Heya!
So for those of you who don't know, my name is Ari, and this Q & A is a result of the book hitting 20,000 reads.
To some, that may seem like a small number; but to a girl who thinks she has NO writing talent whatsoever, that number is huge.
Anyways, pretty much all of the questions you guys asked were sent to me privately, so here we go!!! :)
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Q: How long have you been writing?
A: Since about 7th grade, I started to actually make efforts in creatively writing short stories, and after I got into kpop it all just sort of took off.
Q: Is Ari your real name?
A: nope, it's a pseudonym. I prefer to keep my real name off of fan accounts/ writing accounts :)
Q: WHO IS THE SPY?!!
A: I can't tell you!!!!!!!! But since everyone thinks it's Chenle, I'll go ahead and announce that no, the spy is not Chenle.
Q: Will we get to read about some of the pasts mentioned, like Taeyong's tragic backstory?
A: Good question! I'm thinking about writing short spinoffs as companions to "beautiful deception" that deal with those stories, but until I finally finish this book, I can't really afford any distractions. However, this being said, I currently have two spinoffs in my drafts- "first in command" and "perfect betrayal". more on that later!!!
Q: Do you have a boyfriend in real life?
A: Yeah, I do :) his name is not Mark Lee, and no, my bf doesn't know about my love for kpop.
UPDATE AS OF 02/12/2020: he broke up with me with that classic "it's not you it's me" bullshit, but hey there's always mark lee UwU (someone please give me chocolate boys suck🥺)
Q: There aren't any love triangles in this, right?
A: No, as a reader I hate reading books with love triangles- they're silly, frustrating, and just plain overused. So don't worry, you're safe from any love triangles here.
Q: Favorite Starbucks drink?
A: That's hardddddd!!! If I absolutely had to choose, it'd probably be the caramel frap because I'm basic and caramel is the best thing everrr. But I'm a sucker for coffee anyways :)
Q: What inspired you to write the book?
A: So this was actually a two-part thing. The 1st inspiration came from another Mark Lee fanfic on here that I read called "Bandaids" and it was SO good! The 2nd one was that my bff Reid and I had a sleepover the night that Codeword/BD was born, and we randomly said, "Hey, what if NCT was a gang?" And boom, the intro was out.
Q: Have you seen Avengers Endgame yet?
A: Yes, I loved it! NO SPOILERS OR ELSE I WILL REPORT YOU. THAT IS ALL.
Q: Favorite superhero?
A: Easy, Wonder Woman. Diana is such a powerful figure, and I looooove that we have that kind of role model in the hero industry.
Q: What grade are you in now?
A: I'm in 11th grade, and WOW do I hate school!!!
ughhhhhhh. (just to clarify any confusion: my junior year was the 2019-2020 school year.)
Q: When will the book be finished? / How many chapters are there in total?
A: No telling right now, it depends on how quickly I can revise and edit the chapters. And so far there are 31 chapters; but that could easily change. I might condense them as I edit the book, to be honest.
Q: Do we get a face reveal?
A: Do you want one? Only 3 people have told me they did, so until I get more feedback, that's undecided.
Update: I have posted a face reveal for the two-year anniversary of the book on April 27th! I look super American but oh well. :)
Q: What's your favorite NCT song?
A: Limitless used to be my favorite (try having it full blast as you walk into school!) until Regular English Ver. came out. Holy crap you guys, I listen to Regular ALL the time.
Q: When did you start stanning NCT?
A: Umm, probably around November or December of 2017. I remember that the 1st comeback they did after I got into them was Black On Black, so yeah.
Q: Where are YangYang, Xiaojun, and Hendery?
A: I wish I was a good enough author to be able to include them! Sadly, I began the book when NCT was ot18, and those three hadn't even been announced as trainees yet. I had a hard enough time trying to fairly include Kun, Jungwoo, and Lucas, since when I started writing BD, they were still considered somewhat new. I still love all of them though!!!!!!!
Update as of 4/29/20: so my mom is adorable and when I showed her this book and read the asks from the q & a to her, she sat down and brainstormed ways to include them with me. she's so cute I love her!!! not sure when I'll go back and write out our ideas, but I'm 99% sure I'll be revising the book to include them and make it OT21.
Q: Your bias is obviously Mark, so who's your biaswrecker?
A: I don't really know. It changes all the time, but the longest streak was for Haechan. The duality of that boy is NO friggin joke OwO
Q: How would you describe yourself in one word?
A: Yikes. Umm, ditzy maybe? Clumsy, funny, bubbly, sleepy... the list goes on. But definitely ditzy.
Q: Favorite NCT era?
