WT: All of them are really fun ideas, but I think the one that kinda pulls at me the most is the Deco Nouveau Cyberpunk AU. I've had a sort of on-again, off-again love affair with Deco style since the Bioshock series, and the noir aspect really appeals to me. The idea of taking the style-forward, to a sort of resurgence in a cyberpunk era seems super fun. So if I was gonna spend any time on a weird, out-there AU, that would be at the front of the pack.
Rowan: I mean...it's not often another mammal accidentally or purposely destroys a squirrel's nut cache, *grumbles* but that doesn't really matter all that much when it comes to mammals using the phrase 'busted a nut' around squirrels for the sake of the joke. A joke which at this point I've heard far too many times from both Cameron and Derrick.
Cameron: What? It's funny.
Derrick: It is pretty damn funny.
Rowan: It's old is what it is. And honestly, it's something I'd expect of Derrick, but not you Cameron.
Cameron: Oh come on... it's harmless fun...
Derrick: And coming from a stick in the mud like Cam, that's gotta mean something! *Laughs*
Cameron: In Derrick's case, Rowan even sets him up for opportunities to say it.
Derrick: Yeah, since chubs is too cheap to buy a nutcracker, he'll ask me to crack open a few of the more troublesome nuts with my hooves.
Cameron: At that point, it's impossible to resist making the joke.
Derrick: I see it as payment for my services thank you very much.
Rowan: Alright! Enough already! I'm sorry I even agreed to answer this question...Saint Hazel please...can we just forget about this?
Cameron:...
Derrick: ...
Rowan: ...
Cameron: Alright Rowan, jeez...we were just having some fun...no need to...
Rowan: *Glares at Cameron* DON'T!
Cameron: Bust a nut over it...
Derrick: *Lets out a whinnying laugh and a snort*
Cameron:*Chuckles Smugly*
Rowan: That's it, you're both fired. I forgot we don't employ thirteen-year-olds...
Zach: Worried? Heck no we ain't worried.
Vanna: Marcus is a good boy. Well-mannered and soft-spoken. I don't think he'll have any trouble getting along with her, especially with how excited he seemed. Well...that is after we told him that we weren't 'exchanging him' for a new kitten.
Zach: Yep, thankfully we didn't hit that skid nearly as hard as Dawn and Vern had to in terms of their adopted pups feelin's about Paige comin' along.Marcus seems ecstatic...o'course...that has made it harder to turn him away from takin' on too much responsibility.
Vanna: *Sighs* Yes. As I'm sure you're all well aware, Marcus has been hard to...well...because of his upbringing he...has had quite a bit of trouble learning to be a kitten. We still catch him doing a number of chores we didn't ask him to, and since we found out Rose was coming, he's only leaned into that habit more in order to help 'prepare for the new kitten.'
Zach: We practically have to throw the boy outta the house sometimes, and make sure his friends er' with him fer good measure er' else he'll start tendin' the lawn...*Chuckles*
Vanna: I'm just worried about when we finally manage to break Marcus of his urge to be so servile...eventually the time will come where we do ask him to take on a chore or two, and I really don't want to see him relapse. He's our son, not a butler...
Sharla: Well the easiest answer would be to say that Giddy has gotten even more cuddly and softhearted since we adopted lambs, something I didn't even think was possible as he was practically as soft as a sponge-cake already. *Giggles*
Gideon: Aw shucks Darlin'...*blushes* Makin' me flustered here...
Sharla: I'm only stating a fact Giddy.
Gideon: Still though...*chuckles*
Sharla; It's not like I'm saying you're a pushover hubby, in fact, that's another thing that's changed since we adopted. Giddy has...well, he's been very afraid about coming off like he did as a kit...so much so that I've seen him back down when in situations where he was totally in the right, just to avoid the confrontation...
Gideon: I mean...It's true. I don't...I don't wanna be that fella anymore. I really want to keep that version o' myself in my kithood.
Sharla: I still think you're over-correcting sweetie, which is why I'm glad to see you taking a more...aggressive stance when it comes to our lambs. If they get picked on, or something happens to them, Giddy is always the first to rush to stand up for them. It's one of the few situations where he'll risk the confrontation.
