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.)

Ask the Ruminerds: Musical Energy P1

 Vernon: I mean...it depends I guess...sometimes at work even a real toe-tapper ain't enough to make the work feel like less of a drag...

Dawn: Is that usually when you have to prepare for a presentation...

Vernon: * Groans* yeah...I just get so worked up 'cause I know every time I ain't just sellin' a design, I'm sellin' myself. So despite doin' my best to tune things out and de-stress with music. It just...it can't cut through the anxiousness and annoyance...

Gus: I'm guessing you're talking about having to prove yourself when folks see a wolf trying to pitch them a building design? 

Vernon: Unless it's a customer I've worked with before, it's always the same song and dance..." Oh, weird choice to have a wolf present the design to us..." er' "Hey, I said I wanted to meet the real architect!" *Vernon sticks his tongue out* Bleh. A lot of 'em don't wanna hear anymore after they find out I actually am the designer.

Dawn: *Hugs Vernon's leg* Aww...wolfy...

Vernon: Sorry, I sorta drove this off track a bit...just...y'know...I get frustrated...uh...anyway...what were we talkin' about?

Gus: Music energizing you?

Vernon: Right...well outside o' work...I mean, music ain't never got me so full of energy I really want to dance it out er' go fer a run. But it'll get me feelin' extra creative when I'm designin' a buildin' er' structure...and when I'm pushin' through some chore er' what not.

Dawn: I'm the same...I'm not really a big dancer or anything like that...but I feel so infused with creative energy when I hit a really good song while writing...it just makes the words pour out of me like water out of an exploding dam.

Vernon: Y'all sure you don't dance? Cause I know I've caught that wooly butt o' yers wigglin' when doin' some o' the chores while you got them earbuds in...

Dawn: Oh I'm aware, you've certainly 'goosed' me quite a few times while I was unaware...*Chuckles*

Vernon: A wolf's gotta hunt...*Laughs* Besides, can't pass up an excuse to dance with my Honey Lamb.

Dawn: Aww....Puppy, *Gestures the wolf to bend down* C'mere you. *Grips the sides of Vern's face and gives the wolf a deep kiss* MWAH!

Vernon: *Draws back and begins fanning himself with a paw*. This ewe's givin' me the vapors Gustav!

Gus: *Shakes his head, trying to stifle his smirk.* Sweet Sawgrass...you two should get a room already...and don't call me 'Gustav'...you know I hate it...

Melanie: You're only encouraging them. *Snickers*

Gus: Cervidwens Hooves, if it wasn't for the fact it was such a genetic long shot for you two to have kids in the first place, I'd wager you'd be eight litters deep by now.

Dawn and Vernon: *Laughing* 

Vernon: Alright, what about you two?

Gus: I'll admit, the right song can really get me going while writing a campaign setting. Or doing work around the store...though I'm not a dancer...like at all...

Melanie: I have to be half-way to drunk to think dancing is a good idea.

Dawn: So like at our reception them? *Dawn smirks*

Melanie: Hey! That wasn't my fault! *Laughs* I was the only not wolf drinking! Your brother-in-law didn't mix it right for someone my size! I didn't choose to be smashed!

Vernon: Hey I didn't mind, watchin' you dress Yuri down because he hadn't tied yer 'new best friend Ada' down yet was probably the funniest thang I'd seen all night...

Melanie: *Holds up a finger* While I was pretty smashed, my point still stood...That yeen is a goddess...waaay too good for him.

Vernon: Yeah, that's what my whole family says...'cept Yuri anyway *Chuckles*

Joel: Animalme soundtracks supercharge my life! 

Gus: Don't you spend most of your day in a chair making 3d models...

Joel: And playing visual novels!

Megumi: I prefer North Mammalian Rock...nothin' gets my blood charged like a wi-wicked? Wicked solo. Makes cleaning up our apartment or my store so much easier to get through. 

Broomie: I work out a lot now, but even before that music and my job were kind of inseparable, especially on the tougher days when I was really feeling wiped out. When I didn't think I could make the last few blocks worth of deliveries, or the weather just was too miserable, music always gave me the extra push I needed to power through. And it did the same during my...well entry to yoga with Talia.

Joel: Those must have been fuuuUUn...*The llama chuckles sarcastically*

Broomie: Aside from my job, I wasn't a big exerciser...and I certainly wasn't flexible in the slightest.

Vernon: To be fair, most of us ain't...fer me that's the other reason I never went into workin' police like my Pa wanted. Too much...fitness fer upkeep...

Gus: And that's why you've been doughy since high school. *Snickers*

Dawn: Hey, lay off my wolf...*Squeezes his slight gut affectionately.* I happen to be a real fan of dough...*Giggles*

Broomie: Talia didn't force me to like...keep up with her or anything. She didn't even force me into fitness...but she wanted me to be a part of her morning yoga routines and I...wanted to be a part of them too...even with that, most of my morning yoga with Tali is still low-impact...I ended up losing most of my weight for...um...*Blushes* Through other methods...

Gus: *Snickering* Broomie, you animal...

Broomie: Hey, unlike the other stuff, the bedroom was the one place I was determined to keep up! I was not letting Tali down!

Joel: So, did music help you power through or...?

Broomie: Shut up! *Laughs*

Ask the Ruminerds; Beastars

Joel: Look at this shameless self-promoter...I guess someone's looking for the Ruminerd's blessings...*chuckles*

Gus: More than likely looking for insight from the published author among us as to the quality of his work...

Dawn: I mean...I haven't read a fanfic since...probably college?

Vernon: *Flashes Dawn a dubious gaze* Lamb Fry?

