: Well...no...I think it's more than that...Although...I don't exactly know how to begin explaining it...

Ada: Seein' a guy playin' wit and takin' care of his pups, dere's no bigger toin' on for a goil lookin' to settle down.

Vanna: Only if it's clear that he's a good father of course. It kind of takes away from any sort of...Dilf vibes when a father clearly can't handle his kittens, or is far too rough with them...

Ada: Also...dey get dat kinda...like...dey get just a lil' chunky, but like in a fit way, ya knows?

Qali: You're talking about that 'Dad bod?'. I can't lie, Dad bods can be pretty yummy.

Ada: And duh glasses just add to it. *Chuckles* I know it sounds cheesy, but it makes yas look more mature. It all gives ya da look of like, 'perfect mate and Dad material.'

Malcolm: It just exudes this whole 'I'm stable and reliable energy. Somethin' that tells gals...and guys *Chuckles* that yer' in it fer the long haul.

Dawn: Ladies, before you get too thirsty, please remember that's my Dad bod your talking about. I put a ring on that for a reason *Giggles*

Vernon: Y'know gals, I'm still here right? Yer talkin' like I ain't exactly in the room anymore.

Dawn: Well, you did want an explanation as to what exactly makes a Dilf, and I don't think the girls could have explained it much better than that. *Giggles*

Ada: And no worries dere Vern, we ain't gonna be makin' any moves on ol' Plushes property anytime soon. Sides' youse is like a brudder to us.

Qali: We've got our own Dilf's in training to take care of...*Giggles*

Ada: Mhh...I'll agree wit dat...if Papa Hunta is any indication, Yuri is gonna toin' out to be a real fine Dilf in his own right...if I can only get him to tide me already!

Ask Bogo, District Prosecutors

 

Bogo: There is a top prosecutor in every district, granted I only know the four from the primary districts by name, as we've worked with them the most often. There's Rahaj Therantan, a tiger who works in the Rainforest District. Demetri Marithailov, a polar bear who works in Tundratown, Nadira Bactra, a camel who works in Sahara Square. And lastly, Vera Leone who works Savannah Central, and is also the prosecutor I tend to work with the most. 

Generally, Vera has always been the most...amicable of the four to work with when it comes to cases. Easy to work with, and seems to be a very kind mammal...I suppose she would have to be to have dated Leodore as long as she had. As for the prosecutor who is the most...difficult to work with...well, that would be Nadira. We just...rub each other the wrong way. And, thanks to the fact that 'spitting' isn't considered a form of assault or battery in Sahara Square, she tends to take full advantage of that when she's angry. Thankfully, since I already need to wear sunglasses whenever I go to that district, it helps keep the bulk of any 'ejections' out of my eyes.

Ask 84; Child Labor Laws and Workers' Rights

 Dawn: Most societies in Animalia have flirted with child labor now and again, though granted that was usually relegated to times of significant strife in a nation, and Zootopia was no real exception. However, due the diversity of species and the subsequent sizes of those species, you tended to see more exploitation in that regard. 

Vernon: I mean, why would y'all could hire one average-sized mammal to do a job, er' three smaller mammals to do the same job fer the price o' that one average mammal, right?

Dawn: Exactly, smaller mammals required less food and resources, and so they could get by on a great deal less than a larger mammal. That said, it often meant that these smaller mammals were pushed harder due in order to keep up with their larger counterparts, which would often lead to many more injuries and death.  The rodent classes in Roarope were hit especially hard by that sort of exploitation, as many of those nations saw them as entirely disposable to their sheer numbers. And, I'd be lying if I said Zootopia didn't have its own sordid history with that sort of thing...

Vernon: It's sad...but I suppose every civilization has its growin' pains. 

Dawn: It's true, Every country has skeletons in its closet, or rather built into its foundation. And while it's important not to forget such horrible incidents occurring in our past, one shouldn't dwell so deeply on them that we forget just how far we've all come, and the good that has also been done. And in that right Zootopia was ahead of the curve in terms of doing away with that sort of exploitation, as well as streamlining our economic systems with things like the minimum wage and worker's rights, with places like North Mammalia quickly following suit around the turn of the century. 

Vernon: But Roarope held out right?

Dawn: Somewhat. Due to the plague and the war naturally the...whole view on the 'value of smaller mammal's lives' was still...rather skewed. I mean, there are still nations in Roarope that won't allow any rodent, or related species beyond their borders. However, with rodents blocked out, exploitation was next to non-existent in those places. The other nations which still held its share of detractors of allowing rodents to remain in their countries struggled with mammalian rights issues and worker's rights for smaller mammals for decades after, even in nations like Great Kitten or Prance.