A: Simon Says!!! I love it so so so much❤️ also can we talk abt how HOT mark is during that point in time? I nearly fainted watching the mv omggg why does he stare into the camera like that?!!!!
Q: What do you like to do besides write?
A: I play year-round volleyball (and I like to think I'm pretty good at it) and I like listening to music. I used to play the piano, but I quit because I can't read music, I'm just good at playing by ear. I play the guitar and I'm on the worship music team for my youth group, and I like to read, watch movies, and hang out with people I love.
UPDATE: long story short, summer of 2019 I got a concussion and developed post-concussion syndrome and post-neurotraumatic dysautonomia (aka post-concussive autonomic dysfunction). no more contact sports ever and a shit ton of other things have come from that, but I'm slowly healing and learning a new normal. pm me if you wanna know more 🙃
Q: Are you allergic to anything?
A: Yeah. Cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, chinchillas, horses, rabbits, and ugh, pollen.
Q: This one is pretty personal so I get it if you don't wanna answer, but do you have any mental illnesses? If so, how do you cope?
A: this is a long one!
I've never been depressed or suicidal, if that's what you mean. But I recently developed a mild anxiety disorder (generalized, I think???) and I have no clue why. I don't get it often enough to get treatment, medication, or counseling; it happens rarely and oddly enough, it seems to be triggered by nausea.
I also have pretty severe ADHD. I take the highest dosage medicine for it, but I still get hate from girls who knew me back before diagnosis. I know having ADHD isn't anything like being depressed or wanting to kill yourself, but believe me, it's just as difficult to deal with. The symptoms are impulsivity, fidgeting (most people develop damaging fidget habits, called tics, like picking at scabs or fingernails until it bleeds.), overactive trains of thought, difficulties in social growth, and a bunch of others. I started medicating early enough that I was able to develop neurotypical social skills, but I have horrible tics, and there are many days where I hate having ADHD and wish I could just be normal.
A lot of people don't understand what it's like to have ADHD. They think it's just made up for attention, or a myth to explain why people are annoying or an excuse for bad behavior. ADHD is none of those things; it's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and it can be so destructive to your quality of life. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Q: Do you like ramen?
A: yessssss! Ramen noodles for the win!!!
Q: What other Kpop groups do you stan?
A: I originally hated kpop, until a friend introduced me to BTS. I love their music, and yeah, Yoongi is my bias, hence my username. After BTS and NCT (plus WayV obviously), I stan TXT, Ateez, Stray Kids, and SuperM. I also like listening to music from some other groups that I don't really stan; Mamamoo, Red Velvet, and Blackpink (they're the only girl groups I listen to bc I'm not into the bubblegum concepts that usually come with them although Mamamoo goes hardddd), SF9, Exo, SHINee, Astro, and Super Junior.
Comment your favorite groups if they aren't on here and I can go give them a listen!! multifandom forever lmao admin reid could never ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Q: Did you cry when Mark left Dream?
A: Omg yes. I sobbed like a little baby.
I'm gonna cry again ;(
Update: I'm gonna cry omg mark is coming back to NCT Dream!! (Announced by SM in April)
Q: Didn't you publish something called Studio Four AU's? I thought that idea was so cool!
A: Wow, I love you! I can't believe you remember that, I took it down a while ago lol.
I still plan on doing stuff with that, but right now all my energy is going into this book.
Q: Can I be your friend?
A: Please be my friend!!! ❤️ you guys are always welcome in my comment sections, message board, and private messages! I love to talk with other nctzens UwU
Q: Do you have any pets?
A: I have a dog, she's a mix between a cocker spaniel and a poodle. If you want a pic of her, PM me, she's real cute. Her name is Jazzy because I got her when I was like five, and I was reallllyyyyy into Disney, so her full name is Jasmine Ariel. Don't judge me.
Jazzy thinks she's a lapdog but she's too fat lmao.
Q: What is the most important to you: love, beauty, money, fame, or power?
A: I like this! Um, I'll go ahead and cross out beauty, fame, and power, but I'm kinda broke rn and I'd like some money lol.
Really though, I think love is the most important thing to me. Because if you have all of those things, and you lose all of it except love, then you theoretically still have everything you need. I'd rather have love than any of the others.
Q: Any tips for us on how to write gang aus?
A: Lol, just go for it. Make sure you read up on the characteristics of gangs though, and remember that even your "good guys" gang is, in all honesty, still a gang. And don't make it too gory pls OwO
Last Question: What do you want to do with your life?
A: I'm stuck deciding between going into foreign politics/ international communications, or a branch of biology, because I seriously love both.
I got wayyyyy more questions than I thought I would!!!! Thanks for 20k reads, you guys are amazing.
XOXO!
ari