Gideon: Well...I mean...bein' a kit can...can be tough. So many adults just look down their nose as kits...treat 'em as lesser without even thinkin', especially iffin' they're actin' out. No one want's to listen to 'em. They need someone in their corner....a-and what kinda Pa would I be iffin' I didn't stand up fer my kits.
Sharla: You did split that one rabbit's lip open...
Gideon: When his kit says loudly in front o' me and the rest of the kits that 'his daddy says he ain't allowed to play with a 'filthy crossers' kits' at the public playground in front of the other parents, what was I supposta do? There weren't no reasonin' with that kinda bigotry.
Sharla: I'm not saying you were wrong. Had I been there I probably would have taken a swing at him myself. But my point still stands, my hubby turned into a fierce and protective Papa real fast.
Gideon: They made lil' Daisy Lee cry! No one makes my baby girl cry...
Zach: Well this one got to us late, huh Vern? Thanks fer that...
Vernon: Sorry guys, *Chuckles uneasily*, we get a lot of these and some of them sorta...slip through the cracks.
Dawn: I blame our junk mail filter. S-sorry Vanna...
Vanna: It's quite alright Dawn. To be honest...we do celebrate Deevapurrli, but we probably don't do it up as big as most Bindians, especially now that I live with Zach. Maybe one rangolis altar area, with a few diyas...
Vernon: Uhh...Raviolis?
Zach: 'Rangolis', it's like colorful patterned rug, 'cept made outta organic stuff like chalk, er colored stone dust, er flower petals. And a'fer y'all ask 'diya's' are the word fer oil lamps made outta clay er' somethin'.
Vanna: Granted I cheat quite a bit, as I use a patterned rug instead of organic material, and tea lights instead of true diyas. Of course, my mother always did a more serviceable and traditional Deevapurrli when Myra and I were growing up. We'd draw the pattern circles as a family, and make all the little lights which were probably my favorite part. Myra was always more into the pattern circles.
Zach: *Chuckles* Fireflies, oil lamp makin', my Kitten certainly loves her little lights...
Vanna: *Rolls eyes* Zach...
Dawn: It sounds like a lovely little tradition.
Vanna: It is. I'd honestly love to share it with a kitten of our own one day. It's one of those traditions that really...well it made me feel closer to my family, even if we weren't anywhere near each other. It always left me with a warm feeling, and even sharing it with Zach has been a wonderful experience, and I'd love to share it with the rest of the pack.
Dawn: Well, I know we'd be honored to join you for a Deevapurrli ceremony sometime. I bet our pups would love it too.
Vernon: Yeah, we'd love to.
Vanna: As for visiting distant relatives back in Bindia well...let's just say my Mom didn't exactly...um...leave the family on the best of terms. You see, in Bindia arranged marriages are still very woven into the culture, and well...my mother was originally meant to marry someone other than my father. As you can tell by the fact that Myra and myself exist, she chose to marry for love instead of going along with the arrangement. So her side of our family more or less disowned her.
Zach: As fer' Mr. Felidae, welp he's third-generation Maneish, so they don't celebrate too much of the traditional Bindi ceremonies. But we have visited Lucero's side of the family fer' Deevapurrli before, but usually, we end up over there more often fer 'Manish' traditions instead of Bindian ones.
Vanna: my father loves his Cassowary fights.
Zach: And so do I! That stuff is wild! Always has me on the edge o' my seat. Ole!
Vanna: As for advice on keeping the 'Aunties' away...I'm not really sure how to advise on that...granted my experiences are limited to the aunts on my fathers side...of which there are five...
Zach: Lotta' estrogen in Lucero's household growin' up. *Chuckles* Even so, I don't thin Maneish aunties er' any different than Bindian ones in terms of meddlin' with the love life of their immediate family. Y'all can just tell 'em yer workin' on it. Or that yer talkin' to someone and yer hopin' things go somewhere with it.
Vanna: Vagueness is usually good...the vaguer you are, the harder it is for them to give you 'advice'.
Zach: Iffin' all else fails, pretend to be deaf...*Chuckles* I used to do that with Ma...
Vernon: Didn't work though, did it?
Zach: Nah, o'course not...it just made the conversation shorter...*Laughs*
Dawn: Lamb Sakes, that's wonderful! I'm so happy for you and your friends!
