I really enjoy how natural-sounding the dialogue is and how you kept it very in character. Masterful writing.

Thanks a lot mate ^^ it's one of the things I'm really, really picky about, so I'm glad the effort is appreciated

Keckles said it all. Well done, my friend. Exceptionally well done, indeed.

Thank you very much ^^

I adore the Zootopia stuff you've been doing its amazing and i hope to see more in the future, keep up the great work ^^

There likely will be more in the future, though I hope I will be able to concentrate on my actual work stuff in the meantime aswell =.=

Having thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and the world created within; every time you upload one of these slice of life vignettes, it's quite a treat to allow one self to be taken along for the ride.
Thank you for taking us along with you.

As mundane as it might be from time to time, doing these slice of life things is very refreshing and fun ^^ I'm glad you enjoy them so much and I hope any future ones' I might do will be just as enjoyable.

This is totally within the realm of General fare. No need to put up the restrictive warning!

Really cute comic, too. It's funny, though - I had interpreted Judy and Clawhausers' exchange in the beginning of the movie [SPOILERS...not really], where he calls her 'cute' and she rebuffs him, to mean that inter-species relationships were somewhat of a taboo in Zootopia, not that it was perpetuating a stereotype. Yours is probably the intended meaning, but since there aren't any inter-species couples in the movie, it does make you wonder a bit about what the 'rules' of that universe are...

Weeeeell, Clawhauser did apologize for stereotyping immediately after Judy rebuked him for it, so I'm pretty sure it's what they wanted to focus on.

I didn't feel the interspecies thing being much of a topic throughout the movie, save the in-joke about Clawhauser the cheetah being a massive fan of Gazelle the... well, gazelle :b pretty sure it's not a taboo per se, but it's likely something like "a phase", like homosexuality was thought to be "a phase" with many youngsters. Since mixed species couples likely can't bare children, it likely carries a similar societal stigma with it as homosexual vs. heterosexual relationships in our world.

Yeah, you're right.

That was another thing that was weird, actually...Gazelle being the stage name for a gazelle? Why? We don't have any pop stars named 'Human' or 'Woman'. Thankfully.

Does Lady Gaga count? <.<

No, because I'm not completely sure she's 100% human in the first place.

Good point that XD

If Disney hasn't already put you the payroll for Zootopia II......they probably should! Damn fine writing, iPoke!

Thanks a lot for the vote of confidence XD if you have an in, let me know!

IAt the risk of sounding creepy, I love you to death. I'm so happy that I chanced upon your artwork, it's always charming, well-drawn, insightful, and heartfelt above all. I've never seen anything you've made that felt forced or unnatural, and I absolutely adore you for that. Please keep up the good work, and good luck with all of your work!

I've had far creepier comments in my time here, don't worry XD

I'm glad you enjoy my work so much :3 hope you do so in the future as well, wherever it might take me.

Loved this, the conversation sounded so natural, not forced at all. You're a wonderful story writer on top of everything else. Stepping into these characters personal lives is such an adventure, makes them seem more real, like us.

Also, boys will be boys and off to the amusement park they go...i mean I'd go lol. Keep it up poke, never hurt to get some ideas out of you're head before getting back to work. Back when i actually contributed to the artistic community and wrotr stories, id get side tracked with short stories all the time. Drove mu readers nuts haha

Since you did write yourself, I'm sure you know how dialogue goes through several iterations, before eventually becoming the final, published draft X3 I'm glad to hear that my efforts to make them feel like they were having a fluent, regular conversation paid off.

I would have to agree with the above comments. This whole thing is a great piece and very very solid in story and world building. I am eager for the follow up piece.

We'll see whether/when I do any ^^ glad you like what's there though

What can I say that hasn't already been said? A mature conversation between adults that strikes that right tender spot of juiciness, respectability and you can actually believe it was really spoken between two people.

You have a way with words, and the pictures, although sketches, do a wonderful job of highlighting people doing what they do naturally in these situations. Body posture is done so well that you don't need animation to highlight what is happening and it still looks pretty damn smooth despite the lines.

And that's enough praise, used up my five dollar limit on fancy words, and I need to hit the hay. >v>

The last point on your first paragraph is probably what was most important to me. I read a lot of dialogue that's definitely well written, but feels like it literally is dialogue, not a conversation.

