Ask Wasty; Post Apocalyptic AU

 

Wasty: Ooh... this is a fun space to play in...so much so it's hard to center on an idea as exactly what type of world-ender thing I'd want to go with...Zombies are played out I think, so I don't want to go anywhere in that direction. I think...if I had to pick a scenario...I'm thinking a "The Stand" Scenario. A super plague wipes out close to ninety-five percent of Animalia's population, this includes Dawn and Vern's friends, family and adopted kids, leaving only the two of them raising Paige in this new, nearly empty world.

Dawn and Vern would both be pretty emotionally traumatized after witnessing everyone they loved die in one of the most agonizing and (compared to other post-apocalyptic scenarios) and slowest ways possible, especially when it came to Allison and Edison. With Zootopia left an empty shell of a city, with animal corpses filling overflowing into the streets, the family would probably end up hitting the road in search of scientists looking to synthesize a cure from their apparent natural immunity as well as survivors. 

What would keep them going? Helping to create a cure should they find mammals working on one, their love for one another, and finding somewhere safe and stable for Paige to grow up. Eventually, they'd settle in a town where survivors have grouped around a lab synthesizing a cure, and settle into as best a life as they could while haunted by the painful memories of those they lost. They'd probably end up farmers like Vernon's parents, and life would probably be largely like early 1900s living save for a pawful of modern tech that's actually usable by the survivors,  as the significantly shrunken populace struggles to relearn and re-establish the level of technology previously wielded by the pre-plague Animalia. I imagine it wouldn't be until Paige was in her thirties or older that the new society would come close to recovering, and that's under the best of conditions.

(I wanted to have this and a longer one out yesterday and today but due to a combo of health and life issues things got kinda screwed up. Expect that loner one next week!)

Found Ask; The Kartakka Tapes Part 2

 Gus: Well, I think aside from maybe the police officers among us, and Dawn and Vern of course, most of us had to wait till the Petflix documentary to have the...option of seeing that...Kartakka Beating Tape...

Joel: I'm just going to tell you right now...like...I sold off my old Hoo-man's collection from when I was a cria after watching that special.

Gus: Geeze...well I guess we know your stance on humans huh?

Joel: Don't get me wrong, I like humans...I mean, I don't think they are like...inherently evil or anything. Lots of different mammals did lots of extremely evil things since the dawn of time...it's just...I couldn't look at those stupid figures and cards anymore without...seeing Marcus...his father...*shudders*

Megumi: I felt the same way. It was...the cuteness was lost...they were...what is the Anamaglish word....Retro...retrotract-?

Joel: Retroactive?

Megumi: Yes! Retroactively ruined by harsh reality. The Hoo-man toy lines had goofy villains, and rarely ever had true...meaningful threats. Reality though...

Gus: Reality is always significantly less cutesy and cuddly than the real deal.

Broomie: To be fair though, Humans weren't a reality until what...like six months ago? Up until that point, Humans were urban legends...a fantasy race in B&B...

Melanie: Did you watch the special Dylan?

Broomie: I did...but since I had fair warning about the beating part...I skipped that portion. I just...I didn't have the stomach for it. I mean, we've all met Marcus...I can...I just...

Gus: Relax Brooms, nobody here is judging you.

Broomie: Did you and Mel...?

Melanie: *Sigh* We did...we...we wanted to know what Marcus really went through...to see it from as close to his perspective as we could...and it....it was ghastly...I just...I was just crying quietly the whole time it was going on...and it just felt like it was going on forever...

Gus: Me and Melly were just sorta huddled on the couch, holding each other during the bulk of it...It was...rough to say the least...

Joel: Megumi was practically strangling my neck she was gripped so tightly to it...not that it mattered, I could barely breathe or swallow anyway...I felt like I was one errant gulp from throwing up Pandese food all over the coffee table.

Judy: I....honestly...I thought I was more steeled for that kind of thing going into it...but I...gods I was clutching Nick's tail and just burying myself into it every time they raised that lash...

Nick: I'm not proud to admit I managed to watch the whole time...but I'm paying for it now...it feels like it's imprinted on my eyelids...every time I close my eyes I see that poor kids face...I hear the disgustingly excited chants from the crowd, the jeers feeling as though they were entirely deafened by them. 