Vernon: Always good to hear about that sorta progress goin' on outside our city. When you live in Zootopia sometimes it's easy to ferget there's a whole big world out there that's filled with its own inter-species relationship struggles. Yer sorta...fixated on yer immediate surroundin's.
Dawn: Granted Zootopia is quite a...multi-national draw in terms of vacation and emigration, so living here sort of brings all of Animalia to your doorstep in terms of foods and cultures. Especially over at the Animalia World's Fair.
Vernon: Yeah, I don't think there's a corner of the world's foodstuffs that ain't covered over there...*Chuckles* Me, Wade and Gus have all made ourselves sick from stuffin' our muzzles whenever we'd go down there fer the day. I think I finally get why the ancient Pridelander's used to have them 'vomitoriums'. *Laughs* We really need to take the pups sometime soon.
Dawn: Oh they'd probably love that, well minus the overstuffing their faces with foreign treats, lest they turn the rides...or our laps into little vomitoriums...
Vernon: *Chuckles* Yeah, good point.
Dawn: As for a world book tour, well I'd honestly love to do it. I mean, I've been talking to my publisher about it, and they are very on board...it's just...well it's quite difficult right now. Between raising our lambs and Vernon's job, it's been a bit of a stretch just making a North Mammalian tour work. Between Vernon's availability, and having Wade, Gus or Dorian and Audrey free to watch the pups, it can be a nightmare.
Vernon: Not to mention cuttin' it close with all them exhaustin' red-eye flights back home. Comin' in ready to drop, but still havin' to pick up the pups and then prayin' we get enough sleep a'fer we gotta send 'em to school, er' I gotta go to work. At least y'all get to sleep in once the pups are at school.
Dawn: Maybe before Paige was born...but not anymore. *Chuckles* Right now she's kind of stuck in a crepuscular sleep cycle that...I'm really hoping won't persist when she's a toddler. Anyway, I'm hoping that we'll be able to put together an international tour for sometime next summer. With the Lambs out of school for Summer break, and with Vern being able to Telecomm some of his job, it seems like the most feasible time for such a tour.
Vernon: They said they won't need me 'in-office' as much over the Summer iffin' I need the out. But fer the next few months we got some crunch meetin's.
Dawn: That said, I'll see what we can do about making Singapurr one of our earlier stops if we can make the tour work! I hope to see you and your friends there!
Sorry for the delay on asks and stuff...I really kinda fell flat on my face this week health-wise and it's been a struggle to get any work done. My brain feels like it's suspended in a thick jelly, and it's making writing anything extra difficult. That said, I apologize for the reply quality if it seems to have suffered.
-Wasty
Kodi: I like the quotes around 'Building nations", I feel like there's an implication there. *Laughs*
Conner: The Zootopian Reserve's idea of nation-building isn't the old Kittish Army and Navy's idea of nation-building, that is to say razing and pillaging a newly discovered nation before installing some sort of puppet government in place. It's what it says on the tin, sometimes literally.
Kodi: A majority of the time it's helping impoverished nations build housing, or set up agricultural systems, and of course, we also help establish and organize medical care deployment when a nation suffers from some sort of horrible disease outbreak. Although that's not to say all those situations are...well...one hundred percent clean operations.
Conner: Depending on exactly what kind of trouble is occurring, firearms might be required to help keep order and make sure everything runs smoothly. You don't want a mob of sick mammals rushing a medical station and destroying it accidentally in the stampede because they are desperate for medical aid. You also don't want guerrilla gangs and warlords looking to take advantage of the aid we're providing by shaking down the citizenry of everything we've provided for them. Sometimes the job needs more than just mammalitarian aide, sometimes it needs peacekeepers.
Kodi: Then there are the actual hostile warzones. Usually our primary focus there is to help refugees get out of horrible situations like that while minimizing casualties. Although sometimes that requires us pushing back some sort of extremist faction and taking out their wannabe dictator of a leader in order to protect those mammals who are simply trying to live their lives.
Conner: Of course that's all still considered small-scale operations. If such a crazed militant faction is too large, or some dictator has got a deep enough foothold in controlling a nation while the populace suffers and struggles to fight back and is pleading for outside help, that's somethin' that...well I mean that's full-scale war at that point. That requires agreement from multiple mammals at the top, and multiple nations going in to topple somethin' like that.
