Vanna: *Blushing* Y-yes...*Chuffing sounds*…
Fangmeyer: Being called a ‘Pretty Kitty’ doesn’t get me nearly as worked up as being called a ‘bad’ one. *Snickers* Or being called ‘Mistress’ for that matter… *Chuckles again, this time with a more seductive and playfully dark lilt.*
Nick: Lingerie, yes. Bunny outfit, no...because it's redundant. *Chuckles*
Judy: Exactly. If I put on lingerie, it's a bunny outfit by default...*Chuckles* These ears are built in.
Nick: What would I do? Have her put on another set of ears? *Shakes head* I'm not like Stay Puft and Puppy, I'm not looking to roleplay a sexy night with a four-eared rabbit alien.
Judy: While I'm sure they don't appreciate being put on blast for sexual roleplay, I'm with you on that one Slick. *Snickers*
Nick: Hey, I'll make it fair...we like a little 'light restraints' in our bedroom activities...
Judy: NICK! *Blushes softly* C-C'mon now...
Nick: And sometimes even I'll wear a bit of frilly lingerie if the mood catches me right...*Chuckles* I'm not ashamed to admit it. *Flashes Judy a smug smirk* There, does that make us even?
Judy: *Head in paws* *Mumbles*
Nick: What was that, Carrots?
Judy: Y-You do look pretty good in...some frilly stuff...*Chuckles*
Nick: *Laughs loudly* Of course I do! Foxes can make anything work, regardless of sex. We're a very aesthetically pleasing-looking species. *Smirks smugly* That said, I have absolutely worn a bunny outfit for Carrots. *Winks*
Judy: *Still blushing intensely* I hope my parents don't read this...
Dawn: Here's a pretty simple one...
Vernon: Amazoo, Barns and Novels, Penn and Paddocks, Word is Claw, y'know...chain book places and digital spaces. The only real outlier then was the pawful of lil' mom and pop bookstores, and o' course 'Shatterhorn's'.
Dawn: Which...in my defense, Vernon kind of pushed for...
Vernon: Hey! I was proud o' my mates' handywork! I didn't think it was a big ask! *Laughs* At least till I found out what chapters went out there...
Dawn: That's when Gus went from hesitant to thrilled with the idea of stocking my book. *Snickers*
Vernon: *Huffs* Right....Then I couldn't talk him out of it...
Dawn: Well...Gus was doing a lot of the talking...mostly to tease my poor Puppy Love...but it was really Melly who made it happen, and seemed to genuinely want to support this little project of ours.
Vernon: *Grumbles unintelligebly*
Dawn: So I made sure they had a very modest amount of books along with the rest of the distributors fairly early on...after me and my Sheepdog came to a ...compromise of sorts...
Vernon: *Whines* I mean...look I couldn't stay mad at my Honey Lamb. You know as well as I do y'all coulda worn me down just be bein' upfront with me. I'd just end up where I am now...not exactly happy about everyone knowin' how I rut with my mate in detail. I was just...more upset about bein' lied to than anything else...
Dawn: And it was wrong of me to keep it from you. And I'm still so sorry for doing that.
Vernon: The compromise was more or less an agreement not to lie about that stuff anymore...and we discuss this sorta stuff before putting it in books or talkin' about it on the podcast...
Dawn: I would have promised never to lie again, but that's probably impossible for either one of us to do. There's just a little too much time, and too much grey area to make a promise like that and not accidentally break it.
Vernon: Basically just, no big lies, and always discuss 'big' stuff that involves us 'er the pups before makin' a decision. As fer the books well...there was no real way to recall 'em...and it....really would have affected sales if we went with the 'sanitized copies'...not to mention undercut the whole...way me and my Lamb Fry feel for one another.
Dawn: That's what Gazelle liked the most about it Puppy...We didn't hold back...
Vernon: Yeah...yeah...
Dawn: *Ahem* Right so...we set up Gus and Melly with a small shipment. And then when that got cleaned out, we shipped over a slightly larger one, and then another. All of this before Yule if you can believe it. It was...pretty hectic then, but being the co-author of the book-.
