Weclome to 'From Words on Paper', where we get to know some of our favorite authors, and learn more from them beside what they create for the fandom.

Tonight on the show, we're joined by Zairrif, a writer who has a lot of talent with his stories. Both with dark theme, such as 'Used Rose', and love and pain theme, such as 'The Immortal'. And we're glad to have him here with us, tonight.

Artomix: First of, I want to thank you for participating on this little 'show' of mine. And I want to let you know that you're not requeired to answer a question you don't want to, and that you're free to ask questions to me whenever you want.

Zairrif: No problem, thanks for inviting me and I understand, hopfully I can answer most though

Artomix: Alright then. I think the best question to start off is, who is Zairrif? If you don't mind, tell us a bit about yourself.

Zairrif: I'm a collage student, born in the U.S., and I'm not the most social person, being mostly an intorvert in my high school years. I took up writing on Wattpad to rewrite the Branwen Tribe, but I think the most interesting thing for anyone who reads my stories is that I actually wasn't that into RWBY at the start and dropped it at one point.

Artomix: Interesting, I'm quite an introvert myself, only having a hand full of friends. But what made you change opinion, or gained more attention to you for RWBY?

Zairrif: I was watching the show with a family member and when we reached the end of volume 5 I found myself wanting more, so I watched all of RWBY Chibi and eventually found myself on Wattpad only reading fanfics, The Chronicler (if I spelled that right) being one of the first long ones I read. There was something about the show or more like Rooster Teeth that I liked and wanted to be a part of, sort of like how people look for comunities to join I found myself wanting to be a part of it.

Artomix: That's quite understandable. Once I was watching Vol.2 things started to get my attention more. Keep in mind, I started watching RWBY around end September, beggining October. And once Vol 5 came to an end, I just couldn't wait for more (This was after I started writting my first RWBY story).

Zairrif: I should add I actually was watching the series from the start but somewhere around volume 3 and 4 I dropped it. I think it was due to the wait period between them.

Artomix: I stopped for a little while between Vol.3, not sure why though. Anyway, the next question might be an interesting one. What does your artistic name mean and how did you came up with it?

Zairrif: So funny thing, Zairrif actually doesn't mean anything, I just came up because I didn't think I'd be on Wattpad for long so I made it up so I didn't use my actaul username Zillius, which means shadow of the sun. And that came up when my older sibling told me to come up with an real gamer tag and to stick with it instead of making new ones all the time, so I did some looking around, combined two words and made Zillius.

Artomix: Interesting story. I always stuck with one name, even before I started Wattpad. My username is 'TheCreator777', but it tends to vary a bit, depending where I use it. Like my DeviantArt account has four sevens on it. But later on, I started using the name Artomix (the name of my main OC) more as an artistic name.

The next question that I got is, how did you discover RWBY?

Zairrif: Well, before RWBY I was a fan of Achievement Hunter and Rooster Teeth, I don't remember what video got me to start following them but I remember first seeing the Red Trailer and just loving it. I was way more into anime back then so the show just hit me, the animation of the fights were just awe in my eyes. Truth be told though I didn't learn about Monty being behind the show until some time after his death.

Artomix: I'm not the biggest fan of anime, but RWBY is an exception for me, and I fear that I learned about Monty after his death as well. He's surely missed by many.

The next question is, have you ever written something before RWBY? If so, what is it about?

Zairrif: I have, kind of. So back in middle school I had trouble reading and writing, but one teacher saw me trying to write a story and helped me, so I eventually became a better writer then reader, though both still have their flaws. As for the stories, one was about an alien message which divided the world causing WW3, another was more fantasy based with somewhat of a dark tone as the MC was actually brought to the world to become more or less a slave to one of the worlds' factions.

Artomix: I can imagine that some of, if not all, those stories are very dear to you, right?

Zairrif: Sort of, I never really commited to writing, but at the time they were. Now if I could I would rewrite them.

