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cycat4077 · 4 years

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Changes: A Sonny x Reader fic

(You know I’m in too deep with a fandom when I start writing fics...)

Sonny Carisi is ruining my expectations of men and, much to my dismay, slowly converting me into a “legs” woman. So it’s no wonder I want to write cute fluffy stories about him. Except this one doesn’t start out so fluffy. Like no fluff at all. Actually a lot of mutual loathing. But hey, what’s the opposite of hate? Yep! Love. We’ll get there folks ;)

Title: Changes Ship: Sonny x Reader (OC female character) Chapters: 1/? (should be more to come) Links: AO3, FF.net (or see below the cut), Chapter List

Notes: I love Carisi so much and Peter does such a fantastic job portraying him (and he's absolutely gorgeous to boot). It's hard to see Sonny as anything but a total sweetheart...But I wanted to try something a bit different. What if he and a love interest got off on the wrong foot and she was really annoyed by everything he did? How does that dynamic change when they finally start getting to know each other? Hope you enjoy! It was a quick idea that popped into my head. I do plan on continuing it for a bit, so any feedback would be loved!

Chapter 1: Summer Hire

This is the point in your life where you’d probably hear a record scratch and a voice-over version of yourself would say: “I bet you’re wondering how I ended up here?”

Well, you suppose it’s not the worst thing in the world but it’s not the exact vision you had had for yourself when you moved to New York.

You’re a university graduate. You did a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in biology upstate and, after finding your calling as a teacher, you completed a Master's in education to top it all off. The affiliations and contacts you made there led you to NYC when a part-time lecturer position opened up in Manhattan. It is in your discipline and you only have to teach one course per semester. It’s your foot in the door, doing something you truly love. But, the part-time position also comes with some drawbacks. The classes you teach aren’t offered in the summer, and with a wage that pays you by the lecture, summer break essentially means your income comes to a halt. New York isn’t exactly a city to offer affordable living either. This means money is tight, leaving you with no other choice but to seek out some temp work.

And low and behold, a position at the NYPD’s special victim’s unit became your new meal ticket. Being a teacher already means that you have the necessary police background checks completed and you have previously dealt with an issue on campus that vouches for your credibility when it comes to confidentiality. You are hired no problem, but the downside is that the job is for a bookkeeper. And bookkeeping is the fancy term the NYPD used for “clean up the paperwork messes we’ve let accumulate”. But a job’s a job and it will cover your summer bills.

So here you are: It’s your first day as SVU’s “bookkeeper” and you were told to find Sgt. Olivia Benson when you arrive. You walk into the squad room and your ears are immediately overwhelmed by ringing phones and the sounds of chatter. There are detectives whizzing by, going about whatever it is they do. You hug your notebook to your chest as you try to seek out the sergeant among the chaos. You see a brunette head into an office and figure that she’s your best bet.

“Hello,” you speak meekly, as you stand at the door.

The woman spins around and greets you with a quizzical smile.

“I’m here for the summer bookkeeper position,” you continue.

“Oh, yes! Welcome to SVU. Let me introduce you to the squad.” Sgt. Benson leads you to the center of the squad room and hollers to get everyone’s attention. “Listen up, everyone! This is our newest member of the team. She’s here to take care of all the filing messes you’ve left around here.”

You hear a chorus of lighthearted groans and chuckles from the rest of the team as Benson gives you a pat on the back.

Just then a tall, lanky man comes lumbering in towards the two of you. “Really, Sarge? A temp?” he scoffs.

“Carisi,” starts Benson, sounding very much like a mom scolding her son, “you know just as much as everyone else here that we have a backlog of case reports that need serious filing”.

He shrugs his shoulders, raising his hands as if to say whatever, you’re in charge! before walking away and plunking himself down at a desk.

Benson shows you to your new work station and the mounds of filing that are in disarray. “Don’t worry,” she reassures you with a warm smile, “it just takes these folks time to warm up to new faces.”

But it’s too late you think as she walks past that Carisi guy. His arrogance has immediately put you off. Him and his smug attitude. You get the same kind of defiance from your teenage students, for crying out loud!

The days go by, albeit slowly, as you trudge through paperwork. You’ve familiarized yourself with their previous filing system and are trying to sort and stack to match it. It’s tedious work but overall, not the worst possible job. The one thing that does annoy you though is Carisi. You watch him around the office from time to time. He’s got a loud, boisterous voice that always lets everyone know when he’s around. He’s got that brow of his which always seems to be knitted in disgust. Even the way he saunters around like he’s some tough guy makes you feel sick. And he always stands there with his hand on his hip like he’s someone important. Not to mention how brash he is with everyone he talks to and how he’s always trying to show off his legal knowledge to anyone who’ll listen…and even to those who won’t.

On top of his general demeanor, he has not exactly been friendly with you either. He clearly hasn’t given you the benefit of the doubt and he definitely doesn’t consider you a squad member. In all fairness, you’re not really a part of their detective team, but you still see these people everyday. Most of them make an effort to be nice to you. You can even sometimes overhear him let out these little quips about the paperwork or he’ll refer to you like you’re not even there. Carisi never ceases to make your eyes roll or your blood boil.

About a month into the job, you decide you need to work late. There’s at least a year’s worth of backlog and you really want to get the ball rolling with the organization. On top of that though, during the day you came across a really big mess. Folders that have cases mixed up and they desperately need proper sorting. So, overtime it is!

Everyone had already left and it’s just you in your messy bun, shuffling through countless papers and files. Well, you thought you were the only one left…

But of course, in comes Carisi with that stomach-churning saunter and that grumpy face of his. You let out an annoyed sigh. How was he going to try to insult you this time?

“You’re still here, newbie?” he chirps when he sees you.

“Backlog of paperwork, remember?” you quip back with just the perfect amount of sass.

“Ah, yes, how could I forget? Very important job and all…” His words absolutely drip with sarcasm but you are adamant that you won’t let him get to you. So, you just roll your eyes and turn back to your work.

When he notices your lack of rebuttal, he adds, “Clockin’ some oh-tee, myself. Mighta missed a lead in somma these files from our latest case.” He rolls up his sleeves as he speaks, exposing his forearms.

You, too, notice how warm the squad room is. Damn summer heat.

“That’s nice.” You fake a smile, watching him from the corner of your eye.

He plops down at his station a row across from your work-space, stretching himself out as his long, lanky legs crowd out his desk space. Carisi glances down as if he’s about to delve into his work, but then looks back up and over to you. You feel his blue eyes boring into you from a distance. “Why the hell you take this stupid job anyway? I assume the pay is total crap.”

Your head snaps up to glare at him. What a bold statement. He knows nothing about you yet he has the audacity to assume that this job is worthless? He probably thinks you’re just some desperate girl who needs to take whatever job she can get. Nothing to her name; nothing of worth.

“For your information,” you punctuate the words, “the college courses I teach aren’t offered in the summer.” You wanted your words to be a knife and to twist them so as to wipe the smug look off his face.

“Yourra teacher?” he says, taken aback.

You’ve got him! Not so smug now! “Yes, biological sciences at one of the colleges here in Manhattan.”

Carisi looks genuinely shocked. His eyebrows are raised and he’s just staring at you. You’ve finally rendered the mouthy detective speechless. You would do a victory dance, but you wouldn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing you enjoyed it that much.

“Wow,” he states with a small smile, “that’s really awesome.”

A compliment. Wow indeed. But then you notice something. His normally knitted, grumpy eyebrows that you detest so much are actually softened and expressive. In fact, his whole demeanor has suddenly changed. He looks…kind.

“What?” You finally break the silence, still trying to put up the hardened front.

“Nothin’. Just neva knew that ‘bout you. Why haven’t you said anything?” he questions.

“You never asked,” you reply simply. And, before you can stop yourself, you add: “Besides, I’m just a temp.” You immediately regret saying it. It was a dirty dig, especially when Carisi was actually trying to be nice.

“Yeah,” he says, scratching the back of his neck, “Sorry ‘bout that...”

His apology hangs heavily in the air for a few long moments before you decide to quietly utter: “It’s alright.”

You both silently return to your work for another few hours. Eventually, however, you can’t see straight. Your eyes hurt and your headache is growing worse. Your glasses had slipped so far down your nose that someone may mistake you for a little old granny. Your hair is sticking out in all directions, seemingly trying to escape its bun-prison. It’s most definitely time for you to head home.

You look up to see Carisi totally overcome with fatigue as well. He has bags under his eyes from a hard day. You know his job isn’t easy and you can admit that he actually does take it very seriously.

You stand up and close the open file in front of you. Your movements release Carisi from his work-induced trance. “Headin’ out?” he asks.

“Yeah,” you reply. “Can’t take anymore of this tonight.”

“I should call it a night too,” he says, standing up and straightening his tie. “Uh, lemme walk you home. It’s real late and there’s creeps hangin’ ‘round at this hour.”

You catch his eye. He looks genuinely apologetic. 'You' from a couple of weeks ago would have said no way in hell. Heck, 'You' from a couple of hours ago would have shut him down instantly. But something makes you say yes. For some reason your gut is telling you to give him a chance – that maybe you had judged him a little too quickly as well. “Sure,” you nod. “Thanks, detective.”

He flashes you a half smile. “Please, call me Sonny.”

Notes: Unfortunately, society does a lot of labeling and judging based on very little information. Doesn't matter what job you have or what you look like. If you take the chance to get to know someone, you may be pleasantly surprised :)

Chapter 2 here

#sonny carisi #dominick carisi #sonny x reader #law and order svu #my fanfic #Sonnyshine of my life #sonny carisi x reader