Vernon: Primary author is a better term he-.
Dawn: CO-author *Dawn emphasizes* But being the author, I was always able to get Gus and Melly copies even while my publisher struggled to keep up.
Vernon: Which pulled a lot of people inta' the store that wouldn't have normally came in. Which really helped give Gus and Mmelly's store a strong start.
Dawn: Book sales would sometimes overlap with other purchases, or mammals would come for the book, see something on the community board, and get involved with a group that appealed to their interests.
Vernon: Melly used that to start her book club. *Chuckles*
Dawn: It took till January for my hard and soft covers to actually catch up with demand, and at that point, copies were showing up everywhere.
Vernon: It really just...like it just left me kinda blown away when we saw copies at the Green Meadow Market. It was purty surreal.
Dawn: I've honestly never gotten used to big grocery stores having anything more substantial than newspapers or magazines. But it's...it's just on a whole different level when you see a book you and your mate wrote on a best seller's rack. *Giggles* They were literally right across from a 'freshly harvested' fiddleheads display.
Vernon: Fer herbivores lookin' fer some light snackin' with their readin' material. Of course, iffin yer Gus you could just eat the pages as ya read.
Dawn: *Snickering, the sound of lame swatting is heard in the background.* Wolfy! That's mean...not all goats-.
Vernon: He's self-admitted! I ain't generalizin'! He knows he's eaten books before! Hel, he used to eat his own damn homework sometimes in high school just ta' get out of it!
Dawn: *Snickering* Okay, okay... I defer to your account...you've known him the longest.
Vernon: Anyhow, ta wrap this up, you can find my Honey Lamb's books just about anywhere...but Amazoo is probably the cheapest route 'iffin ya go digital....er used.
Dawn: You can also pick up 'Predator Seeking Prey; The Gazelle Story' in the same general places, and I'm currently working on 'Predator Seeking Prey; The Crosser Diaries', which unlike the former which is entirely devoted to Gazelle and her mate Finnick, is made up of several different interspecies pred and prey couples accounts explaining what their lives are like.
Vernon: I trust Clover and Cameron 'er gonna be in that one?
Dawn: *Voice sounds shaky and hesitant.* Well...I erm...I don't think they've technically been a couple long enough to...and...um-
Vernon: I see someone don't want to take even the slightest chance of gettin' inta talkin' about their mother ruttin' do they? *Chuckles*
WT: Long answer...I dunno, I have a lot to say here and I have to organize my thoughts.
In terms of writing, no, there's no way I'm adapting 2 lore either retroactively or in an AU. I'm far too deep in my carefully crafted little corner of Zootopia to now try to make room for every retcon the official series makes...especially when Z+ already played fast and loose with that lore. Granted, part of that is the fact that Zootopia took nearly a decade to produce a sequel.
From my standpoint as a writer, I feel like Zootopia itself needs some semblance of an outer animal kingdom. Look at something like Beastars, where nearly all life is sapient. Are predators only supposed to eat bugs? Is there nothing in the forests and wilds, no ecosystem save for plants and 'some' fish? What purpose does pest control via night Howler serve farming communities if that's the case? Is it just for bugs? If not, it seems like a war crime waiting to happen. It's nice to have some established... 'limitations' in world crafting, especially if it's something you didn't touch on at all early on and might have to work into the story by hook or by crook. The more you have to retcon large swaths of your world's foundations, the less invested people become. If anything can be changed at any point to facilitate a specific story, what's the point of getting engaged with the world at all? Having controls makes a world feel more real, more grounded, and thus easier to stay invested in.
Reptiles weren't even hinted at in Zootopia, not even a stray background lizard. Now I'm meant to believe they have reptiles right in the Canal District? Where were the seals in Tundra Town? None of them came out of the water at all? And why add any of them now? There were probably a million stories you could tell in the already-established setting as is, even restricting the characters to just Nick and Judy. But the first sequel and we're already adding an entirely different swath in the animal kingdom? Tell a story about hybrids, a story with a pred villian, some other crazy vast conspiracy for Nick and Judy to solve. At the very least if you want reptiles in, have Nick and Judy be forced to venture far out from Zoot to a nearly reptile-exclusive city to better excuse the lack of them in the first film.