Dawn: *Squirms in her seat* Well...maybe I've read a few here and there in the last few years...

Vernon: Floofs... *Says in a knowing tone*

Dawn: *An awkward bleat escapes her muzzle* A-and maybe wrote a few...back in college...

Vernon: C'mon now Honey Lamb...

Dawn: Okay, okay I was writing fanfics up until the whole Last Night incident...*crosses arms and pouts while throwing a glare Vernon's way.* Happy now?

Vernon: *Chuckles* Least yer bein' honest...

Melanie: Oooh...gossip gal! What kinda fics did you write? What media? *Melanie grins mischievously.* Were they steamy?

Dawn: I mean...yes...*Blushes* A-and I suppose...if you must know, they were largely uh...Fluffy the vampire slayer stuff, some Charmed...and maybe Supernatural in my college years...

Melanie: *Squeals in delight* Oh you gotta let me read them, those shows were my jam!

Dawn: *Cringes* Well I don't like...I mean that stuff is long gone...at least the stuff before college...It was too cringy...b-but I'm willing to share the other stuff so long as you don't tell a soul about.

Melanie: *Makes a cross on her chest with her hoof* Cross my heart and hope to die Dawn. I'll take them to the grave. *Chuckles*

Broomie: Eh...all writers gotta start somewhere...you should have been there to experience some of Gus' writing from his early games back in High School...phew...talk about cringe...

Gus: I'm right here you know...

Dawn: What were we supposed to be talking about anyway?

Joel: Beastars.

Vernon: That that Purrean soap opera? The one with the wolf and the rabbit?

Joel: Soap Opera? Ehhh...Purrean? No. It's a japandese mammanga adaptation.

Broomie: The one with the really pretty wolf girl?

Gus: *Squints at Broomie* And here I thought your attraction to wolves was limited to Talia. *Chuckles*

Broomie: *Sputters* I mean...I...

Vernon: *Chuckles* Ya opened a door that's purty hard to close huh?

Broomie: A-Anyway...er...me and Talia watch it...we like it...but she hates the rabbit...

Joel: Haru?

Broomie: Yeah, she says she's never felt the urge to maul a prey mammal before, but Haru awakens predatory instincts in her she almost forgot she had.

Dawn: I wasn't super interested in the series...

Vernon: Yeah, the guy...Leogshi, playin' the dumb wolf stereotype got old real fast...Fella seems too dumb to function at times.

Megumi: Oh yeah, he's a real moron. And he never develops as a character...he's just a baseline moron throughout.

Joel: It's so much worse in the Mammanga, you have no idea...it's like a train that goes off the rails, and for a while, you think it's going to be okay cause it's still sorta gliding next to the track slowly and no one's been hurt yet. Then it just dumps off the side of a steep cliff into a school bus, and they both tumble into a fireworks factory...all spectacle, no substance, and Juno gets the worst ending possible...Louis just completely walks back the entire series worth of character development and abandons her.

Broomie: FOR REAL!? AWWW...T-that! I don't know if I should be mad because you spoiled it, or mad because it's awful!

Gus: The second one, definitely.

Vernon: Eh...Louis is the deer right? Maybe it's them bein' afraid of goin' full hog with the predator/prey romance in a live-action type deal?

Gus: Sweet Sawgrass, Haru demands to see legoshi's penis at one point...I don't think that was the problem.

Melanie: I also...like...the sexual undertones are really weird too...like I mean first off...this is a fictional world where Predators eating prey is still absurdly common, and then there's like this weird...like they try to equate a predator's hunger to sexual desire...it gets really...rapey?

Dawn: Ew...yeah, glad we didn't get that far...

Vernon: That's real nice...sounds like the author has a fetish...

Gus: Or an agenda.

Joel: Look, if you want the seasoned Animalme veteran's take on it, Beastars was a promising-looking series with interesting, well-written characters that couldn't stick the landing with the plot which only unraveled more and more wildly as the series went on. It's a terrible shame...a real tragedy cause you don't see a lot of interspecies romance Mammanga's make it to the mainstream and get adapted into Animalme's or live-action shows in Japanda. Especially with a pred-prey coupling front and center.

Megumi: It true, it still sort of...shunned in my homeland. A lot of stodgy old tradition that we've weirdly come to take a personal point of pride in as hallmark of our 'unique culture' despite how miserable it make us. My Dad was...he actually passed away at just barely forty-one year old because he work way too hard as paper pusher in some dingy office job and the stress broke him.

Joel: Ah, he was a Karoshi?

Megumi: *Nods* He gave his life to that company. Slave away making himself miserable to support me and my mom, who were also miserable because we never got to see him. *Chuckles darkly* And at his funeral, his ex-boss had the audacity to describe him fondly as 'real company mammal'. *Gags* 

Vernon: Sweet Sawgrass that...that sounds real rough...

Megumi: *Chuckles* Let's just say I do not regret giving his face a good claw massage shortly after his speech. It was well worth the night in the police station.

Ask Dawn and Vern; Workin' Music

 

Dawn: Well Suri Nicks of course! She's my go-to when it comes to writing! *Giggles* That Llama speaks to my soul...But otherwise, when I'm not leaning on Suri for inspiration I tend to kind of...okay, I don't do this all the time, but sometimes when I'm aiming to sort of, put myself in the proper mindset to write a chapter with a specific mood, I'll pull up a playlist of 'mood music'.

Vernon: So like emotional songs fer emotional scenes and like, rock songs fer fight scenes?