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thosekhakis · 4 years

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Anastasia in Translation

Or: an in-depth analysis of English-Dutch translation shifts in Gleb’s lyrical lines in the stage musical Anastasia Okay, so this is a post literally no one needs except me, but I’m making it anyway. After seeing the Dutch staging of Anastasia I’ve been intrigued with some of the choices made in the translation of the lyrics, particularly when it comes to Gleb and the main conflict he deals with in this musical. René van Kooten certainly plays him differently from OBC incarnation I have seen. For example, the scene in which Anya and Gleb first met is played with considerably less silliness, even though Gleb’s ‘I’m here every day’ retains its desperation. Gleb seems (even) more serious in some ways, and I was wondering how much of that has been given in by translation, so here y’all are – an in-depth analysis of English-Dutch translation shifts in Gleb’s lyrical lines in the stage musical Anastasia. Before I start this, I want to say that I’m not doing this to criticise the translation made by Daniël Cohen – translating lyrics is a job I don’t envy and I think he did a wonderful job. I’m merely trying to see what was emphasised in translation and how this might have impacted the show as a whole. The reason I’m only looking at the lyrical translations is a simple point of access: I do not have access to the complete scrips for either the English-language or Dutch production, and will be using the cast recordings to compare the texts. Any songs that are not on the cast recording, such as Gleb’s short reprise of ‘Land of Yesterday’, will sadly not be included. Abbreviations used: ST = source text (OBC lyrics) TT = target text (Dutch translation) Lit. = literally Now, without further ado, I will start with the first song Gleb sings in. ‘The Neva Flows’ In this song, Gleb warns Anya of the danger of rumours and reveals his entire background story. Convenient, and very interesting in translation too. Be very careful of these rumors that prevail Be very careful what you say I was a boy who lived the truth behind the tale And no one got away I saw the children as the soldiers closed the gate The youngest daughter and her pride My father leaving on the night they met their fate His pistol by his side Wees heel voorzichtig met de dingen die je zegt Pas op voor ieder vals gerucht Ik was nog jong maar niemand is dat weet ik echt Die dag de dood ontvlucht Ik zag de kinderen, toen ging het hek op slot De jongste dochter zo kordaat Ik zag mijn vader als de beulsknecht van het lot Met zijn pistool paraat While the immediately noticeable shift is that the song doesn’t start with rumours (which do appear in the second line), perhaps the most interesting shift in the start of the song is the addition of ‘beulsknecht van het lot’ (lit. executioner of fate) in the TT when Gleb is talking of his father. Gleb is very clear on who his father was and what he has done, and a double play on ‘beulsknecht’ is introduced: he executed a family, as well as fate. Gleb clearly believes in the righteousness of his father’s actions here, as early as the first verse. The Neva flows A new wind blows And soon it will be spring The leaves unfold The tsar lies cold A revolution is a simple thing De Njeva stroomt Een volk dat droomt Van lente pril en rein De sneeuw die wijkt De tsaar bezwijkt Zo simpel kan een revolutie zijn The chorus also introduces Gleb’s feelings towards the revolution clearly. When the ‘new wind blows’, the TT speaks of the dreams of the people. The spring Gleb sings about is ‘pril en rein’ (lit. young and clean) in the TT. These small hints reveal, perhaps more than the ST, that Gleb is behind this revolution completely. I heard the shots I heard the screams But it’s the silence after I remember most The world stopped breathing And I was no longer a boy Ik hoorde schoten Ik hoorde schreeuwen Maar de stilte daarna klinkt nog steeds De wereld stokte En ik was niet langer een kind This verse is well-translated and continues the trend of strengthening the ST. Whereas OBC Gleb remembers the silence, Dutch Gleb poses that it still ‘klinkt’ (i.e. he can still physically hear it). Trauma much? My father shook his head and told me not to ask My mother said he died of shame But I believe he did a proud and vital task And in my father’s name Mijn vader weigerde te praten van die nacht Zijn schaamte dreef hem naar de dood Maar ik geloof dat hij iets nobels heeft volbracht En hou zijn naam nu groot Another small shift in this verse: Gleb doesn’t just act in his father’s name like in the ST, but ‘hou[dt] zijn naam groot’ (lit. keeps his name big), which once again emphasises Gleb’s adoration for his father. A shift which may not seem relevant at the first glance is the deletion of ‘My mother said [he died of shame]’. The TT reads ‘Zijn schaamte dreef hem naar de dood’ (lit. his shame drove him to death), which deleted the implication that Gleb only heard this from his mother and that it may not even be true. As Tumblr user december-dragon writes in this post, Stepan Vaganov was a historical executioner who was killed by peasants in 1918 for assisting in brutal acts committed by the Cheka. December-dragon proposes that this has left Gleb with two upbringings: a father who did in fact not regret his actions but insisted on the value of duty, and a mother who told him his father did in fact feel shame because she wants her son to have a moral compass. This line in the ST gives some more context to the duty vs. morality conflict in Gleb’s character, which is deleted in translation. Instead, the translation chooses to focus on Gleb’s father and in a sense makes him the sole motivation for his actions. This erases some of the nuance of the conflict between duty vs. morality found in Gleb’s character background. This verse is followed by the chorus, and while there is no difference in translation, a difference in performance is that Anya now starts to sing with him. Does she, too, believe in the revolution? Is Dutch Gleb so strong as to convince her? Could I have pulled the trigger if I had been told? Be careful what a dream may bring Revolution is a simple thing Had ik toen kunnen schieten toen men dat zei? Pas op niet elke droom is fijn Zo simpel kan een revolutie zijn The ST ends full circle: at the start Gleb warned Anya of rumours and what they may bring, and he ends on a warning for dreams (which she harbours due to those very rumours): previous dreams have led to a revolution, and if Anya dreams too much she might become a threat to the existing order, which will put her in harm’s way. In the ST, this idea is continued in the next scene: Gleb warns Anya as both friend and officer, and in ‘Still’ sings of his wish to protect her. In the TT, the translation breaks from what it has been doing so far. So far Gleb has only been supportive of the new Russia and of his father’s ideals. In the TT, however, Gleb sings that ‘niet elke droom is fijn’ (lit. not every dream is pleasant), in which he hints more clearly at the pain and suffering that the revolution has caused Russia and his family. Simultaneously, it could be read as Gleb dreaming about him being in his father’s footsteps. This display of awareness allows Gleb some more emotional depth and enforces the conflict latent in the ST. This Gleb is not (just) about protecting Anya, but shows some awareness of the horrors of revolution – despite his own certainty about their necessity. Dutch Gleb displays, perhaps, more emotional maturity in his train of thought than OBC Gleb, as will also be clear in the translation of the following song. ‘Still’ This song takes place right after Gleb knows that Anya has escaped from his clutches; he wonders about her motives and own role and feelings. In translation, some subtle shifts take place. An underhanded girl An act of desperation And to my consternation I let her go Een onbetrouwbaar wicht Ze zal haar vingers branden En ik heb tot mijn schande Haar laten gaan In the first verse, a few things immediately catch my attention. While in the ST Gleb calls Anya simply a girl, the TT contains the word ‘wicht’. In Dutch, this word can be used to denote a young girl, but has a negative meaning as well as sound: it’s commonly used to denote girls who are stubborn, stupid or annoying. The [x]-sound at the end of the song (like in Loch Ness) is common in Dutch, but does give the first sentence a harsh ending. This negative view of Anya continues in the next line. While the ST reads ‘An act of desperation’, which shows some of the understanding that Gleb might have for Anya’s situation, the Dutch text reads ‘Ze zal haar vingers branden’ (lit. she’ll burn her fingers), imagining a punishment for her behaviour. The imagery of Anya as purposefully deceiving vs. innocent poor girl is lost here. A last notable shift in this verse is Gleb’s English ‘consternation’ vs. his Dutch ‘schande’. In the ST Gleb is confused, shocked and perhaps annoyed by his own actions, while the Dutch ‘schande’ speaks clearly of shame. This hints perhaps at a deeper emotional maturity for the Dutch Gleb – he feels shame, but no confusion. She wants what she can get Is that a fair depiction Does she believe her fiction It’s hard to know De dingen die ze doet Gaan mijn verstand teboven Ze lijkt het te geloven Haar grootheidswaan The second verse knows a lot of shifts from the ST. In the ST Gleb muses on whether Anya is ‘pretending’ to be Anastasia, because if she can, why wouldn’t she? Then, he asks himself whether she actually believes it or not – he is unable to decide. In the TT Gleb speaks of ‘the things she does’ that he doesn’t understand, but says ‘ze lijkt het te geloven / haar grootheidswaan’ (lit. she seems to believe it / her delusions of grandeur). The TT poses some confusion towards Anya’s actions, but not her motives; Dutch Gleb is more certain that Anya believes that she is Anastasia. Again, some of Gleb’s confusion has gone missing. Is it innocence or guile? Or nothing but a childish act of will? She doesn’t know she needs you She willfully misleads you But still Still Is zij koppig of gedwee? Onschuldig of bedreven in bedrog? Ze ziet niet wie haar vriend is Ze liegt wat niet verdiend is Maar toch Toch The TT chorus then does strongly introduce Gleb’s conflict. Gleb considers the following options as Anya’s motivation: she is an innocent victim (innocence vs. onschuldig), she purposefully deceives him (guile / willfully misleads you vs. bedriven in bedrog / liegt wat niet verdiend is) or she actually believes she is Anastasia (childish act of will / koppig). One shift from the ST is the lack of emphasis on Gleb’s own role in all this. While Gleb’s ‘She doesn’t know she needs you’ clearly denotes his own longing to help Anya, the Dutch says ‘Ze ziet niet wie haar vriend is’ (lit. she doesn’t see who is her friend). While the implications are similar, this translation could easily mean that Anya has mistaken Dmitry and Vlad for friends – which would erase the focus on Gleb’s own feelings. A son becomes a man At his father’s knee If my father asked questions, well Where would we be? Een zoon die wordt een man Aan zijn vaders hand Zijn gehoorzaamheid Dat was geen angst maar verstand At it again with the daddy issues. The main shift in this verse is the inclusion of the line ‘Zijn gehoorzaamheid / Dat was geen angst maar verstand’ in the TT. While ‘gehoorzaamheid’ (lit. obedience) is also in the ST, the TT poses that his obedience was borne from rationality instead of fear. The idea of fear is not included in the ST and gives Dutch Gleb some well-earned emotion after all: while this Gleb is not fighting confusion, he seems to be combatting fear. She’s nothing but a child A waif who needs protection I feel a strange connection I can’t allow Zij is nog maar een kind Dat hunkert naar affectie Ik voel een soort connectie Is dat verkeerd? This verse has been translated rather literally, except for the sentence ‘a waif who needs protection’. While the ST focuses on the protection Gleb could offer Anya, the TT has Gleb say that she wants affection – and hints that he wants that too. Dutch Gleb is not a man who wants to just help and protect Anya, he is pretty certain of his feelings already: he wants to give her affection and he wants to receive hers. He wonders if he is wrong in the last line, but he doesn’t repress the feelings like OBC Gleb, who tells himself he can’t allow a connection at all. This once again gives Dutch Gleb some more emotional maturity. She said it’s all a game She trembles like a flower But in her there’s a power I see that now I’m nothing but a man With nothing but his orders to fulfill Al noemt ze het een spel En trilt ze ietwat tragisch Daarbinnen zit iets magisch Dat intrigeert Ik ben simpelweg een man Die handelt op bevel en wat dan nog? Like the previous TT verse, this verse gives Dutch Gleb more certainty about his feelings for Anya. While OBC Gleb talks of Anya’s power, Dutch Gleb speaks of the intriguing magic within her, willfully admitting that she intrigues him. Another hint at his certainty in his role is the addition of ‘en wat dan nog’ (lit. so what) to the fairly literal translation of the final lines. Whereas in the ST Gleb seems to pose himself as as man who is a slave of his orders, TT Gleb pronounces to the world that he is indeed that man, and tells the audience: so what? That is what I am, and that is what you’re getting. This again hints at more certainty and maturity in Gleb’s feelings. ‘I’m innocent!’ she cries But then you see her eyes Then something in them tells you that she absolutely lies Until your heart replies But still Still Still Ze smeekt je, 'laat me gaan!' Maar dan kijkt ze je aan Dan zij je in die ogen elke grove leugen staan Je hart gaat sneller slaan Maar toch Toch Toch The final verse is translated fairly literally, but includes one notable addition that once again confirms Gleb’s feelings. While in the ST he sings ‘until your heart replies’, which can refer to his romantic feelings about Anya but also to general feelings of compassion, the TT reads ‘Je hart gaat sneller slaan’ (lit. your heart begins to beat faster), which hints more clearly at Gleb’s romantic feelings. Throughout the translation of ‘Still’, Gleb gains more emotional surety and perhaps even maturity. He is more certain of who he is and what his feelings about Anya are, and his doubts are generally weakened. He doesn’t delude himself that he wants to protect her. He wants her. ‘Quartet at the Ballet’ Another obvious point to look for Gleb’s romantic feelings towards Anya is ‘Quartet at the Ballet’, in which he watches her from the balcony. She’s near at hand Yet here I stand My heart and mind at war The times must change The world must change And love is not what revolution’s for Ik zie haar daar En aarzel maar Mijn hart vecht met mijn brein De wereld splijt Een nieuwe tijd Ook liefde kan een revolutie zijn While the ST is in this case pretty clear about Gleb’s heart being in the game when it comes to Anya, he immediately proclaims that this can’t be his motivation: he supports the revolution, and love is not allowed to get in the way. In the TT, however, Gleb proclaims ‘Ook liefde kan een revolutie zijn’ (Love can be a revolution too), in which he reveals just how strongly he feels about Anya. Up until this point Dutch Gleb has always held to his own causes, and now he states that love might be a revolution, which can be read in multiple ways: love can be as strong as a revolution, love has caused a revolution in him, love is to him now equal to the revolution. It is impossible to pinpoint with which meaning the translator has chosen to change this line, but it is clear that this shifts the focus of Gleb’s motivations away from simple protection or morality, and places it very explicitly on his love for Anya. As seen before, this Gleb does not doubt his love. He is certain, and it is strong: perhaps love is part of the new world order. Someone holds her safe and warm Someone rescues her from the storm Simple things but one thing’s clear It’s fate that brought us here Iemand die haar veilig houdt Iemand die zij compleet vertrouwt Lijkt zo simpel maar let wel Het lot dat speelt een spel The verse that Gleb sings with Dmitry knows one relevant shift, namely that as before the focus on rescuing and saving is deleted as much as possible. The word ‘rescues’ is here replaced by the idea that Anya will find someone she trusts, which speaks more of a healthy relationship than a saviour complex. ‘The Neva Flows / Still’ (Reprise)’ For obvious reasons, the translation of this song bears much similarity to the translation of ‘The Neva Flows’ and ‘Still’. For the lyrical translations of those songs I concluded that Gleb portrays more certainty of his feelings for Anya, and in general more emotional maturity: he is aware of who he is and his doubt is smaller than in the ST. This trend is continued in the reprise. The children Their voices A man makes painful choices He does what’s necessary Anya Ik hoor ze Ze gillen Maar ik heb niets te willen Een man vervult zijn plichten Anya At the musical’s climactic point, Gleb sings about the children’s voices In the ST, Gleb keeps his lines rather passive: he talks of a man and painful choices, but doesn’t refer to himself. In the TT, the scene is made more personal. One of the first shifts is the addition of ‘ik hoor’ (lit. I hear) to the TT. Instead of merely referring to the children’s voices, Dutch Gleb sings more explicitly that he hears them and is still haunted by them (mirroring the haunting silence he sang of in ‘The Neva Flows’). Additionally, Gleb does not simply hear ‘voices’ in the TT, but hears them ‘gillen’ (lit. yell). OBC Gleb is haunted by the image of the children in general, perhaps screaming but perhaps simply playing as well. Dutch Gleb, however, specifically refers to the trauma that was done to the Romanovs and the screams. The aggression of the revolution is more clearly embedded into Gleb’s mind. The next line ‘A man makes painful choices’, continues the trend of making the lyrics more personal: Gleb sings not of ‘a man’ but again uses ‘ik’. In addition to the more personal nature of the Dutch line, the text is also subject to a shift that makes Gleb’s reliance on duty more obvious. In the ST Gleb speaks about ‘painful choices’, thus posing duty vs. morality as a choice that he has difficulty with. Dutch Gleb sings that he has ‘niets te willen’ (lit. nothing to want), meaning that the idea of a choice in itself is erased. Similarly, the word ‘necessary’ is translated as ‘plichten’ (lit. duties), making the reference to duty explicit. The struggle of duty vs. morality is once again weakened: Gleb knows his duty and will follow in his father’s footsteps. For Russia, my beauty What choice but simple duty We have a past to bury, Anya De keuze is simpel Voor Ruslands rode wimpel moet jouw verleden zwichten, Anya While in the lines above ‘duty’ itself is left untranslated, the Dutch translation also transfers the idea that if there even is a choice, the choice is simple, if not by shifting the more neutral ‘have’ to ‘moet’ (lit. must) in the last sentence. Another interesting shift is found when Gleb sings of Russia, which he calls ‘my beauty’ in the ST, while he sings of a ‘rode wimpel’ (lit. red flag) in the TT: in the TT, Gleb underlines not his personal connection to Russia itself, but his allegiance to the Bolshevist party line and the national interests. One of the most interesting translation shifts in the entire musical is found in the climax, when Gleb sings ‘Be careful what a dream may bring / A revolution is a simple thing’. This line was obviously also sung in ‘The Neva Flows’ and has already been translated as ‘Pas op niet elke droom is fijn’, as covered previously. At the end, however, the translator has elected to translate the line anew as ‘Veel dromen eindigen in pijn’ (lit. many dreams end in pain), making the warning Gleb gives Anya even more explicit, and emphasising the horror of what has happened and what he is about to do: moving against the revolution Gleb supports certainly brings pain, and Gleb is about to inflict it. Of course, Gleb’s seeming certainty does nothing to chance the ending of the musical. Gleb changes his mind, doesn’t finish the line ‘A revolution is a simple thing’ and falls to his knees before Anastasia. The manner in which Dutch Gleb unravels before her is perhaps more wondrous than it was for OBC Gleb: OBC Gleb has, as seen in the ST, always had glaring doubts and conflict, whereas Dutch Gleb seemed certain of his case, even if he knew about the tragic consequences his convictions could have. In his entire performance, René has seemed more collected than the OBC performance I have watched (and, all right, I’ll admit, I watched the bootleg. I’m a secondary school teacher and definitely cannot afford actual Broadway tickets, or a plane to the US. Either way, I’m not certain how representative for the entire OBC performance the boot I saw is). Whereas OBC Gleb immediately screams ‘And I am my father’s son’ back at Anya/Anastasia, Dutch Gleb is forceful and angry, but doesn’t quite scream and still leaves a moment to breathe between the lines. This Gleb again comes across as less emotional, less conflicted: why then, does he collapse so completely before her? And collapsing he does. Unlike in OBC Gleb, he doesn’t merely fall down on one knee, he collapses on both knees and decides to let Anya/Anastasia live. Even though the conflict between duty vs. morality was of course latent in the translation, it is perhaps more likely that this Gleb chooses not to shoot her out of love: he has portrayed his feelings for her rather certainly. The translation of the lyrics has shown that the duty vs. morality conflict was replaced to some extent by a conflict between duty vs. love. Dutch Gleb never doubted his duty, but also confidently sang about his affection of Anya. While the duty vs love conflict appears in the ST, OBC Gleb could be argued not to love Anya truly and suffer from a saviour complex. It’s harder to make such an argument for Dutch Gleb. Perhaps, then, Gleb’s revolution in this production is not morality, but indeed, as Dutch Gleb has sung, love.