But I'm nitpicking a 'children's film' here, so it's all invalid I'm sure. Cause kids are dumb, and don't deserve quality world-building or storytelling...even though Zoot's target audience is now adults or near adults because the sequel took so long to produce. While there were shortcomings in the first film, clearly, a lot of love went into the world-crafting. My art book shows that off in spades. Z+ didn't show the same level of care...and while one of the two guys who are essentially the fathers of the series is back in Z2, I don't see that world crafting improving all that much. Wreck-It Ralph 2 was like the Disney Emoji movie, and that had Byron on both too.
That's not even mentioning the steep decline in the quality of Disney films across the board since 2016. A dark cloud has descended on that studio, one that traded in skill and talent to fill quotas. One that prioritized emphasizing 'the message' over good storytelling. And the company hasn't backed away from that sentiment, it's only doubled down more aggressively each time, all the way up to the shareholders. So I don't expect a solid sequel to somehow crawl its way out from under being 'crafted for a modern audience'.
Lastly, and this is just a me thing, having been in the furry community this long, but Gary is going to (already has) caused a surge in awful fetish material. Between bondage and hypnosis, I'm gonna be blacklisting a lot of new content. That's what happens when you model a snake character after Sir Hiss or Kaa. I imagine it was purely meant as an homage, but man I'm not looking forward to the fallout. My poor eyes will never recover.
I do wonder how mammals and animals that have no comparable method of mobility compared to their four-limbed counterparts would even have evolved to a level of sapience when they can't operate most anything made for four limbers...let alone the lack of thumbs. The best I've seen that handled is Mr. Snake in the bad guys. Still, that was another reason I kept seals, manatees, and dolphins out of the 'technical mammals' pool. Just how 'accessible' can you make a city with that much of a difference not just in sizes, but levels of dexterity without bankrupting it? It's why I made Derrick Colton a 'handicapped' horse in the Vulpes fic. It was largely to explain away a horse photographer who is present at Judy's press conference that has solid traditional horse hooves for hands. As well as other aberrant mammals that may crop up.
Lastly, while I've slowed in terms of getting out my fics, (I intended to complete everything and move on before the sequel dropped.) The Val fic, and the Bellwether Legacy are meant to be the last fics in my series. (Aside from one-off revisits, and the scrapped Finnzelle story.) I didn't want to stay locked into Zootopia fic writing forever. I'd really like to make some of my own stuff. Original work I can maybe do more with than being limited by the restrictions writing a fanwork entails.
At the end of the day, Dawn Bellwether is the lynchpin to my little slice of Zootopia, and I don't own the rights to her. Never will, unless a series of wildly absurd events drop the rights to Zoot in my lap. I can recycle many of the characters around her you've grown to love, and perhaps even a pale reflection of Dawn herself with the right story to go along with her. But...I guess I don't want 'Wrote a killer villain redemption fanfic once' to be the total sum of my work.
God...that was a rant. I did warn about the 'long-version' didn't I? I'm sorry...just a lot to cover. I....overthink things way too much. Still, you go on and try to enjoy Z2. Maybe it'll be great...I've just always been a glass-half-empty kinda guy. Me, I'm probably not gonna see it. Even if Dawn gets a cameo. Lord knows they'll probably go for a 'silence of the lambs' restraints joke if she shows up.
-WT
WT: I'm probably going to screw this up, as I feel like I was purposely vague with this in previous answers, but I may have assigned each country already and may accidentally invert them. Still, I guess I'll correct if it's pointed out I've retconned something older.
East Hyenya, the nation on the interior side of the mountain range, would be classified as a Matriarical Dictatorship. It's a brutal place, where its leadership is decided by the strongest females among them. Hence there's no room for a 'royal bloodline' to take hold since literally any other female can challenge and overthrow them. Male hyenas are second-class citizens and are treated harsher than females in every area of life.
