Creator questions

What's your name (real or screen, your choice)

Hello all my name is TheConcernedF0X! Concern, CF, or Concerned for short!

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 a guy in my 20s, currently living in Virginia. I am a first responder, working as Deputy Sheriff in Corrections.

What brought you to the Zootopia fandom?

To be honest I stumbled upon this fandom completely by accident. I was scrolling through Ifunny's Collective (dangerous stuff I know) when I came across parts of Libious' story WildeHeart. I was curious so I read the post and was intrigued, so I looked up the story. I ended up binge reading it, then I read another story, and another, and another, and another. From there I was basically hooked.

Who is your OC today?

My OC is my main man from my most popular story A Father Figure. Jackson T. Hunter.

What animal are they?

Jackson, or Jack as he much prefers is a hybrid between a male Ethiopian wolf and a red vixen.

Any reason you went with an Ethiopian wolf instead of something more common or well known?

I went with a ethiopian wolf because of how rare they are. On top of the fact they are critically endangered. I wanted people to see ethiopian wolf and go "huh, never heard of that before, I wonder what they look like." My hope was people would look up the beautiful wolf and learn just a little bit about them. Because there's a chance they're going to go extinct. There's also the added bonus that the ethiopian wolf looks like a fox-wolf.

What do they look like? Special markings, colorations, etc.

Jack's appearance is more like that of a red fox, though he is much bigger than your average red fox. He stands about 5'8 with broad shoulders and a muscular frame, though mind you not out of proportion for his body. His ears, tail and paws are all dipped black. His most prominent features are the slightly diagonal scar on the left side of his neck, and his piercing dark green seafoam eyes.

If he takes off his shirt (which he hates doing), he has a myriad of scars on his entire torso and back. Claw marks, stab wounds, slash wounds, and gunshot wounds cover him. He just barely has more fur than scars on his torso and back. The most prominent of the scars being the dozen or so lash marks set between his shoulder blades.

In your head cannon, how do you think hybrids look? Are all a similar blend of the parents or does it vary?

I normally keep it a good mix but it can vary. For example if I had Nick and Judy have three kids:one would be a fox which Judy's colorings and eyes but a fox in every sense, one would be a 5050 like the famous Violet Wilde-Hopps, and one would be a bunny looking like Judy but with nicks eyes. In the fox and bunny the only thing they'd share with their opposite parent is some coloring, and height . In my opinion it'd be a lot like how our genetics work in passing down traits. Just on a larger scale. That way we get a real mixed back and it's sort of like hitting the randomizer in video game character creation. But in this instance every one would be spectacular.

What inspired you to create them?

What inspired me to create Jack was very simply an idea. I had never seen a story where a male popped into Nick's life as a kit and saved him, giving him a much nicer life and a brighter future. Though it's not confirmed 100% we can speculate that Nick's real father either, isn't in the picture, or b, is dead. So I thought "what if a male came into Nick's life right after the scouts incident? What if that male became his father?" So with those thoughts in mind, I started writing.

Of course at the time I hadn't originally planned to have him be the way he is, but I quickly felt that I shouldn't make him some generic insert with a mediocre life and a mediocre job with a normal past and family. So I got creative.

What are they like?

Jack is an incredibly intelligent mammal. He suffers from a condition called hyperthymesia which is a very rare condition that in simple terms, allows him to remember everything. What it does is it causes his brain to deem all of the information it takes in as important information and it becomes permanently stored. Meaning he can recall everything that has happened in his life with 100% clarity. He has an IQ of 181 making him by IQ standards smarter than Einstein. This basically means he has a super computer for a brain and he constantly continues to add knowledge to his data banks.

He also has incredibly heightened senses, not anywhere near supernatural, but heightened nonetheless. Hearing on par with rabbits, a nose that could make some wolves jealous, and eyesight like a hawk; Jack speculates that he got his heightened senses as a byproduct of hyperthymesia. Then with heightened senses came enhanced reflexes, enhanced reflexes led to increased agility. He also had an increased growth rate and fast mental developmental growth.

Jack is a military mammal. At 17 he joined the United Mammalian Marines and quickly showed real potential. He breezed through basic training and decided to go for a challenge. So he decided to go for a specialized branch of the mammalian marines and make his mark, so he went for the Mammalian Marines Special Sniper Division, better known as the Periton Sniper Corps. Jack went through the training at 18 and completed it becoming the first fox (and later discovered as a hybrid) to join the PSC. But, he wasn't done with training as his superiors convinced him to go to Officer training school believing his talents would be wasted as enlisted. Jackson agreed and completed the training at age 19 becoming the first fox Officer and youngest mammal to complete OTS at the time.

