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Interspecies Relationship Support Network Youth Volunteers

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by GabrielLaVedier

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Interspecies Relationship Support Network Cover

Zootopia

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In the city of Zootopia anyone can be anything. And anyone can fall in love with anyone else. Used to be it was a hard thing to deal with, which made those who dealt with it band together for support and solidarity. Thus was born the city-spanning Interspecies Relationship Support Network, now with a very vibrantly active Chapter in The Tri-Burrows, centered in the town of Bunnyburrow (Chapter co-leaders Travis Dreyson and Gideon Ovine.) It's generally accepted that being in any sort of interspecies relationship is required to be a part, but really any allies and accepting persons are welcome. Dues are paid monthly (first visit's free, but don't try stealing the free food with lined pockets, they check for that after Slick Nick Wilde-Hopps thought he could cart away an excessive amount of grilled shrimp) and all the services are open. Meeting spaces, networking, counseling referrals, discounts from members on certain services. But, one small catch. You need to be 18 and over to join. It's a support group, after all, and a charitable institution with dues and all that. Adults only, for the boring reasons. But kids fall in love outside their taxonomic square too. they can't join and get full services, but they still deserve a little help.

No full joining, but the youngsters can absolutely volunteer in many capacities. Donation collection, flyer distribution, survey taking or petition canvassing, political suggestion (as non-members, they can promote the heck out of policies and politicians that would be good for interspecies harmony; they say Cecil Seedsworth posts up big numbers because volunteer street teams post up his political ads very effectively, and that Tiziri Fanak can have every souq in Sahara Square papered with her picture before an opponent can think about how to confront her.) They can sit in on meetings without eating anything and meet folks that can help them with issues like bullying and discrimination. There are important mammals in the network. And of course, folks can volunteer to be on the flyers being posted up. A quick photo session, some work with a program, and it gets copied off to grace the walls and telephone poles of all the Districts of Zootopia.

Being not-a-district (rather, a region), Canyonlands isn't very much thought of, but being the home of Hyenahurst, the high-value little wadiside area holding such notable luminaries as Muffin Lanige and her ever-boggling hob Duke Weaselton, it has its share of notoriety. As is proper for a place that's small but rich, they have a chapter that is, naturally, small but rich. They appeal to the prep crowd, the high society scions and grand folks. Even so, they're not above a little oomph when it comes to stating a message that some kids in love want to get across. Thus this little number, promoting the love between some lions and hyenas that makes the whole city sit up and take notice.

Five prep school cubs and one privately tutored lass. From left to right, Chungu Kupendeka, the best lock on the Hyenahurst Academy rugby team. A huge hunk of a sweetheart. He's not quite... sharp. But he's a very culturally connected hyena. He's the type to happily be a househusband, but his huge figure turns off most hyena women. Thankfully, there are other ladies out there. Which comes to Tiifu Tamu. An improbable cheerleader for Savannah Preparatory Academy, she hardly looks the part. Glasses, braces, a major nerd. But she's friends with other popular kids. She plans to go into something professional, like corporate finance. She'll be a big shot, make tons of money, bring home the salmon. That sort of thing appeals to a tradition-minded hyena. For her part, she is absolutely in love with his sweet nature, his huge muscles and his deep black mane. He hits all the boxes for the fantasy she never thought she could have.

Kion Pride, second child of Simba Pride, of Pride Heavy Manufacturing. He's a lesser heir but not anything to sneeze at. Bold, daring, adventurous, he wandered into "enemy territory", a Savannah Prep cub deep in Hyenahurst. He met the rugby team, but didn't back down from the intimidation. But, he didn't personally back them down. The flame-maned gymnast got a bit of help. If there's one thing hyena boys are quick to run away from, it's a hyena girl. Miss Jasiri Fisi, visiting her auntie Shenzi happened to see the encounter in the wadi from her aunt's patio. And down she went to scare off the posturing boys and invite Kion in for snacks. She pretty well told him they were a couple, or rather, got him to admit he had no objections to the matter. Another second child, the younger daughter of Tender Faraja Fisi, the head tender of the largest Peaceground Sanctuary in the city. He gets a stipend from the church association, plus a portion of donations, and has his own home through the church. he has enough to afford private tutors, leaving Jasiri cut off from school politics.