West Hyenya is a democratic republic where males and females are supposed to be treated as equals, and leaders are elected. But there's still a hint of female bias here and there. That said, West Hyenya is doing all it can to combat that, sometimes even over-correcting by being softer on males which causes its own issues. But they are actively trying to find that balance, and the nation is doing better for it. West Hyenya is also closer to contemporary technology levels, while those in the East are about twenty to thirty years behind, and pretty much only get tech upgrades when they invade East Hyenya and steal it.
West Hyenya can't go five years without attacking and trying to forcibly re-incorporate East Hyenya back into itself. As such, the border between the countries is always slightly in flux. West Hyenyan's tend to be old-school zealots that believe in female superiority that is in line with the old ways. To them, the fact that the East Hyenyans have split the motherland and actually treat the males of their species as equals is seen as a slap in the face to their ancestral goddesses. This zealotry is why they can't let East Hyenya go, and will probably continue to try to invade them to 're-unify' until they destroy themselves or both sides. East Hyenya simply wants to maintain its right to exist and keep in step with the world around them as they continues to progress. It wants its people to work together on equal footing to improve everyone's lives.
Sadly, West Hyena's fervent pursuit of keeping the old ways can only end one of two ways. With its own destruction, or with the destruction of both countries. This is why East Hyenya has come to the nuclear talks table, as a deterrent. Whether it would work or not, who can say?
Nick: I actually forgot about that kid for a long time...
Judy: It's not crazy, we deal with hundreds of perps daily, and a lot of those are poor little kits struggling to deal with their first time on some sort of illicit drug.
Nick: Increasingly, unfortunately, with the number of night howler-based drugs growing year after year...I hate to admit that it's become...sort of a frequent sight...
Judy: It doesn't help that it's starting to get used in legitimate medication now, as it only muddies the waters in terms of policing the use of it...but I'd rather see it synthesized into medication that can help mammals even if it means it also trickles down to the drug trade...
Nick: Needless to say, he had to be very specific when he introduced himself as one of the newest recruits in the bullpen a few months ago. I honestly couldn't place him for a full minute.
Judy: As it turns out, he aggressively cleaned up his act after we had to take him in. No drugs, no drinking, burying himself in his schooling. He was devoted to turning his life around.
Nick: Apparently, we inspired him to not only better himself, but to take up the blues himself, and become a ZPD officer. He also profusely apologized for sucker-punching me. *Chuckles*
Judy: You were so blase about that. He was practically crying and yet that trademark smirk of yours didn't waver in the slightest. *Laughs*
Nick: Carrots, surely you remember how many black eyes I've gotten working as your sidekick?
Judy: *Furrows her brow, crossing her arms and looking slightly hurt by Nick's words.* Partner. *She corrects him*
Nick: *Rolls his eyes, shaking his head dismissively* Right, Partner...What I'm saying is, if I held a grudge with every mammal who ever gave me a black eye, half the city would be on my dung list.
Judy: *Laughs* As if I'm not right there with you...it's a wonder we only have two close-call injuries between us all things considered.
Nick: Never a dull moment when you're part of the ZPD's finest...especially when your partner is 'Judege Dread'...
Judy: *Rolls eyes* If we have to go with one of those nicknames, I'd prefer 'RoboHopps'. *Snickers* It just rolls off the tongue better...
Wasty: I should clarify, I meant no disrespect in that ask. I just wanted to make a joke while trying to find a way I could fit a 'Sora' into my Zootopia. I'll admit I'm not a fan of the series, it's just too much of a lore mess for me. But I'm glad others can enjoy it. That said, I sometimes forget some folks can take a gag like that seriously because I'm just so sure of its apparent joke nature that I'm sure it'll land with everyone. Not that everyone will find it funny, just that they'll get it. And I'm sorry if the portrayal upset you.
Thanks for the ask!
