Ask Bogo, District Prosecutors

 

Bogo: There is a top prosecutor in every district, granted I only know the four from the primary districts by name, as we've worked with them the most often. There's Rahaj Therantan, a tiger who works in the Rainforest District. Demetri Marithailov, a polar bear who works in Tundratown, Nadira Bactra, a camel who works in Sahara Square. And lastly, Vera Leone who works Savannah Central, and is also the prosecutor I tend to work with the most. 

Generally, Vera has always been the most...amicable of the four to work with when it comes to cases. Easy to work with, and seems to be a very kind mammal...I suppose she would have to be to have dated Leodore as long as she had. As for the prosecutor who is the most...difficult to work with...well, that would be Nadira. We just...rub each other the wrong way. And, thanks to the fact that 'spitting' isn't considered a form of assault or battery in Sahara Square, she tends to take full advantage of that when she's angry. Thankfully, since I already need to wear sunglasses whenever I go to that district, it helps keep the bulk of any 'ejections' out of my eyes.

Ask 84; Child Labor Laws and Workers' Rights

 Dawn: Most societies in Animalia have flirted with child labor now and again, though granted that was usually relegated to times of significant strife in a nation, and Zootopia was no real exception. However, due the diversity of species and the subsequent sizes of those species, you tended to see more exploitation in that regard. 

Vernon: I mean, why would y'all could hire one average-sized mammal to do a job, er' three smaller mammals to do the same job fer the price o' that one average mammal, right?

Dawn: Exactly, smaller mammals required less food and resources, and so they could get by on a great deal less than a larger mammal. That said, it often meant that these smaller mammals were pushed harder due in order to keep up with their larger counterparts, which would often lead to many more injuries and death.  The rodent classes in Roarope were hit especially hard by that sort of exploitation, as many of those nations saw them as entirely disposable to their sheer numbers. And, I'd be lying if I said Zootopia didn't have its own sordid history with that sort of thing...

Vernon: It's sad...but I suppose every civilization has its growin' pains. 

Dawn: It's true, Every country has skeletons in its closet, or rather built into its foundation. And while it's important not to forget such horrible incidents occurring in our past, one shouldn't dwell so deeply on them that we forget just how far we've all come, and the good that has also been done. And in that right Zootopia was ahead of the curve in terms of doing away with that sort of exploitation, as well as streamlining our economic systems with things like the minimum wage and worker's rights, with places like North Mammalia quickly following suit around the turn of the century. 

Vernon: But Roarope held out right?

Dawn: Somewhat. Due to the plague and the war naturally the...whole view on the 'value of smaller mammal's lives' was still...rather skewed. I mean, there are still nations in Roarope that won't allow any rodent, or related species beyond their borders. However, with rodents blocked out, exploitation was next to non-existent in those places. The other nations which still held its share of detractors of allowing rodents to remain in their countries struggled with mammalian rights issues and worker's rights for smaller mammals for decades after, even in nations like Great Kitten or Prance.

Vernon: As fer that...newspaper thang, I think y'all were right about it bein' in Zoo york. I don't thin we had anythin' like that here...at least as far as I can remember. Er...*Chuckles* History wasn't my favorite subject unless it had to do with the Volkings...

Dawn: Well, we had an incident in 1902 that was in the same vein. The incident also became one of the foundational talking points that led to drafting Zootopian workers' rights. "The pressing of 1902'", which involved a printing press staffed by overworked rats, mice and rabbits. If I recall, the inciting incident was one of the rat workers getting caught in the printing press, and subsequently crushed to death when the owner refused any calls to stop the presses and interrupt production. When his crushed remains came out the other side of the press, *shudders* embedded into the front page of one of the papers, and the owner ordered them to set it aside and get back to work, that was the breaking point. Many of them began striking on the spot, and those that remained only did so long enough to snap a photo of the fallen worker and begin printing an exact duplicate on every front page under the foreman's nose in order to get the attention of the Zootopian public.

Vernon: Grisley...

Dawn: Grisley, but effective. The owner of the paper was jailed shortly after, but the strike continued with other smaller mammals walking from their own companies with similar stories of abuse. At that point, the strike became too big to paw wave, and the support of larger mammals helped bring in a wave of sweeping reforms in the way the industry was operated, which of course, as I said, would act as a stepping stone to universal workers' rights and the formation of various unions.

Vernon: Y'know Darlin', iffin' there's ever a lull in yer writin', I'd think y'ad make a right fine teacher too. Yer so smart.

