Ask Gus and Melly; Renaissance Faires

 

Melanie: Oh hell yeah, I rutting love me some Renaissance Faires!

Gus: I didn't like them much as a kid, but the fact that my family was always involved in them, and my developing love for roleplaying got me into them really quick by the time I was hitting puberty.

Melanie: I just...I love the period clothing, and speaking in old Kinglish...

Gus: The food is also pretty good.

Melanie: All the revamped culinary delights of the Medieval times without the health code violations and violent bouts of dysentery. *Snickers*

Gus: Clearly not very accurate to the period, I demand a refund. *Chuckles*

Melanie: Generally, unless one of us is sick, we'll hit both Renaissance Faires that come around Zootopia each year. First, there's the huge one in Downtown Savannah Central.

Gus: The 'Zootopia's Founding Renaissance Faire'. Heavy on both the history of early Zootopia and the festivities. Food's top-notch, and the 'actors' are real professionals.

Melly: *Groans* We've been trying desperately to work as players at that one, but the waiting list is so long we'd probably be in our fifties by the time we ever get a shot at performing in the Faire.

Gus: You've been trying desperately...I'm already quite satisfied with our in at the "North Meadowland's Renaissance Faire."

Melly: Hey now, just because I want to perform at the inner city Faire doesn't mean I don't absolutely love acting in the North Meadowlands Faire! Plus it gives us an excuse to visit your parents and Vernon's Mom. *Chuckles*

Gus: I should explain. With my Dad owning a gardening shop, and my Mom teaching at the North Meadowlands Elementary school, both my parents had incentives to get involved with the local Ren Faire. So my Mom plays the role of a tour guide and talks about the history of the North Meadowlands and the mammals who settled there. And my Dad plays the role of a farmhand, selling his vegetables at a stall and talking to folks about ancient agriculture and crop growing methods...while low-key advertising his gardening center...*Chuckles*

Melly: And Vernon's Mom runs, as you'd probably expect by now, a baking stall where she'd sell strawberry, blueberry, elderberry, and a bunch of other spring fruit pies.

Gus: Generally, like when I was a kid I'll go and help my Mom and Dad out, more often than not helping Dad at his stall, so I got to play as an 'apprentice'. As for Melly...

Melly: Well, Gus' Dad generally has enough help with Gus, and...to be honest Gus' Mom doesn't really need a teacher's aid shadowing her all day with no real commentary to add, so more often than not I'll find myself helping Audrey and Vanna at her stall slinging pies...which I have to admit is super fun. 

Gus: That's unsurprising. Anything you have to roll up your sleeves for is usually something you end up enjoying.

Melly: *Giggles* Audrey said I was a natural...Oh, she also wanted to let you know she's adopted me...*Snickers*

Gus: *Chuckles* Makes sense, that she-wolf was like my adopted second Mom once I met Vernon. As far as she was concerned I was one of her pups, albeit the awkward looking one. *Snickers*

Melly: Oh hush! * Melly swats at him playfully* You're adorable..., no surprise she'd make you an honorary Hunter Pup...

Gus: Considering I spent half of my teenage life at that Ranch, it's almost a gimme. *Laughs*

Melly: Regardless, considering what my Mom is like, it's nice to have not one, but two adopted Mom's to back me up...

Gus: So....considering Audrey has taken us both in as her Pups, does that make us related now? Surely that means we can't get married...

Melly: *Scoffs* Nice try Gussie, but you already proposed. The date is set, and there's no way I'm letting you out of our wedding now!

Ask Dawn and Vern; Zootopia doesn't have/isn't a Parliament?

 

Dawn: I mean, technically no...but to be honest, the Zootopian system of governance is a bit of a hodgepodge of multiple political systems. After all, with so many Roaropean nations coming together to found the city in the first place, all hailing from different types of governments, there were a lot of different ideas on how to run the city coming together in one place.

Vernon: Not to mention the effect North Mammalia's succession from Kingland's control would have on the city, and then o' course three hundred years of evolvin' systems on top o' that.

Dawn: We have our own baseline constitution, and bill of rights that we ended up adopting from North Mammalia, but I'm not sure I'd call us a full-on constitutional republic. Although there are some strong elements of that in the fact that our Districts have quite a bit of autonomy to them...

Vernon: But a Parliment wouldn't quite fit us either I guess...We have a main Mayor that our political officials sorta rally behind, and the Mayor has final say in most affairs. And our lower-level officials 'er not like...it ain't an equal party representation when they come to the table to discuss laws and other stuff regardin' how to govern the city. It's closer to a North Mammalian Congress just with more roles.