The other thing I'm really glad to hear is that the pictures feel fluent enough to actually do away with animation. Since I can't actually animate myself (or well, I could, but I don't have the time for that sort of thing), getting static actions to look like actions and also make them feel like they're something actual, real people do when engaged in whatever it is they're doing is something I try to pay a lot of attention to.

Thank you very much for sacrificing your five dollars of fancy words on me. I always enjoy comments :3

I'm happy to give constructive feedback once in a while. (It's rare because I get distracted by the roomies doing what they do best.)
And I look forward to your replies! 'tis rare an artist will reply as much as they do to their followers. We all appreciate it. ^v^

And once again, I'ma go zonk. It's so late it's morning... @v@

Yeah, it's something I miss very much from other artists. I mean, what's the point of posting to an image board built around feedback and commentary interaction when you're not gonna parttake?

Aye, it makes no sense to me either. Oh well, what can you do but hope artists reach out and interact with their fans?

Not a whole lot, besides lead by example, I guess ^^

I still haven't seen the movie, but i enjoy these ideas of yours regardless. Almost looks like you are gonna make a zootopia 2.
Didn't know you were so much in love with bunnies, finally a weakness i can use for my evil plots to take over the world!

Tsk, I wish XD hey, if they still have an opening on a Zoot2 team, I'll be happy to jump in on that.

I didn't think I have such a weakness for bunnies either. Can't say I really do anyway, not many bunny-anthros are appealing, but Judy strikes a very special spot as a character.

Was a little confused at which color belonged to who but I got it and really enjoyed it. very nice art and dialogue.

I was also expecting to have the eyes colored, I guess Forest Tails has drilled that into me.

Yeah, sorry about that. Since Marcus and Nick have the same eye color, I had to resort to using Nick's fur color to denote his dialogue bubbles.

Heh, well, I'm not sure I could write an entire sequel, or at least not one a studio would pay several millions to produce, but hey, I'll be happy to toss around ideas regardless X3

That 'cute' issue is something I've wanted to find a place to address properly for a long time, so Carnegy getting this chance was a real treat. I'd have more to say on it, but it would turn into preaching really quickly if I wasn't careful, so I decided to just leave the dialogue as is ^^

I'm glad to hear you think my work is on par with the source material. Let's hope I can keep engaging people with it here and there.

You know, early drafts for the movie centered around Nick and his kid, with him trying to be a good (single?) parent.
Other than oddly omitting the kid sitting in the graduation ceremony, they haven't necessarily ruled it out with their final story.

It'd certainly make for an odd twist in this one too. ;)

True, but I'm pretty sure he'd have made some form of mention of a son, if he had one. Several chances and situations where it would have made sense.

Addressing the idea of raising children in Zootopia is a good hook though. Nick's mom would probably give a lot of opportunity on that. What would the good mother think of her mid 30's son working and hooking up with a prey species, a bunny of all things, after what happened at the scouts troop?

You are doing fantastic stuff with greytones and dialogue.

Thanks mate ^^

I really, really like Carnegy a lot.


And I really enjoy these comics/stories. You give Zootopia's characters such depth; they're so well written!!! Inspirational, I tells ya.

XD Carnegy is a very entertaining character to write with. The audience either loves her, or hates her, apparently, which is just as well, since she's supposed to be somewhat of a polarizing personality.

I'm glad to hear my writing appeals to you!

Well, ain't this story is beautiful?

I don't know. Is it? :3

Wow, this is really deep and super fun to read! It's not often that you can get something with a weighty subject that still reads so easily. You're doing great work with these characters and I look forward to more.

Heh, glad to hear it ^^ the things addressed are just something I thought would make sense to talk about in some form or another. I'll admit, I abused Carnegy and Hopps for voicing my own opinions a little bit here X3

This speaks to me. Especially the eggshells part. Good commentary on the current status of the western world. Well done.

Thank you very much ^^ I just felt there needed to be a bit of counter wording to that particular aesop from the movie aswell.

"I have the feeling my head's a little too full and I'm having a hard time getting it to shut up ... ah well."

You're not alone -- that's been me for the last couple of months too. I've had what I honestly believe could become a best-selling book series all ready to go, but now I'm working on a spec script because that's the only channel my brain gets anymore.