Next along, Janja Nguvu, captain of the Hyenahurst Academy rugby team and fly-half. He's not a bad guy, but he's clever, and maybe a little angry. He didn't ask to be born with solid muscles and rugged good looks as opposed to lithe, long limbs and a pretty face. His teen rebellion is to be good at his powerful position, to be a little pushy. Much like teammate Chungu, he got those ear notches to play up an impression of intimidating force. Like piercings but more significant. He can be loud, he can be pushy, he can be a real sweetheart when he puts his mind to it. He cares about his team, he cares about his friends, he cares very, very much about the lioness that pushed back as hard as he pushed. Zuri Kiburi, another Savannah Prep cheerleader. The alpha female of the trio of herself, Tiifu and Kiara, despite Kiara being richer. She's got a big personality, she likes what she likes, she will not be talked down to. For a while she thought she was going to date Kion. Then she ran into Janja, blaming him for a ruined evening, as his bringing around Chungu got her friend to go absolutely ga-ga. They got loud, they got heated, he asked if he could buy her flowers and she told him exactly what kind while taking his arm. They're that couple who will likely have a seventieth wedding anniversary, try to dance like they used to, and have to have their ten kids haul them back home.

They also volunteer at the Savannah Central chapter (where Kion, Jasiri, Tiifu and Zuri live) but do a lot in Hyenahurst because it's smaller and deserves more love. This posted is for the Inter Pride campaign. Outsider Pride is well represented, relationships between predators and prey, but within the same diet but vastly different in form is another matter. Those are Inters, and some of those relationships are still considered taboo by the backwards. Hyenas and lions are a big no-no as far as some mammals are concerned (like Simba Pride, say) but these kids know better. They won't take any scat from anyone. And the most willful, of course, have a few Pain Trains to remind the less thoughtful population that breaking them up can be attempted, but it won't be easy.

Kion, Jasiri, Janja, Chungu, Tiifu and Zuri plus Zootopian references are © Disney
Art by

capthairball Hit him up, he does great work.
This lineup inspired by my story "Unbounded love", chapter "Sisi Ni Sawa"

Keywords

male 1,185,118, female 1,074,729, lion 42,491, zootopia 11,114, interspecies 10,344, the lion guard 2,144, spotted hyena 1,781, kion 1,332, dating 657, jasiri 283, zuri 227, janja 191, tiifu 172, psa 155, chungu 37, interspecies love 4

Details

Type: Picture/Pinup

Published: 5 years, 5 months ago

Rating: General

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zfqfmb

5 years, 5 months ago

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Ooof.That chapter is also remarkably heavy in references. I'm still keeping an eye out for whether any more Lion Guard luminaries will show up.

GabrielLaVedier

5 years, 5 months ago

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@ zfqfmb

I'm planning on a standalone chapter to show what happens that night, and after. Kion will not be intimidated by his father... ultimately. Kiara can count on protection, Vitani would happily switchblade any threat and Zira genuinely likes Kiara, as do Nuka and Kovu. Kion can seek sanctuary with Tender Fisi, and it would be a social and legal nightmare to try and force him off of church property and out of the Tenders manse. And there are his friends that, yes, I should show. Bunga, the annoying but earnest boy who swears that teen pop singer Dhahabu will totally be his girlfriend; track jock Fuli who used to think like Zuri but makes peace with the idea of being outflanked; and lovable lug Beshte with his adorable pet egret, Ono. As you can see, Kion and Bunga have something in common. Kion is Inter and Bunga's an Outsider.

zfqfmb

5 years, 5 months ago

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@ GabrielLaVedier

Oh my,that should be quite a chapter. I've always wondered about ion vs hyena society in Zootopia because naturally the two are polar opposites. I mean hyenas are a female-led pack species and lions are male-led prides with usually ONLY one male, forcing the male young away and generally mooching off the lionesses. You could build quite a bit of misogyny there, and it'd certainly explain lionheart's arrogance. (Bunga amuses me because the nature of his.... parents caused a small stir when TLG came out.)

