FunnyLittleOwl's Big APNA Q&A Session
Hi, folks! This is Karla, author of A Perfectly Normal Arrangement on AO3.
That absolute monster of a fic was finally finished this week, and at some point along the way I made the *very* sensible decision to convince myself I’d keep writing in that universe for a long, long time.
As revealed in Chapter 10’s final notes (and judging by the reaction from readers, lol) that decision went over… surprisingly well, which honestly made the whole thing worth it in the end. Again, thank you so much for your continued and tireless support!
Naturally, a lot of questions followed about what exactly that was going to entail. Over the course of publishing the fic, I also came across several recurring questions that felt worth answering publicly, so we can all have a clearer picture of where Nick and Judy are coming from, especially when it comes to some of their choices throughout the story.
So! I gathered as many questions as I could find and compiled them into this massive Q&A for anyone who’s curious enough to dive in. Fair warning: some answers are 18+, and the entire post is full of spoilers, so everything is tucked safely behind the cut.
Hope you enjoy!
Q: Why is APNA turning into the APNCU (A Perfectly Normal Cinematic Universe)?
A: The short answer is: I can’t let go.
The long answer: I’ve actually done this before once, 9 years ago, for the Yuri On Ice fandom. I wanted to convince myself that “established relationship” stories could be just as compelling as “getting together” ones (I don’t usually read much established relationship content), so I ended up writing an entire series spanning multiple parts and many years of Victor and Yuri’s relationship. I still feel like that was the biggest highlight of my fic writing career, but maybe we’re in due time for a repeat?
There’s a lot of ground I feel we can still cover with this iteration of Nick and Judy. I want to explore them in different moments of their lives, across many situations, so we can actually witness their growth and the new struggles they’ll face, now that they’re together.
Q: When are you going to start writing the next installment? What else can you tell us about those future stories?
A: Good questions. The only concrete answers I have right now are: 1 - soon, 2 - that we’re starting with Judy’s accompanying POV story.
Judy’s actions were mostly a mystery throughout APNA, even though quite a few people figured things out very quickly, lol. That was honestly amazing to see, because it meant the foreshadowing I’d been sprinkling in actually paid off and felt earned in the end.
We’ve given Nick a lot of grace throughout this story, and I feel like Judy deserves the same — even if not to the same extent. Her POV is very interesting in this fic, and I’ve often said it almost feels like a completely different genre from Nick’s. As I mentioned in my author’s notes, this won’t be a full retelling, but more of a crash course through her perspective during the events of Christmas in Bunnyburrow. I think that alone will give readers plenty of insight into her character.
As for A Perfectly Normal Proposal, the de facto APNA sequel… I’d like to keep those answers close to my chest for now. It’ll likely be a while before I get around to writing it, but I hope it ends up being just as impactful as the main story has been for so many people. So for now, no spoilers: only a musical glimpse into the vibe I have in mind for it.
Q: Why did you choose to write APNA from Nick’s POV?
A: I just think it’s more fun to write from the (obvious) yearner’s perspective. But early on, I also realized I wanted this story to have a special twist — Judy already being ten steps ahead of him (and us) while Nick remained none the wiser. I think that makes for good comedy and gives the story strong reread value.
At the same time, I had to be careful to let Judy’s emotions come through without making them too obvious to an uninformed reader. I almost think of APNA as a dual-POV story, with Judy’s perspective reaching us through Nick’s reactions to her behavior. That approach made things a lot harder for *me*, but I think it’s one of the reasons why people were so invested in this story in the first place.
Q: Why is Nick so afraid of having sex with Judy in APNA?
A: There are a lot of reasons at play, I think, so let’s start dissecting them.
During that infamous scene in Chapter 7, Nick was terrified Judy would make him come when she grabbed him out of the blue — that’s why he reacted so quickly and ended up putting his foot in his mouth.
After that, he’s still very hesitant about taking that next step once they get together. He knows it’s Judy’s first time, and he feels a lot of pressure that he’s trying not to show. Nick knows Judy would feel hurt if he admitted that, especially when she’s been trying to convince him she’s been ready this whole time. But honestly. Nick is *very* aware of the fact that he’s nearly twice her size, has a knot, big claws and a mean bite. So he was somewhat earnest, somewhat joking when he said “You scared the shit out of me that night” and preferred to face Judy’s teasing instead of telling her the full, naked truth.
The truth is, Nick is *terrified* of hurting Judy, in any way, shape of form. So he tries to establish rules, a self-inflicted timeline to the beginning of their sex lives together. He wants them to date first. He wants more time to give Judy what he believes she needs from a good boyfriend. After the torturous DMV sequence, though, Nick realizes something important about Judy: she doesn’t actually need dates from him, or any fanfare. What she actually wants is to stay up all night on the couch, watching movies and making out. He might have *not* been informed of it in advance, but she already thought they’d been dating for a while now.
So. Judy’s been waiting for too long, and Nick finally realizes he’s only being selfish by holding back from something she so clearly wants. So he attacks her, lol. He still takes the reins in their sex life at first, as we see throughout Chapter 10, until he’s eventually outmaneuvered by Judy, her immense confidence in everything she does, and her bunny needs.
On a sillier note, Nick also hesitates because he’s worried he won’t perform well and might ruin that experience for her. In short, Nick’s a gentlemammal and a giant green flag in APNA, so we cheer.
Q: What do you headcanon as Nick’s sexuality in your story?