Dawn: At best...if you stretch it you could probably get away with calling us a Democratic-Republic-Parlimentary Hybrid...

(Wasty; Pardon me if I botch this...Government systems aren't my strong suit.)

When Gus and Melly got Together; Comic Addendum

 

Sorry if this is cheating, but after answering that ask, I was compelled to make a little comic of Gus and Melly's "First moves". It was to cute to me not too...:3

-Wasty

Happy Belated Clover Day!

 

Yeah, this didn't actually start out as a celebration for St. Pat's...but I just felt like doodling Cam and Clover and I decided 'hey, y'know what...I'm eating Corn Beef and Cabbage Pie several days late, may as well make this a St.Pat's pic. 

So here's Cameron, Celebrating Clover Day with a Clover of his own. Just a little warm, romantic, intimate moment between a couple...my personal favorite sort of work.

This isn't the only ask art going up for this session....but I gotta write and draw them up tomorrow before I get back to fic writing.

-Wasty

Ask the Foxes; Slitted Pupils

 

Val: I really don't know about that sort of stuff...history and biology aren't my strongsuit. Basically if I can't ride it, I'm not interested.

Cameron: You are talking about the pupil thing right? Not the fact that arctic foxes tend to have slanted eyes compared to their non-arctic counterparts?

Nick: I've actually kind of wondered about that myself...it's one of those things you keep telling yourself you'll look up, and then you just never do, y'know?

Qali: Oh, well I can answer that! I mean I think I can...*scratches chin thoughtfully* I remember in middle school they said evolutionists thought arctic foxes eyes became more slanted and squinty due to it helping to keep snow out of them in the blustery and frigid tundra weather. Sorta like how our ears are smaller to help us better regulate our body heat compared to normal foxes and Fennecs.

Nick: When your eyes are actually open, they're almost as big as Carrots...I can't imagine any amount of squinting or slanting could keep those eyes from going snowblind...*Chuckles*

Cameron: Evolution is fast and sporadic in Animalia, at least since the whole 'mammalian awakening period' or whatever they called it back in highschool at the onset of the ice age. After that point, mammalian evolution started moving double-time...I wouldn't be surprised if arctic fox eyes were smaller at the height of the primal age only to have grown larger since then as they moved away from daily survival and attraction of mates became more important...but I couldn't tell you...there's a reason I'm a graphic designer and not a biologist or evolutionary scholar.

Val: But you're the one who said you knew why red foxes were occasionally born with slit eyes...

Cameron: Just because I said I wasn't a biology student, doesn't mean I didn't pay attention in school my little Motobug. *chuckles* I paid attention in class, especially when my species came up in discussion that wasn't totally negative.

Nick: So enlighten us old mam', my hackles are standing on end with anticipation...

Cameron: Pft...old Mam'...I have half a mind to...*Holds up paws and shakes head* No, no, it's not worth it...*Ahem* Anyway, the 'slit eye' or 'cat's eye' as it's often referred to in foxes manifests for two reasons...one reason is of course that sometimes lingering ancient strands of DNA thought to be gone will happen to manifest for one reason or another out of the blue in mammals. My co-worker Derrick suffers from a similar condition, in that he was born with single solid hooves for paws instead of the more common 'hoof fingers' among ungulate prey, similar to ancient horses.

Val: Oh yeah! Kodi has one of those...things...

Cameron: He does? Huh...I've never noticed...what kind of Genetic Holdover Deformity does he have...?

Val: Uhhh...*Sweats* It's...uh...well it's uh...his....ears are weird...yeah, that's it! It's really subtle, you'd never notice!

Cameron: Huh...in what way?

Val: Hey, so that slit-eye thing right?

Cameron: Ah right...I suppose I'm getting off track...

Val: *Phew*...

Cameron: Anyway, so yeah I'm not exactly sure of the term, but I believe it's something like 'Genetic Holdover Deformity' or something similar...but the other reason is that it's a more common genetic trait in far eastern foxes and some native species...

Nick: So...like Japandese foxes?

Cameron: Correct...and some tribes of native North Mammalian Foxes. Similar to Roaropean sheep, our evolutionary development favored the round pupil. And since Roaropeans came to displace a lot of North Mammalian foxes through colonization and intermarrying it's...well it's less of a common trait than it was....but it's still fairly prevalent in Japanda. I remember reading in some magazine in a waiting room that roughly forty percent of the fox population in Ursa have the slit pupil.

Nick: huh, that's kinda interesting...

Val: Ehh...your mileage may vary...I know mine does...and the half pint fell asleep standing up...

Qali: *Snore-* W-What, I'm awake! *Rubs eyes* S-sorry! I-I'm just really worn out...

