1 6 9 11 12 and 15 for in the shadow of no 6
1. What inspired you to write the fic this way? I’m not sure what this question wants to get at specifically, so I’ll answer the way I think is right. The idea of ItSoN6 was developed from a conversation between my sister and me, right after I read the entire No. 6 novel to her (yes, I read it to her out loud, that’s how desperate I was to have someone else read the novels). We were brainstorming, “what if Shion and Nezumi’s places were swapped? How would that look? Would the characters develop differently, or would they be the same? If the other characters from No. 6/West Block were also switched, what would they be doing?” And it grew from there; my sister aayemae was instrumental in helping the plot have structure and for bouncing ideas around (I’m a pantser when it comes to writing *cough*). Most of the chapters are from Nez’s POV, because I wanted to explore his internal struggle and FEELINGS, because we see only a few glimpses of those two things canonically.6. What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics? I’m going to go with the obvious answer and say it is so darn big! I laugh when I think of how I basically wrote a full length novel for a fanfic. But do I regret it? No. ItSoN6 is my love letter to the story and the fandom, and I’m really proud of what I accomplished. I also am going to say, I received a lot of compliments from readers who said 1) that they understood in ItSoN6 why Nezumi had to leave, whereas they weren’t as convinced in canon, 2) that I actually used Elyurias effectively. So if the readers felt those were worth mentioning, I consider them special and different!
9. Were there any alternate versions of this fic? No, not of the fic itself, but some of the chapters had different iterations. “The Wall” was from Nezumi’s POV for a hot sec and so was “Loaded.” There were also points where chapters were one and then I did some breaking up because the chapters were too long (the chapters are still too long, buuuut…).11. What do you like best about this fic? I love my dialogue. That is one thing I will allow myself to brag about; my narration is not always up to snuff, but my dialogue is usually solid. Apart from that, I really like how the characters are basically consistent with their canonical selves. My sister and I set out with the ask “would the characters still be the same if they grew up differently?” and by the time we reached the end we realized that yes, even if Shion grew up in West Block and Nezumi came from No. 6, they would still be motivated by the same things and react the way they always have. I was really excited about that because even though I was the one doing the writing, it still felt like I was experiencing the story all over again, as if I were in passenger seat reading along.12. What do you like least about this fic? When I reread the chapters, I always find things to pick at. How it’s too choppy here, or I should’ve used a different word there, or should I have cut that paragraph out altogether? The curse of the writer is always to be dissatisfied, no matter how proud you are of accomplishing a thing.15. What did you learn from writing this fic? I learned a lot about narration, internal reflection, and using subtleties to communicate mood. Before ItSoN6, I tried writing an original work and got more than 100pgs in before I realized it didn’t work. I didn’t feel anything from the story and I knew it would bore readers. When I look back at that writing, it is leagues behind what I wrote for ItSoN6, and I really think that writing ItSoN6 helped me grow leaps and bounds. It was the marriage of passion and pursuit that allowed me to play more with language and try to write realistically enough to invoke emotion in the reader. Also, I learned a whole lot about knife fighting and the experience was so much fun I wrote “Cat and Mouse” in like 5 seconds flat. So here’s to writing, because it makes you do research and from that you learn a whole lot.@voxiferous Thanks so much for asking! <3