GabrielLaVedier

5 years, 5 months ago

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@ zfqfmb

I do have some exploration of at least hyena culture and some of lion culture scattered around in places like "The Translation of Dawn Bellwether" and the story this is based on. It's sort of spot-on for hyenas, as you said. They're matriarchal, with an exceptionally strong preference for weak, pretty, somewhat "ornamental" males. Drag is optional but sometimes a plus. This leads to some hyena ladies to just sort of go at any predator who is pretty (as city councillor Fanak relates when talking about how she locked down her husband, a tall, thin, pretty painted hound). Female hyenas take up tough jobs like construction work, or high-powered work like upper management (It's heavily implied that's where Jasiri's aunt makes her money, and that she actually used to be on the Pride Heavy Manufacturing board of directors). Bulky males like Chungu and Janja have much reduced opportunities. Not pictured: Cheezi. Jasiri's sister Madoa actually finds him cute thanks to his very short stature and bug eyes. As said in the description, despite being genetically disadvantaged, Chungu wants a traditional hyena relationship. He's far more than happy to be a househusband if his wife brings in the big money. The way Tiifu actually got him interested was whispering sweet nothings to him about university courses, corporate positions, and raking in big stacks of cash.

I've implied or stated lions are different. Dark manes get girls. It's what made Tiifu extra eager, and it's why both Nuka and Kovu don't sweat that their lil (half) sis is getting a great lioness. They certainly won't be hurting in that department. Male lions are described as at least some degree of vain, from merely conscious of how they look to vapid shells of vanity. It's a cliche that every male lion is always looking for the proper style, wants to look good and project an aura of handsome power. Leodore, in this version of things, was influences by a slick, corporate father who taught him to leverage power, roar and never stop, and keep up appearances. Lionesses tolerate the worst of it and are amused to delighted by minor versions. They do work, and work hard, with less care about vanity. Also, Kion directly states that no one does multiple wives anymore, that it's illegal.

zfqfmb

5 years, 5 months ago

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@ GabrielLaVedier

I wonder if there's some breakaway segment of lions that still do polygamy. *Avoids looking at any modern churches in particular.*

I do so love the details; few people get the 'dark mane' thing, human preference is towards lighter colors. It's details like that that really spice up a narrative beyond the usual species stereotypes. Translation was a god story (We can only hope default!Bellwether comes out alright in the end.) but the Burrows is also stringing me along with those sorts of crumbs. I'd dare say the Zootopia movie would have been improved with you advising on it.

GabrielLaVedier

5 years, 5 months ago

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@ zfqfmb

Simba Pride apparently either genuinely wishes there was polygamy or just wanted anything but to hear his son was slumming around with a filthy ni- hyena. A hyena whose father is a major and much-beloved figure. He also implicitly would have happily used his monetary weight to force Zuri and Tiifu to break up with Janja and Chungu so they could be with Kion. This idea of taboo and propriety comes out oddly to us, and has things like Simba being more than okay with Kiara dating a poor goth girl from the bad side of town because her mother is tough but fair with her and her brothers and keeps order well. And his being raised by what amounts to the interspecies version of the couple from The Birdcage doesn't even merit notice. He's fine with inters... As long as it's not those damn spotty-hides. There's more to it, there always is. He blames hyena board members for siding with his uncle, ousting his (irrational, mismanaging, lush) father and leading to his drunk driving death that also took his mother. His view on the world is repeatedly questioned, as it's generally agreed Taka Pride is a great mammal. A bit of cut content from this image, there was going to be a little blurb at the bottom saying "Created with a generous grant from the Taka Pride Foundation." Because of the lack of a monarchy and the other context, the story behind all of them is very different.

zfqfmb

5 years, 5 months ago

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@ GabrielLaVedier

It's a delightful, DELIGHTFUL take on TLK. (I always disliked the movie because of its messaging.) It flips everything on its head, but it doesn't go for the 'Bad is good and good is bad' take that you see a lot in bad fiction. It makes undertones overt and crafts a narrative that's all its own yet still inextricably tied to the source material (Such as it is.) It's not often fiction brings a smile to my face but that whole storyline often did I must say.