Artomix: I actually started writting around middle school as well. Although I didn't really had problems with the classes (almost all of the years that I was there), but that I wasn't interested in the way they taught it. So one day, durring my spanish class, I started writting on my notebook. (Just to put it out there, I highly prefer writting in english that spanish) I think that teacher noticed it and one day asked about it. Apperently, he was quite interested in the story, and it helped two of my teachers with their english level. It was a science fiction story about where all the living beings are made of phisical light, but the main reader was, essentially, darkness and how tough his life was.

Zairrif: Teachers seem to almost always have some part in people getting into writing

Artomix: It seams like it, and we should be greatful beacause of them. It's a great outlet for the mind and it helps you develop a better writting skill.

Anyway, I have one more question before we start with the more 'author related' questions. Do you have a favorite author or favorite story?

Zairrif: I don't really have favorites as I'm bad at picking said favorites, but there were quite a few stories I got into but I don't believe some of them got finished. The Wraith by BeautifulNarcissist, Child of Grimm by bentleygt500, Criminal by darkprince171, The Scissorman BeautifulNarcissist, and a few more.

Artomix: It's hard to pick favorite author's. Do you have a question for me before we start with the 'writting based' questions?

Zairrif: No, no questions come to mind.

Artomix: Alright then. Then we're going to start the Writting based questions.

I wan't to start off with that I'm a big fan of your work, they are new and unique, and very detailed. I want ask how do you get inspired to write your stories and where you got some of those ideas from?

Zairrif: So my first book Abyss Eyes was the only one really inspired, like I said before I wanted to rewrite the Branwen Tribe. Raven was one of my favorite characters, there was an air about her that I found interesting, then when it was revealed that she was basically a bandit I decided instead of complaining about it I would try my hand at exspanding them. As for other books, I really just ran stories in my head and saw if they were interesting, which is where The Immortal came from and to come exstent The People of Grimm. Though it should be mentioned that all my stories stray from the original idea, this includes Used Rose, which came from me reading half-baked abused reader stories and a want to improve upon the genre.

Artomix: Raven is an interesting and mysterious character for me as well (along with Qrow) for the series, but I won't say that she's my favorite. That's Neo for me. But I understand that you want to improve the 'abused' genre of stories, because I'm trying to do the same for 'The Rose to my Nightmare'. I want to improve and give something new to the RWBY community.

Zairrif: I can understand Neo being a favorite, because it's really characters like her, Raven, the ones with little known backstory that can make things interesting.

Artomix: I agree. I tend to favour those kind of characters and we barely know anything about that ice cream.

Anyway, the next question that I got on the list is, have you ever colaborated with another author on a story? If so, what was it like?

Zairrif: I haven't colaborated much in the sense of writing the story together. So the story Pale Heart was a request from YudhisYudhis1, he wanted me to make a cheater story, one where RWBY cheated on the character, then he'd date Pyrrha, get cheated, date Arslan from ABRN, get cheated, then got desperate and ended up with his mother and sister, they cheated on him, the MC has enough and plans for revenge and ends up with one final girl. He provided the weapon and other things, but I wanted to change thing to make them more believable, or at least more believable to me if I was the reader.

Artomix: That's quite curious, one of my stories 'Harmonic Heart' more or less has the same idea, being cheated on multiple times and each time ending very badly for him. But throughout the story, he started to learn who he really is. A god who hasn't fully embraced what he is yet. But at some point, he decided that he had enough and walks away from everyone and go to his family, where he fully embraced what he is.

Zairrif: I've actually read that story, though it's been awhile sinse I finished reading it.

Artomix: Well, I at least hope you enjoyed it.

Zairrif: I did.

Artomix: he next question I got is, what is your prefered writing program?

Zairrif: In the beginning when I was writing Abyss Eyes and People of Grimm, I was using Word on my computer, but stopped and just created new parts using Wattpad, that was around when I started writing Used Rose (which was saved in Word as Killer Rose) and The Immortal.

Artomix: At least you got a fairly straight forward process for it. I use OpenOffice on my PC for writting my chapter for stories, but once I finished the chapted, I save it on txt format and pass it to an 2003 apple computer (which thorugh some miracle still works) and pass the chapter on Word there to control for spelling mistakes. Then back to my PC and onto Wattpad.