WT: I'd imagine most, though not all the Hunters would live away from Zootopia. Maybe a pawful in other North Mammalian Megacitites, but I imagine a majority of them have chosen to turn their snouts up on the invasive monitoring and large-scale corruption that settles into such places and instead choose to live outside those corrupt spheres of influence even if it means being left to the 'wolves' so to speak.
I figured I'd take a page from Shadowrun here, and other 'future dystopia' stories and have it that some sort of...disaster wiped out a lot of the mammalian population. What remained mostly clumped into these megacities, and while it would give them access to technology beyond their wildest dreams, the trade-off was being ruled over by corporations and monitored constantly. Those who turned their nose up at such a thing are basically homesteaders, out in the overgrown ruins of the abandoned places and building small towns and communities there. Of course, that puts said communities at risk of being raided by others, unable to get help during a plague, or being attacked by god knows what.
Dorian and Audrey would be steadfast homesteaders, with Dorian leading the New Meadowlands Militia in order to protect the burgeoning community and do their best to keep Zootopia from reincorporating it. Zach and Vanna would be a part of this Militia as well.
Ulric would probably live in the city, working as his own sort of...deep underground hacker/detective along with Honey. He'd probably see himself as an almost Neo figure, though whether he can live up to that sort of mantle is up to your imagination.
The west coast would be in a state of disarray, with no megacities to spare save for a few built-up coastal import points. This is because the Juan De Fuca and San Andreas Fault ruptured at the same time during the 'disaster' and basically ruined the western coastal cities. This allows me to place Yuri, Xavier, and their mates into the Zootopian Megacity. Xavier I figure would still be a lawyer, working diligently and tirelessly to fight back against a corrupt legal system to the best of his abilities. Malcolm would be a bartender at one of those literal 'speakeasies', secret internet dead zones where people could congregate without the city's eyes and ears. I imagine restaurants, much less individually owned ones, are functioning in the Megacity. It's all chains and pre-processed corporate-owned joints. Anything resembling an actual restaurant is staffed by robots owned by the greater corporate entities.
Ada would still be working at a hospital, and probably still a friend of the family. But Yuri would more than likely be dead. Despite how much of an ass Yuri can be, he was still a moral mammal. He'd want to join the ZPD and help protect the smaller and weaker mammals in the city. The issue is, of course, Yuri is both stubborn and brazen. He'd quickly become a thorn in the side of the more corrupt mammals in the ZPD, and he'd be disposed of similarly to what was attempted on Hopps and Wilde. Or perhaps maybe he'd go down in a blaze of glory, killing one of the bigger politicians or CEO's and become a martyr for the growing discontent of the city.
Last we've got Wade and Giselle, and Trenton and Qali. I imagine Trent and Qali make a go of defending the outer burrows, and homesteading there. And Wade, after seeing what happened to Yuri making him feel stuck as to what he can do, decided to cut and run to join Trenton and Qali in defending the Burrows. Some would call that cowardly, but he chose that in order to protect Giselle and get her out of the city along with him. Ada was already a widow, and he couldn't risk the same thing happening to Gizzy. In the Burrows, Trenton heads up the defensive militia, with Wade as his deputy, similar to the situation with Dorian and Zach. Qali is a trap designer and layer, using her small size, agility, and dextrous paws to shore up defenses against neighboring towns and the city at large, and Gizzy is a farmhand.
Thanks for the ask!
Summary: Set during the events of aLaW, this one-shot fic follows the end of Gus and Melly's night in the North Meadowland's shortly after the tithe and reception of Gus' dear friend Vernon Hunter to the controversial figure Dawn Bellwether. Well, Dawn Hunter-Bellwether now. It's been a crazy night, made all the more chaotic thanks to a drinking contest between Ada and Melanie ending with both mammals completely smashed. Now it's up to Gus to help his mate settle down for the night, which is never easy when it comes to a very drunk and ornery Melly. After all, they've got a life together to get back to early tomorrow morning, and Gus knows Melly's going to pay for this pissing contest. But as Melly resists Gus' attempts to calm her down and hydrate her, the vulnerable conversation from earlier in the evening is revisited, and it forces Gus to face some serious facts. Melly isn't the only one 'evading' things, and it's time for Gus to stop being indecisive and take a bold step forward for both their sakes. Story features sexual themes and lurid descriptions, but is mostly slice of life/drama/comedy fluff.