Val: It's okay squirt, I got bored too...

Qali: Don't call me SQUIRT! *Huffs* A-And besides, I-I wasn't bored...I j-just...Work's been heavy at the tree farm okay! *Crosses arms defiantly* 

Ask Gus and Melly; When did you get together?

 

Gus: There's a pretty straightforward ask for once...*chuckles*

Melanie: It's not a super complicated story...we met in Zootopia University. 

Gus: We had some overlapping classes despite the different majors, and we also had both signed up for the campus BnB club.

Melanie: The BnB club was pretty big, so we actually had multiple Battle Masters running game along side each other, and Gus was quick to fall into the role of one of them.

Gus: Considering I had been hosting games since I was...probably eight years old, it came naturally. And I had long since made my peace with being a forever BM. *Chuckles*

Melanie: I'm not sure exactly when Gussy joined, but I know it was before me. Because by the time I walked into my first club meeting, he was already spinning quite the session...and honestly that's what drew me in. *Giggles* I mean, Gus and I had seen each other in class before., and I did think he was...a handsome Billy.

Gus: Only you would think that...

Melanie: *Snorting Laugh* Gussie, stop putting yourself down or I will swat you.

Gus: *Holds up his hooves defensively* Alright, alright, I'll try to tamp down my self-depreciation...

Melanie: Anyway, I'd noticed him in class and he was...I mean he was pretty quiet and unassuming. He was always super focused and didn't really chatter with the other students. So while I thought he was cute...I didn't really...I mean...I was kinda shy about pursuing it...

Gus: You? Shy? Noooo.... *The billy bleats sarcastically*

Melly: *Swats at Gus playfully* You know dating and romance stuff is the one thing I'm shy about! At least when it comes to those first moves! *Ahem* Anyway, my point was...I walked in the club for the first time, and at table three I see this same, totally unassuming quiet billy with one leg on a chair, his hooves raised to the sky as he gives this passionate, scenery-chewing monologue for the other players first encounters with his 'big bad' and....*giggles* I'll be honest, I got a little weak in the knees...

Gus: *Blushes* Sweet Sawgrass...I remember that....ugh...I'm getting a retroactive cringe from the memory alone.

Melly: Oh stop! You were awesome, you always are when it comes to painting a scene or roleplaying a character. You're amazing now, and you were then, which Is why I was like 'That's the group I'm joining, no matter what. I need that handsome and charismatic billy in my life right now!'

Gus: Of course, I wasn't going to turn down such a lovely nanny looking to join my group, especially the one I kept stealing glances at in my other classes when she wasn't looking. 

Melly: I KNEW it! *Giggles*

Gus: Well I wasn't as great at hiding it as I thought I was in retrospect. Still, despite the mutual attraction...it...took us probably until right up to the end of the term to start going out...

Melly: And I had to be the one to ask him.

Gus: *Laughs* what an awful combo..., a billy too afraid he's misinterpreting signals to ask a nanny out-.

Melly: And a nanny just too shy to ask him out herself for fear he didn't share her feelings.

Gus: To be fair, I am a hard mammal to read...though the fact that we had our characters flirt and start dating a good month before we made the move ourselves...

Melly: I made the move! I was too afraid you might disappear after the holiday break! I couldn't let you head off for Yule without...taking my shot...y'know?

Gus: Gods, I can still remember it was literally the last afternoon before campus closed, and I had stayed behind in club to help clean up...and you just...cornered me. *Laughs* You gave me the most intense stare-down of my life...I was kinda scared for a minute...

Melly: *Cringes* Sweet Cervidwens Hooves... "Doyuwanttogooutwithme!?" *Laughs* That's exactly how I blurted it out...all in one, forced stream of words just to get it out...

Gus: I swallowed hard, but managed to nod back and mutter a weak. "Y-yeah..."

Melly: *Giggles* And so began a relationship that's spanned six years and counting...*Snuggles up to Gus and nuzzles his cheek* And they've been the best six years of my life!

Gus: *Blushes sharply* Heh...M-me too Mellowmar...me too...

General Ask; Other Lethal Chefs

 

Melanie: Oh Gus is pretty bad...

Gus: Hey, I can make instant ramen! That's enough! *Laughs*

Megumi: Instant Ramen is inferior ramen...*Huffs* As Zootopian's you have no excuse! You have plenty of genuine Japandese Ramen places around here!

Gus: Well sometimes you're in the middle of a twelve hour Oblivion session and you don't want to leave the apartment just to get a bit of food in you so you can keep going! You lose precious time!

