guest: yamscooper

[quinnpriv1]

GUEST: yamscooper

PROFILE RATING: PG-13/T

BIO: I’m Yams! (20+, they/them) — I have a fandom lifespan of anywhere from 3 months to 2 years. Currently, I'm big into My Hero Academia and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, though you may know me from Haikyuu!!, Alien Stage, or Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. Been really into raiding recently. Thanks for having me. :3

PREVIEW: The creative process should be first and foremost for you. Feed yourself first, and if someone else happens to enjoy the meal, that's extra love.

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GENERAL QUESTIONS

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[Quillifer: What is the first fandom you remember being involved in? What drew you to this fandom / community?]

The first [fandom] that I read for was Daa Daa Daa. Because I didn't realize it was fanfiction at the time, I thought it must've been some light novel translation...In my defense, I was maybe 8 or something.

The first one I wrote for was Gakuen Alice back in the day on FanFiction.net. I just wanted to write more suffering and hurt/comfort, although I didn't know the tag back then.

 

[Quillifer: Did you ever finish Gakuen Alice (either the manga or anime)? Was part of your drive to write hurt/comfort inspired by what was going on in the series? I.E. you felt like something was "missing" in the series and that's what you wanted to expound upon?]

I finished both. I started with the anime, found out that it didn't adapt the whole thing, and then I read the manga as it was releasing.

There was definitely a lot of hurt/comfort in the series, but I enjoyed how the characters interacted with each other when that hurt/comfort element was there, so I wanted to see more and have some different combinations of characters engaging with that feeling.

 

[Quillifer: How long have you been involved in fandom?]

It'll be 14 years this December since I wrote my first fic!

 

[Quillifer: Do you do research? If so: how much and how in-depth is it?]

I don't do much research—usually, I try to stick to plots that don't require too much expertise or niche knowledge. In the case that I do add in details to help flesh out the story, I shove the responsibility of Fact Checking on my beloved beta reader/editor, who has insight on the most random topics. If I ever wrote an Orchestra AU or an MMORPG AU, that would be very in-depth indeed.

 

[Quillifer: If you were to go to trivia night, which category do you think you could sweep?]

Honestly, not too sure...I think my knowledge tends to be shallow across a wide variety of topics, but I do know anime, Final Fantasy XIV, maybe Stardew Valley trivia.

 

[Quillifer: What are your hobbies / what do you do outside of writing fanfiction?]

I've mentioned this in a few previous questions, but I love to game. Clair Obscur has been my latest favorite, but I've also been raiding in FFXIV. I’ve been playing some co-op games like R.E.P.O. or Slay the Spire 2, and from time to time I'll go back to Hades 2 to do a few runs. I also like to go on walks for Pikmin Bloom, and read a few Real Books here and there. (And very trashy webtoons.)

 

[Quillifer: What are some of your favorite "Real Books"?]

All-time favorites: Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Some recent reads: 1984 by George Orwell, Demian by Hermann Hesse, and I'm slowly working through King: A Life by Jonathan Eig.

 

[Quillifer: What kinds of technology do you use to write and for everyday life? (iPad, laptop, phone, etc.)]

I typically use my laptop (propped up as a monitor with an external keyboard) to write, but if I go outside I usually lug just my laptop, or I'll bring my iPad for convenience. Definitely spend more time on my phone than I should, but that's usually to read fics or webtoons.

 

[Quillifer: What is your advice for fellow creatives / people interested in getting involved in writing fanfiction?]

My biggest piece of advice is to fall in love with the process. It's what has allowed me to continue writing for so long, even when I dip into niche fandoms with, say, 200 fics for my pairing, or fandoms that have long since passed their prime in terms of popularity. Obviously, receiving kind comments and/or effusive praise is great, but I find that it's just a bonus to the satisfaction that I find in the writing process itself.

I always say my metric for success is 3 kudos, and if I get that I'm just as happy as I am when I receive 20,000 (a slight exaggeration, but still.) Not to mention, falling in love with the process means that even if you don't finish your fics or have a lot of works in progress, sometimes it's just fun to talk ideas with friends, write a few paragraphs, and not post at all.

The creative process should be first and foremost for you. Feed yourself first, and if someone else happens to enjoy the meal, that's extra love. :3

 

[Quillifer: How do you want people to remember you? What do you want them to remember you for?]

I have been in a lot of fandoms, so I hope I'm remembered vaguely; once attention reaches a certain level, it can be quite burdensome. In terms of my fics, I hope they're remembered for giving my readers a fun time and a certain level of satisfaction.