Judy: My parents didn't believe in physical reprimand when it came to raising me and my siblings, they never raised a paw to us. It was always groundings and taking stuff away, or just the silent treatment. *shakes head* every time my Mom refused to talk to me, I'd crumble and bawl like a kit begging for forgiveness...and though I've seen dramatizations and true crime stories featuring this kind of stuff...seeing the real, raw footage...I just couldn't take it.

Val: You guys are nuts, why would you even subject yourself to watching literal kit-abuse? Did you just want to kill a little piece of your soul on purpose or something? 

Gus: We wanted to better understand what Marcus endured Val...

Val: The kit's told us enough about what he went through, I didn't need to see it. 

Melanie: I take it you didn't watch it?

Val: And I'm not going to...like I said. He knows what happened, we know what happened. He's happy now, and I'm sure the kit just wants us to move on. As long as he doesn't feel the need to talk about it...we shouldn't be burdening him with it.

Gus: I mean, that's fair. That's a fair take.

Melanie: Regardless of who watched it and who didn't, we'll all be there for Marcus if he needs it...not that we've gotten to know him all that well compared to Dawn and Vern.

Gus: And we certainly won't see the kid any different than we already did see him. Just a bright young boy trying to live happily with his new family...my feelings on humans though...er...

Melanie: Mixed...as much as I'm ashamed to admit...

Gus: Exactly...I feel the same way.

Judy: Oh come on guys, not all Humans are like that Kartakkan mob...or Marcus' Dad.

Gus: I know, I know....it's just...y'know...sometimes I see a human out and about in the city, or one shows up in the store and I...I look at the-them...*Shakes head* And I can't help but see some of those...faces from the crowd...

Melanie: Or Marcus' Dad's own face...

Gus: We're trying to work past it but...it's not something we can get over overnight, y'know?

Megumi: I can understand that...I feel a pang of small fear every so often when I see one since the video...and then I feel ashamed.

Nick: Despite sitting through that mess of a scene...I've largely been okay with my human interaction...sure...sometimes the video does...pop into my thoughts, but I'm...pretty good at burying it back down into my subconscious...

Broomie: As someone who skipped that part entirely I've been alright...I mean, there are more cities, ones that weren't failed states or dictatorships, I mean they were in the documentary. Joel was right, it's not as if any one species has clean hooves. But...I imagine I might struggle a bit had I seen the lashing video...and I'd especially feel just a little weird seeing Marcus now...Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to make him feel like some kind of alien...but it's just like...I wouldn't even know what to say I think...

Val: Just ask him about Nerd stuff...I'm sure you'll synch up on something...by the time you've been talking his ear off about whatever comic series you're currently binging for half hour the kid will be looking to get away from you rather than the other way around.

Found Ask; The Kartakka Tapes; Part 1

 

Dorian: I feel like we've answered thissun' before...

Audrey: Me too...but iffin' we did, it was a long while back...and I honestly can't remember it.

Dorian: Sufficed to say I saw it well before it ended up in that petflix special on the city he hailed from. Zach and Vanna, too, what with them bein' his caretakers at the time...Auddey also soldered through it despite me insistin' she avoid it like the plague.

Audrey: I had to see it...I had to see what they did to my poor grandpup...and oh- it wa-was *sniffle* I just...I still can't believe they d-did that to a poor p-pup! *Whine* With his own Pa orderin' it no less!

Dorian: Auddey...

Auddey: And watchin' it...watchin' the whole time s-stoned face...l-like he felt nothin' fer his own son! *whine* What a monster!

Dorian: *Hugs Audrey*There there Darlin' he's safe now...

Zach: Naturally we had...we each had our own powerful reactions to the footage...I couldn't see nothin' but red myself. Made me want to hunt down Marcus' sorry excuse fer a Pa and tear him limb from limb. And my Kitten...well....while she wasn't as...expressive as Ma was, she was definitely cryin'...

Vanna: I think...I was just stunned really. Horrified by the violence, by seeing our Marcus suffer like that...I...honestly don't remember too much of what was going on around me once the footage started playing...I...only realized after it was all over that not only was I crying, but I had been digging my claws so sharply into my own thighs that I ended up having to put a few stitches in to get the bleeding to stop...

Dorian: I had a burnin' ball o' rage in my stomach the whole time. Could barely keep it swallowed with my stomach rollin' over and over again. I don't think I've ever had my fangs clenched that hard fer that long in my life...surprised none o' my teeth pressure cracked from the strain...

Zach: When it came to the rest of the family seeing it, it was sorta an elected thang...Yuri and Ada opted to watch it and it had...similar results.