Dawn: Aww...That's sweet of you to say Puppy. But...I don't think there'd be many parents out thier who'd be willing to let thier lambs be a pupil of Dawn Bellwether.

Vernon: Hunter-Bellwether.

Dawn: *Giggles* Right.

Last Minute Update

 As always I'd like to thank my backers for their continued support. It means the world to me that you guys care about my work so much you'd pledge to fund it. Much love.

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Wew...so a lot to cover this month I guess, granted that's mostly a restrospective.

First, I managed to get the next chapter of The Family Vulpes out, officially ending the series hiatus nearly in time for the first anniversary of the very incident that put it on hold in the first place. In terms of the trajectory for the next chapter, I've already written the chapter outline, and the backers who read the concept thought it was good enough to move forward on. I will be appending said outline to the bottom of this post on Patreon for those of you who have opted out of the Discord Channel but would like a look as well. I'm aiming to start the next chapter this week, and fingers crossed it'll be out before February's end. After that chapter is done, it'll be time to script up some very quick plan blurbs for the next five or so chapters, which will be introducing Clover, Kodi, and their respective support groups as the story gets rolling.

Next let's talk about "Savage Love", which as you backers and those reading AsktheBellHunters already know, saw it's first page released about a week ago. For the time being I'll be sharing pages of Savage Love on Patreon and AsktheBellHunters as soon as they are done. However, once things get 'spicy' and clothes start coming off, the remaining pages will be Patreon exclusive for a month before the page goes public, which is the aim I'm trying to take for most of Patreon content. This same 'distribution' schedule will be in play for "Burrowed into my Heart" as well, as that project continues ongoing. As for the next page of 'Savage Love', again that'll be aimed for a before February's end release, like chapter six of The Family Vulpes. The next page shouldn't take as much elbow grease as the establishing shot is behind us now, lol.

Update on commissions, they will be closed for at least a month or more, as I pound at the remainder of what's on my plate before taking some time for personal projects such as those listed above, and more art studies. I intend to get back into 3D Modeling, as well as get down some fundamentals for Toonboom so I can get animating again. Also gonna try to get some more brush and coloring tutorials under my belt.

On to health-related news, which I'll try to keep light. Health seems to have improved just a bit. I don't want to get too hopeful just yet that some slew of...well literally everything I'm throwing at my health issues is actually working. In terms of diet changes, I can't complain too much. I've been learning to love a lot of new veggies, and some new creative recipes...but I do miss bread and milk quite a bit. Right now I'm missing the bread even more than the milk. And while the meats, veggies and fruit are all filling enough, my body feels like it's missing something essential and I can't put my finger on it. Right now I'm chalking it up just cravings for things that are bad for me...but we'll see how it goes.

So yeah, I think that's about enough for now in terms of updates. I think I covered everything I wanted to for the moment. Once again, I want to thank the fans and backers for their continued support, especially in these increasingly...troubling times.

Much Love,

-Wasty

Savage Love (Page 1)

 

Told you I was working on something pretty big didn't I? Some of you may remember me mentioning that I wanted to produce a comic adaptation of the Rehabilitation of Dawn Bellwether, specifically the chapter 'Savage Love'. Well consider this my first...and honestly way over top top first installment of the series. The debut page. As you can tell this page in particular took a lot of extra elbow grease to get ready for release. Most of that effort went into the establishing shot. Thankfully, the pages from here on out will take less time and energy as I won't be doing any elaborate city shots for the foreseeable future. That should help in terms of completion time to say the least.

Naturally I'll only be able to share these pages on the blog until thinks start to get...well racy, after that you'll have to keep an eye on my art pages such as FurAffinity or Sofurry to keep reading. But be advised, patreon members will get comic pages a whole month ahead of time. So it pays to be a Patreon.

How you guys like what you see so far, and that you're looking forward to more.

Much Love,

-Wasty

Ask Dawn; Other Political Affiliations

 

 Dawn: Well, generally speaking Preditionalists are considered the conservative party in zootopia, and Preygressives are considered to be liberal. Although there are other organizations under the 'conservative' or 'liberal' banner, as well as other persuasions, but those are just the largest present in the city. Granted the smaller parties tend to be more diet-specific, or aimed at helping a specific family of mammals get a louder voice in the political system.

Vernon: Like the Packrat party, a rather crude name fer a Preygressive party that largely caters to rodent and issues that concern most micro-fauna.

Dawn: And on the opposite end of the spectrum you have the Tusk party, which is a Preditionalist organization largely devoted to helping with issues concerning Mega-fauna.