#anastasia #anastasia broadway #anastasia musical #gleb vaganov #dmitry sudayev #translation #meta #musicals #ramin karimloo #rené van kooten #anastasia dutch #mymeta

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askdawnandvern · 6 years

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So this chapter marks a turning point in the story, as well as the finally portion of the seemingly endlessly expanding girls night. This chapter essentially puts the final pieces in place in order for the story to start to hit the final plunge. I'm hoping this means everything will start to flow a bit faster from here on out. I've also taken stock of a rough estimate of how many chapters remain, and how long that would take based on my current posting trend and I realized i'm going to have to do my damndest to up my writing speed so I can get this finished before Summer time. And so I intend to do that so that LAW can conclude satisfyingly and so that I may move on to other projects. I also want to take the time to thank commenter Guillermo for pointing out that Hyena species actually branched off of the feline family, not the canid family. I had received the message a while back, and decided rather than redoing all the previous entrees to correct them, I would end up having Ada adress it in the chapter and correct it going forward. Thank you for the helpful comment. I'd also like to thank my backers for thier continued support and suggestions. With their help going over the story chapters before posting we've got the spelling errors and mistakes down to probably the smallest margin possible. One more thing to note, this chapter contains use of the technical terms for various parts of the female and male anatomy, just giving you the heads up if you are put off by that sort of thing. And if you'd like early access to chapters and access to other perks you can check out My Patreon. www.patreon.com/wastedtimeee

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A LAMB AMONG WOLVES

Chapter Thirty: Girls Night: Self Reflection

"I was completely bare from the waist up." The ewe continued, her voice trembling slightly as she spoke." I was shaking like a leaf, shivering with every breath as I stared back up into those shimmering deep green eyes of his. His looming form just shuddering as his hungry eye's scanned over every inch of me." Dawn sighed, the blush on her muzzle growing deeper. “He was breathing just as heavy as I was, and every few moments I could see his tongue just…tracing his muzzle…” Dawn cooed. “Lapping at the edges of his maw as he watched over me…”

The other girls were practically surrounding Dawn now, the ewe cocooned between the massive tigress, the chubby wolf, and the diminutive fox all. All of them squeezed tightly up against her as they focused their attention on the ewe. They were each sporting light blushes of their own, with Qali burying her muzzle into a pillow she was clutching for dear life as she watched Dawn intently. Dawn had been weaving quite the tale, and by now, all the Hunter girls had become ensnared by her lurid retelling of her first time with Vernon.

Ada, while not on the same mattress, was practically hanging off of her own bed as she listened intently, a satisfied grin never leaving her muzzle as she watched.

“And I felt like I was on fire…” Dawn continued, rubbing her upper arms with her hooves. “Like there was electricity just shooting through me, burning a hole through me. I wanted him so badly I could barely stand it.”

The ewe adjusted her frames slightly, a smirk crawling across her muzzle.

“Yet despite everything, all the rushing hormones and emotions, I had this one…ridiculous nagging thought.” Dawn shook her head dismissively.

“What was it!?” Qali chirped, practically leaping forward as she spoke.

“Despite everything, now that my top was off, a part of me couldn’t help but be worried that my breasts were too small…”

The girls erupted into uproarious laughter, Qali practically rolling off the bed as Vanna pounded a paw against her pillow. Ada’s trademark hyena cackle was out in full effect as the large hyeness rolled onto her back, howling with laughter. And Malcolm held his stomach in pain as he wheezed out laugh after laugh.

Dawn was kicking her legs wildly as she erupted into a giggle fit of her own, the ewe delighting in just how hard she had made her new found sisters laugh. So far, aside from the picnic, the impromptu slumber party with the Hunter girls had quickly become the highlight of her night. It was certainly doing wonders in regards to keeping her thoughts away from the argument she had with Dorian earlier that evening. The wolf’s bitter, hateful screed still weighed on the ewe certainly, and Dawn knew it would be impossible to fully shake the decisive and hurtful decision regarding her place among the Hunter pack from her mind for the remaining portion of the trip. But for now, the joy and revelry had easily drowned it out, keeping her thoughts about the icy white wolf down to little more than a muffled whisper in the back of her mind.

“Oh gods, I know just what you mean!” The fox attempted to cut through the groups giggling. Qali did her best to stifle her own laughter as she struggled to add her two cents to the conversation. The diminutive fox managed to right herself while keeping her arms fastened tightly around the pillow she was holding, turning her gaze back toward to mass of mammals at the head of the bed.

“The first time when Trenny and I were…you know…” Qali let out another giggle as a blush formed on her muzzle. “Intimate.” The fox bobbed her eyebrows suggestively, speaking the word in a hushed and secretive tone before returning to her usual chirpy candor. “I felt exactly the same way!”

Dawn smiled widely at the petite fox. “Really?”

