Hello everyone, and welcome to our second Featured Author interview! We try to do these at least once a month: if you have someone you would like to nominate for our consideration, please let us know!
First up we have author that-dam-aries, a well-known writer whose story At World's End really changed the way that EXO fantasy stories were written. She has been a member of AFF for four years now, her anniversary being TODAY on May first, having published her first story on here back in 2011. She graciously agreed to be our May feature and we sat down for a little interview to let everyone get to know her and her writing a little better! Enjoy the interview!
 

Librarian: How and when did you get into writing Kpop fanfiction?

that-dam-aries: Well when I first got into K-pop I swore I'd never read or write fanfiction. I've been reading fanfiction as a whole since I was in high school, maybe even middle school, I forget. I started with Harry Potter and anime, and I started writing fanfiction about Ouran High School Host Club in 2009. Fanfiction itself was never really a big adjustment for me, just...fanfiction based on real people. In the beginning it seemed odd to me, writing stories based on band members. Then the more I thought about it the more I realized that the people the K-pop bands were portraying were, in a way, like characters themselves. I think some of that has changed now but this was when you had clear 'mom and dad' roles and every member was focusing on one or two of their personality traits to make them stand out. “I'm the one that eats the most” or “I'm the baby of our group!” Plus I started reading fanfiction. I don't even remember what the first one was, probably something Yunjae related. I do remember that I started out on Livejournal rather than AFF and I found this website later on. But as I started reading K-pop fanfiction I realized that most of the time the alternate universes were so wild that it was like I wasn't even reading about the same person. The character’s name was Yunho but aside from the way he looked, it didn’t seem like I was reading about the same Yunho. 

I started writing in Spring 2011, the same year I really started falling deep into the rabbit hole of K-Pop. My favorite author was ko-bands and one day they posted a DBSK plot bunny that they didn’t want to write, but wanted to read. I found it interesting and I decided to take up the story. My first K-pop fanfiction was certainly not my best. Very much dub-con and other questionable things, and when I look back on it I shudder. But seeing where I started out and where I am now, I can’t believe the change in my own writing. It’s like watching myself grow up through fanfiction. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, by writing fanfiction and seeing the response I get from my readers I’ve been able to find and develop my style. Back when I was first writing, the response I got on livejournal wasn’t so great, and I saw on AFF that people tended to comment more and the responses came more quickly, so I posted the story here and now AFF has become my primary platform for writing.

Librarian: So you say you always wanted to be a writer. Did you have any writing experience prior to fanfiction?

that-dam-aries: As for writing experience, nothing outside of school assignments, but when I was in second grade my teacher was reviewing a short story I wrote and that morning had been very critical of other students work, but she smiled at me and said “Thank you, this is just what I needed.” It’s been…fourteen, fifteen years since then, but I still remember that. And in seventh grade my homeroom teacher gave us vocabulary words and told us to write a story that incorporated them. She liked my story so much that she gave it to my English teacher to read and they both gave me an A+ on the assignment. In my freshman year of college I wrote a short horror story based on the real life murders committed by Elizabeth Bathory and my entire English class gave me glowing reviews. Aside from that, I used to tell my little sisters stories at night to help her fall asleep, and often I based the stories on our favorite shows, Magic School Bus and The Rugrats. I was about nine years old then, so you could call that my first time writing fanfiction.

Librarian: Who are your favorite authors, published or fanfiction, who have really inspired you?

that-dam-aries: ko-bands is near the top of the list for being my inspiration to begin writing. I also really like the team behind inkin-bruses, Ela and Laura, who wrote the Zodiac series. Others include thesockmonster, caleydoscope, Tokyo_lovelight, legna_angel, and one of my best friends (who I met through this site) suzetteisblue.

I can’t talk about my favorite, inspirational published authors without first saying that I love Harry Potter and JK Rowling. My other favorite authors are Malinda Lo (author of “Adaptation” and “Inheritance”), Cassandra Clare (author of the “The Mortal Instruments” series), Scott Westerfeld (author of the “Uglies” series), Esther Friesner(author of the “Princesses of Myth” series) and Michelle Moran (author of “Nefertiti”, “The Heretic Queen”, “Cleopatra’s Daughter”, and “Rebel Queen”). A book that changed my life is “Golden Boy” by Abigail Tarttelin. It’s about an inter teenager and features some triggering material, but when I finished it I felt like I was seeing the world in a new light. I sat on the sofa for 20 minutes thinking to myself, “How am I supposed to get up and do something as mundane as brushing my teeth after reading something like that?” 

Many of the above books I mentioned feature non-white and/or LBGT characters. I’m white myself but after spending most of my childhood reading about straight white people I began to actively seek books featuring a more diverse cast of characters. I love to read and could list even more books that I love, but I think I’ve said enough. I really recommend reading the books listed above!

Librarian: Wow it seems like you have a really great relationship with writing and books in general. What about your own stories? We know that At World's End is probably your most well-known, but what or which ones is/are your favorite, and why?

that-dam-aries: It’s hard to choose my favorites…I really like my Intergalactic AU (Links to full series here) (pub: 2014) because it was my first time writing something sci-fi and I got to try out a lot of new pairings and incorporate ideas that I had been thinking about for a while.

I also really like the Last First Kiss (pub: 2013) and Wide Awake (pub: 2013) couplet because I got to focus on real life issues like miscarriage, teen drinking, coming out, and so on.

There’s also my vampire “Opera” trilogy, which features Super Junior (Chromaggia, pub: 2013), SHINee (Chase the Morning, pub: 2013), and EXO (Genetic Emancipation, pub: 2013) in three separate stories. The Super Junior part had been started months before I really got around to developing an actual plot and world to go along with it, and I kind of got to watch it explode in my hands.