Vernon: Most parties like those don't exactly have any rules which say y'all can't be a rodent er' a Megafauna to support or be a member, but I mean...it's mostly what them parties draw in. O'course most o' the parties er' like that...open to all even iffin' thier...priorities don't line up with every species.

Dawn: There are...a few parties however that have...rather strict and uncouth positions which appeal and promote to a very specific species or species group. Generally, these are seen as...despotic, anarchic, or totalitarian parties which are...unfortunately allowed to operate under the banner of free speech under most circumstances. This includes parties like "The order of the Horns and Hooves", which is a Prey supremacist party...of which Doug was actually a member. The 'Verlimination Front', which is a party whose primary position is following in the footsteps of a large portion of Roarope and expelling rodents from Zootopia before the next pandemic occurs. And of course, not to leave predators out, the *Shudders* "Fraternity of flesh tearers", a predator supremacist organization that would like to see prey reduced to a servant class, or....guh...meat stock.

Vernon: Naturally...them extreme parties er' small, and they are heavily monitored by the Zootopian government to make sure their speech stays...well just that...speech only. Not action.

Dawn: Ugh...I respect a mammal's right to speak their mind, I do, but groups like that really strain my tolerance. I mean...I...sorta know first hoof how easy it is for a mammal with rather...extreme ideas...or those associating with mammals who have extreme ideas can end up in a position of power...I mean, I...I don't know if I could have been able to go through with Doug's greater plan for the city...after that scare with Nick and Judy...It...really sobered me up to just how badly I'd lost control of myself. How crazed I had become...

Vernon: Y'all woulda turned yer ship right again Darlin', I know it...

Dawn: I wish I was as confident in myself as you are...*Sigh* I just...what if I had become that monster? I could have easily enshrined a group like the Horns and Hooves as the dominant power in Zootopia without thinking if I had kept going. I'm already so disgusted with myself over all the pain I caused, but to think about how much worse I could have made it-

Vernon: But you didn't...

Dawn: Because Nick and Judy stopped me-

Vernon: Y'all said yerself you realized at the point just how far gone you were, I know y'all woulda' turned away-

Dawn: But I'll always have that lingering self-doubt...that fear that...I could have become my father totally and completely...

Vernon: Honey Lamb...

Dawn: *Sniffle* I-I'm sorry...the...*Sniff* Sorry, right. I got a bit off track...T-The point I was trying to make was that...as long as groups like the Horns and Hooves or the Fraternity of Flesh Tearers have a presence in the city I'll always be worried about a charismatic mammal among them rising to a position of prominence and...trying to...finish what I started...or force the exact opposite upon the city.

Vernon: Trust me, only crazies believe them folks. And the more free they are to make their opinions known, the more they drive the majority of Zootopian's away from 'em.

Ask the Ruminerds; Singapurrean Shows

 

Gus: Octopus game is pretty alright I guess...me and Melly watch it sometimes.

Joel: I'd say it had a really strong start but started to taper off as it went on. Granted I'm not the biggest 'dystopian hunger tames world' genre fan.

Melanie: I mean, I was a fan of Hunger Tames as a preteen...but it was kinda flash in the pan for me. I was more of a die-hard Harry Trotter girl.

Dawn: So was I...although I did sort of grow out of loving the story. I do still love the world, but Harry Trotter is...very Mary Shrewish looking back.

Melanie: Oh, you know what's a great Singapurrean Rom-Com? Bro-prance! It's absolutely adorable.

Dawn: Oh, what's that about?

Melanie: Oh it's fantastic. See there's this lioness who's born to a family in which a fortune teller predicts she will be a boy, and bring their family great honor and success, but when they realize it's actually a girl, the fortune teller warns them that she won't survive kittenhood unless she's raised as a boy for the first twenty-five years of her life, only then will they be as successful as the fortune teller originally foretold. So she ends up raised as a male lion, complete with fake mane and everything until she meets another male lion and they become friends...and then slowly feelings develop. It's so cute, me and Gussy binged that in one night.

Gus: Wait, that show wasn't Singapurrean, it was Tailwonese!

Melanie: Oh...er...Well, regardless it was still adorable. I think you'd really like it Dawn.

Dawn: Hmm, well I'm willing to give it a shot i suppose.

Vernon: Sounds like a show that's more fer Xavier and Malcolm then fer us iffin' I'm bein' honest...

Gus: Why, cause of the homosexual undertones?

Vernon: No. *Chuckles* Cause they're bigger on foreign rom-coms then we are.

Ask the Hunters; Problems with Pups

 Dawn: Ooh...I'm...I mean I'm sorry for what you and your la-er...pups are going through...but...I mean...are we really qualified to give parental advice Puppy?