Dawn: Right, I'll also sometimes pull up playlists that are vaguely time period specific. For instance, I've recently started writing a supernatural crime drama set in...well at least starting around the 1920s deco period. So I'll pull up a bunch of oldies by the Peltspots or Ella Fitzgergrowled. Maybe a whole playlist of swing and Jazz, although I've recently taken a real liking to...I think it's called electro-swing, though I couldn't mention any specific artists aside from I think...maybe Caravan Pawlace? Most of the other songs are just electro remixes of old songs.

Vernon: Ohh, yeah I like them electro swing song y'all put on...love that sound. Surprised the pups seem to go for it too...Aside from Alli anyway.

Dawn: So she says, but you know Alli...it's all about not being seen liking what she likes...*Giggles* She's at that age where she's concerned about maintaining an image...

Vernon: *Chuckles* True, I was like that...I mean don't get me wrong, I love rock and metal stuff like The Killers, Cheetah's Palace, Gorillaz, Metaillica, Pound Garden, Pink Bovoid, Queen...I could go on, but I also had a weakness fer ol' video game chiptune music which I was real self-conscious about fer years.

Dawn: Aww...Puppy, but why? I mean you were part of your BnB club in high school...you know Gus and the others wouldn't have cared...

Vernon: It wasn't about savin' face in front o' them, heck it was one of the few places I could enjoy chip music cause Gus was real into it too. Well, that and black metal like Rammstein...

Dawn: Really? Rammstein?

Vernon: I mean, he grew up with Gil fer a brother...o'course that was gonna bleed over...

Dawn: Ah, right...

Vernon: Nah, the real reason I was self-conscious was cause I lived with Yuri. A bully that had access to his victim purty much 24-7. Last thang I wanted to do was give him more salvo to pick on me with... By Oldwyn's great grey muzzle he never, ever let Xavier live it down when he caught him listenin' to the Backstreet Baah's....*Shakes head* Er' Britney Spears...N'Mink and the Mice Girls too...

Dawn: *Giggling*Lamb Shanks...I...Xavier was into pop bands? *Tries to stifle a smirk* I-I would have never guessed.

Vernon: Yeah, the signs were really all there weren't they. To be fair, Xavier ain't a fan now...he regrets what he dubbed his previously 'terrible taste'.

Ask the Wolves; Moonlight Love Making

 

Vernon: I mean...it ain't like I'm...keepin' track of exactly when the full moon is to get some...'private time' with my Honey Lamb. Like we ain't goin' out of our way to 'schedule' er nothin'...that ain't how we...operate fer the most part...

Dawn: I mean...I'd like to think most couples are....well I mean they don't 'limit' themselves to specific nights of the week, or monthly events. With us, the only thing we have to worry about scheduling around is where the lambs are, if they will hear us, or if we know they'll be staying with their grandparents, aunts, and uncles for a weekend. *Giggles*

Vernon: Hoo boy, yeah...when we know we got a whole weekend to ourselves we tend to go whole hog...er' in this case whole lamb... *Chuckles*

Dawn: *Blushes* Puppy, hush! *Giggles*

Yuri: Ugh...sounds like a nightmare to me...

Ada: Oh c'mon...it ain't like wes don't gotta pull some creative time management of our own to work out some alone toim in between our jobs.

Yuri: Exactly mah point! Now imagine tryin' to juggle our demandin' jobs and raisin' pups at the same time...we'd never have time fer ourselves with all that chaos goin' on around us...

Vernon: *Ahem* With all that said though, I mean, makin' love under a full moon...there is somethin' real comfortin' about it...it definitely adds to the atmosphere.

Wade: Makes the blood hotter...makes everything feel a bit more...primal?

Zach: Savage even? *Laughs before catching himself* O-oh, sorry Dawn...

Dawn: No worries Zach, I'm fine. The word doesn't make me flinch.

Vernon: I mean, in terms of the ol' wolf belief systems, both Norwulff er Native, the full moon is a representative of the wolf mother Lupa. Her watchful and protective gaze looking over her pups all across Animalia and offerin' them her blessin'. Only time she ain't supposed to be able to see us is durin' the new moon when she 'blinks'. So there's been a er...long time cultural element ingrained in all wolves regardin' the moon. It's where the stereotypes come from...

Trenton: In Volkism, or Norwulffish beliefs, whichever you want to call them, making love under a full moon is encouraged as it's sort of...it's like Vern said, it's a blessin'. A communion if ya will. Lupa is considered the mother of all wolves. She's a fertile goddess, and so she'd want nothin' more than to have her descendants... 'be fruitful and multiply'.

Xavier: So Consummation of a relationship on the night of a full moon is well, it's seen as seeking Lupa's approval on such a union. Granted that's also part of the point of a tithing ceremony, which is why tithing ceremonies are largely held during full moon nights. And since generally, a couple will... consummate on the same night, it is sort of one big plea for Lupa to bless the couple's union, and the offspring it will produce.

Malcolm: I mean, iffin' I recall even long-term tithed couples will usually aim to try fer a pregnancy on full moon night because of that belief in the blessin' thang...

Vernon: *Chuckles* The night we figure we conceived Paige based on how things all lined up was probably durin' the full moon that March. So...I mean...it probably didn't 'help' make that happen' er' nothin'...but...I mean who can say?

Dawn: It is an interesting 'coincidence'...*giggles*

Ulric: I've done a pretty intensive study on old Norwulff religion stuff...mostly in preparation for the trip me and Honey took to Norwulff to visit the family crypts.

Yuri: Y'all mean the trip that got our pack banned from ever visitin' two countries, and made us the center of an international scandal?

Ulric: Yeah?