Qali gave a brisk, rapid nod before leaning back in closer to the other girls. Now lying on the pillow she had previously been strangling, the fox rested her head on her paws.

"Oh yeah." Qali continued. "We had been seeing each other for about a month when things just…escalated," Qali said with a smirk.

“’Escalated huh?” Malcolm said, forming a wry grin of his own.

Qali giggled. “We had just gotten back to his apartment after dinner, and just pounced on each other!” The fox wrapped her arms around her pillow again, squeezing it as tightly as before. “Well…more like I pounced on him and felled him like a Fraser Fur!”

“I’m surprised dat fella can even keep up witch youse.” Ada said with a laugh. “Is dat why he always seems so worn out?”

“That’s just Trenton's personality," Vanna interjected, emitting a low chuckle of her own.

Qali rolled her eyes slightly. “Oh believe me, that wolf has no problems keeping up. I think Trenny could put a hare in heat to shame if given the chance.” The fox flashed the hyena a smug grin. “And thanks to all that training for his job he’s…well he’s got the muscles to back it up.”

The fox let out an amorous sigh, fluttering her eyelids as a dreamlike stare overtook her features. It was short lived however, as a wince quickly replaced her pleasant smile, and her ears sagged mournfully. "And that's when I started to get nervous."

“Oh?” Dawn asked.

Qali gave a sluggish nod, seemingly uneasy as she recalled her emotional state from that night. “I remember I had finally managed to claw his shirt off.” Qali chuckled weakly. ”I had to practically crawl up him to do it, but I had finally managed to get it off of him.”

“That’s better than my first attempt," Dawn said with a laugh. "Vernon had to take his own shirt off; he was just too tall for me to manage it on my own.”

Dawn’s admission elicited another short burst of giggles from the group. Qali seemed to squeeze her pillow tighter as her blush deepened. “Now I had never seen Trenny with his shirt off, so I was super eager to unwrap that candy bar.” Qali smiled warmly. “And when I finally got a look at what was underneath…well…”

“How was it?” Vanna asked.

Qali waved a paw at herself, as if fanning away a building heat. “Whew…” Qali panted softly. “That wolf was cut.” Qali lapped at her muzzle slightly as the dreamy look returned to her face. “Like, I could just make out the muscles under his fur. It was better than I could have possibly imagined.” The diminutive fox raised her paws, clasping her fingers repeatedly as if she were grabbing the air. “Part of me just wanted to run my pads up and down those abs for the rest of the night!”

“So when do we get to da bad part?” Ada said chuckling. “Cause youse are startin’ to confuse me here, are you complainin’ that your mate is jacked?”

Qali sat up, briskly shaking her head no and waving her paws out defensively. “Oh no! Not at all!” Qali asserted before slumping back down against her pillow. “I definitely loved what I saw, believe me!” The fox flashed a weak grin. “I was practically drooling.”

"I don't know about that..." Vanna muttered.

Qali let out a slight huff. "Please, I'd like to think I have some kind of self-control."

"Was huh?" Ada asked with a smirk. "Sure you wasn't literally droolin'?"

Qali opened her mouth seemingly to retort, but Dawn was quick to interject.

"But it made you self-conscious about yourself?" Dawn asked, seeming to pick up what the arctic fox was getting at.

Qali clutched the pillow close to her chest, squeezing it as if she were trying to cover herself.

“I-I’m not the most voluptuous vixen out there…” Qali sighed. “I don’t have plump swaying hips, and I’m flat as a board.” The petite fox frowned. “I felt like I didn’t have anything to…” Qali paused, seemingly trying to find her words. “Really offer Trenny in the physical department.”

The little fox sat straight up; releasing the pillow she had been holding and allowing it to fall into her lap. The usually jovial and peppy fox seemed to take on a rather serious expression, something the ewe would have had a hard time picturing on her if it weren't for the fact she was seeing it.

"I don't know how much you guys know about foxes," Qali said. "I mean about how most mammals tend to see them.”

“Sneaky, shifty, sly, sweet-talkin’ types dat are neva to be trusted," Ada said sarcastically. “You guys have it pretty rough.”

“And that's just the boys," Qali said sadly. "I mean, it's something all foxes deal with when it comes to how other mammals see us. But those are usually the first thoughts that come to mind when most mammals think of your average tod."

Dawn nodded knowingly. She had heard and accumulated her own poorly thought out misconceptions in her early years with foxes, just as she had with wolves. Of course, with her rehabilitation, as well as her reconnection with Judy she had developed a greater understanding as to the pressure those ideas place on the species at large. Judy had a second-paw account of just some of the struggles that foxes had to go through in their day to day life, and how Nick had folded under the cruelty of others to resign himself to accepting the role that society had decided for him with gusto. But when it came to vixens, the ewe knew less of what struggles they faced. Val was the only vixen Dawn could say she somewhat knew, and the vixen remained enigmatic to pretty much everyone around her.

“For all the flak foxes get, vixens experience a different sort of stereotype.” The diminutive fox lolled her head as she began what almost seemed like a well-rehearsed list. “Where tods are always sneaky and agile, vixens are expected to be svelte and graceful. Where tods use their charisma to get by, vixens use their charm and beauty.” Qali raised her paws up. “Vixens have practically become the standard of beauty when it comes to the canid society. The pinnacle of predatory grace and style."

The diminutive vixen’s paws flopped to her sides lamely.

“I can’t even count how many vixen actresses there are, and models?” Qali rolled her eyes. “Forget about it, they practically dominate the fashion world.”

The tiny fox put her hands on her hips, letting out a huff of air in order to shift her draping fur coif out of her eye.

"The public expects vixens to be these busty, curvy, and infectiously charming mammals." Qali huffed. "And we aren't built like that. Our species was built to be thin, lean and agile!" The arctic fox waved a paw toward herself, gesturing down her tiny form. "Barely any body fat to spare!"

“Well, I don’t think its any secret that all that glitzy stuff is all Howlywood hocus pocus and airbrushin’," Malcolm said reassuringly. "Out where I'm from it's hard to find a mammal that ain't had some form o' plastic surgery."

"And that's the problem," Qali muttered, her ears sagging as she slackened her stance. "The way other mammals see us feeds back into fox culture, and puts pressure on us to conform to that image, with other vixens looking down their snout at those who aren't as svelte and voluptuous." The fox sighed. "We end up policing ourselves, forcing each other to live up to this stupid image that vixens like Maid Marian, Veronica Leash, Marilyn Murrnroe unintentionally cut out for us."

Qali dragged a finger around the edge of her coif, once again trying to shift it out of her eye only for it to quickly slip back into place.

"When my sisters and I were little kits, growing up and seeing these other vixens on TV, we were mesmerized.” The fox let out a sad sigh. “I know I was." Qali placed a paw on her forehead. "They were so elegant and so pretty, and I would think ‘Wow, I can’t wait to grow up and be just like them.

Qali slumped back down against her pillow, hugging it tightly against herself as she let out a soft whine.

“Then I grew up and realized that I was never going to look like them.” The fox buried her muzzle into the pillow, hiding her face. “That almost all vixens don’t look that way without extensive surgery, and yet that’s what most mammals just ‘expected’ me to look like. That's what most other foxes 'thought' I should look like."

Vanna reached a paw out toward the diminutive fox, placing it gently on her back and rubbing it softly.

“I’m sorry Qali.” Vanna cooed softly.

"Me too," Dawn added. "That sounds like a terrible precedent to live under.”

The fox poked her head up slightly from its resting place deep within the pillow, eyeing the nearby mammals with sad, glossy eyes.

"I-its fine," Qali muttered. "I mean I-I try not to think about it you know?"

The girls shared a nod at the fox’s question.

“But when I was suddenly staring down Trenny’s delectable, sculpted body…” Qali uttered with a smirk. “Something that was supposed to be exciting and titillating…” The fox chuckled weakly. “and yet suddenly I was feeling scared because I realized he was going to see me naked too.”

“So what didja do?” Ada asked, the hyeness leaning off the edge of her bed as her attention remained fixed on the fox.

“I tell you, I’ve never moved more slowly in my life.” Qali laughed. “I did everything I could to delay taking my shirt off, and when it finally came down to Trenny being forced to do the job for me I quickly covered myself up with my arms and refused to move them.” Qali shook her head dismissively. “Trenny had to spend five minutes trying to convince me to stop covering my chest.” Qali chuckled. “I wanted to keep going, but at the same time I didn’t want him to be disappointed.”

“I find it hard to believe he’d be disappointed.” Malcolm chuckled. “I mean, it ain’t like you were stuffin’ yer bra, he must have had some inkling of what to expect.”

“I know it made no sense!” Qali chirped, sitting back up. The fox pulled her pillow close to her again. “But I couldn’t help it! I was so nervous! I wanted Trenny to like what he saw!”

"Irrational fears are just that," Dawn added, recalling some of her therapist's wisdom. "Even if you know there shouldn't be anything to fear, you can't help yourself."

Qali nodded briskly. “Exactly!” The fox let out a soft whine. "I was so worked up I had to close my eyes and grit my teeth before I was able to muster the strength to force my arms to my sides," Qali said, dramatically forcing her arms to her sides as her pillow fell back into her lap. The room fell silent briefly in the wake of the fox's sudden gesture, her eyes snapped shut as if she were reliving the moment.

“So…” Ada broke the silence, quirking an eyebrow.” How was the reveal?”

The diminutive fox developed a sudden fierce blush, and soon enough she had buried her muzzle back into her pillow. Her eyes darted from mammal to mammal as she wiggled her muzzle against the fabric as tightly as she could, seemingly too bashful to retell exactly what was said.

“P-perfect…” Qali cooed softly.

“What was dat?’ Ada asked, placing a paw to her ear as she leaned over the gap between the beds.

"He said they were perfect," Qali muttered loud enough to hear before burying her face completely into her pillowcase.

That managed to draw a chorus of ‘Aww’s’ from the collective group of girls, forcing the fox to bury herself deeper into the pillow.

Dawn placed a hoof to her heart as she felt it skip a beat. Vernon had said the same thing when she had been lying bare before him, with nothing but pure love and adoration in his eyes.

“T-that’s what Vernon said to me…” Dawn sighed warmly as she recalled their first night.

The fox perked up from her hiding place, flashing the ewe a look of shock before developing a warm smile of her own.

Another chorus of pleasant sighs rippled through the Hunter girls, Malcolm going so far as to clasp his paws to his chest in admiration of the two mammals similar romantic tales.

"Boy, looks like doze boys been reading from da same playbook huh?” Ada said with a chuckle.

Vanna let out a chuckle of her own. “Well Dorian may be as stubborn as an Ox, but he did manage to raise some real Gentlemammals.”

"Yuri excluded," Qali said with a grin.

Ada grimaced sharply. “Hey, I told yas, he can be a real sweet guy!” The hyeness protested. “Ya just don’t see trew him like I do!”

"Maybe I need a better prescription," Dawn said, taking her glasses off and pretending to inspect them with a chuckle. Dawn’s little act managing to earn a few laughs from the other Hunter girls.

Ada let out a scoff, crossing her arms defensively. “Alright fuzz butt, watch yourself or I’ll make sure you’ll end up needin’ more den glasses!”

Dawn chuckled, taking a moment to inspect her glasses before reluctantly sliding them back on to her face.

“Please, these are bad enough to have to deal with," Dawn muttered, letting out a soft sigh as she slumped back against her pillows.

