Author's Notes; I'm Sick. Also New Fanfic Chapter Drop!

   

Yeah, so that's why there weren't any asks this week, I've been saddled with a pretty nasty head/chest cold and I've been mostly trying to get over that. I was tested for covid earlier in the week, and came up negative (Thank god)

 That said, I can at least share with you that the newest chapter of 'The Family Vulpes" is live. Check out the link below if you haven't read it already.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13578632/4/The-Family-Vulpes

Reviews mean a lot, but since I can't respond to them outside of DMs, I....generally don't. I'm better with reviews on Furaff and what not. But I still read the reviews anyway!

 I may post some 'classic' asks later today, ones recently dredged and updated from the old archive.

Thanks for understadning!

 -WT

Ask Dawn and Vern; Paige's First Words

 

Ask Vanna; Paige the Tigress Tamer

 

Ask the ZPD; Roles at the Police Station

 

Bogo: Well, I feel it's rather straight forward in terms of simplicity, but most civilians have a hard time grappling exactly what each rank means. First and foremost, you have your officers. At some stations in other cities there is a rank below this called a police technician, who handles traffic violations and things of that nature. However, in Zootopia we've simply lumped the role over onto the officers as well to simplify the structure.

Then you have a corporal, which admittedly is just our designation for an officer chosen to be in charge of a small team of officers or special units. Essentially it's a role differed to the head officer working on a case with multiple officers.

Then we have our Sergeants, which are sort of out internal officers. They help interpret ordinances, train other officers, and handle internal complaints.

After that you have Lieutenant's, like Hopps. Aside from handling general officer duties, they also play the role of civic ambassadors. Think going to schools to talk to calf's, civic meetings and the like. They play a bigger role in the overall community and image of the ZPD. But they also help in taking broad direction from their superior officers and creating a plan of action around them to disseminate to the lower ranking officers.

Our Police Captains are another largely internal department, largely revolving around budgetary and department policy work. Depending on your outlook on paperwork, this could be considered to be a fairly undesirable condition.

After that, depending on the department, you can either run up to the Deputy Chief of Police, or just the Chief. It largely depends on the size of the department or need. Here in District one, it may surprise you to find that we don't actually have a deputy police chief.

Nick: *Whispers* Because no one can stand working directly under old buffalo butt for more than five minutes.

Bogo: What was that Wilde?!

Nick: Nothing Sir, please continue with this fascinating educational lecture.

Bogo: *Grumbling* Basically a deputy would be subordinate to me. They largely perform the same duties I would, and act as a back up or second in command should the Chief be in disposed. As for my role as police chief, I largely oversee everything here at District one. I make the call on what law enforcement programs to implement, I dole out cases, and study existing cases to try to discover patterns if there are indeed any. Chief of police is a role doled out by elected official generally, which in this case would be 'The Police Commissioner”, who oversees all of Zootopia's departments. As for roles like 'Sheriff', in Zootopia the role is seen as equal to that of chief....although why the North Meadowlands and Alpine Glade holds steadfast to the rural nomenclature I haven't the foggiest.

Ask the Author; Zootopia's Districts and Climates

 

WT: Honestly...yes and no. I only have some of the districts placed and named, because I largely tried to stay on book with the maps of Zootopia I've seen floating around that are official, and I don't think they ever actually display all '12 unique districts and ecosystems”. I'm not sure if certain things are considered separate districts within districts either, at least in a canonical sense. For instance, the 'Rainforest District' has no separation from the 'canal district', at least on the map. So are they one district or two? And presumably the climate is the same, so is that not a factor in splitting districts? Sahara Square adds more confusion as it also has something called 'the canyonlands'. And is downtown a separate district from Savannah Square, or is it just marking a specific section of it?

All that said, in terms of my own work I've had to freestyle a bit. So for the sake of clarity, I'll tell you what I have so far for my version of Zootopia.

