Ask Kodi; Revenge on Conner

 

Ask Zach, Wolford and Gazelle; Year of the Tiger

 

Zach: I mean, I was sorta plannin' a nice home cooked meal with all the fancy dressin's...at least at first...then I remembered-

Vanna: That you can't cook all that well?

Zach: I mean, I ain't Xavier bad, but I never was some sorta pro...I can make most stuff that comes in a box and that's about it.

Vanna: *Snickers* Thankfully we still live so close to your parents house, as I'm not all that great of a cook either...

Zach: So I went fer the next best thang, settin' up a nice reservation at the restaurant we went to fer our first date to ring in the 'year of the tiger' in style.

Vanna: Reservation? It was a diner goofball. I'm pretty sure most of the staff working there don't even know what a reservation is...

Zach: *Chuckles* Fair point.

Vanna: That said, I still had a great time. I've never really been one for very upscale and fancy places...they always made me feel terribly uncomfortable. And while the staff may not know what a reservation is, they do make some fairly decent food. 

Zach: So that's purty much how we celebrated...

Vanna: But Goofball, what about the other 364 days of the year? Surely you've got something planned for each day of 'the year of the tiger'.

Zach: Darlin' as much as I love y'all, I couldn't come up with somethin' different to do fer more than a week, let alone a whole year. My idea list goes about as long as dinner, dancin', skatin' er' bowlin', and that's all I got...*Chuckles*

Vanna: *Giggles*

Wolford: Our year of the Tiger celebration? A day at the range of course...

Fangmeyer: *Chuckles* Who knew the way to a girl's heart was through live-fire practice?

Wolford: Maybe not every girl's heart, but certainly my kinda girl's heart.

Fangmeyer: Aw...babe...you know me too well. Nothing gets my blood pumping quite like heading out to the Sahara Dune Range and trying out some of the heavy-duty weaponry they have on paw. Well...maybe I can think of one thing...*Chuffs pleasantly*

Wolford: I doubt that think you're thinking of was the fancy dinner after we went shooting?

Fangmeyer: While it was pleasant, I was more so referring to the after-dinner festivities. *Growls suggestively*

Wolford: Kitten, you are going to break this poor wolf at this rate...

Gazelle: Well generally I will take my dancers to dinner and a show on occasion. It's pretty important to me to maintain a good relationship with my dancers, as they're all sort of like family to me, especially Armand who I sort of grew up with. Since it was the year of the tiger I felt I needed to up the ante to show how much I appreciated all their hard work as well as their friendship, so not only did I treat them to a Pandese themed dinner to ring in the festivities, but I gifted them all with a two week fully paid vacation to wherever they wished. No expense was spared. But most of them, save Armand chose to visit their families in Bindia and South-East Ursa rather than choosing anything particularly extravigant. Armand on the other paw, asked for a two-week cruise to Norwulff. *Giggles* As well as for Finnick and myself to join him, as we are 'family' after all. Naturally, I couldn't turn Armand down. Thankfully with Armand...playing for the other team, it kept my Peqeuno Amor from feeling jealous...

Ask Cameron, Rowan and Derrick; Personal Gods

 

Derrick: So who wants to start on this one?

Rowan: I'd say the one with the least complicated religious beliefs should probably go first, right? And I'd say that would be you Cam. After all, you're the atheist here.

Cameron: I'd say the fact that I identify as an atheist requires a more complex explanation than "I'll reference Saint Hazel when I'm trying to avoid outright cursing, or maybe when I'm praying to land a big client, but I don't really practice any organized religion."

Rowan: Hey! I've prayed to Saint Hazel for more than that...I prayed to her on your behalf you know...many, many times...

Cameron: Well...while I do appreciate that...I still believe your religious beliefs will take the least amount of time to...really elaborate on.

Rowan: I don't know, Derrick's are pretty simple if I remember correctly. He only prays to one god afterall...

Derrick: Well yes and no, there are many equine gods and godesses that fall under the general 'preygansim' banner, in that they aren't largely organized. Like, every tribe or different species of equine has at least one or more gods. Now that those tribes are all...more or less connected due to the way Animalia has progressed, we have a bunch of different ones that most equine folk are generally comfortable picking and choosing on a personal level. Us Mesa Valley horses tend to lean on either Spirit or his mate Rain to aspire toward, and pray to. Naturally, when given the choice...well I picked Spirit, who represents being free and untamed, not to mention being super fertile. *Chuckles*

Cameron: Yep, I'd say Spirit seems right up your alley for a 'spiritual mentor.' *chuckles*

Derrick: Cim'Marron is tied to Spirit and Rain as essentially being our version of like...Asgrowl, The Pridelands, or a general like...heaven. Cim'marron, the eternal meadow of good and plenty, where one can always run free. Of course, there are other sects who worship deities or saints like Marengo, Bucephalus, Seabiscut, Pegasus...and many of them come with their own name for an afterlife, but I could spend literal days talking about that...and it's pretty boring to be honest. Just know that Spirit, Rain and Cim'marron tend to be the preferred choice for equines living in North Mammalia. Or at least, that's what you'll run into most commonly.

