(Arai of The Black Robin as drawn by Mansi Gu)

For Q+A: How long have you been writing? What inspired your series?

I’d have to say I’ve been writing “seriously” on and off since middle school. I remember having this dream I can’t even really explain that just made me desperately want to write the world it took place in… I still have an early draft of that story’s start that I absolutely need to rewrite. I needed a reason for things to go down the way they do when the catalyst happened to the main character at age 13, so she was going to get a transplant from her grandmother that died the same day she was born… So, yeah, it needs a lot of reworks before that one will ever see the light of day. 

As for what inspired my other stories, they all had different inspirations. Black Robin came from a writing class I had in high school. One of the rules was we couldn’t work on any stories we’d started before the school year for the class so I had to come up with something completely new to me. The main concept was what if Robin Hood was actually female. 

RomaMates was a fun little “I can write better than you” thing with my sister. We both watched Thomas Sanders’ Sander Sides (great Youtube series, by the way) and at the time, there were four main characters (plus Thomas) that fit general archetypes. We decided to both write a story based around characters of those same four archetypes. I chose to call mine RomaMates (short for Romantic Roommates) and her title when shortened is also the abbreviation of “Sander Sides Boy Love Fan Fiction” (yes that is intentional, and yes I’m doing the sibling thing and teasing her a bit for it)

Mysteries of Amore has had a few inspirations, most I’m not ready to reveal so early in the writing process for spoiler sake. But I can say that the setting is inspired by a college I attended and I plan to include a number of elements of my own romantic story into the character’s journey. I was also inspired by a prompt I came across and maybe a little scooby doo for later in the story.

What made you motivated to write stories like this ?

This is very similar to the previous question so I will simply say that most of my stories gravitate towards a certain kind even when my initial intent was different. I think what motivates me to continue is very similar to many other writers… A need to write and a desire to put the story into existence.

Each story and short story has different reasons behind being written, but I find value in them all.

(Zephaniah from The Black Robin drawn by Zixixibi)

If each of the guys had to bring only one thing to an island with them, and they didn't know what the others were bringing, what would they bring?

Do they all know the others are going to be bringing something too? If so, then as follows:

Luce would bring food (maybe in a container that can double for cooking so as to still only count as one item). Not starving is going to be a top priority for him. Knowing him, the others are going to assume he’ll have the food situation handled so they’ll focus on other things.

Dewi would bring a large bag of clothes for everyone. He’d figure that even if they didn’t use them as changes of clothes, they could be used for other things like improvised shelter or bedding.

Blake would probably bring a large tent or sleeping bags. At first he might have thought about bringing something to do so as to keep everyone’s spirits (and thus mental health) up, but would change his mind for something more practical.

If we’re talking about powered versions, Sato would just bring something he could quickly set up to become a “door” so he could use his power to get them anything they might need from one of his rooms. Ignoring powers though, he would probably bring one of those compact survival packs that has stuff like fire starters and basic first aid equipment.

Zephaniah would feel out of his element trying to figure out the most useful thing for him to bring. He would eventually decide the most important things to worry about would be fresh water, food, shelter, and some way to deal with injuries. Food could be gathered and shelter could reasonably be built or found. There were too many different things he’d need to be prepared for every single type of injury and many could be improvised in a pinch. Thus, he would decide a way to store clean water would be his best choice. 

Victor would bring knives. His only concern is surviving long enough to get back to the object of his obsession. He would have no intention of working with the others and reasoned that anything he would need he could get with a small, sharp weapon.

Fintan would bring his sword. It’s good for defending or, in a pinch, stuff like cutting branches and other things.

Abe would bring his personal laboratory set, figuring he could create anything he may need using it and the surrounding resources.

Nicky seems like the sort that would bring something unpractical like porn, but he does have at least some common sense. 

If you had to live with one of the guys, who do you feel would be the best roommate?

For me personally? I’d probably go with Lucius because he’d make sure I ate and took care of myself, but he has experience with Blake just needing to be left completely alone at times. So he might not always be perfect at it, but he’d do his best to balance making sure I’m okay and giving me space as I need it. Plus, who wouldn’t want someone who likes making all the meals and cleaning?

(Lucius from Roommates drawn by Itsjustdrawings)

Are there AU's you'd never do with these characters?

Yes. I can’t imagine trying to write my characters being needlessly cruel to those they care about or being purposefully abusive of any kind in a relationship so I wouldn’t write a universe where that happens (Even though I have a few stories where things get murky. See “The Alchemist” and “Intoxicated Blood” for examples, along with my WIP about Angel Luce being made a pet to demons). Also, my spicy writing skills are near non-existent so I don’t foresee myself writing any spicier AUs.

What is your favorite short story you've made? Why?

You wish to make me pick a favorite of my babies? I could never! They’re all so special to me for their own reasons…

I mean, “Ship” was fun to write an AU where everyone has a soulmate mark and Blake thinks his is broken before finding out how untrue that is. “By Your Side, Always” fulfilled a special itch for a childhood friends turned lovers trope I always wanted for those two. “Dances Unspoken” really plays with Blake’s duality of anxious ball and confident king, which I had fun with. I loved the idea of Blake being forced into marriage and just going ‘Fine, I’ll go with that one’ to Dewi because he’s the only one not pressuring him in “Dead Love”. Alternatively, the idea of love potions not working on someone if you already have a crush, and Dewi’s panic when he messed up, was fun to play with in “Dazzling Witch”. “Dreaming Prince” was a concept that I feel like I didn’t do proper justice to because I loved the idea in my head so much that nothing I wrote seemed to live up to it. “A ‘Normal’ Date” and “Logging into Romance” were both fun, guilty pleasure stories that I wrote just to amuse someone else. And, of course, the borderline canon stories like “The Little Things” “Broken Rings”, and “Making a list, Checking it twice” hold a very special place in my heart. 

But my favorite in this very second has to go to “Peaceful Fear” which is a two part expansion on the earlier episode “Fearful Peace”. I have a head canon that that was the universe where the two’s soulmate connection originated from. It might not be the best from a writing perspective, but I can’t help loving it despite all its flaws.

(Abe from Mysteries of Amore drawn by Allisoncandraw)

My question if it's not too personal.... why are you so awesome?

Well, that can probably be best explained by the title of one of my first (unpublished) stories: “Rachel’s Illusion”. I will not expand on my answer at this time.

(Art of Janan by Mansi Gu)