Yuri: The one that Dawn had to bust her ass to get lifted so at least Ma and Pa could visit Norwulff fer their anniversary, and see it before they died someday? And they absolutely refused to lift the one in Scottram altogether so Dawn and her Ma have no chance to visit their homeland in their lifetimes?

Ulric: Your point is?

Yuri: *Shakes his head and mutters* unbelievable...

Honey: *Sheepishly* Eh....still sorry about that guys...

Ulric: Anyway, supposedly it pleases Lupa to watch her pups consummate their love. To become 'one' under her watchful gaze, and express the highest form of love one can with their partner. It gets...really mushy and sentimental. Not my kind of thing...

Zach: Kinda saccharine iffin' I'm rememberin' the part yer talkin' about. "Two mammals, united as one, pledgin' their souls to one another un undying adoration and love" er...somethin' along them lines.

Ada: Jeez...Lupa's kinda a perv huh? *Cackles*

Vanna: I mean...so are most other gods if one is to consider the whole 'omniscience' thing that most of them supposedly have. So Lupa isn't exactly unique.

Qali: I mean, I feel it...and I'm not a wolf. A full moon night definitely adds to the atmosphere...like Vernon said...it just makes it more...romantic.

Dawn: Especially if you are outside...*giggles*

Ada: In a cornfield I takes it? *Laughs*

Vernon: Well...I mean...not factorin' in the whole...gettin' caught risk...er' the howlin' thang...I gotta say that night in the cornfield at Ma and Pa's was...I mean...it felt right...*Blushes*

Dawn: I mean...it felt wrong too...

Ada: But fun wrong?

Dawn: *Blushes* I mean...I'd be lying if I said no...*Snickering* I only wish the heat hadn't made it a somewhat painful affair before we uh...reached climax. Then again, had it not been for my remnant estrus being so bad in the first place, it wouldn't have happened...and as bad as I feel about the fact that I sort of...forced Vernon's paw and broke Audrey's trust, as well as alerting everyone in the district to what we were up to...looking back it was...*Cooes softly* it was really something...

Qali: Me and Trenny have made love dozens of times in the tree field...thankfully he's not much of a rut howler, so we never really had to worry about my Dad or Sisters catching us...but those nights, under the stars...*sighs wistfully*

Trenton: Sometimes in the snow even...

Qali: *Giggles* Yes, even in the snow...it...it almost felt magical at times.

Ada: What is you nuts?! Ruttin' in da open snow? 

Wade: Yeah, I mean...I've never done that...

Giselle: Well once...*Giggles* But that was in a hot tub...

Wade: Yeah, but that's my point. It was snowing on us, but we weren't really 'out in the cold'...

Giselle: Speak for yourself! We were in a bloody large mammal hot tub, perfect for you but tiny for me! *Laughs* Seriously I think about everythin' above my knees and hips was above the water line! Luckily I happen to be pretty cold resilient unlike the rest of my family...well that, and we found...other ways to keep warm...*Giggles*

Ada: Still, Trent ain't no arctic wolf despite how much he looks like one...how could yous stand that?

Trenton: We had a blanket...and one of those space heater thangs...

Qali: And a really long extension cord. *Giggles*

Honey: Makin' love under the moonlight for my first time with Ully was pretty hot for me...even if it was in a Norwulffish prison cell...*Chuckles* In fact, that may have added to it.

Ulric: It was not romantic! It was...I was trying to make you feel better! I-It's important to...it was for moral an-!

Honey: Sure it wasn't my little prisoner of love...*Snickers*

Ask Dawn and Vern; Mammal Size Classes and the Tusk Party

 

Vernon: Aw, well I guess we never really talked about how...er' size classification works in Zootopia...though I'm surprised to hear from someone who's never heard that sorta thing since I think most countries have it.

Dawn: There are plenty of countries still out there that don't really have a system like ours, usually due to them being largely homogeneous when it comes to the diversity of species. 

Vernon: Well I guess we should kinda explain that to help explain just what makes a mammal a 'mega' er' microfauna...and the average.

Dawn: Well the Zootopian average anyway...even so, almost all of this has to do with a height and weight standard in regard to classification. Obviously, there are some species that are almost always born into a certain height and weight class to start with save for some special cases. Giraffes, elephants, and rhinos are generally seen as being 'Megafauna' by default. But basically, any mammal that cracks about eight feet tall and over three hundred pounds is classified as a 'Megafauna Class Mammal'.

Vernon: Below that class would be the 'large' class o' mammals. This hits about everythin' from five to eight feet in height and under three hundred pounds. This includes Wolves like me, Hyenas, Tigers, Deer, them sorts o' mammals. This class covers a lot more mammals but is still sorta high up there which is why we ain't considered the 'average'.

Dawn: The 'average' class is naturally the most common rubric used in Zootopia, at least in terms of structure and accommodation. This class is made up of mammals between three to five feet tall and up to about two hundred pounds. Generally, this group includes foxes, sheep, other smaller canids and felines, etcetera. Under normal circumstances, I should also be a part of that group, as ewes are generally around four feet tall, whereas rams tend to hit the five-foot marker. However, I'm one of those 'special cases' I mentioned earlier. I was born a runt, and due to...repeated injuries during my formative years, my growth was pretty badly stunted. I'm not considered a 'dwarf sheep', but only medically and by the grace of having a few inches on how tall most dwarf sheep would stand.

Vernon: So that puts my Honey Lamb in the 'Small' Category...not that I mind. Just makes her easier to cuddle...

Dawn: Aww...Puppy...*gestures him to lean down and places a kiss on the tip of his snout.* You're sweet.