 

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WRITER-SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

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[Quillifer: What are some of your most commonly used words/phrases/etc.?]

I think you know the answer to this question better than me, LOL. 

 

[Quillifer: I’m not sure about words or phrases specifically, but you are a big lover of run-on sentences, the em dash, and characters throwing questions back at each other.

EX —

Character 1: What are you doing?

Character 2: I don't know, what am I doing?]

I’ve actually never noticed the question thing, lollll! Let’s just say that I have certain patterns and I have a hefty use of semicolons. I love using back and forth banter in my dialogue.

 

[Quillifer: What do you want readers to take away from your work? What is your favorite type of comment/feedback? (I.E. what makes you honored for people to point out when they read your work?)]

I just hope that there's some sense of enjoyment that the readers take away from my work. My favorite type of comment is when the reader has clearly thought harder about my fic and the nuances in characterization or themes than I did.

It's one of those things that's like, “Hey, I didn't consciously realize I was doing this, but now that you point it out, maybe you're onto something.” It's touching that someone has read my work so closely that they got more out of it than me, and that's always lovely to see.

 

[Quillifer: Are you the type to outline your work or do you just go for it? What does your drafting/editing process look like?]

Whether I start my fic with an outline or pants it from the beginning, I always have a need for an outline by the end of the fic. I like to have a certain trajectory to follow, so even if I don't know the exact beats, I like having a clearly defined path so I'm not so paralyzed by the feeling of: "Oh shit, what next?”

I often consult friends or my trusty editor to help me through these ideas and settle on an outline. After that, I bang it out and cross off or delete each bullet point of the outline as I write it. I try not to read what I write until I'm done, but sometimes I will read my work with fresh eyes to get rid of that, "It's trash, set fire to the whole thing,” feeling.

 

[Quillifer: What are the easiest and hardest parts of writing?]

The easiest: dialogue. I love dialogue, I love exploring characterization through dialogue, I love a silly bit of banter between characters. I've never struggled with dialogue, and I find that it's the tool I use most in my writing.

The hardest: tagging. I hate tagging. Additionally, I really hate description. My head is genuinely a blank space when writing, so it's hard for me to imagine a scene in visual detail enough to describe it. I often have to go find actual pictures if I want to describe things. :')

 

[Quillifer: What are some of your major media influences? (Books, movies, music, etc.)]

I’ve been told that my sense of humor makes a lot of sense when people find out that I grew up watching Katekyo Hitman Reborn—that sort of zany, sudden, totally bonkers story with lots of quick dialogue.

My favorite books, as mentioned before, are character-focused rather than plot focused, so I tend to take inspiration from that as well. I'd be remiss not to mention what a big influence fanfiction, in general, has had on me, whether it's old favorites across fandoms, or the fandom that I'm currently writing for.

I love to read fics before writing for a fandom to get a sense of what I like in characterization, what tropes I want to see more of, what relationships I want to flesh out more in my own fics. I have a massive love for fics and I'm truly so grateful everyday that AO3 is free.

 

[Quillifer: What is your dream story to write? Who are some of your favorite authors (fanfiction or published)?]

Genuinely, I would love to write an MMORPG AU one day because I have so much firsthand knowledge from raiding. Where else can I inflict explanations of Dragonsong Reprise Ultimate's Death of the Heavens mechanic in FFXIV?

Other than that, I'd love to write a longfic in general. It’s been a while since I've had the stamina to write anything over 10k, and if the day comes where one day I return to writing 75k+ fics, then that would truly be The Day of All Time.

As for favorite authors, as mentioned, I love Benjamin Alire Sáenz and Khaled Hosseini, but I have many loves in the fanfic space. I often pull up my favorite fic authors’ work when I'm stuck in a block and want to visually "see" lengths of paragraphs, pacing, etc.

I often find that fic writing styles are well-defined and individualized, which I love to see. I love to pull up metisket, mediest, FabulaRasa, and a few reliable friends as well: quillifer, zombiekittiez, shoutowo, petitfives, dirtmemer.

 

[Quillifer: Do you like your old work? Why or why not?]

I love my old work! I don't often read it, but every so often when I receive a sweet comment or someone quotes an excerpt I don't fully remember writing, I'll go back and skim what I wrote or do a genuine reread and I find myself enjoying my own writing.

I tend to reread my work often the first few days after posting, then that tapers off as time passes. I’m fond of everything i write, even if the process of posting it was painful as fuck, and I’m glad to read it myself and have that record of my growth in writing as time passes.

 

[Interview hosted on May 4, 2026 via Discord. Edited & Posted by Quillifer.]