Creator questions
What's your name (real or screen, your choice)
You can call me ARK
Tell me about yourself, age, where you're from, what you do, anything you want others to know about you, sex, etc.
Well I'm 19 and from Pa. I'm unemployed right now due to a cough that made me have to leave my old place of work. I'm a male and demisexual. I'm currently dating Rynadine, whom I love very much
What brought you to the Zootopia fandom?
well I watched the movie online (my family doesn't really do theaters) and enjoyed it more than any other Disney movies at the time. At the time, I was into Lion King fanfiction, using to find them as I didn't really know about ao3 yet. From there, I found a fic called 100 kisses which I adored, sending me down the rabbit hole, no pun intended. after a while, I started getting ideas for my own fics and OCs, and since I wasn't confident in my own writing (still not, but I'm working on it) I went on reddit to see if there was any place to share ideas for stories in hopes others would pick them up. I was directed to ZAA by my future bf, and the rest is history
Who is your OC today?
my first official Zootopia OC/my Zoosona, Ian Volpez
What animal are they?
a foxccoon, one parent was a fox and the other a raccoon
What do they look like? Special markings, colorations, etc.
He's 3'8" and has blue eyes and a raccoon mask around them. His fur is mostly red, but his tail has burnt umber rings on it and his mask is the same color. His chest is cream colored. He has a thin wirily look to him, but underneath his fur are muscles, not fat. He's built like a runner, longer legs than torso, and his fingers are long and dexterous
What inspired you to create them?
well I wanted to make a zoosona/OC, but I couldn't decide on a species, raccoon or fox? then I saw how UW's character is a wox, a hybrid, and everything just fell into place
What are they like?
He's a huge nerd, into games like D&D or Cards Against Mammality. He spends time daydreaming about fantasy stories and comics, but he has a secret: he likes sports. He loves running and rock climbing, but is ashamed of that because "nerds don't do sports!"
What's their family life like?
He's an only child, and his parents love him a lot. However, they can be very oblivious to how the world sees interspecie couples and hybrids, and can be very embarrassing to poor Ian.
Do they have a love interest?
Yes, he's currently dating Ry's character/sona Theo, a raccoon
Do you have any stories written about them or that they're included in?
Not yet, but I plan to include him in some of my works
How do you feel about hybrids in Zootopia? Do they occur naturally, require an outside force or don't happen at all?
Well I think you can tell how I feel about them from Ian's species, yes I have them in my version of Zootopia. They happen naturally, but they follow some rules, such as the mammals have to be close in size, no elephice or bunrafes anytime soon. Also, they're rare, the farther apart the two are genetically, the more rare. So a wolf and a coyote would be more likely to have a hybrid than a wolf and a cheetah or a wolf and a sheep.
Ultimate Zootopia question. Are you a WildeHopps shipper or do you prefer them with a different ship?
Yes, I ship them, but I also ship them with others. Mostly if the ship is nontoxic and healthy and both parties are happy, I'll usually end up shipping it.
For the purpose of the OC interview the setting is the creator's OC is about to be interviewed by my co-owned OC Vicky Chola. A north american grey fox vixen in her mid 20s. They're both in a studio booth with headphones on and microphones to speak into. The interview we did earlier about the creator and their OC is considered a pre conversation between these two before going on the air. Vicky will ask questions based on the answers provided by the creator. Enjoy!
"Welcome everyone to this edition of the Characters of Zootopia show! I'm your host Vicky Chola and with me today is Ian Volpez. Ian, thank you so much for coming on."
"Thanks for having me."
"So Ian, let's start with the obvious. Tell our audience what species you are."
"Well umm" clears throat "none of your listeners will judge me for this, right?"
"Don't worry, you're in good company here."
"O-ok, it feels weird telling everyone this, but I'm a foxccoon. a hybrid."
"It's alright, I'm a hybrid as well."
"You are?"
giggle "Yeah, I look like my dad but my mom is a bobcat. We're greybobs."
"Wow, I would never have known! I guessed you lucked out, look wise huh?"
"Mmm, mostly. But you shouldn't be ashamed of who you are. Now, while I can kind of hide who I am if I need to that's not something you can do is it?"
"Well I'm trying to put myself through college, and quality fur dye is expensive. I sometimes can hide my mask, but the rings on the tail are a little harder."
"I understand what you're going through. So what are you going to college for?"
"Well I really like games, board games, card games, stuff like that. So I thought if I could get a communications degree, I might be able to make a career out of reviewing them."
giggle "And spend all day playing video games. Sounds like one of my exes."
laughs embarrassedly "Well yes and no, I'm not really a video game kind of mammal, those are too impersonal for my tastes. Give me a good 4 player board game any day."