Savannah Square and Downtown – 1 District – Mild Climate

Little Rodentia – 1 District – Mild Climate

Sahara Square and the Canyonlands – 1 District – Desert Climate

The Rainforest District and Canal District – 1 District – Tropical/humid

Tundratown – 1 District – Arctic Climate

The Meadowlands – 1 District – Grassland

The North Meadowlands – 1 District – Grassland/Rural

Alpine Glade – 1 District – Cold & Mountainous

Nocturnal District – Wet/Dark

Other Areas/Outback Island, Animalia Park – Not Districts

As you can see that's about nine districts, which leaves 3 unaccounted for. But part of me wants to leave that open so that I can possibly accommodate future lore. So yeah, that's the most information I can offer. I hope this is satisfactory.

Ask Dorian; Sheriff's Office Party

Dorian: We have a sorta modest Yule party. It's usually about a week er' two before the holiday, partly because most of us have our own family Yule get together's planned, but also we like to have the part goin' while were doin' the whole Santa Claws bit fer underprivileged and orphaned pups. O'course, the whole Santa Claws thang is generally done durin' the earlier part of the day, so we have the pups and lambs cleared out by the time we're havin' the official party.

As fer 'volenteerin', well as I may o' mentioned durin' that whole ask a few weeks back that we have a system in place in terms of pickin' Santa's fer the year. Generally we just draw straws, and whoever pulls the short one gets the job, with the second shortest draw net's y'all the position of Santa's helper. It's not much more complicated than that, other than y'all get immunity fer next year's draw if y'all pull the short straw the previous year. And seein' as how I played Santa this year, that mean's I ain't gotta do it next year.

I mean, I'll be honest, I love seein' pup's and lamb's gleeful smiles when they meet me. But I really don't care all that much fer how often I get...er...marked by accident. Let's just say the cleanin' bill on the station's set of Santa costumes is real, real pricey.

Aks Gideon; Echoes of the Past

 

    Gideon: I just try to get by day by day when it comes to how I...used to act...and the impact it left behind. I tired to apologize to every mammal I teased and bullied growin' up, wether it was in person, er' by mail. O'course, that don't mean everyone accepted them apologies, and I do still get some cold stares from those who still harbor them feelin's about me. While I can't blame 'em, it does still sting a might from time to time. What was worse was them folks who were more upset that I was a fox in 'their' town, rather then a bully as a kit. There's still folks like that skulkin' around Bunnyburrow to this day, and while bein' forced to interact with 'em is few in far between, it never really gets any easier. Folks like that er' why my kithood was the way it was. It's par tof the reason I spent them year's lashin' out.

Before Shar came into my life, a lot of that frustration and bein' all uspet over that sorta thing would spill into my bakin' from time to time. A burnt pie here, salt in place o' sugar there, all cause I was too busy dwellin' on the pain to be at top performance. And while that still happened from time to time before our little family formed, I had my Darlin' black forest cake to come along and talk my troubles outta me.

O' course, my kits havin' to deal with well...bein' adopted, and by Gideon Grey no less, the ol' terror of Bunny Burrow, they got more flack that I was ready to handle. Our older boy is real sensitive like I was...but he buries that pain, and he ends up comin' home cryin' rather than givin' some of his bunny bullies a swirly in the middle school bathroom. That kind stuff had me back to messin' up my pies and cakes somethin' fierce. But he has somethin' I didn't have growin' up. Our little lamb is a real spitfire, and she's usually there to stick up fer our son with them bein' near the same grade. Then there's the twins, who are in the same grade so they can can back eachother up even easier. Not only that, but all of 'em have a lovin' family to come home to. A family who while march down to the school and fight fer 'em in person. Who always got their back. I just hope that when they is grown up, they'll....well they'll have been better for it. I mean, I know our little mixed pack ain't perfect...no family is. But I just hope they'll always remember me and their Ma fer bein' right there for 'em. 

(Edit; I forgot when writing this, because I wasn't feeling so hot, that the Gideon pack has 4 kits. A fox tod, the oldest, then a younger lamb, and the youngest, a set of bunny twins, one boy and one girl. None of them have names yet, and since I wasn't feeling good I kind of avoided coming up with names on the spot. I'm open to suggestions, but it'll be rectified either way in the future.)

Ask Blog Update; Current Delay

     

     I just want to take the time to apologize for the unscheduled lapse in ask content over the last two weeks. The first week was just what I thought was going to be a minor delay, as I was finishing commission and story work, and I had Christmas duties. I figured I would be able to make up for it early the following week. However, life comes at you fast, and my ask plans, as well as my Christmas plans were dampened severely by a medical emergency involving my mom that still has yet to be fully resolved. Thankfully, we were pretty much out of holiday themed asks, so it wasn't a total loss in terms of missing a content window. 