Ada chuckled softly. “I take it yer bust ain’t da only ting you ain’t happy wit?”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “Take your pick.” The ewe said, gesturing up and down her body with her hooves.

“I’m probably half the size of your average ewe.” The ewe grumbled. Dawn raised an arm, flexing it slightly before gesturing at the pitiful display with her other hoof. “And I’m extremely frail and weak because of that.”

“I don’t know about that…” Malcolm chuckled. “I mean, if yer matin’ with a wolf without bein’ broken in half, I’d say yer stronger than you think.” The red wolf bobbed his eyebrows suggestively at the ewe.

Dawn placed a hoof over her muzzle in order to stifle a rising giggle, giving the wolf a playful swat with her free paw.

"I'm trying to be serious!" Dawn said, a few stray laughs escaping as she tried her best to remain firm in tone. The wolf let out a chuckle of his own.

"Alright, alright..." Malcolm snickered. "Carry on Darlin'."

Dawn let out a sigh as she re-adjusted her frames, doing her best to shake off the lingering giggles before pressing forward.

"I mean, I'm not really built as well as other sheep tend to be." Dawn shrugged. "I mean, ewes can be dainty and soft and all, but I'm not even as strong as your average ewe."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Vanna interjected. "There are plenty of other ways to be strong."

"Says da eight-foot tall tigress built like a brick wall," Ada said with a dull chuckle.

Vanna rolled her eyes slightly before placing a reassuring paw on Dawn's shoulder.

"Trust me, it isn't all it's cracked up to be," Vanna said with a sigh. "Being an officer of the law requires me to stay fit and in-shape. But when it comes to tigers it doesn't take a lot of work to build your muscles up." Vanna grimaced slightly. "Our species were built for power, built to be strong and quick."

"Dis was supposta make Dawn feel bedda how exactly?" Ada flashed the tigress a smug smirk.

Vanna placed a paw over her eyes, dragging it down her muzzle as she let out an annoyed huff.

"The reason I mention it is because there is a trade-off for that power." Vanna threw the hyeness a dull glare before continuing. "You see, much like Qali, our species was built to be lean. So our females naturally have a smaller bust size than most other species."

"Ah, so it's ya bust size too eh?" Ada said with a laugh. "Why are all of yaz so obsessed with ya boobs!? Most boys are more den happy to take anyting dey can get!"

"I don't care about my breasts!" Vanna declared with a snarl, wrapping her arms tightly against her chest as if she were shielding them from Ada's prying eyes. She held herself that way for a few moments before noticing her own involuntary action, and quickly dropping her arms back to her sides. "I mean, that's not the issue..." Vanna continued.

"Then what is it?" Malcolm asked, the husky wolf quirking an eyebrow.

Vanna let out a terse and tired sigh, and Dawn could see a red tinge forming on the fur beneath her muzzle.

"Look, the thing is..." Vanna shook her head briskly. "With the already small bust size, a fit female tiger becomes a bit...harder to discern from a fit male tiger."

"OooOOOoooHHhhh...." Qali cooed, realization apparent on the little fox's face as she leaned over her tightly clutched pillow toward the massive tigress. "So everyone thinks your a boy?"

Vanna placed a paw over her face, her muzzle tightening into a frown.

"I imagine if I took my shirt off in public, nine out of ten mammals would confuse me for one of Gazelle's dancers." Vanna grumbled. "It doesn't help that I'm big for my species to begin with."

"Oh my..." Dawn murmured, placing a hoof on Vanna's arm reassuringly. "I'm sorry Vanna."

"Hmm..." Ada placed a paw to her chin as she leaned closer toward the group on the opposite bed. The large canid squinting her eyes as she inspected the tigress carefully.

"I can see it," Ada said with a smirk.

Vanna let out a weak, defeated groan as she hunched over in shame.

"Aw lay off Ada." Malcolm chided, placing a paw on the tigress and joining Dawn in her attempts to reassure the big kitty cat. "I'm sure it's hard enough fer Vanna to open up about this as it is without ya'll addin' to it."

Ada lolled her head back as she rolled her eyes. "I'm just playin' geeze!"

"No, she's right, and that's what makes it so insufferable," Vanna said sadly. "I'm so tall and I have such a broad, flat upper body that at first glance almost everyone assumes I'm a male. I can't tell you how many times I've been addressed as 'sir' while doing my duty." Vanna raised her paws sharply. "So many of the locals, even several of the other officers assumed the same when first meeting me!" Vanna's paws flopped lamely back to her sides as she let out a long, exasperated sigh.

"Hearing that, day in and day out...It just makes me feel so..." Vanna shook her head dismissively, placing a paw over muzzle as she shut her eyes tightly. "So un-feminine."

Dawn rubbed the tigresses arm in an attempt to reassure her. It was true, even gazing at Vanna now that, in contrast to a mammal like Qali who was very visibly feminine despite her concerns, the large feline looked considerably masculine. In fact, had Dawn not heard Zach preface meeting the large tigress with the fact that she was female, Dawn might have at first assumed the wolf to be in a similar relationship to that of Xavier and Malcolm's. But upon meeting her, it was fairly easy to see the big cat's feminine side. Despite her cold exterior, the tigress carried herself with a distinctly feminine air. And if Dawn had needed any more proof, their embarrassingly girlish duet the night before easily proved the cat to be as feminine as the rest of them.

"Aw, who cares what anyone else thinks Vanna girl." Malcolm chimed in, giving the large feline a playful pat on the arm. "We love you, and Zach loves ya, and we all know yer just another one of the girls."

Malcolm had more or less taken the words right out of Dawn's muzzle, aside from adding his distinctive drawl. Vanna however, seemed just as down about her predicament as before.

"I know...I just.." The tigress dragged a paw down her face as she let out a weak groan. Vanna turned her head up toward the ceiling, looking up and away from the others.

"I just sometimes worry that I'm not...pretty enough for Zach." The tigress mumbled uncomfortably. "I mean there are plenty of attractive tigresses out there, and even more attractive mammals if he wasn't looking for a tigress specifically. I just..." Vanna's head drooped into her waiting paws, the large feline now sporting a sharp frown as she buried herself deeper into her paw pads.

"I sometimes wonder if Zach settled for less when he 'tithed' to me." Vanna whimpered. " Not only did he 'tithe' a mammal outside of his species, but someone who is regularly confused for a male. He could have easily gone for any girl he wanted with his job, his looks, his personality, but now he's stuck with me."

"Hey," Dawn said firmly, giving the tigress' arm a firm jostling to draw her attention. Vanna pulled herself from her paws in order to glance towards the tiny ewe staring back up at her. Dawn could see what seemed to be the start of tears in her eyes, something she had thought the tigress was beyond capable of.

"He loves you." Dawn said in a serious tone. "That's why he 'tithed' to you Vanna, because he loves you."

Vanna let out a soft whimper, something uncharacteristic of the large feline. "I know, but-"

"But nothin'!" Malcolm chimed in, the wolf clutching the felines arm tightly as he spoke. "Has he ever said anythin' about yer looks botherin' him Darlin'?"

Vanna offered a meek, seemingly forced smile. "W-well no. I just worr-"

"Well, what does he say!?" Qali chirped, the fox clasping her pillow tightly as she focused keenly on the tigress.

Vanna blushed slightly, the small smile on her muzzle forming into something more genuine as she tried to hide her face. "T-that I'm beautiful." The blush on her muzzle deepened as she tried to cover her muzzle with a paw. "That I'll always be his big beautiful kitten."

"See, Zach loves ya for who you are!" Malcolm chirped happily. "Just like Xavey loves me despite my little bit extra." The wolf said, patting his stomach as he let out a laugh.

"But doesn't it ever bother you?" Vanna asked, turning her sights to the red wolf. "On a personal level?"

Malcolm frowned slightly. "Well I mean, o'course it does somewhat." The wolf glanced down at his stomach, giving it an appraising rub. "No fella really wants a spare tire and big ol' love handles. But with what I do fer a livin' that was purty much unavoidable." Malcolm laughed. "I can't keep my paws outta the pot fer more than a few seconds at a time when I'm cookin'."

Vanna sighed. "So how do you deal with it?"

Malcolm scratched the back of his head awkwardly, the wolf seemingly trying to choose his words carefully before speaking.

"Well, I mean...Xavey loves me, and so does my family." Malcolm said with a soft smirk. "'Sides, I figure I'm happier bein a lil' chubby and eatin' good food than dietin' all the time and bein' miserable." The wolf let out another laugh.

"I..." Vanna paused, her expression remaining an uneasy one. "I'm not sure that advice really helps in my case."

"Like snowball said, dere's always surgery," Ada interjected with a barking laugh.

"Oh hush up!" Malcolm retorted. "Vanna is fine the way she is, same as me, Qali and Dawn."

Dawn shifted uncomfortably in place, the ewe's thoughts returning to her own shortcomings as she subconsciously touched her frames.

"Well...surgery isn't always an option..." Dawn muttered quietly, drawing the groups attention back her way.

"You thought about getting a procedure done?" Vanna asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

Dawn gave a meek nod as she shifted her body deeper against the pillows. The ewe clasped her upper arms, rubbing them uneasily as she glanced at the other Hunter girls.

"It wasn't a big deal...I just had a consultation with my optometrist about corrective surgery before my campaign work." Dawn sighed. "I figured I'd stand a better chance at bringing in more votes if I wasn't wearing these giant, goofy glasses of mine."

"I like your glasses!" Qali said, reaching a paw toward Dawn's frames before stopping herself. The diminutive fox quickly retracting her paw as she shrunk into her shoulders.

"S-sorry..." Qali muttered quietly.

Malcolm chuckled. "So touchy-feely girl, you gotta stop that."

"I know, I know!" Qali huffed, burying her muzzle into her pillow.

"I think they suit you Dawn." Vanna added, flashing the ewe a reassuring smile.

"Dough dey do kinda remind me of my grandma's, so I can sees what you was goin' for." Ada said with a smirk.

The other Hunter girls flashed the hyena a scowl, however, Dawn simply nodded in agreement.

"That was my fear when it came to the voters. That my glasses would scream 'old nan' despite the fact that most sheep have some form of corrective lenses." Dawn sighed.

"Why is that?" Vanna asked.

Dawn shrugged. "Poor depth perception. I read somewhere it was a genetic defect leftover from ancestral sheep, although it is more common in North Mammalian sheep rather than Roaropean sheep." Dawn removed her glasses, neatly folding them on her lap before turning toward Vanna's direction and opening her eyes as wide as she could. The ewe pointed a hoof carefully toward her iris. "It has something to do with the fact that Roaropean sheep have round pupils like mine that generally gives them better vision on average."

With a sigh the ewe opened her glasses and slid them back onto her muzzle.

"Unfortunately it seemed to skip over me and then some..." Dawn muttered. "I'm as blind as a bat without these things."

"But you decided against getting the procedure?" The large feline queried.

Dawn's head drooped slightly as she let out a soft laugh.

"I didn't even have the option." The ewe replied.

"Why not?" Malcolm asked.

Dawn rolled her eyes slightly. "The doctor told my corneas were much too thin for corrective surgery. There was simply no way around either being stuck with glasses or settling for contact lenses."

"Why dincha' get da lenses den?" Ada questioned the ewe as she continued to hang off the side of her mattress.

"And have to put little bits of plastic in my eyes every day?" Dawn shuddered, clasping her hooves against her upper arms and rubbing them briskly. "Ew, no thank you!"

Another fit of laughter rippled through the Hunter girls, Dawn doing her best to stifle her own giggling by clasping her muzzle with her hooves.