Vernon: I dunno...we've only been parents fer a little over a year and a half now...Wait..."Mr. and Misses Hunter.."

Dawn: Oh, I just assumed that was a typo. But yes, that makes much more sense. I was about to suggest going to Audrey and Dorian for advice on such a weighty email.

Vernon: Well if anyone's qualified to take a crack at it, it'd be my Ma and Pa. They survived a household o' seven pups fer more than two decades, so I'd think they'd have a purty good idea on how to handle stuff like this better than us.

Audrey: Well, first I wanna thank y'all dearly fer the compliments about our pups.

Dorian: Considerin' y'all didn't make an exception fer Yuri when y'all mentioned up raising 'fantastic pups', it means we musta done somethin' right. *Chuckles*

Audrey: Well, I'd be lyin' iffin' I said we never worried about him...

Dorian: I was mostly worried about him endin' up on the wrong side of the bars...thankfully I was able to channel that rough and tumble aspect of his personality into police work while he was growin' up...

Audrey: Enough Darlin', he may be listenin'! Don't make our pup feel bad about himself now.

Dorian: Just tellin' it how it was at the time...the boy's come along way since then, and I'm really proud of him...I'm real proud of all you boys.

Vernon: Thanks Pa.

Audrey: When it comes to your oldest son...I....well I wouldn't want to run to the therapist just yet. Even mentionin' that might make him feel worse in his current state, as I hate to admit it, but there's still a big stigma when it comes ta' needin' therapy fer anythin', especially when yer young and insecure enough already...

Dorian: Yeah, a lotta' young fella's and ladies feel going to therapy is like...admittin' bein' damaged, or a weirdo...it's a hit to their confidence...which is real er...permeable when yer young. Like a soap bubble...one wrong move and it bursts.

Audrey: Ta' me, it sounds like the boy is just...takin' on a bit too much fer his own good, even if he isn't aware he's doin' it. It might be good to have a sit down with him, and talk to him about it bein' okay iffin' he wants to cut somethin' out of his life fer a while, or at least dial some of the time spent on such thangs fer the sake of his physical and mental well-bein'.

Dorian: I'd make sure to stress it's ultimately up to him what he does, but that you'll support him regardless. And iffin' he's still resistant, just tell him yer merely askin' him to think it over. It seems like yer boy has placed himself under a lotta pressure, so y'all don't want to end up dumpin' more on him. That's why reinforcin' that yer merely askin' him to think about things instead of tryin' to force his paw is yer best bet...I think.

Audrey: When it comes to yer youngest, well...to be honest, I mean...in the grand scheme o' things poor grades don't exactly mark y'all so badly fer life that y'all can't turn it around in college er' a technical school. It does strike me as odd that yer boy says the class he's failin' is one of his favorite subjects. Somethin' tells me he's not tellin' y'all the whole truth there.

Dorian: He may be tellin' ya'll that cause he believes it's important to y'all that he likes that subject...afraid that...er' showin' interest in somethin' else might...make y'all think less of him. The gods know I sorta...fell into that trap myself.

Audrey: It might be worth an earnest talk askin' yer boy iffin' he's 'really keen on the subject', and reassurin' him y'all won't think less of him iffin' he isn't. Sometimes y'all don't realize goin' into somethin' that it ain't as fun as y'all thought it would be.

Dorian: As fer his friends...that's tricky. Iffin' y'all start advisin' him to turn away from 'em, or come down hard on him seein' them at all, it stands a good chance of drivin' him toward them.

Audrey: Again, a lighter touch might be good for this sorta situation. Just tellin' him to be mindful of iffin' a situation feels...uneasy to him, and encouraging to go with his gut iffin' something feels wrong. Reassure him that y'all know he's a good pup, and he's got a good head on his shoulders. Iffin' his friends are bad enough, he'll eventually drift away from 'em. If not, then that troublin' behavior should start to even out.

Dorian: As fer how yer boys get along...that's the trickiest of all really.

Audrey: Some pups grow up real tight, and some...well that competitive wolf streak might get in the way and drive 'em apart.

Dorian: I'd say y'all made the right call puttin' their rooms farther apart. It's...somethin' we honestly shoulda' done with Yuri and Vern growin' up.

Audrey: Yeah...I...I mean, I'll admit I feel we took the wrong approach in tryin' to push them closer and closer together and figurin' it would work itself out. Sometimes distance can make fer a better relationship in the long run.