    That said, I should have more asks for you later this week provided nothing else comes up. I've never been a big 'New Years' guy, so I don't expect that to get in the way much. 

    However, I feel I must address an issue that has been coming up increasingly over the past few months. As I've said on my previous blog, when it comes to asks, the official ask email (Or Patreon Member Ask Chat) is the only place I will solicit asks from. The reason is a combination of keeping thing organized, and maintaining my other pages strictly for commissions inquiries and other requests and questions.In addition, sending me asks doesn't guarantee that I'll answer them. I try to answer most of them, but if it's ill-suited, or I can't do anything with them, I'm sorry but I'll have to skip them. More-over, sending me emails like this...

    Is the fastest route to insuring I blacklist any asks you send in going forward. My ask blog is the tail end of my workload. It's meant to be more of a promotion of my stories more than anything else. Aside from Patreon asks, which get some degree of preference as part of a perk, I don't rush to answer specific asks generally. When I'm ready to do asks, I take a look at the inbox and visualize a minimum of two for art, and about five for text. They are largely chosen based on how I'm feeling and how much writing I've got in me at the time, because I have a nasty habit of turning asks into minifics. That's my system. If you've sent in an ask, it's unlikely that I didn't get it. And I will eventually get to it. But pestering me outside of the Ask Blog email, or emailing me about when your going to get your asks answered is not going to get you any sort of preferential treatment. 

    I hate that I had to say this, and I hope it doesn't come off particularly venomous, I have had a rough two weeks and it's weighing on me a bit. I try to accommodate everyone to some degree, and be understanding, but when people start pushing boundaries I've established, I eventually have to say something.

    That's all for now. I hope you had a Merry Christmas or other holiday, and I hope you go on to have a Happy New year.

-WT

Farewell Finnick

 

 

 

FOUND AU; Marcus Starts School

 

Vanna: Zach and I have...come to an agreement that we believe Marcus is ready to start school.

Zach: Admittedly we were a little nervous-

Vanna: A little? Also, we?

Zach: A-alright...some of us were...more nervous than others.

Vanna: Zach felt we should hold off for an extra month or two. At one point he actually suggested waiting until Yule break was over before allowing Marcus to attend classes.

Zach: Well he's! I mean, he's gonna be the only human at school! I...I don't want the other mammals to give him grief over that! *Grumbles* I just...I don't want them gawkin' at my boy like he's an exhibit at the reptile house!

Vanna: We've already talked this over with Marcus, and should any of his classmates or the other students bully him, he could turn to his teachers as well as us to try and resolve the problem.

Zach: Tellin' teacher's just makes it worse. *Shakes head* It don't do anythin' meaninful *sigh*

Vanna: Goofball...

Zach: I just wish I could be there to help him. *Sighs* When me and my brothers were growin' up, we at least had each other to lean on in school. Anyone picked on one of us, the Hunter pack dealt with it. Even Yuri didn't stand fer other students pickin' on us.

Vanna: Because he saw that as his job. *Chuckles*

Zach: Well...I mean...yeah...but...Look the point is I'd just feel better if I could be there. At least fer the first few weeks...just to make sure things go smoothly.

Vanna: You already booked us for a 'police education' seminar for his class.

Zach: Yeah, but that's one day....for like an hour.

Vanna: I don't think they'd be willing to host the same seminar every day for a month Goofball.

Zach: Hmm...maybe I could try my paw at applyin' to be the school's baseball coach?

Vanna: Goofball...with Marcus'...er...talent? I think you'd be in full traction by Yule.

Zach: Oh! I got it, I'll just disguise myself as a student fer a few weeks an-.

Vanna: If you don't think for a second that if you do that, I will absolutely drag you out of that school in a firemam's carry, no matter how big a scene it makes! I don't care if it makes the local paper Zach, I swear I'll do it.

Zach: ALRIGHT! Alright geeze....didn't even let me finish...

Vanna: I think that was for the best, for both of our sakes...