But, that's not all that he's like. He's also incredibly kind and generous, very quick to help mammals in need. He founded a company called Sparrowtail Industries. His innovative company is a beacon of hope for not only foxes, but other species that are looked down upon by society. The company is made up of 48% foxes, the other 52% is made up of species that struggle in society majority of it being predators, (the company is only 3% prey) coyotes, raccoons, weasels, painted dogs, and maned wolves, are just a few of the species getting their leg up in society because of Jack Hunter.

Jackson Hunter is also honest, loyal, committed, has a sense of humor, is sweet, intricate and mysterious, incredibly perceptive, and so much more. Though If you asked him he wouldn't say he was kind and sweet at all.

What's their family life like?

Jack Hunter has not had the best family life. His mother and father were murdered when he was four leaving him an orphan. He has no siblings and as far as he knows no extended family. He does have a father figure David Badgerton, a kind badger that raised him since he was six years old.

Do they have a love interest?

Jack has one real love interest, Vivian Wilde, Nick Wilde's mom. Well he would if the fool would open his eyes and realize he's in love with her.

What's your favorite part of developing a new character?

Ohhh that's a good question. I think my favorite part is developing their personality naturally. None of my OCs both major and minor were planned at all until the exact moment they were written into existence. That includes Jack, I know I wanted to give Nick a father figure, but until I wrote that first chapter I had no plan at all for what he would be Besides his name. I love developing their personality as I write making it natural and unique, no character I make has the same personality. It's fun to see the end product and look at their quirks.

Do you have any stories written about them or that they're included in?

They are in my main story A Father Figure as the main character.

Tell us how you see culture in Zootopia. For example, do all foxes or rabbits have the same culture or is there a difference depending on subspecies or region?

I feel most species have a definitive culture in the broad spectrum. But as with life goes there are also branching sub-cultures as well and they aren't exactly restricted to region or subspecies. Culture is always a finicky thing, and in a huge and complex world like Zootopia it would be especially finicky. So I feel every species has a base culture, and then it branches down into multiple subcultures based on a many number of things.

Ultimate Zootopia question. Are you a WildeHopps shipper or do you prefer them with a different ship?

It's WildeHopps or nothing! Seriously, they just fit together perfectly. Am I right or am I right? I know, I'm right. I'm okay with reading stories where it starts out with them seeing different mammals, but if the WildeHopps ship doesn't sail I don't read. But at the same time, I don't like stories where they get together in 30 seconds. So I like the ones with a delicate balance. They just have one of those relationships that you can just look at and know it would work.

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 another edition of the Characters of Zootopia show! I'm your host Vicky Chola and joining me today is Jackson Hunter. Thank you for joining me Jackson."

adjusts headphones "Thanks for having me Vicky. I don't get out much so this is a nice change of pace for me."

"Our pleasure. And I must say, you're probably the tallest red fox we've ever had on our show."

"Ha you should have met my father, he had at least another head of height on me. Being this tall does have it's advantages, I can reach the top shelves at the grocery stores! But I do get tired of how the weather jokes though. I mean come on, its not like I'm the size of a giraffe! Chuckles not to mention I literally emanate the big bad fox stereotype. A fox that's big oh no run for the hills! Chuckles again oh some mammals. But, I'm actually a wox not a fox."

"A wox? Can you clarify that for our listeners?

chuckles "I sure can. Quite recently I discovered that I'm actually a hybrid, my mother was a fox. But my dad, my dad turns out was a wolf, a Ethiopian wolf specifically. Now if you've ever seen a Ethiopian wolf, which I would be surprised if you saw them being so rare, you'd notice they look like wolf-foxes. Now discovering I was a hybrid was a shock for me, since I always thought of my father as a super tall fox when in reality he dyed his fur and messed with his tail to look like a big fox. I can only speculate why, best guess is because interspecies relationships are so taboo, but I'll never be sure. The term Wox actually comes from a...friend of mine. She was the first one I told and her first reaction was to ask me 'Wox or folf?' Well I thought about it, I have almost no features of a wolf, and wox contains more of fox, so I chose that. If I looked more like a wolf I would have said wolf."