Vernon: As fer that...newspaper thang, I think y'all were right about it bein' in Zoo york. I don't thin we had anythin' like that here...at least as far as I can remember. Er...*Chuckles* History wasn't my favorite subject unless it had to do with the Volkings...

Dawn: Well, we had an incident in 1902 that was in the same vein. The incident also became one of the foundational talking points that led to drafting Zootopian workers' rights. "The pressing of 1902'", which involved a printing press staffed by overworked rats, mice and rabbits. If I recall, the inciting incident was one of the rat workers getting caught in the printing press, and subsequently crushed to death when the owner refused any calls to stop the presses and interrupt production. When his crushed remains came out the other side of the press, *shudders* embedded into the front page of one of the papers, and the owner ordered them to set it aside and get back to work, that was the breaking point. Many of them began striking on the spot, and those that remained only did so long enough to snap a photo of the fallen worker and begin printing an exact duplicate on every front page under the foreman's nose in order to get the attention of the Zootopian public.

Vernon: Grisley...

Dawn: Grisley, but effective. The owner of the paper was jailed shortly after, but the strike continued with other smaller mammals walking from their own companies with similar stories of abuse. At that point, the strike became too big to paw wave, and the support of larger mammals helped bring in a wave of sweeping reforms in the way the industry was operated, which of course, as I said, would act as a stepping stone to universal workers' rights and the formation of various unions.

Vernon: Y'know Darlin', iffin' there's ever a lull in yer writin', I'd think y'ad make a right fine teacher too. Yer so smart.

Dawn: Aww...That's sweet of you to say Puppy. But...I don't think there'd be many parents out thier who'd be willing to let thier lambs be a pupil of Dawn Bellwether.

Vernon: Hunter-Bellwether.

Dawn: *Giggles* Right.

Last Minute Update

 As always I'd like to thank my backers for their continued support. It means the world to me that you guys care about my work so much you'd pledge to fund it. Much love.

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Wew...so a lot to cover this month I guess, granted that's mostly a restrospective.

First, I managed to get the next chapter of The Family Vulpes out, officially ending the series hiatus nearly in time for the first anniversary of the very incident that put it on hold in the first place. In terms of the trajectory for the next chapter, I've already written the chapter outline, and the backers who read the concept thought it was good enough to move forward on. I will be appending said outline to the bottom of this post on Patreon for those of you who have opted out of the Discord Channel but would like a look as well. I'm aiming to start the next chapter this week, and fingers crossed it'll be out before February's end. After that chapter is done, it'll be time to script up some very quick plan blurbs for the next five or so chapters, which will be introducing Clover, Kodi, and their respective support groups as the story gets rolling.

Next let's talk about "Savage Love", which as you backers and those reading AsktheBellHunters already know, saw it's first page released about a week ago. For the time being I'll be sharing pages of Savage Love on Patreon and AsktheBellHunters as soon as they are done. However, once things get 'spicy' and clothes start coming off, the remaining pages will be Patreon exclusive for a month before the page goes public, which is the aim I'm trying to take for most of Patreon content. This same 'distribution' schedule will be in play for "Burrowed into my Heart" as well, as that project continues ongoing. As for the next page of 'Savage Love', again that'll be aimed for a before February's end release, like chapter six of The Family Vulpes. The next page shouldn't take as much elbow grease as the establishing shot is behind us now, lol.

Update on commissions, they will be closed for at least a month or more, as I pound at the remainder of what's on my plate before taking some time for personal projects such as those listed above, and more art studies. I intend to get back into 3D Modeling, as well as get down some fundamentals for Toonboom so I can get animating again. Also gonna try to get some more brush and coloring tutorials under my belt.

On to health-related news, which I'll try to keep light. Health seems to have improved just a bit. I don't want to get too hopeful just yet that some slew of...well literally everything I'm throwing at my health issues is actually working. In terms of diet changes, I can't complain too much. I've been learning to love a lot of new veggies, and some new creative recipes...but I do miss bread and milk quite a bit. Right now I'm missing the bread even more than the milk. And while the meats, veggies and fruit are all filling enough, my body feels like it's missing something essential and I can't put my finger on it. Right now I'm chalking it up just cravings for things that are bad for me...but we'll see how it goes.

So yeah, I think that's about enough for now in terms of updates. I think I covered everything I wanted to for the moment. Once again, I want to thank the fans and backers for their continued support, especially in these increasingly...troubling times.

Much Love,

-Wasty