A: I left it open-ended purposefully, when I said his type was anything that moved and kept mentioning “mammals” instead of “females”. It did that so people could project onto him whatever they wished. I truly can’t decide what I headcanon Nick as. To me, he sounds like a ladies man who enjoys being walked on a leash by a powerful ladyboss — though maybe that’s only romantically speaking. Sexually, maybe he’s had experience with both males and females. I really don’t know.
Your move. You decide.
Q: What did Judy’s neighbors say to her back in Chapter 1 that made her so angry?
A: Officially, that scene is supposed to offer a different POV into what’s going on in the Zootopia 2 post-credit scene. So we, as an audience, saw Judy in her room replaying the carrot pen over and over again, while Nick was always waiting for her downstairs so they’d check out their new apartment together.
But the more I thought about it while writing the story and understanding my version of Judy, while I still think that’s the case, I think their conversation went by a little more differently than the one we saw in the movie.
Without going into too much detail, it might have something to do with things her neighbors may or may not have been hearing coming from her apartment, lol.
Q: You’ve written your Nick to have had a date (one-night stand? fling?) during the events of Zootopia 1, but didn’t go into further detail in the chapter. Who was the mysterious mammal that Nick got with during that low point in his life and what was it like?
A: I found that question delightful, because I had lots of lore on this I kept to myself.
Nick was drowning in loneliness, disappointment and regret when Judy left for Bunnyburrow after the Night Howler press conference fiasco.
So he got stupidly smashed and slept with (an actual middle-aged) kangaroo traveling from the Outback Island he met at a bar — mostly so he could pull on her ears and let out some of the frustration he’d been simmering with toward Judy, toward himself, and toward the world.
He did, in fact, cry out “Carrots!” at one point, but thankfully the lady didn’t understand. She just assumed it was some strange but polite Zootopian cussing idiom.
Q: What is the predator-prey marriage situation in APNA?
A: I like to think interspecies intermarriage was legalized relatively recently in the Zootopia world (more recently than the creation of the Weather Walls, I mean) so less than a hundred years ago in canon. Maybe around forty to sixty years ago.
Of course, according to Bellwether’s speech in Z1, about 90% of the population is prey, which means legalization mostly resulted in things like a deer and a buffalo finally being able to marry if they wanted to.
So predator–prey marriage is legally possible, just statistically unlikely. Because of lingering prejudices, predators tend to marry among themselves. A lot of people headcanon that Gazelle is married to one of her tiger dancers based on Zootopia+, which would explain why she’s so vocal about predator rights in Z1.
That same discrimination (the kind we see in Judy’s aunts’ behavior) is one of the many reasons Nick hesitates to date Judy in APNA. In his mind, “If she stays with me, that will make her a pariah in her group.”
Q: Are hybrids possible in your universe? Are Nick and Judy going to have a biological child in the future?
A: In this story, the status quo of the world is that hybrids are rare and only happen between members of the same “family” of mammals — so not possible in WildeHopps’ case.
For APNA to really make sense, it’s very important to the plot that Judy and Nick (and everyone around them, for that matter) truly believe that foxes and bunnies cannot generate biological offspring. If they really want to be together, that is something they must understand and accept and go into it with their eyes open.
While that is my own personal headcanon for Judy and Nick that they can’t have children together, it’s not set in stone that a miracle cannot happen for them (even in my own story!).
Personally, I see Nick and Judy as a kind of imperfect analogy to both interracial and same-sex couples in a lot of ways. There are social, even biological stigmas they must overcome in order to be together, and I believe being unable to conceive naturally to be one of them.
Even in APNA, Nick and Judy have opposing opinions on this matter: Nick is pessimistic (like that’s ever going to happen), while Judy remains stubbornly hopeful that anything is possible for them.
She looked more disappointed with herself than anything when she added, in a small voice, “But there are living hybrids in the world, Nick.” “Not between members of different families of mammals, baby,” Nick murmured softly. “You, Leporidae. Me, Canidae. It’s biologically impossible for that to happen.” “Maybe,” Judy mused, “it just hasn’t been attempted yet. Maybe we’ve evolved as animals beyond the point of that mattering and no one knows that yet, because interspecies is still so taboo.” Nick blinked. She really was a force of nature, his Judy. “That’s a nice thought, Carrots,” Nick said, taking both of her paws in his to warm them. “You shouldn’t count on it, though. Promise?” He caressed her fingers back and forth, applying pressure at the center of her palm. “I promise,” she said, simply.
I know this can be a sensitive subject for many people, so I intentionally left a lot of room for different outcomes in the story. For now, YOU get to decide what happens — and maybe only you get to decide, because I’m not entirely sure I want to touch that subject with a ten-foot pole, lol.
Things to keep in mind as well: A family can be two people. They can choose adoption. Life can take many different paths, even for couples who deeply want children but can’t have them for one reason or another.
In any case, I have nothing against the idea of funnies and boxes in canon!! I am very curious how Disney would pull it off if they ever decided to go that route. I just don’t know what I’d do with myself if their offspring ended up looking weird 😂
That’s all the questions I have for now, folks!
Thank you so much for being so interested in this Perfectly Normal Universe and everything that comes with it (even if it’s just a pocket universe inside another pocket universe).
I’d be happy to answer more questions in the comments!
Hope to see you again soon for more insights into the next story.
As always,
Love you, partners!
Karla (the funny, little owl)