Rowan: Well...now that you've prattled all of that off...I feel inferior. I hadn't really planned to go that deep myself.

Cameron: *Chuckles* It's alright Row...not like I'm in any position to judge...

Rowan: Well, as Cameron mentioned...I'm not exactly the most devout Simbologist...

Derrick: Wait, you're a Simbologist? I thought you'd be...y'know...some sorta mouse religion.

Rowan: You're thinking 'Rodentism', which is sort of like the 'Preyganism' umbrella for rodent folk. But no...my parents were Simbologists, and their parents before them...so that's what I was chiefly exposed to during my youth and...well I just never really gave much thought to changing it because...it doesn't play into my life all that often.

Derrick: So then what's with Hazel? She's like Squirrel right? In Simbology?

Rowan: Well you see, after the collapse of the Pridelands empire, there was sort of a big push to reforge it through theology. One way of doing that was sort of...pulling in other deific figures from other mammalian religions and sanctifying them, as well as making certain historical figures of varying species saints to draw a bigger variety of species to Simbology. This is also why they ended up adding a 'good hyena' to the religion in the form of Saint Jasiri, as the old Pridelands had spent most of their existence demonizing them and treating them as largely second-class mammals. Of course, they were forced to relinquish her sainthood after protests from a majority of Hyenians accusing them of 'poaching sacred religious icons' from them.

Cameron: And that was the case with Hazel...

Rowan: Well, yes and no...

Cameron: It's a yes. Unlike Robin Hood or Marian, Hazel didn't actually exist. Camelot didn't exist, Arthur Lionheart didn't exist, so naturally, Hazel didn't exist either seeing as she's part of that fable. She was poached.

Rowan: Hazel was considered one of the deific figures of Rodentism, along with her mother Madam who was seen as a figure of great wisdom and knowledge.

Derrick: And what was Hazel meant to represent?

Rowan: Youth and fertility I believe, as well as courtship. Which admittedly did sort of survive when she was dragged into Simbology's hall of sainthood.

Cameron: Now, did the Arthurian story come before her adoption as a saint, or after?

Rowan: I'd have to say before. If it came after...it'd have to be very soon after. The Camelot story is sort of...intrinsic to her Simbological interpretation. In Rodentism she falls in love with a mammal outside her species as well, but it's a fox, not a lion, and their union is denied by forces beyond their control. The fox is merely a wise and cunning fighter of the old Preygan age, so old in fact his name has sort of been lost to time...

Cameron: Oh, so that's why I've only ever heard of him described as the "wise" or "noble" fox.

Rowan: Right! *chuckles* I must say, both versions are quite ahead of their times in terms of interspecies romance, which is highly unusual. But in the Arthurian legend, when Leodore is turned back into a lion, Hazel feels betrayed and turns from him. Whereas the 'wise todd' wishes to stay and be with Hazel, despite being unable to have kits together, but he is slain by a lion warrior soon after trying to protect the forest they all live in from the invading Pridelands.

Cameron: Well...I can see why they decided to change it...it wouldn't exactly paint a great picture of their...superior lion bloodline, would it? They have a hard enough time living down Prince John's short, tyrannical reign. Especially since foxes were another species they were trying to curry favor with.

Rowan: All that said, I don't really practice...pretty much all of Simbology. But I do occasionally pray to Hazel, or her mother, and naturally, their names have sort of bled into my speech. 

Derrick: As that sort of thing tends to do.

Cameron: And you were worried that you wouldn't have enough to say about your beliefs. I think you actually went longer than Derrick. 

Derrick: And you kept my interest the whole time, so bonus points for you boss mam'.

Rowan: Yes, well...I suppose I did. But now that I've said my piece, it's your turn Cam. I don't believe there's anyone waiting in the wings to allow you to stall further. *Chuckles*

Cameron: I suppose that's true. Not that this is...really a hard topic for me. My family used to practice the Norwulff Volking religion, as that's where my ancestors came from.

Derrick: Wait, but isn't that a wolf religion?

Cameron: Yes and no I suppose. Those in Norwulff were very...open to what constituted a mammal being a member of their pack, even more so after 'Lupa's declaration', and so there were many families of foxes that were previously Roaropean nomads that would become part of Norwulff's society, and integrate quite well despite our species natural propensity to be loners. Of course, foxes had already fit well into the Norwulff religion by way of Vulki, the trickster god and brother of Fenrir, god of thunder. *chuckles* How Vulki had no clue that he was not a child of his wolfish father Oldwyn, I can't imagine...but it certainly doesn't paint him as cunningly and wise as he is often portrayed. 