Vernon: Not as sweet as you Darlin'. Gave ya the nickname Honey Lamb fer a reason...*Chuckles* Well, a few reasons...

Dawn: *Dawn Blushes* Puppy, shh! *Ahem* The 'small' class of mammal covers mammals between one to three feet tall, and between about one hundred to two hundred pounds, although most small-class mammals tend to skew toward the lower end of the weight scale. Here you find mammals like bunnies, skunks, otters, opossums, red pandas, and so on.

Vernon: After that, it gets a little more complicated...er' rather, at this point they had to cram about two different distinctions in about a one-foot range...

Dawn: Right, below 'small' class is the 'tiny' class. This class covers mammals specifically between half a foot and a foot tall. Weight is less of a consideration in this class to try and make classification less confusing because the next two classes are so close to one another. 

Vernon: Basically, y'all need to satisfy the height requirement first and foremost as the weight can stand to push mammals over a category line despite bein' too short to use 'tiny' specific amenities.

Dawn: The weight ballpark is generally around fifty to hundred pounds in order to be considered 'tiny' if you're going to use it. But, it's really more like under eighty pounds...I think they were just aiming to keep the numbers cut into nice little groups of fifties and hundreds, but I don't think I've ever met a 'tiny' mammal that hits over eighty pounds. Unless it's on one of those 'reality shows'.

Vernon: Like "Little Rodentia's; My Hundred Pound Life?"

Dawn: That's what I was thinking of, but I mean seeing it on tv versus seeing it live are two different animals altogether.

Vernon: *Chuckles* True...

Dawn: Anyway, Tiny mammal groups include squirrels, ferrets, martens, stoats, and so on.

Vernon: Right, and below that ya got 'Microfauna' which, I mean, I've heard that ain't the right word y'all should use to describe 'em.

Dawn: Well, the term microfauna was originally created to describe microscopic organisms if I'm not mistaken. But it became a sort of cultural thing to call really small classes of mammal microfauna due to the fact that 'Megafauna' was so commonly bandied about to describe mammals on the opposite end of the spectrum. It ended up sticking, and thus it eventually became the 'official' classification term used in many nations, with 'Microorganisms' replacing the original term for Microscopic life. Though now some 'Microfauna class' mammals are starting to push to get the name changed because of its association with microorganisms.

Vernon: Wait, it's offensive now? Why?

Dawn: Some um...'extra-tiny' mammals don't appreciate sharing the formal title given to microbial life due to the association with viruses and other disease vectors. Naturally, most rodents already have a strong stigma levied against them due to the plague-based persecution, and that name just makes it worse.

Vernon: Ah...I guess that makes sense...so...'extra-tiny' it is then.

Dawn: Yes, extra-tiny works just fine. Anyway, the Micro-er...'extra-tiny' class of mammals is basically made up of the remaining range of height and weight. So basically under six inches tall, and under fifty pounds. Naturally, this category includes mice, rats, moles, hamsters and so on. 

Vernon: So mammals like my co-worker Moira fit in here...and Judy's friends in the Big family.

Dawn: Right, you don't get any smaller than them, and so that's basically the bottom of the classification system. Now, with all that said, you should have a better idea of exactly what sort of goals and priorities the Tusk Party might have. It was initially founded by mammoth and elephant species, and extended to cover the needs of giraffes, rhinos, and all the other species that make the 'Megafauna' classification requirements. However, like most other parties in modern society, they are generally open to all those looking to join.

Vernon: However, don't be too surprised iffin' y'all go to a 'Tusk Party' meetin' and need a ladder to reach one of the chairs. Or y'all can't reach the buffet table...

Dawn: Yes, while they are open to all species, the membership does tend to skew Megafauna...and so most of the venues they work out of are...super-sized. 

Vernon: Same goes fer the Packrat Party...which we actually went to one o' them meetins'.

Dawn: Oh yes! I remember Moira wanted me to speak at one of their functions...*Giggles* it was pretty awkward.

Vernon: Yeah, we had to sit outside the restaurant they was meetin' at and basically peek in the windows to watch the other speakers...and the food...well...it was...less than fillin'...*Chuckles*

Ask the Ruminerds; Terrible Video Games

 

Vernon: Oh, they don't know...

Dawn: Don't know what?

Gus: Of course, they wouldn't know, I don't think they've ever asked this before. *Snickers*

Melanie: Oh no...now he's gonna drive back to his parents and get it.

Dawn: Get what? What are we talking about?

Vernon: Well...I er...I mean Gus should probably tell it...he's the one sittin' on it after all.

Gus: Well...as you guys know I'm an avid collector of a few things. B&B rulebooks, Minifigure sets, RPGs, that sort of stuff... but there is something else I used to collect...and that something was terrible games I'd pick up at yard sales and flea markets. 

Dawn: Wait, you collected 'bad' games? Why?

Gus: Morbid fascination I guess, maybe a desire to kinda theorize what went so wrong with each game. Some were also broken in a fun way, so there was that aspect, but regardless I made a habit of collecting them.

Vernon: Yeah, by the time we met y'all had a pretty hefty collection of 'em, even the really old ones...

Gus: Well my Dad was a dork, and a bit of a collector himself, so by the time I was old enough to pick up a controller I had access to his old Petari, Llamadore 64, NES, SNES, and even the ol' Preyga Genesis with all the terrible attachment things they made to keep it on life support. And havin' all those consoles and playing them as much as I did as a kid, I became aware really fast that some games seemed insanely difficult or super unfair. It was when my Dad caught me playing E.T. and bleating with impotent toddler-aged fury that he explained to me that some games were just bad. That it had nothing to do with my own skill level, it was just an awful game. That concept blew my young mind. I could imagine why someone would make a bad game, and my Dad really couldn't tell me. 