"That's interesting. So I'm guessing you've never actually met your father?"

"No no, I knew him. I knew him quite well, he wasn't ever six feet away from my mother after all. We lived in a house in Happytown, small, well kept, despite its location. My father was a scientist, he did most of his work from home, always doing projects and experiments. He was so big and strong but so gentle and kind. He was always so careful like everything around him was fragile. He was stern with me but fair, and never hesitated to pause whatever he was working on to help me or play. His eyes were so piercing like he was staring into your soul 24/7. Heh, and he was attached to my mom by the hip, and that's not a knot joke…even though they were trying their best to give me a sibling. My mom was a stay at home mom, fully dedicated to being my mother. Always taking care of me and keeping me entertained. She loved focusing on family rather than a career, saying having a family was her dream. She always said she wouldn't change a thing, even up to the end. My father would say the same too, even up to the end."

"Up till the end? Have they both passed away?"

Unfortunately yes...when I was four they were murdered in front of me by members of the Prey Supremacy Society, I was stabbed in the neck, and our home was set ablaze. I very narrowly escaped in time... Why we were specifically targeted I'll never know, but we were, maybe they didn't think anyone would kick up a fuss about a bunch of dead foxes. ... Things for me only got worse from there. I was sent to an orphanage, a prey only orphanage. You may have heard of it, Honorhall. It was big in the news a few years back. Well you can imagine how that went for me, I was beaten and tortured for two years until I escaped. I am the reason that horrid was shut down and that cruel headmistress is behind bars for the rest of her miserable life."

"How old were you when you escaped?"

"Six. I left there with scars on my back and evidence in my paws, she was a careless old crone. I stole video and audio evidence of some of my beatings and the murder of a orphan who died trying to protect me. His name was James Sparrowtail, bravest little rabbit I ever knew. Taking that horrible place down was for him. I went to the only place I knew once I escaped, Happytown."

"What did you do once you got there?"

"Roamed aimlessly for the first few days. Didn't know exactly where to go. Mind you, Happytown isn't a safe place, well it's better now but still, but that's where the largest population of foxes live. I knew I could disappear there, that I'd mostly be safe. Me being placed in Honorhall hadn't been an accident after all. One thing I did was visit my old home, if you could call it that, was just an empty lot. No shrine, no memorial, just dirt. Now the spot is one of Sparrowtail Industries recruitment and outreach centers. Anyways, I finally found a place, it was an old abandoned library, at least I thought it was. I broke in, and if it turned out there was a small apartment on the second floor, it was clear no one had lived there for a while so I thought it was safe. I figured out how to turn on the power and once it was on, I simply started reading. I couldn't think of anything else to do."

"You were incredibly innovative for a six year old. Most six year olds wouldn't have made it on their own like that."

"Well I felt that I had two options. I could either stay in that orphanage and eventually die when that headmistress got tired of playing with her food...or I could escape and survive, I chose the latter...I did have a couple of things going for me. First I had a heightened mental and physical growth rate. At 6 I was the height of a 12 year old fox, which now that I know I am a hybrid explains that. But my mental capabilities were closer to that of a 12 year old as well, meaning I was reaching mental maturity quicker and I was already smarter than your average six year old. My intelligence was helped by a condition I got at birth called hyperthymesia, though it wasn't until 7 that I discovered the condition's name. Hyperthymesia allows me to remember literally everything I have experienced in my life. And Vicky when I say literally everything, I mean it. I can recall with 99% clarity everything that has ever happened in my life, even the most mundane things. It's a condition in which an individual possesses a superior autobiographical memory. Meaning I can recall the vast majority of personal experiences and events in my life with vivid and excruciating detail, I also have a complete photographic memory. Add those two together and it makes my brain a super computer, every book, every scrap of knowledge I absorb is permanently stored in my databanks. I also had enhanced senses, reflexes, and agility. Now before you ask Vicky I have absolutely no clue why I have enhanced senses, reflexes, or agility, as well as my advanced mental development. If I do research, I've seen doctors, they can't figure it out either...last thing that helped was I wasn't really alone for long, that library I mentioned wasn't as abandoned as I thought it was."