Kodi: Basically, when countries ask us to help, we do our best to fulfill that request. And if we aren't enough to help, then it enters a larger discussion as to what Animalia can do to help as a whole.
Dawn: That's... a bit of a tall order if I'm being honest. I mean, the religions of Animalia are...well there's quite a few.
Vernon: Every species of mammal has at least one religion specifically for 'em, although most species got multiple under their belts due to different packs and herds of the same species spread over different parts of Animalia have their own sorta flavor.
Dawn: For simplicity's sake, it's probably best to focus on some of the larger ones, like Simbology, Bambism, or Preygansim. Although Preyganism is sort of...cheating, as it's considered sort of a catch-all title for the various larger prey religions. Capridism falls under that banner as well, which is the religion that...well I want to say practice, but I feel that's too strong of a word. I mean, I consider myself a capridist, but I'm not devout...While Vernon and I had caprid elements infused into our tithe, I'm not the kind of ewe that attends caprid service every Sunday.
Vernon: That's alright Honey Lamb, y'all know my family is purty much the same when it comes to Norwulff religion. It's mostly just an excuse to use the curse words. *Chuckles*
Dawn: *Giggling* Anyway, I'll try to give a brief...explanation of some of the religions I mentioned, as well as a bit about mine and Vernon's own. Hopefully, that will be enough to suffice, otherwise, this reply would take forever. *Ahem* Anyway, let's start with one of the largest religions, Simbology.
Simbology was born of the Pridelands empire, or rather legends that came from the various lion prides before the formation of their empire. In Simbology, there is an 'old testament' and a 'new testament'. The old establishes the god lion Mufasa, as well as his dark opposite in his brother Scar. Like many other religion's primary god, it is through Mufasa that morality and the religious laws of Simbology are established. He performs miracles, punishes wicked mammals, and is supposedly responsible for crafting the 'circle of life'. Scar is his silent antithesis who represents all that is wicked and bad. Of course, Scar doesn't come to his full prominence as the ruler of the 'Great Graveyard" until the new testament. In the new testament of Simbology, we follow Mufasa's only son, Simba, which is where the name for the religion is derived. It is there that all the sort of major players in modern simbology come together to craft one sort of overarching narrative instead of a series of small tales plugged into an anthology. Scar kills his brother, and banishes Simba with the help of his hyena minions. While in exile Simba gathers mammals who would become his apostles, later deified as saints in the church, and returns to the Pridelands to banish Scar and his wicked minions to the "Great graveyard" For all time.
Due to the fact that the Pridelands became a multi-continent spanning empire, it sort of fixed Simbology's place as Animalia's largest religion for nearly a millennia, with multiple species being forced to take the religion on while living under the rule of the Prideland Monarchs. After the Pridelands collapsed, the prevalence of Simbology waned to a degree, with many of the former occupied nations reverting back to their previous religious systems now that they were free to do so. Simbology is still a fairly big religion today, but not nearly as big as it was.
Vernon: Iffin' I recall, Simbology is one of the biggest reasons why hyena became such a vilified species, what with them bein' considered Scar's lackey's.
Dawn: Black maned lions also suffered as outcasts as well, being considered 'children of Scar', this is of course completely ignoring the gospels of Kovu, but the church of Simbology has always sort of picked and chosen its favorite scripture to canonize. Whatever benefitted them the most were generally chosen to be canonized, while the rest were cast aside as blaspheme despite there being no actual difference between the two in terms of authors and time periods. Then again, I'd be lying if I said they were the only religion out there that plays favorites.
Vernon: Ain't no perfect religion I suppose, we all needed our demons to slay.
Dawn: At the very least a more anonymous villainous entity doesn't malign any specific species, like the infamous "Hunter" of the Bambism faith. Its species is never defined, it is simply meant to be a sort of... analog for all the darkness, hate, and savagery that mammals are capable of, and must overcome. Otherwise, it's actually quite similar to Simbology in that there is a god, 'The King of the Forest", and his son, Bambi, who grows to become the "Great Forest Prince". Bambi too has his own apostles, and essentially grows to become the diametric opposite of the Hunter, representing all that is good and righteous. Mufasa's death is even mirrored in Bambi's own mother, although in this narrative the 'Hunter' was trying to prevent Bambi from coming into the world and becoming the avatar of the forest.