Vernon: Couldn't tell ya?

Gus: Well I mean it told me there was a bunch of reasons, companies being cheap, trying to rush stuff out, all sorts of stuff. But it still left me curious about design choices and stuff like that. So I started quizzing my Dad on all the games he had that were bad, and then I went right to playing them.

Melanie: My Gussy, the masochist...

Gus: By the time I met Vernon I had already started collecting 'bad games' alongside my retro and new consoles. Supermam' 64, Zippy R, of that one Doom clone for the SNES that they turned into a caprid bible game?

Vernon: And what's worse, he made me play 'em with him...

Dawn: No...

Vernon: Yep. Every time I came over and saw he had that...damn chest out...I knew I was in fer a rough sleepover...

Dawn: Chest?

Melanie: Gussy's Chest of gaming Horrors...

Gus: *chuckles evilly to himself* Yes, yes...and now that I've been reminded of its existence, I think it's time to bring it out of retirement...

Ask Dawn and Vern; Weirdopolis

 

(Wasty: First, before I get to the actual meat of the questions, I'll tell you it might be best to treat your idea like a televised show to start with...sort of in the vein of supernatural. What I mean is you can make a lot of shorter 'plot of the week' stories in the setting to both build on the world's lore and wet your appetite for the more overarching story you'd like to tell.  

Off the top of my head I can think a few 'episodic ideas' to suggest. Perhaps breaking up a ring of smugglers that are bringing something that would be 'totally benign in the outside world, but to many races in Weirdopolis it acts as a drug. Like holy water that demons use to get high, or pixie dust candy being used by actual pixies to get stuff done twice as fast. You could also pick a cryptid to pursue for an episode, like a new creature comes to the city and starts wreaking havoc, only to be tracked down to find out that all of those things were accidents because its species inadvertently causes bad luck wherever it goes. Or it could be a shapeshifter masquerading as a specific famous cryptid that they have to clear the name of. Or you can have a story that plays on appearances featuring a creature that looks obscenely hostile being framed by a creature that looks totally cute and innocent despite being the one responsible for something horrific. I had an abandoned pilot for something like that featuring two aliens, one styled after the aliens from aliens, and the other styled after a cartoony version of a grey alien. The grey alien was evil to the bone, and vaporized people and did all sorts of terrible things, but the more menacing-looking alien would get blamed. And now, let's turn it over to Dawn and Vern...)

Dawn: Oh how creative! I love the idea! 

Vernon: Yeah, sounds like a real interestin' concept that'd be really fun to read.

Dawn: That said, I don't think being 'conjoined' would be a good move for us...what with that probably having to make us related in some way, and thus we couldn't be together romantically. 

Vernon: I dunno what I'd wanna be...makes me sound like I ain't all that creative but really, I'm just purty happy bein' a wolf.

Dawn: Well it's not like you only play yourself during BnB Puppy Love, you come up with plenty of interesting characters for Gus' campaigns, so don't sell yourself short.

Vernon: Well, why don't y'all go first Honey Lamb...maybe iffin' I got something to play against I'll get the creative juices goin'.

Dawn: Mhh...*Scratches chin thoughtfully* I don't think I'd want to stay some sort of sheep...just because it feels sort of...limiting considering the space. And I'd honestly prefer to be something tall...ooh...y'know what weird legendary creature I've always had a soft spot for? The Flock Ness Monster. It might be fun to actually play as one in a space like this.

Vernon: That cause of yer 'Scottramish' Heritage?  

Dawn: I mean, it's still an interesting creature regardless, heritage or not. Of course, I guess playing as what most who actually believe in the Flock Ness Monster believe to be something similar to a Plesiosaur, I wouldn't just be tall, I'd be huge! Probably as big as Giselle if not bigger...

Vernon: And famous to boot...after all, there's only one of y'all, unless ya count those few stray 'other' lake monsters scattered about...which are probably just attempt's at creatin' tourism buzz.

Dawn: Well I suppose that would give me a good angle to stay a writer...after all who wouldn't want to read the 'Flock Ness Monster's" autobiography? 

Vernon: An autobiography on the Flock Ness Monster? That'd probably have to come out in multiple volumes considerin' how long that ol' gals been supposedly kicking around Scottram.

Dawn: *Giggles* No shortage of materials there, that's for sure. What about you Puppy?

Vernon: Hmm...well...I reckon...What about a Hellhound...one o' Hades own sinful soul trackers who 'er supposed to drag them folks back to Hades...dependin' on yer religion anyway. I could have a lot o' fun developin' a conflicted character like that...born from Hades but tasked with what you'd call a heavenly duty, sendin' bad souls where they belong...O' course that would lend me to doin' detective work probably...But I think I'd probably moonlight as Miss 'Flock Ness' bodyguard.

Dawn: I need a bodyguard?

Vernon: Of course y'all do, yer a famous cryptid! For every mammal that'd want to meet ya there'd be another that wanted to hunt and bag ya just so they could say the 'got' the Flock Ness Monster.

Dawn: I suppose...but I'd probably be very much a recluse or hermit if I'm basing this on the actual Flock Ness Monster. Trying to stay out of the public eye, keeping book signings to a minimum, avoiding cameras...how often would I need a bodyguard?

Vernon: Well, there ain't nothin' to stop someone from breakin' inta yer house iffin' they find out where ya are.