I am loving this ideas. These little character moments, the dialogue, how fluid it is... I mean wow. You've got real skill!

Thank you very much ^^ please keep enjoying in the future.

I absolutely love these dialogues, you're a pretty amazing writer.

The only thing I'd want to say is that I don't think the 'cute' thing ever had to be discussed. It felt more like a rolling joke between the animal world and the real world than an actual issue for Hopps. But I guess that's just my point of view. :B

Heh, glad to hear it ^^

Personally I feel the movie had a solid concept on the whole deal, but it was portrayed just that little bit too simple an issue for my taste, so I thought I'd throw in my two cents on the matter. Hopps did genuinely feel slighted by the comment though, so it just made sense to me to expand on it in this particular instance.

You know, that's a good point as well. If they had made it a bigger thing in that world, with more 'nicknames' that would be okay within certain species and not outside of it.
Having said that, this all makes me think it was a light jab or maybe a reference at the N-word.

Still, I love the way you make these things sound natural
Oh and props for replying to pretty much every comment. Not enough artists take the time to do that anymore.

*nods* I'm pretty sure it was meant to reference real world similarities. I have my issues with the choices made on that particular front, but I digress. Carnegy's dialogue on the subject does enough to put it out there for other people to discuss.

I'm pretty sure there are other "nicknames" out there for different species to get upset about, just like I think it's a bad idea to tell an elephant they've lost weight Xb

Thank you very much on both counts too. I'm glad my artwork and public relations ambitions are appreciated. I do miss other artists enjoying discourse on their work aswell :/

It sort of makes me wonder how the analogy was really meant though. Because there's plenty of 'nicknames' in the real world that are, well, bad. And they are unmistakably bad. Cute however? That just doesn't have an ounce of negativity to it despite it being a species thing. Unlike the N-word, which has a ...colorful history to it. So did they want people to relate it to racial slurs or other observational 'insults'?

Also, heck yeah. I'm not sure why artists don't try to connect with their fans more. I feel like that would get them a better rep, and a better rep means more word of mouth, etc.

Well, I interpreted it along the lines that 'cute' is sort of an equivalent to ... say calling a person of african ethnicity 'black', which for some reason seems to have become unacceptable in media and conversation.
Cute, as such, obviously has no negativity and Carnegy meant it in the positive sense, but to an envelope-pusher like Judy it's a condescension, because 'a cute bunny surely can't achieve X'. However Carnegy didn't say it in that context, hence the argument.

Now to actually parallel racial slurs; I would have imagined "cotton-tail" for instance to be something on par with the N-word, but it just bounces right off apparently. That, or Judy just ignored it in favor of chasing Weaselton down. I'd imagine there's quite a few words for each species that are either N-word like or stereotype attributes about them, like "shifty" foxes and raccoons or "lazy" sloths, etc. etc.

---

You'd think so, but apparently they don't care for that sort of thing. Me, I just like having a good conversation and discussing topics and questions presented in my and other peoples' work <3

Cotton-tail, hah! I mean.. er.. that's offensive, man. :U

I'm still not entirely convinced that cute would parallel to black. Cute is still something that would generally be seen as a positive word and a compliment. Black is well, simply neutral. Although I can totally imagine having some oblivious soul compliment a really black person for being really black. My point being, you can call anyone cute. You can't call everyone black. So is that the reference?
Maybe I'm just looking too far into this though. I just found it really peculiar to have something that's entirely meant as a compliment to be seen as something offensive, heh.

And yes, not enough nice conversations on FA. C:

Yeah, I didn't meant he neutrality part of it, just that cute is a pretty regular word, which bunnies hook up on being deminishing to them ... but yeah, we're blwoing hot air at eachother by now XD

Yesssss, more personal development about Z, I only can just approve. Other things to do? Well, quit work and you'll have enough time around!! XD
Sorry but looking at your works is such a joy, I am being very selfish and don't care about what other things your life is made of ;-P

Gah, I fucking wish =.= I am so ready to quit that damn place, but there's no where else to go~ =_=

I understand you - indeed, don't do anything foolish, those times are not the best ones to make fast decisions if you don't have anything ready and steady on view

great dialogue

...and now the dating begins

Thanks!