GabrielLaVedier

5 years, 5 months ago

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@ zfqfmb

As someone of wealth (and technically, only wealth) in a democratic state, Simba has as much actual power as someone like Muffin or Gazelle, and actually less than Gazelle, or elected figures like the mayor or city council. Taking away the power of monarchy changes how TLK works and that is a fascinating thing to explore.

Tangent, are you liking The Burrows? I'm pretty well settled on doing that and Happytown for now. The Lionhearts will technically get to spoilers for both of those if I just continue. I'm actually liking The Burrows because Muffin and Duke have grown on me. I also generally love ensemble casts, especially when they can be added to by virtue of people moving into an established growth area. I can even bring in other characters from stories, like the Todd family. Peter is very much a changed kit after his father has the actual "talk" with him and explains things.

zfqfmb

5 years, 5 months ago

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@ GabrielLaVedier

Each one of your stories has had its own delights as it's developed. I mean really, you have a knack for taking things I've seen a hundred times before and turning them into something totally novel and really enjoyable.

I first thought your Translation story was rather poorly set up. (Magic time travel to allow a pair that hate each other to find love has been done so SO badly in the MLP and Sonic fandoms and Belheart (And Sharla-Gideon) are ships that seldom have substance over 'Let's pair these enemies for the D'awww.'.) but as it developed it was interesting to see how the 'main story' of the movie was affected. And the fact that you avoided WildeHopps there was very brave, people HATE that. (Though its ending raised SO MANY QUESTIONS for me.)

The Lionhearts wasn't really my thing, I mean after the first story, what could you do with the characters? Especially since we knew Dawn's ending was happy afterwards. Well you could do the whole Mr.Big subplot. You had him as a very legitimate threat which is an angle people seldom take. (I have however seen more than one story where the Bigs murder people... but are somehow still good guys. Not criminal people either, regular folk.)

But I must say The Burrows has been most interesting because of its cast and themes and the way it seems to be organically growing without any preordained grand narrative. It's just so full of unexpected turns. The whole Duke plot thread started pretty predictably with the Judy-Duke-Muffin thing where the apparently good bunny cop had no remorse at all after dragging a suspect to a mob boss and threatening to have him killed (While very clearly enjoying the experience.), complete with plenty of insults and assumptions. (Seriously Judys of fanwork, you break down in front of the fox whose feelings you hurt but don't care about death threats?) And of course a lot of ground's been covered with the 'Country folk back home don't approve of this relationship'. It's 90% of Bunnyburrows fics.

But it just kept going in directions I hadn't expected or thought of. Having Judy's family on the bandwagon essentially from the get-go was pretty novel; often the whole point of stories like these is how much her family dislikes foxes and persuading THEM to get on board with things. Having them as a voice behind Nick and Judy (And as an extension the other pairs introduced.) changed the flow of things in a way that just doesn't happen in more traditional Zootopia fics.It's interesting to see their relationship be more mature (Not in the adult sense) but not taken to the 'And now its 10 years later and they have 3 kids' extremes a lot of fics like to end on.

Again and again I'd find myself going 'Why are they still writing this character? Regular writers would've stopped five chapters ago!' And it would be a plot that people just don't write and a damn fine one too. I don't know if this was characters growing on you or if you had a plan for this sort of thing from the start but everything's just so complex and interlaced. It's really impressive and something I've not seen from other writers in the fandom. And of course the sheer NUMBER of characters almost boggles the mind.

So yeah, impressive body of work you got there. I dare say exceptional.

GabrielLaVedier

5 years, 5 months ago

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@ zfqfmb

It's them growing on me. Muffin and Duke were going to be a throwaway gag. I like Duke so I figured, give him a girlfriend. A little older, richer, a society dame. Now I can't stop. Helps that they remind me some of Nick and Nora Charles, to the point that I am literally giving them a fluffy white pet... chicken.