Vernon: *Snickers* Just gave me a flashback to our roomie days...anytime you had off fer the day, and it wasn't BnB night, you'd be fused to yer beanbag playin' some RPG fer half the day...I think you wore a hole in that thang before I moved out.

Gus: Not the point of this conversation Sheepdog, thank you...

Melanie: I do most of the cooking for us, more so to make sure we actually eat decent food...if Gussy was left to his own devices it would be all cold cereal, ramen, and turf tarts.

Gus: I mean...I'd order pizza too...

Melanie: *Snickers*

Vernon: I can't think of anyone else in the group I've seen cook...so...what about y'all Brooms? Joel?

Joel: I make a lot of Japandese stuff, so I don't offer a lot because I know most of you guys aren't into it.

Megumi: He's not bad...he gets by...I'm just better at it having grown up actually making the food he's trying to mimic.

Joel: Is that why every night your turn to cook comes up you offer to take us out?

Megumi: *Blushes slightly* No...I'm just lazy...*Laughs*

Broomie: I can get by, probably a little better than Gus, but nothing to write home about. At least I'm not leaving demolished kitchens in my wake. *Chuckles*

Vernon: Outside o' that...only mammal I've heard talking about not bein' a great cook is Ada...mostly cause she ain't never had time to really practice...I think between her and Yuri they live off o' Snarlbucks and vending machines thanks to their jobs. *Laughs*

Dawn: Well, the last Ada...confided in me about trying to cook, she told me she tried to replicate one of Audrey's pies as she was taught...but ended up burning the crust pretty badly...to the point where they basically ate the filling out of the shell...

Vernon: She couldn't tell she was burnin' it from the smell?

Dawn: You know how Ada's sense of smell is...powerful but very resistant to bad odors, so she might have inadvertently tuned out the smell until Yuri brought it to her attention. Since then, she's been pretty skittish about trying again. But still, that's not quite on par with Xavier setting the stovetop on fire while trying to boil water...

Melly: *Snrk* Y-you're joking?

Dawn: *Shakes Head* Nope, though to be fair that's because he knocked over Malcolm's cooking oil while clamoring to keep his water from boiling over...Malcolm said he was inconsolable for the rest of that weekend...he couldn't get over that he had essentially ruined the stovetop trying to do something as simple as boil eggs.

Vernon: The Anti-crust strikes again! *laughs*

Ask the Ruminerds; Mass Effect

 

Gus: I have very mixed emotions about the series...on the one hand, it's like it was designed almost exclusively to appeal to me.

Melly: Gussy loves Sci-fi rpgs and series. He's a big Star Trot fan...which I'm also a big fan of too...but I lean just a smidge more toward Doctor Hooves. I like the little bit of...wackiness, and the flexibility to dramatically change settings and get wild with the scenarios...but I don't want to get us to off topic...

Gus: Right...so I really liked the first Mass Effect. It wasn't a perfect game, but that was mostly because some of the gameplay needed to be polished. The narrative had me hooked, and the 'choices matter' element had me very intrigued. But the second one...

Vernon: My interest dropped off midway through that one. The plot hooks were startin' to lose me...

Gus: I forgave that a bit, mainly cause the middle installment of most series tends to struggle. But the writing of the characters was really engaging.

Melanie: That, and you got to romance Tali...

Gus: *Blushes* I mean...*cough*....I...er...I really liked her plot line...

Joel: Her plot was fine though...*Snickers*, Though not as fine as Samara....Unf...

Melly: Hey, I ain't judging. Garrus can get it, Manible mouth or no...that guy did things to me...*Blushes*

Vernon: But the gameplay started to slide into 'generic shoot'em up.' on par with that one series...Deers o' War?

Broomie: I think they removed you ability to independently crouch in that one...you could only do it near walls. 

Vernon: Then there's the whole...Verminator Space baby robot ending....it was...it just had me scratching my head.

Gus: I thought you dropped off halfway through?

Vernon: *Chuckles, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly* I er...may o' spoiled myself by watchin' it on Zootube...Still, it didn't make no sense and felt pointless.

Joel: Yeah, normally I'm into that kind of hokey stuff, but considering where the story started it was kind of a lame storyline...almost felt like filler.

Broomie: Yeah, the ending gave me no hope that three would be any good, especially with EA behind the wheel...

Gus: I should have listened to you guys...but *Sigh* I really wanted to hope three would stick the landing.

Vernon: There's a rarity from ol' Billy blunt and bleary...

Gus: All your choices came down to slightly different story stills post a cinematic that came in three flavors...Red, Green, and Blue. And the rutting ultimate machinations of the Reapers made zero sense! They were just some generic big bad despite all the setup! *Huffs* It was especially egregious after reading the original writer's intentions for the Reapers and their whole purpose, but of course they let him go after two...and EA took the reigns hard and pushed them to rush three out...Sweet Sawgrass, what a letdown!