And, yeah, I suspect so.

well you've already jumped the gun by showing him proposing to her. Now you'll have show what happened between this and then

XD I'm probably going to have to, wont I?

and I shall look forward to seeing them

between you and Bernielover (another user here) then I think you two make the best zootopia fan comics

Heh, thank you very much X3

From what I've seen of his work, he focuses a lot more on the catering side of the comics ideas. Wish I could keep up with his turnout though <.<

Bernie is a she

and while she does crank out a lot of work - then yours is without a doubt of a higher quality

Oh ... I am so sorry =.=;;

Thanks for the praises though ^^ I hope to keep on writing entertaining stuff for you guys to enjoy, Forest Tails, Zoot, or otherwise X3

you don't have to apologize to me

...and considering that on some of her porn (roughly once a month, curiously enough) she tends to write stuff like "I thoughts about this last night while ovulating" then.... well... ya

XD Well, I suppose that would be a give away there, yeah

I'll be honest, I don#t read half the artist comments on comics, especially when they're just two or three words :/

fair enough

This is really fantastic~ Wonderful dialogue to be sure. I adore panel 9; it's such a great, creative angle, and people do that all the time, but you don't see it done (what a weird thing for me to fixate on).

It can be annoying when inspiration hits and you have other things on your plate, but I think the end result is really something great that you may not have gotten at another time so hopefully it's worth being just a teeny bit irresponsible this time~

Oooohhh~ I'm so very, very happy you mentioned that particular panel it's one of those things I really, really wanted to have in there, because I felt it just makes it look and feel like an actual car ride and I've never actually seen anyone do that.

Also, thank you very much for dropping by my little corner here Sefeiren. Long time fan of your work, though I'm more of the quiet, sulky type ^^

Headcanon

As is all that is not passed down to use from the house of mouse ~

First of all, what a wonderfully crafted strip! Takes me back to the comics of Carl Barks and Walt Kelly strips that raised me. There the art was complex, multiview, and varied, the dialogue was witty, crisp, and emotionally subtle, and the animal characters drew you into their reality as if you belonged there as one of their colleagues. The stories were often convoluted, slightly deranged, and drew you into a world where the familiar and the fantastic interwove so naturally, but always the characters came first. Barks, Kelly, and others were masters of expressing the inner lives of their creatures through postures, gestures, and facial expression, and their intractions with one another. Plots were important, but they were just the props and riggings around which ducks and dogs and possums and owls and turtles and allegators and others played out their ambitions, insecurities, and affections for themselves and their compatriots.

You've really done some remarkable stagecraft here, first with all the different angles from which we view the characters. The drawings almost look like draftings with multiple lines, circles, and shadings rather than completed depictions, but the result is wonderfully surreal, slightly foreboding, and yet genuinely intimate. It conveys a sense of inner tension and uncertainty in both the noctural surroundings and the attitudes of the characters. Both Judy and Nick as well show some discomfort at "Nick's Night Out" choice, and that transfers into the dialogue between the rabbit and her driver companion. Anyone reading the dialogue has to remember some of their own "Car Talk" times...out with a pal, ranging topically from the intimate to the crude to silly to the sublime and all in the space of a ride home. It's a dialogue you can build upon to go into new arenas or just let it drift away....as in real life such conversational flowers will.

It would be interesting to see, to eavesdrop, on what Nick and his pal might be doing...and discussing, mirroring the concerns and counsel shared by Judy and Cassidy. "So...um...Nick...um...Judy's a great gal...and a good cop,,,and saved your life about eight times...but...you know what we're doin' here, right? And, well, Judy's...um..."

And I'll just jam down here. Great, good stuff, ipoke, Disney needs to talk to you.

Wow, dude. Pretty high pedestal to be put on with names like that honestly, I have to admit, I never grew up with a whole lot of comics. The regular Mickey Mouse comic books that would come out every week was about all the exposure I had when I was a kid. Movies were pretty much the biggest influence on my life as a story teller, both animated and live action.

I'm glad to hear my efforts to be a good artist and writer pay off though. The fact that you feel like you can reminisce on situations like this from your own life tells me I've succeeded in my attempt to recreate that kind of feeling for these two. What I was definitely trying to capture was this moment in day time where you just have the 'day' part behind you and you're about to start off into a, more or less, open ended evening.

I'd thought about whether I'll have Fairweather and Wilde have this kind of chat too, but if that does happen, it'll still be a whiles into the future.