The ensemble nature and well understood "complicated" nature of who isn't allowed to date what makes The Burrows a rich location. There will even come some variants of Translation characters. At least one. And I can pay off certain references or show them directly. Like we've already met the Sheriff's boyfriend and his weirdly loving but scheming family. They're like the good version of the Arcticas. I'll even show off the Thickets, the good redneck deer, with their catfish frying, and giant tranq rifles, just to make Bobby Catmull sweat. And will have the dorkus crowd hit a Zootopian convention to nerd out and sing filk. Man... I might even have Pop-Pop's past come back to confront him. He is full of guilt, and just barely feels like he's making up for it by being best grampy and encouraging Jake to be the buck he was too chicken to be. He's not supposed to play favorites but everyone is well aware Princess is his favorite grandchild.

zfqfmb

5 years, 5 months ago

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@ GabrielLaVedier

If Duke's family is from a place with snow then HE'LL be white and fluffy every time e doesn't get enough natural light. (This can happen to pet weasels and those are a thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2CTVqt2wxU ) I'm sure Nick has a winter coat too, but I doubt his changes color.

It looks like the Burrows isn't half done huh? I've only rarely had a story that just kept building on itself, and it's always a fun and amazing thing. Be interesting to see Pop-Pop; he's the classic racist old person type if ever there was one. (Which is probably why he was cut from the movie.)

Though... if he's the same 'Otto Hopps' mentioned in a certain newspaper clipping, then he's over a hundred years old. Which raises questions about how old he was when Judy's parents were born.

GabrielLaVedier

5 years, 5 months ago

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@ zfqfmb

Duke is a funny story. I told it in his and Muffin's chapter of the wedding run-up. He's technically a Burrower. The Weaselton family is an institution. But his grandpop had no intention of running the store. Grandpa Cesar had two little kits. The one Duke doesn't name, his pops, and Meister. Meister stayed, Cesar took his family to Zootopia. And it was... ugly. They had to survive, in a slum. Cesar was unwilling to do evil. Pops was far more willing. The schlub was abandoned by his wife and is in for a long stretch in the joint. Duke has written him off. (I have written two stoats that are always white; Councillor Erminova spends so much time in her district she's permanently in her winter coat, and Hermione LaBelle from "Let it go, it's Happytown" has a genetic condition that keeps her white.)

I keep the mystery. He only ever goes by the nickname. Ditto his late wife, she's just Gam-Gam. He's very much grandpa racist. I sort of structured him a little on my mother's father. A solid man of immense strength and morality but he was just, well, casually racist. That's what I think is the major difference between malevolent racism and grandpa racism. He's not actively doing evil. He's saying dumb things. Foxes are evil until two of them marry his grandkits, now they're family, you shut your muzzle, they're part of this burrow now. But like Jake said, he never, EVER hated weasels. His own son was saltier to weasels than him. Jake's engagement was the salvation of the Hopps clan. His grandkit erased his cowardly shame, made the Hopps family noble again.

Buck Roeberts is, or was, grandpa racist too. He was raised by grandparents, got a little backwards from it. But he learned. Finding out the Sheriff is an Outsider helped, so did seeing the active and sickening malevolence of Seedcache. Getting a girlfriend outside his species, habitat and size range put a bow on it. Now he's almost tripping over himself to be enlightened.

zfqfmb

5 years, 4 months ago

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@ GabrielLaVedier

Well, we can hope his incarcerated family gets another shot sometime, or at least a better outlook. Everyone deserves their time in the sun, to make of it what they will.

I think one of the biggest confusions we have as a society is mistaking unthinking prejudice for that with malicious intent. A lot of bad things are done more out of ignorance than malice. (And it's part of the reason for 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'.) It's very easy to accuse someone of foul intent which then only pits them against you, often making it harder for them to change. (Because now admitting they're wrong amounts to admitting they're bad people.) It can cause a huge mess all round.