Vernon: Wasn't Bambi already a faun by then? I'd say that hunter missed his shot by a mile if that's what he was aimin' fer.
Dawn: Well you can't have evil prevail, especially in a religious narrative. What kind of inspiring story is that?
Vernon: *Chuckles* I suppose that's fair.
Dawn: Anyway, just to wrap up Bambism, Bambi becomes the avatar of the forest, and creates the moral laws of Animalia, while his father ascends to join his mother and preside over the great forest in the beyond, and the souls who dwell within. Of course, one could also file bambism away under Preygansim, but it's one of the larger, more recognizable religions under said banner.
Vernon: It's also...probably a bit more organized than our stuff. Capridism and Norwulff religions er'...more about deep nature rituals and real wild tales.
Dawn: *Giggles* Maybe Norwulff religion sure. I mean, you've got a crazed, wild boar creature that guards the gates of hell, and what about that giant world-eating snake? Compared to those, Caprisdism is just a bunch of gentle sheep prancing in the meadows.
Vernon: Well we're...a rough and tumble species, and our belief system reflects a lotta that. I mean, Oldwyn tore out his own eye, all fer the sake of making himself wiser. And almost every piece of lore and story from the era features some sort of battle goin' on with amazin', fantastical and horrifyin' beasts.
Dawn: It's hard to believe your ancestors could ever settle down and make peace with my people with tales like that fueling every facet of your lives.
Vernon: Well, in terms of our religious text, while we relished a good battle, we were no fools either. Again, Oldwin yanked out his eye to become wiser, not stronger. Wisdom and temperance were also important virtues of ours, and when that edict came down from Lupa, the one true den mother, most of us held wisdom highly enough to listen.
Dawn: I suppose that isn't all that far off from Capridism's own Hornunnus or Cervidwen, who also greatly valued wisdom, temperance, and patience. Although...they didn't have to take such...graphic means to achieve such things...which admittedly makes it less cool. *Giggles* A big element of worshiping them was the belief that above all else Animalia would provide for our kind, so long as we took care of her. The forest, the meadows, it was all to be respected, and it would reward that respect with great bounties so long as one was patient. The same was said of great wisdom, which was an equally valued virtue. Wisdom and understanding came with time and patience.
Vernon: Y'all are sellin' capridism short. Y'all got some killer festivals and feasts. And o' course we ain't got no 'ruttin' in the fields' tradition in Norwulff lore. Talk about some wild sutff...
Dawn: *Blushes slightly* W-Well, it was how we...it was another way of connecting with nature and our roots! I-We saw it as natural! We don't do it anymore!
Vernon: Hey I wasn't complainin'. Though I gotta wonder, were those gods of yer's right pleased with that little show we put on in the cornfield that time er...?
Dawn: *Blush intensifies* P-PUPPY NoooooOOOooo!
Dawn: Oh of course not. Any mammal can be a member of either party despite the names, as they represent ideas rather than a strict social order or exclusionary club. Although I can't necessarily blame you for thinking that off-hoof, as both parties did sort of start out as diet-specific political classes, which is why they are named as such. The founders of the Preygressives were exclusively prey, and the same went for the Preditionalists in terms of being founded by predators. However both remained sort of...diet exclusionary for only a few decades after they were founded, ironically with the Preditionalists caving first and allowing prey mammals into the party a good decade or two before the Preygressives followed suit. With the Preditionalists, I think they saw fairly early on that the party wouldn't survive if they remained an exclusionary organization, as prey outnumbered them nine to one. As for the Preygressives, it was their push for more progressive ideas that would inevitably push them toward doing away taking an exclusionary stance. Of course, the process would have been inevitable regardless of how resistant both parties would have been to change, as eventually, the animal rights issues would have forced them to abandon being exclusionary.
Vernon: Although, y'all could argue that if the two biggest players weren't both pushin' to resist that sorta thing, what with them bein' the primary political parties in Zootopia, they might have been able to stay that way, right?
Dawn: *Shakes head* Unlikely, the positions were already becoming unfavorable at the time, and had they remained resolute in the face of the idea of extending party eligibility to all mammals, they would have been brushed aside by up and coming smaller parties willing to be all-inclusive from the get-go. So, had they not changed, there more than likely wouldn't be a modern Preygressive or Preditionalist party. Or, if they still existed, they would have been niche, extremist parties.