Part of that process is because when I copy paste from OpenOffice to Wattpad, it causes a weird glitch that some words are sticked together. That happened when I was writting 'Broken and Silent Gems' and it was a pain to correct all those mistakes.

Anyway, we're about halfway all the questions that I got. Do you wish to take a break or something?

Zairrif: I'm good, you?

Artomix: I'm fine to go on.

That may be true, but to give you readers a bit of a break, we are going to put some music here. You're listening to 'The Struggle', by Blacklite District.

https://youtu.be/27L3pfTorWM

Artomix: The next question I got is, do you ask about opinions about your story? If so, what are their responds?

Zairrif: I don't ask but I do like to hear what people think, from the comments I've read people do seem to enjoy them while a few point current things out though I think that was only one comment if I remember right

Artomix: Alright. I have a question written down here, but I think that I know the answer to this one. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

Seeing your stories, probably to stand on their own. Excepet for... 'Emerald Rose' I believe it was called?

Zairrif: I would like them to stand on their own, but one thing that was joked about in a comment with someone was the multiverse and that is why most abused reader stories are possible. So it made this thing where all fanfic are in the multiverse, which is why Emerald Rose is like Used Rose in the beginning but diverts. People of Grimm somewhat confirmed that. But ultimately I do want the stories to stand on their own.

Artomix: That's understandable. Some people can make trilogies from one idea and others like to work it in as just one story. Although, I do want to make a sequel of 'Harmonic Heart' in the future. But the next story, after 'Rose to my Nightmare', is going to be a crossover, with one of the less appreciated games I know from Nintendo.

Anyway, the next question that I got is, how did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

Zairrif: So I used to write in bulks for just one story, multiple chapters at once, which was fine when I could keep up with it, the problem was when I started getting burn outs, which are more common now believe it or not. So I started writing chapter by chapter and switching between stories to make said burn outs easier to deal with, but there are still cons to both approaches.

Artomix: I always wrote chapter for chapter. I tend to have some sort of guideline for the direction of the story, but it's mostly improviced. And I envy you for being able to multitask stories like that, because I can't do that. I tried it.

Zairrif: I actaully had my first slip up in Pale Heart where I referred to the MC as Mr Rose instead of Mr Light, someone caught it though. It can be tricky, I've really neglected Cursed Bird and Abyss Eyes because of that approach.

Which is something I wish to fix, but simply find myself having a hard time continuing

Artomix: I can understand that. I was strugling with 'The Rose to my Nightmare', so I took a bit of a break from it and worked on a completely different project. 'True Colors' the Splatoon story.

Anyway, the next question that I got is, do you do any kind of research before you start writting, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Zairrif: I'm not much of a researcher, not least when it comes to things about RWBY because I do like to change thing. I think I am a somewhat knowlegdeable guy, but when it comes to weapons and fighting scenes I know I have a lot to work on in terms of learning.

Artomix: Fighting scenes tends to be the more dificult part of a story, I understand that strugle.

I'm a bit curious about the more... 'darker' or 'serious' parts on your stories. Like in 'Used Rose' and 'The Immortal'. How did you come up with those ideas?

Zairrif: So in the beginning of Used Rose I thought of it as something like playing chess against myself, planning and taking action against myself, but as I started running out of moves I rescorted to shock factor and wrote Breaking Point, as for scenes that followed, I imagined things I would never want done to myself. As for The Immortal, I have experianced depression, the lose of someone close, and so I tried to project myself into the character, and despite my age being that of a young adult I do tend to act older at times, which I believe always me to write the more serious parts.

Artomix: So you more or less roleplay your characters?

Zairrif: Yes in a way, because they are reader insert stories.

Artomix: So we have a similar way to come up with ideas and plan out our stories then.

You know, 'The Immortal', in my opinion feels like the most realistic mind process if someone would actually be immortal. Because most people think that it would be great to be immortal, to see the world change. But they usually forget the little detail that everyone will wither away, and after enough time, would start to lose his/her mind. That added up with being stuck at one place for eons... that's a horrible combination.