"I hear that!" Qali giggled, the fox squeezing tightly against her pillow as she rolled in place. "It always creeps me out when anything gets near my eyes."

"I have a habit o' squirmin' myself when my eye doctor has to get up real close to my eyes durin' a check up." Malcolm chuckled. "Ain't exactly the most comfortable position to be in."

"I am at least thankful I was able to get my teeth taken care of though, even if it wasn't really my choice," Dawn said as her laughter trailed off. "It didn't make high school any easier to get through though."

"I take it ya'll had braces then?" Malcolm asked with a smirk.

Dawn rolled her eyes, flicking a hoof playfully toward the wolf as she let out a laugh. "Braces? I had full on headgear." Dawn giggled. "Complete with the straps and everything to keep my adult teeth from coming in skewed."

"Geeze..." Ada said, the hyena cringing slightly as she spoke.

"They called me 'metal mouth' pretty regularly in high school for that," Dawn said sadly. "But it's not as if they weren't calling me plenty of other names by then. It was merely another one for the pile."

"Y'know I heard a ting or two about sheep teeth," Ada said with a soft smirk. "Mostly jokes about sheep never havin' heard of a dentist, or carin' more about dere horns bein' smooth and straight radder den dere molars."

Dawn nodded affirmatively. "Oh certainly. Sheep having terrible teeth is a well-known stereotype, although the basis is not entirely untrue."

"Cause ya'll are heavy grinders right?" Malcolm asked. "The whole prey 'needin' strong flat teeth' to ground down hard to digest stuff?"

Dawn blinked at the wolf in surprise. "Y-yes, actually." Dawn uttered. "How did you know that?"

Malcolm flashed the ewe a wide grin, placing his paw to his chest and puffing it out proudly. "I get a lot of prey customers, and knowin' how to make food suited to how they eat it is part of the job."

"Well, these days we sheep and other herbivores don't have to spend as much time chewing or using rumination to process our food considering how most of it is pre-processed." Dawn was quick to continue. "Unless you're set on preparing food the traditional way in prey circles, there is considerably less use for grinding your teeth nearly as much."

The girls remained attentive despite the ewe's fears of being boring, nodding along as Dawn prattled off more facts about sheepfolk. Despite their seeming intrigue, Dawn was keen to push through as fast as she could to get back to the topic at hoof.

"But that doesn't mean we don't still do it. Especially when we sleep, which is why so many sheep have dental issues." Dawn shrugged. "That's why you see so many rams with their front teeth jutting in several directions. All that back and forth grinding skews them while they are coming in during their teenage years."

"I see a lot o' rams wit jacked up teeth..." Ada interjected. "Especially back in the city, dough not as many lady sheeps."

Dawn nodded affirmatively. "That's because it's less socially acceptable among caprids for the females of their species to have skewed teeth." Dawn rolled her eyes slightly. "It's not considered an 'attractive look'." The ewe said with a giggle.

"I can see why ya'll picked up with Vernon then." Malcolm said with a chuckle. "I mean if you gotta choose between pointy, sharp teeth, or jagged, flat teeth, at least one of 'em is straight."

Dawn giggled, covering her muzzle with her hooves as she kicked her legs at the wolf's joke.

"Lamb Sakes!" Dawn choked through her laughter. "You don't know how true that is!" Dawn lifted her glasses slightly, using a hoof to brush a stray tear from her eye as she tried to suppress her laughter. "I have yet to cut my tongue on Vernon's teeth, but I have on at least two of my ex's!"

Dawn collapsed back into her giggling fit, now joined by the rest of the Hunter girls. Vanna did her best to cover her muzzle as she chuckled, while the others laughed wildly. It took a few moments for the clamoring din of joy to finally die away, as one by one the girls managed to get a hold of themselves.

Dawn took her glasses off completely now, rubbing her eyes free of the lingering tears that had formed during her cackling fit. The ewe let out a few more laughs before trailing off into a pleasant sigh.

"I suppose despite all the hazing, the braces ended up being worth it." Dawn smiled broadly, making sure to flash her perfectly straight, albeit slightly crowded teeth. "And thankfully I've never been a chronic sleep grinder."

"No complaints from yer Pup?" Malcolm asked, flashing the ewe a sly grin.

Dawn rolled her eyes, letting out a dismissive chuckle. "Well, I do sleep with a night guard just in case, but even if I didn't have one it's fairly easy to tell if you've been grinding for a while."

"How?" Qali asked, tilting her head aside as she stared back at the ewe curiously.

Dawn nibbled at one of her hooves as she thought over how best to explain the tell tales signs of a ewe who had a bad case of sleep chewing. The ewe briefly glanced up at Vanna, earning a curious glance from the large feline before she turned her attention back to the other girls. Dawn wasn't entirely sure how to describe exactly what to look for without touching on a subject she had just learned Vanna was somewhat sensitive about. But now that she had brought up the subject, she couldn't exactly just drop it.

"Well..." The ewe scratched her chin. "It's really easy to pick up on if you know what to look for, especially when it comes to ewes."

"Whaddey got like a bad ovabite or sometin?" Ada asked, leaning her head against one of her paws.

"Oh no, nothing like that," Dawn replied, shaking her head dismissively. "It's just well...those ewe's that have a chronic grinding problem usually have..." Dawn tapped her hooves together. "Very well defined jaws."

Ada's smile widened as she seemingly picked up on the ewe's implication.

"Ahh, so dey got boy jaws den?" Ada said with a chuckle.

Dawn shrank into her shoulders at the hyenas words, quickly shifting her attention Vanna's way to see the large felines reaction now that Ada had carelessly blurted out the subject she was trying to dance her way around. The tigress had a slight frown on her muzzle, and despite her obvious efforts to appear unphased by Ada's blunt statement, the large feline had unconsciously brought her paw up to her chin. Vanna let out a soft whine as she attempted to glance down at her own lower jaw, rubbing at it worryingly.

"Ah not dis again!" Ada said, having clearly noticed the tigress' distress. "What, we can't talk about stuff bein' masculine now because youse a sensative about it!?"

Vanna ears pricked up as she drew her attention to Ada before quickly tearing her paw away from her muzzle.

"What? I didn't- I mean..." Vanna glanced down at her paws, a look of discomfort on her face as she twiddled her fingers. She was quiet for a moment, only to suddenly glance back Ada's way with concern lacing her features.

"My jaw isn't like a males? Is it?" Vanna asked worryingly, a quiet whine escaping her muzzle.

Ada placed a paw over her face as she leaned backward on the bed for dramatic effect.

"Geeze, I don't believe dis..." The words had come from the hyena, but Dawn couldn't see her face now that she was laying backward on the bed.

"Ada c'mon now!" Malcolm chided, waving a finger toward the large mammal's direction. "Now ain't the time to be makin' fun." The wolf said, now sitting up. Malcolm crossed his paws, furrowing his brow at the hyena sprawled out across from the rest of the group.

Dawn could hear Ada chuckling, but it was odd. It didn't sound as if it were mean-spirited, or as if she were laughing at a joke, but rather the tired and feigned laughter of someone who simply couldn't believe what she was hearing. The hyeness' weak laughter trailed off into a sigh as Ada rose from her bed. The canid taking a seated stance on her mattress as she stared back at the rest of the Hunter girls. The look on her face was oddly stern and serious.

"Vanna, trust me...youse are fine." Ada said, shaking her head. "Youse goils are all beauts, and as femmy as dey come. Right odda da box." Ada grinned weakly. "I know a ting or two about comin' off masculine, let me tells ya."

"You do?" Qali asked, the fox now pressing herself off the pillow she had been clutching, her rapt attention now focused on the hyena across the way.

Ada rolled her eyes. "Ain't none of youse eva heard anyting about spotted hyenas before?"

Dawn glanced around to find the rest of the girls more or less shared the same blank expression that she was wearing. Despite being quite the studious mammal growing up, the ewe knew very little about the species. The Hyena population in North Mammalia was considerably small, and even more so in Zootopia proper for reasons Dawn didn't really know. So information about the species was not something the ewe had spent a great deal of time absorbing.

"N-no, not really..." Dawn muttered, tapping her hooves together nervously.

"Not even da jokes!?" Ada spat, her voice a mixture of disbelief and what sounded like unease.

Dawn gave a meek, simple nod, only to get a long and tired sigh in response.

"Well, foist off." Ada smirked. "Udda mammals always got us pegged fa canines."

"You mean, you aren't?" Qali asked, tilting her head slightly allowing her ears to flop from one side to the other.

Ada rolled her eyes as she let out a barking laugh. "We'se our own species o'course! But we ain't related to canines at all!"

"I don't understand," Dawn muttered, squinting at the hyeness slightly. "I mean, I don't want to be rude but it's just-"

Ada held her paws out to stop the ewe. "I know, I know, I look like a canine and make noise like 'em, but I ain't. Not even way back on da evolutionary chart."

"Well, if ya ain't related to canines then what are ya exactly?" Malcolm asked.

"Well, hyenas like me are actually closa to cats den dogs." Ada said, flashing Vanna a smirk. "So technically me and Kit Kat ova dere are closer genetically den Snowball."

"Oh, thats bull." Vanna retorted, crossing her arms.

Ada closed her eyes, smiling widely as she shook her head from side to side. "Believe what yas want, but it's true." The hyena laughed. "Aldough I like to see it as bein' da perfect inbetween point between yous and Qails, a little of both mammals."

"Fascinating," Dawn said, adjusting her glasses. It was hard to parse, staring at the large...erm...feline before her, that despite how much more she closely resembled the Hunters rather than a mammal like Vanna, that she was indeed closer to the big cat family. Dawn was sure to make a mental note to be careful not to mistakenly refer to the hyena as anything other than feline from now on.

"But dats da fun one..." Ada said, her usual jovial expression seeming to fall as she slipped back into a more serious tone. "I seriously can't believe none of youse eva hoid da jokes. Not one?" Ada asked.

Dawn gave a decisively negative shake of her head, assuming the others more or less had followed suit as the hyena let out another tired sigh. Ada pinched the bridge of her muzzle for a moment, seemingly trying to steel herself for whatever she was going to say. It was surprising to the ewe to say the least, seeing the hyena so serious. It seemed like something she was incapable of, much like Vanna showing any sort of insecurity. Then again, the night had already proven to be full of surprises.

"Well...ya see..." Ada pushed the sagging coif of hair away from her face as she continued. "Ancient spotted hyenas were sorta...unique." Ada grimaced. "Particularly da ladies."

Dawn raised an eyebrow curiously. "How so?"

Ada rolled her eyes, letting out a shuddering breath as she seemed to struggle with her words.

"Well...dey...I mean..." Ada broke her gaze, looking down at her lap. With one of her paws she grappled her upper arm, rubbing it awkwardly. "Dey was packin' somtin' extra..." Ada raised her head slightly, making eye contact with Dawn only for a moment before looking away again.

"Downstairs..." Ada muttered.

The ewe was confused to say the least. She couldn't imagine what 'extra' thing Ada was hinting at. She had heard that some females of differing mammal species sometimes developed stray teats and so on below the belt line, but such things were easy to remove, and most didn't talk about such things with such gravity. They were a common condition that was easy to fix and usually removed at birth.

Dawn glanced at the other girls, all seeming to be just as confused as she was. Their eyes scanning each other for any inkling of reasoning as to what Ada was getting at. They must have remained that way for some time, as the hyena seemingly tired of their silent deliberation.