I gotta say, this was a struggle to write. Not for lack of inspiration or a proper outline. It was more a struggle against feeling like hot garbage during the bulk of the writing. I actually got new heart medicine just after finishing it that really helped me feel almost normal, but the work was done by then. That said, for all of the struggle, I think it turned out pretty well. It’s been a while since I added an entry to this series. I had the idea for the Gus and Melly fic a few months ago, and my desire to add something to this series pushed me to take a small break from tFV to add this in. Consider it...optional supplementary reading for one of the B-plots in the other fic. Plus you get some tender, heartwarming moments from my two resident goat nerds, and some added foibles from the Hunter pack members. For those on Fanfic (The Website) You know where to find my other stuff. Furaff, Etsy, Sofurry, A03, Patreon and Substar. I also recently added Newgrounds to my posting queue. And hey, I still have my ask blog, Askthebellhunters. It’s a com domain. I know Fanfic hates ‘URLs’, so I can’t just out an out post links. Expect more tFV and other fics in the future. Special thanks to my Editor KarakuriCentral! Your help is always appreciated!
Read the fic at any of the links below!
Fanfiction Link
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13350557/3/Tales-from-the-BellHunterVerse
Ao3 Link
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20036254/chapters/142917484
Furaffinity Link
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/56808882/
Sofurry Link
https://www.sofurry.com/view/2140138
Gus: *Places his hooves to his temples, massaging them softly* Cervidwen's Hooves, I'm not looking forward to crunching all these species stats if we play with these.
Talia: *Stabs claw downward onto the table aggressively, tapping it down at the end of each of her sentences as if to emphasize her points.* I am choosing big, strong ogre, *pauses for a moment* No cyclops police girl...I protect the weaker creatures of the city and make it my mission to crush and destroy all of these evil 'Bad Guys' you mention...
Vernon: I mean...iffin' yer playin' a cop...y'all gotta abide by...y'know...laws. Y'all can't be judge, jury, and executioner. Ya gotta stop at arrestin' 'em and let the legal system sort out the rest...
Talia: *Waves a paw out dismissively* Bah, no one will miss. No trial needed.
Broomie: *Snickers* Maybe a bounty hunter would suit you then?
Joel: That's mine, I call that!
Broomie: Not that I was planning on that being my role, but I...uh...I mean, we can have more than one Bounty Hunter in the party...
Gus: As long as the whole party isn't bounty Hunters...that would be kinda boring...
Joel: As for my species...I'd want to be...*Scratches chin thoughtfully* Either a hydra, or like a classic Chimera...
Megumi: Ooh..We could be the same Chimera! You can be big head, and I can be the snake tail head!
Joel: I like that idea.
Gus: I don't- I'm not sure if I'm stating the sheets for one or two characters there...or how you'd even play...
Melanie: And who's going to be the third head? Y'know, the goat head?
Joel: *Glances at Broomie* How about it?
Broomie: *Shakes his head dismissively.* I'd rather be a Leprefaun if I'm honest...I already had a pretty firm idea I was happy with the moment Dawn and Vern shared this question with us, plus I'd rather have my own 'dedicated' character...
Joel: *Rolls his eyes* Really, you came up with something that fast?
Broomie: He's a bit of a prankster and a drunk with no real job, and in debt up to his ears with some bad fae folks. Mainly makes his money by cheating and gambling and acting as an informant to those willing to pay a pretty penny.
Joel: *Snickers* Mam', you get a prompt and you just hit the ground running don't you? *Shakes head* Oh well, I guess we'll have to take turns piloting the third head if Gus is okay with our choice.
Megumi: Well, I was thinking a fae for my backup, that is if co-playing a chimera with Joel was off of the able. Fairy demolition expert...loves blowing up stuff maybe a little too much. *Giggles*
Gus: How would that...work in the world? Are you a merc for hire, or doing legit work?