Yuri: Ada was practically out the door with that baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire from her office after sittin' through that horror show. She was fixin' to walk all the way to that there city and beat Marcus' former Pa to death in the street.

Ada: Mookie had to assure me up and down dat he was long dead already a few times before I finally was willin' to let go ah' dah Equilizer.

Yuri: Then I had to stop y'all again cause you was fixin' to find his grave and desecrate it.

Ada: *Huffs* O' Course dey had to go a burn dat guys body, so dere ain't nuttin' to desecrate! 

Zach: Dawn and Vern also watched....what with Dawn bein' an abuse victim herself, she felt she needed to see what Marcus suffered through...And ol' Puppy wasn't gonna let her suffer through that alone.

Dawn: It was...so much worse than I...I even imagined...and...it really brought me b-back to some...really d-dark moments of my life. I...

Vernon: My poor Honey lamb started tremblin' somethin' fierce about half way through...shakin' and whimperin'....b-but she wouldn't let me stop the tape...not fer a second.

Dawn: I-I had to do it for Marcus', I w-wanted to be strong for my nephew!

Vernon: I ended up holdin' her close fer the whole veiwin'...Her sobbin' and shakin'....me growlin' and cryin'...we-we were a real mess...

Dawn: And then after the video we went to our lambs and held them so close and so tight...*sniffle* *Swab's eyes* I-I'm sorry, I'm gettin' worked up again...

Vernon: *Wraps his arms around Dawn, scooping her up into his chest.* It's alright Darlin', it's okay...

Dawn: I-I just...I both can't believe some mammal would do that to their own lamb, and yet I know from experience just how cruel and monstrous a parent can be!

Vernon: Dawn couldn't stop huggin' Marcus the next time we saw him neither...Y'all think she woulda been all hugged out after we spent the rest o' that night swaddlin' our pups...

Dawn: You act like you weren't right there with me, hugging us both just as tightly...

Vernon: *Chuckles* I never said I wasn't...

Zach: Xavier watched it too, but Malcolm opted out...so did the rest of the family...at least until the Petflix special aired. 

Xavier: Malcolm didn't have the stomach for it...and to be honest I barely got through it myself. I thought my years in court would have better prepared me for...seeing this sort of thing...but in all honesty, I don't believe you ever truly get used to seeing abuse like that...it was...some of the most reprehensible treatment of a pup I've ever seen in my life...and while my Gingersnap didn't watch it, he did console me after my own viewing.

Zach: Qali and Giselle have remained adamant that they never wanna see that tape, or the Petflix special. And Trent and Wade have watched the special but skipped the scenes involvin' Marcus'...er...Public floggin'...

Vanna: And Ulric and Honey have watched the full special. Honey's response was similar to Ada's, and Ully apparently moped about it fer days...it-it really shook him...

Dorian: It shook all of us really...

Yuri: Then he goes and sends a 300-dollar Junior science and investigators kit out to the boy! Tryin' to make a stab fer the title o' best Uncle right from under the rest of us while we was all distracted...

Ada: Oh can it Mookie, youse and I's both know we's also sent him a big present after watchin' dat...pretty much all of us did...

Zach: It was like a surprise birthday fer the boy. *Chuckles* He was so confused....real happy, but confused...*Flashes Yuri a half-lidded gaze* By the way, I fergot to thank you fer the professional baseball gear you sent...

Yuri: *chuckles* Gotta make sure the boy keeps his batten' arm strong fer them big games don't I? Sides', I know he's gotta great catch partner...

Dorian: Anyway...I mean...it should go without sayin' seein'...what we saw makes us see the boy a bit different.

Audrey: Although we don't love him any less!

Dorian: O'course not! It's just...seein' what he actually went through instead of just...havin' an idea...*sighs* It can be purty agonizin'...

Zach: I was hurtin' so powerful fer my son...fer what he went through...I think me and Vanna were kinda sick over it fer days...Havin' nightmares about bein' there...unable to stop it from happinin', forced to watch....*shudders*

Vanna:  Sometimes I would look at Marcus... and my mind would go right back to that video...

Dawn: Lamb Shanks! Me too!

Vernon: I could tell every time that would happen, cause y'all would immediately scurry over and ask iffin' was alright to hug him a'fore nearly stranglin' the boy with the tightest and longest hug y'all could muster. *Chuckles*

Dawn: P-Please Puppy, Marcus is nearly twice my size...I can barely get my hooves around him let alone 'strangle him'. *Cracks a weak smile* Doesn't mean I didn't try though. *Chuckles weakly*

Yuri: Fact o' the matter is we all love that pup to death, and all that video did fer us is make us love him even more...