"So you can remember every booger you ever picked?"

laughs "I'll have you know I picked no boogers in my lifetime. I did say I matured faster you know. I didn't have any bad habits as a kit. I didn't have much of a real kithood to enjoy that luxury. I do remember every dinner with my parents including the dish we ate, every word they ever spoke, every look they ever gave. I remember that time we had lunch in the savannah central park, one of the few times we ever went out in public. I remember those things. Those little things that in the moment seem so inconsequential at the time, that you end up missing them later...I do also recall everytime my mom tried to force me to eat green beans. Eck.

giggles "I can imagine that would be as much a curse as it is a blessing though."

nervous chuckle "heh, you're not exactly wrong on that part. If I have a nightmare, Or a bad experience, or anything that isn't good really. I remember it with one hundred percent clarity. So if I just think about one of those moments, even for a second, I am seeing that entire memory just as if I was back there when it happened. You see, lots of mammals say they don't want to forget anything, but they don't realize how much that statement actually entails. Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, there are going to be moments in life that we wish nothing more to forget that they happened. So we can move on with life, I unfortunately...can't. No matter how much I want to."

"When you say move on with life. Do you mean just being able to forget about something or not being able to get past that event?"

"A little bit of both I suppose. Because of my condition sometimes I feel like I'm trapped in the past, simply because I remember every single second of it. It makes it hard to look forward to the future, because my past is dragging me back. There are so many things I wish I could just forget, so many things I don't need to remember including the ridiculous things I can remember. Like how many times I've had Snarlbucks black coffee, 18,974 times exactly. As far as getting past the events...I have PTSD, so that's a whole different animal. But hey can you honestly be surprised? My parents were murdered in front of me, I was stabbed myself, my family home set on fire with me still inside, I was sent to a prey only orphanage on purpose where I was physically and psychologically tortured for two years, AND I watched my only friend back then be murdered when he tried to protect me and then had to bury him in an unmarked grave. Who wouldn't get PTSD after that? I am seeing a therapist of course, to help me get past those events. It's a tough road to say the least, but I'm doing what I can."

"If you can, would you tell us what your therapist says about your condition?"

"I'd rather not. No offense Vicky. It's just I only recently started therapy when the mammal who is my therapist quite literally backed me into a corner and told me I'm a mess and I need help. She saw through the masks I wear when no one else could, exposed me to my true self. The only thing I will say that she's told me is I need to socialize more, and start getting some positive associations going. Meaning I need to start having good memories to outweigh the bad ones. That's why I agreed to this interview actually...well more she told me I was doing it, because to quote her. "talking, period, helps. Airing out things instead of bottling them up, no matter how small, helps a mammal heal more than we know. You can't just keep everything inside, you can't just talk to yourself always." So that's why I am sitting across from you, to do as she says and talk to someone that isn't myself about my life. So far I'll say, it's been kinda liberating. My socialization skills aren't the best, well actually they're basically nonexistent. In fact, this is the longest I've spoken to a mammal I don't know in 8 years. Hell I've actually talked less to the mammal that basically raised me then I've talked to you...wow that really sucks when I say that out loud...I should fix that."

"Well I think you're doing a great job. So where were we?"

"Thanks Vicky. Well, we got off on a tangent about my cracked egg of a brain. But I would say that topic has been thoroughly ...scrambled. I do believe we are still in my early years, back when I had just gotten settled in that not so abandoned as I thought library."

"So there was someone else there?"

"Not initially. I was there over a week before I received a visit. As it turned out, the old badger that owned the library and used to live in the apartment inside liked to visit every couple months and reminisce. Surprise surprise when he discovered not only was someone in the library living there, they had changed the locks on him. He was initially furious, till he saw it was me, just a fox kit covered in scars."

"What happened after he found you?"

"Well when he first made his presence known to me I was...hostile towards him. It took some calming and gentle words from him to get me to actually speak, to tell him who I was and why I was there. Once he learned that information, he let me stay. He didn't stay with me, but visited daily and with some convincing he trained me. I spent years in that library never leaving, just training, and he was there every step of the way. He really became like a father to me, no matter how much I tried not to let him in."

"Trained you in what exactly?"

"Combat. He was an ex-army ranger and I wanted to learn how to never be hurt again. So he trained me in everything he knew about combat from paw to paw, knife play, firearms, and everything between. When my abilities surpassed what he could train or I wanted to know something he couldn't teach he'd call in favors for mammals to come and do so. I spent six years training every single day. If I wasn't training in combat I was training my mind, learning languages, subjects both educational and...practical. I made myself in a way where no one could hurt me, period. Unfortunately bravado is a fickle thing, and it took quite a few cuts and scrapes before I realized just because I am highly trained doesn't mean I'm invincible and to put on a vest. Heh, he did try and warn me that old badger."

