"Hello, everyone," said Miles, starting the latest episode, "And welcome to a special 2024 Preview Episode of Animalia Ambassadoria."
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"One of the biggest events this year, pun semi-intentional, is the 2024 Lunar New Year celebrations, especially since Dinotopians are going to be competing this year." After a few clips of shock, surprise, and confusion (both from animated and live action shows, etc.), Miles continued, "This is partly because of the theory that a lot of 'mythical' creatures were created after people encountered exposed fossilized dinosaur bones."
After a brief commercial break, Miles continued. "Another thing that people are expecting for the competition is some 'backstage banter' between rivals, similar to what Mary Piper and Mary Tillman did during the Year of the Rat competition." At that, Miles showed some clips of the banter between the two of them. "There was also the Animalian Equivalent of the Indominus vs. Spinosaurus showdown. Link for that in the description below. So, expect to see some trash-talk between competitors, and not just between Heather and Regina."
"Finally," said Miles, after another commercial break, "since both winged reptiles and aquatic reptiles are not dinosaurs, there's actually going to be three subdivisions of the competitions: 'Sky Dragons', 'Land Dragons', and 'Sea Dragons'."
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Later, after a question block or two, Miles showed, again how Animalia and its colonies weren't completely unaffected by world events.
"Due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, both Jews and Palestinians are fleeing to New Zerzura because of its Arabic name (Madina Almalja)." Said Miles, somewhat sadly, "While both New Zerzura's and Egypts government officials won't be flat out turning them away, they will be keeping a close eye on them while the conflict continues."
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"On a happier note," said Miles, after another commercial break and question block, "One car thief is starting the new year with a new body and a new identity after a hilarious stroke of luck."
According to the reports that were available, three masked gunmen targeted a jewelry store in Las Vegas, stealing several hundred thousand dollars' worth of jewelry. However, a female carjacker, who had been in the area at the time, stole their getaway car, leading to a quick open-and-shut case, with the thieves forced to take off on foot, leading to their capture soon after, as well as the recovery of the stolen jewelry.
In fact, the only reason why the car thief was caught was because she drove her stolen wheels to Lyre/Animalia before stopping to get a bite to eat at a gas station where Simon and Malice were also getting some snacks while they were "walking" Bash and Belle when the alert came over Simon's police radio.
To add the cherry on top of this comedic "cake", the lawyer who managed to secure her Animalian conversion as part of her "reward" for helping foil the jewelry robbery appeared for a Zoom call/interview alongside the Nevada DA, but there was something a little... unprofessional with his appearance.
"You appear to have a filter turned on in the video settings." said Miles, as both the DA and a baby rabbit logged in. "You might want to remove that before--"
"Uh... we're trying... c-can you hear me, Miles?" said the baby rabbit, his shaky, Southern accent causing many a viewer to crack a smile.
"I can hear you. My ears aren't just for show." confirmed Miles, doing his best to keep a professional face, "I think it's a filter..."
"It-it is, and I... don't know how to remove it." confirmed the lawyer, "I've got my assistant here, and she's trying, and I'm willing to go forward with this, I just... I'm here live I'm just... I'm not a rabbit." At that, the 70+ year old, white-haired, stern-faced DA also began cracking a smile.
After the interview, and both the 'baby rabbit' and the DA logged out, Miles decided to wrap up the episode in a fitting way.
"My apologies, viewers." he said, "Apparently, the lawyer's daughter had been using his laptop to talk to a friend and had left the filter on when she logged out, but the lawyer had no idea how to remove it. So, I think we'll leave it there, but not before confirming that the car thief is going to be part of Mercy's little group. See you all next year, and may 2024 be a new beginning for all of us."