Ada: As for how we's feel about humans in general afta seein' all dat, I mean...I tink most of us can agree dat one bad group of humans does not mean da whole species is like dat.

Vanna: It shouldn't surprise you, considering that our pack is quite a menagerie that have a variety of different species-based chips on their shoulders, that we aren't going to just blanket blame a whole species for Marcus' mistreatment.

Dawn: There are plenty of good humans out there, we've been meeting increasing numbers of them while Puppy and I are out on my book tours, and of course through online correspondence.

Vernon: The podcast is surprisingly popular with humanfolk...*chuckles*

Dawn: It's a lesson I already had to learn the hard way...and it's not a mistake I'll be allowing myself to make again, about any species. And after all, how could I look all humans with a negative lens? I have a wonderful nephew who just happens to be human himself, and I love him nearly as much as I love my own lambs!

Zach: Alright, settle down now...remember Marcus' is my pup, not yers...

Vanna: *Glares at Zach*

Zach: E-Er...I mean our Pup Kitten. Our Pup!

Hunters: *Laugh*

Ask Bogo; Life, Career and Family Reprised!

 Bogo: Ugh, I've already told you that I'm not comfortable disclosing that information publically. Not only am I a very private mammal, and I respect my family's privacy, but putting their information out there would put them and their safety at risk.

Nick: For real? Don't you think that's a bit...excuse me for saying so Chief, overdramatic?

Bogo: You don't spend twenty-five years on the force, ten of which were spent acting as its Chief Officer without making a few enemies. Murderers, mafiosos, just plain maniacs, I've put away quite a few of them in my time, or at the very least acted as a constant thorn in their side. For any of them to catch a whiff of the names of those closest to me...well it would be like a drop of blood in a shark tank.

Nick: Oh, well...I guess I can't really argue against that logic...

Judy: But surely there's some little tidbit you can leave us with? Something vague enough, or non-incriminating enough to avoid aiding some maligned revenger plot against you?

Bogo: *Snorts* Alright...alright fine...but this is all you're getting from me. *Grumbles* I am mated, my mate is female, and we adopted several calves together.

Nick: Several big? Or more like...a couple of?

Bogo: I'm keeping it at 'several' to remain vague.

Nick: Okay.

Bogo: Hmm *Scratches chin thoughtfully* Oh, alright this is probably safe. Officer Clawhauser and myself have known each other since high school. We also went to the academy together, and essentially plotted ahead to work as partners, much as Hopps did with you Wilde.

Judy: Wow...you knew Clawhauser that long?

Bogo: Awkward outcasts attract. *Chuckles* Well...I was the awkward one...Clawhauser was the more social of our little pair. The issue being his far too hyper to the point where he drove off most other mammals. Luckily for him, I didn't talk much...so he got to do most of the talking for me. *Chuckles* That kind of personality gave him a great bedside manner on the beat when it came to consoling victims, cheering up calves, that sort of thing.

Nick: Seems like Benji's bread and butter...or rather, his croissant, cream cheese and lox. *Laughs*

Judy: But now you've got me curious, just why did Clawhauser switch to lobby work?

Bogo: Again, that's not my story to tell. It's his. But if you do broach the subject, please tread carefully. *Glares at Nick* That means no one-liners from the peanut gallery. 

Nick: Oh C'mon Chief, I would never! *Flashes Bogo a wide, cheesy smirk* Would this fox ever lie to you?

Bogo: *Huffs* Constantly...and then he lies about lying...thankfully Hopps is here to keep you honest...well as honest as a mammal like you can be. She may be pretty good at keeping you in line...but she's not a superhero...despite trying to play the part.

Nick: Ouch! Be honest Cheif, it's the fox thing, right?

Bogo: I am being serious here Wilde! It's a...delicate emotional subject for Clawhauser...and it has all the right to be. A mammal as sensitive as he is...*sigh*, let's just say that day was the first time I actually saw the value of being as socially detached as I was...but for benjamin, his greatest strength became his greatest weakness...

Judy: Sweet Cheese and Crackers...

----

WT: Hey, sorry for basically pulling a re-answer here. I've had some of these asks sitting here for a bit and I forgot when I answered the first Bogo Question, there was another in a similar vein. Anyway, thanks for the ask!