Dorian: O'course, y'all also have to accept that maybe y'all can't mend that bond...just cause someones blood-related don't mean they'll like each other.

Vernon: Like me and Yuri.

Audrey: Oh hush, y'all get along fine now.

Vernon: Well, we tolerate each other, if that's what you mean.

Dorian: However, case and point that yer pups are young. They're hot-headed and flush with hormones. When they get older, and that starts to even off, they'll probably end up gettin' along again...just like Vern and Yuri do now. Although considerin' you said yer boys had a good relationship before that, I imagine their prospects are better fer bein' good friends again in the future.

Vernon: Yeah, Yuri and I hated each other since we were barely out of diapers...our feud was purty long by comparison to yer boys.

Audrey: And just look at how far these two have come. Trust me, iffin' Vern and Yuri can at least learn to play nice after everythin' that's gone on between 'em, I think yer boys odds are purty good.

Ask Dawn and Bogo; Judicial System

 

Dawn: Again...this is another question that...I feel I'm not fully qualified to discuss the nitty gritty when it comes to this sort of thing...aside from maybe being on the correctional side of things.

Bogo: *Ahem* Zootopia does share a great deal in common with Roaropean and North Mammalia's Judicial systems, aside from differences in regional law based on the needs of each nation...as well as a few old, oddball laws still left on the books that are very rarely, if ever enforced.

Dawn: Are you talking about laws like the 'No selling ice cream floats on Sunday?' in the North meadow-lands.

Bogo: Exactly. That one is up there with the 'No wearing sole pads in grass or other forested areas within city limits.'

Dawn: I'd...never heard that one before...

Bogo: Well, it was put in place to protect the cities natural flora, but unless a mammal is deliberately trying to kick up grass and plant life, most flora is just as vulnerable to bare paws as to a mammal wearing sole pads.

Dawn: That makes sense I suppose.

Bogo: Zootopia has a court system, legal trials and representation, and of course correctional facilities and programs. It's all quite similar, although I think were we do stand out is with our cities 'rehabilitation' programs.

Dawn: *Chuckles* I suppose I'm living proof of that. I mean, granted 'rehabilitation' can't be used in certain cases...obviously violent crimes and...sexual offenders usually have little hope of being rehabilitated depending on just how egregious their crimes are. But still, Zootopia's programs are still leagues ahead of many of North Mammalia's and Roarope' own systems. Generally most criminals can be helped via therapy and job programs, which largely prevents them re-offending.

Bogo: When it comes to crime, the city at large devotes a good portion of it's focus to why the crime was committed, and what can be done to help prevent it from happening again through our rehabilitation programs. We try to avoid simply throwing more laws at the problem, and getting to the root of the issue which each individual offender. Again, as Dawn mentioned, it cannot work with every criminal. There will always be those who refuse the help, or have an underlying mental condition or compulsion, and of course, those who have commuted unspeakable crimes.

Dawn: Which...considering what I nearly did...that's saying a lot.

Bogo: It may still surprise you Dawn, but even at the peak of your little....episode let's say....there were and still are, much worse mammals than you out there, believe me.

Dawn: I...I don't know whether to be relived or terrified to know that...

Ask Dawn; Zootopia's Constitution

 

Dawn: Oh my, well that's...quite another long explanation if I were to go into every part of it. Perhaps it might be better to just say it's quite similar to North Mammalia's own Constitution, as they were both drafted in a similar era, although I think the North Mammalian Constitution borrows some of the topics covered in our own as...well...ours came first.

Vernon: I mean it's the basic stuff y'all hear in school. All mammal's created equal, regardless of species er' diet and so on...who's in charge and how they werk for the citizens, oh, and o' course taxation....bleh.

Dawn: Our constitution outlines a great deal. The role the District Representatives and our Mayor and assistant mayor play, how elections work, establishes our legal system and land ownership...it's quite a detailed document. That's of course, not counting the amendments too...

Vernon: Like Freedom o' Speech, right to bear arms, etcetera...o' course, we've sort of adjusted some o' them, like how ownin' live firearms is more regulated in the inner city rather than in rural areas.

Dawn: And of course Prohibition, as well as the amendment to lift prohibition. *Giggles*

Vernon: Yeah, that seemed like a purty bad call. The Mayor who instituted that shoulda' known y'all can't separate a hard-working class mammal from his drink o' choice, and that's comin' from a teetotaler like myself.

Finishing Up Something Big; Update tomorrow.

 The title says it all. Got a big piece of debut art to show off that'll drop tomorrow along with your regular asks. Patience my friends, it's coming.

-Wasty