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And now for some monkey business...
Category Story / Comics
Species Hyena
Size 799 x 998px
File Size 272.9 kB
Okay two things Mitch...
1) Do not look down on Madam Jade's "Experience/Resume" and not just because she'll eat your face. She KNOWS what she's doing.
2) Try spandex for Murphy. I know it's tacky and snobs like you would never ever consider it for an any occasion and all, but DANGNABBIT, I want that girl to be a Power Ranger for this wedding.
(Besides, her wearing.... "leather" might be kind of awkward considering her kill count includes former members of Kathy's new troops...)
1) Do not look down on Madam Jade's "Experience/Resume" and not just because she'll eat your face. She KNOWS what she's doing.
2) Try spandex for Murphy. I know it's tacky and snobs like you would never ever consider it for an any occasion and all, but DANGNABBIT, I want that girl to be a Power Ranger for this wedding.
(Besides, her wearing.... "leather" might be kind of awkward considering her kill count includes former members of Kathy's new troops...)
Spandex can have unfortunate side effects if the clothing isn't sized correctly. The spandex uniforms in Star Trek: The Next Generation were too small for the actors and Patrick Stewart's chiropractor warned he would suffer permanent back damage if he kept wearing them. Johnathan Frakes HAD suffered back injuries (which is why Riker was often shown standing up or leaning on the Enterprise bridge) and the uniforms couldn't have been kind to him. Murphy would need a LOT of spandex!
Serious question, in Rackenroon is pre-marital naughtiness considered bad? Or is that just for upper-class? I ask because while Fred has clear reasons why he and Kathy have not bedded yet, Not for lack of Kathy's effort, I have noticed that no-one else seems to be hooking up much.
Sandy for instance, I don't recall what her situation is but she could make a VERY good match here.
I assume there is stuff going on off camera...I'm just curious. ^.^
Sandy for instance, I don't recall what her situation is but she could make a VERY good match here.
I assume there is stuff going on off camera...I'm just curious. ^.^
That is a very good question, and I'm afraid the answer is long and complicated. However, I will be brief.
No, I cannot be brief. I will sum up.
Due to their masculinized genitalia, sex--and birth--for female spotted hyenas is uncomfortable and dangerous. They can die in childbirth. So generations of females have institutionalized a disdain for casual sex. They look upon it like defecation--unpleasant, disgusting, but necessary, and you want to get it over with as quickly as possible, and you certainly don't want to brag about it afterwards.
Of course, the Victorians were public prudes, too.
And this is why people like Madam Jade are millionaires.
As for Sandy--well, she has a spouse back home.
Oddly, one of the things I learned about real spotted hyenas, is that they're "promiscuous breeders." In my world, the heat cycles are very strong in order to overcome the intellectual disgust, since those who do mate and give birth pass on their genetic materials. As Fred told Sandy, about being glad her parents went on to have Kathy, "Thank God for your mother's libido."
No, I cannot be brief. I will sum up.
Due to their masculinized genitalia, sex--and birth--for female spotted hyenas is uncomfortable and dangerous. They can die in childbirth. So generations of females have institutionalized a disdain for casual sex. They look upon it like defecation--unpleasant, disgusting, but necessary, and you want to get it over with as quickly as possible, and you certainly don't want to brag about it afterwards.
Of course, the Victorians were public prudes, too.
And this is why people like Madam Jade are millionaires.
As for Sandy--well, she has a spouse back home.
Oddly, one of the things I learned about real spotted hyenas, is that they're "promiscuous breeders." In my world, the heat cycles are very strong in order to overcome the intellectual disgust, since those who do mate and give birth pass on their genetic materials. As Fred told Sandy, about being glad her parents went on to have Kathy, "Thank God for your mother's libido."
One thing that I've hinted at in the story, is that it's not the over-confident males like Koz who turn the ladies' heads, but the quiet, subservient ones, like Fred. Yes, he's considered a "catch" because of his wealth and status--and any woman marrying him would control that wealth, according to their customs--but a patient, polished "butler-type" guy beats the ones who are full of themselves.
Although...I have also hinted that Koz has "been around the block a few times." And he didn't always have to pay for it.
Although...I have also hinted that Koz has "been around the block a few times." And he didn't always have to pay for it.
Hmm, okay that does make sense. I enjoy the fact that you take biology into account without using a hammer to do it and also turn it into a bit of humor! XD
Though that leads to a further question, what about romance? It seems that the idea isn't foreign but is more in the wheelhouse for the Americans than for the Rackenroon. (Rackenroonians? Rackenroonites?)
Though that leads to a further question, what about romance? It seems that the idea isn't foreign but is more in the wheelhouse for the Americans than for the Rackenroon. (Rackenroonians? Rackenroonites?)