"A PENIS okay!" Ada snarled, blushing fiercely as she spat the words. "Ancient hyenas goils had PENISES!" Ada yelped before clasping her paws against her face in shame.

Dawn was frozen, her mouth agape as she tried to process what Ada had said. It simply didn't make sense, and her mind refused to process the information. The ewe tried to think of a response, a question, a word of reassurance, but all fell away under the utter confusion and the obvious contradiction.

"Wait, ya'll serious?" Malcolm asked, sounding as dumbfounded as Dawn's mind was. "How-I mean-Yeah, how would that even work?"

Ada placed a paw on the back of her neck, straining it back against her as she tilted her head back, keeping her gaze up and away from the other girls.

"I mean, it wasn't exactly a dong..." Ada muttered, discomfort heavy in her voice. "More like a uh...really long..." Ada winced slightly. "Clitoris."

"Like how long?" Qali asked, the fox now leaning nearly off the mattress in the direction of the hyena.

Ada cringed, biting her lip slightly as she struggled to continue.

"L-like seven inches sometimes..." Ada whimpered.

Dawn felt a gasp slip out of her muzzle despite herself. But fortunately, she hadn't been the only one in the room take in a sharp breath at that moment. In fact, she heard a chorus of gasps surrounding her as Ada's statement rippled through the rest of the group.

"LOOK IT WAS LIKE A MILLION YEARS AGO ANYWAY!" Ada spat, her face flushed with ire and embarrassment. "DAT'S JUST HOW DEY EVOLVED! AND DEY GAVE BOITH TROUGH IT! BUT IT AIN'T DAT WAY ANYMORE OKAY!?"

"Lamb Sakes..." Dawn murmured softly.

"That musta hurt sumthin' fierce." Malcolm added.

"I'm still having a hard time understanding exactly how something like that would work." Vanna muttered. The large tigress placing a paw to her muzzle, tapping a finger under her nose as she seemed to be trying to figure out the details. "I mean, if the boys have a penis, and so did the girls, then how did spotted hyenas breed?"

Ada clasped a paw over her eyes, letting out an irritated groan. It was clear the hyena was having a hard enough time navigating this bombshell of a statement without having to spend an eternity explaining the nuances of it all. But Dawn found herself far too curious to interject. Vanna had been right, it didn't make any sense from a reproductive standpoint, and that needed at least some form of explanation.

"Look..." Ada grumbled, gesturing a paw towards the rest of the group. "Millions of year ago, lady spotties had sumtin' called a 'psudo-penis' alright?" Ada's tone was a mixture of irritation and disappointment. "It ain't da same ting as a boys junk like I said, it's a big clitoris. But dat's where da boith canal was routed trew." Ada scratched her neck in clear discomfort. "So da boys had to kinda...get dere junk in dere to knock a gal up..."

"Ew..." Qali muttered softly, only to receive a soft swat by Vanna. The little fox glared back up at the tigress, clearly annoyed.

"Hey!" Qali huffed. "What was that for!?"

Vanna rolled her eyes, shaking her head dismissively.

"Be a little more sensitive gal..." Malcolm chided the vixen. "Ada just dropped a pretty big pastry in our lap. She don't need ya puttin' her down durin' probably the only time she's bein' open to us."

Qali let out another huff as she turned her attention back toward the tongue-tied Hyeness.

"Okay...I think I understand." Dawn muttered, scratching her chin as she pondered the strange information. "But if that was millions of years ago, what makes it relevant now?" The ewe asked curiously.

"Unless you are telling us that...you...?" Vanna trailed off, the tigress wincing sharply as she seemed unable to finish her sentence.

Ada frowned, placing her paws on her muzzle as her previous blush began to reappear.

"Look, a lot has changed in a million years okay!" Ada barked, her paws remaining clasped to the bridge of her muzzle. "Interbreedin' with udda hyena breeds ,and evolution put us mostly on da same level as da rest of da worlds ladies."

"Mostly?" Dawn queried, noting the large felines phrasing.

Ada let out an uncomfortable groan, dragging her paws down her face as she struggled to press onward with her story.

"W-well ya see..." The hyena ran a shaky paw through her side-cut mane. "Da ting is..." The hyena winced. "We spotties are like everyone else now, except we still have a little left ova from da old days."

"Are you saying you have a pseudo-penis Ada?" Dawn asked candidly, trying to help the troubled mammal through her clearly painful story.

"NO!" Ada protested sharply, rising in her seat slightly as she barked at the group. The flustered hyena quickly slumped back into her seat, crossing her arms and turning her head away from the other Hunter girls.

"Like I said, does deys are gone!" The hyena grit her teeth.

"Then what are you saying Ada?" Vanna asked.

Ada frowned sharply, her lip appearing to quiver slightly.

"Deese days...most of us still have a little bit of a..." Ada's voice cracked, the discomfort around the topic appearing to be breaking her down. "Enlarged clitoris."

"Oh?" Vanna asked.

"Not anymore!" Ada was quick to add before Dawn even had a chance to question her further. "I had it surgically reduced!" The hyena whined.

"Ada." Vanna said, her voice firm yet calm. "If you don't want to talk about it, then you do-"

"No!" Ada protested, the hyena pawing at one of her eyes as if she were trying to hold back the start of tears. "I mean, I'm good. I'm fine." Ada sighed. "It helps ta get it off my chest."

The room fell silent for what felt like an eternity, and Dawn found herself unsure as to how to break the deafening silence as she stared at the deflated hyeness sitting across from her. She wanted to say something comforting, something reassuring, but the ewe found herself struggling to find the right words. Dawn had a lot of personal issues when it came to her own self-image, but her femininity was one of the few things she felt confident about. And the ewe was sure even Vanna, despite her own insecurities still found herself far away from having to deal with her decidedly feminine parts resembling the other sex. And reasons like that were probably why the rest of the Hunter girls remained just as silent as she was, leaving it up to Ada to break the silence by pressing onward.

"I chose to do it, I wanted it, y'know," Ada mumbled softly. "It just made me feel...so un-goily, so...uncomfortable wit myself, y'know?" Ada sighed. "I did it for me."

"I don't think anyone would hold that against you Darlin'." Malcolm cooed, his voice gentle and reassuring. "We all do what we have to do."

"My Ma sure held it against me," Ada muttered.

"Your Mother held cosmetic surgery against you?" Dawn asked waryily.

Ada took a slow deep breath, letting out a long and tired sigh as she placed her paws in her lap. Her muzzle remained downturned as she stared at her own paws, twiddling her fingers idly.

"My Ma and Pop were immigrants straight outta Hyenya, in Africkat." Ada mumbled. "Hyenas ova dere still have a lotta strict social and cultural beliefs, and because a dat da nation is always havin' civil wars every few years. It's why my parents ended up leavin' for Zoo York"

Ada raised her head, flashing the other girls a weak grin. "And despite leavin' because of how crazy everyting was, dey still carried some strict beliefs wit 'em back to Zoo York." Ada chuckled dully. "I guess youse can take the Hyena out of Afrikat, but youse can't take the Afrikat outta da hyena."

"What kind of beliefs Ada?" Vanna asked, stealing the question from Dawn's muzzle.

"My Ma still followed da whole, 'ladies foist' superiority structcha that half da tribes in Hyenya follow. Boys are lessa mammals, and looked down on ova da females." Ada shook her head dismissively. "Deese are mammals dat believe if yas have a litter of all boys, yas been coised unless you leave dem outside to be picked off by scavengas!"

Ada sighed. "Dat said, when it comes to relics of da past, like having enlarged genital featchas, well...My Ma considas dat a point of pride. A blessing connected to are native roots."

"But you didn't?" Dawn asked.

Ada rolled her eyes.

"I grew up in da Barx, in some of da meanest schools in North Mammalia. You had ta have tick skin." The hyeness sighed. "But even I couldn't really handle da locker room ribbin' and jokes about 'havin' a tiny pecker' or havin' da udder goils tell me 'da boys locker room was across da way. "

"You shouldn't have let that get to you Ada!" Qali piped up, the fox standing on the mattress as she held her pillow close to her chest. "Those girls just sound like big bullies!"

Ada chuckled weakly. "It wasn't just dem..." Ada ran a paw through her swooping mane, brushing it away from her face. "I mean I saw da udder goils, and I envied dat feelin' of bein' normal." Ada rolled her eyes. "Plus da rumors of my endowment wasn't exactly gettin' da boys to line up around da block to date me."

Ada let out a tired sigh. " Da last straw was when jokes and rumors got so bad dat our teachas upped dere supervisin' us in order to keep da peace. It was supposed to put a stop to da udda goils behavior, but dat just made tings all all woise!" ada grumbled, running her paw through mane. "No one was makin' jokes out loud anymore, but da looks were da same. And even da teacha was clearly just as uncomfortable. Da awkward silence in dat locka room was way woise den hearin' it out loud, and dat sealed da deal."

Ada clasped her paws together in her lap, letting out another quiet sigh. "So toward da end of high school, I pooled my extra cash togedda from my side job and got da surgery to have it reduced."

"And your Mother didn't take it well?" Dawn asked, a worried tone in her voice.

Ada looked back at her paws, twiddling them nervously.

"Ma and Pop trew me out." Ada mumbled. "Dey didn't want a daughter who was willin' to trow away her heritage at da drop of a hat." The hyena shook her head dismissively. "If it wasn't fer my olda sister, I wouldn't a had anywhere to live. And I soitenly wouldn't have been able to go to nursin' school."

The ewe placed a hoof to her muzzle as sheer horror overcame her. She couldn't believe Ada's parents simply disowned her over something so paltry and meaningless. That they could be so cruel and heartless to their own flesh and blood. Then again, what was her life if not living proof that just because someone shares your bloodline means little in regards to how they can choose to justify treating you.

"And you still haven't...?" Vanna uttered, seemingly stopping short of whatever her full sentence was meant to state.

"I don't need 'em." Ada said with a shrug. "I made it wit out dem dis long, and I've been fine!" The hyena raised her head, flashing the girls a weak smile. "Besides, now I got Yuri, and I still got my sis Ama..." Ada's smiled widened despite visible tears rising in her eyes. "And alla youse...right?" The hyena asked, her wavering eyes pleading for assurance from her sisters.

It was a startling scene, seeing the tough, wisecracking hyena on the verge of tears. Her rough exterior slipping away to reveal her vulnerable, soft interior just as Vanna had to Dawn the night before. The hyeness was hurting, and Dawn knew she had to do what she could to fix it.

Although it quickly became evident that she hadn't been the only one of the Hunter girl to come to the same conclusion as a flash of blinding white zipped past her and wrapped itself tightly around the large hyena's chest.

Qali was squeezing the big mammal with all of her might, burying her head into Ada's chest as deeply as she could. The tiny vixen didn't say a word as Ada smiled back at her, ruffling her coif with one of her paws.

"Danks Snowball." Ada murmured quietly.

Dawn was next, making her way off the mattress and crossing the gap to meet the other two. Dawn said nothing as she scrambled her way up onto the bed alongside Ada and Qali before wrapping her tiny arms around the massive mammal and trying to squeeze as tightly as Qali was.

"After all that you've done for me?" Dawn asked with a soft laugh. "Of course I'm here for you. After all, that's what sisters are for?"

Ada tried to hide her sniffling behind a surprised laugh, the hyena flashing the ewe a warm smile before wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into a full side hug.