Dawn: Aside from the probably 3,000-pound dragon-like monster that lives there? *Giggles*

Vernon: Well, maybe this Hellhound's a bit smitten by ya too...Makes it hard to hang up his hat keepin' ya secure iffin' it means bein' away from ya fer too long...

Dawn: Aww...Puppy. You're sweet...But remember...I'm a big girl in Weirdopolis...and how big are hellhounds?

Vernon: Hey Wade and Gizzy make it work, I'm sure we could too.

Dawn: *Snickers* Well let's see, based on that I'd imagine a lot of our adventures take place sort of touring around the different places you could access from Weirdopilis. Signing books in the city itself, the fringes, the spaces between, other planets, etc...and whatever trouble we could run into doing that...

Vernon: Considerin' I'd be huntin' wayward souls on my downtime, I'd probably end up draggin' miss Nessie with me on a few cases involvin' malevolent spirits.

Dawn: We'd probably end up in Hades a few times too...considering what your work entails. So as for how much of our adventures would take place in the city versus the overall Weirdverse you've created, I couldn't say...especially considering my true home would be in Flock Ness.

Vernon: maybe the deep reaches o' Flock Ness connect to the fringes o' Weirdopolis...considerin' the nature of the place, I imagine there's a lot o' entrances to the city scattered all over the world...

Dawn: Well that certainly makes it easier to tie things together, and move around Animalia with ease.

Vernon: Either way, I think Gus could have a field day with this one...he loves weird worlds in RPGS, and I don't think y'all get weirder than this.

Dawn: It would probably be way on the back burner...Gus already has three back-to-back different campaigns already lined up for the group...so that probably frees him up for a new concept...sometime around Paige's fifth birthday?

Vernon: *Chuckles* Yeah, we're all livin' busy lives nowadays...but I don't think anyone's busier than that goat...well aside from maybe you Darlin'...

Dawn: Oh please, I stay home and I write and watch the lambs...there's a lot of downtime in there...usually spent staring at the computer screen while stuck on a specific passage of a book, or just falling asleep with Paige on the couch.

Vernon: And here I thought y'all were a mornin' person.

Dawn: This ewe needs her afternoon nap...especially if I want to keep up with a night owl like you. *Giggles*

(Wasty: Yeah, I'm sorry if this is a thinly veiled excuse to use my newly designed Deirdre Black Character with slight modifications. I'm just really in love with her design right now.)

Ask the Ruminerds; Skunk Romantics and Prance

 

Gus: I mean, I'd say yes, strictly due to the acting chops on Pepe Le Pew, even if it is...uncouth to talk about his work these days.

Melanie: I'm surprised it caught on back then...he's...I mean it's kinda grody how pushy he is and yet it's played for laughs.

Gus: Well it was aimed at kids anyway, I don't think they were thinking about the implications of each scenario, much less that kids would read anything deeper into it, or act it out. The bulk of it is low-brow "I smell super bad" humor anyway.

Vernon: Funny thang too...I always figured Maris was like...mostly horses.

Val: Can confirm actually, I've visited Ellie in Maris once or twice, and like...eighty percent of the mammals there are some sorta long-legged prey, usually horses.

Gus: Which makes it all the funnier that the 'pushy Prench skunk stereotype' became the dominant thought when folks thought of Marisians. The native population of Mustelids is like...fractionally tiny. But here we are...and then we had Fifi to re-enforce that image in the late eighties.

Vernon: Heh, I remember her...purty sure Zach had a lil' crush on that gal when we was growin' up. I distinctly remember finding a pin-up o' her under his bed.

Joel: Nice. Your brother has pretty good taste.

Gus: Naturally between the two of them, skunks have developed that flirtatious, romantic reputation...which they cling to for dear life because before that all they had was being seen as 'stinky'.

Broomie: And that stereotype is still fighting neck and neck alongside the romantic thing.

Melly: Can you call that a stereotype if it's true?

Dawn: I mean, there's a reason most skunks elect to have their spray glands removed...it's very...leaky from what I've heard. So they never quite know if they're going to have a slight accident and start stinking up the place...it sounds rough. It's better to just nip it in the bud and get rid of them as they don't...I mean it's not really a needed mechanism in modern times anyway.

Gus: I dunno, I mean it did save Fifi's life when that stalker tried to pounce on her in the 90s. 

Melanie: She still has her glands?

Gus: Prench Skunks are very big believers in being 'all-natural'. A few stinky situations in life are worth remaining 'in-tact' to them. Plus it was part of her act...though it was super exaggerated. Although she sprayed that boar so thoroughly that he was left blinded and puking, and the police had to carry him off while covering their own mouths with handkerchiefs. 

Joel: You're pretty knowledgable about the Gus...didn't take you for a prench physical comedian fan...

Gus: I am literally just reading this stuff off Wikipawdia on my phone.

Joel: Aww...and here I thought you were cultured.

Gus: Stinky comedy isn't high-class comedy...it's not cultured. And it's not funny.

Val: Sexual assault-based comedy, on the other paw, is hilarious...

Ask Kodi: Zootopian Reserve and the Last Night

 

Kodi: I'm gonna assume you mean if there were any co-conspirators in the ranks or not, and not if we were called in to handle any part of it...but I guess I'll tackle both. The original Night Howler Scandal with Misses...er...Hunter-Bellwether was largely a ZPD affair, but we...well they, were called in to help with clean-up involving the subway crash. I wasn't in the Zootopia Reserve yet, so I had this stuff explained to me second paw by some of the other guys in my unit who were called in. Under normal circumstances, something like a subway derail or building fire would be handled by the ZFD. But because the car was loaded full of chemical compounds and liquid Night Howler, the Zootopian Reserve was called in to act as a Liquidation team. Full hazmat gear, gas masks, chemical clearing hoses, the whole nine yards. Granted it wasn't a massive crash, and thankfully the area was fairly empty so not too many mammals were exposed to Night Howler fumes before the area could be evacuated.