Rowan: Always a trickster eh? No matter where you go...

Cameron: Though Vulki was a trickster, and did several reprehensible things after finding he was not born of Oldwyn, he did still love his adoptive family. And despite everything, Oldwyn would still call him his son, and Fenrir his brother. It was probably one of the more positive portrayals of a fox deity that wasn't directly born from foxes themselves. I suppose that's why the Norwulves were so accepting of us... for all our supposed faults, we were still canid brothers, and thus the stigma that came with being a fox didn't carry as strongly in those lands.

Rowan: But Marian and Robin are Saints in Simbology, not in the Norwulff canon, right?

Cameron: True, but they hold a great cultural significance to our kind, as they are one of the few instances of...positive portrayals of foxes from the perspective of another species, and a dominant one at that. The power of the Kittish and Pridelands Descendents was at its zenith around the time of Robin's deeds, and that meant it had a great deal of power of turning the perception of species as a whole around in the eyes of Animalia overall. So that's why most foxes hold them both in high regard whether they practice Simbology or not. And I hold that same reverence for them, even if I hold a disdain for Kitten and the Lionheart's Monarchy overall. 

Rowan: Wait, why?

Cameron: Kingland and its rulers were just as expansionist as their fallen empire, and religion was one way in which they sought to remake that empire as you pointed out Row. But they also weren't shy about using their old tactics, specifically with Scottram in mind. As a Norwulff descendent, Scottram was our ally...so it's sort of an old blood feud. Of course, Robin fought for what he believed in, and Richard was one of the better kings. And thanks to Robin and Marian, foxes in Great Kitten rose to a higher social standing. 

Derrick: So do foxes have...like any religion that is totally their own?

Cameron: Not really...most of our beliefs come piece meal from other societies we ingratiated ourselves into for the sake of survival. It was always easier to take on the host religion to more easily blend into the local fabric of society than stand out with gods of our own. Foxes have...historically been both largely a nomadic, and isolationist species. We didn't often form tribes, which would often cultivate shared belief systems until we started joining the villages and towns of other species outside of our own.

Rowan: And now for the million dollar question, although I think I'm already sure of the answer. Atheist?

Cameron: I was a casual Volking follower up until the death of my mate Marian. She just...her death was so horrible...and cruel...She...she suffered so badly and I-I just couldn't fathom a just or loving god that would make someone endure that, even if there was a so-called afterlife. So...I turned my back on all religion after that...

Rowan: Oh Cam...mam' I...I don't even know what to say.

Cameron: There's nothing to say...that's just the way it is I suppose. However, even after renouncing religion, well...the old curses and stuff like that sort of become buried in your language. Hence why I still refer to Marian, Robin, and Vulki from time to time. It's just...I mean it's hard to shake. 

Ask Wasty: What about Kuzco?

 

Wasty: Yeah, that's my mistake. Joel does mention Kuzco directly as being presumably a preygan llama god. I should have recalled that when making the Animalia world map as I replaced the country of Peru with 'Kuzco', which would have been named after said deity. That's actually one of my all-time favorite Disney movies, so I'm surprised I didn't remember it...but I've been at this blog for quite some time, and with my health the way well, it's natural I'm going to forget things.

Also, while it's not a Disney film, Derrick makes a direct reference to "Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron in using 'Cim' marron' as a curse word. I'll save the explanation for his reverence for said patron saint for a different ask.

Ask Wasty: Zazu and Friend Owl?

 

Wasty: Much like actual religions, there are a lot of exaggerations and contradictions. In the case of Friend Owl and Zazu, well in world the explanation would be that there are multiple instances of talking (non-sentient) species in ancient stories, similar to the legendary creatures of our own world such as dragons, unicorns, satyrs, minotaurs and the like. With birds and lizards both occupying the 'dog' and 'cat' role in the world of Animalia, it makes sense that there would be ancient tales of lizards and birds that 'walked and talked like a mammal' due to having such a close relationship. Adding to the complication is that several species of birds can mimic speech, and so Zazu and Friend owl are often considered primitive representations of that, meshed with what certain birds might have signified to the original authors.

Naturally, though, this has led to there being conspiracy theories that some birds or lizards have yet to be discovered by modern mammals that are just like those described in ancient texts. Going as far as to postulate that perhaps they live in hidden cities under the crust of the planet, or hard to find islands. However, there's been no evidence of any such species existing in Animalia aside from ancient fables and religious stories. Still, in the case of Symbology and Bambism, Zazu and Friend Owl remain canonized due to what they represent, not so much because most in the clergy truly believe they existed as described.