"And thank you Ada." Dawn mumbled against the hyena's shirt.

The hyena quirked an eyebrow. "What for?"

Dawn rubbed her face deeper into the large mammal's side. "For standing up for me today," Dawn replied. "You really didn't need to."

"Hey..." Ada snorted hard, trying her best to suck back the tears. "I'd be happy to punch a million wolves for yas if you need it, just ask ya big sis anytime."

Dawn felt the hyena's squeeze tighten slightly.

"Besides, like youse said, dat's what sistas are for." Ada smiled down at the ewe, causing Dawn to start welling up too.

At that moment, Dawn felt the bed seem to sink sharply next to her, and soon enough she found herself sandwiched between the hyena and what she could only assume was Vanna. The large tigress' chest practically burying the ewe into Ada's side.

"Me too," Vanna said softly, her grip tightening around the pair. The ewe did her best to shift around slightly in order to escape the overwhelming pressure, eventually slipping out from between the pair while still managing to hug the hyena in the process. Although now she was practically seated on Ada's knee.

"And me too Darlin'." Came Malcolm's voice, accompanied by another set of paws carefully maneuvering themselves over Qali and wrapping themselves around the hyena's neck.

Dawn felt a paw graze her cheek slightly, only for it to quickly retract. Turning Dawn saw that Qali had been trying to reposition herself now that they were all hugging Ada much like Dawn had. The vixen's one paw remained tightly wrapped between Malcolm and Ada, but the other paw was held as far away from Dawn as it could be, with Qali sporting a worried expression.

"S-sorry Dawn!" Qali murmured. "I didn't mean to touch, I was just trying to find my way back into the hug!" Qali whimpered.

Dawn rolled her eyes, letting out a light chuckle as she appraised the tiny fox. She had so taken Vanna's words to heart, reacting like a timid child fearful that touching Dawn's wool would critically hurt their relationship.

Dawn let out a soft, pleasant sigh as she tilted the top of her head toward Qali's direction.

The fox eyed her in confusion, tilting her head slightly.

"Go on." Dawn said with a laugh. "It's okay."

Qali looked shocked, but only for a moment as a wide, almost insane grin formed on her muzzle. The tiny fox breathed in sharply, letting out a happy chirp before digging her paw into the fluffy wad of wool that adorned the top of Dawn's head.

The ewe could barely feel the vixens touch, but it was clear the fox was definitely feeling the texture of her well conditioned and cared for poof. Qali's ears sagged sharply, her head sinking into her shoulders as she ruffled her fingers deeper into the fluffy wool.

"SooooOOOooo Fluffy!" Qali cooed, seemingly mesmerized by the feeling of Dawn's wool between her fingers. The vixen actively shuddered as she continued to stroke the ewe's wool.

"It's like a cloud!" Qali giggled, pressing and releasing the fluff atop Dawn's head. Dawn couldn't help but giggle herself at the gleeful joy such a small gesture managed to bring the little fox, but her laughter quickly died away when she turned her attention to the other girls still wrapped around her. Vanna, Ada, and Malcolm were still locked into the hug, but their eyes were fixed on the vixen's manipulation of the ewe's wool.

If Dawn didn't know any better, she could swear that there were longing and a hint of jealousy in their eyes.

"You..." Dawn asked, a wry smile forming on her muzzle as her eyes darted from Hunter to Hunter. "You girls want to feel it too, do you?"

The rest of the girls immediately broke eye contact, muttering a variety of excuses and vague exclamations of feigned disinterest in an effort to play off their obvious curiosity.

Dawn giggled. "It's fine, go ahead."

Malcolm, Ada, and Vanna exchanged glances briefly before turning back to Dawn.

"Well, I mean, if ya'll are offerin'." Malcolm said, scratching the back of his head as he avoided eye contact.

As the wolf reached his paw out, Ada followed suit. "I mean, it can't feel different den store-bought stuff." The hyena muttered.

"I've always been curious..." Vanna muttered softly as their paws converged on various patched of the ewe's poof. Now that all four of her sisters were running their fingers through her wool, the ewe could easily feel it. Vanna's touch, despite being gentle and barely putting any pressure on her coif took up about half of the space on it alone.

"OOooHHH! Dat is soft!" Ada chirped in awe.

"It's like cotton candy!" Malcolm added, earning another giggle from the ewe.

"So...bouncy..." Vanna cooed, her paw gingerly prodding the side of Dawn's poof.

"That's the wool cream." Dawn laughed. "It really helps with the lift and volume."

"Do you think it-"

A sudden, loud groan emanated from the beneath the mob of mammals. The sudden creak stopping Qali's question dead in its tracks as the girls fell deathly still, their paws frozen mid-stroke in Dawn's wool as they nervously glanced at one another.

"What was that?" Dawn murmured quietly.

Another straining groan cut through the awkward silence, but this time it came with a sudden shudder that rippled through the bedding they were now sitting on. Vanna glanced down at the others with concern.

"I-uh...I think we should mo-"

With a sudden sharp snap, the bed dropped out from under them. It only dropped about a few inches, but the sudden jerking force had caused Ada to topple backward onto the mattress, pulling the rest of the mob of mammals down with her as the plopped down hard against the bed.

Dawn immediately noticed they were now leaning at a slight angle, the bottom of the bed now seemingly lower than the top end. The rest of the Hunter sisters all exchanged shocked and confused glances for a moment before Vanna leaned over to inspect the damage. After a few moments, the tigress rejoined the mob now splayed on the tilted bed.

"I think we broke the legs on the bottom of the bed." Vanna said, a smile trying to force it's way onto the tigress' muzzle as she tried to stifle a laugh. But the feline's efforts proved to be for naught, as the rest of the girls broke into a fit of laughter, with Vanna quickly caving and joining in.

Dawn laughed and laughed, until her stomach muscles were aching from the spasms. The ewe kicking her legs while the others howled with laughter around her, some literally. But the group was quick to cut their laughter short as they heard the sound of hurried footfalls approaching the bedroom. The last of the lingering giggles screeching to a halt as the door swung wildly open to reveal a familiar worried looking she-wolf.

"What in Ferir's fur is-!?" Audrey stopped mid sentence as her eyes quickly appraised the scene. The Wolfess quirked an eyebrow at the furry mob huddled on the now slanted bed as the girls remained in silent surprise.

Audrey shook her head softly, running a paw through her head fur.

"Teeth to Tails, ya'll girls all right?" Audrey asked.

Quietly the girls eyed each other, Dawn's irises darting from mammal to mammal as she scanned her sisters to see who was going to step forward as the first to respond.

"Yes...?" Vanna muttered, quickly joined by the other girls giving vague murmurs of agreement now that the tension had been dissolved.

"W-we're okay Mrs. Hunter..." Dawn murmured sofly, tapping her hooves together. " Just had a little...accident..."

Audrey ran a paw through her head fur again, letting out a sigh.

"Looks like it." Audrey said with a chuckle. "Never gave much thought to warnin' ya'll about bed capacity before tonight. O'course this is the most gals we've had up here at once."

"Yes, I'm afraid we weren't exactly thinking about that either." Dawn said meekly.

"Till da bed started groanin'" Ada said, letting out a hyena laugh.

Audrey rolled her eyes. " Well I can't just leave ya'll like that." The wolfess gestured a paw toward the group.

"Nah i'll be fine." Ada said with a smirk. "I can sleep at an angle no problem." The mammal flashed her teeth. "I mean, It can't be woise den fallin' asleep at a bus station, and I done dat more times den I'm proud to admit!"

A soft series of giggles rippled through the Hunter Girls, dying down quickly under Audrey's concerned stare. The wolfess let out a scoff.

"Nonsense Ada, I ain't gonna abide that." Audrey said in a motherly tone. "No one's sleepin' in that thing untill I can get one of the boys to drill the legs back in."

"Aw Auddy, ya don't ha-"

"Now I won't have it." Audrey cut the hyeness off. "One of ya'll gals will just have to bunk up with another till tomorrow."

The group exchanged curious glances, Dawn was certain they were equally ruminating on exactly which mammals were going to be in the same bed as much as she was.

"I'll leave ya'll to figure that out fer yerselves." Auddrey said, dismissively shaking her head. "Now ya'll get some rest girls." The wolfess grasped the bedroom door handle, pulling it slowly toward herself as she began to back out of the room. "Goodnight."

The girls muttered a variety of enthusiastic 'goodnights' back to the Mother wolf as she eased out of the room.

She had nearly closed the bedroom door before squeezing her head back in the room briefly.

"'Specially you Dawn, we gotta get up early Hon." Auddey cooed.

Dawn flashed the wolfess a confident smile. "Y-yes Misses Hunter. Of course." The ewe replied.

"I told ya'll, call me Auddy." The she-wolf replied with a final smirk before slipping behind the door and sealing the bedroom once more, leaving the girls to bask in awkward silence as they lay still strewn together on the broken mattress. It remained that way for some time before Qali finally broke the deafening quiet.

"Hey, I think I finally got a good nickname for Dawn." The tiny fox uttered.

Ada raised her head from the bedding, raising an eyebrow at the tiny vixen laying in between her and the pudgy wolf.

"Oh yeah?" Ada smirked. "Let's hear it den." The hyena said with a snicker.

Qali wedged herself free of the space between the two mammals, leaning her arms on Ada's stomach as she looked over at Dawn.

"Plush!" Qali chirped happily, flashing the ewe a wide grin.

"Plush?" Ada asked.

"Yeah, Plush." The fox responded. "Cause she's so soft."

For a moment the hyena looked as though she was going to simply strike the name down like she had done all the others. She opened her mouth for a moment, only to quickly close it again.

The hyena eyes shifted over to Malcolm, then to Vanna, raising a questioning eyebrow to each as if looking for approval.

"Hmm...Plush..." Malcolm said with an approving nod.

"Certainly better than Kit Kat..." Vanna muttered, a hint of jealousy in her voice. However, the stoic tigress nodded in agreement despite it.

"Alright, den it's settled!" Ada said with a smirk, tightening her grip around Dawn and pulling her back into her side. Dawn couldn't see from her place now buried in her shirt, but she could feel the sudden noogie the large hyena was giving her through the mop of wool on her head. "Plush it is!"

Dawn writhed, trying to squirm free despite laughing at Ada's playful antics.

"Stop!" Dawn giggled, letting out the occasional snort as she finally managed to pull away from the Hyena's grip. Dawn sat up, looking back down at the rest of the "Hunter girls" now smiling back at her.

"Welcome to da pack, Plush." Ada said with a smirk. the other girls still giggling around her. "You're a real Hunta goil now."

Dawn smiled warmly, feeling tears begin to well up behind her lenses as she simply buried herself back into Ada's chest, hugging the large mammal as tightly as she could. Slowly she felt the arms of the other girls wrap around her from behind, adding to the hug once again as she became enveloped in a blanket of love an acceptance. Her sisters loved her, they embraced her as one of their own, and now that she had a nickname she was truly a 'Hunta goil' as Ada would call it. But despite the ewe's overwhelming joy, in the following silence the nagging painful thought in the back of her head was starting to grow. The cruel and hateful words spat by Papa Hunter just hours before that ran in direct contrast to any progress the ewe could ever make with the rest of the family despite her best efforts.

"As long as I'm head of this household, you ain't never gonna be a Hunter."

#Zootopia #Assistant Mayor Bellwether #dawn bellwether #fanfiction #furry #ewe #sheep #OC #fan character #romance #Drama #comedy

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