"Do you really think there's a market for those still? All I ever see are remakes of old ones."
laughs again "You obviously don't know where to look. Or have you heard of Fake Artist, BANG, or One Night Murderer?"
"No are those new board games?"
"Fairly new, last couple of years."
"Where do you go to find that kind of thing?"
"Well it depends on how soon you want to find out about them I guess, if you don't mind seeing older games, you can always go to a bookstore or magic shop, but if you want the newest of the new, they have conventions hosting new and improved games."
"Like comicon type venues?"
"Yes actually."
"Do you go to those often?"
"Not as often as I'd like." laughs
"Do you have any interest outside of games?"
"Umm... I like fantasy books and stuff. And..." mumbles to low to be picked up
giggles "I'm sorry, what was that?"
sighs "Promise not to laugh?"
"Cross my heart."
"I like to rock climb ok? I know, I'm not supposed to since I'm a nerd, but I can't help myself!"
"Now who says you can't do stuff like that and be a nerd? You know they make sports video games right?"
"It's just the rules!"
"Oh come on dude, when I was growing up there were plenty of jocks who liked playing those magic card games."
"Who do you think makes the rules?"
"I say we make our own rules. And we don't let anyone tell us what we can and can't do. Be nice to others and do what brings you joy. Those are my rules. How about you?"
"Mine are keep your head down and don't draw unnecessary attention to yourself"
"That shouldn't mean you can't enjoy what makes you happy though. Here," scribbling then folding of paper noises "take this, put it in your pocket and then open it after you get home okay? Now, let's move on to the next subject. You said you had a boyfriend."
"I do indeed!"
"Now this is what I thought you'd be bashful about. So how'd you two meet?"
"Why should I be bashful? my boyfriend's amazing!"
giggles "I don't know, most are just shy about that rather than being embarrassed about doing things they like I suppose. So tell me about him?"
"Well his name is Theo and we met in our first semester of college. He's majoring in electrical engineering, so he always jokes once he graduates he can make some kind of death ray in the garage, just because he could." laughs fondly
laughs "So at what stage in your relationship would you say you're in?"
"What do you mean by that? emotionally, we're still in the honeymoon stage definitely, everything's great and perfect, time wise, we've been together since the beginning of the last spring semester."
"Don't you have to be married to be in the honeymoon stage?" giggles
"Well what else would you call it?" laughs along
"Sounds like you're at the stage before the honeymoon. When one of you might consider asking the question."
"Oh believe me, I'd love nothing more, but we both agreed it'd probably be best to wait until after college to discuss marriage."
"Fair enough. So where are you in your schooling?"
"College?"
"Yeah"
"I'm at college."
"How long do you have till you graduate."
"Oooh that's what you meant!" laughs embarrassedly "I'm in my second year now."
"Let's talk a little about your upbringing. What are your parents like?"
laughs exasperatedly "My parents... that's a loaded topic. They're great, I love them a lot, but they can be pretty embarrassing at times."
"Oh? How so?"
"Well have your parents ever shown off your baby photos? Imagine that but with random strangers cause I was 'just so cute as a kit!'"
giggles "Oh my gosh, no just to the boyfriend I brought home once. Which I haven't done again for that exact reason. So have they met your boyfriend yet?"
"They keep asking to, but I've managed to hide him from them." laughs "I'll let them meet when my parents learn to contain their excitement, I mean, I love'em, but they don't exactly know how the world sees crosses or even just normal foxes and raccoons!"
"Is it that they don't see the world the way it is or that they don't let it get to them and they choose to live the way they want to live?"
"They once tried to ask a neighbor to borrow a cup of sugar. our neighbor works for FoxAway"
snickers "Well, either they're the most dense mammals in the world or they have a crazy sense of humor. Unfortunately, our time has run out. Thank you for coming on the show Ian."
"Wait wait, I just want to clarify, they're not dense, they're just optimistic, they think that mammals will just judge them based on themselves, not their species."
"Well you said they don't know how the world sees crosses and certain species?"
"They think everyone will just judge each other based on how they individually act."
"Is it that they really think that or is it that they believe you should always give others an example of who you really are instead of hiding who you are and not fighting those preconceived notions?"
"I asked them once, they didn't even understand the question, saying that they've acted like that since before I was born."
"Okay, well, we're out of time I'm afraid. Thank you for joining us Ian."
"Thanks for having me Vicky!"
"And thank you listeners for joining us. See you next time!"