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icypantherwrites Interview

Before we start do you mind introducing yourself (you can use whatever name you are comfortable using/ your readers know you by) and telling us a little about yourself?

Hello ♥ My name is IcyPanther, Icy for short. Icy in a nutshell: short, blind without her glasses, clinging to my last couple months before I hit thirty, sings (belts) in the shower and while driving, cuddles and loves on her dog (a Rotti Bernie Spaniel mix named Inara ♥) far too much, hasn’t burned her house down cooking yet, can’t work on projects when things are messy, will beat you to death with kindness, very vulgar sailor mouth that has gotten worse working for the police, and dream job would be writing all day followed by napping. Ta da!

Onto the interview!

Q1: What kind of fan fiction do you write? And, what made you gravitate towards this/these particular fandom(s)?

A1: I tend to specialize in whump and hurt/comfort with plenty of angst to go alongside it ♥ My only current fandom right now is Voltron: Legendary Defender but I got into writing fanfiction with a number of animes and was pretty into the Harry Potter (Dramione ♥) sphere for a long while and prior to my revival in 2017 with VLD that was what I was best known for.

I write only in fandoms that I enjoy but am most motivated when I have a deep connection to a character(s).

Q2: Why did you begin writing fan fiction?

A2: Because the show I was watching at the time (Rurouni Kenshin) did not have enough whump and angst for my favorite character and that needed fixing ;p I’m a pretty cheerful personality but I love darker things and a lot of shows won’t go that far or if they do it tends to toe the line most of the time (not all, and God, Rurouni Kenshin has plenty of delicious dark moments and backstories, don’t get me wrong) but it needed more. And thus enter my first super shitty, super awful piece that I keep alive online to remind myself of where I’ve come from.

Q3: Were you scared to begin posting it online?

A3: Nope! Now, being found out in high school to be writing it? Heck yeah xD Like I said, I have a very cheerful, innocent personality on the outside and I’d have been mortified for anyone (outside of my sister who was all for this xD) to find out what kind of dark shit I was writing but posting online under a penname? No big deal.

Q4: Do you ever want to published in a professional capacity one day?

A4: I technically am published with a crazy ton of news and feature stories from my days as a journalist and editor. Some of those pieces I’m very proud of and one in particular cast a spotlight on an amazing man who performed tattoo coverups for sex trafficking victims and old gang members and my story got picked up by some of the big news stations and he got so much good attention and press and, most importantly, donations and funding ♥ I loved being able to make a difference like that.

But I’m thinking this is leaning more towards fiction and the answer to that is yes, most definitely. I have dreams (as all authors do) of writing a bestseller and have finally found the courage and drive to start pursuing my own novel ♥

Q5: Has writing fan fiction taught you anything? About writing? Reading? Yourself?

A5: Most definitely. One thing I’m going to highlight here is I’m old by fanfiction standards. I’m not a high school kid anymore or even a college student. I’m a full grown adult and I’ve seen and been through a lot and seen my writing change and grow over the about fifteen years I’ve actively been writing. So its hard to say “yes, fanfiction has taught me ____” because there’s so much more to it then that.

I will say though that fanfiction is what gave me the drive to write more and more as posting for an engaged audience and hearing positive feedback told me that hey, I can write and people want to read it. It definitely solidified my career path in college although, cough, I am wishing a bit I’d gone the more marketing/communications route. She says as she works an overnight desk job xD

Q6: Do you write anything outside of the realm of fan fiction?

A6: See above for old jouranlism job and currently working on my novel, a young adult fantasy ♥

Q7: Do you notice any stigma surrounding fan fiction or fan fiction writers?

A7: When I first started doing this fifteen years ago? Yes. Most definitely. It was considered a lower art form (which makes me laugh as fanart was never put into the same category) and “weak” writing and to this day I remember when I was talking to my creative writing teacher in high school about it and she laughed and said that fanfiction is not original and is just plagiarizing another work. I never forgot that but I also never believed it. Fanfiction, I feel, is honestly one of the most difficult mediums to write. You have to work within a set world, using established characters, plots and backstory and then make it your own all while adhering to those parameters. It’s hard. It’s very hard.

Today though I think a lot of people respect that and I no longer see the discourse I used to on the subject (I still won’t tell anyone outside of my anime con friends though that I write it ;p). And I’m glad. It’s a much safer, inclusive environment for young writers venturing out to get into. I will also preface though that I don’t engage much with the drama (and God does my fandom right now have a lot of it) and just post and go about my day and I credit a lot of that to my age. But from someone who started back in 2003… it’s changed, most definitely.

Q8: If so, how do you feel about this stigma?

A8: See above ;)

Q9: What’s something you’ve never been asked but want to be?

A9: Um… Nothing is coming to mind in any category of this nature. Sorry.

Q10: Is Tumblr the site you prefer to post fan fic on? If so, why?

A10: Oh heck no. No no no no no. Tumblr is… is awful for posting text on. AWFUL. I use it as an engagement tool to interact with readers and to promote my works. I started off on fanfiction.net and when I rebooted in 2017 I crossposted between it and Archive of Our Own. Just about a month ago I made the decision to post solely on AO3 as the editing features are very, very nice and the traffic there is better ♥

Q11: What’s your favorite piece of fan fiction you’ve ever written? Why?

A11: So many fics to choose from, you want me to pick one? ;p I love all of my pieces, from the horrid ones in 2003 to 2010 years to my more recent VLD ones starting in 2017. All hold a special place in my heart.

But the fic I am most proud of would be my long boi As Color Fades Away, or Color for short. It’s a 430k+ fic that was my first foray into the VLD fandom and my first real fic after nearly seven years of not writing anything. I saw myself grow so much as a writer in that fic (although that history is erased now as given its popularity and my love of it I have recently re-written the first 35 chapters completely with edits in others as well) and it has everything I crave in a story: whump and angst and hurt/comfort and family and friendship and so much heart and love. It was a fic that touched a lot of people (myself included) and it’s my magnum opus now and forever of fanfiction.

Find icy’s fics here and her Tumblr page here.