"How long did you stay there?"

"I stayed there for nearly 7 years. Unfortunately me and David had a blow out, it was my fault really. I was planning on doing something stupid, and he was trying to talk me out of it. I snapped, and he left. By the time he calmed down and came back, I was already gone and I made sure he wouldn't find me. I don't even really know why, shame maybe. We only reconciled recently. He found me simply because through an interesting turn of events his wife was my housekeeper. Didn't even know he had gotten married until I came home to find him in my house and learned they were married."

"How much time had passed before you saw each other again?"

"7 years. As it turned out we were neighbors for five years. I have a very large house in the Deciduous District on the literal edge of Zootopia. My nearest neighbor is a mile away, through a forest, and that neighbor was Clara. Clara is her name by the way, so I needed a housekeeper, she ran a housekeeping business, so it seemed natural. I had no idea she was married to David, once she figured out who I was she told him and he came and found me."

"What was that reunion like?"

"Well explosive at first. We both had things we needed to get off of our chests and I may have socked him in the mouth first thing. But once we aired out our grievances there was a lot of tears and hugs. He apologized a lot, I apologized a lot, and once that was over I filled him in on everything he missed."

"How did he react to hearing your story?"

"Poorly for some of it. Did a lot of things this wox ain't to proud of, and him hearing the kid he considered his son went through and did it. Hurt, and he blamed himself. But for a lot of it he was happy, proud even of the things I accomplished. like buying that house, which is a multi-million dollar house by the way, at 16."

"How did you get around the legal issues of being a minor?"

"It was kinda easy actually. I just bought it under the company I worked for and founded. So it was in the company's name, though I used my money to do it. Once I hit 18 I transferred it from my company to me. So it made it completely legal. Besides, the money was good, so who's going to complain?"

"Can you tell us about your company?"

"Well..I founded Sparrowtail Industries. If you don't know Sparrowtail it is one of the largest billion dollar companies in Zootopia. An impressive feat especially considering it's only been active for five years. We work in four fields, general technologies, military technologies, weapons, and most recently the medical field. In fact Sparrowtail General Hospital is set to open in a couple of months. I came up with the company when I was 14 and brought it to an older friend of mine, he loved the idea so he funded it and launched it. While he is by all means the CEO I still had a very large paw in it's running and was made a majority stockholder. That's how I became a millionaire at 16. Anyways. The company is a beacon for disproportioned mammals in society, foxes being the prime example. The company in fact is made up of 48% foxes, and the other 52% is other mammals that need a leg up in society. Coyotes, raccoons, weasels, painted wolf's , etcetera. The company itself is only 3% prey and all small locations in Zootopia are all foxes. 37% of the foxes in Zootopia are living better lives because of the company and I'm looking to bump that number up. Now some may think we are discriminatory since we so rarely hire prey mammals but I wanted this company to solely hire disproportionate species in society, and only a tiny percentage fit that bill. That's just the sad truth of the matter. We offer tons of bonuses and have no problem hiring mammals with little experience, veterans, or mammals that have a checkered past. You are incentivized to better yourself at Sparrowtail and we have lots of programs to help with it. I wanted the company to be a beacon of hope and innovation, and I like to hope I met that, even if only a little."

"Sorry if that sounded a little too. promotional." Fake coughs and says in-between "We are always hiring." Clears throat "ehm, sorry something got caught back there." Chuckles

"That's quite a feat. With having accomplished so much so unnaturally soon in your life, what do you think the rest of your life will be like?"

scratches chin "hmm. Well I'll probably continue my military career at least for now, see where it takes me. I'm a Second Lieutenant in the United Mammalian Marines Periton Sniper Corps...I don't honestly know besides that where my future will take me. I prefer to take things one step at a time and let the things that will be, can have a million wishes, a whole detailed intricate plan to where your life will lead. But so often life, life decides otherwise. So live in the present, use the past as a guide, and be prepared for what the future will hold."

"I can't think of a better note to end on. Thank you for coming in today."

Jack grins "It was my genuine pleasure. Now if you'll excuse me I believe a certain vixen and kit I know are waiting for me questions in paw. Good day Vicky."

"And thank you everyone for joining us. See you next time!"