Joel: And let's not forget the Tali face reveal...*Snickers*

Gus: OH DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED!

Ask Xavier; Fox and Weasel Discrimination

 

Xavier: I mean, I do see it, though the lion's share of those cases generally goes to my associate Eric Goldram. He sort of specializes in civil cases surrounding species discrimination, Whereas my specialty is more in family law. Pup custody, Pup Protective services, Emancipation, those sorts of cases. That's not to say I don't get non-familial discrimination cases, but I don't feel I get enough to truly weigh in...

Eric: If I may chime in...?

Xavier: By all means. Please.

Eric: It's not great. I imagine it's better in Zootopia...but the rest of the civilized mammalian world is still catching up. We aren't just talking mammals with totally maligned reputations, such as foxes and weasels. We're talking wolves, hyenas, and sheep. Rodents especially have a lot of discrimination issues here. I believe there's still a lot of bad blood there between those mammals who've settled out here from Roarope in regards to that. I don't think there's a week that goes by at our firm where a mammal doesn't show up at our firm seeking litigation over being denied entry to a business due to their species. And that's in San Francisgoat! One of the most progressive cities in the North Mammalian Union!

Malcolm: I feel I'd have to bother my sister-in-law in regards to 'just how much better' discrimination in Zootopia is versus San Francisgoat. Considering her former position in politics, she'd probably have the greatest knowledge about the sort of discrimination that happens there on a daily basis.

Eric: *adjusts glasses* I take it you're speaking about Miss Bellwether...*Ahem* I mean Miss Hunter-Bellwether?

Xavier: Who else could I mean? *Chuckles*

Eric: Well, considering she was a long-term victim of workplace discrimination if I recall the case correctly, perhaps you're on to something. Still, Zootopia is at least built with as many mammals in mind as possible. That alone still remains unique to Zootopia, as even here we don't have dedicated places for Rodents to live and feel safe despite their size...And most businesses can't fit any form of megafauna inside comfortably.

Xavier: Unfortunately...Even Malcolm's Diner isn't built for any mammal above eight feet tall, and it's been too prohibitively expensive to do something like that with how few Megafauna live in San Francisgoat.

Eric: And it's that fact I think that sort of allows species discrimination to sort of....proliferate in the loopholes of the laws and demographics of San Fran...*Ahem* Not that I'm implying Malcolm's trying to discriminate. I'm merely saying bad actors who hold discriminatory views like to latch on to what seems like a reasonable argument merely to mask their speciesm. Like not hiring a bunny to do police work because 'oh, they're so small on average it would put us in a position where we'd stand to be more liable for a lawsuit should they get hurt.', when in reality not only would the state handle such a case, but there are places in the city a smaller officer could be assigned and stand on equal footing with the citizenry size wise. Or "We can't fire a fox because everything in our firm is sized for six-foot mammals, and it would prove too costly to remodel it all for one fox." Though I imagine even the smallest mom-and-pop shop could at the very least have a step ladder present for shorter mammals...but I digress, as even those arguments could be made on good faith, but just ignorance...it's just that bigotry can hide among them too.

Xavier: That's why we're here I suppose, to sift through the smokescreen to find the truth. That said...while I don't see nearly as many purely discriminatory cases as Eric does...it's something that permeates in family court, at least to a degree. Basically, I get to see some of the fallout of that sort of discrimination. It just so happens a lot of Pup protective Services cases tend to involve 'maligned species families' such as Weasels and Foxes. Those cases are quite...muddy...in terms of dealing with.

Eric: Because you can't be sure if the state is unjustly persecuting a family harder because they're foxes, if the foxes are actually guilty of what they're being accused of and deserve to have their kits placed in foster care, and if their family is indeed struggling or in a bad way, how much of that has to do with the day in and day out discrimination that's made life rougher for them...

Xavier: It can be a real self-feeding cycle...and it can often be hard to make that call...but I suppose I'm not the judge in these situations anyway, I'm merely here to advocate for the families involved, and I do the best that I can with what my clients are willing to share with me. At the end of the day, I can only hope I've helped in some way.

Eric: I realize this...whole conversation probably doesn't paint San Francisgoat in the best of lighting. It is in fact a lovely place, where most of the time the citizens manage to get along quite well...like police, by virtue of being lawyers we just tend to see the worst aspects of society play out daily. It can really skew your perception of things...but San Francisgoat, while not Zootopia, is far from a third-world hellhole where discrimination is the law. But just like the mammals that build and live in them, no city is perfect.