A fic that I really love but didn’t get much love is my only 2PM fic Civil Hands (pub: 2013), which is rated, but it’s quite comical and I had a great time writing it.

I was really surprised by how popular Quite By Accident (pub: 2012), my Yoona/Kris fic, got. It was something I wrote on a whim and it kind of got swept away.

The same could be said for my krisoo werewolf story, Little Red and the Wolf Singer (pub: 2014), which is also rated. If I was really forced to pick a favorite, that would be it. Writing that was like watching a fairy tale unfold in front of my eyes. I feel like that story really defines my style of writing.

Librarian: What are you currently working on?

that-dam-aries: Right now I’m working on my goal of writing all 66 pairings (pub: 2015) in OT12 EXO, and I’m still slogging my way through the sequel to At World’s End, but what with all the member changes going on in SM Entertainment it’s been making things difficult for me. Jessica’s departure from SNSD really hit me, she is my ultimate female bias so now when I try to write about her and Krystal it’s like a knife in my heart. So I am still working on Out of the Darkness (pub: 2014), it’s just taking me a really long time ;~;

Librarian: Wow, ALL the pairings in EXO. That is a HUGE goal! So now I must ask, who are your top ships and what bands do you read fanfiction of?

that-dam-aries: I'm an SM biased person so I mostly seek SM bands. Right now my main interest is EXO, and I have a huge microsoft document full of links to Super Junior and Shinee fic. SNSD and f(x) fanfic interested me much less. Even if it's not a group I'm familiar with, if an author I like write about it then I'll read it.

Who are my top ships...Yunjae tops them all (CRIES LOUDLY). Qmi (Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi) is my SuJu OTP, and Hanchul (CRIES FOR ETERNITY). 2min for SHINee, and JeTi in SNSD (CRIES MORE).

For EXO, I'm a big fan of Taoris and Kaisoo. Those are my top two. I'm a bit confusing because while I ship Taoris I also adore Taohun and Krisho. EXO is, I think, the only group where I can truly read any pairing and not be like "Why would you put those two together?" Hence why I think I can manage to do something for all 66 pairings (what has my life come to? I wonder myself.)

Librarian: That is so ambitious, but if anyone can pull it off, you definitely can! What were your biggest struggles as a writer? And how did you overcome them?

that-dam-aries: My biggest struggle is writer’s block. Getting halfway through a story and saying “I don’t want to do this anymore.” Which is what happened with Out of the Darkness. I try to beat that by writing all or most of the story before I post it, and I should have done that with Out of the Darkness but I was so anxious to get it out there, especially after At World's End was featured, that I just figured I wouldn’t run out of steam.

Another struggle is getting my audience to respond to my stories. I’m sure all fanfic authors know what I mean, you see the story being viewed but you only get a handful of comments. It’s disheartening but I’m happy to say that I have a very loyal group of commenters and I recognize them by name, and they really give me the boost I need to keep writing.

Librarian: What advice would you give to writers? Or what about to people just getting into reading fanfiction? We all know how daunting it can be...

that-dam-aries: Hmmm…to authors I say that first and foremost, your story needs to be something you would want to read. You share your story with the internet, but you invest your time into writing it and you’re not getting paid for it, therefore the one you should be most concerned about pleasing is yourself. Even if I have something that I’m not totally satisfied with, I know that I’m a bit hard on myself and it’s probably better than I think it is.

Secondly I say, check your spelling and grammar before you post, and look up words if you’re not sure what they mean. You don’t need to throw the entire oxford dictionary into your story to make it fancy.

And if you have writers block, take a break. If a different idea is distracting you, take a break and write that. If you know what you want to say but don’t know how to write it, try going for a walk and listening to some music. Let your mind wander. Have a snack. Take a nap. Watch some TV. An idea will come to you!

If you’re interested in reading fanfiction, start small. Don’t throw yourself right into the NC-17 fics, especially the ones with kinks. Those can come later, once you’ve had time to think about what skeeves you and what you would like to read more of. To find a good story, try tumblr. There are lots of blogs dedicated to sharing fanfic about a group, pairing, or genre. You could also post a question to a writing/reading community. “I want to read (this pairing) in a coffee shop AU, rated up to PG-13. Anyone got any suggestions?” Rating systems are important to pay attention to—they largely follow movie ratings. PG-13 might include some swearing and allusions to frisky business, or to abuse. Pay attention to trigger warnings, too. A lot of fics posted in the last 3 years or so will list triggers, I don’t remember old fics being really trigger-specific though so be careful.

Oh yeah, new readers—check when a story was last updated. If it’s incomplete and hasn’t been updated since 2009, don’t torture yourself!!!

Librarian: Thanks so much for agreeing to do this interview! You've been so friendly! Do you have anything to add?

that-dam-aries: When At World's End started getting popular, I always wondered if it would get featured on the front page. It was December 23 and I hadn't been online at all that day, and I think I'll always find it funny that being featured on the front page of AFF had been a dream of mine since I first joined the website, and when it finally happened I went the entire day without knowing about it at all. Being featured was probably the best Christmas present I could have ever gotten and I'm so grateful to all the people who read it, those who were there from the beginning and who gave it a read that very day, and those who are still starting it just now. I'm thankful to the readers of all my stories, because without them I wouldn't have continued to write and I wouldn't have improved as much as I have. I'm always amazed at the response my stories get and I hope I can continue to write fanfiction for a long, long time!