The whole Last Night Scandal was a different animal in terms of containing the mess. The Woolery Winery Fire was way bigger, and thanks to...someone taking out the electrical grid in the local area by way of firing wildly into a local transformer with a shotgun-.

Vernon: I'd apologize...but I saved Dawn's life...it was worth it.

Kodi: Still...it made it way harder to get all the equipment working without running some serious long-distance cables out and bringing in generators. 

Dawn: Were you in the Reserve at that point?

Kodi: Yeah, but my unit was off duty at the time, and so two other units were called in to clean up the mess. Luckily, the burning night howler fumes were being carried out to sea rather than into Downtown Tundra Town. But from what the guys who were there that night told me, they were racing against the clock because the local forecast was predicting a wind change that would have blown it all back toward the city.

Vernon: *Winces* Cuttin' it close huh?

Kodi: You have no idea. I heard despite their best efforts two of the liquidators still got exposed to Howler and had to be restrained and carried off to be treated. They finally managed to get it entirely suppressed around sundown, just an hour before the wind change, thank the gods...

Dawn: I realize it is...sort of my fault for that...but it was either taking that risk of my Father and his goons flooding the entire city with the toxin...

Kodi: No, believe me, I don't blame you. Those fellas I spoke to didn't blame you either...most of 'em said they would have done the same thing.

Dawn: That's a bit of a relief...

Kodi: As for if anyone was involved with Aster's conspiracy in the top brass, well...I'm not too familiar with the tippin' top of the Brass. I know Lt. Vickks wasn't involved, er' Colonel Rocke-er Rathkone. But I'm pretty sure there was a Major who was implicated. A ram at a different base. Oh, and a retired lieutenant general Rhino living in Tundra Town, but I couldn't tell you their names without asking around. That said, the dishonorable discharges levied before the trial, and the stripping of titles from that retiree was supposed to be pretty brutal. Some of the fellas at the base still mention it...Apparently, you could hear officials screamin' from the tribunal all the way out to the hangars that day, especially from Colonel Rathkone.

Vernon: The commander has a bellow on him huh?

Kodi: Absolutely...you can always hear him dressing down soldiers from half a mile away, wolf hearing or no. And that's a real feat considering the dude is a less than three-foot tall raccoon.

Ask the Ruminerds; Kung Fu Panda Trilogy

 

Gus: Probably one of the best Kung Fu movie trilogies, hooves down.

Joel: Seconded...It's a great mixture of like classic Kung Fu style plot lines and intrigue...not to mention the humor.

Gus: Oh yeah, it's amazing how the...I don't even know how to describe it properly. It's like it's paced in such a way that you don't get tonal whiplash from switching from the more comedic elements to the serious moments to the badass fight scenes...It's like it finds a way to strike a perfect balance of all those things and somehow maintains it for three films.

Joel: That's what happens when you keep the team and director consistent across the entire project. The director came in with a plan and a vision and worked with a super-talented team to get it done.

Melanie: I'm just amazed they were able to make those 'non-mammalian' characters actually feel real despite being CGI

Joel: Well not all of them were CG. Master Monkey was actually a fox in a monkey suit and makeup. The ones that were total CG were Master Viper and Master Mantis...Hey...did anyone else find Master Viper kinda hot?

Gus: Ew, no.

Melanie: Nope.

Vernon: Nah...

Broomie: Ehhh....

Dawn: Not really...

Megumi: Absolutely. One hundred percent.

Joel: Thanks for backing me up babe.

Megumi: I would let that snake coil me up and do things to me, and I'm not even into girls...

Melanie: Speaking of, was I....mam' this is gonna sound weird considering who I'm friends with...but was anyone else put off by the romantic subtext between Master Tigress and Po?

Vernon: You were put off by interspecies subtext? *The wolf quirks a brow*

Melanie: No! No! I mean, look you and Dawn are great together. Broomie and Talia, Joel and Megumi, I'm not judging, I love you guys. It's not a species thing it's...I mean Tigress is so cool, and like...Po is super lame...

Broomie: This is coming from you...of all mammals? Seriously? *Broomie glances at Gus, then back to Melly before nodding his head toward the billy.*

Gus: *Gives Broomie a dull glare before shifting his attention back to his mate.* Babe...

Melanie: What? WHAT?

Gus: *Rolls his eyes*

Melanie: Oh come on, I'm not saying...*Shakes her head* Look, you aren't...I'm not cool!

Joel: So Gus is lame then? *Snickers*

Melanie: NO! Gussy I'm not making like...Po's annoying and fat!

Vernon: Ain't most Panda's fat? 

Megumi: Generally...Red Panda's also tend to be on the chunky side...it's a bear family thing. We're big-boned and built to put on weight fast...make's it tough to lose it.

Melanie: You aren't annoying or fat Gussy! You know I love you!

Dawn: Melly, stop digging before you hit a sewage main, please...

Vernon: He is grouchy a lot of the time though...

Broomie: And frustrating to argue with...

Joel: And mean...

Gus: *Rolls his eyes* I feel. SO loved. Right now...

(Wasty: In this universe, I see the Kung Fu Panda trilogy as a series of action films for adults. If I were to equate it to something similar in our world, it would probably be something between crouching tiger hidden dragon, and Kung Fu Hustle.  With maybe just a pinch of my favorite kung fu film of all time, Kung Pow, enter the fist.)