Anyway, the last question that I have for the 'author related' questions is, what is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

Zairrif: The most difficult thing is wanting to end a story so I can move onto the next, but I'm not even halfway through finishing the one I'm working on. As much as I like The Immortal, I do want to move on to another book without writing five at a time, then six, then seven, because then they all start to suffer. Another thing about wanting to end a story is that I don't want it to take years for one to be finished, so I find pushing through burn outs to be difficult as well.

Artomix: That's understandable. The way I usually work it out is that I want specific events to happen, and that include planning the end of a story. But I can fully understand working on another story while you're in the middle of one.

I actually want to do that right now as well, but I know that if I do, the stories would suffer, as you said.

Anyway, we can calm down a bit, since we're done with the more serious questions and we're almost done with my list. (Yes, I do have a list of questions)

Zairrif: Alright, so what next?

Artomix: The next (a bit random) question is, what's your favorite under-appreciated novel?

Zairrif: Hmm I'm not much of a reader but I would say Enders Game.

Artomix: Alright. Next on the list is, what is your thoughts of the RWBY community?

Zairrif: That's a tough one. So overall I'd say it's good, but there is a portion that sticks out as bad, it can be anyone but an example which is the easiest to use is the shippers and the NSFW community. Now that last group appears with every work of fiction, but the shippers have been pointed out as, I think, one of reasons for some of the toxicness, but every communtiy has some toxic users. As I said though I think if you look at the RWBY panel from RTX, the reviewers, cosplayers, you see that overall the community is good, even though we may disagree on somethings like where the show is heading or about the people writing it, we all just want the same thing, to be a part of something we enjoy and have others to enjoy it with.

Artomix: I couldn't agree with you more. Although, I don't mind the ships that are out there, I mean each one has their own preference. But the NSFW is something you can't get rid off, no matter what community you're joined in, because, as the internet once said, 'if it exist, there's **** of it'.

Zairrif: The shippers aren't that bad, it was just the first thing that came to mind.

Artomix: That's fine, like I said, each their own preference. Anyway, do you have any tips for the rest of the public?

Zairrif: When it comes to writing? Always think of the downside, the weaknesses, not just in your characters and the plot but in the way you write. For the community, I'd say never give up on something nor over sell it. For those looking into the show, get through the first two volumes, if you like it then watch the rest, and start getting into the community like through reddit on r/RWBY. Talk, share art, etc.

Artomix: Do you have any questions for me before this is over?

Zairrif: Sure, do you have any stories to recommend?

Artomix: Oh... that's a tough one... Lately I've been very interested in 'A shattered heart' by slycoop1246, 'It's Not A Semblance' by Simulation49 and 'Once A Rose, Now A Storm' by dregon909. Those are some of the stories that I'm very interested in, aside from yours.

Any last words before this little show is over?

Zairrif: Don't let your memes be memes. Salem did nothing wrong. The Worldo!

Joking aside, I'd say if you want to write start with something you either know, enjoy, or think of something simply and expand on it.

Artomix: That's all the questions that I got. Well, Zairrif (or Zillius), it's been an honor to have you on 'From Words on Paper'.

Zairrif: Thanks for having me, it was interesting.

Artomix: It has been interesting for me as well, and I hope that the rest of the world can learn a bit more about you. That's the reason why I created this Podcast/Interview 'show'. And I hope that we get to talk again in the future.

Zairrif: Hopefully I'll be working on others storiesto talk about by then.

Artomix: I'm sure you will. And if you ever need to talk to someone, I'm usually up for chats.

Zairrif: I'll keep that in mind.

Artomix: Then I wish you luck with your stories, and have a good day/night.

Zairrif: You too, have a good day/night.

This has been 'From Words on Paper'. We hope that you guys learned something from one of your favorite authors.

If any of you are interested to join this little show of have suggestions who should come up next, please tell me via the comment section or through my Inbox. Until then, take care fellow readers!