Anyway, thank you very, very much for your vote of confidence about my work ^^ if you have an in at the house of mouse, let me know ;b

I learned to read from Walt Disney's Comics and Stories...so your art resonates with me at a whole range of levels. You learned your lessons well and now you're going you're way.
...And I'm emjoying the hell out of the ride. Again, it's like that drive home after a long day, maybe you had a couple of drinks, and it's suddenly kind of a "Oh...Hell..Let's...Just...Spil...Everything...and...Promise..to...Forget...It...Before...Breakfast!" sort of show and tell exchange where people mutually decide to drop their guard and open up. Such conversations in reality do not always end well but they make for great drama and thought provoking dialogues.
By the way, another thing I really appreciate...and I hope none of the readers go for my throat over this. I like that you haven't turned Nick into a wimpy nebish, kind of intimidated by all the dynamic police personalities overshadowing him and just a limp foil to a more dynamic Judy. Yeah, he's got some real vulnerabilities and he's struggling to work through his feelings for Judy, but he's still Nick Wilde...resourceful, tough, cynical, slick, and knows how to surivive, even prosper, in a world of big muscles, big status, and big teeth. I like how your work respects this world without slipping into either syrup or puppetry.

Heh, glad to hear you're hanging on to it ^^

Considering they're both cops, I'm sure they're not careless enough to DUI, but it is a heartfelt personal dialogue they're sharing.

And as for Nick being Nick ... I really don't see how else I could portray him. I've seen a lot of variations where Nick is either so brash he's somewhat out there or so timid he has no drive left in him and both feel way out fo character.
When I do come around to portraying Nick again he'll certainly remain an adult being with the experience and personality to stand through the occasional slight or remark, because I feel that's essentially who he is. He takes about as much as he dishes out X3

I love this. I still don't know how you manage to make the dialog sound and feel so natural. On such a regular basis. It's just totally incredible. It really does sound like a real conversation between real people. I'm always impressed with your dialog, just as much as with your artwork. Always fantastic

Thank you very much. I'm glad to hear that ^^

I usually approach dialogue by imagining myself in both character's situations. Their personalities tell me how they would react to different topics and the way they are presented and it usually rolls from there. There's usually a few key-stone phrases/dialogue snippets that I want to have in a strip and the rest is built around it to accommodate that specific thing I wanted to address.

Well, please keep it up. You're doing one hell of a good job.

Superb as always.

Thank you :3

*Nods*

Looknig good.

Thanks :3

This was a nice read. Really flowed.

Thank you very much ^^

Thank you very much =^-^= always glad to hear my work is appreciated

This is cute. In the way Carnegy explained.

Heheh X3 you have to admit, she does have a point.

This goes beyond having a point. "You can't expect people to treat you as equals and then walk on eggshells every time they talk to you on account of you being different', this is life-defining wisdom right there. If you write your own stuff, then you're really good at it, and I hope to see more of it, Zootopia related or not (though I would prefer if it was, I love the movie and the universe it plays in). I came for the drawing, but I'm staying for the whole package. Keep up the great work, I do so love watching it.

Heh, glad to hear that ^^

Yeah, I write my own material, although I do work on commission aswell ^^ Zoot will likely remain a thing in my gallery, as it's a nice vacation from my regular stuff, so stay tuned.

whoa, how did I miss this? o.o is this gonna be colored in? either way, awesome storyline, here ^^

Heh, thanks a lot RJ! ^^

No, it wont be colored. At least I'm not planning on it, unless the house of mouse turns up on my doorstep and asks me to make this fully fledged strips XD

lol that's alright. are there any more pages after this and the next one?

I haven't done any so far, but I might continue that trail of thought eventually X3

This is so cute! I love your work here! :D

Thank you ^^

Critical hit to the feels. Thank you for the passion you put into your works.

You're very welcome ^^ Thank you for the praise

I truly can't wait to see if you do the conversation where Judy asks Nick out. I have a feelign that it will be full of starts and stops, descriptions of previous actions and/or back flashes, and basically an amazing confession.
Maybe over the phone? and nick rushes over to accept in person but she's got another idea about what's going on? I dunno!

I just need to know what happens!

XD We'll see if I ever get down to that. Perhaps when I have a little more brain time after the summer.