Hyenas are warriors. They generally don't do "romance." Romance is for weaklings. The females don't admit to feeling romantic, and the males are constantly on a slow horny simmer ready to strike if any female needs their "help." They euphemize being in heat as "being drunk" because they need to lose control of their minds in order to want to mate. And for many of them, it IS "mating," not "making love." They do it for reproduction, if they have to (like to produce an heir.) And they certainly don't want to do it for recreation!
Fred's unusual because he's an intellectual. He has also been trained since childhood for his job as Sire Consort, and has read a lot of "tawdry codpiece-rippers" for research purposes. It's causing him to overthink things, however....
If you haven't read Fred's Diary, you might find it interesting--that and the short story about Madam Jade. There are links in my introductory profile. Some of your questions might find more detailed answers there.
To save time, here are the links:
https://www.crosstimecafe.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=12085
https://www.crosstimecafe.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14258
It's also helpful to keep in mind that, being raised among a more cosmopolitan collection of animals in America, Kathy and Sandy don't have the "Hyenas Over All--Kill Them All And Eat Them" mindset that the African Crocutans have. It's a cultural thing. Their grandmothers are from Rackenroon, and are old-line warriors, but seem to be outnumbered by the "bohemian" Americanized members of the family. (And Songween herself was raised in America, to protect her from murderous attempts by her older sisters, so she's not the "noble warrior" type, either.)
Kathy's desire for romance is going to seem very strange to the Crocutans, and Fred realizes that she can't appear too WEIRD (Western, Educated, Idealistic, Rich, and Democratic) to the people she will someday rule. Of course, they've gotten used to Songween, because Songween gives them stuff.
I think I answered your question...? I got lost on a tangent.
Fred's unusual because he's an intellectual. He has also been trained since childhood for his job as Sire Consort, and has read a lot of "tawdry codpiece-rippers" for research purposes. It's causing him to overthink things, however....
If you haven't read Fred's Diary, you might find it interesting--that and the short story about Madam Jade. There are links in my introductory profile. Some of your questions might find more detailed answers there.
To save time, here are the links:
https://www.crosstimecafe.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=12085
https://www.crosstimecafe.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14258
It's also helpful to keep in mind that, being raised among a more cosmopolitan collection of animals in America, Kathy and Sandy don't have the "Hyenas Over All--Kill Them All And Eat Them" mindset that the African Crocutans have. It's a cultural thing. Their grandmothers are from Rackenroon, and are old-line warriors, but seem to be outnumbered by the "bohemian" Americanized members of the family. (And Songween herself was raised in America, to protect her from murderous attempts by her older sisters, so she's not the "noble warrior" type, either.)
Kathy's desire for romance is going to seem very strange to the Crocutans, and Fred realizes that she can't appear too WEIRD (Western, Educated, Idealistic, Rich, and Democratic) to the people she will someday rule. Of course, they've gotten used to Songween, because Songween gives them stuff.
I think I answered your question...? I got lost on a tangent.
Thanks for taking your time to humor me and the info! I definitely don't expect side tangents, I was only curious about how things are being viewed. You helped me understand the story better, and I am impressed by the depths you have gone to so you could make such a believable world.
I appreciate your effort! ^.^
I appreciate your effort! ^.^
Well--thanks! It comes from obsessing about it for ten years! ;) I don't mind talking about how the story "works," since some of it is "only in my head" or is discussed in another medium (like the two stories I mentioned.) Sometimes the strip feels like it moves just too slowly for me to get everything said. But then I feel like I am neglecting other characters, like Sandy, by shuffling them off the stage when I don't have much for them to be doing. Someone asked me the other day why I introduced the character of Sami, the orphan, and I replied that it was to give Sandy something to plausibly be doing when she's not "onstage." To be honest, right now I have nothing for her to do, as the story focuses on Kathy and Fred and the whirlwind of preparations for the wedding. It's enough to know that she's off playing with the kids and shirking responsibility. The story has a huge cast, and like real life, we don't get to interact with everybody every day.
I also enjoy explaining the worldbuilding aspect of Crocutan society. I based it on the political situation in Europe and Russia just prior to WW I; used elements of how women were treated as property by their husbands to form the inverted gender roles of the Crocutans; made them a nation of mercenaries along the lines of the Hessians in the eighteenth century; and then used real-life hyena research to flesh them out and speculate on what "evolved" hyenas might act like.
And it's sometimes hard for me to keep my own lore straight!
I also enjoy explaining the worldbuilding aspect of Crocutan society. I based it on the political situation in Europe and Russia just prior to WW I; used elements of how women were treated as property by their husbands to form the inverted gender roles of the Crocutans; made them a nation of mercenaries along the lines of the Hessians in the eighteenth century; and then used real-life hyena research to flesh them out and speculate on what "evolved" hyenas might act like.
And it's sometimes hard for me to keep my own lore straight!
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