Megumi: I was thinking she work in construction, which is very different for Fae...sort of like mice here in city. All small scale, but also magical. Molding trees and plants into homes...but demolition is still demolition.
Kodi: Oh, I want in on this. I-
Val: I'll pass, dork...
Kodi: *Flustered* You're no fun!
*Val rolls her eyes and scoffs*
Gus: So you were saying Kodi?
Kodi: Yeti! The mysterious, massive forest ape with an actic flavor matching yours truly. *Stabs a finger toward his chest.* As for work...hmm...how about a forest ranger? Do you think Weirdopolis has a Forest Preserve?
Gus: I don't see why it can't...
Kodi: Expert survivalist, king of the campout, unmatched knowledge of the unforgiving wilds!
Val: *Snickers* Alright, settle down boy...
Vernon: I think that just leaves you and Mel Gus...
Melanie: As much as a 'bearded doe' is interesting, I tend to favor playing really different species from my actual one, so...I'm going to be a little standard here and go with a vampire bat noble...*Snickers* I know it's a little boring, as there are plenty of other systems accounting for Vampire Bats, and those infected by them...but I'm a fan of the whole...'Glamour' and 'seduction' angle...
Dawn: I see you too are a fan of "Anne Mice's" works...
Melanie: *Blushes slightly, a chuckle escaping her muzzle* Oh don't even get me started...That series was probably the hallmark of my burgeoning 'nannyhood'. *Laughs* Definitely fueled my sexual awakening.
Gus: I'd go for a highly scientific 'Lizardman'. The race that competes against the Illubaahnati and the greys for subverting mammalian society...at least as we know them anyway. In reality, they're just another race in Weirdopolis society, an old and wise one, but just that.
Vernon: *Shakes head, chuckling softly* Someone was payin' more attention to Ulric's ramblin's than I was growin' up, that's fer sure...that's more than I remembered about lizard folks.
Gus: I imagine my character being fixated on trying to understand the nature of the universe, which is only all the more complicated by all of the Wierd creatures existing alongside normal society. As well as more than likely working in a more official capacity trying to improve the defensive technology used to protect the city from outsiders overall. So a tech expert with lots of gadgets...and maybe natural camouflage like a chameleon.
Vernon: I'm real interested in actually seein'...like not necessarily how some of our characters would get pushed together into workin' with some of them key figures in Dustin's thang...but what kinda circumstances could pull the entire group together fer some grandiose adventure...
Kodi: You know I'd want to train under King Sasquatch...and he'd sound just like Macho Mam' Randy Savage...*Laughs*
Vernon: I could see myself havin' to maybe be Mel's bodyguard too...dependin' on iffin' I gotta run my own bodyguard thang or work fer a firm.
Dawn: *Huffs softly, crossing her arms* Like I'd let you...You're full-time Puppy...The Flockness Monster needs twenty-four seven protection.*Snickers*
Gus: I'm guessing you guys slipped being a couple into the angle already? *Laughs*
Vernon: *Rubs the back of his head awkwardly* Not at first...*Chortle*
Joel: I could see you working alongside me and Meg too...or against us... depending on who's paying. *Laughs*
Vernon: I'll snap all three of them neck's er yer's clean off iffin' ya try to lay a paw on my scalie green queen. *Laughs*
*Dawn giggles, blushing slightly as she nuzzles into Vernon's side*
Gus: With some time, I could probably figure out a throughline that would pull us all together. Maybe a bunch of split team things leading up to bringing us all together for one, grand arc. That said, good luck with your world-building Dustin. Always fun to discuss this sorta stuff with a fellow creative.
Dawn: Absolutely, I wish you the best of luck. Maybe Weirdopolis could be as big as Game of Bones, or even Royal Blue someday...
Joel: Is...Royal Blue really that big? Or do you just have a soft spot for that series cause the writer said he was inspired by your and Vernon's family lineage and current relationship...
Vernon: *Crossing his arms* It's in the top ten, and Gus is making a campaign off o' that too, that's good enough fer me...*Chuckles*
